If Death Ever Slept

“You know what a murder investigation is like, Goodwin. You know that better than I do.”

“Yeah. It’s no fun.”

“It certainly isn’t. Of course they may already have a line on somebody, they may even have the man that did it, there was nothing on the radio about that. But if they haven’t, and if they don’t get him soon, you know what it will be like. They’ll dig everywhere as deep as they can. He was with me five years, and he lived here. They’ll want to know everything about him, and it’s mostly here they’ll expect to get it.”

I was tying a shoelace. “Yeah, they have no respect for privacy, when it’s murder.”

He nodded. “I know they haven’t. And I know the best way to handle it is to tell them anything they want to know, within reason. If they think I’m holding out that will only make it worse, I appreciate that. One thing I want to discuss with you, they’ll ask why I fired Eber and what do I say?”

I had my shoes on now and was on equal terms. Conferring in bare feet with a man who is properly shod may not put you at a disadvantage, but it seems to. It may be because he could step on your toes. With mine now protected, I said, “Just tell them why you fired him. That you suspected him of leaking business secrets.”

He shook his head. “If I do that they’ll want details-what secrets he leaked and who to, all that. That would take them onto ground where I don’t want them. I would rather tell them that Eber was getting careless, he seemed to be losing interest, and I decided to let him go. No matter who else they ask, nobody could contradict that, not even Nora, except one person. You. If they ask you, you can simply say that you don’t know much about it, that you understand that I was dissatisfied with Eber but you don’t know why. Can’t you?”

I was frowning at him. “This must have given you quite a jolt, Mr. Jarrell. You’d better snap out of it. Two of Mr. Wolfe’s oldest and dearest enemies, and mine, are Inspector Cramer and Sergeant Stebbins of Homicide. The minute they catch sight of me and learn that I’m here under another name in Eber’s job, the sparks will start flying. No matter what reason you give them for firing him they won’t believe you. They won’t believe me. They won’t believe anybody. The theory they’ll like best will be that you decided that Eber had to be shot and got me in as a technical consultant. That may be stretching it a little, but it gives you an idea.”

“Good God.” He was stunned. “Of course.”

“So I can’t simply say I don’t know much about it.”