Before Midnight

"The Forty-seventh Street office of the Continental Trust Company."

"One of you will please meet Mr. Goodwin there at two-thirty, take him to the vault, open the envelopes containing the last five verses and the last five answers, and let him copy them and bring the copies to me. Return the originals to the vault."

"Impossible," O'Garro said positively. "Those envelopes must not be opened."

"Nonsense." Wolfe was beginning to get touchy, as usual when he was compelled to start things moving in his skull. "Why not? Those verses and answers are done for. No matter what happens, they can't possibly be the basis for awarding the prizes. They might, if we could get apodictic proof that there was no paper hi Dahlmann's wallet containing the answers, but we can't. Can any of you describe any circumstances in which those verses and answers can now be used? Try it."

They exchanged glances. Wolfe waited.

"You're right," Buff admitted for the firm.

"Then it can do no harm for me to have them, provided Mr. Goodwin and I keep them to ourselves, and it may do some good. I have an idea for using them which may be worth developing. Will one of you meet him at two-thirty?"

"Yes," Buff agreed. "Probably two of us. Those envelopes have been untouchable. Mr. Heery will have to know about it. He may want to be present."

"As you please. By the way, since his firm is as deeply concerned as yours, what about him? Does he know you're hiring me? Does he approve your strategy?"

"Completely."

"Then that will do for now. Please use the phone on Mr. Goodwin's desk. Do you want him to get a number for you?"

They didn't, which was the best proof yet of how desperate they were. Since those birds were up around the top, the top numbers in one of the three biggest agencies in the country, with corner rooms at least twenty by twenty and incomes in six figures, it had of course been years since any of them had personally dialed a number in an office. To expect them to would be against all reason. But when I vacated my chair O'Garro came and took it, asked me for the number of the Churchill, and went ahead and dialed it as if it were a natural and normal procedure. I thought, There you are, a man with eyes as clever as that can do anything.

It took a while. After the rest of us had sat and listened for some minutes he finally hung up and told us, "Two of them were out. Rollins was just leaving for an appointment at Homicide West. Miss Frazee will be here at twelve-thirty."