Death of A Doxy by Rex Stout Page B

“to torment her. She was already in a state of strain, and now she threatens to collapse. Can you justify it?”
    “Easily.” Wolfe’s brows were up. “Both the intention and the deed, but it’s the deed you challenge. Mrs. Fleming’s state of strain was partly from the shock of her sister’s death, but mostly from the fear that her way of life would be exposed. Mr. Goodwin rendered her a service by making it clear that the exposure is inevitable unless certain steps are taken. That should propel her not to collapse, but to action, if she is -“
    “What kind of action?”
    “The only kind that could be effective. Did she tell you all that Mr. Goodwin said?”
    “Her husband did. That if the man they have arrested, Orrie Cather, is tried, everything about Isabel will come out. That Cather is innocent, and the only hope is to get enough evidence to make them release him. You call that a service, to tell her that?”
    “If it’s valid, yes. It’s obvious. Do you question it?”
    “Yes. I think it was a cheap trick. Why do you say Cather is innocent'Can you prove it?”
    “No, but I intend to.”
    “I don’t believe it. I think you’re merely trying to raise enough dust to make it hard to convict him. There is no reason why you should want to do Mrs. Fleming a service, but if you did want to you could. You could persuade Cather and his lawyer to make it unnecessary for certain facts to be brought out at his trial. I know you won’t, but you could.”
    “You would like me to?”
    “Certainly. For Mrs. Fleming that ' it might save her life.”
    “But you know I won’t?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then why did you bother to come?”
    “She asked me to. They both did. They think it was just a trick, your sending him with that hogwash, and so do I. Why do you say Cather is innocent?”
    Wolfe squinted at him. “You should arrange your mind better, Doctor. As Mr. Goodwin explained to Mrs. Fleming, it will serve her interest if Mr. Cather is innocent, but you don’t like that. You contend. Is it possible that you are less concerned about your patient’s health than about your own'Did you kill Isabel Kerr?”
    Gamm goggled. “Why, you -” He swallowed. “Damn your impertinence!”
    “Naturally you damn it. But since I have assumed that Mr. Cather did not kill her, for reasons I prefer not to disclose, I need to know who did. As a man whose repeated advances to her were spurned, you are eligible. Persistent mortification can become insupportable. It’s a question of character and temperament, and I know nothing of yours; I would have to consult people who know you well ' for instance, Mr. and Mrs. Fleming. But I can collect facts. Where were you last Saturday morning from eight o’clock to noon'If you can establish -“
    He stopped because his audience was going. Dr. Gamm didn’t have the figure or the style for an impressive exit, it was more like a waddle, but it got him to the door and on through. I took my time rising and crossing to the hall, and got there just as he was opening the front door. When he was out and the door closed I went back in, raised my arms for a good stretch and an uncovered yawn, and said, “Another one down. He wouldn’t have walked out, he wouldn’t have dared, until he found out if you have anything and how much. Or tried to.”
    Wolfe’s lips were tight. He loosened them to say, “He’s either a murderer or a jackass.”
    “Then he’s a jackass. It seems to me -“
    The phone rang and I went and got it. It was Saul, reporting on a couple of names. I told him we could match him and wished him better luck tomorrow.
    He didn’t have it, and neither did we. Thursday was even emptier than Wednesday, though I tried hard because Wolfe had paid me a compliment. Partly he was merely desperate, but the fact remains that Wednesday evening he told me to go and give the neighborhood a play. It was the first time he had ever sent me on something that Saul had already covered, and I