The Mother Hunt (Rex Stout Library)

Hell, I believe you. I believe you because it fits Carol exactly. Krug's right, Dick was the father. And Dick was dead, so she could go ahead and have the baby. See? There wouldn't be a man it would belong to, it would just be hers. Then after it came she realized she didn't want it. She wouldn't be tied to a man, but it would be just as bad to be tied to a baby, only she didn't realize it until after it came. That's why I believe you, it fits her to a T. One thing I don't like, I admit it. You say someone helped her dispose of it, so she must have asked him to. Why didn't she ask me? That hurts. I mean that, it hurts.

He reached for the bottle with one hand and the glass with the other, poured, and took a healthy swallow. He wasn't appreciating the cognac, he was just drinking it. Damn it, he said, she should have asked me.

Possibly she preferred to ask a woman.

Not a chance. You can rule that out. Not Carol. Didn't it have to be kept secret?' Yes.

She wouldn't have trusted any woman to keep any secret. She wouldn't have trusted any woman, period.

You're hurt that she didn't ask you, that she didn't prefer you to the other available alternatives. So you must have some notion of who the other alternatives were. This question is not hypothetical; consider it established that she asked someone to help her dispose of the baby; whom did she ask, if not you?

I don't know.

Of course you don't. But whom might she have muted in so delicate a matter in preference to you?

You know, by God, that's a thought. Bingham put the glass to his lips and held it there. He took a little sip. First I would say her ex-husband. Willis Krug.

Mr. Krug says his only recent association with her has been on business matters. You challenge that?

No. I'm just answering your question. It's a damn good question. I know how Carol felt about Krug. She liked him. She felt he could be trusted, he could be depended on. But if he says it wasn't him it probably wasn't. My second pick would be Julian Haft.

Wolfe grunted. You're merely naming those present You're clowning.

I am not. Carol thought Haft was the tops. She thought nobody was in his class as a judge of writing, and she let him know it. He was the only man she would have dinner with and then go home and read manuscripts. That's another reason tramp was the wrong word for her; she liked her work and was good at it. I can clown, but I'm not clowning now. But I shouldn't have put Krug first. I overlooked Manny Upton. He should be first.

Her employer.