I had no comment.
“If it were speedily solved,” he went on, “your commitment to the dog could be honored at leisure. I had thought until now that my disinclination to permit a policeman to storm in here and commandeer any person or object in this house that struck his fancy was shared by you.”
“It is. Within reason.”
“That’s an ambiguous phrase, and I must be allowed my own interpretation short of absurdity. Clearly the simplest way to settle this matter is to find out who killed Mr. Kampf. It may not be much of a job; if it proves otherwise we can reconsider. An immediate exploration is the thing, and luckily we have a pretext for it. You can go there to get your raincoat, taking Mr. Meegan’s with you, and proceed as the occasion offers. The best course would be to bring him here, but, as you know, I wholly rely on your discretion and enterprise in such a juncture.”
“Thank you very much,” I said bitterly. “You mean now.”
“Yes.”
“They may still have Meegan downtown.”
“I doubt if they’ll keep him overnight. In the morning they’ll probably have him again.”
“I’ll have to take the dog out first.”
“Fritz will take him out back in the court.”