And we didn't show you much either.
There was a good man working on Gebert for four hours this morning, a good clever man.
He couldn't start a crack.
So we gave up the cleverness and tried something else.”
“Oh, that's it.” I grinned at him. “That's what those guys are, something else.
It describes them all right.
And now you're turning him loose?”
“We are.” Cramer frowned. “A lawyer was beginning to heat things up, I suppose hired by Mrs. Frost.
He got a habeas corpus a little while ago, and I couldn't see that Gebert was worth fighting for, and anyway, I doubt if we could have held him.
Also the French consul started stirring around.
Gebert's a French citizen.
Of course we're putting a shadow on him, and what good will that do?
When a man like that has got knowledge about a crime there ought to be some way of tapping him the way you do a maple tree, and draw it out of him. Huh?”.
I nodded. “Sure, that'd be all right.
It would be better than…” I shrugged. “Never mind.
Any news from the boys at Glennanne?”
“No.”
Cramer clasped his hands behind his head, leaned back into them, chewed his cigar, and scowled at me.
“You know, I hate to say this to you. But it's what I think.
I wouldn't like to see you get hurt, but it might have been more sensible if we had had you down in Room Five all day instead of that Gebert.”
“Me?” I shook my head. “I don't believe it.
After all I've done for you.”
“Oh, don't kid me.
I'm tired, I'm not in a mood for it.
I've been thinking.
I know how Wolfe works.
I don't pretend I could do it, but I know how he does it.
I admit he never yet has finished up on the wrong side, but you only have to break an egg once.
It's just possible that in this case he has got his feet tangled up.
He's working for the Frosts.”
“He's working for a Frost.”
“Sure, and that's funny too.
First he said Lew hired him, and then the daughter.
I never knew him to shift clients like that before.
Has it got anything to do with the fact that the fortune belongs to the daughter, but that it has been controlled by Lew's father for twenty years?
And Lew's father, Dudley Frost, is a great one for keeping things to himself.
We put it up to him that we're investigating a murder case and asked him to let us check the assets of the estate because there might be a connection that would be helpful.
We asked him to cooperate.
He told us to go chase ourselves.
Frisbie up at the D.A.'s office tried to get at it through court action, but apparently there's no loophole. Now why did Wolfe all of a sudden quit Lew and transfer his affections to the other side of the family?”
“He didn't.
It was what you might call a forced sale.”
“Yeah?
Maybe.
I'd like to see Nero Wolfe forced into anything. I noticed it happened right after McNair was croaked.
All right; Wolfe had got hold of some kind of positive information.
Where did he get it from?
From that red box.
You see, I'm not trying to play foxy, I'm just telling you.
His stunt at Glennanne was a cover.