The Second Confesion

He ended with an ultimatum. He gave me twenty-four hours to recall you from your week-end.” “He knew I was up there?” “Yes.” “I'll be damned.” I let out a whistle. “This Rony boy is really something. A party member and one of Mr Z's little helpers-which isn't such a surprising combination, at that. And not only have I laid hands on him, but Saul and Ruth have too. Goddam it! I'll have to-when did this phone call come?” “Yesterday afternoon-” Wolfe glanced up at the clock. “Saturday, at ten minutes past six.” Then his ultimatum expired eight hours ago and we're still breathing. Even so, it wouldn't have hurt to get time out for changing our signals. Why didn't you phone me and I could-” “Shut up!” I lifted the brows. Why?” “Because even if we are poltroons cowering in a corner, we might have the grace not to talk like it! I reproach you for not phoning. You reproach me for not phoning. It is only common prudence to keep the door bolted, but there is no possible-” That may not have been his last syllable, but if he got one more in I didn't hear it. I have heard a lot of different noises here and there, and possibly one or two as loud as the one that interrupted Wolfe and made me jump out of my chair halfway across the room, but nothing much like it. To reproduce it you could take a hundred cops, scatter them along the block you live in, and have them start unanimously shooting windows with forty-fives.

Then complete silence.

Wolfe said something.

I grabbed a gun from a drawer, ran to the hall, flipped the switch for the stoop light, removed the chain bolt, opened the door, and stepped out. Across the street to the left two windows went up, and voices came and heads poked out, but the street was deserted. Then I saw that I wasn't standing on the stone of the stoop but on a piece of glass, and if I didn't like that piece there were plenty of others. They were all over the stoop, the steps, the area-way, and the sidewalk. I looked straight up, and another piece came flying down, missed me by a good inch, and crashed and tinkled at my feet. I backed across the sill, shut the door, and turned to face Wolfe, who was standing in the hall looking bewildered.

“He took it out on the orchids,” I stated. “You stay here. I'll go up and look.”