table. Jerin, on the couch, has his eyes closed, concentrating. He has the arsenic ready, say in a paper spill, and in it goes. He wouldn’t have to stir it. Nothing to it. Shall I name him?”
“Yes indeed.”
“Ernst Hausman, the chess fiend. He had been against inviting Jerin to come, but since he was there, there was his chance at a guy who could give odds of a rook to Blount, who could beat him. He would have liked to poison all the chess masters alive, beginning with the world champion, who I understand is a Russian.”
“Botvinnik.”
“Not only a lusus naturae, but also a Commie. I know of no case on record where that was the motive, killing a man because he played chess too well, but everything has to have a first. I am not blathering. Hausman may be off the rails.”
Wolfe grunted. “Not may be. Is. If he would give a fortune to excel at chess.
Then you dismiss the other three.”
“I file them. Until I take a look at Hausman. The client says they had never seen Jerin, though they may have heard of him, from her. Of course we might cut a motive to fit the lawyer, Dan Kalmus. He’s not really in love with her mother,
he’s in love with her. Being a married man, if he is, he has to hide his passion for a virgin, if she is, so when he’s with the Blounts he ogles the mother as a cover. He has the impression that Sally has fallen for Paul Jerin, which could be true in spite of what she told you, and the thought of her holding hands with another man is unbearable, so he buys some arsenic.”
“That’s a little farfetched.”
“Murder is usually farfetched. Would we settle for making Blount merely an accessory'We have to assume he didn’t commit the murder, sure, but he could have suspected that Hausman or Kalmus had doctored the chocolate, so he took care of the pot and cup,”
“No.” Wolfe shook his head. “Our assumption is that Mr. Blount is not involved.
He took the pot and cup, and emptied and cleaned them, because he thought that Jerin’s indisposition might have been caused by something in the chocolate - as indeed it had been. A natural and proper action.” He closed his eyes, but he didn’t lean back, so he wasn’t thinking, he was merely suffering. His lips twitched. After a dozen or so twitches he opened his eyes and spoke. “At least we have a free field. The police and District Attorney have Mr. Blount in custody and are committed; they have no interest in our targets except as witnesses, and of course they have signed statements from them. There will be no jostling.” He looked up at the wall clock. “Mr. Cohen is in his office?”
“Sure.”
“See him. Besides the published accounts we have information from only one source, Miss Blount, and we have no knowledge of either her competence or her veracity. Tell Mr. Cohen that I have engaged to inquire into certain aspects of this matter, and I need -“
“It’ll be tough - I mean for him. He’ll know that can mean only one thing, that you’ve been hired to get Blount out, and you think it can be done or you wouldn’t have taken the job, and to expect him to sit on that - I don’t know.”
“I don’t expect him to sit on it.”
“He can print it?”
“Certainly. As I told Miss Blount, my intervention can’t be kept secret, and the sooner the murderer knows of it the better. He may think it necessary to do something.”
“Yeah. Of course if - no. I’ll have to tie a string on my finger to remind me that Blount didn’t do it.” I got up. “If I don’t tell Lon who hired you he’ll assume it was Blount or Kalmus.”
“Let him. You can’t prescribe his assumptions.”
“I wouldn’t try. Any particular point or points?”
“No. All points.”
I went to the hall, got my hat and coat from the rack, let myself out, and nearly got pushed off the stoop by a gust of the icy winter wind.
Nero Wolfe 37 - Gambit
CHAPTER THREE
In his own little room on the twentieth floor of the Gazette building, which