“Why have you been working? Not for income surely.”
“Of course not. I work because I enjoy it. I felt silly not doing anything. And Uncle Boyd — Mr. McNair — it happened that there was work there I could do.”
“How long — confound it. Excuse me.”
It was the telephone again. I swiveled and picked it up and started my usual salutation, “Hello, this is the office—”
“Hello! hello there! I want to speak to Nero Wolfe!”
I made a face at my desk calendar; this was a voice I knew too. I turned on the aggressiveness: “Don’t bark like that. Mr. Wolfe is engaged. This is Goodwin, his confidential assistant. Who—”
“This is Mr. Dudley Frost! I don’t care if he is engaged, I want to speak to him at once! Is my niece there? Let me speak to her! Let me speak to Wolfe first! He’s going to be sorry—”
I roughened up: “Listen, mister, if you don’t turn off that valve a little I’ll hang up on you. I mean it. Mr. Wolfe and Miss Frost are having a conversation, and I refuse to disturb them. If you want to leave a message—”
“I insist on speaking to Wolfe!”
“You C, A, N, apostrophe, T, can’t. Don’t be childish.”