“That’s very funny.”
“Oh, no, really, it isn’t a bit funny.”
“But it is.” A sort of chuckle came out of her, like the laugh’s colt trotting along behind. “I mean, it’s funny that Nero Wolfe should be so utterly mistaken. Such an idiotic blunder for you to make! You must even be fool enough to think I killed Hawthorne myself! That would have been quite a trick, since I was in New York all of Tuesday afternoon.”
“I’m not a fool, Miss Karn, and I advise you not to be.”
“I’ll try not.” She arose from her chair and adjusted the blue linen wrap. “Why are you so generous with the hundred thousand? I suppose that’s for me to have a good defense lawyer. It’s sweet of you, simply darling. Will I find a taxi somewhere?”
“Are you going?”
“Yes. I must. Such a nice party.”
“I might be able to persuade my clients to double it. Two hundred thousand. You can reach me here at any time. Taxis are hard to find over here by the river. Mr. Goodwin will take you home. Archie, please stop in the kitchen and tell Saul we’ll dine when you return.”
I headed off a glance of surprise at him. So the son-of-a-gun had taken steps during my absence uptown. Telling the heiress I’d only be a moment, I left her in the hall and proceeded to the kitchen, and sure enough, there was Saul Panzer playing pinochle for matches with Fred Durkin at my breakfast table. His gray eyes, the best eyes for seeing on the face of the globe, looked up at me sharply.
“Where you bound for?” I asked him. “Tail on a woman named Karn?”