Yes. Youre going to prove that Goodwin is either wrong or right.
I didnt say prove. I said I intend to satisfy myself and deal with him accordingly. He surveyed the audience. Ladies and gentlemen. I will not keep you longat least, not most of you. I have no exhortation for you and no questions to ask. To form an opinion of Mr Goodwins competence as an eye-witness, I need to see, not what he saw, since these quarters are too cramped for that, but an approximation of it. You cannot take your positions precisely as they were last Tuesday evening, or re-enact the scene with complete fidelity, but well do the best we can. Archie?
I left my chair to stage-manage. Thinking that Mrs Robilotti and her Robert were the most likely to baulk, I left them till the last. First I put Hackett behind the table, which was the bar, and Laidlaw and Helen Yarmis at one end of it. Then Rose Tuttle and Beverly Kent, on chairs over where the globe had stood. Then Celia Grantham and Paul Schuster by the wall to the right of Wolfes desk, with her sitting and him standing. Then I put Saul Panzer on a chair near the door to the hall, and told the audience, Mr Panzer here is Faith Usher. The distance is wrong and so are the others, but the relative positions are about right. Then I put an ashtray on a chair to the right of the safe, and told them, This is Faith Ushers bag, containing the bottle of poison. With all that arranged, I didnt think Mrs Robilotti would protest when I asked her and her husband to take their places in front of the bar, and she didnt.
That was all, except for Ethel Varr and me, and I got her and stood with her at a corner of my desk, and told Wolfe, All set.
Miss Tuttle and I were much farther away, Beverly Kent objected.
Yes, sir, Wolfe agreed. It is not presumed that this is identical. Now. His eyes went to the group at the bar. Mr Hackett, I understand that when Mr Grantham went to the bar for champagne for himself and Miss Usher, two glasses were there in readiness. You had poured one of them a few minutes previously, and the other just before he arrived. Is that correct?
Yes, sir. Hackett had fully recovered from our brush in the hall and was back in character. I have stated to the police that one of the glasses had been standing there three or four minutes.
Please pour a glass now and put it in place.
The bottles in the cooler on the table were champagne, and good champagne 5 Wolfe had insisted on it. Fritz had opened two of them. Pouring champagne is always nice to watch, but I doubt if any pourer ever had as attentive an audience as Hackett had, as he took a bottle from the cooler and filled a glass.
Keep the bottle in your hand, Wolfe directed him. Ill explain what Im after and then you may proceed. I want to see it from various angles. You will pour another glass, and Mr Grantham will come and get the two glasses and go with them to Mr Panzerthat is to say, to Miss Usher. He will hand him one, and Mr Goodwin will be there and take the other one. Meanwhile you will be pouring two more glasses, and Mr Grantham will come and get them and go with them to Miss Tuttle, and hand her one, and again Mr Goodwin will be there and take the other one. You will do the same with Miss Varr and Miss Grantham. Not with Miss Yarmis and Mrs Robilotti, since they are there at the bar. That way I shall see it from all sides. Is that clear, Mr Hackett?
Yes, sir.
Its not clear to me, Cecil said. Whats the idea? I didnt do that. All I did was get two glasses and take one to Miss Usher.
Im aware of that, Wolfe told him. As I said, I want to get various angles on it. If you prefer, Mr Panzer can move to the different positions, but this is simpler. I only request your cooperation. Do you find my request unreasonable?
I find it pretty damn nutty. But its all nutty, in my opinion, so a little more wont hurt, if I can keep a glass for myself when Ive performed. He moved, then turned. Whats the order again?
The order is unimportant. After Mr Panzer, Misses Tuttle, Varr, and Grantham, in any order you please.
Right. Start pouring, Hackett. Here I come.
The show started. It did seem fairly nutty, at that, especially my part. Hackett pouring, and Cecil carrying, and the girls takingthere was nothing odd about that; but me racing around, taking the second glass, deciding what to do with it, doing it, and getting to the next one in time to be there waiting when Cecil arrivedof all the miscellaneous chores I had performed at Wolfes direction over the years, that took the prize. At the fourth and last one, for Celia Grantham, by the wall to the right of Wolfes desk, Cecil cheated. After he had handed his sister hers he ignored my out-stretched hand, raised his glass, said, Heres to crime, and took a mouthful of the bubbles. He lowered the glass and told Wolfe, I hope that didnt spoil it.
It was in bad taste, Celia said.
I meant it to be, he retorted. This whole thing has been in bad taste from the beginning.
Wolfe, who had straightened up to watch the performance, let his shoulders down. You didnt spoil it, he said. His eyes went around. I invite comment. Did anyone notice anything worthy of remark?
I dont know whether its worthy of remark or not, Paul Schuster, the lawyer, said, but this exhibition cant possibly be made the basis for any conclusion. The conditions were not the same at all.
I must disagree, Wolfe disagreed. I did get a basis for a conclusion, and for the specific conclusion I had hoped for. I need support for it, but would rather not suggest it. I appeal to all of you: did anything about Mr Granthams performance strike your eye?
A growl came from the door to the hall. Sergeant Purley Stebbins was standing there on the sill, his big frame half filling the rectangle. I dont know about a conclusion, he said, but I noticed that he carried the glasses the same every time. The one m his right hand, his thumb and two fingers were on the bowl and the one in his left hand, he held that lower down, by the stem. And he kept the one in his right hand and handed them the one in his left hand. Every time.
I had never before seen Wolfe look at Purley with unqualified admiration. Thank you, Mr Stebbins, he said. You not only have eyes but know what theyre for. Will anyone corroborate him?
I will, Saul Panzer said. I do. He was still holding the glass Cecil had handed him.
Will you, Mr Cramer?
I reserve it. Cramers eyes were narrowed at him. Whats your conclusion?
Surely thats obvious. Wolfe turned a hand over. What I hoped to get was ground for a conclusion that anyone who was sufficiently familiar with Mr Granthams habits, and who saw him pick up the glasses and start off with them, would know which one he would hand to Miss Usher. And I got it, and I have two competent witnesses, Mr Stebbins and Mr Panzer. His head turned. That is all, ladies and gentlemen. I wish to continue, but only to Mrs Robilotti, Mr Byne, and Mr Laidlawand Mr Robilotti by courtesy, if he chooses to stay. The rest of you may go. I needed your help for this demonstration and I thank you for coming. It would be a pleasure to serve you champagne on some happier occasion.
You mean we have to go? Rose Tuttle piped. I want to
stay. Judging from the expressions on most of the faces, the others did too, except Helen Yarmis, who was standing by the bar with Laidlaw. She said, Come on, Ethel, to Ethel Varr, who was standing by my desk, and they headed for the door. Cecil emptied his glass and put it on Wolfes desk and announced that he was staying, and Celia said she was too. Beverly Kent, the diplomat, showed that he had picked the right career by handling Rose Tuttle, who was seated beside him. She let him escort her out. Paul Schuster approached to listen a moment to the twins arguing with Wolfe, and then turned and went. Seeing Cramer cross to Mrs Robilotti, at the bar with her husband, I noted that Hackett wasnt there and then found that he wasnt anywhere. He had gone without my knowing it, one more proof that a detective is no match for a butler.