The League of Frightened Men

Chapin's cunning wheel of vengeance have hurled you off on a tangent. Consider what we have engaged to do under our memorandum: free our clients from fear of Paul Chapin's designs. Even if it were possible to prove that Dr. Elkus poisoned Mr. Dreyer's drink – which I strongly doubt – to what purpose should we attempt it? No; let us stick to the circumference of our own necessities and desires. Inspector Cramer might some day have a fact for us, as anyone might, there is no denying that, but he is welcome to this one. It is beyond our circle of endeavor."

"Still I don't see it. Look here. Say Elkus put the stuff in Dreyer's glass. Of course Chapin was in on it, look at the second warning. How are you going to prove Chapin guilty of Dreyer's murder unless you also prove how Elkus did his part?"

I Wolfe nodded. "Your logic is

I impeccable. Your premise is absurd. I haven^t the slightest expectation of proving Chapin guilty of Dreyer's murder."

"Then what the devil -"

I got that much out before I realized exactly what he had said. I stared at him.

He went on:

"It could not be expected that you should know Paul Chapin as I know him, because you have not had the extended and intimate association that I have enjoyed – through his books. He is possessed of a demon. A fine old melodramatic phrase. The same thing can be said in modern scientific terms, but it would mean no more and its flavor would •be much impaired. He is possessed of a demon, but he is also, within certain limits, an extraordinarily astute man.

Emotionally he is infantile – he even prefers a vicar to a substitute, when the original object is unattainable, as witness his taking Dora Ritter to proxy for her mistress. But his intellectual competence is such that it is problematical whether factual proof could ever be obtained of any act of his which he intended to remain anonymous."

He stopped for some beer. I said, "If you mean you give up, you're wasting a lot of time and money. If you mean you're waiting for him to croak another one, and you're tailing him to watch him do it, and he's as smart as you say he » is…