I didn't think you did, I assured her, and I wouldn't say anything about it anyway. How's he feeling today?
He's gone, she said.
What?
He's gone. He's left me.
He's done that before. He'll be back.
I know, but I'm afraid this time. He didn't go to his office. I hope he's just drunk somewhere andbut this time I'm afraid. Nick, do you think he's really in hove with that girl?
He seems to think he is.
Did he tell you he was?
That wouldn't mean anything.
Do you think it would do any good to have a talk with her?
No.
Why don't you? Do you think she's in love with him?
No.
What's the matter with you? she asked irritably.
No, I'm not home.
What? Oh, you mean you're some place where you can't talk?
That's it.
Are youare you at her house?
Yes.
Is she there?
No.
Do you think she's with him?
I don't know. I don't think so.
Will you call me when you can talk, or, better still, will you come up to see me?
Sure, I promised, and we hung up.
Mimi was looking at me with amusement in her blue eyes. Somebody's taking my brat's affairs seriously? When I did not answer her, she laughed and asked: Is Dorry still being the maiden in distress?
I suppose so.
She will be, too, as long as she can get anybody to believe in it. And you, of all people, to be fooled, you who are afraid to believe thatwellthat I, for instance, am ever telling the truth.
That's a thought, I said. The doorbell rang before I could go on.
Mimi let the doctor inhe was a roly-poly elderly man with a stoop and a waddleand took him in to Gilbert.
I opened the table-drawer again and looked at the bonds, Postal Telegraph & Cable 5s, Sao Paulo City 6Ѕs, American Type Founders 6s, Certain-teed Products 5Ѕs, Upper Austria 6Ѕs, United Drugs 5s, Philippine Railway 4S, Tokio Ehectric Lighting 6s, about sixty thousand dollars at face value, I judged, andguessingbetween a quarter and a third of that at the market.
When the doorbell rang I shut the drawer and let Macaulay in.
He looked tired. He sat down without taking off his overcoat and said: Well, tell me the worst. What was he up to here?
I don't know yet, except that he gave Mimi some bonds and a check.
I know that. He fumbled in his pocket and gave me a letter:
Dear Herbert:
I am today giving Mrs. Mimi Jorgensen the securitieslisted below and a ten thousand dollar check on the Park Ave. Trust dated Jan. 3. Please arrange to havesufficient money there on that date to cover it. I would suggest that you sell some more of the public utilitybonds, but use your own judgment.
I find that I cannot spend any more time in New York at present and probablywill not be able to get back here for several months, but will communicate with you from time to time. I amsorry I will not be able to wait over to see you and Charles tonight.
Yours truly,
Clyde Miller Wynant
Under the sprawling signature was a list of the bonds.
How'd it come to you? I asked.
By messenger. What do you suppose he was paying her for?
I shook my head. I tried to find out. She said he was providing for her and his children.'
That's likely, as likely as that she'd tell the truth.
About these bonds? I asked. I thought you had all his property in your hands.
I thought so too, but I didn't have these, didn't know he had them. He put his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. If all the things I don't know were laid end to end
30
Mimi came in with the doctor, said, Oh, how do you do, a little stiffly to Macaulay, and shook hands with him. This is Doctor Grant, Mr. Macaulay, Mr. Charles.
How's the patient? I asked.
Doctor Grant cleared his throat and said he didn't think there was anything seriously the matter with Gilbert, effects of a beating, slight hemorrhage of course, should rest, though. He cleared his throat again and said he was happy to have met us, and Mimi showed him out.
What happened to the boy? Macaulay asked me.
Wynant sent him on a wild-goose chase over to Julia's apartment and he ran into a tough copper.
Mimi returned from the door. Has Mr. Charles told you about the bonds and the check? she asked.
I had a note from Mr. Wynant saying he was giving them to you, Macaulay said.
Then there will be no
Difficulty? Not that I know of.
She relaxed a little and her eyes lost some of their coldness. I didn't see why there should be, but hepointing at melikes to frighten me.
Macaulay smiled politely. May I ask whether Mr. Wynant said anything about his plans?
He said something about going away, but I don't suppose I was listening very attentively. I don't remember whether he told me when he was going on where.
I grunted to show skepticism; Macaulay pretended he believed her Did he say anything that you could repeat to me about Julia Wolf, or about his difficulties, or about anything connected with the murder and all? he asked.
She shook her head emphatically. Not a word I could either repeat or couldn't, not a word at all. I asked him about it, but you know how unsatisfactory he can be when he wants. I couldn't get as much as a grunt out of him about it.
I asked the question Macaulay seemed too polite to ask: What did he talk about?
Nothing, really, except ourselves and the children, particularly Gil. He was very anxious to see him and waited nearly an hour, hoping he'd come home. He asked about Dorry, but didn't seem very interested.
Did he say anything about having written Gilbert?
Not a word. I can repeat our whole conversation, if you want me to. I didn't know he was coming, he didn't even phone from downstairs. The doorbell just rang and when I went to the door there he was, looking a lot older than when I'd seen him last and even thinner, and I said, 'Why Clyde!' or something like that, and he said: 'Are you alone?' I told him I was and he came in. Then he
The doorbell rang and she went to answer it.
What do you think of it? Macaulay asked in a low voice.
When I start believing Mimi, I said, I hope I have sense enough not to admit it.
She returned from the door with Guild and Andy. Guild nodded to me and shook hands with Macaulay, then turned to Mimi and said: Well, ma'am, I'll have to ask you to tell
Macaulay interrupted him: Suppose you let me tell what I have to tell first, Lieutenant. It belongs ahead of Mrs. Jorgensen's story and
Guild waved a big hand at the lawyer. Go ahead. He sat down on an end of the sofa.
Macaulay told him what he had told me that morning. When he mentioned having told it to me that morning Guild glanced bitterly at me, once, and thereafter ignored me completely. Guild did not interrupt Macaulay, who told his story clearly and concisely. Twice Mimi started to say something, but each time broke off to listen. When Macaulay had finished, he handed Guild the note about the bonds and check. That came by messenger this afternoon.
Guild read the note very carefully and addressed Mimi: Now then, Mrs. Jorgensen.
She told him what she had told us about Wynant's visit, elaborating the details as he patiently questioned her, but sticking to her story that he had refused to say a word about anything connected with Julia Wolf or her murder, that in giving her the bonds and check he had simply said that he wished to provide for her and the children, and that though he had said he was going away she did not know where or when. She seemed not at all disturbed by everybody's obvious disbelief. She wound up smiling, saying: He's a sweet man in a lot of ways, but quite mad.
You mean he's really insane, do you? Guild asked; not just nutty?