“Tomorrow morning.”
“Agreed.”
“And don’t try sneaking out of the country.”
When they were alone, Gloria said, “Nicky, you haven’t been honest with me.”
“Let’s wait till this is over. Then I promise to tell you everything.”
In the morning Nick went to Felix Poland’s office. He was there shortly after ten o’clock, stopping only long enough to cash Poland’s check and have the money converted into American dollars for transfer to his New York bank. The film distribution office occupied two floors of one of London’s newer buildings. He found Poland on the lower floor, checking the ad layouts for a new American movie about to open in Leicester Square. The stout man seemed annoyed to see him again and sent his secretary scurrying from the office.
“Our business was concluded last night, Velvet. You have no reason to come here.”
Nick glanced around the office, taking in the expensive wood paneling and the little bar where some decanters stood. That would have been where Rena Poland poured her last glass of sherry. “I’m in a bit of difficulty,” Nick began. “Eric Noble caught me in the act, so to speak. He threatens to have me arrested if you institute that lawsuit.”
Felix Poland folded his hands before him on the desk. “That’s a danger in your trade, I suppose. I can hardly come to your aid.”
“Noble thinks you really did poison your wife.”
“Would I be foolish enough to drag this whole thing into court if I had?”
“A clever man would. Or a man who thought the law couldn’t touch him.”
“Scotland Yard investigated the case and cleared me without question. No one — not Hope Trennis or Eric Noble or Nick Velvet — can say differently. If anyone does, I’ll sue each one for a million pounds. Is that clear?”
“Certainly. But I was wondering about the exact circumstances of your wife’s death.”
Poland jabbed impatiently at the call button on his desk. When his dark-haired secretary appeared he told her, “Run through your testimony about my wife’s death, will you, Carol? Mr. Velvet here has a great curiosity.”
She glanced at Nick, perhaps wondering if he was from the police, and began. “Your wife arrived just before three, as you were leaving for your meeting upstairs. She said she’d wait in your office. I was in the outer office with two other girls, stuffing envelopes for a mailing to exhibitors. We all remember your leaving the outer office and walking to the elevator just as the clock chimed three. About five minutes later we heard a gasp or cry from in here, and we all ran in. Mrs. Poland was on the floor, apparently in great pain. I phoned a doctor on one of the lower floors and then I phoned you in the upstairs conference room. But she was dead by the time the doctor and you got here.”
“The poison was in her sherry?” Nick asked.
Carol nodded. “She must have put it there herself. I’d just washed all the glasses and filled the decanter from a new bottle. There was no poison anywhere but in her glass.”
“And in Mrs. Poland,” Nick added.
“Well, yes.”
“Satisfied?” Poland asked Nick.
“You might have left a glass of sherry already poured for her.”
“But I didn’t. Carol and the other girls were in and out of the office, putting together their mailing. They verified that the glasses were all empty when I left.”
“The decanter could have been poisoned, and a second unpoisoned one substituted later.”
“Again — no. Neither Carol nor I nor anyone else was alone in that office after the poisoning. And the police took the decanter with them at once. There was no second decanter, or hidden bottle.”
“Can I go now?” Carol asked, looking uncomfortable. “I’ve been over this so many times before.”
Felix Poland nodded. When they were alone once more he asked, “Satisfied, Velvet?”
“I suppose I have to be.”
“Rena was upset because I wanted a divorce. I’ve never denied that. She came here as I was leaving for a meeting, went into my private office, poured herself some sherry, and dosed it with a fast-acting poison. I suppose the idea of killing herself in my office appealed to her.”
The buzzer sounded and Carol’s voice was heard again. “The gentlemen from Thames Television are here for their eleven o’clock meeting.”
“I’ll be with them in a moment,” Poland said. He stood up. “You can go out this way, Velvet. You do understand, don’t you? Our business association is ended. I suggest you take the next plane home.”
As the wall clock chimed the hour Nick found himself shuffled quickly out a rear door. He stood for a moment in the corridor, then sighed and headed for the elevator. It was time for a return visit to Hope Trennis’ townhouse.
Though it was nearly noon when he arrived, the actress received him in her dressing gown. The servants from the previous evening were still busy cleaning up after the party, polishing silverware and vacuuming the carpets. “An unexpected pleasure, Mr. Velvet,” Hope Trennis said. “Please sit down. Eric has been in touch with me, of course. You were very unlucky to be caught.”
Nick smiled. “I wasn’t caught, only detected. There’s a difference. By this time tomorrow I’ll be on a plane back to the States.”
Her expression hardened at his words. “I thought Eric made your position quite clear. Have you persuaded Felix Poland to abandon his threatened lawsuit?”
“No.”
“Then I’m afraid you’ll be charged with burglary, Mr. Velvet.”
“Of what — a day-old newspaper?”
“Eric found you with your hand in my safe.”
Nick nodded. “Because your film ran four minutes shorter on British television. A few minutes can make a big difference.”
“It can for you, Mr. Velvet. I have many friends at Scotland Yard.”
“I’m glad to hear that, because I want you to go to them.”
“With the charges against you?”
“No — with new evidence against Felix Poland in the death of his wife. Your perfect defense is to go on the offensive. Prove that he poisoned his wife and he won’t be in the mood to sue you for anything.”
“And how do I go about doing that?”
“As I pointed out, a few minutes can make a big difference — the few minutes less your film ran on British television, or the few minutes’ difference between two clocks. I haven’t checked the actual testimony covering the time of Rena Poland’s poisoning, but if Scotland Yard looks at it again, they’ll find an important discrepancy.
“According to his secretary, Felix Poland left his office as the clock was chiming three. And Eric Noble told me Poland walked into the meeting on the floor above as the clock was chiming three. He could hardly have gone up on the elevator and walked into the other office in a matter of two or three seconds. No, one of those clocks had to be a couple of minutes wrong. And it was most likely Poland’s, since Noble remembers checking his watch against the conference-room clock.
“But if Poland’s office clock was just a couple of minutes fast it demolishes his alibi. He could have left his office, headed toward the elevator, and then turned and reentered his private office through the rear door down the hall. Using the pretext that he’d forgotten something, he could have said a few words to his wife, poured her a glass of sherry, and gone back out the same rear door. Then up to the next floor in the elevator. Total elapsed time, two or three minutes.”
“It could have been that way,” Hope said, her eyes alight.