The Thin Man

24

Nora, looking a little sleepy, was entertaining Guild and Andy in the living-room. The Wvnant offspring were not in sight.

“Go ahead,” I told Guild. “First door to the left. I think she's readied up for you.”

“Crack her?” he asked,

I nodded.

“What'd you get?”

“See what you get and we'll put them together and see how they add up,” I suggested.

“0. K. Come on, Andy.” They went out.

“Where's Dorothy?” I asked.

Nora yawned. “I thought she was with you and her mother. Gilbert's around somewhere. He was here till a few minutes ago. Do we have to hang around long?”

“Not long.” I went back down the passageway past Mimi's door to another bedroom door, which was open. and looked in. Nobody was there. A door facing it was shut. I knocked on it.

Dorothy's voice: “What is it?”

“Nick,” I said and went in.

She was lying on her side on a bed, dressed except for her slippers. Gilbert was sitting on the bed beside her. Her mouth seemed a little puffy, but it may have been from crying: her eyes were red. She raised hen head to stare sullenly at me.

“Still want to talk to me?” I asked.

Gilbert got up fromthe bed. “Where's Mamma?”

“Talking to the police.”

He said something I did not catch and left the room.

Dorothy shuddered. “He gives me the creeps,” she said, and then remembered to stare sullenly at me again.

“Still want to talk to me?”

“What made you turn against me like that?”

“You're being silly.” I sat down where Gilbert had been sitting. “Do you know anything about this knife and chain your mother's supposed to have found?”

“No. Where?”

“What'd you want to tell me?”

“Nothing—now,” she said disagreeably, “except you might at least wipe her lipstick off your mouth.”

I wiped it off. She snatched the handkerchief from my hand and rolled over to pick up a package of matches from the table on that side of the bed. She struck a match.

“That's going to stink like hell,” I said.

She said, “I don't cane,” but she blew out the match. I took the handkerchief, went to a window, opened it, dropped the handkerchief out, shut the window, and went back to my seat on the bed. “If that makes you feel any better,”

“What did Mamma say—about me?”

“She said you're in love with me.”

She sat up abruptly. “What did you say?”

“I said you just liked me from when you were a kid,”

Her lower lip twitched. “Do—do you think that's what it is?”

“What else could it be?”

“I don't know.” She began to cry. “Everybody's made so much fun of me about it—Mamma and Gilbert and Harrison— I—”

I put my arms around her. “To hell with them.”

After a while she asked: “Is Mamma in love with you?”

“Good God, no! She hates men more than any woman I've ever known who wasn't a Lesbian.”

“But she's always having some sort of—”

“That's the body. Don't let it fool you. Mimi hates men—all of us— bitterly.”

She had stopped crying. She wrinkled her forehead and said: “I don't understand. Do you hate her?”

“Not as a rule.”

“Now?”

“I don't think so. She's being stupid and she's sure she's being very clever, and that's a nuisance, but I don't think I hate her.”

“I do,” Dorothy said.

“So you told me last week. Something I meant to ask you: did you know or did you ever see the Arthur Nunheim we were talking about in the speakeasy tonight?”

She looked sharply at me. “You're just try(ng to change the subject.”

“I want to know. Did you?”

“No.”

“He was mentioned in the newspapers,” I reminded her. “He was the one who told the police about Morelli knowing Julia Wolf.”

“I didn't remember his name,” she said. “I don't remember ever having heard it until tonight.”

I described him. “Ever see him?”

“No.”

“He may have been known as Albert Norman sometimes. Does that sound familiar?”

“No.”

“Know any of the people we saw at Studsy's tonight? Or anything about them?”

“No. Honestly, Nick, I'd tell you if I knew anything at all that might help you.”

“No matter who it hurt?”

“Yes,” she said immediately, then, “What do you mean?”

“You know damned well what I mean.”

She put her hands over her face, and her words were barely audible: “I'm afraid, Nick. I—” She jerked her hands down as someone knocked on the door.

“All right,” I called.

Andy opened the door far enough to stick his head in. He tried to keep curiosity from showing in his face while saying: “The Lieutenant wants to see you.”

“Be right out,” I promised.

He opened the door wider. “He's waiting.” He gave me what was probably meant to be a significant wink, but a corner of his mouth moved more than his eye did and the result was a fairly startling face.

“I'll be back,” I told Dorothy, and followed him out.

He shut the door behind me and put his mouth close to my ear, “The kid was at the keyhole,” he muttered.

“Gilbert?”

“Yep. He had time to get away from it when he heard me coming, but he was there, right enough.”

“That's mild for him,” I said. “How'd you all make out with Mrs. J.?”

He puckered his thick lips up in an o and blew breath out noisily. “What a dame!”