Prisoner's Base

"No." Wolfe was blunt. "There will be no affidavits until I have talked with your principal, and then we'll see. Don't bring him here from the airport; phone me first. I have in mind a step that you won't like but will probably have to assent to. I think there should be a meeting of those concerned in this matter, both sides, with you present, that it should take place tomorrow, and that it should be held in this room. I'll undertake to get Mr. Helmar and his associates here."

Irby was concentrating so hard he was squinting his eyes into narrow slits. "What makes you think I won't like it?"

"The fact that lawyers are convinced that no quarrel involving a substantial sum of money should ever be pursued except by lawyers."

The lawyer would have taken a much worse crack than that without offense. He didn't even feel it. He shook his head earnestly. "I would welcome such a meeting," he declared. "But I would want to have some idea of what I was letting myself in for. If I knew that you and Mr. Goodwin were going to state that both Priscilla Eads and Helmar had either implied or acknowledged the authenticity-"

"No," Wolfe said flatly. "By making me a flagrantly improper offer you have forfeited all right to amenity. You'll have to take it as it comes."

And that was the best Irby could get, though he was so stubborn about it that I finally crossed over to pick up his briefcase and hand it to him, and by then it was dinnertime. When I closed the front door and turned after letting him out, Wolfe was emerging from the office, headed for the dining room.

"Are you satisfied?" he barked at me.

"No, sir," I said politely. "And neither are you."

Chapter 9