Wolfe merely grunted, but it was a good-humored grunt, for the dinner hour was near, and he never permits himself to get irritated just before a meal.
“So,” I said, “unless she does some fancy handling in a hurry she will be gathered in before noon tomorrow, and she was the last we had. All five of them, and also the suspect we were supposed to pin it on. I hope Saul and Orrie are doing better than we are. I have a date for dinner and a show with a friend, but I can break it if there’s anything I can be doing—”
“Nothing, thank you.”
I glared at him. “Oh, Saul and Orrie are doing it?”
“There’s nothing for this evening, for you. I’ll be here, attending to matters.”
Yes, he would. He would be here, reading books, drinking beer, and having Fritz tell anyone who called that he was engaged. It wasn’t the first time he had decided that a case wasn’t worth the effort and to hell with it. On such occasions my mission was to keep after him until I had him jarred loose, but this time my position was that if Orrie Cather could spend the afternoon in my chair he could damn well do my work. So I let it lay and went up to my room to redecorate for the evening out.
It was a very nice evening on all counts. Dinner at Lily Rowan’s, while not up to the standard Fritz had got my palate trained to, was always good. So was the show, and so was the dance band at the Flamingo Club, where we went afterward to get better acquainted, since I had only known her seven years. What with this and that I didn’t get home until after three o’clock, and, following routine, looked in at the office to jiggle the handle of the safe and glance around. If there was a message for me Wolfe always left it on my desk under a paperweight, and there one was, on a sheet from his pad, in his small thin handwriting that was as easy to read as type.
I ran through it.
AG: Your work on the Keyes case has been quite satisfactory. Now that it is solved, you may proceed as arranged and go to Mr. Hewitt’s place on Long Island in the morning to get those plants. Theodore will have the cartons ready for you. Don’t forget to watch the ventilation. NW
I read it through again and turned it over to look at the back, to see if there was another installment, but it was blank.