The Rodeo Murder

IV

When the company arrived I wasn’t there to let them in. They came five minutes early, at ten after two, and I was upstairs with Laura Jay. The south room is two flights up, on the same floor as my room, in the rear, above Wolfe’s room. I left the lunch table before Wolfe finished his coffee, and mounted the two flights, partly to make sure she was still there, partly to see if she had eaten anything from the tray Fritz had taken up, and partly to tell her that Nan and Mel and Roger Dunning were expected and if Wolfe wanted her to join the party later I would either come and get her or send Fritz for her. All three purposes were served. She was there, standing at a window, the sun setting fire to her honey-colored hair. There was only one Creole fritter left on the plate and no salad in the bowl. I had expected her to insist on going down with me instead of waiting for a summons, but she didn’t. Just for curiosity I asked her if she had intended to pull the trigger as soon as I hung up or wait until I turned around, and she said I ought to know she wouldn’t shoot a man in the back.

When I descended to the office they were there — Roger Dunning in the red leather chair, and Nan Karlin and Mel Fox in two of the yellow ones facing Wolfe’s desk. When I entered and circled around them I got no glances; they were too intent on Wolfe, who was speaking.

“... and the source of my information is not important. If you persist in your denial you will merely be postponing your embarrassment. The police have learned, not from me, that Eisler took a woman to his apartment Sunday night, and they are going over it for fingerprints. Almost certainly they will find some of yours, Miss Karlin, and Mr. Goodwin has told me that all of you permitted them to take samples last evening. You’re in a pickle. If you refuse to discuss it with me I advise you to tell the police about it at once, before they confront you with it.”

Nan turned her head to look at Mel, and I had her full-face. Even without her pink silk shirt and Levis and boots, in a blouse and skirt and pumps, she would have been spotted by any New Yorker as an alien. The skin of a girl’s face doesn’t get that deep tone from week ends at the beach or even a two weeks’ go-now-pay-later trip to Bermuda.

Mel Fox, meeting her look, said, “What the hell.”

Nan went back to Wolfe. “Laura told you,” she said. “Laura Jay. She’s the only one that knew about it except Roger Dunning and he didn’t.”

“He says he didn’t,” Mel said. His eyes went to Dunning. “You wouldn’t be letting out anybody’s cinch, would you, Roger?”

“Of course not,” Dunning said. It came out a little squeaky, and he cleared his throat. His narrow, bony face was just a sliver. I have noticed over and over that under strain a fat face gets fatter and a long face gets longer. He asked Wolfe, “Did I tell you?”

“No.” To Nan: “You say that Miss Jay and Mr. Dunning are the only ones who knew about it. When did you tell them?”

“Sunday night when I got back to the hotel. Laura’s room is next to mine and I went in and told her. I thought I ought to tell Roger and so did she, and when I went to my room I phoned him and he came and I told him.”

“Why him? Are you on terms of intimacy with him?”

“With him? Good lord. Him?”

“The question arises. It is conceivable that he was so provoked by the outrage that he decided to kill Eisler, moved perhaps by an unavowed passion. Is it not?”

“Look at him,” Nan said.

We did so. With no desire to slander him, it must be admitted that he didn’t look like a man apt to burn with passion, avowed or unavowed.

“I never killed a man yet,” he said. “Why Nan told me, she thought she ought to and she was absolutely right. It was partly my fault she had gone with Eisler to his apartment, I had asked the girls to let him have a little rope as long as he didn’t get too frisky, I knew they could take care of themselves, and Nan wanted to tell me that if he ever came near her again she would give him worse than a scratch, and I couldn’t blame her.”

“Why did you ask them to give him rope?”

“Well.” Dunning licked his lips. “In a way I was hogtied. If Eisler hadn’t put up the money we wouldn’t have made it to New York this year, or anyhow it wouldn’t have been easy. I didn’t know much about him when I first signed up with him except that he had the money. Anyhow he was all right except with the girls, and I didn’t know he was that kind. I knew if he didn’t pull up there might be trouble, but I figured it wouldn’t do any good to tell him so. What could I do? I couldn’t fence him out. When Nan told me about Sunday night I thought that might stop him, it might show him that a girl that can handle a bronc can handle his kind.”

“Did you tell him that?”

“No, I didn’t. I hoped I wouldn’t have to. But I decided I would keep my eyes open. Up there yesterday when I noticed he wasn’t on the terrace I looked around for him some, inside and outside. When I couldn’t find him and I saw all the girls were there I thought he had up and gone, and that suited me fine.”

“What time was that? When you looked around and couldn’t find him.”

Dunning shook his head. “I can’t make it close. The police wanted me to and I did the best I could, but all I can say, it wasn’t long after Miss Rowan went in for some more coffee — maybe three minutes, maybe more than that. Then when I went back in after looking outside Cal Barrow said his rope was gone and he was looking for it, and I wondered if Eisler had took it but I couldn’t guess why.”

“How many people did you tell about Miss Karlin’s experience at Eisler’s apartment?”

“How many?” Dunning frowned. “No people at all. What good would that do?”

“You told no one?”

“No.”

“And you haven’t told the police?”

“No.” He licked his lips. “I figured it would just sick them on Nan, and I couldn’t see any sense in that. What you asked her about her and me, there’s nothing to that, she’s just one of the girls, but I know her pretty well and she wouldn’t kill a man just because he had pawed at her. I’d like to ask you a question. You say Miss Rowan has hired you to investigate?”

“Yes.”

“You weren’t there when it happened, and neither was Goodwin. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“But Miss Rowan was, and she hires you. She’s paying you. So you’re not going to investigate her, naturally. I got the idea there yesterday that she didn’t like Eisler any too well. I don’t suppose you’re interested in that? I suppose you think it has to be one of us, the boys and girls and me?”

Wolfe grunted. He turned his head. “Archie. I haven’t asked you. Did Miss Rowan kill Mr. Eisler?”

“No, sir.”

“Then that’s settled. Mr. Dunning, obviously it was one of you. By the way, Miss Karlin, I haven’t asked you: did you kill Mr. Eisler?”

“No.”

“Mr. Fox. Did you?”

“No.”

“When did you first learn of Miss Karlin’s visit to Eisler’s apartment Sunday night?”

“Today. Two hours ago. Roger told me after you phoned him. If I’d known about it Sunday night or yesterday morning Eisler wouldn’t of got killed there yesterday because he wouldn’t of been there. He would of been in bed or maybe in the hospital.”

“Then it’s a pity you didn’t know.”

“Yeah. Roger told me because you told him to bring me along, he didn’t know why and I don’t either, but I can make a guess. You’re a friend of Harvey Greve’s.”

“Mr. Goodwin is.”

“Yeah. So Harvey tells him things. He tells him about Nan and me, that we’re fixing to get hitched, which we are, and you—”

“Not Harvey,” Nan said. “Laura. Laura told him. Because they’ve arrested Cal.”

“All right, maybe Laura.” Mel stayed at Wolfe. “So that looks like a good setup. Eisler went after my girl and I killed him. So you tell Roger to bring me along. I understand you’re about as slick as they come, you can bend a loop around a corner, but let’s see you try. Here’s Roger says he didn’t tell anybody about Nan going there. Here’s Nan says she didn’t tell anybody but Laura and Roger. So I didn’t know about it unless Eisler told me himself, and that don’t seem practical, and he’s dead. So here I am and it’s your move.”

“You did know about it!”

It was Laura Jay’s voice and it came from the waterfall that covered the hole, which was only a couple of arms’ lengths from Roger Dunning, and he jerked around. I bounced up and started for the hall, but had got only halfway when here came Laura.

She went straight to Mel and stopped, facing him, and spoke. “You knew about it because I told you.” She turned to Wolfe: “Yesterday. I told him yesterday morning. I thought he—”

She was interrupted. Nan flew at her and smacked her on the side of the head.