Death of a Doxy (Crime Line)

After buzzing the plant rooms to tell Wolfe he was coming, I had a problem. Even if Julie was awake, it wasn't advisable to go up and tell her that a man was coming whom she must not see, so would she please stay in her room with the door shut. She was a fine brave plucky game girl, and she might go to my room, which fronts on 35th Street, and look out the window just to be helpful. It wouldn't be fair to tempt her like that, so I went to the kitchen, explained the situation to Fritz, and arranged with him. When the bell rang and I went to the door, he would go up to the second stair landing with the vacuum cleaner and camp there. If her door was open, he would vacuum the hall carpet. He said he couldn't vacuum that carpet for an hour, and I said he wouldn't have to.

Actually it was only eight or nine minutes. Wolfe came down on the dot at eleven, as he always does, and hadn't finished looking through the mail when the bell rang. I waited until Fritz was on his way upstairs, then admitted the caller, took his hat and coat, and followed him to the office. He stood and told Wolfe he didn't have time to sit.

"I like eyes at a level," Wolfe said. "It takes three seconds to sit."

Ballou sat.

"I'll make it as brief as possible," Wolfe said. "The first point, I am now satisfied that you didn't kill Isabel Kerr, because I know who did, barely short of certainty. Her brother-in-law. The blackmailer. The second point, there is no longer any question of achieving my primary purpose, to clear Mr. Cather. That is assured. The third point, I would like to earn that fifty thousand dollars. How can I earn it?"

"I thought that was understood. Keep me out of this mess. Keep my name out. I can't eat. I can't sleep. I have wanted a dozen times to call you, but I'm afraid to talk on the phone."

Wolfe shook his head. "It needs definition. Your name is known now. Five people know it – Mr. and Mrs. Fleming, Mr. Cather, Mr. Goodwin, and I. As for the last three, the best you can get is our assurance that we will disclose it to no one. As for Mr. and Mrs. Fleming, the best I could possibly do would be to create a situation which would make it highly unlikely that they would ever disclose it. I can't open their skulls and remove the cells where your name is filed. You see that."

"Yes."