Rex Stout - Nero Wolfe 25 (23 page)

“It certainly did,” O’Garro agreed. “Too much action, but you couldn’t help it.”

“I should have helped it. Mr. Assa should be alive. I blundered.” Wolfe tightened his lips. He released them. “Do you want me to get the pages that were typed on that machine for comparison?”

“No,” Hansen said. “Pat?”

“No.”

“But,” Hansen told Wolfe, “we still want you to handle the contest. The payment will of course be in addition to the bill you’re sending. It won’t be—”

“No!” Wolfe bellowed, and I didn’t blame him. Turning down fifty grand just once to keep your dignity in order is tough enough, and to be compelled to keep on turning it down is too much. They tried to insist, and Heery especially wouldn’t let go, but finally they had to give it up. When they left and I went to the hall with them they corralled me by the rack and tried to sell me the idea of talking him into it, with some broad hints that it wouldn’t cost me anything, but I gave them no hope. My mind wasn’t really on their problem at all. It was on one of my own, and when I had closed the door behind them and returned to the office I tackled it without preamble.

“Okay,” I told Wolfe, “it was a brilliant stroke. It was a masterpiece. It was a honey. But not only did you change the rules and tell me a direct lie, you also piled another one on by telling me that you had
not
changed the rules. How’s that for a confidential relationship? Why do I ever have to believe anything you say?”

His mouth twisted. He thought he was smiling. “You can always believe me, Archie. With your memory, which is matchless, you can recall my words. I made just two categorical statements to you, when we were alone, on that matter. I said, first,
I hadn’t hoped for anything as provocative as this
. That was true; I hadn’t hoped for it; I was sure of it, since I had arranged it. I said, second,
I hadn’t listed this among the possibilities
. That was likewise true; it wasn’t a possibility, it was a certainty. I have never told you a direct lie and never will—and if I quibbled it was only to save you the necessity of telling one to Mr. Stebbins
or any one else who might challenge you. Have I quoted myself correctly?”

I grunted. I couldn’t very well repudiate my matchless memory.

“Are you suggesting,” he demanded, “that verbal dodges are no longer to be permitted in our private conversations? By either of us?”

“No, sir.”

He snorted. “You’d better not. We wouldn’t last a week.”

He rang for beer.

Now, for the first time ever, enjoy a peek into the life of Nero Wolfe’s creator, Rex Stout, courtesy of the Stout Estate. Pulled from Rex Stout’s own archives, here are rarely seen, never-before-published memorabilia. Each title in “The Rex Stout Library” will offer an exclusive look into the life of the man who gave Nero Wolfe life.

Before Midnight

Prior to the publication of
Before Midnight
, Rex Stout’s publisher had their legal expert give the work a thorough going over to avoid legal complications with any perfume companies. Following is that report with a note from Stout’s editor.