I went to answer it. It was Waldo Kearns. When I took him to the office he went to Mira, without so much as a glance for the three men, and put out a hand.
'My dear wife,' he said.
'Don't be ridiculous,' Mira said.
I can't report whether he handled that as well as he had handled the uppercut by Irving because the bell rang again and I had to leave them, to admit Judy Bram. She had an escort, a Homicide dick I only knew by sight, and he thought he was going to enter with her and I didn't, and while we were discussing it she slipped in and left it to us. We were still chatting when a taxi stopped out front and Mr. and Mrs. Irving got out and headed for the steps. The dick had to give them room to pass, and I was able to shut the door on him without flattening his nose. Since it was quite possible that Irving's appearance would start something I entered the office on their heels.
Nothing happened. Mira merely shot him a glance and he returned it. Kearns didn't even glance at him. The newcomers stood while Wolfe pronounced their names for Cramer and Stebbins and told them who Cramer and Stebbins were, and then went to the
n6 3 at Wolfe's Door
two chairs still vacant, the two nearest my desk. Mrs. Irving took the one in front, with Judy between her and Mira, and her husband took the one back of her, which put him only a long arm's length from Waldo Kearns.
As Wolfe's eyes moved from right to left, stopping at Mira, and back again, Cramer spoke. 'You understand that this is not an official inquiry. Sergeant Stebbins and I are looking on. You also understand that Mira Holt is under arrest as a material witness. If she had been charged with murder she wouldn't be here.'
'Why isn't she out on bail?' Judy Bram demanded. 'I want to know why--'
'That will do,' Wolfe snapped. 'You're here to listen, Miss Bram, and if you don't hold your tongue Mr. Goodwin will drag you out. If necessary Mr. Stebbins will help.'
'But why-'
'No! One more word and out you go.'
She set her teeth on her lip and glared at him. He glared back, decided she was squelched, and left her.
'I am acting,' he said, 'jointly with Mr. Goodwin, on behalf of Miss Holt. At our persuasion she has just told Mr. Cramer of her movements last evening. I'll sketch them briefly. Shortly after seven-thirty she took Miss Bram's cab and drove it to Ferrell Street and parked at the mouth of the alley leading to Mr. Reams' house. She expected him to appear but he didn't. At eight-thirty she left the cab, went through the alley to the house, knocked several times, and looked in windows. Getting no response, she returned to the cab, having been gone about ten minutes. There was a dead body in the cab, a woman, and she recognized her. It was Phoebe Arden. I will not--'
'You fat fool!' Judy blurted. 'You're a fine-'
'Archie!' he commanded.
I stood up. She clamped her teeth on her lip. I sat down.
'I will not,' Wolfe said, 'go into her thought processes, but confine myself to her actions. She covered the body with a piece of canvas and drove away. Her intention was to dispose of her cargo in some likely spot, and she drove around in search of one, but found none. I omit details--for instance, that she rang the
Method Three for Murder 117
number of Miss Bram from a phone booth and got no answer. She decided she must have counsel, drove to my house, met Mr. Goodwin on the stoop, and gave him a rigmarole about a bet she had made. Since he is vulnerable to the attractions of personable young women, he swallowed it.'
I swallowed that. I had to, with Cramer sitting there.
'Now,' Wolfe said, 'a crucial fact. I learned it myself less than three hours ago. Only a few minutes after Miss Holt and Mr. Good win met on the stoop someone phoned police headquarters to say that a taxi standing in front of this address had a dead woman in it. That is-'
'Where did you get that?' Cramer demanded.
Wolfe snorted. 'Pfui. Not from you or Mr. Stebbins. That is proof, to me conclusive, that the murderer of Phoebe Arden had no wish or need for her to die. Phoebe Arden was killed only because her corpse was needed as a tool for the destruction of another person--a design so cold-blooded and malign that even I am impressed. Whether she was killed in the cab, or at a nearby spot and the body taken to the cab, is immaterial. The former is more likely, and I assume it What did the murderer do? He, or she --we lack a neuter pronoun--he entered the cab with Phoebe Arden the moment Miss Holt disappeared in the alley, coming from their hiding place in the stoneyard across the street. Having stabbed his victim--or rather his tool--he walked up Ferrell Street and around the corner to where his car was parked on Carmine Street. Before going to his car he stood near the corner to see if Miss Holt, on returning to the cab, removed the body before driving away. If she had, he would have found a booth and phoned police headquarters immediately.'
Cramer growled, 'What if Kearns had come out with Miss Holt?'
'He knew he wouldn't. I'll come to that. You are assuming that Kearns was not the murderer.'
'I am assuming nothing.'
'That's prudent. When Miss Holt turned the cab into Carmine Street and drove on, he followed her. He followed her throughout her search for a place to get rid of the corpse, and on to her final
n8
3 at Wolfe's Door
destination, this house. Some of my particulars are assumption or conjecture, but not this one. He must have done so, for when she stopped here he drove on by, found a phone booth, and made the call to the police. The only other possible source of the call was a passerby who had seen the corpse in the cab as it stood at the curb, and a passerby couldn't have seen it without opening the door and lifting the canvas.' His eyes went to Cramer. 'Of course that hadn't escaped you.'
