Before Midnight

"Ah," Rollins looked pleased. "This is more like it, only I thought you would be more subtle. The police wouldn't believe my answer, and you won't either. I really don't know. I was in a sort of nightmare. My demon had brought me there with the single purpose of winning the contest by my own wit and ingenuity. Whether the paper he showed us held the answers or not was a matter of complete indifference to me. If careless chance had put it in my way I would have burned it without looking at it, at the dictate not of conscience, but of pride. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I can't say if I thought Dahlmann was joking or not because I didn't think one way or the other. Now you want to know what I did last evening after the meeting."

Wolfe shook his head. "Not especially. You have told the police, of course, and they're much better equipped to trace movements and check alibis than I am. And I'm not investigating the murder."

"Exactly what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to find a way to settle the contest in a manner acceptable to all parties. You say Mr. Younger spoke to you? What did he say?"

"He told me what Goodwin told him about Miss Frazee, and he wanted Mrs. Wheelock and me to join him in getting a lawyer and starting legal action. But also he wanted us to propose to Miss Tescher and Miss Frazee that the amount of the first five prizes will be divided equally among us. I told him we couldn't very well do both."

"Which do you prefer?"

"Neither. Since I have to pay the piper I'm going to dance. Dahlmann said these verses are much more obscure than any of the others, and I believe him. I doubt if Miss Frazee's friends can get any of them, and I'll be surprised if Miss Tescher can. When I leave here I'm going to one of the finest private libraries in New York and spend the night there, and I already know which book I'll go to first. This is one of the verses:

"From Jack I learned love all the way,

And to the altar would be led;

But on my happy wedding day

I married Charles instead."

He lifted his hand to his glasses, but only shifted them a little on his nose. "Does that suggest anything to you?"

"No," Wolfe said emphatically.

"It does to me. Not any detail of it, but the flavor. I have no idea what her name was, but I think I know where to find her. I may be wrong, but I doubt it, and if not, there's one right off."