Archie Goes Home

Chapter 36

The trip back to the Newman residence in Waverly was indeed a quiet one, with Lester speaking barely ten sentences the entire way, most of them about how he felt that he was a failure to his family.

“You did not raise Donna, her parents did,” I told him, but to no avail. As I watched the man limp into his house, I thought about how his anger had been directed at Carrie Yeager, and what a stunning turn of events he had experienced this evening.

Back at my mother’s place, I went directly up to Wolfe’s room, where I found him working the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle — in ink, as usual. “You really got the best of me tonight,” I told him. “I don’t know how I could have missed those two uses of ‘off-center.’”

He set down his puzzle and considered me. “Archie, I have told you many times that as one who can repeat even long conversations verbatim, you are without peer. However, you are guilty of tunnel vision. You consider every conversation in which you engage as a separate entity, without tying it to other dialogues you have been a party to.”

“I stand both corrected and chagrined,” I said. “All in all, you were pretty slick tonight. I do have a question, though.”

“I will try to mask my surprise.”

“Very funny. What impelled you to come down here and tackle this case, without a client, no less? It is hardly your modus operandi.”

Wolfe leaned back after taking a sip of the beer on his nightstand. “You can credit Saul.”

“Saul? You mean because he drove you down here?”

“No, because he became a burr under my saddle, to co-opt a phrase you often use to describe yourself. After you and he had a telephone conversation, he came to me and mentioned something about how you were in the midst of a difficult investigation. But it was what he said next that did it: ‘I know Archie could use some help. It’s too bad that he is so far away; that eliminates you from participation.’

“I do not like it when someone — even Saul Panzer, whom I esteem — makes an assumption about me. So, although taken back, I asked if he was willing to make a trip to Ohio, and of course you know the answer.”

“I will be damned. And I assume that now he will drive you back home.”

“We plan to leave in the morning, after breakfast, of course.”

“Of course. I am going to stay an extra day to help Mom rearrange things in the house.”

“She has been a most gracious hostess, although, knowing her as I do, I would have expected nothing less.” I said good night to Wolfe and went down to the living room, where Saul Panzer and I had a nightcap and reviewed the recent events.

“Wolfe confirmed that you were the impetus to his making the trek here.”

Saul grinned. “I admit I figured I was playing a long shot when I told him, in effect, that it was a shame you were so far away because that ruled him out of any kind of hands-on participation. It was obvious that comment got his attention.”

“Very clever of you. If I were wearing a hat, I would take it off to honor you.”

“As long as he continues to think that it was at least partially his idea,” Saul said. “Now I just have to keep him from getting too nervous on the drive back tomorrow.”

“Based on what Wolfe told me, he knows damned well that you maneuvered him into taking the trip.”

“Well, however it got accomplished, at least he is here now, and he will have to endure another long ride home, which he won’t relish — and neither will I.”

In the morning, Wolfe had breakfast upstairs, while Saul, Mom, and I ate bacon, scrambled eggs, peaches, and banana-nut muffins in the dining room. When Wolfe came down, suitcase packed, he returned to the wing chair where he had presided the previous night.

My ever-solicitous mother was serving him coffee when the doorbell rang. It was Chief Blankenship, this time wearing civilian clothes. “I will not be staying long,” he told my mother and then turned to Wolfe. “I just wanted to thank you for last night, sir.”

“Please sit down,” Wolfe replied. “I prefer it when those I speak to are at eye level, and I rarely talk while standing.”

Blankenship took a chair facing Wolfe and thanked Mom for the cup of coffee she placed before him. “You saved me a great deal of embarrassment,” the chief told Wolfe. “I don’t know how the local newspaper is going to play this, as no one from there has called me yet. But when they do, I will give you full credit.”

“There is no need for that, Mr. Blankenship. I prefer to remain anonymous, and I doubt very much that Miss Padgett of the Trumpet is in any position to report on last evening’s activities.”

“You are right there. Both women have been charged, Miss Newman with premeditated murder and Miss Padgett as an accessory to murder. The days ahead should be most interesting ones for both of them. By the way, Mr. Wolfe, I realize this is none of my business, but you have piqued my curiosity. I know from your reputation, which reaches down here into southern Ohio, that you charge large fees to your clients, and deservedly so, considering your success rate. Can you tell me who your client is on this case?”

Blankenship probably didn’t realize Wolfe was smiling, the only clue being those deepened creases in his cheeks. “For the last time, there is no client!” he said. “I felt the need to get away from New York for a few days, and this problem presented itself to me. I regret that I can offer no other explanation.”

“Well, thank you again,” the chief said to Wolfe. “And thank you, too, Mrs. Goodwin. This has been quite an experience for me, and I am sure that we will see each other around town.” He stood, started to touch the bill of his cap, realized he was bareheaded, and left with one of his snappy about-face moves.

An hour later, Wolfe and Saul were in the Heron with a lunch my mother had packed for them as she and I stood in the driveway and wished the pair a safe trip. Even though the car had not yet begun to roll, Wolfe already had a firm grip on the passenger strap in the back seat. As they pulled away, Mom turned to me and said, “This has been quite an adventure for me, Archie. I would not have missed it.”

“I thought you handled everything very well, even if you did spoil Wolfe by catering to his every need,” I told her. “For instance, he is fully capable of walking down one flight to have breakfast with us; but no, you had to deliver it to him just like Fritz Brenner does back home.”

Mom started to reply when the bell rang. She pulled open the front door and Aunt Edna stepped in. “My goodness, what I have been hearing today!” she said breathlessly. “But first, I would love to meet Nero Wolfe.”

“Oh dear, Edna, you just missed him,” Mom said. “He went back to New York with Mr. Panzer, who you have met. And I am sure Mr. Wolfe would have liked to meet you as well.”

“Too bad,” Edna said, accepting my mother’s offer of a chair in the living room and the inevitable cup of coffee. “Now, you would not believe all the stir downtown this morning — or on second thought, maybe you would. People are buzzing that Donna Newman is going to be charged with the murder of Logan Mulgrew, if she hasn’t been already. And that nice young newspaper reporter, Miss Padgett, is somehow an accessory, although I have no idea why or how. I have to ask you both: Was this the doing of Nero Wolfe?”

“Mr. Wolfe worked very closely with Chief Blankenship,” I told her, “but it was really the chief’s case. You should feel comforted that he is heading up law enforcement here.”

“My, that is interesting, especially considering that at the start Chief Blankenship seem to be positive that Logan Mulgrew’s death was a suicide.”

“He changed his mind,” Mom said.

“Well, I am certainly glad to hear that. Archie, you know that if it wasn’t for me, Logan’s death would never have been investigated. I got you down here, and then you got Nero Wolfe down here. I would say we make a great team.”

“You are absolutely right, Aunt Edna, and you should feel very good about that.”

She grinned and rose, thanking Mom for the coffee she had barely touched. “I must be going now. Our bridge group is meeting, and I don’t want to be late. I know what the subject of our conversation will be, and I will be able to contribute to the discussion.”