Wolfe nodded. “That’s the devil of it. It’s recorded history. You aren’t really telling me your fresh and direct memory of what happened last Monday, you’re merely repeating the talk it has been resolved into. — I beg you, no offense, you can’t help it. I should have been here last Monday afternoon — or rather, I shouldn’t have been here at all. I shouldn’t be here now.” He glared at Llewellyn Frost, then remembered the beer, filled his glass, and drank.
He looked from one girl to the other. “You know, of course, what the problem is. Last Monday there were more than a hundred people here, mostly women but a few men, for that show. It was a cold March day and they all wore coats. Who brought that box of candy? The police have questioned everyone connected with this establishment. They have found no one who ever saw the box or will admit to any knowledge of it. No one who saw Miss Lauck with it or has any idea where she got it. An impossible situation!”
He wiggled a finger at Frost. “I told you, sir, this case is not within my province. I can use a dart or a rapier, but I cannot set traps throughout the territory of the metropolitan district. Who brought the poison here? Whom was it intended for? God knows, but I am not prepared to make a call on Him, no matter how many orchid-growers are coerced into signing idiotic letters. I doubt if it is worthwhile for me to try even for the second half of your fee, since your cousin — your ortho-cousin — refuses to become acquainted with me. As for the first half, the solution of Miss Lauck’s death, I could undertake that only through interviews with all of the persons who were in this place last Monday; and I doubt if you could persuade even the innocent ones to call at my office.”
Lew Frost muttered, “It’s your job. You took it. If you’re not up to it—”
“Nonsense. Does a bridge engineer dig ditches?” Wolfe opened the third bottle. “I believe I have not thanked you for this beer. I do thank you. I assure you, sir, this problem is well within my abilities in so far as it is possible to apply them. In so far — for instance, take Miss Mitchell here. Is she telling the truth? Did she murder Molly Lauck? Let us find out.” He turned and got sharp. “Miss Mitchell. Do you eat much candy?”
She said, “You’re being smart.”
“I’m begging your indulgence. It won’t hurt you, with nerves like yours. Do you eat much candy?”
She drew her shoulders together, and released them. “Once in a while. I have to be careful. I’m a model, and I watch myself.”
“What is your favorite kind?”
“Candied fruits. I like nuts too.”