Johnny went.
Wolfe asked the guests if they would like some beer and they shook their heads. He poured a glass for himself, drank some, wiped his lips, and leaned back.
“Then—” Anne began, but it got caught on the way out. She cleared her throat and swallowed, and tried again. “Then what he said — you said his threat was preposterous. You mean the police won’t do that — won’t arrest my father?”
“I couldn’t say, Miss Tracy. The police are unpredictable. Even so, that is highly improbable.” Wolfe’s eyes left her. “And you, Mr. Updegraff? By what bold stroke did Mr. Keems bring you along?”
“He didn’t bring me.” Fred stood up. “I came.”
“By pure coincidence? Or automatism?”
Fred moved forward and put a hand on the back of my chair, which Anne was still sitting in. “I’m protecting Miss Tracy.”
“Oh. From what?”
“From everything,” he said firmly. He appeared to have a tendency to talk too loud, and he looked more serious than ever, and the more serious he looked the younger he looked. At that moment he might even have passed for Anne’s younger brother, which was okay, since I had no objection if she wanted to be a sister to him.
“That’s quite a job,” Wolfe said. “Are you a friend of hers?”