"Does each jade have its own special box?" Tibbs asked.
"Yes-almost always." Yumeko closed the lid and slipped the ivory pins into position. "If you will give this into the hands of Mr. Harvey," she said. "You will do Mr. Wang and me a great kindness. I will give you the address."
As she went to get it for him, Virgil carefully wrote in his notebook and then tore out the page. When Yumeko returned he handed her his receipt for the valuable jade. "That was not necessary," she said. "I honor your face."
Tibbs shook his head. "We must be especially careful now," he told her. "I'll get a receipt from Mr. Harvey. It's the only proper way when valuable property is involved."
She accepted that. "You will come back?" she asked.
Virgil glanced at her for a moment, but it had been a simple inquiry and nothing more. "Yes, I'U be back." He took the address from her, memorized it, and then put the slip of paper into his pocket. That done, he picked up the jade box, and carrying it carefully, went out to his car.
A little under a half hour later he pressed the doorbell belonging to a residence clearly in one of the highest categories that Sierra Madre had to offer. Ordinarily he would have made an appointment; this time he was doing things a little differently. In Yumeko's references to Mr. Harvey he had detected a hesitant note; he wanted to know why it had been there.
The man who answered his ring came close to supplying an answer by his appearance alone. He was an inch over six feet tall, and quite lean. His presence in the doorway was like a cold wind. "Yes?" he asked.
"Mr. Harvey?"
The door was beginning to close slightly when Tibbs detected a change; the man confronting him glanced down for the first time and saw the box in his hands. The door swung wider. "Come in," he said, but there was no invitation in his voice-only a basic command.
Virgil walked into the foyer and confirmed that the interior of the house was as splendidly furnished as the exterior had suggested. A rich, thick white carpeting covered
a vast area of living room and extended around one open end into another room. In another day it could have been a morning room, but the end of a billiards table was visible and also part of an elaborate bar.
"I'll take it," Harvey said, and did so literally before Tibbs could hand the box over. He put it on a small table, opened it, and then examined the stone carving for a few seconds in uninterrupted silence. Then he put it back almost carelessly into its box. "Thank you," he said. "You can go."
"I'd like to speak to you for a few minutes if I may," Tibbs said.
Harvey was curt, "I'm sorry, I never give out information on the market."
"I was not about to ask for any."
"I make no donations."
"Not interested," Tibbs said.
"And most emphatically I do not subscribe to magazines at the door."
"Nor do I."
"Then precisely who are you?"
"A police officer, Mr. Harvey. I brought out your jade as a favor to Miss Nagashima. Now may we talk for a little while?"
The pronounced chill was still in the air. "You have credentials?"
"Certainly." As he preferred to do, Virgil produced a calling card. His reluctant host looked at it and then spoke. "We are not in Pasadena now."
"I'm quite aware of that, sir," Tibbs answered dryly. He did not elaborate.
"Very well, then." Harvey led the way to the nearest place where they could both sit and indicated by the way that he adjusted himself that he expected the interview to be a brief one.
It was Virgil's baU and he picked it up. "Mr. Harvey, I am the officer assigned to investigate the death of Mr. Wang, the gentleman from whom you purchased the jade I just deUvered. I believe you are aware that he lost his life under somewhat unusual circumstances?"
"According to the news reports, he was stabbed to death with a stone knife-a relic of some kind."
Tibbs continued. "How well did you know him, sir?"
"He was a merchant with whom I dealt."
"How would you describe his personality?"
"I didn't concern myself particularly with it He had cer-40
tain things for sale in which I was interested. Those I liked enough I purchased. That was the sum and substance of it."
*'I see. What is your line of work, Mr. Harvey?"
"Investments."
"Do you mean by that that you are a broker or counselor?"
"No, I am a professional trader. Do you understand me?"
"I believe so." Tibbs glanced at his watch. "Am I keeping you from your work? The market will be open another hour and a quarter, I believe."
Harvey studied him for a moment. "The market is very static today," he answered. "K anything at all breaks, my broker will call me."
Virgil probed a little. "Mr. Harvey, in your financial transactions, do you normally have access to industrial information which guides you in your decisions?"
If Harvey had shown any signs of relaxing his manner, he remedied the defect. His voice was from the Alaskan North Slope. "I do not. I simply take advantage of the amateurism of many small investors who have no clear understanding of what they are doing. Suppose you had bought Occidental Petroleum, for example, when it was in the low forties and then sold it in desperation when it dropped down to around fifteen in mid-1970; under those circumstances you would have lost a great deal of money. Thousands did. Their losses for the mot part went to professional traders who had sold Oxy short. I was one of them. As long as inexperienced people think that they can play the market and profit, with limited finances and less knowledge, I will continue to make a very good living taking advantage of their weaknesses."
"That's very impressive, Mr. Harvey."
"Perhaps, but I fail to see how it will help you in your investigation."
Virgil crossed his legs and took out his notebook. "Mr. Harvey, when was the last time that you saw Mr. Wang alive?"
"Perhaps a week ago, I don't recall exactly."
"During the afternoon?"
"If you know, why ask me?"
Tibbs looked up. "I was assuming, sir, that you would stay close to your phone during market hours."
Harvey allowed the point. "Very well, it was in the afternoon. I now recall that it was six days ago."
"And you made the purchase that I just delivered to you at that time?"
"Yes."
"I presume, sir, that in view of the value of the jade and the extensive stock that Mr. Wang had, you took some time in making your selection."
"No," Harvey almost snapped. "I never require time to make up my mind. That is one of the basic principles for success in the market."
Tibbs refused to be ruffled. "Had you seen the piece that you purchased previously?"
"If I had, I would have bought it at that time. Will there be anything else?"
"Only one thing more, Mr. Harvey. If it is convenient, I would very much like to see your jade collection. I'm developing an interest in the subject."
There was a measured pause. "Do you consider this to be part of your investigation?"
"I wouldn't have asked otherwise."
"Very well, then." Harvey rose. "Come with me."
He led the way around the comer of the L-shaped room and then into a den which was equipped with an electronic desk calculator. Books on financial subjects filled one wall. On the opposite side of the small room a glass-fronted case was mounted at eye level; in it a dozen jade pieces were displayed. The carvings stood in a geometric arrangement, equally spaced, facing uniformly forward. Mr. Wang had placed his in a less regular way and some of them had been turned a few degrees one way or the other. The precision in this cabinet, Tibbs noted, reflected the mind and habits of the man who had put the pieces where they were.