Well go on to the end.”
He straightened out a finger to aim it at Mrs. Frost.
“You, madam, have a little more to hear.
Having got rid of Mr. McNair, you may even have had the idea that you could stop there.
But that was bad calculation, unworthy of you, for naturally Mr. Gebert knew what had happened and began at once to put pressure on you.
He was even foolhardy about it, for that was his humor; he told Mr. Goodwin that you had murdered Mr. McNair.
He presumed, I suppose, that Mr. Goodwin did not know French, and did not know that calida, your name, is a Latin word meaning 'ardently.'
No doubt he meant merely to startle you. He did indeed startle you, with such success that you killed him the next day. I have not yet congratulated you on the technique of that effort, but I assure you-”
“Please!” It was Mrs. Frost.
We all looked at her.
She had her chin up, her eyes at Wolfe, and didn't seem ready to do any quivering.
“Need I listen to your…need I listen to that?”
Her head pivoted for the eyes to aim at Cramer.
“You are a police inspector.
Do you realize what this man is saying to me?
Are you responsible for it? Are you…am I charged with anything?”
Cramer said in a heavy official tone,
“It looks like you're apt to be. Frankly, you'll stay right here until I have a chance to look over some evidence.
I can tell you now, formally, don't say anything you don't want used against you.”
“I have no intention of saying anything.”
She stopped, and I saw that her teeth had a hold on her lower lip.
But her voice was still good when she went on,
“There is nothing to say to such a fable. In fact, I…” She stopped again. Her head pivoted again, for Wolfe.
“If there is evidence for such a story about my daughter, it is forged.
Haven't I a right to see it?”
Wolfe's eyes were slits.
He murmured,
“You spoke of a lawyer.
I believe a lawyer has a legal method for such a request.
I see no occasion for that delay.” He put his hand on the red box. “I see no reason why-”
Cramer was on his feet again, and at the desk.
He was brisk and he meant business:
“This has gone far enough.
I want that box.
I'll take a look at it myself-”
It was Cramer I was afraid of at that point. Maybe if I had let Wolfe alone he could have managed him, but my nerves were on edge, and I knew if the inspector once got his paws on that box it would be a mess, and I knew damned well he couldn't take it away from me.
I bounced up and got it.
I pulled it from under Wolfe's hand and held it in my own.
Cramer growled and stared at me, and I returned the stare but I don't growl.
Wolfe snapped:
“That box is my property. I am responsible for it and shall continue to be so until it is legally taken from my possession. I see no reason why Mrs. Frost should not look at it, to save delay. I have as much at stake as you, Mr. Cramer. Hand it to her, Archie.
It is unlocked.”
I crossed to her and put it in her extended hand, black-gloved.
I didn't sit down again because Cramer didn't; and I stayed five feet closer to Mrs. Frost than he was.
Everybody looked at her, even Glenna McNair.
She put the box on her lap with the keyhole toward her, and opened the lid part way; no one could see in but her; she was deliberate, and I couldn't see a sign of a tremble in her fingers or anywhere else.
She looked in the box and put her hand in, but didn't take anything out.
She left her hand inside, with the lid resting on it, and gazed at Wolfe, and I saw that her teeth were on her lip again.
Wolfe said, leaning a little toward her,
“Don't suspect a trick, Mrs. Frost.