Before Midnight

I sat at my desk and dialed. It was a bad time of day to get Cramer ordinarily, but when something big was stirring, or refusing to stir, he sometimes ate at his desk instead of going home for what he called supper. That was one of the times. From the way he growled at me, it was very much one of the times.

Wolfe took it. "Mr. Cramer? I thought you might be interested in a meeting at my office this evening. We're going to discuss the Dahlmann case. It will--"

"Who's going to discuss it?"

"Everyone concerned--that is, everyone I know about. It will of course be confined to the theft of the wallet, since that's what I'm investigating, but it will inevitably touch upon points that affect you, so I'm inviting you to come--as an observer."

Silence. Cramer could have been chewing a bite of a corned beef sandwich, or he could have been chewing what he had heard.

"What have you got?" he demanded.

"For myself, a reasonable expectation. For you, the possibility of a suitable disclosure. Have I ever wasted your time on frivolity?"

"No. Not on frivolity. There's no use asking you on the phone… Stebbins will be there in ten minutes."

"No, sir. Nor you. I need a little time to arrange the inside of my head, and my dinner will be ready shortly. The meeting will be at nine o'clock."

"I'll bring Stebbins with me."

"By all means. Do so."

We hung up.

"You know darned well," I said, "that Purley will bring handcuffs, and he hates to take them back empty--"

I stopped because he was leaning back and closing his eyes, and his lips were starting to move, pushing out and then in, out and in… He was working at last I went across the hall for two more chairs.

Chapter 18