In the Best Families

“But, I objected, “granting that you've got it all straight, which I haven't, that's a hell of a message. Look at it from the other end. He is not out of

Zeck's reach, not if he comes home. I know he doesn't go out much, but even if he never did people have to come in-and things, like packages of sausage. Not to mention that the damage they did to the plants and equipment last year came to thirty-eight thousand bucks. I get the idea that he is to lay off Zeck, but that's only what he doesn't do. What does he do?

Cramer nodded. “I know. That's it. He's so damn' bullheaded. I want you to understand, Archie, why I came here. Wolfe is too cocky to live. He has enough brass and bluster to outfit a thousand sergeants. Sure, I know him; I ought to.

I would love to bloody his nose for him, I've tried to often enough, and some day I will and enjoy it. But I would hate to see him break his neck on a deal like this where he hasn't got a chance. It's a good guess that in the past ten years there have been over a hundred homicides in this town that were connected in one way or another with one of the operations Arnold Zeck has a hand in. But not in a single case was there the remotest hope of tying Zeck up with it. We couldn't possibly have touched him.

“You're back where you started, I complained. “He can't be reached. So what?

“So Wolfe should come back where he belongs, return what Mrs Rackham paid him to her estate, let the Westchester people take care of the murder, which is their job anyhow, and go on as before. You can tell him I said that, but by God don't quote me around. I'm not responsible for a man like Zeck being out of reach.

“But you never strained a muscle stretching for him.

“Nuts. Facts are facts.

“Yeah, like sausage is tear gas. I stood up so as to look down my nose at him.

“There are two reasons why your message will not get to Mr Wolfe. First, he is to me as Zeck is to him. He's out of my reach. I don't know where he is.

“Oh, keep it up.

“I will. Second, I don't like the message. I admit that I have known Mr Wolfe to discuss Arnold Zeck. I once heard him tell a whole family about him, only he was calling him X. He was describing the difficulties he would be in if he ever found himself tangled with X for a showdown, and he told them that he was acquainted, more or less, with some three thousand people living or working in