Mrs Vail opened the checkfold on the stand at her elbow, wrote, tore the check from the fold, got up and put it on Wolfe's desk, and returned to the chair. She started to say something, and I pushed a palm at her. A minute passed, another, and two or three more, before Wolfe opened his eyes, said, "Your notebook, Archie," and straightened up.

I got my notebook and pen. But instead of starting to dictate he closed his eyes again. In a minute he opened them and turned to Mrs Vail.

"The wording is important," he said. "It would help to know how he uses words. You will tell me exactly what he said on the phone."

"No, I won't." She was emphatic. "You would try to do something, some kind of trick. You'd have Archie Goodwin do something. I know he's clever and you may be a genius, but I'm not going to risk that. I told that man I would do exactly what he told me to, and do it alone, and I'm not going to tell you. What wording is important? Wording of what?"

Wolfe's shoulders went up an eighth of an inch and down again. "Very well. His voice. Did you recognize it?"

She stared. "Recognize it? Of course not!"

"Had you any thought, any suspicion, that you had ever heard it before?"

"No."

"Was he verbose, or concise?"

"Concise. He just told me what to do."

"Rough or smooth?"

She considered. "Neither one. He was just-matter-of-fact."

"No bluster, no bullying?"

"No. He said this would be my one chance and my husband's one chance, but he wasn't bullying. He just said it."

"His grammar? Did he make sentences?"

She flared. "I wasn't thinking of grammar! Of course he made sentences!"

"Few people do. I'll rephrase it: Is he an educated man? `Educated' in the vulgar sense, as it is commonly used."

She considered again. "I said he wasn't rough. He wasn't vulgar. Yes, I suppose he is educated." She gestured impatiently. "Isn't this wasting time? You're not enough of a genius to guess who he is or where he is from how he talked. Are you?"