Рекс Стаут - Gambit

He turned and was on his way, but I stayed put, ready to whirl to the house phone. He just might make a dash for the stairs and the south room, and if I were in the hall it would be ticklish. You can bolt a door on a cop, but you can’t touch him. But he turned right, to the front, and when the sound came of the door closing I stepped to the hall to see that he wasn’t still inside, then returned to my desk, poured coffee, emptying the pot, and took a swallow. Wolfe had his arms folded and his eyes shut. I sat and drank coffee. The morning mail was there on my desk pad, mostly junk stuff as usual, and, when my cup was empty, I started slitting it open.

Wolfe’s voice came, a growl. “You had four hour’s sleep.”

“I did not.” I didn’t turn. “It takes time to make milk toast and eat it. Do you want a report?”

“No.”

I opened an envelope. “Here’s another invitation to become a charter member of the National Foundation for the Control of Crime. Have you any instructions for me regarding crime?”

“I have a question. Can you see Mr. Blount today? Now?”

“I doubt it. No one can visit a man in for murder without bail but his lawyer and members of his immediate family, on a permit from the DA’s office. The visiting hours are from six to eight P.M. He’s your client, but you’re not a lawyer. We can ask the DA’s office for an exception and get turned down. Cramer might fix it as a special personal favor.”

“Pfui.”

“Check.” I opened another envelope and removed the contents. “Weniger has a fresh batch of ready-mixed Berrichon cheese which is incredibly delicious. When we found Kalmus last night Sally’s first idea was to go home to mother. Are you sure she’s in her room?”

“No.”

I turned. “No?”

“Fritz took a breakfast tray to her, and Dr. Vollmer came and saw her shortly before ten o’clock. I was in the plant rooms as usual, and he spoke to me on the house phone.”

“She could have walked downstairs and on out.”

“Yes. Go and see.”

I swiveled, rose, and headed for the hall. Naturally he was boiling, since she had given him a bum steer on Kalmus, but the one sure thing was that we had to reach Blount, and we had a member of his immediate family right there. Or we had had. On my way down I had noticed that her door was closed and, mounting two steps at a time, I found that it still was. I was so sure she had blown that my hand went to the knob without knocking, but I told it no, and it swerved and rapped, somewhat louder than necessary; and her voice came immediately: “Who is it?”, and I opened the door and entered.

She was standing over by a window, and even with the light at her back, it was apparent from a glance that she was twenty years older. Since Vollmer had dosed her she must have slept, but she looked a lot worse than I felt with my measly three hours. She had nothing to say, just stood facing me as I approached. I stopped at two arms’ length, eyed her, shook my head, and said, “If you’ll take some friendly advice, don’t look in a mirror. What the hell. You were wrong about him, but you didn’t kill him. Fritz and I can give you an air-tight alibi. Inspector Cramer called and one of the things he wanted was to see you, but Mr. Wolfe said no. When one of them does see you, you can come clean with why we went there last night — to look for something that might put it on Kalmus — but when they ask why we suspected him, as they will, just say you don’t know, they’ll have to ask Mr. Wolfe or me. I came to tell you that and also to see if you were still here. I thought you might have cleared out, gone home. I’m going on talking because it may buck you up to hear the manly voice of one who is still with you all the way in spite of your bobble on Kalmus. If and when you wish to speak raise your hand. Speaking for myself, with only a professional interest, not personal, the silver lining makes up for the cloud. Cramer realizes that if whoever killed Jerin also killed Kalmus, and that’s better than even money, he’s got the wrong man in the coop. He’ll hate to let go, and so will the DA, but your father isn’t just riffraff. A suit by him for false arrest would be a lulu. Do you want to say something or shall I go on?”

“Archie,” she said.

I nodded. “That’s me. That’s a good start. You’re Sally Blount. Lunch in an hour and a half.”

“What will... what am I going to do?”

“Snap out of it, of course. You’ve had a hell of a jolt, and at least you’re on your feet, which is something. Fix your hair and get some lipstick on before lunch. I think it very likely that Mr. Wolfe will ask you to go and see your father this afternoon. A note written by him to Nero Wolfe, engaging his services, was found in Kalmus’s pocket, and naturally we want—”

The house phone buzzed. In that room it was on a table in a corner, and I went and got it and said, “Me.”

Wolfe’s voice: “I’m in the kitchen. Is she there?”

“Yes. The worse for wear, but she’s here.”

She was standing there staring at me.

“Her mother is in the office and wishes to see her. Fritz will bring her up.”

“Hold it!” I took two seconds. “No. I’ll bring her down. Take it from your expert on females, that’s better. I’ll explain why some day when you have an hour to spare.”

“I would prefer—”

“Sure you would. That’s the only chair you really like. A little hardship will be good for you.”

I hung up and turned. I considered leading up to it, decided not to bother, and said, “Your mother’s downstairs and wants to see you. Lipstick?”

You never know. She might have collapsed, or screamed, or set her jaw and refused to budge, or anything. What she did was say “All right” and head for the door, and as I followed her out and down the two flights I was reminding myself of the one basic rule for experts on females: confine yourself absolutely to explaining why she did what she has already done because that will save the trouble of explaining why she didn’t do what you said she would. I even forgot to notice the nice neck and the curves into the shoulders.

Mrs. Blount was in the red leather chair. I suppose the tactful thing would have been for me to join Wolfe in the kitchen, but it was I who had spilled the beans at Sally’s request, and I might be able to help with the sweeping up, so I went in part way and stood. Mrs. Blount got up, floated up, and took hold of Sally’s arms. That woman unquestionably had witch in her; when she rose from a chair you got the impression that she had no need of muscles, it was some kind of automation that IBM never heard of. She didn’t say anything, just took Sally’s arms and looked, and damned if I didn’t catch myself wishing I was Sally. They were close, nearly touching in front.

Sally’s chin was up. “I’ll say I’m sorry if you want me to,” she said, “but I won’t say I was wrong. Archie says I was, but I wasn’t. He was in love with you, you must have known it. Lots of men are, you must know they are. Maybe I was wrong not trusting him about father, and if I was I would tell him I was sorry about that, but I can’t now. Do you want me to tell you I’m sorry?”

Mrs. Blount was slowly shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “Of course we’re both sorry.”

“Yes, I suppose we are.”

“Of course. I’m as sorry as you are that you hurt Dan like that. You hurt him terribly.” She let go of Sally’s arms. “About me, men being in love with me, there’s nothing to say. You thought that years ago, you told me so, when you were just a child, and what can I say? You don’t remember what I said then.”

“Oh yes I do. You said love was really love only when it was returned. I never said you returned it. I never thought you did. Not even with Dan Kalmus. And what I did, coming to Nero Wolfe, and leaving that night that had nothing to do with you, that was just for my father.”