“So you have. And no more?”
“No more. For what?”
“For finishing the job. I’m going to find out who killed Mr. Rony, and I’m going to prove it.” Wolfe aimed a finger at him. “If I fail, Mr. Sperling—” He let the finger down and shrugged. “I won’t. I won’t fail. See if I do.”
Suddenly, without the slightest preliminary, Sperling got mad. In a flash his eyes changed, his color changed — he was a different man. Up from the chair, on his feet, he spoke through his teeth.
“Get out! Get out of here!”
Evidently there was only one thing to do, get out. It was nothing much to me, since I had had somewhat similar experiences before, but for Wolfe, who had practically always been in his own office when a conference reached the point of breaking off relations, it was a novelty to be told to get out. He did well, I thought. He neither emphasized dignity nor abandoned it, but moved as if he had taken a notion to go to the bathroom but was in no terrible hurry. I let him precede me, which was only proper.
However, Sperling was a many-sided man. His flare-up couldn’t possibly have fizzled out as quick as that, but as I hopped ahead of Wolfe to open the door his voice came.
“I won’t stop payment on that check!”
Chapter 14
The package arrived a little before noon on Wednesday.