Bauer swallowed hard. “Yes, yes, it is.”
“How are these people drawn to the Elmont?”
Now Bauer was plenty alert all right, but jumpy as well. “They must have heard about it from others who have come. It is a good place to live.”
“Would you say, Mr. Bauer, that many, or even most, of these people residing in the Elmont are displaced persons?”
He nodded.
“Do they possess the proper identification that entitles them to be in this country?”
I almost felt sorry for the skinny man in his ill-fitting clothes, but not quite. He looked at Halliwell on his left and McCready on his right as if expecting help in answering. Neither of them stirred.
“It really is not my job to check the identification of tenants,” Bauer said.
“Whose job is it, sir?”
“That would be the company that manages the building,” Bauer replied as beads of perspiration sprouted on his freckled forehead and he gulped water from his glass.
“Do they indeed do some checking?”
“I don’t know what has been done by them before people who are seeking rooms come to me.”
“What is the name of the company that manages the Elmont?” Wolfe demanded.
“Uh... Merritt and Day Properties, over in... Jersey City,” the super said. Wolfe turned to me with a beckoning look. I got up and bent down next to him as he whispered instructions in my ear. I nodded, left the room, and sought a pay phone.
When I returned after no more than ten minutes, Wolfe was addressing Douglas Halliwell. “...and do you carry passengers on your ship, sir?”
“No, we are strictly a freight operation.”
“It has been reported that persons have been seen debarking from your ships who do not appear to resemble either crew members or longshoremen.”
“Reported by who?” Halliwell demanded.
“That is immaterial, sir.”
“Yeah? Well, I’d like someone try proving that we’re carrying passengers.”
Wolfe ignored the remark, turning to me with a questioning expression. I got up and handed him a note I had written after my phone call. I received a glare from Cramer, as if to remind me that tonight I was an onlooker and nothing more. I glared back.
Chapter 34
After reading what I had handed him, Wolfe gulped his glass of water, made a face, and turned his attention back to the Elmont building superintendent. “Mr. Bauer, are you acquainted with Wesley Merritt, of Merritt and Day Properties?”
“Yes, sir,” he said.
“Would you consider him to be a trustworthy individual?”
Erwin Bauer tensed. “Uh... yes, of course he is.”
“Mr. Merritt appears to be not only trustworthy, but hard-working as well. He was still in his office at this late hour when my associate, Mr. Goodwin, talked to him by telephone a few minutes ago. He asked Mr. Merritt whose responsibility it is to verify the identification papers of persons who seek rooms in the Elmont. Would you like to hear his response?”
Bauer went from tensing to squirming. “I...”
When nothing more came from the super’s lips, Wolfe read my handwriting aloud. “As we trust him implicitly, we leave it to Erwin Bauer to evaluate the people who want to live in the Elmont. We have told him, of course, that if he has any question at all about a request from a potential lodger, he should talk either to me or to my partner, Lloyd Day. I can’t think of a single incident where he has felt the need to call us about such a request. Has someone complained about Erwin?”
Wolfe set the paper down on the table and addressed Bauer. “Mr. Goodwin told Mr. Merritt that he knew of no complaints about you, if that sets your mind at ease. I have a complaint, however, as seems patently obvious. You are a fabricator — or do you prefer liar? You apparently are the sole gatekeeper at the Elmont, the one individual who decides on the makeup of the building. Or do you have assistance in the selection process?”
Both McCready and Halliwell were looking daggers at the little man, who seemed to be shrinking in his chair. “Come, come, sir,” Wolfe said to Bauer. “You have been caught out. I am confident that when — and it now is only a matter of time — the authorities take a close look at the backgrounds of the Elmont residents, you will be called to account as the individual who admitted them. The question I pose to you: Will you run yourself through with a sword and, to use a phrase Mr. Goodwin likes, ‘take the fall,’ or will you implicate others to lessen your own punishment? The choice becomes yours.”
Bauer seemed to be in a daze. He looked down and kept shaking his head. It was obvious to me that the man was nearing a breaking point. For a half-minute, although it seemed longer, no one in the room said a word.
Finally, Bauer broke the silence, speaking hesitantly and hoarsely. The super turned toward Halliwell and said, “He brings people to me and tells me to give them apartments.” Halliwell grimaced and started to rise, but one of Purley Stebbins’s large hands gripped his shoulder and pushed him back down.
“How would you describe the individuals Mr. Halliwell presents to you?” Wolfe asked.
“They are mostly foreign men.”
“From what countries, Mr. Bauer?”
“They seem to be German, and maybe Austrian or Dutch, I cannot tell.”
“Did you ask to see any identification?”
“No, I was told that was not necessary.”
“Told by whom?”
“Mr. Halliwell.”
Wolfe addressed the longshoreman. “Would you like to explain your actions?”
“I don’t have any idea what he’s talking about,” Halliwell said, passing a hand over his crew cut. “I barely know the man.”
Wolfe scowled. “Let us now turn to this gentleman,” he said, directing his attention to William Hartz, who had been ignored up to now. “Sir, you have been charged with assault and the attempted murder of my colleague Mr. Goodwin. Do you have anything to say?”
Hartz, who was at least six feet tall but looked like he had shrunk within his prison garb, shook his head.
“We’re told that he has been eating very little,” Cramer put in.
“I understand you have been informed that you are entitled to legal counsel but as yet have refused it. Is that correct?” Wolfe asked. Hartz said nothing.
“Very well. Perhaps you feel the silent treatment and a hunger strike are your best approaches to your situation. I can assure you they will not help. If you think you are aiding anyone in this room by your silence, you are badly mistaken. If anything, your cause will be harmed by your actions.”
When Hartz remained silent, Wolfe sighed. “You were shot in the leg after the assault upon Mr. Goodwin here. Has your wound healed?”
Hartz actually nodded. “Well, that is something,” Wolfe said. “You had an accomplice in that attack, and he is the one who delivered the blow to my associate, not you. Yet you are the one who is in jail. That seems hardly fair to you, does it?”
The man blinked and pursed his lips. I could see that Wolfe was getting to Hartz, and he was not about to let up. “You may think you are being a loyal friend by protecting your colleague, and whomever else was directing your actions, Mr. Hartz. But I assure you that your loyalty will not be returned or rewarded in any way whatever. If you remain silent, your punishment will be greater than if you cooperate with the police and tell them who has been giving you orders. Those people very likely are laughing at you right now.”
“I do not... like... being laughed at,” Hartz said in heavily accented English.
“Nor should you,” Wolfe replied as Cramer and Stebbins both showed surprise at words coming out of this clam. “Who directed you to attack Mr. Goodwin?”
Hartz stiffened, and I figured, here we go again, the guy is going to get lockjaw, to use Cramer’s word. But damned if he didn’t turn and point a finger at Liam McCready, who recoiled as if hit with a cattle prod. “What in the name of the Lord are you talking about!” the barkeep shouted at Hartz.