"Did this woman leave the house with you?"
"No. When I opened the door, coming out, she was coming up the stoop. She said she wanted to see Nero Wolfe, and when I told her I no longer worked for him, and anyway he probably wouldn't see her, she said she guessed that for what she wanted I would be better than him. She offered to pay me fifty dollars for consultation on how to win a bet she had made, and we sat here to consult. We had been here fifteen or twenty minutes when the prowl car came along and stopped by the taxi, which had been standing there when I left the house, and naturally I was curious and went to take a look. The cop asked me my name and I told him. When he went to his radio to report I came back to my client, but we didn't do much consulting on account of the commotion. That's the crop."
"Had you ever seen this woman before?"
"No."
"What was the bet she wanted to consult about?"
"That's her affair. She's here. Ask her."
"Did she come in that taxi?"
"Not to my knowledge. Ask her."
"Did you see her get out of the taxi?"
72 3 "* Wolfe's Door
"No. She was halfway up the stoop when I opened the door."
"Did you see anyone get out of the taxi? Or near it?"
"No."
"What's her name?"
"Ask her."
His head moved. "Is your name Judith Bram?"
That was no news for me, since my view through the open door had included the framed picture of the hackie and her name. As well as I had been able to tell in the dim light, the picture was not of my client.
"No," she said.
"What is it?"
"Mira Holt. Mira with an I." Her voice was clear and steady.
"Did you drive that taxi here?"
"No."
"Did you come here in it?"
"No."
So she had picked method three, a simple basic lie.
"Did you have an appointment to see Nero Wolfe?"
"No."
"Where do you live?"
"Seven-fourteen East Eighty-first Street."
"What is your occupation?"
"Modeling. Mostly fashion modeling."
"Are you married?"
"Yes, but I don't live with my husband."
"What's your husband's name?"
She opened her mouth and closed it again. "Waldo Kearns. I use my own name." <
"Are you divorced?"
"No."
'Was that taxi here when you arrived?"
"I don't know. I didn't notice, but I suppose it was because it didn't come after we sat down."
"How did you come here?"
"I don't think that matters."
"I'll decide if it matters. How did you come?"
Method Three for Murder 73
She shook her head. "No. For instance, if somebody drove me here, or near here, you would ask him, and I might not want you to. No."
So she also knew what "no trimmings" meant.
"I advise you," Cramer advised her, "to tell me how you came."
"I would rather not."
"What was the bet you wanted to consult about?"
"That doesn't matter either. It was a private bet with a friend." Her head turned. "You're a detective, Mr. Goodwin, so you ought to know, do I have to tell him about my private affairs just because I was sitting here with you?"
"Of course not," I assured her. "Not unless he shows some con' nection between your private affairs and his public affairs, and he hasn't. It's entirely up to you whether--"
"What the devil is all this?" Nero Wolfe bellowed.
I twisted around and so did my client. The door was wide open and he was standing on the threshold, his bulk towering above us. "What's going on?" he demanded.
Since I was merely an ex-employee and Cramer was an inspector I thought it fitting to let him reply, but he didn't. Apparently he was too flabbergasted at seeing Wolfe actually stick his nose outdoors. Wolfe advanced a step. "Archie. I asked a question."
I had stood up. "Yes, sir, I heard you. Miss Holt, this is Mr. Wolfe. Miss Mira Holt. When I left the house she was coming up the steps. I had never seen her before. When I told her I was no longer in your employ she said I would be better than you and asked to consult me. She has paid me. We sat down to confer. There was an empty taxi parked at the curb, no driver in it. A police car came along and stopped, and a cop found a dead body, female, in the taxi under a piece of canvas. I was there looking in when he removed the canvas. I came back up the stoop to sit with my client. We recessed our conference to watch the proceedings. Officers arrived promptly, including Inspector Cramer. When he got around to it he came and questioned us. I knew nothing about the taxi or its contents and said so. She told him she had not driven the taxi here and hadn't come in it. She gave him her name and address and occupation, but refused to answer questions about her
74 3 at Wolfe's Door
private affairs--for instance, what she was consulting me about. I was telling her that was entirely up to her when you appeared."
Wolfe grunted. "Why didn't you bring Miss Holt inside?"
"Because it's not my house. Or my office."
"Nonsense. There is the front room. If you wish to stand on ceremony, I invite you to use it for consultation with your client. Sitting here in this hubbub is absurd. Have you any further information for Mr. Cramer?"
"No."
"Have you, Miss Holt?"
She was on her feet beside me. "I didn't have any," she said. "I haven't got any."
"Then get away from this turmoil. Come in."
Cramer found his tongue. "Just a minute." He had come on up to the stoop and was at my elbow, focused on Wolfe. "This is all very neat. Too damn neat. Goodwin says he quit his job. Did he?"
"Yes "
"Why?"
"Pfui. That's egregious, Mr. Cramer, and you know it."
"Did it have anything to do with Miss Holt or what she was coming to consult about?"
"No."
"Or with the fact that a taxi was parked at your door with a dead body in it?"
"No."
"Did you know Miss Holt was coming?"
"No. Nor, patently, did Mr. Goodwin."
"Did you know the taxi was out here?"
"No. I am bearing with you, sir. You persist beyond reason. If Mr. Goodwin or I were involved in the circumstance that brought you here, or Miss Holt, would he have sat here with her, supine, awaiting your assault? You know him, and you know me. Come, Archie. Bring your client." He turned.
I told Cramer, "I'll be glad to type up statements and bring them down," touched Mira Holt's arm, and followed her inside, Wolfe having preceded us.
When I had shut the door and the lock had clicked Wolfe spoke.
Method Three for Murder 75
"Since there's no telephone in the front room and you may have occasion to use one, perhaps the office would be better. I will go to my room."
"Thank you," I said politely. "But it might be still better for us to leave the back way. You may not want us here when I explain the situation. Miss Holt drove that taxi here. A friend of hers named Judith Bram is one of the ninety-three female hackies in New York, and she let Miss Holt take her cab--or maybe Miss Holt took it without Miss Bram's knowledge. She left--"
"No," Mira said. "Judy let me take it."
"Possible," I conceded. "You're a pretty good liar. Let me finish. She left it, empty, in front of a building and went in the building for something, and when she came back there was a dead body in it, a woman, with a knife between its ribs. Either it was covered with a canvas, or she--"
"I covered it," Mira said. "It was under that panel by the driver's seat."
"She's level-headed," I told Wolfe. "Somewhat. She couldn't notify the police, because not only had she and her friend violated the law, but also she had recognized the dead woman. She knew her. She decided to come and consult you and me. I met her on the " stoop. She told me a cockeyed tale about a bet she had made with a friend which I'll skip. I said somewhat level-headed. I let her see that I knew she was feeding me soap but kept her from blurting it out. So I told Cramer no lies, but she did, and did a good job. But the lies won't keep long. It's barely possible that Judith Bram will deny that she let someone take her cab, but sooner or later--"