“Mostly,” he said, “to try to spot who took the keys, but there’s another thing. If someone wanted to kill Mrs. Jaffee, why did he wait until then to do it? Why didn’t he kill her before? Was it because he had no motive before? Was it something that happened that evening that gave him the motive? We want to watch for that too. We haven’t found it in any of the reports or statements, but we might possibly get it this way. We want to try, and we’ll have to have Wolfe’s and your cooperation. We can’t compel him to let us in his place with them, much less compel him to do his part. We want you to phone him or go to see him, whichever you think is better, and make the request of him.”
“I want to say, Goodwin,” the DA put in, “that I regard it as extremely important that this be done. It must be done.”
“You guys,” I said emphatically, “have one hell of a nerve.”
“Come on,” Cramer rasped, “don’t start, that hard-to-get stuff, and don’t be witty.”
“Poops.” I took them in. “Last Tuesday, six days ago, I sat on a bench in this building with handcuffs on. You may remember also that Mr. Wolfe was conveyed to Leonard Street under a warrant, and you know how he felt about that. Wanting to make a scene, he announced that I was his client, and he was stuck. He had to go through some motions, and he did; and acting for him, I pulled Sarah Jaffee in, and she got it. That threw me off balance, and I made a mistake. I asked to work with you because I thought that way I would be in it more, and I guess I have been, but where are we? And Mr. Wolfe is sore as a pup, and you know damn well he is, and yet you have the gall to ask me to ask him this, because you think if you ask him he’ll say no. I think so too, but I also think he’ll say no if I ask him. Take your pick — would you rather have him say no to you or to me?”
“We want him to say yes,” Skinner declared.
“So do I, but I don’t think there’s a glimmer. Do you want me to try?”
“Yes.”
“When do you want to stage it? Today?”
“As soon as possible. We can have them there in half an hour.”