“Then I am too, on the main point? You were pleased to see the Giants losing?”
“I said she was right.”
“Yeah. Then I’ve still got a problem. If I accept your version and go and report to Wolfe accordingly, he’ll accept it too. Whether you think I know girls or not, he does. So that’s some responsibility for me. What if you’re a lot smoother and trickier than I think you are? Your husband is suspected of murder, and they’re still working on him. What if he’s guilty and they could squeeze out of you what they need to hook him? Of course eventually they’ll get to you and either squeeze it out or not, but how will I look if they do? That’s my problem. Have you any suggestions?”
Lila had none. She wasn’t looking at me. She sat with her head lowered, apparently gazing at her hands, which were clasped together.
“You sound almost human,” Helen Goidell said.
“That’s deceptive,” I told her. “I turn it on and off. If I thought she had something Mr. Wolfe could use I’d stop at nothing, even hair-pulling. But at the moment I really don’t think she has. I think she’s pure and innocent and wholesome. Her husband is another matter. For her sake, I hope he wiggles out of it somehow, but I’m not taking any bets. The cops seem to like him, and I know cops as well as I do girls.” I removed my foot from the car frame. “So long, and so forth.” I turned to go.
“Wait a minute.” It was Lila. I turned back. Her head was up.
“Is this straight?” she asked.
“Is what straight?”
“You’re going to tell Mr. Wolfe you’re satisfied about me?”