Before Midnight

"No. I mean it's understood. That's for the police, and I must make it clear. "Nothing has been said to the police about Dahlmann's displaying that paper from his wallet last evening, and nothing is going to be said by any of us, including Mr. Heery. The paper has not been mentioned and will not be. The police will of course question the five contestants, probably they already are, and it might be thought certain that some of them will tell about the paper, but I think it doubtful. – -What you said, Pat?"

O'Garro nodded. "I only said, from seeing them last evening, they're not fools. They're anything but fools, and there's half a million dollars at stake, not to mention the other prizes. My guess is none of them will mention it. What do you think, Vern?"

"The same," Assa agreed, "except possibly that old hellcat, the Frazee woman. God knows what she'll say."

"But," Hansen told Wolfe, "even if they do mention it, and the police ask us why we didn't, the answer is that we didn't think it worth mentioning because it was so obvious that Dahlmann was only joking. At least it was obvious to us, and we assumed it was to the others. If the police don't accept that, we shall nevertheless utterly reject the notion that Dahlmann had the answers to those five verses on a paper in his wallet, and the corollary that someone killed him to get it. The police are disposed to be discreet, and they often are, but a thing like that would certainly get out."

He had slid so far forward in the red leather chair that he would certainly slide off. He went on, "You may not fully realize how desperate it is. This contest is the most spectacular promotion of the century. A million in prizes with two million contestants, and the whole country is waiting to see the winner. Naturally we have thought of calling in those verses and preparing five new ones, but that would be risky. It would be an admission that we suspect one of them has secured the answers to those verses by killing Dahlmann, implying an admission that Dahlmann had the answers in his wallet. Any one or all of the five contestants could refuse to surrender the verses on the ground that they had accepted them in good faith, and that would be a frightful mess. If LBA declined to proceed as agreed they could sue and almost certainly collect."

He took a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. "This is a schedule of which each one of them has a copy.

"Susan Tescher, New York City, before noon April nineteenth.