Rex Stout - Alphabet Hicks

“We’ll see,” Dundee sputtered angrily. “I’ll stay here till my lawyer comes. I want to use the phone again.”

“Certainly. This one?”

“I’ll go upstairs.”

“One more question before you go. About Hicks. You said you sent him here yesterday on confidential business. Did you send him here today on the same business?”

“Hicks?” Dundee turned and saw him. “No!” he blurted, and tramped out.

Hicks went to a chair near the table, sat down, and observed, “When he’s mad he’s mad.”

Corbett made no reply. He offered no hand and was obviously in no condition to make a pretense of geniality. He looked at Hicks as if he had never seen him before, chewed at his lip, and said nothing.

Manny Beck snarled savagely, “Where have you been?”

“My goodness,” Hicks protested, “I seem to have come to the wrong place.”

“Where’ve you been?”

“Born in Missouri. Boyhood on a farm. Harvard. Graduated law school 1932— Where have I been when?”

“Since you left the courthouse this afternoon.”

“New York.”

“Where in New York?”

“Now listen. Name a time and I’ll name a place.”

“Six thirty.”

“Joyce’s restaurant on 41st Street, eating baked oysters. The waiter and the hatcheck girl will sign it. I left there a little before seven and drove straight here.”

Beck grunted and glared. Corbett’s baby mouth looked as if he intended to whistle, but instead he spoke:

“You missed out with your trio on the alibi today. Only two of you made it.”

“Two is better than one,” Hicks said sententiously. “Provided they jibe.”

“They jibe all right. Your two pals. Have you discussed it with them?”

“As I told you, I just got here.”

“I thought you might have had a phone call at that restaurant, say a little after six thirty. Maybe the waiter would sign that too. I thought perhaps you left just after getting a phone call.”

“Nope. No phone call.”

“What did you come out here for?”

“I was under the impression I came on Dundee’s business, but he says not. So I guess I’m investigating a murder. I’m finding out who killed Martha Cooper.”

Manny Beck grunted. Corbett said sarcastically, “That’s kind of you.”

“Not at all. I’m interested.”

“A few hours ago you were trying to trade in her husband.”

“Yes, I know. Of course that’s out, now that you’ve got him in custody. He can’t very well slip away again if he’s dead.”

“Who told you he’s dead?”

“A gentleman out front informed me. I’ll be glad to discuss it with you if you’ll tell me the details. All I know is that it happened at the laboratory, and he was shot. So naturally you have the advantage of me.”

“That’s a goddam shame!” Beck rasped. “I swear to God, Ralph—”

“Be quiet,” Corbett admonished him. “Look here, Hicks. At the moment I have no way of tightening any screws on you. Being a very smart man, you know that. You also know that while I am not as smart as you are, I am not half-witted. Let me ask you a question. Do you know what happened here about two hours ago?”

“No.”

“No one phoned you about it?”

“No.”

“For the present I’ll accept that. About a quarter to six Brager was in the office at the laboratory building when the door opened and Cooper walked in. This is what Brager says. Cooper sat down and started to talk. He was rambling, incoherent. He talked about his wife, and his life being ruined, and he didn’t kill her but he was going to find out who did, that was all he wanted to live for. He went on and on. When Brager went to the telephone Cooper wouldn’t let him use it. Finally Cooper started on the subject of his sister-in-law, Heather Gladd. He thought Heather knew something about her sister’s death that she would tell him if he got a chance to talk with her, and that was what he had come for. He was so earnest about it that Brager believed him and took pity on him. So Brager says.”

Hicks nodded. “I wouldn’t quote you on it.”

“Right. Brager went to the house and found Heather in the kitchen with Mrs. Powell and Dundee. Corroborated. He got her away by a pretext, and on the way to the laboratory told her about Cooper wanting to see her. When they got there Cooper wasn’t in the office where Brager had left him. Brager looked in the laboratory. No Cooper. He returned to the office and they were discussing the situation when there was the sound of a shot. Right in their ears. That’s the way Heather put it. Windows were open. Brager went to the window and then outdoors, and Heather followed him. Cooper was lying on the west side of the building, two feet from the wall, dead. Brager thought he heard someone moving in the woods, but saw no one, and the sound stopped. He went in the office and phoned. They both stayed right there until the police arrived. Bullet hole in Cooper’s right temple. No powder burns. No weapon found.”

Hicks was frowning. “Does Miss Gladd confirm all that?”

Corbett nodded. “To a T. She is a charming girl. A very beautiful girl.”

“Are you talking to me?”

“Well.” Corbett looked at Manny Beck and back at Hicks again. A little sound which could have been called a chuckle escaped from him. “God knows I don’t blame you for having good eyes and a warm heart. Remember you haven’t confided in me. For instance, you may or may not know that Cooper was madly in love with the younger sister before he married — and when he married — the older one.”

“I wasn’t acquainted with them.”

“Neither was I. But naturally we’ve been checking up. You know how these things are. A lot of ideas come to you, most of them foolish, but you keep trying. First we were interested in Cooper, then when he was out, one idea we got was about Heather. Cooper came out here to see her Monday evening. In a jealous scrap with her sister, you know? In a rage, temper? She could easily have swung that candlestick.”

“I get it.” Hicks smiled at him. “I alibied her because she has a pretty face and nice legs. I sure go cheap. What about Brager?”

“There is reason to believe that he is by no means immune to female charms. And she has been living right here in the house with him for over a year.”

Uh-huh, Hicks thought, you’ve been looking under blotters too. He said, “Of course I ought to be indignant, but I’ll save it. What about Cooper, then? I’ll bet she shot him. Sure she did, and Brager’s got her alibied for that too. That puts him one up on me.”

“Horsing around,” Manny Beck growled. “You sure can take it, Ralph.”

Hicks gestured in irritation. “I’ll tell you, Corbett. In plain words. You’re funny and you’re slick and you’re dirty. You don’t any more believe that junk than I do.”

Corbett chuckled. “Time for me to be indignant. I said it was just an idea. For instance, what if Cooper knew she had killed her sister, and she had to shut him up? You don’t like it?”

“I wouldn’t even say that. I don’t even not like it.” Hicks stood up. “So with your permission—”

“Wait a minute. Sit down.”

Hicks sat down.

Corbett rested his elbows on the table, rubbed his palms together, and cocked his head on one side. The expression on his face was apparently intended to be judicial. Manny Beck, with his eyes closed, was slowly shaking his head right and left, as if to indicate that the immediate external world, both of sight and of sound, was too painful to be borne.

“I’ll put it to you this way,” Corbett said. “There is no question about about your being in possession of information about these people directly or indirectly relevant to these murders. Of course you are. I want it. The people of the State of New York want it, through me. How are they going to get it? By coercing or threatening you? No. Not you. For two reasons among others: you’re bullheaded, and you don’t like me. Forget about me. You’re dealing with the people of the State of New York. You know more about it than I do, but it’s quite possible that if you had come clean yesterday or this afternoon, Cooper would still be alive. I appeal to you. There’s a murderer loose. The chances are twenty to one that we’ll get him. Or her. I appeal to you. You ought to help us. If you do, we’ll get him quicker, that’s all and I give you my word here and now that we’ll do everything possible to protect the interests and private secrets of any innocent person. We’ll stretch that point as far as it will go.”