Prisoner's Base

After that the lieutenant and sergeant left me, and I sat for a solid hour in a room with a uniformed patrolman. It began to look as if history was getting set to repeat itself, except for handcuffs, when a dick entered and told me to come on, and I preceded him down and out to the sidewalk, and darned if he didn't have a taxi waiting. It took us to 155 Leonard Street, and the dick took me in and upstairs to a room, and who should enter to visit me but my friend Mandelbaum, the assistant DA who had chatted with me Tuesday afternoon to no avail.

Four hours later we were still, as far as I could see, short on avail. I had the highly unsatisfactory feeling that I had been examined down to the last flick about something that had happened somewhere sometime, just to see if I passed, but that it had nothing to do with getting the sonofabitch I was after. I knew how to be patient well enough when I had to be, and I had gone along the best I could, but more than twelve hours had passed since I had opened the door and seen her lying there with her tongue sticking out, and I had answered enough questions.

At the end of the four hours Mandelbaum shoved his chair back, got up, and told me, "That seems to be it for now. I'll get it typed, and I'll get a copy of your statement uptown. This evening or in the morning-more likely in the morning-I'll ring you to ask you to run down and look it over, so stay near your phone or keep in touch."

I was frowning at him. "You mean I go?"

"Certainly. Under the circumstances your forceful entry to that building must be regarded as justified, and since you have agreed to pay the amount of the damage, there will be no complaint. Stay in the jurisdiction, of course, and be available." He looked at his wrist. "There's someone waiting for me." He turned to go.

I was having an experience that was not new to me. I had suddenly discovered that a decision had been made, by me, upon full consideration, without my knowing it. This time, though, it took me a second to accept it, because it was unprecedented. An officer of the law was telling me to go on home to Nero Wolfe, and I didn't want to or intend to.

"Hold it," I said urgently, and he stopped. I appealed to him. "I've given you all I've got. I want something-not much. I want to see Inspector Cramer, and now. He's busy, and I don't know where he is, and it might take me until tomorrow to get to him. You fix it for me."

He was alert. "Is it about this case?"

"Yes."

"Why won't I do?"