Wolfe leaned back and let his lids down a little. "You go on from there, please "
Neya said, "You left me in Zagreb with Pero Brovnik and his wife "
"That's right Your name?"
"My name was Anna. When I was eight years old they were arrested as revolutionaries and shot I don't remember that very well, but I know all about it "
"Yes " Wolfe looked grim. "And for three years the money I continued to send to Zagreb was appropriated by someone in Brovnik's name, and when I got suspicious and went over there, in spite of the fact that I was no longer lean, I got nowhere I couldn't find the girl I got no satisfaction about the money I got put in jail, and the American Consul got me out and I was given ten hours to leave the country " He made a face. "I have not been in Europe, or in jail, since. Where were you?"
"I was eleven years old then "
"Yes I can add. Where were you?"
She looked at him a while before she spoke. "I can't tell you that "
"You'll either tell me that or march on out of here and not come back. And I have the paper which you stole and your friend left in my book for safekeeping. Now don't start cater-wauling."
Carla said, "Tell him, Neya "
"But, Carla! then he'll know
"Tell him!"
"And tell the truth," Wolfe advised, "or I'll know that, and I'll know it even better after I've cabled Europe "
She told him. "When the Brovniks were arrested I was sent to an institution. A year later I was taken out by a woman named Mrs Campbell."
"Who was she?"
"She was the English secretary of Prince Peter Donevitch."
"What did she want with you?"
"She visited the institution and she took a liking to me. My ribs didn't show then. She wanted to adopt me, but she couldn't, legally, on account of you."
"Why didn't she communicate with me?"
"Because. her connexion with Prince Donevitch. The kind of friends you had in Yugoslavia, like the Brovniks. They knew you would make trouble, and they didn't want trouble from an American."
"No. You can't take an American out and shoot him. So she just stole the money I sent for three years."
"I don't know anything about that."
"Where is she now?"
"She died four years ago."
"Where did you go then?"
"I continued to live there."
"With Donevitch?"
"In that house."
"Did young Prince Stefan live there?"
"Yes, he-he and his sisters."
"And his wife?"
"After-of course. When he was married, two years ago."
"Were you treated as one of the family?"
"No." She hesitated and then said more emphatically, "No, I wasn't."
Wolfe turned abruptly to Carla Lovchen and snapped at her, "Are you Stefan's wife-the Princess Vladanka?"
Her eyes popped open, "Me? Boga ti! No!"
"You had that paper which you put in my book."
Neya said, "I told you I stole that paper. I don't always lie."
"Where did you steal it-Zagreb or New York?"
She shook her head. "I can't tell you about that paper. Not even-no matter what you do."
He grunted. "Your secret political mission. I know. Die first. I used to play that silly dirty game myself. But since you live in the same house with the Princess Vladanka, you must know her pretty well. Are you and she friends?"
"Friends?" Neya's forehead showed a crease. "No."
"What's she like?"
"She is clever, beautiful, selfish, and treacherous."
"Indeed. What does she look like?"
"Well. she is tall. Her arms move like snakes. Her face is like this." Neya described an oval with her fingers. "Her eyes are as black as mine-sometimes blacker."
"Is she in Zagreb now?"
"She was when I left. It was said she was going to Paris to see old Prince Peter and then to America."
"You're lying."
She looked straight at him. "Sometimes it is necessary to lie. There are some things I can't tell."
"Ha, over your dead body. The curlicues of some old bandit's trade mark engrave on your heart, and what do you get out of it? When do you expect to finish this political errand you're working on?"
She looked at him, at Carla, back at him, and said nothing. "Come, come," he insiste impatiently. "I merely ask when. Is the end in sight?"
"I think so," she admitted. "I think it will be. tomorrow."
"It's past midnight. Do you mean this day?"
"Yes. But I must have that paper. You have no right to keep it. When that imbecile, that Driscoll, made the trouble about his diamonds being stolen, I thought the police might come and search everything, even my room where I live. I thought of you, the American who had adopted me when I was a baby. I had brought the record of adoption with me when I left Zagreb; Mrs Campbell had given it to me before she died. So Carla and I decided the paper would be safer with you than anywhere else, and we decided how to do it so she could easily get it again. Then you refused to help me and she had to return and let you know who I am." She stopped and smiled at him, but she was so anxious that the effort was a little cock-eyed. "I must have that paper now! I must!"
"We'll see. You admit you stole it. So you expect to accomplish your mission this day."
"Yes."
"You realize, of course, that the police won't let you leave New York until they're satisfied their murder case is solve."
"But I. you said yourself my alibi-"
"That doesn't solve the case. Don't you do anything silly. If you do complete your errand, don't try sneaking aboard a ship disguised as a Nereid. Who is Madame Zorka?"
They both stared at him in surprise.
"Well?" Wolfe demanded. "You know her, don't you?"
Carla laughed. It sounded quite natural, as though something really had struck her as funny. Neya said:
"Why. she's nobody. She's a dressmaker."
"So I understand. Where did she get that name-the name of the daughter of King Nikita of Montenegro."
"But Queen Zorka has been dead-"
"I know that. Where did this dressmaker get the name?"
Carla laughed again. "She must have found it in a book."
"Who is she?"
Neya shrugged and upturned her palms. "We know nothing about her."
Wolfe eyed them a moment and then sighed. "All right. It's late and you ought to be in bed, since you have to get up early to visit Mr Rowcliff. That smile ought to help with him. When you are through there, come here, and I'll see you at eleven o'clock and give you that paper."
"I want it now!"
"You can't have it now. It isn't here. I will-"
Neya jumped up. "What did you-where is it?"
"Stop screaming at me. It's safe. I'll give it to you at eleven o'clock. Sit down-no, don't bother to sit down; you're going. Remember, now, don't do anything silly. As for you, Miss Lovchen, I would advise you to do nothing whatever except eat and sleep. I say that on account of your performance yesterday when you hid that paper in my book-asking Mr Goodwin if I had read it and did I study and was he reading it. Unbelievable!"
Carla flushed. "I thought. I was casual-"
"Good heavens! Casual? I still suspect you meant us to find it, though I can't imagine what for. Well, good-night. By the way, Miss Tormic, about your being my client. I'll return that adoption paper to you in the morning along with the other; it seems likely that it belongs to you; but I am cautious and sceptical and I don't like misunderstandings. You are my client only so long as it remains established that you are the girl whose ribs I saw in 1921. I am your protector, but if it turns out that you have duped me on that, I shall be your enemy. I don't like to be fooled."