I followed him, on into the warm room and through, out to the landing, and down the three Sights of stairs. Along the main hall I was courteous enough not to step on his heel, but a lengthened stride would have reached it. The hall was next to empty. A woman, ready for the street in a caracul coat, was standing there, and Saul Panzer was posted near the front door with nothing to do. I followed my man on into the front room, the cloakroom, where Fritz Brenner was helping a guest on with his coat. Of course the racks were practically bare, and with one glance my man saw his property and went to get it. His coat was a brown tweed that had been through a lot more than one winter. I stepped forward to help, but he ignored me without even bothering to shake his head. I was beginning to feel hurt. When he emerged to the hall I was beside him, and as he moved to the front door I spoke.
"Excuse me, but we're checking guests out as well as in. Your name, please?"
"Ridiculous," he said curtly, and reached for the knob, pulled the door open, and crossed the sill. Saul, knowing I must have had a reason for wanting to check him out, was at my elbow, and we stood watching his back as he descended the seven steps of the stoop.
Curtains for Three 159
il?" Saul muttered at me. hook my head and was parting my lips to mutter back, when a sound came from behind us aade us both whirl around--a screech from a a, not loud but full of feeling. As we whirled, t and the guest he had been serving came out of ont room, and all four of us saw the woman in the 1 coat come running out of the office into the hall, pt coming, gasping something, and the guest, a noise like an alarmed male, moved to meet [moved faster, needing about eight jumps to the Indoor and two inside. There I stopped.
course I knew the thing on the floor was but only because I had left her in there in jjpdothes. With the face blue and contorted, the halfway out, and the eyes popping, it could een almost anybody. I knelt and slipped my jijnside her dress front, kept it there ten seconds, felt nothing.
I's voice came from behind. "I'm here." |got up and went to the phone on my desk and 1 dialing, telling Saul, "No one leaves. We'll keep ; got. Have the door open for Doc Vollmer." |-only two whirs the nurse answered, and put on, and I snapped it at him. "Doc, Archie
Come on the run. Strangled woman. Yeah,
�
shed the phone back, reached for the house iand buzzed the plant rooms, and after a wait had i irritated bark in my ear. "Yes?" in the office. You'd better come down. That tive client I mentioned is here on the floor, <ied. I think she's gone, but I've sent for Voll
i this flummery?" he roared.
160 |ex S5 tout
"No,ar. C-^>nie down and look at her and then me."
The eonneestion went. He had slammed it down, got a sheet of t^hin tissue paper from a drawer, tore i a come, a^ went and placed it carefully ovei Cynthia's mou*>h and nostrils. In ten seconds it hadnl stirred
Voices had *>een sounding from the hall. Now one o| them eifcred fche office. Its owner was the guest who hadbeeainthes' cloakroom with Fritz when the screech^ came. He was a chunky broad-shouldered guy with' sharp donineearing dark eyes and arms like a gorilla's.; His voice was ^oing strong as he started toward me from the door, tout it stopped when he had come far I enough to get sa. good look at the object on the floor. "My God," l*e said huskily. "Yes,Br/' L agreed. "Howdidit happen?" "Dotfkno^r." "Who b it?" "Doirtkno^r."
He nade hi^ eyes come away from it and up until they met minev and I Save m'm an A for control. It really was a sigi�t.
"The man at the door won't let us leave," he stated. "No, �. Yo�a can see why." "I certainly can." His eyes stayed with me, however. "Bat we know nothing about it. My name is Carlisle, Homeir N. Carlisle. I am the executive vice president of the North American Foods Company. My wife was merely acting under impulse; she wanted to see the office of Nero Wolfe, and she opened the door and entered. Shwe's sorry she did, and so am I. We have an appointment, and there's no reason why we should be detained."
Curtains for Three 161
too," I told him. "But one thing, if noth wife discovered the body. We're stuck you are, with a corpse here in our office, ?en't even got a wife who had an impulse.
nothing. So I guess-- Hello, Doc." ry entering and nodding at me on the fly, was i as he set his black case on the floor and ie it. His house was down the street and he jfconly two hundred yards to trot, but he was l- weight. As he opened the case and got out Homer Carlisle stood and watched flips pressed tight, and I did likewise until I sound of Wolfe's elevator. Crossing to the i into the hall, I surveyed the terrain. Toward Saul and Fritz were calming down the i in the caracul coat, now Mrs. Carlisle to me. Polfe and Mrs. Mimi Orwin were emerging from srator. Four guests were coming down the tiGene Orwin, Colonel Percy Brown, Bill McNab, aiddle-aged male with a mop of black hair, ayed by the office door to block the quartet on As Wolfe headed for me, Mrs. Carlisle 1 to him and grabbed his arm. "I only wanted to office! I want to go! I'm not--" s pulled at him and sputtered, I noted a detail. 1 coat was unfastened, and the ends of a silk figured and gaily colored, were flying loose, at least half of the female guests had sported I mention it only to be honest and admit that I of touchy on that subject. ITolfe, who had already been too close to too many eh that day to suit him, tried to jerk away, but she on. She was the big-boned flat-chested athletic I, and it could have been quite a tussle, with him rig twice as much as her and four times as big
162 Rex Stout
around, if Saul hadn't rescued him by coming in between and prying her loose. That didn't stop her tongue, but Wolfe ignored it and came on toward me.
"Has Dr. Vollmer come?"
"Yes, sir."
The executive vice-president emerged from the office, talking. "Mr. Wolfe, my name is Homer N. Carlisle and I insist--"
"Shut up," Wolfe growled. On the sill of the door to the office, he faced the audience. "Flower lovers," he said with bitter scorn. "You told me, Mr. McNab, a distinguished group of sincere and devoted gardeners. PfuilSaul!"
"Yes, sir."
"Are you armed?"
"Yes, sir."
"Put them all in the dining room and keep them there. Let no one touch anything around this door, especially the knob. Archie, come with me."
He wheeled and entered the office. Following, I used my foot to swing the door nearly shut, leaving no crack but not latching it. When I turned Vollmer was standing, facing Wolfe's scowl.
"Well?" Wolfe demanded.
"Dead," Vollmer told him. "With asphyxiation from strangling sometimes you can do something, but it wasn't even worth trying."
"How long ago?"
"I don't know, but not more than an hour or two. Two hours at the outside, probably less."
Wolfe looked at the thing on the floor, with no change in his scowl, and back at Doc. "You say strangling. Finger marks?"
"No. A constricting band of something with pres Curtains for Three 163
j below the hyoid bone. Not a stiff or narrow band;
liing soft like a strip of cloth--say a scarf." (folfe switched to me. "You didn't notify the po
Jo, sir." I glanced at Vollmer and back. "I need a
n
'. suppose so." He spoke to Doc. "If you will leave a moment? The front room?"
tier hesitated, uncomfortable. "As a doctor
I to a violent death I'd catch hell. Of course I could �
ten go to a corner and cover your ears." i did so. He went to the farthest corner, the angle by the partition of the bathroom, pressed his i to his ears, and stood facing us. | addressed Wolfe with a lowered voice. "I was , and she came in. She was either scared good or ; on a very fine act. Apparently it wasn't an act, Ipow think I should have alerted Saul and Fritz, fcdoesn't matter what I now think. Last October a t named Doris Hatten was killed--strangled--in ent. No one got elected. Remember?"