Laidlaws straight, steady eyes were now at Wolfe instead of me. I want, he said, to engage you professionally. Do you prefer the retainer in cash, or a cheque?
Wolfe shook his head. Neither, until I accept the engagement. What do you want done?
I want you to get some information for me. You know what happened at Mrs Robilottis house last evening. You know that a girl named Faith Usher was poisoned and died. You know of the circumstances indicating that she committed suicide. Dont you?
Wolfe said yes.
Do you know that the authorities have not accepted it as a fact that she killed herself? That they are continuing with the investigation on the assumption that she might have been murdered?
Wolfe said yes.
Then its obvious that they must have knowledge of some circumstance other than the ones I know aboutor that any of us know about. They must have some reason for not accepting the fact that it was suicide. I dont know what that reason is, and they wont tell me, and as one of the people involvedinvolved simply because I was thereI have a legitimate right to know. Thats the information I want you to get for me. Ill give you a retainer now, and your bill can be any amount you think is fair, and Ill pay it.
I was not yawning. I must say I admired his gall. Though he didnt know that Wolfe had been at the hole, he must have assumed that I had reported the offer he had made, and here he was looking Wolfe straight in the eye, engaging him professionally, and telling him he could name his figure, no matter what, whereas with me ten grand had been his limit. The gall of the guy! I had to admire him.
The corners of Wolfes mouth were up. Indeed, he said. Laidlaw took a breath, but it came out merely as used air, not as words.
Mr Goodwin has told me, Wolfe said, of the proposal you made to him. I am at a loss whether to respect your doggedness and applaud your dexterity or to deplore your naivete. In any case I must decline the engagement. I already have the information youre after, but I got it from Mr Goodwin in confidence and may not disclose it. Im sorry, sir.
Laidlaw took another breath. Im not as dogged as you are, he declared. Both of you. In the name of God, whats so top secret about it? What are you afraid of?
Wolfe shook his head. Not afraid, Mr Laidlaw, merely discreet. When a matter in which we have an interest and a commitment requires us to nettle the police we are not at all reluctant. In this affair Mr Goodwin is involved solely because he happened to be there just as you are, and I am not involved at all. It is not a question of fear or of animus. I am merely detached. I will not, for instance, tell the police of the offers you have made Mr Goodwin and me because it would stimulate their curiosity about you, and since I assume you have made the offers in good faith I am not disposed to do you an ill turn.
But youre turning me down.
Yes. Flatly. In the circumstances I have no choice. Mr Goodwin can speak for himself.
Laidlaws head turned to me and I had the eyes again. I wouldnt have put it past him to renew his offer, with an amendment that he would now leave the figure up to me, but if he had that in mind he abandoned it when he saw my steadfast countenance. When, after regarding me for eight seconds, he left his chair, I thought he was leaving the field and Wolfe wouldnt have to go to work after all, but no. He only wanted to mull, and preferred to have his face to himself. He asked, May I have a minute? and, when Wolfe said yes, he turned his back and moseyed across the rug towards the far wall, where the big globe stood in front of bookshelves; and, for double the time he had asked for, at least that, he stood revolving the globe. Finally he about-faced and returned to the red leather chair, not moseying.
I must speak with you privately, he told Wolfe.
You are, Wolfe said snortly. If you mean alone, no. If a confidence werent as safe with Mr Goodwin as with me he wouldnt be here. His ears are mine, and mine are his.
This isnt only a confidence. Im going to tell you something that no one on earth knows about but me. Im going to risk telling you because I have to, but Im not going to double the risk.
You will not be doubling it. Wolfe was patient. If Mr Goodwin left us I would give him a signal to listen to us on a contraption in another room, so he might as well stay.
You dont make it any easier, Wolfe.
I dont pretend to make things easier. I only make them manageablewhen I can.
Laidlaw looked as if he needed to mull some more, but he got it decided without going to consult the globe again. Youll have all you can do to manage this, he declared. I couldnt go to my lawyer with it, or anyhow I wouldnt, and even if I had it would have been too much for him. I thought I couldnt go to anybody, and then I thought of you. You have the reputation of a wizard, and God knows I need one. First I wanted to know why Goodwin thinks it was murder, but evidently youre not goingby the way
He took a pen from a pocket and a chequebook from another, put the book on the little table at his elbow, and wrote. He yanked the cheque off, glanced it over, got up to put it on Wolfes desk, and returned to the chair.
If twenty thousand isnt enough, he said, for a retainer and advances for expenses, say so. You havent accepted the job, I know, but Im camping here until you do. You spoke of managing things. I want you to manage that if they go on with their investigation it doesnt go deep enough to uncover and make public a certain event in my life. I also want you to manage that I dont get arrested and put on trial for murder.
Wolfe grunted. I could give no guarantee against either contingency.
I dont expect you to. I dont expect you to pass miracles, either. And two things I want to make plain: first, if Faith Usher was murdered I didnt kill her and dont know who did; and second, my own conviction is that she committed suicide. I dont know what Goodwins reason is for thinking she was murdered, but whatever it is, Im convinced that hes wrong.
Wolfe grunted again. Then why come to me in a dither? If youre convinced it was suicide. Since they are human the police do frequently fumble, but usually they arrive at the truth. Finally.
Thats the trouble. Finally. This time, before they arrive, they might run across the event I spoke of, and if they do, they might charge me with murder. Not they might, they would.
Indeed. It must have been an extraordinary event. If that is what you intend to confide in me, I make two remarks: that you are not yet my client, and that even if you were, disclosures to a private detective by a client are not a privileged communication. Its an impasse, Mr Laidlaw. I cant decide whether to accept your job until I know what the event was; but I will add that if I do accept it I will go far to protect the interest of a client.
Im desperate, Wolfe, Laidlaw said. He pushed his hair back, but it needed more than a push. I admit it. Im desperate. Youll accept the job because theres no reason why you shouldnt. What Im going to tell you is known to no one on earth but me, Im pretty sure of that, but not absolutely sure, and thats the devil of it.
He pushed at his hair again. Im not proud of this, what Im telling you. Im thirty-one years old. In August, nineteen fifty-six , a year and a half ago, I went into Cordonis on Madison Avenue to buy some flowers, and the girl who waited on me was attractive, and that evening I drove her to a place in the country for dinner. Her name was Faith Usher. Her vacation was to start in ten days, and by the time it started I had persuaded her to spend it in Canada with me. I didnt use my own name; Im almost certain she never knew what it was. She only had a week, and when we got back she went back to work at Cordonis, and I went to Europe and was gone two months. When I returned I had no idea of resuming any relations with her, but I had no reason to avoid her, and I stopped in at Cordonis one day. She was there, but she would barely speak to me. She asked me, if I came to Cordonis again, to get someone else to wait on me.