I nodded. “Oh, she’s bright. I’m proud of her.”
He returned to her. “Other points are clarified by the disclosure of your status, but they are minor. I have a proposal to make. Mr. Goodwin and I are in a pickle. We want the murderer to be exposed, apprehended, tried, and convicted; but the package of bogus money will be an essential item of evidence, and we have it but can’t produce it without embarrassment at the least and substantial penalty at the worst. You, on the other hand, have much to gain by producing it. It will more than compensate for your mishap in arranging for Mr. Leach to stub his toe. It will be a leaf for your garland. I propose to make the package available to you. Do you want it?”
“Of course I want it.” She didn’t sound enthusiastic. “And of course this is some very fancy trick. What will be in it this time?”
Wolfe shook his head. “No trick. I am offering to trade. We will give you the package Miss Annis left with Mr. Goodwin, intact, in a manner uncompromising for us but satisfactory to you, if you will answer some questions; and you will not be quoted. This is in good faith, madam.”
“What are the questions?”
“I repeat, you will not be quoted. I want information for my own use, not testimony for a tribunal. During the three weeks you have lived in that house have you searched the premises?”
She pinched her lips with her teeth. She looked at me. “What is this, Mr. Goodwin? Another trap?”
“No,” I said, “this is straight.”
“Is it being recorded?”
“No. When Mr. Wolfe says in good faith he means it, and so do I. He’s offering a deal and we’re not double-dealers.”
She looked at Wolfe. “All right. Yes, I have.”
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
“No. The first thing was to find out if it was being made there, and it wasn’t. Then to find out where he got it.”
“Did you?”
“No. I think I would have pretty soon — if this hadn’t happened.”
“Did you know who he was when you went there?”
“I knew—” She stopped. She decided to finish it. “I knew a certain person who lived there had passed some. That’s all I’m going to tell you unless you tell me something. You said you would give me the package in a manner satisfactory to me. You might think it was satisfactory but I wouldn’t. You can’t just hand it to me and expect me not to tell where I got it.”
“No indeed, but indulge me. I’ll tell you in a moment. Have you searched that house thoroughly?”
“Well... I made sure that there was no equipment anywhere to make counterfeit money. I wasn’t looking for just a few bills. There would have been no point in that.”
“When you learned that Miss Annis had found something she was going to bring to me, and you suspected what it was, or she told you what it was, did you try to find it? Did you search her room?”
“No. She only told me about it yesterday morning just before she left, and she showed me the package, but she wouldn’t say what was in it.”
“Did she tell you where she had found it?”
She thought that one over. Finally she said, “Yes.”
“Did you ever search her room?”
“I did once, the first week, looking for equipment.”
“Very well.” Wolfe rested his elbows on the chair arms and laced his fingers. “This will be the procedure. You will stay here with me. You will give your house key to Mr. Goodwin. He will go and get the package, go to the house and to Miss Annis’ room, and choose a place to hide the package. He will choose with care, since a policeman was in that room last evening. He will then phone here, you will go to the house and join him, you will search the room together, and you will find the package. That should be satisfactory. You understand, of course, that if you report this conversation or any part of it we’ll deny it in toto. You will have been impelled by your animus against Mr. Goodwin because of the humiliation he subjected you to. Two against one.”
She was looking doubtful. “I am capable of good faith too, Mr. Wolfe. But for the record, she brought the package and gave it to Mr. Goodwin. How did it get to her room?”
“She didn’t give it to Mr. Goodwin. After she spoke with you she decided not to bring it; or after speaking with Mr. Goodwin she decided not to show it to me, merely to tell me about it, went home and left it there, and returned to this neighborhood. There was plenty of time. Neither of those suppositions can be disproved. I will add that this offer is not made under pressure of desperation. If you decline it, no one will ever see that package again. That will make my job more difficult but by no means impossible. If you accept it, and do not report this discussion, you will betray no trust. On the contrary, your recovery of the package will be a coup. I have more questions to ask, but if you accept the offer, Mr. Goodwin can go now.”
“What questions?”
“A few minor ones and one major one. The major one, naturally, is the name of the murderer.”
“I don’t know it.”
“Pfui. That’s a quibble. The name of the person living in that house who had passed counterfeit money. What is it?”
She shook her head. “No,” she said emphatically. “Not that. No.”
Wolfe grunted. “You prefer to preserve him to lead you to your quarry. So does Mr. Leach; he felt bound to give the police a hint, but not the name. I intend to press the point, but Mr. Goodwin might as well go. — Archie?”
I got up and went to her. “The key, please?”
She was and she wasn’t. The glamorous she-weasel tilted her adorable, maybe, face up to me, presumably to see if I was fit to be trusted. I made my face the picture of integrity, virtue, and honor. Apparently that did it, for she opened her bag, took out a key fold, removed one of the keys, and handed it to me.
“You’ll get it back,” I said, “see you later,” and went.
VII
There can be any number of reasons for making sure that you’re not being tailed or shaking it off if you have one, but on the whole I don’t know of a better one than that you prefer not to have company when you are on your way to pick up nine grand in phony lettuce. It took me two blocks to learn that unquestionably I had company, and two more to decide that it was Homicide, not Secret Service. That was cockeyed. I was risking, if not my life, at least my liberty and pursuit of happiness, to give Homicide first call on a murderer, and they were dogging me. It took me an extra ten minutes to make it to the Churchill, since I had to be absolutely certain that I had lost him.
Having got the envelope with the key at the manager’s office, I didn’t relax en route to Grand Central; and having got the package from the locker, I changed my attitude. Now, if I got a bad break and was spotted, I no longer minded being followed to my destination; I merely didn’t want to be stopped. Getting a taxi at the 42nd Street entrance, I told the driver I was in a hurry two dollars’ worth, and he made it to 47th and Eighth Avenue in seven minutes. From there I walked and, without bothering to reconnoiter, used the borrowed key and entered. No one was visible or audible. I lost no time mounting a flight, getting into Hattie Annis’ room, and shutting the door. I opened the bottom drawer of her desk, took the package from my pocket and shoved it underneath some papers, closed the drawer, and breathed. Of course I would have to do better than that, but at least it wasn’t on me. As I was dropping my coat on a chair there was a knock at the door, and I called, “Come in!”
It was Noel Ferris, with a hat on and a coat over his arm. He came in a couple of steps. “I thought I heard someone,” he drawled. “Back again? Who let you in?”
“I just say open sesame.”