“You’re an actor, Mr. Dell?”
His deep-set blue-gray eyes darted right and left. “Am I an actor?” he demanded.
They nodded. Ferris said, “You certainly are.”
“Where were you at eleven o’clock this morning?”
“I was eating an orange.”
“Where?”
“In my room, which is above our heads. I never leave the house before noon. I was reading Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. I always read Sophocles in January.”
“Were you alone?”
“Certainly!”
Stebbins’ head turned right and then left. “Five of you. Are there any others? Any other tenants?” Tammy Baxter said no.
“Have there been any others recently? In the last two weeks?”
Another no.
“Do any of you know of any enemies Hattie Annis had? Anyone who might — where you going?”
That was for me. I was up and moving. I turned to tell him, “To the parlor for something, whistle if you want me,” and proceeded. I did stop in the parlor, for my coat and hat. Opening the front door, and closing it after me, I made no unnecessary noise, not wanting to disturb a police officer in the performance of his duties.
The snow was coming down thicker and the street was white. I was not actually deserting the field of action; it was merely that I had looked at my watch and seen ten minutes past six. Wolfe would be down from the plant rooms, and he would enjoy his beer more if I rang him to say I was being delayed on my errand. Ninth Avenue was closer than Eighth, so I went that way, found a booth in a bar and grill, contributed a dime, and dialed. And got a surprise. Ordinarily Fritz answers the phone when I’m not there, but it was Wolfe’s voice.
“Nero Wolfe’s residence.”
“Me. I’m stuck with—”
“Where are you?”
“Forty-seventh Street. I’ll be—”
“How long will it take you to get here?”
“Seventeen minutes. Why?”
“There’s a man in the front room. Fritz let him in out of the snow. Come at once.”
It wasn’t quite as childish as it sounds. An experience a couple of years back had shown that it was just as well for me to be present when Wolfe talked with a stranger. But I ventured to ask, “What’s his name?”
“Leach. He showed Fritz his credentials. From the Secret Service Division of the Treasury Department.”
“Well. What do you know. I’m on my way.” I hung up, having certainly got my dime’s worth. A T-man.
III
Headed downtown on the crawling bus, I reflected that there was one nice thing, though only one: I hadn’t left the package under the couch in the front room. If what I had heard of T-men was only half true, he would have smelled it. Except for that it was a very foggy prospect. Guessing wouldn’t help any, but there was nothing else to do in the bus, so I considered a dozen guesses and didn’t like any of them. Dismounting at 34th Street and walking the block and a half to the brownstone, I let myself in, put my coat and hat on the rack, and went to the office. Wolfe was standing over by the big globe, studying it, probably picking out a spot for me to be exiled to. He darted a glance at me, grunted, and went back to the globe.
I spoke. “Did he ask for you or me?”
“Both. See what he wants.”
Instead of using the connecting door I went around by the hall and entered from there. He got up from a chair by the window as I appeared — a medium-sized round-shouldered guy who had started going bald. “I’m Archie Goodwin,” I said. “Keep your seat.” I went to the couch and sat. “Sorry you had to wait.”
He took a leather fold from his pocket, flipped it open, and came and held it out for inspection. I gave it a look. His first name was Albert. I nodded. “Right. What can I do for my country?”
“I want to speak with you and Wolfe,” he said. “Both of you.”
“You can start with me. Mr. Wolfe is busy.”
“I’ll wait till he’s free.” He went to the chair and sat.
“It could be an hour. Meanwhile, here we are, and we might as well chat.”
“No. I’ll wait. You can tell Wolfe that I am acquainted with his methods and I don’t approve of them.”
He was the final type. He talked final, looked final, and acted final. If I had told him that Wolfe wouldn’t be free until tomorrow afternoon he would have said, “I’ll wait.” So I said, “Then he’ll have to change them. You should have let him know before. I’ll go tell him.” I went around by the hall again, found Wolfe still studying the globe, and announced, “He’s a mule. Only both of us will do. There are just three alternatives: bounce him, bring him in, or lock him in until he gets hungry enough to leave by a window. He doesn’t approve of your methods.”
“What does he want?”
“Nothing doing. He’s not very big. Bouncing him would be easy.”
“Confound it. Bring him in.”
I went and opened the connecting door and called to him, “You win, Leach. This way.” He came, passing through, stopped in the center of the room to look right and left, went to the red leather chair near the end of Wolfe’s desk, and sat. Wolfe, in no hurry, gave the globe another glance and then moved, detouring around the guest to get to his chair. As I was going to mine Leach spoke:
“If you’re busy, Wolfe, it will save time to tell you that the Secret Service Division of the Treasury Department is not the same as the New York Police Department. I know your record and your reputation. We don’t like fancy tricks and it doesn’t pay to play games with us. I want to make that clear.”
A corner of Wolfe’s mouth twitched. “Your notebook, Archie. Get that down. If you will please repeat it, sir?”
It didn’t faze him. “It was fair and proper to say it,” he stated. “I was referring to your well-known habit of withholding information from the police which they are legally entitled to have. Their reasons for not calling you to account may be sound; I’m not criticizing them. But we will not tolerate any such defiance of your obligations under Federal law.”
“Archie?”
“Yes, sir.” I had my notebook and pen. “I’m getting it.”
“Is this gratuitous, Mr. Leach? Or have you a point?”
“I have a point. I have reason to believe that you are in possession of information regarding a counterfeiting operation — counterfeiting of United States currency. You got the information from a Miss Hattie Annis this morning. I want to know what she told you — everything she told you. I also ask if she showed you any counterfeit money. I also ask if she left any counterfeit money with you, and if so, where is it? I also ask why you have not notified the authorities during the seven hours that have passed since she was here.”
The corner of Wolfe’s mouth twitched again. “I’m afraid your homily and warning were wasted, Mr. Leach. I have never seen a Miss Hattie Annis. Mr. Goodwin told me this morning that a woman of that name was to call to see me at eleven-fifteen o’clock, but she didn’t come. Archie?”
“She came at a quarter to ten,” I told the mule, “just as I was leaving on an errand. She didn’t enter the house. She told me her name and said she wanted to see Nero Wolfe, that she had something in her handbag for which there would be a reward and she would split it with him. She wouldn’t tell me what it was. She said if she took it to the cops they would do the splitting. I told her to come back at a quarter past eleven and I would try to persuade Mr. Wolfe to see her. She said nothing about counterfeiting and she showed me no counterfeit money. She left, and I went on my errand, depositing a check, not counterfeit, at the bank. When Mr. Wolfe came to the office I told him about her and he said he would see her, but she never came. However, that was not the last I heard of her. I learned this afternoon that a woman of that name had been killed by a hit-and-run driver around the corner from here, on Tenth Avenue.”