“Did you know that if Vukcic died you would be part owner of it?”
“Certainly. You heard what Mr. Wolfe said.”
“You hadn’t mentioned it.”
“Good God!” Felix was out of his chair, on his feet, quivering. He stood a moment, got the quivering stopped, sat down again, and leaned forward at Cramer. “It takes time to mention things, officer. There is nothing about Marko and me, about him and us here, that I will not be glad to mention. He was hard about the work, hard and sometimes rough, and he could roar, but he was a great man. Listen, and I’ll tell you how I feel about him. Here I am. Here at my side is Marko.” Felix tapped his elbow with a finger. “A man appears and points a gun at him and is going to shoot. I jump to put myself in front of Marko. Because I am a big hero? No. I am no hero at all. Only because that’s how I feel about Marko. Ask Mr. Wolfe.”
Cramer grunted. “He was just asking you where you’ve been since seven o’clock. What about Leo and Joe? How do they feel about Marko?”
Felix straightened up. “They will tell you.”
“How do you think they feel?”
“Not like me because they are not of my temperament. But to suppose it possible they would try to hurt him — never. Joe would not jump in front of Marko to stop the bullet. He would jump for the man with the gun. Leo — I don’t know, but it is my opinion he would yell for help, for the police. I don’t sneer at that; it would take more than a coward to yell for help.”
“It’s too bad one of you wasn’t there when it happened,” Cramer observed. It seemed to me uncalled-for. Obviously he didn’t like Felix. “And you say you have no knowledge whatever of anyone who might have wanted Vukcic dead?”
“No, sir, I haven’t.” Felix hesitated. “Of course there is one thing — or I should say, more than one. There is women. Marko was a gallant man. Only one thing could ever take him away from his work here: a woman. I will not say that to him a woman was more important than a sauce — he could not be accused of ever neglecting a sauce — but he had a warm eye for women. After all, it was not essential for him to be in the kitchen when everything was planned and ready, and Joe and Leo and I are competent for the tables and service, so if Marko chose to enjoy dinner at his own table with a guest there was no feeling about it among us. But it might have caused feeling among others. I have no personal knowledge. Myself, I am married with four children and have no time, but everybody knows that women can arouse strong feelings.”