Death of a Doxy (Crime Line)

That was unnecessary, so I ignored it. What the hell, she had brought a gun, even if she had had no idea what for. Probably to mow me down if I called Isabel a doxy. "You may wonder," I told Stella, "why we wanted to discuss it with you. Since it's practically certain that he killed Isabel, why didn't we just tell the police? Of course we'll have to, but I haven't forgotten what you told me that day, that your sister's reputation was the most important thing in the world. I know nothing about your relations with your husband, but I thought it was possible you could do something. You might persuade him to go to the police and admit he killed her, and give an entirely different reason, some reason that would leave out the blackmailing and X and everything you don't want to come out. I don't know if that's possible, but I thought you ought to have the chance. We can't wait long, not more than a day or two. Say Wednesday morning."

"This is Monday," she said. She was getting her voice back.

"Right."

"I want that letter."

It had dropped to the floor when she started the clawing, and I had picked it up and put it on my desk. "It's just a typewritten copy," I said.

"I want it."

I got it, folded it, and handed it to her. She said, "The gun."

"When you leave. Whose is it, yours or your husband's?"

"It's his. He has medals for shooting." She put the letter in her bag, looked at Julie, and said, "You. It was people like you."

"Nuts," Julie said. "Anybody can say that to anybody. You mean I was bad for Isabel. I was a lot better for her than you were. I really loved her, but what about you? From what she told me, what -"

That did it. I had relaxed some, and she was so damned sudden. Her lunge at Julie was so fast that she was on her before I moved, and again it wasn't my fault that Julie didn't get hurt, at least some good scratches. Julie jerked her knees up, and with her feet off the floor the impact toppled her and the chair backward. Stella would have been on top, but by that time I was there and had her shoulders from behind. I pulled her off and up and pinned her arms, but she said, "I'm all right," and she was. The fit had gone as fast as it came. Julie scrambled up, took a swipe at her hair, and said, "You can club her, for all I care."

Wolfe's voice came, his coldest voice. "Mrs. Fleming."