Wolfe, settled in his chair again, nodded. “Yes.”
“Ah. You do. What?”
“The message he left.”
“The message only says NW. Go on from there.”
“I need more information. I need to know — are the pencils still there on his desk as you found them?”
“Yes. They haven’t been disturbed.”
“You have a man there, of course. Get him on the phone and let me talk to him. You will hear us.”
Cramer hesitated, not liking it, then decided he might as well string along, came to my desk, dialed a number, got his man, and told him Wolfe would speak to him. Wolfe took it with his phone while Cramer stayed at mine.
Wolfe was courteous but crisp. “I understand those pencils are there on the desk as they were found, that all but one of them have erasers in their ends, and that an eraser is there on the desk, between the two groups of pencils. Is that correct?”
“Right.” The dick sounded bored. I was getting it from the phone on the table over by the globe.