Before Midnight

"Uh-huh. And also today four people have come to see you, not counting your clients, who were at a dinner meeting with Dahlmann last night, and Goodwin has called on another one at his hotel. But you're not investigating a murder?"

"No, sir."

"Nuts."

It looked as if the honeymoon was over and before long fur would be flying, but Cramer took the curse off his lunge with a diversion. He drank beer, and put his empty glass down. "Look," he said, "I've heard you do a lot of beefing about people being rational. Okay. If anyone who knew you, and knew who has been coming here today-- if he didn't think you were working on the murder would he be rational? You know damn well he wouldn't. I'm being rational. If you want to try to talk me out of it, go ahead."

Wolfe made a noise which he may have thought was a friendly chuckle. "That would be a new experience, Mr. Cramer. There have been times when I have tried to talk you into being rational. I can only tell you, also in confidence, what my job is. Of course you know about the perfume contest, and about the wallet that was missing from Mr. Dahlmann's pocket. I'm going to provide for a satisfactory settlement of the contest by learning who took the wallet, and what was in it, to demonstrate that none of its contents had any bearing on the contest. I'm also going to arrange that certain events, especially the detention of four of the contestants in New York, shall not prevent the fair and equitable distribution of the prizes. If you ask why I'm being so outspoken with you, it's because our interests touch but do not conflict. If and when I get anything you might need you shall have it."

"Quite a job." Cramer was eying him, not as a neighbor. "How are you going to learn who took the wallet without tagging the murderer?"

"Perhaps I can't. That's where our interests touch. But the murder is not my concern."

"I see. Just a by-product. And you say that the paper Dahlmann showed them and put back in his wallet didn't have the answers on it."