Over My Dead Body

"Thank you. Go up there with her. You will see Miss Tormic. The assumption, from this document, is that she has the right to bear my name. If so, I reject the possibility that she stole diamonds from a man's coat. Start from that."

"She says she wants the document back."

"I'll keep it for the present. Apparently you will encounter a single yes and a single no in contradiction. Neglect nothing and no one. Nikola Miltan himself is from the peninsula, South Serbia, old Macedonia. Look at Miss Tormic and talk to her. Your first concern is the rumpus about the diamonds. Your second is that paper which Miss Lovchen hid in my book. If you can't resolve the contradiction about the diamonds and Mr Driscoll insists on the police, bring him here to me."

"Oh, sure. How and in how many pieces?"

"Bring him. You're good at that."

"Much obliged, ever so much. But the fact is I guess you'd better pay me off. I'm resigning as of this moment."

"Resigning from what?"

"You. My job."

"Rubbish."

"No, boss, really. You told the G-man you have never married. Yet you have a daughter. Well-" I shrugged. "I'm not a prude, but there are limits-"

"Don't jabber. Go on up there. She was an orphan and I adopted her."

I nodded sceptically. "That's a good trick, but pretty transparent. What do you think my mother would say-" But I saw his whole face tighten and knew I was getting close to out-of-bounds, so I asked casually, "That all?"

"That's all."

I got my hat and coat from the hall, and the immigrant princess from the parlour, and went out to the roadster, parked at the kerb. As I shifted into high, headed for Park Avenue, I reflected that Wolfe was prepared to go to almost any length to protect his family, since he was at that moment spending twenty bucks on a transatlantic phone call to London, though I didn't see how that was going to help things any.

Chapter Three

Up to a certain point, the five o'clock gathering at Nikola Miltan's studio for some old-fashioned fun with the game of diamonds, diamonds, who's got the diamonds? was a howling farce. Thereafter, I admit, it took on a different aspect.