Prisoner's Base

Satisfied that I wasn't going to throw a tantrum, he returned to the Softdown quintet. "When you left here Thursday evening, I had nothing new about you with regard to the murder of Miss Eads, but it seemed more than ever doubtful, under my hypothesis, that a motive could be found for any of you to kill Mrs. Fomos. As I said, I told Mr. Goodwin that I thought I knew who had committed the murders, but I also told him that there was a contradiction that had to be solved, and for that purpose I asked him to have Mrs. Jaffee here at eleven o'clock the next morning."

He turned left. "What was the contradiction, Mr. Cramer?"

Cramer shook his head. "I'm not clear up with you. I suppose the point was that this Eric Hagh is not Hagh, he's a ringer, from what you said about him killing Mrs. Fomos because he knew she couldn't recognize him, but then where were you?"

"I was facing a contradiction."

"What?"

"You should know. Among the items furnished by me to Lieutenant Rowcliff on Friday was a carbon copy of a report, typed by Mr. Goodwin, of his conversation with Mrs. Jaffee on Wednesday at her apartment. Surely you have read it, and this is an excerpt from it. I quote: 'That was the last letter I ever got from Pris. The very last. Maybe I still have it-I remember she enclosed a picture of him.'

"Mrs. Jaffee said that to Mr. Goodwin. It contradicted my hypothesis that the man calling himself Eric Hagh was an impostor; for if Mrs. Jaffee had seen a picture of Hagh, why didn't she denounce this man when she saw him here? It was to get an answer to that question that I asked Mr. Goodwin to have her here Friday morning."

"Why didn't you ask her then and there?"

"If that's a challenge, Mr. Cramer, I ignore it. If it's a request for information, the-"

"It is."

"Good. The circumstances were not favorable. My suspicion of Hagh had no support but a hypothesis, and I was not certain of the bona fides of Mrs. Jaffee herself. I wanted first to get an opinion from Mr. Goodwin and Mr. Parker, and Mrs. Jaffee was leaving with Mr. Parker. It was late at night, and I was tired. Of course I regret it. I regretted it only two hours after I had gone to bed, when I was awakened by the phone and Mr. Goodwin told me that Mrs. Jaffee had been murdered. Then, too late for her, I knew. I even got out of bed and sat in a chair, something I never do."

"This is being recorded, Wolfe," Bowen warned him. "You say you knew the identity of a murderer. Whom did you notify?"