Rex Stout - Death of a Dude

"Around five," Farnham said.

"Maybe. I would have said a little later."

"Were you present when he met the others? Dr and Mrs Amory and Mr DuBois and Mr Colihan?"

"No sir, I wasn't. I guess I was in the kitchen eating supper with Bert. After supper Phil asked me to go to the river with him, and I didn't have to, but I didn't want to say no, so I went."

"You called him by his first name?"

"Uhuh. He asked me to even before he got the rainbow. Some do and some don't."

"Were you with him on Tuesday?"

"Yes sir, I was." Peacock sent a glance at Colihan. His tongue was slow but his eyes were quick. "That was the morning there was some trouble about the Monty horse. Phil told me to saddle him and I did, and here comes Mr Colihan, and like he told you, they mixed it some. So I went to the corral and got Teabag for Phil, and we went downriver beyond the flats. All day, we made it back just in time for supper. Phil and the Teabag horse didn't get along any too good, but I guess I'm telling you more than you want to know. Anyway I told Archie all this."

Wolfe nodded. "Sometimes he's careless about details. You couldn't tell me more than I want to know. Did you see Mr Brodell after supper Tuesday?"

"No sir, I didn't. He was played out and anyway I wasn't here. I was off and around."

"The next day? Wednesday?"

"Uhuh, that was better. Phil and me left early and went upriver on two laigs apiece. He didn't get no six-pound rainbow, but he filled a big creel and it was a real good day any way you look at it. Up at the falls he slipped on a rock and got dunked, but the sun soon dried him and no bones was broke. Of course he was draggin' his ass by the time we saw the chimney smoke comin' in, and his back hadn't forgot the day he had spent on Teabag, so when I asked him what he had in mind for the next day he said the way he felt right then he might not get out of bed even for meals. But he did. Next morning Connie told me he had stowed away a stack of ulcer patches and three fish for breakfast."

"Who is Connie?"

"She's the cook."

"He was with you Thursday morning?"

"No sir, he wasn't. He said he was goin' to mosey over for a look at Berry Creek and I would set too fast a pace. Then after lunch he said-"

"If you please. How long was he gone in the morning?"

"I'd say two hours, maybe more. Then after-"

"Did he go up Berry Creek, or down?"

"If he said, I didn't listen. It's an easy trail over to the bend and then up or down, take your pick. I'd say he didn't go up to the pool because he didn't take tackle."

"Did he mention meeting anyone?"

"No sir, he didn't." Peacock tugged at a corner of the neck rag. "You got a lot of questions, mister."

"I once asked a woman ten thousand questions. That Thursday morning is of interest because apparently it was the only time Mr Brodell was off alone-except the afternoon. The easy trail to the creek-is it near the road at any point?"

"Uhuh. Where it circles around to miss a climb."

"So he may not have got to the creek, if he met someone on the road. You spoke with him when he returned?"

"Not when he returned. After lunch."

"Did you gather from what he said that he had been to the creek?"

"I don't do much gatherin' from what a man says. Now if he said he saw a fourteen-inch Dolly Varden in the pool above the bend you might say he had been to the creek, but you got to figure maybe he did and maybe he didn't. A man can say things like that just because it sounds good. Anyhow we didn't talk much after lunch. I was out by the corral trimmin' a post and he comes and says he was goin' up the ridge to get some berries. That was at five minutes after three. Connie says it was five after when he left the house, but I keep my watch right." He looked at his wrist. "Right now it's nine minutes to ten.

"And you didn't see him again-alive?"

"No sir, I didn't."

"Where were you the next five hours?"

"I was around. It took a while to get that post in and then there was a loose shoe on a horse, and a saddle had to have a new cinch, and some other little things."

"You didn't leave the premises?"

"Now that's quite a word, that 'premises.' If you mean did I go up the ridge with a gun and shoot Phil, no sir, I didn't. That wasn't on my program. Any time Connie had opened the door and yelled for me she'd 'a' got me."

"And you saw no one with a gun?"

"That's correct. That's a fair statement. The first man I saw was Bill when he come in with Mrs Amory and I took the horses. I was in my room washin' up when Bert and his two got in. Right after supper Bill asked me again about Phil but I couldn't tell him any more than I already had. When the sun was gone we thought we'd better look around and Bill and Bert and me went up the ridge. I knew the spots Phil liked better than they did, so it was me that found him."

Wolfe turned his head to look at me. His unasked question was, "Has he varied any, with the others present, from what he told you, and if so, do you challenge him now?" I shook my head and said, "Nothing to add, even with credentials."

He sent his eyes around and told a bare-faced lie. "I suppose I should intermit. Before proceeding beyond this preamble I must consult Mr Jessup; as he said, the inquiry is under his supervision and control. I think it quite likely that at least one of you is withholding material facts, but I doubt if prolonging this through the night would disclose them. An obvious point: you have all been placed, provisionally, for that Thursday afternoon, but where were you that morning during the two hours when Mr Brodell was off alone?"

He shook his head. "I don't want to send Mr Goodwin to St. Louis, I need him here, but we shall see." He got to his feet. "It's astonishing how frequently grown men, apparently sane, get the notion that they can conceal facts that are easily ascertainable. I'll bear in mind, Mr DuBois, that you have invited harassment, and I may oblige you."

He moved, and so did I, across to the rack in an alcove for the ponchos and flashlight. They all stayed put, but as I was pulling my hood over, here came Farnham to the rack, and he got a poncho and put it on and went and opened the door. It was pretty late in the day for him to be getting polite, and I supposed he was going out for some little errand, but he came across to the car with us. The rain had let up but there was plenty of drip from the firs. Farnham opened the door of the station wagon for Wolfe to get in, and then he held it open and did his little errand. He spoke. "I don't want you to get the idea that I have tried to conceal any facts. Some facts are other people's business and some aren't. I don't think anybody around here knows that Phil Brodell's father has got a mortgage on my place and there's no reason why they should, but if Goodwin goes to St. Louis and sees Brodell, of course that's one fact he'll get, and you might as well get it from me."

Wolfe grunted. "A substantial mortgage?"

"Goddammit, yes!" He slammed the door shut harder than necessary.

Chapter 7

At a quarter past ten Saturday morning I opened a door on the first floor of the Monroe County courthouse in Timberburg and entered-a door with a glass panel that had painted on it in big bold black gilt-edged letters: