In the Best Families

“May I speak to Mr Goodwin, please?

Til see if he's in. Who is calling, please?

“Mrs Frey.

“Yes, he's in. This is me. You got my note?

“It came this morning. I don't know what you mean about representing no one but yourself.

“I guess I didn't make it very clear. I only meant I wouldn't be acting as Nero

Wolfe's assistant. I'm just myself now.

“Oh. Well-naturally, if you don't even know where he is. Can you come this evening?

To Birchvale?

“Yes.

“What time?

“Say eight-thirty.

“I'll be there.

You can't beat that, I thought to myself as I hung up, for the first incoming call to a new office-making a deal with a client who has just inherited a country estate and a million monetary units. Then, fearing that if it kept up like that I might get swamped, I closed the office for the day and headed for

Sulka's to buy a tie.

Chapter Eleven

On my previous visit to Birchvale I had got the impression that Annabel Frey had her head on right side up, and her conduct that Monday evening strengthened it.

For one thing, she had had sense enough not to gather that bunch around a dining table but invite them for half-past eight. With the kind of attitudes and emotions that were criss-crossing among those six people, an attempt to feed them at the same trough would have resulted in an acidosis epidemic.

In her first phone call, Wednesday, she had indicated that it was not a tete-a-tete she had in mind, so I was expecting to find company, probably the widower and the cousin, but to my surprise it was a full house. They were all there when I was shown into the big living-room. Annabel Frey, as hostess there now, came to meet me and gave me her hand. The other five gave me nothing but dirty looks. I saw right off that my popularity index was way down, so I merely stood, gave them a cool collective greeting, and lifted a brow at my hostess.

“It's not you, Goodwin, the politician Pierce assured me, but in a raspy tone.

“It's simply the strain of this unbearable situation. We haven't been all together like this since that terrible night. He glared at Annabel. “It was a mistake to get us here.

“Then why did you come? Barry Rackham demanded, really nasty. “Because you were afraid not to, like the rest of us. We all hated to come, but we were all afraid to stay away. A bunch of cowards-except one, of course. You can't blame that one for coming.