Every face turned toward the doorway. Saul Panzer and Fred Durkin stood on either side of Todd Halliburton, who wore a bewildered look as he looked over the crowd. “Hey, I thought I was here to see just Nero Wolfe,” he snarled, wheeling on Saul.
“Mr. Halliburton, if you please,” Wolfe said, holding up a palm. “I am Nero Wolfe. You are indeed here to see me. I thank you for coming. I will explain the presence of these people momentarily; I don’t believe you have met them, other than Misses James and Mars, Inspector Cramer, and of course Mr. Goodwin here, whom I’m sure you recognize.” With that, he introduced our other guests, including Stebbins, nodding toward each in turn, and then motioning Halliburton to the remaining empty chair in the second row while both Saul and Fred remained standing. The little jerk sat, but looked uncomfortable, which bothered me not even a little.
“Sir,” Wolfe said, shifting to face him, “the purpose of this gathering is to discuss the violent death of your friend Mr. Linville. I regret having Mr. Panzer and Mr. Durkin escort you here through artifice, but I deemed your presence essential and your assistance an invaluable part of our discussion.”
“Artifice? They damn near dragged me!” Halliburton howled.
“This the kid who was Linville’s great buddy?” It was Doyle James, who turned in his seat and shot a glare Halliburton’s way.
“That is correct,” Wolfe replied. “And he also is the individual who recognized Mr. Goodwin after the now-infamous sidewalk encounter.”
“So what?” Megan snapped.
“As I am trying to demonstrate, that meeting was significant,” Wolfe said, pouring the remaining beer from his second bottle and watching the foam dissipate. “The reason Inspector Cramer knew Mr. Goodwin had confronted Barton Linville is that he learned it from Mr. Halliburton here.”
“That’s not so surprising, is it?” asked Douglas Rojek. “I mean, Goodwin’s picture has been in the paper quite a few times. I remember seeing it — and yours, too, of course.”
“It is no doubt true that Mr. Goodwin has become recognizable to at least a substantial minority of New York’s newspaper-reading populace, including Mr. Halliburton,” Wolfe conceded. “I would like now to turn to Miss James. When she first visited this office, I asked her, among other questions, whether Mr. Linville knew her aunt, Miss Rowan, and I received an affirmative reply. Is that not correct?”
“Yes,” Noreen said, nodding nervously and swallowing. “They met once, maybe twice.”
“Twice,” Lily cut in coldly.
“Just so. And then I asked if Mr. Linville had been aware that Miss Rowan and Mr. Goodwin were close friends. Your reply?” Wolfe dipped his head in Noreen’s direction.
“I said I thought it came up in conversation, but I honestly can’t remember any details.”
Wolfe touched a finger to the side of his nose. “Mr. Halliburton, had you been aware of the friendship between Miss Rowan and Mr. Goodwin before the subject arose a moment ago?”
“No... why should I? And why should I care?” he answered with a sneer, crossing his arms over his chest.
“No reason,” Wolfe said blandly, placing both hands on his desk blotter, palms down, then shifting his attention to Noreen. “Miss James, you hired me to prove your brother’s innocence in the death of Barton Linville. As I warned you when I accepted that commission, I could not guarantee success. Indeed, when I am through tonight, you may well feel I have not succeeded. If that is the case, it goes without saying that you will receive no bill. And now—”
“Hold it right there,” Cramer said, putting equal stress on each word. “Do you mean to say you dragged all of us here for nothing?”
“That is not what I said, sir. But it is true that you may well term my reconstruction of events conjecture. Let us now return to the last evening of Mr. Linville’s life,” Wolfe said, starting in on a fresh beer that Fritz had delivered during the noisy intermission. “Mr. Linville and his friend Mr. Halliburton here had gone to Morgana’s and departed about ten-twenty. Is that correct, sir?”
“Yes,” Halliburton muttered sulkily. “I’ve told the police that.”
“So you have. An angry Mr. Goodwin, seeking a confrontation with Mr. Linville over his alleged attack of Miss James, was waiting for them outside, and words were exchanged, with both Mr. Linville and Mr. Halliburton overtly resentful of Mr. Goodwin’s presence. The doorman interceded, and Mr. Goodwin—”
“Who tried to slug me!”
“—and Mr. Goodwin withdrew,” Wolfe finished his sentence, glaring at Halliburton. I got the feeling that Wolfe would like to slug the next person who interrupted him.
“Messrs. Linville and Halliburton left together, and, as Mr. Halliburton told Mr. Goodwin, they went on foot to another establishment several blocks away, where they had a few drinks before parting at... what time was it, Mr. Halliburton?”
“I told Goodwin, something like eleven-thirty or thereabouts. I told the police too,” Halliburton whinnied, looking over his shoulder in Cramer’s direction. “It seems like we’re doing a hell of a lot of repeating here.”
“So you were together for at least seventy minutes after the confrontation with Mr. Goodwin,” Wolfe said, ignoring the complaint. “And you had recognized Mr. Goodwin immediately?”
“Yeah. I’ve said that before too.”
“But Mr. Linville had not recognized him?”
“Seems like you’re telling it.”
“I’d like to hear it again from you, sir.”
Halliburton took a breath and clenched his teeth. “Sparky didn’t recognize Goodwin. He’d never met him and I guess he’d never seen his picture — or if he had, it didn’t register. Satisfied?”
“Thank you,” Wolfe said, his eyes sweeping the room. “Let me now suggest what transpired after Mr. Linville and Mr. Halliburton walked away from Morgana’s. Mr. Halliburton was probably quick to point out that their harasser had been none other than Archie Goodwin, the well-known private investigator. At which point Mr. Linville, who was known to indulge in braggadocio over what he considered his amorous exploits, made the connection, boasting to his companion that Mr. Goodwin must have been seeking some form of reprisal because of the forcible advances he, Linville, had made to the niece of Mr. Goodwin’s longtime friend Miss Rowan.”
“You’re just guessing,” Halliburton snorted.
“An educated guess. What Mr. Linville said, and the insolent way in which he said it, enraged you, sir.”
“Why the hell should it enrage me?” Halliburton shot back, sitting up straight and squaring his shoulders. “What Sparky did was his business. He had his life and I had mine.”
“You also had something in common, however, and that was that you both knew Miss James. But while Mr. Linville’s relationship with her had been characterized by violence and, ultimately on her part, loathing, yours was one of affection, albeit unrequited.”
“I don’t know where you got that,” Halliburton squeaked, looking at the tips of his shoes. His ears were redder than Cramer’s face had been earlier.
“I got it from Mr. Goodwin’s observations of your reactions when he visited you yesterday,” Wolfe said. “He reported that your feelings for the young woman were perspicuous.”
“Hallie didn’t say anything to me about his feelings,” Noreen put in. “In fact, we only met a couple of times.”
“You hear that, Wolfe?” Cramer snapped. “How could this guy” — he gestured toward Halliburton — “have been so worked up if they barely knew each other?”
Wolfe considered him dourly. “Did not the young Dante see his Beatrice but twice? Yet that was enough to stir a passion that belongs to the ages. Likely, Mr. Halliburton did not express his feelings because he doubted their reciprocation. In any event, he held Miss James in high esteem, and when he learned from his friend of a conquest that—”