The League of Frightened Men

"Sure you did. You didn't know I Bascom's been off the case since yesterday • morning. Try having a talk with the runt. | I did, last night, for two hours. He says he's got a goddam legal right to keep his goddam mouth shut. That's the way he talks, he's genteel. Finally I just shooed him away, and I'm going to find out who he's reporting to." ^ "I thought you said, Elkus."

"That's my idea. Who else could it be?

Do you know?"

I shook my head. "Hope to die." r "All right, if you do don't tell me, I j want to guess. Of course you realize that I'm not exactly a boob. If you don't, Nero Wolfe does. I arrested a man once and he turned out to be guilty, that's why I was made an inspector. I know Wolfe expects to open up this Mr. Chapin and get well paid for it, and therefore if I expected him to pass me any cards out of his hand I would be a boob. But I'll be frank with you, in the past six weeks I've made so many grabs at this cripple without getting anything that I don't like him at all and in fact I'd like to rip out his guts. Also, they're giving me such a riding that I'm beginning to get saddlesores.

I would like to know two things.

First, how far has Wolfe got? – Sure, I know he's a genius. Okay. But has he got enough of it to stop that cripple?"

I said, and I meant it, "He's got enough to stop any guy that ever started."

"When? I won't lose any sleep if he nicks Pratt for four grand. Can you say when, and can I help?"

I shook my head. "No twice. But he'll | do it."

"All right. I'll go on poking around myself.

The other thing, you might tell me this, and I swear to God you won't regret it. When Dora Chapin was here this . morning did she tell Wolfe she saw nitroglycerin tablets in her husband's pocket any time between September eleventh and September nineteenth?"

I grinned at him. "There are two ways I I could answer that, inspector. One way would be if she had said it, in which case I would try to answer it so you couldn't tell whether she had or not. The other way is the one you're hearing: she wasn't asked about it, and she said nothing about it.

She just came here to get her throat cut."