Clara Fox hesitated, then got up and preceded me.
I shut the door, and she went back to her chair in front of Wolfe, the one the dick had sat in.
Wolfe had emptied a glass and was filling it up again.
“Will you have some beer. Miss Fox?”
She shook her head.
“Thank you. But I don’t like to discuss this with you alone, Mr. Wolfe.
The others are just as much—”
“To be sure.
Permit me.” He wiggled a finger at her. “They shall join us presently.
The fact is, I wish to touch on something else for a moment.
Did you take that money from Mr. Muir’s desk?”
She looked at him steadily.
“We shouldn’t let things get confused.
Are you acting now as the agent of the Seaboard Products Corporation?”
‘I’m asking you a question.
You came here to consult me because you thought I had abilities.
I have; I’m using them.
Either answer my question or find abilities elsewhere.
Did you take that money?”
“No.”
“Do you know who took it?”
“No.”
“Do you know anything about it?”
“No.
I have certain suspicions, but nothing specific about the money itself.”
“Do you mean suspicions on account of the attitude of Mr. Perry and Mr. Muir toward you personally?”
“Yes.
Chiefly Mr. Muir.”
“Good.
Now this: Did you kill anyone this evening between five and six o’clock?”
She stared at him.
“Don’t be an idiot”
He drank some beer, wiped his lips, and leaned back in his chair.
“Miss Fox.
The avoidance of idiocy should be the primary and constant concern ot every intelligent person.
It is mine.
I am sometimes successful.
Take, for instance, your statement that you did not steal that money.
Do I believe it?
As a philosopher, I believe nothing.
As a detective, I believe it enough to leave it behind me, hut am prepared to glance back over my shoulder.
As a man, I believe it utterly.
I assure you, my reason for the questions I am asking is not idiotic.
For one thing, I am observing your face as you reply to them.
Bear with me; we shall be getting somewhere, I think.
Did you kill anyone this evening between five and six o’clock?”
“No.”
“Did Mr. Walsh or Miss Lindquist do so?”
“Kill anyone?”
Yes.”