We have only exchanged civilities, Archie. Have you anything that should be reported?
Nothing that wont wait, no, sir. He is still afraid of a woman.
He went to the company. As I was saying, ladies, I thank you for coming. You were under no obligation. Mr Gather, asking you to come, explained that Mr Goodwins opinion, expressed in your hearing Tuesday evening, that Faith Usher was murdered, has produced some complications that are of concern to me, and that I wished to consult with you. Mr Goodwin still believes
I told him, Rose Tuttle blurted, that Faith might take the poison right there, and he said he would see that nothing happened, but it did. Her blue eyes and round face werent as cheerful as they had been at the party, in fact they werent cheerful at all, but her curves were all in place and her pony tail made its jaunty arc.
Wolfe nodded. He has told me of that. But he thinks that what happened was not what you feared. He still believes that someone else poisoned Miss Ushers champagne. Do you disagree with him, Miss Tuttle?
I dont know. I thought she might do it, but I didnt see her. Ive answered so many questions about it that now I dont know what I think.
Miss Varr?
You may remember my remark that I would have picked Ethel Varr if I had been shopping. Since she was facing Wolfe and I had her in profile, and she was in daylight from the windows, her face wasnt ringing any of the changes in its repertory, but that was a good angle for it, and the way she carried her head would never change. Her lips parted and closed again before she answered.
I dont think, she said in a voice that wanted to tremble but she wouldnt let it, that Faith killed herself.
You dont, Miss Varr? Why?
Because I was looking at her. When she took the champagne and drank it. I was standing talking with Mr Goodwin, only just then we werent saying anything because Rose had told me that she had told him about Faith having the poison, and he was watching Faith so I was watching her too, and Im sure she didnt put anything in the champagne because I would have seen her. The police have been trying to get me to say that Mr Goodwin told me to say that, but I keep telling them that he couldnt because he hasnt said anything to me at all. He hasnt had a chance to. Her head turned, changing her face, of course, as I had it straight on. Have you, Mr Goodwin?
I wanted to go and give her a hug and a kiss, and then go and shoot Cramer and a few assistant district attorneys. Cramer hadnt seen fit to mention that my statement had had corroboration; in fact, he had said that if it wasnt for me suicide would be a reasonable assumption. The damn liar. After I shot him I would sue him for damages.
Of course not, I told her. If I may make a personal remark, you told me at the dinner table that you were only nineteen years old and hadnt learned how to take things, but you have certainly learned how to observe things, and how to take your ground and stand on it. I turned to Wolfe. It wouldnt hurt any to tell her its satisfactory.
It is, he acknowledged. Indeed, Miss Varr, quite satisfactory. That, if she had only known it, was a triumph. He gave me a satisfactory only when I hatched a masterpiece. His eyes moved. Miss Yarmis?
Helen Yarmis still had her dignity, but the corners of her wide, curved mouth were apparently down for good, and since that was her best feature she looked pretty hopeless. All I can do, she said stiffly, is say what I think. I think Faith killed herself. I told her it was dumb to take that poison along to a party where we were supposed to have a good time, but I saw it there in her bag. Why would she take it along to a party like that if she wasnt going to use it?
Wolfes understanding of women has some big gaps, but at least he knows enough not to try using logic on them. He merely ignored her appeal to unreason. When, he asked, did you tell her not to take the poison along?
When we were dressing to go to the party. We lived in an apartment together. Just a big bedroom with a kitchenette, and the bathroom down the hall, but I guess thats an apartment.
How long had you and she been living together?
Seven months. Since August, when she left Grantham House. I can tell you anything you want to ask, after the way Ive been over it the last two days. Mrs Robbins brought her from Grantham House on a Friday so she could get settled to go to work at Barwicks on Monday. She didnt have many clothes
If you please, Miss Yarmis. We must respect the convenience of Miss Varr and Miss Tuttle. During those seven months did Miss Usher have many callers?
She never had any.
Neither men nor women?
No. Except once a month when Mrs Robbins came to see how we were getting along, that was all.
How did she spend her evenings?
She went to school four nights a week to learn typing and shorthand. She was going to be a secretary. I never saw how she could if she was as tired as I was. Fridays we often went to the movies. Sundays she would go for walks, thats what she said. I was too tired. Anyway, sometimes I had a date, and
If you please. Did Miss Usher have no friends at all? Men or women?
I never saw any. She never had a date. I often told her that was no way to live, just crawl along like a worm
Did she get any mail?
I dont know, but I dont think so. The mail was downstairs on a table in the hall. I never saw her write any letters.
Did she get any telephone calls?
The phone was downstairs in the hall, but of course I would have known if she got a call when I was there. I dont remember she ever got one. This is kinda funny, Mr Wolfe. I can answer your questions without even thinking because theyre all the same questions the police have been asking, even the same words, so I dont have to stop to think.
I could have given her a hug and kiss too, though not in the same spirit as with Ethel Varr. Anyone who takes Wolfe down a peg renders a service to the balance of nature, and to tell him to his face that he was merely a carbon copy of the cops was enough to spoil his appetite for dinner.
He grunted. Every investigator follows a routine up to a point. Miss Yarmis. Beyond that point comes the opportunity for talent if any is at hand. I find it a little difficult to accept your portfolio of negatives. Another grunt. It may not be outside my capacity to contrive a question that will not parrot the police. Ill try. Do you mean to tell me that during the seven months you lived with Miss Usher you had no inkling of her having any social or personal contactexcluding her job and night school and the visits of Mrs Robbinswith any of her fellow beings?
Helen was frowning. The frown deepened. Say it again, she commanded.
He did so, slower.
They didnt ask that, she declared. Whats an inkling?
An intimation. A hint.
She still frowned. She shook her head. I dont remember any hints.
Did she never tell you that she had met a man that day that she used tomorrow? Or a woman? Or that someone, perhaps a customer at Barwicks, had annoyed her? Or that she had been accosted on the street? Did she never account for a headache or a fit of ill humour by telling of an encounter she had had? An encounter is a meeting face to face. Did she never mention a single name in connection with some experience, either pleasant or disagreeable? In all your hours together, did nothing ever remind herWhat is it?
Helens frown had gone suddenly, and the corners of her mouth had lifted a little. Headache, she said. Faith never had headaches, except only once, one day when she came home from work. She wouldnt eat anything and she didnt go to school that night, and I wanted her to take some aspirin but she said it wouldnt help any. Then she asked me if I had a mother, and I said my mother was dead and she said she wished hers was. That didnt sound like her and I said that was an awful thing to say, and she said she knew it was but I might say it too if I had a mother like hers, and she said she had met her on the street when she was out for lunch and there had been a scene, and she had to run to get away from her. Helen was looking pleased. So that was a contact, wasnt it?