“Let them in, Archie.”
I took a step, but before I took another one Larry blurted:
“Goddamn you! You know damn well when she took it! She took it the day she came down here!”
Wolfe nodded. “That’s better. But that wasn’t the first time she objected to your relations with Miss Nichols. Was it?”
“No.”
“Did she object on moral grounds?”
“Hell, no. She objected to our getting married. She ordered me to break off the engagement. The engagement was secret, but she got suspicious and questioned Janet, and Janet told her, and she made me call it off.”
“And naturally you were engaged.” Wolfe’s voice was smooth, silky. “You burned for revenge—”
“I did not!” Larry leaned forward, having trouble to control his jaw. “You can come off that right now! You’re not going to pin anything on me! I never really wanted to marry her, and what’s more, I never intended to! I can prove that by a friend of mine!”
“Indeed.” Wolfe’s eyes were nearly shut. “A man like you has friends? I suppose so. But after your aunt made you break the engagement you still kept the picture in your watch?”