I nodded.
“And I presume I would look silly if he squeezed enough sap out of Gebert to make the case jell.”
“Never.
No fear, Archie.
Mr. Gebert is not likely, under any probable pressure, to surrender the only hold on the cliff of existence he has managed to cling to.
It would have been useless to bring him here; he has his profit and loss calculated.-Yes, Fritz?
Ah, the soufflй chose to ignore the clock?
At once, certainly.” He gripped the edge of the desk to push back his chair.
We did not ignore the souffle.
My lunch was interrupted once, by a phone call from Helen Frost.
Ordinarily Wolfe flatly prohibited my disturbing a meal to go to the phone, letting it be handled by Fritz on the kitchen extension, but there were exceptions he permitted.
One was a female client.
So I went to the office and took it, not with any overflow of gaiety, for all morning I had been thinking that we might get word from her any minute that the deal was off.
Up there alone with her mother, there was no telling what she might be talked into.
But all she wanted was to ask about Perren Gebert.
She said that her mother had phoned the Chesebrough at breakfast time and had learned that Gebert had not been there for the night, and after phoning and fussing all morning, she had finally been informed by the police that Gebert was being detained at headquarters, and they had not let her speak with him.
She said that Inspector Cramer had told her mother something about Gebert being held on information furnished by Mr. Goodwin of Nero Wolfe's office, and what about it?
I told her, “It's all right. We caught him trying to get in a window out at Glennanne, and the cops are asking him what for.
Just a natural sensible question.
After a while hell either answer it or he won't, and they'll either turn him loose or keep him.
It's all right.”
“But they won't…” She sounded harassed. “You see, I told you, it's true there are things about him I don't like, but he is an old friend of mother's and mine too.
They won't do anything to him, will they?
I can't understand what he was doing at Glennanne, trying to get in.
He hasn't been there…I don't think he ever was there…you know he and Uncle Boyd didn't like each other.
I don't understand it.
But they can't do anything to him just for trying to open a window.
Can they?”
“They can and they can't.
They can sort of annoy him.
That won't hurt him much.”
“It's terrible.” The shiver was in her voice. “It's terrible! And I thought I was hard-boiled.
I guess I am, but…anyway, I want you and Mr. Wolfe to go on.
Go right on.
Only I thought I might ask you-Perren is really mother's oldest friend-if you could go down there and see where he is and what they're doing…I know the police are very friendly with you…”
“Sure.”
I made a face at the phone. “Down to head-quarters? Surest thing you know.
Bless your heart, I'd be glad to.
It won't take me long to finish my lunch, and I'll take it on the jump.
Then I'll phone you and let you know.”
“Oh, that's fine.
Thank you ever so much.
If I'm not at home mother will be. I…I'm going out to buy some flowers…”
“Okay. I'll phone you.”
I went back to the dining room and resumed with my tools and told Wolfe about it.
He was provoked, as always when business intruded itself on a meal.
I took my time eating, on to the coffee and through it, because I knew if I hurried and didn't chew properly it would upset Wolfe's digestion.
It didn't break his heart if I was caught out in the field at feeding time and had to grab what I could get, but if I once started a meal at that table I had to complete it like a gentleman.
Also, I wasn't champing at the bit for an errand I didn't fancy.
It was after two when I went to the garage for the roadster, and there I got another irritation when I found that the washing and polishing job had been done by a guy with one eye.