He pointed the cigar again. And thats the next point, the chance to use it. The two glasses of champagne that Grantham took were poured by the butler, Hackett; he did all the pouring. One of them had been sitting on the bar for four or five minutes, and Hackett poured the other one just before Grantham came. Who was there, at the bar, during those four or five minutes? We havent got that completely straight yet, but apparently everybody was, or nearly everybody. You were. By your statement, and Ethel Varr agrees, you and she went there and took two glasses of champagne of the five or six that were there waiting, and then moved off and stood talking, and soon afteryou say three minutesyou saw Grantham bring the two glasses to Faith Usher. So you were there. So you might have dropped cyanide in one of the glasses? No. Even granting that you are capable of poisoning somebodys champagne, you would certainly make sure that the right one got it. You wouldnt just drop it in one of the glasses on the bar and walk away, and that applies to all the others, except Edwin Laidlaw, Helen Yarmis, and Mr and Mrs Robilotti. They hadnt walked away. They were there at the bar when Grantham came and got the two glasses. But he took two glasses. If one of those four people saw him coming and dropped the cyanide in one of the glasses, youve got to assume that he or she didnt give a damn whether Grantham got it or Faith Usher got it, which is too much for me. But not for you? He clamped his teeth on the cigar. He never lit one.
As you tell it, I conceded, I wouldnt buy it. But I have two comments. The first one is that there is one person who did know which glass Faith Usher would get. He handed it to her.
Oh? You put it on Grantham?
I dont put it on anybody. I merely say that you omitted a detail.
Not an important one. If Grantham dropped the poison in at the bar before he picked up the glasses, there were five people right there, and that did take nerve. If he dropped it in while he was crossing to Faith Usher it was quite a trick, with a glass in each hand. If he dropped it in after he handed her the glass you would have seen him. Whats your second comment?
That I have not implied, in my sessions with you and the others, that I have the slightest notion who did it, or how or why. What you have just told me was mostly news to me. My attention was divided between my companion, Ethel Varr, and the bag, and Faith Usher. I didnt know who was at the bar when Grantham came and got the champagne, or who had been there since Hackett poured the glasses that Grantham took. And I still have no notion who did it, or why or how. I only know that Faith Usher put nothing whatever in the champagne before she drank it, and therefore if it was poison in the champagne that killed her she did not commit suicide. Thats the one thing I know.
And you wont discuss it.
I wont? What are we doing?
I mean you wont discuss the possibility that youre wrong.
That, no. You wouldnt expect me to discuss the possibility that Im wrong in thinking youre Inspector Cramer youre Willie Mays.
He regarded me a long moment with narrowed eyes, then moved to his normal position in the red leather chair, confronting Wolfe. Im going to tell you, he said, exactly what I think.
Wolfe grunted. You often have.
I know I have, but I hoped it wouldnt come to this. I hoped Goodwin had realized that it wouldnt do. I think I know what happened. Rose Tuttle told him that Faith Usher had a bottle of cyanide in her bag, and that she was afraid she might use it right there, and Goodwin told her to forget it, that he would see that nothing happened, and from then on he kept surveillance on both Faith Usher and the bag. That is admitted.
It is stated.
Okay, stated. When he sees her drink champagne and collapse and die, and smells the cyanide, what would his reaction be? You know him and so do I. You know how much he likes himself. He would be hit where it hurts. He would hate it. So, without stopping to consider, he tells them that he thinks she was murdered. When the police come, he knows that what he said will be reported, so he repeats it to them, and then hes committed, and when Sergeant Stebbins and I arrive he repeats it to us. But to us he has to give a reason, so he has one, and a damn good one, and as long as there was a decent possibility that she was murdered we gave it full weight. But nowYou heard me explain how it is. I was hoping that when he heard me and realized the situation he would see that his best course is to say that maybe he has been a little too positive. That he cant absolutely swear that she didnt put something in the champagne. He has had time to think it over, and he is too intelligent not to see that. Thats what I think. I hope you will agree.
Its not a question of agreement, its a question of fact. Wolfe turned to me. Archie?
No, sir. Nobody likes me better than I do, but Im not that far gone.
You maintain your position?
Yes. He contradicts himself. First he says I acted like a double-breasted sap and then he says Im intelligent. He cant have his suicide and eat me too. I stand pat.
Wolfe lifted his shoulders an eighth of an inch, lowered them, and turned to Cramer. Im afraid youre wasting your time, Mr Cramer. And mine.
I was yawning.
Cramers red face was getting redder, a sure sign that he had reached the limit of something and was about to cut loose, but a miracle happened: he put on the brake in time. Its a pleasure to see self-control win a tussle. He moved his eyes to me.
Im not taking this as final, Goodwin. Think it over. Of course, were going on with the investigation. If we find anything at all that points to homicide well follow it up. You know that. But its only fair to warn you. If our final definite opinion is that it was suicide, and we say so, and you give your friend Lon Cohen of the Gazette a statement for publication saying that you know it was murder, youll regret it. That, or anything like it. Why in hell it had to be that you were there, God only knows. Such a statement from you, as an eye-witness
The doorbell rang. I arose, asked Cramer politely to excuse me, stepped to the hall, and through the one-way glass saw a recent social acquaintance, though it took me a second to recognize him because his forty-dollar fedora covered the uncombed hair. I went and opened the door, confronted him, said, Ssshhh, patted my lips with a forefinger, backed up, and beckoned him in. He hesitated, looking slightly startled, then crossed the threshold. I shut the door and, without stopping to relieve him of his hat and coat, opened the door to the front room, which is on the same side of the hall as the office, motioned him in, followed him, and shut the door.
Its all right here, I told him. Soundproofed, doors and all.
All right for what? Edwin Laidlaw asked.
For privacy. Unless you came to see Inspector Cramer of Homicide?
I dont know what youre talking about. I came to see you.
I thought you might have, and I also thought you might prefer not to collide with Cramer. Hes in the office chatting with Mr Wolfe, and is about ready to go, so I shunted you in here.
Im glad you did. Ive seen all I want of policemen for a while. He glanced around. Can we talk here?
Yes, but I must go and see Cramer off. Ill be back soon. Have a chair.
I went to the door to the hall and opened it, and there was Cramer heading for the front. He didnt even look at me, let alone speak. I thought if he could be rude I could too, so I let him get his own hat and coat and let himself out. When the door had closed behind him I went to the office and crossed to Wolfes desk. He spoke.
I will make one remark, Archie. To bedevil Mr Cramer for a purpose is one thing; to do so merely for pastime is another.
Yes, sir. I wouldnt dream of it. Youre asking me if my position with you, privately, is the same as it was with him. The answer is yes.