"Were you sent here by someone in the firm?"

"No. Nobody sent me. Nobody knows I'm here."

"What happened?"

Her fingers laced tighter. "Maybe I shouldn't have come," she said. "I didn't realize… maybe I'd better not."

"Suit yourself, Miss Aaron, Miss Aaron?"

"Yes. I am not married." Her fingers flew apart to make fists and her lips tightened. "This is silly. I've got to. I owe it to Mr. Otis. I've been with him for twenty years and he has been wonderful to me. I couldn't go to him about this because he's seventy-five years old and he has a bad heart and it might kill him. He comes to the office every day, but it's a strain and he doesn't do much, only he knows more than all the rest of them put together." Her fists opened. "What happened was that I saw a member of the firm with our opponent in a very important case, one of the biggest cases we've ever had, at a place where they wouldn't have met if they hadn't wanted to keep it secret."

"You mean with the opposing counsel?"

"No. The client. With opposing counsel it might pos- sibly have been all right."

"Which member of the firm?"

"I'm not going to say. I'm not going to tell Mr. Wolfe his name until he agrees to take the case. He doesn't have to know that in order to decide. If you wonder why I came, I've already said why I can't tell Mr. Otis about it, and I was afraid to go to any of the others because if one of them was a traitor another one might be in it with him, or even more than one. How could I be sure? There are only four members of the firm, but of course there are others associated-nineteen altogether. I wouldn't trust any of them, not on a thing like this." She made fists again. "You can understand that. You see what a hole I'm in." "Sure. But you could be wrong. Of course that's unethical, a lawyer meeting with an enemy client, but there could be exceptions. It might have been acciden- tal. When and where did you see them?"