Rex Stout: The Zero Clue

“That is explicit. Mr. Winslow?”

“No to the whole question. An unqualified no.”

“Well.” Wolfe did not look frustrated. “That would seem to isolate Miss Maturo, but it is not conclusive.” His head turned. “Mr. Cramer. If the person who not only killed Leo Heller but also bombed that hospital is among these six, I’m sure you won’t want to take the slightest risk of losing him. I have a suggestion.”

“I’m listening,” Cramer growled.

“Take them in as material witnesses, and hold them without bail if possible. Starting immediately, collect as many as you can of the former staff of that hospital. There were scores who survived, and other scores who were not on duty at the time. Get all of them if possible, spare no effort, and have them look at these people and say if they have ever seen any of them. Meanwhile, of course, you will be working on Miss Maturo, but you have heard the denials of the other five, and if you get reliable evidence that one of them has lied I’m sure you will need no further suggestion from me. Indeed, if one of them has lied and leaves this room in custody with that lie undeclared, that alone will be half the battle. I’m sorry—”

“Wait a minute.”

All eyes went to one spot. It was Jack Ennis, the inventor. His thin colorless lips were twisted, with one end up, but not in an attempt to smile. The look in his eyes showed that he had no idea of smiling.

“I didn’t tell an exact lie,” he said.

Wolfe’s eyes were slits. “Then an inexact lie, Mr. Ennis?”

“I mean I didn’t visit that hospital as a hospital. And I didn’t have dealings with them, I was just trying to. I wanted them to give my X-ray machine a trial. One of them was willing to, but the other two talked him down.”

“When was this?”

“I was there three times, twice in December and once in January.”

“I thought your X-ray machine had a flaw.”

“It wasn’t perfect, but it would work, and it would have been better than anything they had. I was sure I was going to get it in, because he was for it — his name is Halsey — and I saw him first, and he wanted to try it. But the other two talked him out of it, and one of them was very — he—” He petered out.

Wolfe prodded him. “Very what, Mr. Ennis?”

“He didn’t understand me! He hated me!”

“There are people like that. There are all kinds of people. Have you ever invented a bomb?”

“A bomb?” Ennis’s lips worked, and this time I thought he actually was trying to smile. “Why would I invent a bomb?”

“I don’t know. Inventors invent many things. If you have never tried your hand at a bomb, of course you have never had occasion to get hold of the necessary materials — for instance, explosives. It’s only fair to tell you what I now regard as a reasonable hypothesis: that you placed the bomb in the hospital in revenge for an injury, real or fancied; that included in the data you gave Leo Heller was an item or items which led him to suspect you of that crime; that something he said led you, in turn, to suspect that he suspected; that when you went to his place this morning you went armed, prepared for action if your suspicion was verified; that when you entered the building you recognized Mr. Goodwin as my assistant; that you went up to Heller’s office and asked him if Mr. Goodwin was there for an appointment with him, and his answer heightened or confirmed your suspicion, and you produced the gun; that—”

“Hold it,” Cramer snapped. “I’ll take it from here. Purley, get him out and—”

Purley was a little slow. He was up, but Ennis was up faster and off in a flying dive for Wolfe. I dived too, and got an arm and jerked. He tore loose, but by then a whole squad was there, swarming into him, and since I wasn’t needed I backed off. As I did so someone dived at me, and Susan Maturo was up against me, gripping my lapels.

“Tell me!” she demanded. “Tell me! Was it him?”

I told her promptly and positively, to keep her from ripping my lapels off. “Yes,” I said, in one word.

Two months later a jury of eight men and four women agreed with me.