In the Best Families

I won't stand for it. Whatever else he is, he's a fat conceited peacock and it's time somebody called him. There's a phone you can use. Two hours from now, unless he's here and talking to me, there'll be a warrant for his arrest as a material witness. There's the phone.

“I doubt if you could paste material witness on him. He hasn't been anywhere near here.

“Nuts, Ben Dykes growled. “Don't be a sap. She takes troubles to him Friday and gets murdered Saturday.

I decided to take the plunge. The way I felt, it would have been a pleasure to let them go ahead with a warrant, but if I tried to stall I would need a very fancy excuse to-morrow when they saw the ad in the Gazette. So I thought what the hell, now is as good a time as any, and told them.

“I can't phone him because I don't know where he is.

“Ha ha, Dykes said. “Ha ha ha.

“Yes, I admitted, “it could be a gag. But it isn't. I don't know whether he's out of the city or not. All I know is that he left the house last night, while I was up here, and he hasn't come back-no, that isn't true. I also know that he called on a friend of his named Vukcic and arranged for his plants to be moved out and his cook to take another job. And he gave Vukcic a power of attorney.

And he sent an ad to the Gazette announcing his retirement from the detective business.

Dykes did not ha-ha again. He merely sat and frowned at me. Archer, his lips puckered, had his eyes focused on me, but as if he was trying to see not me but through me.

That went on for seconds, and I got uncomfortable. I can meet a pair of eyes all right, but not two pairs at once, one in front and one off to the left.

Finally Dykes turned his head to tell Archer, “This makes it nice.

Archer nodded, not taking his regard from me. “It's hard to believe, Goodwin.

Til say it is. For him to-

“No, no. It's hard to believe that Wolfe and you would try anything as fantastic as this. Obviously he was absolutely compelled to. You phoned him from Leeds' place last night, as soon as you could get to a phone after Mrs Rackham was murdered. That was-

“Excuse me, I said firmly. “Not as soon as I could get to a phone after Mrs

Rackham was murdered. As soon as I could get to a phone after I found out she had been murdered.

“Very well. We're not in court. He was leaning at me. That was shortly after midnight. What did you say to him?