midsummer trout are scarce in the creek and to fill a creel you have to go to the river. Around one o’clock that day Archie and I were sitting at the edge of Cutthroat Pool eating a picnic lunch. We had left our horses at the end of the trail.” She turned to me. “How far were we from Blue Grouse Ridge?”
“Oh, ten or twelve miles.”
Back to Wolfe. “Blue Grouse Ridge is where Philip Brodell was killed. After lunch we caught fish and took a dip in the river, which a polar bear would love, and watched beavers repairing a dam in a creek, and Archie threw a rock at a bear-black, not polar-who jumped into a pool to swim across when he had a cutthroat on. It was nearly dark when we got home, and Diana-she’s a guest-said that Bill Farnham had phoned to ask if Philip Brodell was here.”
“What’s a cutthroat?”
“A trout with a red mark under the jaw. If I had a cap, that would be a feather in it, using a word you didn’t know.”
“There are thousands of words I don’t know.” He turned to me. “I concede that you may reasonably object that that was unnecessary. If you had not conclusively eliminated Miss Rowan, you would not have remained as her guest. I’ve had a long hard day and I’m tired, and my wits are slow. I haven’t even asked you if you shot that man. Did you?”
“No. I was wondering why you didn’t ask.”
“I’m tired. But go ahead. If I find I can’t keep up with you I’ll say so. Report.”
“I’ll have to know what for,” I said. “You said you don’t know how long you’ll stay. If you intend just to check our conclusion on Harvey and wish us luck, there’s no point in-“
“How can I check your conclusion'I can only accept it or reject it. Very well, I accept it. The length of my stay depends on how long it will take us to establish his innocence.”
” ‘Us’?”
“Yes.”
I raised a brow. “I don’t know. You mean well and I deeply appreciate it, but there are a couple of snags. One, we have never worked together like this. We’re equals, fellow guests of Miss Rowan. You wouldn’t be paying me to run errands and follow instructions and bring anybody you wanted to see, and I would be free to balk if I thought-“
“Nonsense. I’m reasonable and so are you.”
“Not always, especially you. I have known you to assume-but there’s no use in going into that now. It might work. We can give it a try. Second, you’d be in the same fix as me, only worse. Nobody would tell you anything. I’ve been here before, as you know, but men who have pitched horseshoes and played pinochle and chased coyotes with me, and women who have danced with me, clam up when I want to discuss murder. I’ve had ten days of that, and you’re not only a dude, you’re a complete stranger and a freak that wears a vest. Even if you asked me to go and bring A or B or C, and I brought him, you would know as much when he left as when he came. He might tell you how old he is. I doubt if-“
“Archie. If your conclusion about Mr Greve is sound, and I have accepted it, someone knows something that will demonstrate it. Will my presence make it harder for you?”
“No.”
“Very well. Miss Rowan has said I may occupy this room. I would appreciate a full report.”
“It would take all night. We’d better go to bed and-“
“I can’t go to bed until my luggage comes.”
“Okay. More beer?”
He said no. I shifted in my chair and crossed my legs. “This will be the longest row of goose eggs I have ever reported. I have spent ten days on it, and as I said, I haven’t got a scrap of evidence pointing to anyone. There are plenty of possibles. Two of them are your fellow guests, very handy for grilling: Miss Diana Kadany, a New York actress so far off Broadway but hoping to make it on, and Mr Wade Worthy, a writer, working on the outline of a book he’s going to produce about Miss Rowan’s father. They both qualify on means. In a cupboard in the storeroom, which is down the
“Oh, ten or twelve miles.”
Back to Wolfe. “Blue Grouse Ridge is where Philip Brodell was killed. After lunch we caught fish and took a dip in the river, which a polar bear would love, and watched beavers repairing a dam in a creek, and Archie threw a rock at a bear-black, not polar-who jumped into a pool to swim across when he had a cutthroat on. It was nearly dark when we got home, and Diana-she’s a guest-said that Bill Farnham had phoned to ask if Philip Brodell was here.”
“What’s a cutthroat?”
“A trout with a red mark under the jaw. If I had a cap, that would be a feather in it, using a word you didn’t know.”
“There are thousands of words I don’t know.” He turned to me. “I concede that you may reasonably object that that was unnecessary. If you had not conclusively eliminated Miss Rowan, you would not have remained as her guest. I’ve had a long hard day and I’m tired, and my wits are slow. I haven’t even asked you if you shot that man. Did you?”
“No. I was wondering why you didn’t ask.”
“I’m tired. But go ahead. If I find I can’t keep up with you I’ll say so. Report.”
“I’ll have to know what for,” I said. “You said you don’t know how long you’ll stay. If you intend just to check our conclusion on Harvey and wish us luck, there’s no point in-“
“How can I check your conclusion'I can only accept it or reject it. Very well, I accept it. The length of my stay depends on how long it will take us to establish his innocence.”
” ‘Us’?”
“Yes.”
I raised a brow. “I don’t know. You mean well and I deeply appreciate it, but there are a couple of snags. One, we have never worked together like this. We’re equals, fellow guests of Miss Rowan. You wouldn’t be paying me to run errands and follow instructions and bring anybody you wanted to see, and I would be free to balk if I thought-“
“Nonsense. I’m reasonable and so are you.”
“Not always, especially you. I have known you to assume-but there’s no use in going into that now. It might work. We can give it a try. Second, you’d be in the same fix as me, only worse. Nobody would tell you anything. I’ve been here before, as you know, but men who have pitched horseshoes and played pinochle and chased coyotes with me, and women who have danced with me, clam up when I want to discuss murder. I’ve had ten days of that, and you’re not only a dude, you’re a complete stranger and a freak that wears a vest. Even if you asked me to go and bring A or B or C, and I brought him, you would know as much when he left as when he came. He might tell you how old he is. I doubt if-“
“Archie. If your conclusion about Mr Greve is sound, and I have accepted it, someone knows something that will demonstrate it. Will my presence make it harder for you?”
“No.”
“Very well. Miss Rowan has said I may occupy this room. I would appreciate a full report.”
“It would take all night. We’d better go to bed and-“
“I can’t go to bed until my luggage comes.”
“Okay. More beer?”
He said no. I shifted in my chair and crossed my legs. “This will be the longest row of goose eggs I have ever reported. I have spent ten days on it, and as I said, I haven’t got a scrap of evidence pointing to anyone. There are plenty of possibles. Two of them are your fellow guests, very handy for grilling: Miss Diana Kadany, a New York actress so far off Broadway but hoping to make it on, and Mr Wade Worthy, a writer, working on the outline of a book he’s going to produce about Miss Rowan’s father. They both qualify on means. In a cupboard in the storeroom, which is down the
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