have room for, and I could have sold five hundred of them for twelve thousand dollars.' He let his eyes come half open. 'When you have finished transcribing these things, take them down to Mr. Cramer and tell him how we got them.'
'Tell him everything?'
'Yes. But before you go to him do another typing job. Your notebook. Send this letter to everyone who was here Friday evening.' He frowned for words, and in a moment dictated, ''Since you were good enough to come to my office at my invitation Friday evening, and since you were present when it was intimated that Miss Gunther's statement that she had left the leather case on the window sill of the reception room might not deserve credence, I am writing to inform you of a development that occurred today. Paragraph. Mr. Don O'Neill received in the mail a ticket for a parcel that had been checked at Grand Central Station. The parcel proved to be the leather case in question, with the figure four stamped on the lid as described by Miss Gunther. However, most of the cylinders it contained were obviously dictated by Mr. Boone prior to March 26th. I send you this information in justice to Miss Gunther.''
'That's all?' I inquired.
'Yes.'
'Cramer will throw a fit.'
'No doubt. Mail them before you go to him, and take him a carbon. Then bring Miss Gunther here.'
'Her'Phoebe Gunther?'
'Yes.'
'That's dangerous. Isn't it too risky to trust me with her?'
'Yes. But I want to see her.'
'Okay, it's on you.'
Nero Wolfe 11 - The Silent Speaker
Chapter 16
TWO HOURS AND MORE of back-breaking drudgery. Ten whole cylinders. Three carbons. Not only that, it was new to me and I had to adjust the speed about twenty times before I got the knack of it. When I finally got it finished and the sheets collated, I gave the original to Wolfe, who was back in the office by that time, placed the first two carbons in the safe, and folded the third carbon and stuck it in my pocket. Then there were the dozen letters to be typed and envelopes for same. As Wolfe signed them he folded and inserted them, and even sealed the envelopes. Sometimes he has bursts of feverish energy that are uncontrollable. By that time it was the dinner hour, but I decided not to dawdle through a meal in the dining room with Wolfe and made a quickie of it in the kitchen.
I had phoned the Homicide Squad office to make sure that Cramer would be on hand, to avoid having to deal with Lieutenant Rowcliffe, whose murder I hoped to help investigate some day, and had also called Phoebe Gunther's apartment to make a date but got no answer. Getting the car from the garage, I went first to Eighth Avenue to drop the letters in the post office and then headed south for Twentieth Street.
After I had been in with Cramer ten minutes he said, 'This sounds like something. I'll be damned.'
After another twenty minutes he said, 'This sounds like something. I'll be damned.'
That, of course, showed clear as day where he stood-up to his hips in a swamp. If he had been anywhere near dry ground, or even in sight of some, he would have waved his prerogative in front of my nose and cussed Wolfe and me up one side and down the other for withholding evidence for nine hours and fourteen minutes and so forth, including threats, growls, and warnings. Instead of which, at one point it looked as if he might abandon all restraint and thank me. Obviously he was desperate.
When I left Cramer I still had the carbon of the transcription in my pocket, because it was not intended for him. If I was to take Phoebe Gunther to Wolfe it was desirable that I get her before Cramer did, and it seemed likely that he would want to know exactly what was on those cylinders before he started a roundup. So I had kept it sketchy and hadn't told him that a transcription had been made.
Also I wasted no time getting to Fifty-fifth Street.
The doorman phoned up, gave me another look of surprise when he turned to tell me I would be received, and called an okay to the elevator. Up at
'Tell him everything?'
'Yes. But before you go to him do another typing job. Your notebook. Send this letter to everyone who was here Friday evening.' He frowned for words, and in a moment dictated, ''Since you were good enough to come to my office at my invitation Friday evening, and since you were present when it was intimated that Miss Gunther's statement that she had left the leather case on the window sill of the reception room might not deserve credence, I am writing to inform you of a development that occurred today. Paragraph. Mr. Don O'Neill received in the mail a ticket for a parcel that had been checked at Grand Central Station. The parcel proved to be the leather case in question, with the figure four stamped on the lid as described by Miss Gunther. However, most of the cylinders it contained were obviously dictated by Mr. Boone prior to March 26th. I send you this information in justice to Miss Gunther.''
'That's all?' I inquired.
'Yes.'
'Cramer will throw a fit.'
'No doubt. Mail them before you go to him, and take him a carbon. Then bring Miss Gunther here.'
'Her'Phoebe Gunther?'
'Yes.'
'That's dangerous. Isn't it too risky to trust me with her?'
'Yes. But I want to see her.'
'Okay, it's on you.'
Nero Wolfe 11 - The Silent Speaker
Chapter 16
TWO HOURS AND MORE of back-breaking drudgery. Ten whole cylinders. Three carbons. Not only that, it was new to me and I had to adjust the speed about twenty times before I got the knack of it. When I finally got it finished and the sheets collated, I gave the original to Wolfe, who was back in the office by that time, placed the first two carbons in the safe, and folded the third carbon and stuck it in my pocket. Then there were the dozen letters to be typed and envelopes for same. As Wolfe signed them he folded and inserted them, and even sealed the envelopes. Sometimes he has bursts of feverish energy that are uncontrollable. By that time it was the dinner hour, but I decided not to dawdle through a meal in the dining room with Wolfe and made a quickie of it in the kitchen.
I had phoned the Homicide Squad office to make sure that Cramer would be on hand, to avoid having to deal with Lieutenant Rowcliffe, whose murder I hoped to help investigate some day, and had also called Phoebe Gunther's apartment to make a date but got no answer. Getting the car from the garage, I went first to Eighth Avenue to drop the letters in the post office and then headed south for Twentieth Street.
After I had been in with Cramer ten minutes he said, 'This sounds like something. I'll be damned.'
After another twenty minutes he said, 'This sounds like something. I'll be damned.'
That, of course, showed clear as day where he stood-up to his hips in a swamp. If he had been anywhere near dry ground, or even in sight of some, he would have waved his prerogative in front of my nose and cussed Wolfe and me up one side and down the other for withholding evidence for nine hours and fourteen minutes and so forth, including threats, growls, and warnings. Instead of which, at one point it looked as if he might abandon all restraint and thank me. Obviously he was desperate.
When I left Cramer I still had the carbon of the transcription in my pocket, because it was not intended for him. If I was to take Phoebe Gunther to Wolfe it was desirable that I get her before Cramer did, and it seemed likely that he would want to know exactly what was on those cylinders before he started a roundup. So I had kept it sketchy and hadn't told him that a transcription had been made.
Also I wasted no time getting to Fifty-fifth Street.
The doorman phoned up, gave me another look of surprise when he turned to tell me I would be received, and called an okay to the elevator. Up at
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