Champagne for One

When I emerged on the fifth floor Byne was there to greet me and ushered me in. After taking my hat and coat he motioned me through a doorway, and I found myself in a room that I would have been perfectly willing to move to when the day came that Wolfe fired me or I quit, with perhaps a few minor changes. The rugs and chairs were the kind I like, and the lights were okay, and there was no fireplace. I hate fireplaces. When Byne had got me in a chair and asked if I would like a drink, and I had declined with thanks, he stood facing me. He was tall and lanky and loose-jointed, with not much covering for his face bones except skin.

"That was a hell of a mess I got you into," he said. "I’m damn sorry."

"Don’t mention it," I told him. "I admit I wondered a little why you picked me. If you want some free advice, free but good, next time you want to cook up a reason for skipping something, don’t overdo it. If you make it a cold, not that kind of a cold, just a plain everyday virus."

He turned a chair around and sat. "Apparently you’ve convinced yourself that was a fake."

"Sure I have, but my convincing myself doesn’t prove anything. The proof would have to be got, and of course it could be if it mattered enough-items like people you saw or talked to Monday evening, or phoned to yesterday or they phoned you, and whoever keeps this place so nice and clean, if she was here yesterday-things like that. That would be for the cops. If I needed any proof personally, I got it when as soon as I mentioned that the cold was a fake you had to see me right away. So why don’t we just file that?"

"You said you haven’t told the cops."

"Right. It was merely a conclusion I had formed."

"Have you told anyone else? My aunt?"

"No. Certainly not her. I was doing you a favour, wasn’t I?"

"Yes, and I appreciate it. You know that, Archie, I appreciate it."

"Good. We all like to be appreciated. I would appreciate knowing what it is you want to talk over."

"Well." He clasped his hands behind his head, showing how casual it was, just a pair of pals chatting free and easy. "To tell the truth, I’m in a mess too. Or I will be if you’d like to see me squirm. Would you like to see me squirm?"

"I might if you’re a good squirmer. How do I go about it?"