He turned and was going. I followed.
Chapter 11
At five minutes past six Saul Panzer phoned. That was routine; when one or more of them are out on a chore they call at noon , and again shortly after six, to report progress or lack of it and to learn if there are new instructions. He said he was talking from a booth in a bar and grill on Broadway near Eighty-sixth Street . Wolfe, who had just come down from the plant rooms, did him the honour of reaching for the phone on his desk to listen in.
So far, Saul reported, were only scouting. Marjorie Betz lives with Mrs Elaine Usher at the address on Eighty-seventh Street . Mrs Usher is the tenant. I got in to see Miss Betz by one of the standard lines, and got nowhere. Mrs Usher left Wednesday night, and she doesnt know where she is or when shell be back. We have seen two elevator men, the janitor, five neighbours, fourteen people in local shops and stores, and a hackie Mrs Usher patronizes, and Orrie is now after the maid, who left at five-thirty. Do you want Mrs Ushers description?
Wolfe said no and I said yes simultaneously. Very well, Wolfe said, oblige him.
Around forty. We got as low as thirty-three and as high as forty-five. Five feet six, hundred and twenty pounds, blue eyes set close, oval face, takes good care of good skin, hair was light brown two years ago, now blonde, wears it loose, medium cut. Dresses well but a little flashy. Gets up around noon . Hates to tip. I think thats fairly accurate, but this is a guess with nothing specific, that she has no job but is never short of money, and she likes men. She has lived in that apartment for eight years. Nobody ever saw a husband. Six of them knew the daughter, Faith, and liked her, but it has been four years since they last saw her and Mrs Usher never mentions her.
Wolfe grunted. Surely that will do.
Yes, sir. Do we proceed?
Yes.
Okay. Ill wait to see if Orrie gets anywhere with the maid, and if not I have a couple of ideas. Miss Betz may go out this evening, and the lock on the apartment door is only a Wyatt.
The hackie she patronizes, I said. She didnt patronize him Wednesday night?
According to him, no. Fred found him. I havent seen him. Fred thinks he got it straight.
You know, I said, you say only a Wyatt, but you need more than a paper clip for a Wyatt. I could run up there with an assortment, and we could go into conference
No, Wolfe said firmly. Youre needed here.
For what, he didnt say. After we hung up all he did was ask how I had disposed of Laidlaw and then ask for a report of the hour and a quarter I had spent with him, and I could have covered that in one sentence just by saying it had been a washout. But he kept pecking at it until dinner time. I knew what the idea was, and he knew I knew. It was simply that if I had gone to help Saul with an illegal entry into Elaine Ushers apartment there was a chance, say one in a million, that I wouldnt be there to answer the phone in the morning.
But back in the office after dinner he decided it was about time he exerted himself a little, possibly because he saw my expression when he picked up his book as soon as Fritz had come for the coffee service.
He lowered the book. Confound it, he said, I wait to see Mrs Usher not merely because her daughter said she hated her. There is also the fact that she has disappeared.
Yes, sir. I didnt say anything.
You looked something. I suppose you are reflecting that we have had two faint intimations of the possible identity of the person who sent that communication to the District Attorney.
I wasnt reflecting. Thats your part. What are the two intimations?
You know quite well. One, that Austin Byne told Laidlaw that he had seen Faith Usher at Grantham House. He didnt name her, and Laidlaw did not regard his tone or manner as suggestive, but it deserves notice. Of course, you couldnt broach it with Byne, since that would have betrayed our clients confidence. You still cant.
I nodded. So we file it. Whats the other one?
Miss Grantham. She gave Laidlaw a bizarre reason for refusing to marry him, that he didnt dance well enough. It is true that women constantly give fantastic reasons without knowing that they are fantastic, but Miss Grantham must have known that that one was. If her real reason was merely that she didnt care enough for him, surely she would have made a better choice for her avowed one, unless she despises him. Does she despise him?
No.
Then why insult him? It is an insult to decline a proposal of marriage, a mans supreme capitulation, with flippancy. She did that six months ago, in September. It is not idle to conjecture that her real reason was that she knew of his experience with Faith Usher. Is she capable of moral revulsion?
Probably, if it struck her fancy.
I think you should see her. Apparently you do dance well enough. You should be able, without disclosing our engagement with Mr Laidlaw
The phone rang, and I turned to get it, hoping it was Saul to say he needed some keys, but no. Saul is not a soprano. However, it was someone who wanted to see me, with no mention of keys. She just wanted me, she said, right away, and I told her to expect me in twenty minutes.
I hung up and swivelled. The timing, I told Wolfe, couldnt have been better. Satisfactory. I suppose you arranged it with her while I was out getting Laidlaw. That was Celia Grantham. She wants to see me. Urgently. Presumably to tell me why she insulted Laidlaw when he asked her to marry him, though she didnt say. I arose. Marvellous timing.
Where? Wolfe growled.
At her home. I was on my way, and turned to correct it. I mean her mothers home. You have the number. I went.
Since there were at least twenty possible reasons, excluding personal ones, why Celia wanted to see me, and she had given no hint which it was, and since I would soon know anyhow, it would have been pointless to try to guess, so on the way uptown in a taxi thats what I did. When I pushed the button in the vestibule of the Fifth Avenue mansion I had considered only half of them.
I was wondering which I would be for Hackett, the hired detective or the guest, but he didnt have to face the problem. Celia was there with him and took my coat as I shed it and handed it to him, and then fastened on my elbow and steered me to the door of a room on the right that they called the hall room, and on through it. She shut the door and turned to me.
Mother wants to see you, she said.
Oh? I raised a brow. You said you did.
I do, but it only occurred to me after Mother got me to decoy for her. The Police Commissioner is here, and they wanted to see you but thought you might not come, so she asked me to phone you, and I realized I wanted to see you too. Theyre up in the music room, but first I want to ask you something. What is it about Edwin Laidlaw and that girl? Faith Usher.
That was turning the tables. Wolfes idea had been that I might manage, without showing any cards, to find out if she was on to our clients secret, and here she was popping it at me and I had to play ignorant.
Laidlaw? I shook my head. Search me. Why?
You dont know about it?
No. Am I supposed to?
I thought you would, naturally, since its you thats making all the trouble. You see, I may marry him some day. If he gets into a bad jam Ill marry him now, since youve turned out to be a skunk. Thats based on inside information but is not guaranteed. Are you askunk?