Curtains For Three (12 page)

“Forty trump,” Orrie Cather said at 10:55 Wednesday morning.

I had told them the Keyes case had knocked on our door and we had five suspects for clients, and that was all. Wolfe had not seen fit to tell me what their errands would be, so I was entertaining at cards instead of summarizing the notebooks for them. At eleven sharp we ended the game, and Orrie and I shelled out to Saul, as usual, and a few minutes later the door from the hail opened and Wolfe entered. He greeted the two hired hands, got himself installed behind his desk, rang for beer, and asked me, “You’ve explained things to Saul and Orrie,

of course?”

“Certainly not. For all I knew it’s classified.” He grunted and told me to get Inspector Cramer. I dialed the number and had more trouble getting through than usual, finally had Cramer and signaled to Wolfe, and, since I got no sign to keep off, I stayed on. It wasn’t much of a conversation. “Mr. Cramer'Nero Wolfe.”

“Yeah. What do you want?”

“I’m sorry I was busy last evening. It’s always a pleasure to see you. I’ve been engaged in the matter of Mr. Keyes’ death, and it will be to our mutual interest for you to let me have a little routine information.”

“Like what?”

“To begin with, the name and number of the mounted policeman who saw Mr. Keyes in the park at ten minutes past seven that morning. I want to send Archie - “

“Go to hell.” The connection went.

Wolfe hung up, reached for the beer tray which Fritz had brought in, and told me, “Get Mr. Skinner of the District Attorney’s office.”

I did so, and Wolfe got on again. In the past Skinner had had his share of moments of irritation with Wolfe, but at least he hadn’t had the door slammed in his face the preceding evening and therefore was not boorish. When he learned that Wolfe was on the Keyes case he wanted to know plenty, but Wolfe stiff-armed him without being too rude and soon had what he was after. Upon Wolfe’s assurance that he would keep Skinner posted on developments at his end, which they both knew was a barefaced lie, the Assistant D.A. even offered to ask headquarters to arrange for me to see the cop. And did so. In less than ten minutes after Wolfe and he were finished, a call came from Centre Street to tell me that Officer Hefferan would meet me at 11:45 at the corner of Sixty-sixth Street and Central Park West.

During the less than ten minutes, Wolfe had drunk beer, asked Saul about his family, and told me what I was expected to find out from the cop. That made me sore, but even more it made me curious. When we’re on a case it sometimes happens that Wolfe gets the notion that I have got involved on some angle or with some member of the cast, and that therefore it is necessary to switch me temporarily onto a siding. I had about given up wasting nervous energy resenting it. But what was it this time'I had bought nobody’s version and was absolutely fancy free, so why should he send me out to chew the rag with a cop and keep Saul and Orrie for more important errands'It was beyond me, and I was glaring at him and about to open up, when the phone rang again.

It was Ferdinand Pohl, asking for Wolfe. I was going to keep out of it, since the main attack was to be entrusted to others, but Wolfe motioned me to stay on.

“I’m at the Keyes office,” Pohl said, “Forty-seventh and Madison. Can you come up here right away?”

“Certainly not,” Wolfe said in a grieved tone. It always riled him that anybody in the world didn’t know that he never left his house on business, and rarely for anything whatever. “I work only at home. What’s the matter?”

“There’s someone here I want you to talk to. Two members of the staff. With their testimony I can prove that Talbott took those designs and sold them to Broadyke. This clinches it that it was Talbott who killed Keyes. Of us five, the only ones that could possibly be suspected were Miss Rooney and that stable hand, with that mutual alibi they had, and this clears her - and him too, of course.”

“Nonsense. It does nothing of the sort. It proves that she was unjustly accused of theft, and an unjust accusation rankles more than a just one. Now you can have Mr. Talbott charged with larceny, at least. I’m extremely busy. Thank you very much for calling. I shall need the cooperation of all of you.”

Pohl wanted to prolong it, but Wolfe got rid of him, drank more beer, and turned to me. “You’re expected there in twenty minutes, Archie, and considering your tendency to get arrested for speeding - “

I had had one ticket for speeding in eight years. I walked to the door but turned to remark bitterly, “If you think you’re just sending me out to play, try again. Who was the last to see Keyes alive'The cop. He did it. And who will I deliver him to - you'No. Inspector Cramer!”

It was sunny and warm for October, and the drive uptown would have been pleasant if I hadn’t been prejudiced by my feeling that I was being imposed on. Parking on Sixty-fifth Street, I walked around the corner and up a block, and crossed Central Park West to where a man in uniform was monkeying with his horse’s bridle. I have met a pack of guardians of the peace on my rounds, but this rugged manly face with a pushed-in nose and bright big eyes was new to me. I introduced myself and showed credentials and said it was nice of him, busy as he was, to give me his time. Of course that was a blunder, but I’ve admitted I was prejudiced.

“Oh,” he said, “one of our prominent kidders, huh?”

I made for cover. “About as prominent,” I declared, “as a fish egg in a bowl of caviar.”

“Oh, you eat caviar.”

“Goddam it,” I muttered, “let’s start over again.” I walked four paces to a lamp post, wheeled, returned to him, and announced, “My name’s Goodwin and I work for Nero Wolfe. Headquarters said I could ask you a couple of questions and I’d appreciate it.”

“Uh-huh. A friend of mine in the Fifteenth Squad has told me about you. You damn near got him sent to the marshes.”

“Then you were already prejudiced. So was I, but not against you. Not even against your horse. Speaking of horses, that morning you saw Keyes on his horse,

not long before he was killed, what time was it?”

“Ten minutes past seven.”

“Within a minute or two?”

“Not within anything. Ten minutes past seven. I was on the early shift then, due to check out at eight. As you say, I’m so busy that I have no time, so I was hanging around expecting to see Keyes go by as per schedule. I liked to see his horse - a light chestnut with a fine spring to him.”

“How did the horse look that morning - same as usual'Happy and healthy?” Seeing the look on his face, I added hastily, “I’ve sworn off kidding until tomorrow. I actually want to know, was it his horse?”

“Certainly it was! Maybe you don’t know horses. I do.”

“Okay. I used to too, when I was a boy on a farm in Ohio, but we haven’t corresponded lately. What about Keyes that morning, did he look sick or well or mad or glad or what?”

“He looked as usual, nothing special.”

“Did you speak to each other?”

“No.”

“Had he shaved that morning?”

“Sure he had.” Officer Hefferan was controlling himself. “He had used two razors, one on the right side and another one on the left, and he wanted to know which one did the best job, so he asked me to rub his cheeks and tell him what I thought.”

“You said you didn’t speak.”

“Nuts.”

“I agree. Let’s keep this frankly hostile. I shouldn’t have asked about shaving,

I should have come right out and asked what I want to know, how close were you to him?”

“Two hundred and seventy feet.”

“Oh, you’ve measured it?”

“I’ve paced it. The question came up.”

“Would you mind showing me the spot'Where he was and where you were?”

“Yes, I’d mind, but I’ve got orders.” The courteous thing would have been for him to lead his horse and walk with me, so he didn’t do that. He mounted his big bay and rode into the park, with me tagging along behind; and not only that, he must have given it a private signal that they mustn’t be late. I never saw a horse walk so fast. He would have loved to lose me and blame it on me, or at least make me break into a trot, but I gave my legs the best stretch they had had in years, bending my elbows and pumping my lungs, and I wasn’t more than thirty paces in the rear when he finally came to a stop at the crest of a little knoll. There were a lot of trees, big and little, off to the right down the slope, and clumps of bushes were on the left, but in between there was a good view of a long stretch of the bridle path. It was almost at a right angle to our line of vision, and at its nearest looked about a hundred yards away.

He did not dismount. There is no easier way in the world to feel superior to a man than to talk to him from on top of a horse.

Speaking, I handled things so as not to seem out of breath. “You were here?”

“Right here.”

“And he was going north.”

“Yep.” He gestured. “That direction.”

“You saw him. Did he see you?”

“Yes. He lifted his crop to me and I waved back. We often did that.”

“But he didn’t stop or gaze straight at you.”

“He didn’t gaze straight or crooked. He was out for a ride. Listen, brother.”

The mounted man’s tone indicated that he had decided to humor me and get it over. “I’ve been through all this with the Homicide boys. If you’re asking was it Keyes, it was. It was his horse. It was his bright yellow breeches, the only ones that color around, and his blue jacket and his black derby. It was the way he sat, with his shoulders hunched and his stirrups too long. It was Keyes.”

“Good. May I pat your horse?”

“No.”

“Then I won’t. It would suit me fine if the occasion arose someday for me to pat you. When I’m dining with the inspector this evening I’ll put in a word for you,

not saying what kind.”

I hoofed it out of the park and along Sixty-sixth Street to Broadway, found a drugstore and a phone booth, wriggled onto the stool, and dialed my favorite number. It was Orrie Gather’s voice that answered. So, I remarked to myself,

he’s still there, probably sitting at my desk; Wolfe’s instructions for him must be awful complicated. I asked for Wolfe and got him.

“Yes, Archie?”

“I am phoning as instructed. Officer Hefferan is a Goodwin-hater, but I swallowed my pride. On the stand he would swear up and down that he saw Keyes at the place and time as given, and I guess he did, but a good lawyer could shoot it full of ifs and buts.”

“Why'Is Mr. Hefferan a shuttlecock?”

“By no means. He knows it all. But it wasn’t a closeup.”

“You’d better let me have it verbatim.” I did so. By years of practice I had reached the point where I could relay a two-hour conversation, without any notes but practically word for word, and the brief session I had just come from gave me no trouble at all.

When I had finished Wolfe said, “Indeed.” Silence.

I waited a full two minutes and then said politely, “Please tell Orrie not to put his feet on my desk.”

In another minute Wolfe’s voice came. “Mr. Pohl has telephoned again, twice,

from the Keyes office. He’s a jackass. Go there and see him. The address - “

“I know the address. What part of him do I look at?”

“Tell him to stop telephoning me. I want it stopped.”

“Right. I’ll cut the wires. Then what do I do?”

“Phone in again and we’ll see.”

It clicked off. I wriggled off the stool and out of the booth and stood muttering to myself until I noticed that the line of girls on stools at the soda fountain, especially one of them with blue eyes and dimples, was rudely staring at me. I told her distinctly, “Meet me at Tiffany’s ring counter at two o’clock,” and strode out. Since I wouldn’t be able to park within a mile of Forty-seventh and Madison, I decided to leave my car where it was and snare a taxi.

One quick look around the Keyes establishment on the twelfth floor was enough to show where a good slice of the profits had gone, unless that was what Pohl’s hundred grand had been used for. Panels of four kinds of blond wood made up both the walls and ceiling, and the furniture matched. The seats of the chairs for waiting callers were upholstered in blue and black super-burlap, and you had to watch yourself on the rugs not to twist an ankle. Everywhere, in glass cases against the walls, on pedestals scattered around, and on platforms and tables,

were models of almost anything you could think of, from fountain pens to airplanes.

When a woman with pink earrings learned that I sought Mr. Pohl she gave me a wary and reproachful look, but she functioned. After a little delay I was waved through a door and found myself at the end of a long wide corridor. There was no one in sight and I had been given no directions, so it was a case of hide and seek. The best opening move seemed to be to walk down the corridor, so I started, glancing into open doors on either side as I passed. The same scale of interior architecture seemed to prevail throughout, with wide variations in style and color. At the fourth door on the right I saw him, and he called to me,

simultaneously.

“Come in, Goodwin!”

I entered. It was a big room with three wide windows, and at a quick glance appeared to be the spot where they had really decided to spread themselves. The rugs were white and the walls were black, and the enormous desk that took all of one end was either ebony or call in an expert. The chair behind the desk, in which Pohl was seated, was likewise.

“Where’s Wolfe?” Pohl demanded.

“Where he always is,” I replied, negotiating rugs. “At home, sitting down.”

He was scowling at me. “I thought he was with you. When I phoned him a few minutes ago he intimated that he might be. He’s not coming?”

“No. Never. I’m glad you phoned him again because, as he told you this morning in my hearing, he’ll need the cooperation of all of you.”

“He’ll get mine,” Pohl stated grimly. “Since he’s not coming for it himself, I suppose I ought to give this to you.” He took papers from his breast pocket,

looked through them, selected one and held it out. I stepped to the desk to take it.

It was a single sheet, with “Memo from Sigmund Keyes” on it, printed fancy, and scrawled in ink was a list of towns:

Dayton, Ohio Aug. 11 & 12 Boston Aug. 21 Los Angeles Aug. 27 to Sept. 5 Meadville, Pa. Sept. 15 Pittsburgh Sept. 16 & 17 Chicago Sept. 24-26 Philadelphia Oct. 1 “Much obliged,” I thanked him, and stuck it in my pocket. “Covers a lot of country.”

Pohl nodded. “Talbott gets around, and he’s a good salesman, I admit that. Tell Wolfe I did just as he said, and I got it out of a record right here in Keyes’

desk, so no one knows anything about it. Those are all the out-of-town trips Talbott has made since August first. I have no idea what Wolfe wants it for, but by God it shows he’s on the job, and whoever does know what a detective is after'I don’t give a damn how mysterious it is as long as I can help him get Talbott.”

I had an eye cocked at him, trying to decide whether he was really as naive as he sounded. It gave me one on Wolfe, knowing that he had tried to keep Pohl away from a phone by giving him work to do, and here Pohl had cleaned it up in no time at all and was ready to ask for more. But instead of asking Wolfe for more,

he asked me. He shot it at me.

“Go out and get me some sandwiches and coffee. There’s a place on Forty-sixth Street, Perrine’s.”

I sat down. “That’s funny, I was about to ask you to get me some. I’m tired and hungry. Let’s go together.”

“How the hell can I?” he demanded.

“Why not?”

“Because I might not be able to get in again. This is Keyes’ room, but Keyes is dead, and I own part of this business and I’ve got a right here! Dorothy has tried to chase me out - damn her, she used to sit on my lap! I want certain information, and she has ordered the staff not to give me any. She threatened to get the police to put me out, but she won’t do that. She’s had enough of the police this last week.” Pohl was scowling at me. “I prefer corned beef, and the coffee black, no sugar.”

I grinned at his scowl. “So you’re squatting. Where’s Dorothy?”

“Down the hall, in Talbott’s room.”

“Is Talbott there?”

“No, he hasn’t been in today.”

I glanced at my wrist and saw twenty minutes past one. I stood up. “Rye with mustard?”

“No. White bread and nothing on it - no butter.”

“Okay. On one condition, that you promise not to phone Mr. Wolfe. If you did you’d be sure to tell him that you got what he’s after, and I want to surprise him with it.”

He said he wouldn’t, and that he wanted two sandwiches and plenty of coffee, and I departed. Two men and a woman who were standing in the corridor, talking,

inspected me head to foot as I passed but didn’t try to trip me, and I went on out to the elevators, descended, and got directed to a phone booth in the lobby.

Orrie Cather answered again, and I began to suspect that he and Saul were continuing the pinochle game with Wolfe.

“I’m on my way,” I told Wolfe when he was on, “to get corned-beef sandwiches for Pohl and me but I’ve got a plan. He promised not to phone you while I’m gone,

and if I don’t go back he’s stuck. He has installed himself in Keyes’ room,

which you ought to see, against Dorothy’s protests, and intends to stay. Been there all day. What shall I do, come home or go to a movie?”

“Has Mr. Pohl had lunch?”

“Certainly not. That’s what the sandwiches are for.”

“Then you’ll have to take them to him.”

I remained calm because I knew he meant it from his heart, or at least his stomach. He couldn’t bear the idea of even his bitterest enemy missing a meal.

“All right,” I conceded, “and I may get a tip. By the way, that trick you tried didn’t work. Right away he found a record of Talbott’s travels in Keyes’ desk and copied it off on a sheet from Keyes’ memo pad. I’ve got it in my pocket.”

“Read it to me.”

“Oh, you can’t wait.” I got the paper out and read the list of towns and dates to him. Twice he said I was going too fast, so apparently he was taking it down.

When that farce was over I asked, “After I feed him, then what?”

“Call in again when you’ve had your lunch.”

I banged the thing on the hook.