Plot It Yourself

Wolfe’s head went right and left again. “I should explain,” he told them, “the reason for Miss Porter’s outburst. It was justified. She is here because I lied to her. I told her on the phone that I was prepared to hand her a paper signed by Mr Imhof and Miss Wynn in exchange for one signed by her. The word ‘prepared’ was a misrepresentation. When this discussion is ended I am confident that Miss Porter will be in no fear of prosecution by Mr Imhof or Miss Wynn, but I was not actually ‘prepared’ when I phoned her this afternoon. In fairness to her I must say that her indignation, when she arrived and found a crowd, was warranted. She stayed because I told her I was going to demonstrate to you that she was guilty of a criminal act and I advised her to hear me.”

Alice Porter blurted, “You just admitted you’re a liar!”

Wolfe ignored it. “I’ll give you the essentials first,” he told the committee, “and the conclusions I reached, and then fill in the details. A week ago yesterday, eight days ago, Mr Goodwin gave you a full report of the brief talks he had had with those four people-Simon Jacobs, Kenneth Rennert, Jane Ogilvy, and Alice Porter. I don’t know if any of you noticed that his talk with Miss Porter was quite remarkable-that is, her part of it. He told her that a New York newspaper was considering making her a substantial offer for the first serial rights to her story, and what did she say? That she would think it over. Beyond that, not a word. Not a question. All seven of you know writers better than I do, but I know a little of men and women. Miss Porter was not a famous and successful author; her only book had been a failure; her stories were barely sufficient, in quantity and quality, to preserve her standing as a professional. But she didn’t ask Mr Goodwin the name of the newspaper. She asked him nothing. I thought that remarkable. Did none of you?”

“I did,” Cora Ballard said. “But she was on a spot. I thought she was just scared.”

“Of what? If she doubted Mr Goodwin’s bona fides, if she suspected that he might not have such an offer from a newspaper, why didn’t she question him? At the very least, why didn’t she ask him the name of the newspaper? It seemed to me a fair surmise that she didn’t doubt or suspect Mr Goodwin; she knew he was lying. She knew that this committee had hired me, and that he was trying by subterfuge to get a copy of the story on which she had based her claim against Miss Wynn. At the moment-”