I went ahead up the stoop to open the door and let them in, put them in the front room with Saul, and went through to the office.
“Okay,” I told Wolfe, “it’s your turn. They’re here.”
Behind his desk, he closed the book he had been reading and put it down. He asked, “Mrs. Rackell?”
“Yes. They were there on a bench, with dog, and Saul was behind a bush and could hear, but I don’t know what. I gave them their choice of the law or you, and they preferred you. She probably thinks she can buy out. You want Saul first?”
“No. Bring them in.”
“But Saul can tell you—”
“I don’t need it. Or if I do — we’ll see.”
“You want him in too?”
“Yes.”
I went and opened the connecting door and invited them, and they entered. As Mrs. Rackell crossed to the red leather chair and sat her lips were so tight there were none. Heath’s face had no expression at all, but it must be hard to display feeling with that kind of round pudgy frontispiece even if you try. Saul took a chair against the far wall, but Wolfe told him to move up, and he transferred to one at the end of my desk.