Before Midnight

"I think we're overlooking something," Assa said. "We've let our personal feelings get involved, and that's wrong. The one thing we all want is to save the contest, and what we've got to ask ourselves is whether we're more likely to do that with Wolfe or without him. Let me ask you this, Goodwin. I agree with Mr. Hansen that Inspector Cramer's idea is absurd, but just suppose that Wolfe did find evidence, or thought he did, that one of us went to Dahlmann's apartment and found him dead and took the wallet. Whom would he report it to?"

"That would depend. If LBA was still his client, to LBA. He was hired--these were Hansen's words--to find out who took the wallet and got the paper. If he did what he was hired to do, or thought he had, naturally he would tell his client and no one else. There would be two offenses involved, swiping a wallet and failing to report discovery of a dead body, but that wouldn't bother him. But he couldn't report to a client if he no longer had one, and my guess is he would just empty the bag for Cramer."

"That," Hansen said, "is an unmistakable threat."

"Is it?" I grinned at him. "That's bad. I thought I was just answering a question. I withdraw it."

Talbott Heery, across the mahogany top from me, suddenly was up and on his feet, in all his height and breadth, glaring around with no favorites. "If I ever saw a bunch of lightweights," he told them, "this is it. You know goddam well Nero Wolfe is our only hope of getting out of this without losing most of our hide, and listen to you!" He put two fists on the table. "I'll tell you this right now: at the end of the contract you're done with Heery Products! If I had had any sense--"

"Tape it, Tal." O'Garro's voice was raised, with a sneer in it. "Go downstairs and tape it! We'll get along without you and without Nero Wolfe too! I don't--"

The others joined in and they were boiling again. I was perfectly willing to sit and watch the bubbles, but Oliver Buff arose and took my sleeve and practically pulled me to my feet, and was steering me to the door. His teeth were set on his lower lip, but had to release it for speech. "If you'll wait outside," he said, pushing me into the hall. "We'll send for you." He shut the door.