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it was barely possible that she really was a snake and no framing would be required. For another, if she wasn't a snake, and if he was determined to frame her, she needed to know it and deserved to know it, but he was still Wolfe's client, and all I had was what he had said to me with no witnesses present. For still another, there was the ten grand in Wolfe's safe, not mine to spurn. For one more if we need it, I have my full share of curiosity.
    I tightened my face to look uncomfortable. 'I guess,' I said, 'I'll have to tell Mr. Wolfe about your proposition. I think I will. I've got to protect myself.'
    'Against what?' he demanded.
    'Well& for instance, you might talk in your sleep.'
    He laughed. 'I like you, Goodwin. I knew we'd get along. This is just you and me, and you don't need protection any more than I do. You know your way around and so do I. What do you want now for expenses'Five thousand'Ten?'
    'Nothing. Let it ride and we'll see.' I loosened the face. 'I'm not accepting your proposition, Mr. Jarrell. I'm not even considering it. If I ever found myself feeling like accepting it, I'd meet you somewhere that I was sure wasn't wired for sound. After all, Horland's Protective Agency might be listening in right now.'
    He laughed again. 'You are cagey.'
    'Not cagey, I just don't want my hair mussed. Do you want me to go on with the program'As you suggested?'
    'Certainly I do. I think we understand each other, Goodwin.' He put a fist on the desk. 'I'll tell you this, since you probably know it anyway. I'd give a million dollars cash any minute to get rid of that woman for good and call it a bargain. That doesn't mean you can play me for a sucker. I'll pay for what I get, but not for what I don't get. Any arrangements you make, I want to know who with and for exactly what and how much.'
    'You will. Have you any more suggestions?'
    He didn't have, at least nothing specific. Even after proposing, as it looked to me, an out-and-out frame, he still thought, or pretended to, that I might raise some dust by cultivating the inmates. He tried to insist on an advance for expenses, but I said no, I would ask for it if and when needed. I was surprised that he didn't refer again to my notion that I might have to tell Wolfe about his proposition; apparently he was taking it for granted that I would take my bread buttered on both sides if the butter was thick enough. He was sure we understood each other, but I wasn't. I wasn't sure of anything. Before I went he gave me two keys, one for the front door and one for the library. He said he had to make a phone call, and I said I was going out for a walk. He said I could use the phone there, or in my room, and I said that wasn't it, I always took a little walk in the evening. Maybe we understood each other at that, up to a point.
    I went to the front vestibule, took the private elevator down, nodded at the sentinel in the lobby-not the one who had been there when I arrived-walked east to Madison, found a phone booth, and dialed a number.
    After one buzz a voice was in my ear. 'Nero Wolfe's residence, Orville Cather speaking.'
    I was stunned. It took me a full second to recover. Then I spoke, through my nose. 'This is the city mortuary. We have a body here, a young man with classic Grecian features who jumped off Brooklyn Bridge. Papers in his wallet identify him as Archie Goodwin and his address-'
    'Toss it back in the river,' Orrie said. 'What good is it'It never was much good anyway.'
    'Okay,' I said, not through my nose. 'Now I know. May I please speak to Mr. Wolfe?'
    'I'll see. He's reading a book. Hold it.'
    I did so, and in a moment got a growl. 'Yes?'
    'I went for a walk and am in a booth. Reporting: the bed is good and the food is edible. I have met the family and they are not mine, except possibly the daughter, Lois. She shot a squirrel and wrote a poem about it. I'm glad you've got Orrie in to answer the phone and do the chores because that may simplify matters. You can stop my