Before Midnight

"Then I'll describe it." Wolfe shifted in the chair, which was almost big enough but not used to him. "Since that bottle is under guard, with great assurance. Yesterday afternoon Assa learned somehow that one of you had Dahlmann's wallet in your possession. Whether he learned it by chance or by enterprise doesn't matter; he learned it, and he confronted you. You--"

Heery put in, "You just said that you assumed Assa took the wallet from Dahlmann himself. And he had it in his pocket."

"Pfui." Wolfe was getting testy. "If Assa took it, who killed him and what for? His death changed everything, including my assumptions. He confronted one of you with his knowledge that you had the wallet. You explained that you had gone to Dahlmann's apartment that night, found him dead, and took the wallet, and Assa believed you. Either you told him that you had sent the answers to the contestants, or that you hadn't. If the former, Assa conceived the stratagem of giving me credit for it as a blind; if the latter, he really thought I had done it. You two discussed the situation and decided what to do, or perhaps you didn't; Assa may have discussed it only with himself and made his own plans. It would be interesting to know whether he insisted on keeping the wallet or you insisted on his taking it. If I knew that I would have a better guess who you are."