chairman I would ask for a motion to that effect.
Thomas Dexter raised his voice. 'I would like to suggest,' he suggested, 'that we take twenty-four hours to consider the matter as it now stands, and meet again tomorrow. It is possible that Mr Wolfe-'
'Wait a minute,' Oshin cut in. He had a cigarette going. 'I've got an idea.' He stretched his neck to see around Gerald Knapp, to look at me. 'A question for you. Mr Goodwin. Which one of those four people needs money most?'
'That depends on what you mean by 'money,' ' I told him. 'A ten-spot or a grand or half a million?'
'Something in between. Here's my idea, and I like it. We make one of them an offer. Nero Wolfe makes it for us. Say ten thousand dollars. What the hell, I'd be willing to kick in that much myself. My lawyer thinks I may have to pay Rennert between fifty and a hundred thousand, and if this works Rennert will be done. And you're in the same position, Miss Wynn, with Alice Porter. She's going to nick you-'
'Not the same,' Reuben Imhof objected. 'There's no evidence. Alice Porter has claimed that Miss Wynn plagiarized a story she wrote, but the story hasn't been produced.'
'It will be. Miss Wynn, wouldn't you be willing to pay ten thousand dollars to have Alice Porter stopped'Stopped for good?'
Amy Wynn looked at Imhof. He patted her on the shoulder. 'Stopped how?' he asked Oshin. 'What's your idea?'
'Very simple. Brilliant but simple. We offer him, or her, twenty thousand dollars to spill it. Who wrote the story he based his claim on, how the manuscript was planted-everything. With evidence to back it up; that should be easy. We also offer to guarantee that he won't be prosecuted and he won't be asked to return his share of the loot. You've seen all four of them, Mr Goodwin. Which one would you pick?'
'Simon Jacobs,' I said.
'Why him?'
'Very simple. Not even brilliant. Rennert is going to collect a lot more than twenty grand from you, or thinks he is. The same goes for Alice Porter; she has just made her claim on Amy Wynn. As for Jane Ogilvy, God only knows. She testified in court that she wrote that story, 'On Earth but Not in Heaven,' because she was suffocating under the blanket of her father's bounty and her mother's devotion and sought another market for her soul, end of quotation. I suppose meaning that she wanted to get hold of some cash, and presumably this operator knew that and obliged her. When she got it she kicked loose and went to Europe, but in a month she came back to the blanket. She might grab at the twenty grand, or she might spurn it. Just talking about her I use words like'spurn.' '
'Then that leaves Jacobs.'
'Right. He probably used up his share of the take long ago. He's having a hard time placing his stories. He's living in a dump with his wife and children. I don't know if he's in debt, but he probably is, and he's not the kind of guy who would enjoy being in debt. He might open the bag for twenty grand if he had a tight guarantee that he wouldn't be prosecuted and he wouldn't be expected to repay what he got from Richard Echols more than two years ago. He hasn't got it any more. Of course the guarantee would have to come from Echols.'
Oshin went to Thomas Dexter. 'How about it, Mr Dexter'You know Echols; you published his book. Of course I've met him, but I don't know him. Will he go along?'
The publisher passed his hand over his gray hair. 'That's hard to say. I will say this, if Mr Echols agrees to such an arrangement we at Title House will have no objection. We will concur, provided that Jacobs's affidavit-I presume it would be in the form of an affidavit-makes it clear that his charge of plagiarism was false. Provided it removes from Title House the stigma of having published a book that was-uh-a fraud. We would engage to make no demand for the return of our contribution to the payment made to Jacobs, or any part of it.'
'That's fine. But what about Echols?'
'I couldn't say. He is a reasonable and sensible man in many
Thomas Dexter raised his voice. 'I would like to suggest,' he suggested, 'that we take twenty-four hours to consider the matter as it now stands, and meet again tomorrow. It is possible that Mr Wolfe-'
'Wait a minute,' Oshin cut in. He had a cigarette going. 'I've got an idea.' He stretched his neck to see around Gerald Knapp, to look at me. 'A question for you. Mr Goodwin. Which one of those four people needs money most?'
'That depends on what you mean by 'money,' ' I told him. 'A ten-spot or a grand or half a million?'
'Something in between. Here's my idea, and I like it. We make one of them an offer. Nero Wolfe makes it for us. Say ten thousand dollars. What the hell, I'd be willing to kick in that much myself. My lawyer thinks I may have to pay Rennert between fifty and a hundred thousand, and if this works Rennert will be done. And you're in the same position, Miss Wynn, with Alice Porter. She's going to nick you-'
'Not the same,' Reuben Imhof objected. 'There's no evidence. Alice Porter has claimed that Miss Wynn plagiarized a story she wrote, but the story hasn't been produced.'
'It will be. Miss Wynn, wouldn't you be willing to pay ten thousand dollars to have Alice Porter stopped'Stopped for good?'
Amy Wynn looked at Imhof. He patted her on the shoulder. 'Stopped how?' he asked Oshin. 'What's your idea?'
'Very simple. Brilliant but simple. We offer him, or her, twenty thousand dollars to spill it. Who wrote the story he based his claim on, how the manuscript was planted-everything. With evidence to back it up; that should be easy. We also offer to guarantee that he won't be prosecuted and he won't be asked to return his share of the loot. You've seen all four of them, Mr Goodwin. Which one would you pick?'
'Simon Jacobs,' I said.
'Why him?'
'Very simple. Not even brilliant. Rennert is going to collect a lot more than twenty grand from you, or thinks he is. The same goes for Alice Porter; she has just made her claim on Amy Wynn. As for Jane Ogilvy, God only knows. She testified in court that she wrote that story, 'On Earth but Not in Heaven,' because she was suffocating under the blanket of her father's bounty and her mother's devotion and sought another market for her soul, end of quotation. I suppose meaning that she wanted to get hold of some cash, and presumably this operator knew that and obliged her. When she got it she kicked loose and went to Europe, but in a month she came back to the blanket. She might grab at the twenty grand, or she might spurn it. Just talking about her I use words like'spurn.' '
'Then that leaves Jacobs.'
'Right. He probably used up his share of the take long ago. He's having a hard time placing his stories. He's living in a dump with his wife and children. I don't know if he's in debt, but he probably is, and he's not the kind of guy who would enjoy being in debt. He might open the bag for twenty grand if he had a tight guarantee that he wouldn't be prosecuted and he wouldn't be expected to repay what he got from Richard Echols more than two years ago. He hasn't got it any more. Of course the guarantee would have to come from Echols.'
Oshin went to Thomas Dexter. 'How about it, Mr Dexter'You know Echols; you published his book. Of course I've met him, but I don't know him. Will he go along?'
The publisher passed his hand over his gray hair. 'That's hard to say. I will say this, if Mr Echols agrees to such an arrangement we at Title House will have no objection. We will concur, provided that Jacobs's affidavit-I presume it would be in the form of an affidavit-makes it clear that his charge of plagiarism was false. Provided it removes from Title House the stigma of having published a book that was-uh-a fraud. We would engage to make no demand for the return of our contribution to the payment made to Jacobs, or any part of it.'
'That's fine. But what about Echols?'
'I couldn't say. He is a reasonable and sensible man in many
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