Black Orchids

Wolfe muttered, "There is no wrong medicine-"

"It was terrible," Bess Huddleston interrupted, "but it has nothing to do with this. I'm going to be late for my appointment with the Mayor. This is perfectly simple. Someone wanted to ruin me and conceived this filthy way of doing it, that's all. It has to be stopped, and if you're as smart as you're supposed to be, you can stop it. Of course, I ought to tell you, I know who did it."

I cocked my head at her. Wolfe's eyes opened wide.

"What? You know?"

"Yes, I think I know. No, I do know."

"Then why, madam, are you annoying me?"

"Because I can't prove it. And she denies it."

"Indeed." Wolfe shot a sharp glance at her. "You seem to be less intelligent than you look. If, having no proof, you charged her with it."

"Did I say charged her with it? I didn't. I discussed it with her, and also with Maryella, and my nephew, and Dr. Brady, and my brother. I asked them questions. I saw I couldn't handle it. So I came to you."

"By elimination-the culprit is Miss Nichols."

"Yes."

Wolfe was frowning. "But you have no proof. What do you have?"

"I have-a feeling."

"Pfui. Based on what?"

"I know her."

"You do." Wolfe continued to frown, and his lips pushed out, once, and in again. "By divination? Phrenology? What specific revelations of her character have you observed? Does she pull chairs from under people?"

"Cut the glitter," Bess Huddleston snapped, frowning back at him. "You know quite well what I mean. I say I know her, that's all. Her eyes, her voice, her manner-"

"I see. Flatly, you don't like her. She must be either remarkably stupid or extremely clever, to have used her own stationery for anonymous letters. Had you thought of that?"

"Certainly. She is clever."

"But knowing she did this, you keep her in your employ, in your house?"

"Of course I do. If I discharged her, would that stop her?"

"No. But you say you think her guilty because you know her. That means you knew a week ago, a month ago, a year ago that she was the sort of person who would do this sort of thing. Why didn't you get rid of her?"

"Because I-" Bess Huddleston hesitated. "What difference does that make?" she demanded.

"It makes a big difference to me, madam. You've hired me to investigate the source of those letters. I am doing so now. I am considering the possibility that you sent them yourself."

Her eyes flashed at him. "I? Nonsense."

"Then answer me." Wolfe was imperturbable. "Since you knew what Miss Nichols was like, why didn't you fire her?"