Triple Jeopardy Read Online Free

Then we have Arthur Rackell bathed and dressed, the pillbox in his pocket. The police are not confiding in me, but I read newspapers. Leaving the apartment, he went down in the elevator and out to the sidewalk, and the doorman got a taxi for him. He was alone in the taxi, and it took him straight to the restaurant. The capsules left in the bottle have been examined and had not been tampered with. There we are. Are you prepared to impeach Mrs. Kremp, or Mr. or Mrs. Rackell'Can you support the assumption that one of them murdered Arthur Rackell'
    Its not inconceivable, Delia Devlin murmured.
    No, Wolfe conceded. Nor is it inconceivable that he chose that moment and method to kill himself, nor even that a capsule of poison got into the bottle by accident. But I exclude them as too improbable for consideration, and so will everyone else, including the police. The inquiring mind is rarely blessed with a certainty; it must make shift with assumptions; and I am assuming, on the evidence, that when Arthur arrived at the restaurant the capsules in the box in his pocket were innocent. I invite you to challenge it. If you cant the substitution was made at the restaurant, and you see how you stand. The police are after you, and so am I. One of you'Or all of you'I intend to find out.
    Youre scaring me stiff, Fifi Goheen said. Im frail and I may collapse. She stood up. Come on, Leddy, Ill buy you a drink.
    Leddegard reached for her elbow and gave it a little shake.
    Hold it, Fee, he told her gruffly. This guy has been known to do flips. Lets see. Sit down.
    Blah. You are scared. Youve got a reputation. She jerked her arm loose and took two quick steps to the edge of Wolfes desk. Her voice rose a little. I dont like the atmosphere here. Youre too fat to look at. Orchids, for Gods sake! Her hand darted to the bowl of Miltonias, and with a flip of the wrist she sent it skidding along the slick surface and off to the floor.
    There was some commotion. Mrs. Rackell jerked her feet back, away from the tumbling bowl. Carol Berk said something.
    Leddegard left his chair and started for Fifi, but she whirled away to Henry Jameson Heath, pressed her palms to his cheeks, and bent to him. She implored him, Hank, I love you! Do you love me'Take me somewhere and buy me a drink.
    Delia Devlin sprang up, hauled off, and smacked Fifi on the side of the head. It was not merely a tap, and Fifi, off balance, nearly toppled. Heath came upright and was between them. Delia stood, glaring and panting. They held the tableau long enough for a take, then Fifi broke it up by addressing Delia past Heaths shoulder.
    That wont help any, Del. Can he help it when hes with if he wishes it was me'
    Can I help it'This only makes it e. If hell buy a new suit and quit bailing out Commies out of jail, I may make him happy. She touched his cheek with her fingertips. Say when, Hank. She went around him to the desk and told Wolfe,
    Look, you … The a drink.
    I was there, retrieving the bowl. The water wouldnt hurt the rug. Taking her arm firmly, I escorted her across to the by the big globe, which Fritz and I had outfitted, and asked her to name it. She said Scotch on the rocks, and I made ample. The others, invited, stated their preferences, and ol Berk came to help me. Rackell, who had been between … and Fifi, decided to move and went to Carols chair, so we had finished serving she took his.
    Throughout the interlude two had neither moved nor spoken - Mrs. Rackell and Wolfe. Now Wolfe sent his eyes left to right and back again.
    I trust, he said sourly, that Miss Goheen has completed impromptu performance. I was trying to make it clear at you five people are in a fix. Im not going to pester you but your positions and movements at the restaurant that evening, what you saw or didnt see; if there was anything in to point or eliminate the police would have already acted on it and Im too far behind. I might spend a few hours digging at you, trying to find a reason why one or more of