Rex Stout - Over My Dead Body

I got it from the safe and gave it to him.

"Thank you. Go up there with her. You will see Miss Tormic. The assumption, from this document, is that she has the right to bear my name. If so, I reject the possibility that she stole diamonds from a man's coat. Start from that."

"She says she wants the document back."

"I'll keep it for the present. Apparently you will encounter a single yes and a single no in contradiction. Neglect nothing and no one. Nikola Miltan himself is from the peninsula, South Serbia, old Macedonia. Look at Miss Tormic and talk to her. Your first concern is the rumpus about the diamonds. Your second is that paper which Miss Lovchen hid in my book. If you can't resolve the contradiction about the diamonds and Mr Driscoll insists on the police, bring him here to me."

"Oh, sure. How and in how many pieces?"

"Bring him. You're good at that."

"Much obliged, ever so much. But the fact is I guess you'd better pay me off. I'm resigning as of this moment."

"Resigning from what?"

"You. My job."

"Rubbish."

"No, boss, really. You told the G-man you have never married. Yet you have a daughter. Well-" I shrugged. "I'm not a prude, but there are limits-"

"Don't jabber. Go on up there. She was an orphan and I adopted her."

I nodded sceptically. "That's a good trick, but pretty transparent. What do you think my mother would say-" But I saw his whole face tighten and knew I was getting close to out-of-bounds, so I asked casually, "That all?"

"That's all."

I got my hat and coat from the hall, and the immigrant princess from the parlour, and went out to the roadster, parked at the kerb. As I shifted into high, headed for Park Avenue, I reflected that Wolfe was prepared to go to almost any length to protect his family, since he was at that moment spending twenty bucks on a transatlantic phone call to London, though I didn't see how that was going to help things any.

Up to a certain point, the five o'clock gathering at Nikola Miltan's studio for some old-fashioned fun with the game of diamonds, diamonds, who's got the diamonds? was a howling farce. Thereafter, I admit, it took on a different aspect.

The swank of the place was more real than apparent. There was nothing shabby about it, but it didn't give you an impression of being dolled up to impress the customers. I trailed around after Carla in her effort to locate Neya, and so got a look. It was one of the old four-storey houses. On the ground floor were a reception-room and a large office and a couple of small ones; one flight up, a long hall with a grey carpet, with doors leading into the private rooms for dancing lessons; two flights, the salle d'armes, with two medium-sized rooms, one big one, and the showers and locker rooms; and at the top, living-quarters for Miltan and his wife. Those I didn't see, then. Neya was finally flushed in the women's locker room. Carla brought her out to where I was waiting in the hall and introduced me, and we shook hands. Neya Tormic said:

"Can you do something about this awful thing, Mr Goodwin? The awful lie that man tells? Can you? You must! I was hoping that Nero Wolfe. my father. "

Her voice had a foreign purr in it, but she pronounced words a little better than Carla. God knows she didn't look anything like Nero Wolfe, but of course a girl that looked like him would be something that you would either pass up entirely or pay a dime to look at in a side show. And then-um-he had adopted her. Her eyes were as black as Carla's and she was about the same height, an inch over medium, but her chin, in fact her whole face, went more to a point, and the whole idea of her, the way she talked and stood and looked at you, was a queer combination of come-hither and don't-touch-me. Having known her father a long while, I suppose I gave her the preliminary once-over with more interest than any other female I had ever met, and my first verdict was that she had real quality both of mind and of matter, but that a definite judgement would have to wait for further analysis. She noticed me taking in her costume, a green robe, belted and carelessly closed in front, showing underneath a white canvas blouse and slacks, with gym shoes and rolled-up socks.

"I was giving a lesson," she said. "Miltan wanted me to. He doesn't want any fuss. Nobody does but that fool Driscoll. A liar like that-we would know how to deal with him in my country. Carla tells me that he-that my father has been told about me, and of course you have too. I do not wish anyone else to know. Why didn't he come?"

"Nero Wolfe? Bad case of pernicious inertia. He never goes anywhere any time for anybody "

"I am his adopted daughter."

"So I understand. And you've been here in New York a couple of months and his address is in the phone book "

"He abandoned me. I was taught to hate him. I had no wish-"

"Until you got into trouble. I got the impression that you abandoned him at the age of three. But let's skip that, I was sent here to keep you out of jail and time's short. You look intelligent enough to know that I've got to have the truth and all of it. What were you doing with Driscoll's coat?"

Her chin went up and her eyes withered me. "Nothing. I didn't touch his coat."

"What were you doing in the men's locker room?"

"I wasn't there."

"Is there any other girl around that looks like you?"

"No. Not enough-no."

"Not enough for Driscoll to see her and think she was you?"

"No."

"What were you doing yesterday afternoon at the time Driscoll says he saw you with his coat?"

"I was giving Mr Ludlow a lesson."

"Fencing?"

"Yes, йpйe."

"In the large room?"

"No, the small one at the end."

"Who is Mr Ludlow?"

"He is a man who comes to take lessons with the йpйe."

"Are you sure you were with him at the time Driscoll says he saw you frisking the coat?"

"Yes. Mr Driscoll went to Miltan at twenty minutes to five. He said it had taken about fifteen minutes to dress. I began the lesson with Mr Ludlow at four o'clock, and we were still there when Miltan sent for me."

"And you didn't leave that room during that time?"

"No, I did not."

Carla Lovchen put in, "But Neya! Do you forget that Belinda Reade says she saw you outside, in the hall, a little before half past four?"

"She lies," Neya said calmly.

"But the man that was with her saw you too!"

"He also lies."

My God, I thought, it's a good thing Wolfe isn't here to see his daughter put on an exhibition like this. It looked very much as if the family reunion would take place in jail.

"How about Ludlow?" I demanded. "Does he lie too?"

She hesitated, her brow wrinkling, and before she got her answer ready another voice broke in. It was a male voice, and its owner had appeared from around the corner which led to the stairs. He was about my age and size, with a good pair of light-coloured eyes, and a grey suit of a distinctive weave hung on him in a way that made it obvious the fit had not been managed by waving a piece of chalk at a stock job.

"I was looking for you." He came up to us, with a conventional smile. "Miltan wants you in the office. This ridiculous affair."

Carla Lovchen said, "Mr Ludlow, this is Mr Goodwin."

We shook, and I met his eyes and liked them, not on account of any candour or friendliness, but because they showed sense.

I inquired, "Ludlow?"

"Right. Percy Ludlow."

"Miss Tormic gave you a fencing lesson yesterday afternoon?"

"That's right."

"Then you're the man I want to see. Was she with you continuously from four o'clock till half past?"

His brow went up and he smiled. "Well, really. All I know about you is that your name is Goodwin."

"I represent Miss Tormic. She has engaged Nero Wolfe. I'm his assistant."