I snapped, “Yes. Talking.”
“I’ve got him! Come up here… Fifty-fifth Street… Mike Walsh this is… I’ve got him covered… come up-”
It was cut off by the sound of a shot in the receiver-a sound of an explosion so loud in my ear that it might have been a young cannon. Then there was nothing. I said “Hello, Walsh! Walsh!” a few times, but there was no answer.
I hung up and turned to Wolfe. “Well, by Godfrey. Did you hear anything?”
He nodded. “I did. And I don’t understand it.”
“Indeed. That’s a record. What’s the program, hop up there?”
Wolfe’s eyes were shut, and his lips were moving out and in. He stayed that way a minute. I stood and watched him. Finally he said, “If Walsh shot someone, who was it? But if someone shot him, why now? Why not yesterday or a week ago? In any case, you might as well go and learn what happened. It may have been merely a steel girder crashing off its perch; there was enough noise.”
“No. That was a gun.”
“Very well. Find out. If you- ah! The doorbell. Indeed. You might attend to that first. Mr. Perry is punctual.”
As I entered the hall Saul Panzer came out of the kitchen, and I sent him back. I turned on the stoop light and looked through the panel because it was getting to be a habit, and saw it was Perry. I opened the door and he stepped inside and put his hat and gloves on the stand. I followed him into the office.
Wolfe said, “Good evening sir. I have reflected, Archie, that the less one meddles the less one becomes involved. You might have Saul phone the hospital that there has been an accident. Oh. no, Mr. Perry, nothing serious, thank you.”
I went to the kitchen and told Saul Panzer: “Go to Alien’s on Thirty-fourth Street and phone headquarters that you think you heard a shot inside the building construction on Fifty-fifth near Madison and they’d better investigate at once. If they want to know who you are, tell them King George. Make it snappy.”
That was a nickel wasted, but I didn’t know it then.
XIV
PERRY glanced at me as 1 got into my chair and opened my notebook. He was saying, “I don’t remember that anything ever irritated me more. I suppose I’m getting old. You mustn’t think I bear any ill will; if you preferred to represent Miss Fox, that was your right. But you must admit I played your hand for you; so far as I know there wasn’t the faintest shred of evidence with which you could have enforced your threat.” He smiled. “You think, of course, that my personal- er- respect for Miss Fox influenced my attitude and caused me to bring pressure on Muir. I confess that had a great deal to do with it. She is a charming young lady and also an extremely competent employee.”
Wolfe nodded. “And my client. Naturally, I was pleased to leam that the charge had been dropped.”
“You say you heard it from the police? I hoped I was bringing the good news myself.”
“I got it from Inspector Cramer.” Wolfe had got his beer. He poured some, and resumed, “Mr. Cramer told me that he had been advised of it by a Mr. Frisbie, an Assistant District Attorney. It appears that Mr. Frisbie is a friend of Mr. Muir.”
“Yes. I am acquainted with Frisbie. I know Skinner, the District Attorney, quite well.” Perry coughed, watched Wolfe empty his glass, and resumed, “So I’m not the bearer of glad tidings. But,” he smiled, “that wasn’t the chief purpose of my call.”
“Well, sir?”
“Well… I think you owe me something. Look at it this way. By threatening me with a procedure which would have meant most distasteful publicity for my corporation, you forced me to exert my authority and compel Muir to drop his charge. Muir isn’t an employee; he is the highest officer of the corporation after myself and he owns a fair proportion of the stock. It wasn’t easy.” Perry leaned forward and got crisper. “I surrendered to you. Now I have a right to know what I surrendered to. The only possible interpretation of your threat was that Miss Fox had been framed, and you wouldn’t have dared to make such a threat unless you had some sort of evidence for it.” He sat back and finished softly, “I want to know what that evidence is.”
“But, Mr. Perry.” Wolfe wiggled a finger. “Miss Fox is my client. You’re not.”
“Ah.” Perry smiled. “You want to be paid for it? I’ll pay a reasonable amount.”
“Whatever information I have gathered in the interest of Miss Fox is not for sale to others.”
“Rubbish. It has served her well. She has no further use for it.” He leaned forward again. “Look here, Wolfe. I don’t need to try to explain Muir to you, you’ve talked with him. If he has got so bad that he tries to frame a girl out of senile chagrin and vindictiveness, don’t you think I ought to know it? He is our senior vice-president. Wouldn’t our stockholders think so?”
“I didn’t know stockholders think.” Wolfe sighed. “But to answer your first question: yes, sir, I do think you ought to know it. But you won’t learn it from me. Let us not go on pawing the air, Mr. Perry. This is definite: I did have evidence to support my threat, but under no circumstances will you get from me any proof that you could use against Mr. Muir. So we won’t discuss that. If there is any other topic…”
Perry insisted. He got frank. His opinion was that Muir was such an old goat that his active services were no longer of any value to the corporation. He wanted to deal fairly with Muir, but after all his first duty was to the organization and its stockholders. And so on. He had suspected from the first that there was something odd about the disappearance of that $30,000, and he reasserted his right to know what Wolfe had found out about it. Wolfe let him ramble on quite a while, but finally he sighed and sat up and got positive. Nothing doing.
Perry seemed determined to keep his temper. He sat and bit his lower lip and looked at me and back at Wolfe again.
Wolfe asked, “Was there anything else, sir?”
Perry hesitated. Then he nodded. “There was, yes. But I don’t suppose… however… I want to see Miss Fox.”
“Indeed.” Wolfe’s shoulders went up an inch and down again. “The demand for that young woman seems to be universal. Did you know the police are still looking for her? They want to ask her about a murder.”
Perry’s chin jerked up. “Murder? What murder?”
“Just a murder. A man on the street with five bullets in him. I would have supposed Frisbie had told you of it.”
“No. Muir said Frisbie said something… I forget what… but this sounds serious. How can she possibly be connected with it? Who was killed?”
“A man named Harlan Scovil. Murder is often serious. But I think you needn’t worry about Miss Fox; she really had nothing to do with it. You see, she is still my client. At present she is rather inaccessible, so if you could just tell me what you want to see her about…”
I saw a spot of color on Perry’s temple, and it occurred to me that he was the fourth raan I had that day seen badly affected in the emotions by either the presence or the name of Clara Fox. She wasn’t a woman, she was an epidemic. But obviously Perry wasn’t going to repeat Muir’s performance. I watched the spot of color as it faded. At length he said to Wolfe quietly, “She is in this house. Isn’t she?”
“The police searched this house today and didn’t find her.”
“But you know where she is?”
“Certainly.” Wolfe frowned at him. “If you have a message for her. Mr. Goodwin will take it.”
“Can you tell me when and where it will be possible to see her?”
“No. I’m sorry. Not at present. Tomorrow, perhaps…”
Perry arose from his chair. He stood and looked down at Wolfe, and all of a sudden smiled. “All right,” he said. “I can’t say that my call here has been very profitable, but I’m not complaining. Every man has a right to his own methods if he can get away with them. As you suggest, I’ll wait till tomorrow; you may feel differently about it.” He put out his hand.
Wolfe glanced at the outstretched hand, then opened his eyes to look directly at Perry’s face. He shook his head. “No, sir. You are perfectly aware that in view of this… event, I am no friend of yours.”
Perry’s temple showed color again. But he didn’t say anything. He turned and steered for the door. I lifted myself and followed him. He already had his hat and gloves by the time I got to the hall stand, and when I opened the door for him I saw that he had a car outside, one of the new Wethersill convertibles. I watched him climb in, and waited until he had glided off before I re-entered and slid the bolt to.