Death of a Doxy (Crime Line)

Give it to Cramer. Saul suggested it, and he had a case. We could give him the crop, all except Ballou's name. It wouldn't hurt us any, certainly it wouldn't stop us, and it would give Cramer something to think about, and even work on, besides Orrie Cather. If they had a few of Fleming's fingerprints in their collection from the apartment, or even one, it would open it up good. Wolfe wouldn't buy it. He said it would be inept to have the police move in on Fleming before we did; for one thing, they would probably pry X's name out of either Fleming or his wife, and we weren't giving it even to Saul and Fred. The fifty grand wasn't there in the safe to affect his mental processes, but he knew where it was.

I made the suggestion that gave him a bright idea. There was nothing bright about the suggestion; it was simply that I would bring the Flemings to the office for some conversation with Wolfe. As we all knew, many people had said more to Wolfe than they had realized they were saying, and why not give them a chance? Saul and Fred could be at the peephole in the alcove, and then we would have another conference. I was the only one who had ever seen them. Saul and Fred were all for it, but Wolfe sat and scowled at me, which was natural, since it would mean another session with a woman. He sat and scowled, and we sat and looked at him. After half a minute of that he spoke to me. "Your notebook."

I swiveled and got it, and a pen.

"A letter. The regular letterhead. To Mr. Milton Thales, care of Mr. Barry Fleming, and the address. Dear Mr. Thales. It is a truism that people who have a sudden substantial increase in income often spend it, comma, or part of it, comma, on luxuries which they have previously been unable to afford. Period. It is possible that you are an admirer of orchids, comma, and that you would like to buy a few orchid plants with part of the five thousand dollars of extra income you have received during the past four months. Period. If so, comma, I shall be glad to show you my collection if you will telephone for an appointment. Sincerely yours."

I tossed the notebook on the desk. "Wonderful," I said. "It will bring him but not her. Maybe. If it goes to his home address and she's there when it's delivered but he isn't, it may bring her but not him. Statistics show that seventy-four per cent of wives open letters, with or without a teakettle. Why not send it to the school?"

"It's two o'clock Friday morning," Saul said. "He wouldn't get it until Monday."