“Nice-looking skirt,” Mel remarked as he looked at the glossy print that I handed him. “I wouldn’t mind knowing this one, Archie. How fast do you need these?”
“As quickly as you can do it. Feel free to bill me double if that helps to speed things up.”
Mel waved my comment away. “Nah, you know that we don’t pull that kind of stuff here, Archie. You’ve been a good customer for a long time,” he said. “Right now, I’m working on a couple of jobs that came in ahead of you, but I can have these ready in... let’s see... two hours. That okay with you?”
“Plenty okay,” I told Mel, and on my return later that afternoon, I got what I needed from him. When Wolfe came down from the plant rooms at six and rang for beer, I had placed one of the prints on his desk blotter. He picked it up, studied it for several seconds, and said, “Adequate.”
“I’m glad that you think so. As you know, I have met the woman, and this is her, all right.”
Wolfe told me to make sure Saul, Fred, and Orrie each got several copies of the photos and then said, “I would like to see the woman who cleans Miss Carr’s home. I believe her name is Sofia. Tonight at nine would be preferable.”
I called Lily. “This is my day to discuss business with you. Mr. Wolfe wants to talk to Sofia, in person. Preferably today, at nine p.m.”
“I can ask her, although I’m not sure how she will react. She’s fairly shy.”
“It didn’t seem to overly bother her to meet me, did it?”
“No, but you were with me at the time, which made you legitimate, so to speak.”
“I have always wanted to be legitimate. Well, I am sure you can persuade Sofia that Nero Wolfe is not some two-headed monster who eats young women for dinner.”
“You have such a colorful way of putting things, which must be why I am drawn to you. I will call her and report back.”
Next, I phoned our “three musketeers,” saying their assignments now extended beyond the search for Everett to include his sister, and that we had pictures of her for them.
“All well and good, Archie, but where are we supposed to be looking for this Maureen Carr?” Orrie asked.
“If the lady has fled town within the last two to three weeks, which is a strong possibility, obvious places to start are Grand Central and Penn stations, the bus terminal, the ferries, LaGuardia, and the North River Piers, where the ocean liners berth. I’m sure Saul can put together a program. Maureen is a good-looking creature, as you will see when you get photographs, and people — particularly men — have an unerring way of remembering such women.”
Orrie grumbled about looking for a needle in a haystack, but his complaint was half-hearted, and he said he would stop by for his photographs.
The ever-dependable Lily telephoned just as I hung up with Orrie. “I talked to Sofia, and as I predicted, she’s chary about meeting Nero Wolfe.”
“Chary — now that’s Wolfe-type word. Mark me down as impressed.”
“You know very well that I have a college degree, and my major was English. I do know my way around a dictionary and a thesaurus.”
“Of course you do, I’ve never doubted it. But back to Sofia: Did you do some arm-twisting?”
“I felt I might have to,” Lily said. “I wore her down, though, and she said she would come to the brownstone, but only on the condition that I would accompany her.”
“That seems like a reasonable request, and I know Wolfe won’t mind. After all, he is moderately comfortable with you.”
“I am flattered, knowing as I do his overall attitude about females in his sanctum sanctorum.”
“Sanctum sanctorum — there you go again, showing off your education.”
“Just reminding you that I am a force to be reckoned with.”
“Once again, I have never doubted it. Just don’t try to show off in front of Nero Wolfe, or he will brand you a poseur.”
“On that note, I will take my leave and will see you and your boss tonight with Sofia in tow.”
Chapter 11
I told Wolfe that Lily had gotten Sofia to overcome her reluctance and would deliver her to us. He nodded his approval and then returned to his book. Heaven forbid that the man should have to expend energy by exercising his vocal cords.
Other than the upcoming 9:00 p.m. meeting, the only other activity that day relating to the case was when Saul, Fred, and Orrie dropped by together to pick up photographs of Maureen. Similar to the suggestion I had made to Orrie earlier, Saul had drawn up a plan in which each of the three of them would be assigned to canvass a specific location, such as Penn Station. Sure, this plan was a long shot at best, but we did not have a lot else going for us.
Lily, with Sofia in tow, rang the doorbell at eight fifty-five, and as usual I acted as greeter. “Hello, sir,” Sofia said to me, wearing a somber expression and looking like she would rather be anywhere but at an old brownstone on West Thirty-Fifth Street.
I put their coats on the hall hanger and led them into the office, where at my direction Lily took the red leather chair and Sofia sat primly on the front edge of one of the yellow ones that faced the unoccupied desk. Within seconds, Wolfe walked in, detoured around said desk, and sat. If Sofia was surprised by his bulk, she did not show it. But Lily surely had prepared her for the experience of meeting him.
Once seated, Wolfe dipped his head in his guests’ direction, then asked if Sofia and Lily would like something to drink. They both declined.
“Thank you very much for sparing the time to come here tonight, madam,” Wolfe said. “I will try not to take too long.” Sofia nodded but said nothing.
“How long have you been in Miss Carr’s employ?”
“Almost three years.”
“You must know her quite well then. Would you say she is a good person to work for?”
“Yes... a very nice lady, very nice.”
“Does she travel a good deal?”
“Maybe... two times a year, maybe three sometimes.”
“When Miss Carr does leave home, where does she go, Mrs. Jurek? Does she have favorite locations where she takes vacations?”
Sofia frowned, as if thinking. “She often likes to go to places where it is warm. When she comes home, she is... brown.”
“Ah, tanned, I see,” Wolfe said. “How long is she gone on these trips?”
Another frown. “Two weeks, sometimes longer.”
“And does she always tell you when she will be going away?”
“Oh yes, always.”
“But not this time, Mrs. Jurek?”
“No... not this time,” she replied in a subdued voice and shook her head.
“Do you have any idea at all where she might have gone on this occasion?”
“No, I have told them” — she looked at Lily and then at me — “that she did not say anything to me about going away. I am very worried about Miss Carr.”
“A natural reaction,” Wolfe said. “Did she take a lot of clothing with her?”
“She has so many clothes. Miss Rowan and I went through her closets, but we could not tell how much was missing.” She looked at Lily, who nodded and smiled.
“Had Miss Carr ever been married?”
“Yes... before I began working for her.”
“Have you ever met her former husband?”
Sofia shook her head. It was clear that this questioning was difficult for her, but Wolfe pushed on.
“In the days before Miss Carr disappeared, did you notice any changes in her mood?”