“You darned liar.
You said there was no fire.”
He grinned, rubbing his hands in front of it.
“I didn't think Mr. Wolfe ought to think we was too comfortable.”
“He wouldn't mind.
He doesn't like hardship, even for you.”
I looked around again and spoke to Saul in a lower tone.
“Where's what you've got with you?”
He nodded at a door.
“In the other room.
No light in there.”
“You didn't find the box?”
“No sign of it.
All cubic inches accounted for.”
Since it was Saul, that settled it.
I asked him,
“Is there another door?”
“One at the back.
We've got it propped.”
“Okay.
You and Fred stay here.
Orrie, come with me.”
He lumbered over and I led him into the other room.
After I closed the door behind us it was good and dark, but there were two dim rectangles for windows, and after a few seconds I made out an outline in a chair.
I said to Orrie,
“Sing.”
He grumbled,
“What the hell, I'm too hungry to sing.”
“Sing anyway.
If one of them happens to glue his ear to a window I want him to hear something. Sing
'Git Along, Little Dogie'.”
“I can't sing in the dark-”
“Damn it, will you sing?”
He cleared his throat and started it up.
Orrie had a pretty good voice.
I went close to the outline in the chair and said to it:
“I'm Archie Goodwin.
You know me.”
“Certainly.” Gebert's voice sounded purely conversational “You're the fellow who doesn't like scenes.”
“Right.
That's why I'm out here when I ought to be in bed.
Why are you out here?”
“I drove out to get my umbrella which I left here last fall.”
“Oh. You did. Did you find it?”
“No.
Someone must have taken it.”
“That's too bad.
Listen to me a minute.
Out on the porch is an army of state police and New York detectives and a Putnam County prosecutor. How would you like to have to tell them about your umbrella?”
I saw the outline of his shoulders move with his shrug.