Rex Stout - Death of a Dude

Wolfe nodded. "Naturally you would like to know, and there are many officers of the law who wouldn't have bothered to ask. Did Mr Veale mention any names?"

"Only yours-and Mr Goodwin's."

"Then I can't fully match your frankness. 'Pressure' is probably too strong a word. I have no connections in Montana-political or professional or personal-none whatever; but a man I know in New York has. A man who is well disposed to me. Since Mr Veale didn't name him, I can't, but I know him to be a man of probity and punctilio. I assume he merely asked a favour of Mr Veale. I am sure he would bring no pressure to bear that you would consider shabby or corrupt-but of course that leaves open the question of the worth of my assurance. Of me. You don't know me."

"I knew your name. Most people do, even out here. I phoned two men in New York, one a district attorney, and was told, in effect, that your word is good but that anyone dealing with you should be sure he knows what your word is."

A corner of Wolfe's mouth raised a little-with him, a smile. "That could have been said of the Delphian oracle. Tell me how you would like my assurance phrased."

"You won't give me his name? Off the record?"

"It would be on my record. If Mr Veale didn't, I can't." Wolfe cocked his head. "A question, Mr Jessup. Why don't you ask what kind of cooperation I expect? It's conceivable that you would have granted it even without a request from Mr Veale."

"All right, tell me what you expect."

Wolfe closed his eyes and in a moment opened them. "I expect to be enabled to make an inquiry without intolerable hindrance. Mr Goodwin has been trying to for ten days and has been completely frustrated. He has had neither a fulcrum or a lever. No one will tell him anything. He has had no standing-not only no official standing, not even the standing of an empowered agent of Mr Greve, because the attorney who has been hired by Miss Rowan believes that Mr Greve killed that man, as you do."

"It isn't merely a belief. It's a conclusion based on evidence."

"Evidence secured by Mr Haight. I charge Mr Haight with nonfeasance amounting to malfeasance. He has an animus for Mr Greve. Having gathered, as he thinks, enough evidence against Mr Greve to make a case, he has made no effort whatever to explore other possibilities. There were fifteen other people within walking distance of that spot that Thursday afternoon, all of whom had had previous contact with Mr Brodell, and Mr Haight has virtually ignored them. I am not-"

"Can you support that?"

"I can," I said. "They won't open up about Brodell or murder, but they will about Haight. Ask them."

"I am not including Mr Greve's wife and daughter," Wolfe said, "because Mr Goodwin and I have eliminated them on evidence that convinces us, though it wouldn't convince you. Nor would you accept as decisive the evidence that has persuaded us that Mr Greve is innocent, but that doesn't matter because what we want, all we want, is an opportunity to inquire effectively. It's conceivable that no evidence exists that will clear Mr Greve, but we assert our right to try to find some. In order to-"

"I don't challenge that right. No one does. Go ahead."

"Pfui. That's twaddle and you know it. You might as well tell a man with no legs that you don't challenge his right to walk. What I ask, what Mr Goodwin and I expect, is active support of that right. We can't get it from Mr Haight, as you know, but we hope to get it from you. I have been told that in Montana a county attorney proceeds mostly on information supplied by the sheriff and the state police, but that he frequently investigates independently-himself, or members of his staff, or if necessary special investigators chosen by him. Mr Goodwin and I want to investigate the Greve case for you. We want credentials. We are professionally qualified. We would not expect or accept any pay or reimbursement for expenses."

"I see." Jessup looked at me, saw only an open and manly phiz, ready to help, and went back to Wolfe. "That's it, huh? Mr Veale suggested it?"

"No, I did. Presumably he thought it reasonable, or he wouldn't have asked you to see me. The purpose is obvious. Accredited by you, we would not be mere bumptious interlopers from outside-far outside. We would be seen and heard, and we could insist on answers to questions."

Jessup smiled, decided it rated better than that, and laughed-a hearty open-mouth laugh that would have been objectionable if it had been aimed at us, but it wasn't. If I had been sure it was for Sheriff Haight I would have joined in, but that was only a guess.

He eyed Wolfe. "This needs consideration."

Wolfe nodded. "And deserves it."

"I don't know if you realize the potential impact on me, on my-career. Any resentment you caused would be for you only temporarily, for me permanently. I would be-"

"Also any plaudits we earned would be for you permanently."

"Yes, if you earned any. I would be risking my future on your-uh-conduct. Obviously you hope to clear Greve, and on the evidence in hand you can't possibly prove that he's innocent unless you prove that someone else is guilty. Who?"

"I have no idea, and neither has Mr Goodwin. We haven't even a specific suspicion. We have only our firm conclusion, on grounds that satisfy us but wouldn't satisfy you, that Mr Greve is innocent, and we intend to demonstrate it."

"Even if I don't 'cooperate'?"

"Yes. If you won't give us a footing I think Mr Veale might, but if not, we'll still have two advantages: Miss Rowan's financial resources and our competence as investigators. It might take months, even years, but we're committed by our resolution and self-esteem."

"Did Mr Veale tell you that he would cooperate if I didn't?"

"No. He said he could, but not that he would."

"Then you threaten me."

"Mr Jessup. You can't condemn an intention just by calling it a threat."

"No, but some intentions are threats. I was advised to make sure I know what your word is. You said, I quote, 'We haven't even a specific suspicion.' I'll specify. Do you suspect Gilbert Haight?"

"Only generally, along with others. He had a motive, but he has an alibi, apparently sound. Mr Goodwin's attempts to test it have been futile, like all his other attempts. You said you would be risking your future on our conduct; you're risking it now on the conduct of Mr Haight. What if you proceed on the evidence he has supplied, and try Mr Greve and convict him, and a month later, or a year later, we produce evidence that establishes his innocence?"

Jessup straightened around in the seat, facing front, stretched his legs as far as there was room for, and stared at the dash. I have a theory about that kind of stare in such a situation: the fewer the blinks, the harder the thinking. If it's as little as three or four blinks a minute he's thinking as hard as his brain can manage, and Jessup blinked only eleven times in three minutes. Then they began to come faster, and he was back to normal when he turned around again to face Wolfe.

"I'll tell you something," he said. "You said I might have cooperated even without a request from Mr Veale. I concur. I might have. By God, I think I would. But your coming at me through him gives it a slant I don't like, and I want to consider it. I want to confer on it with someone, and I'll let you know."