"(laughter and chatter)" "Arch your back... ahh!" "(man) Chop those onions." "Mmm... mmm, parfait." "Ahh." "(zoltan) Ahhh..." "you made them?" "(Fritz) Of course, in mr." "Wolfe's kitchen, and they should go in the pantry." "(chatter continues)" "(Archie) When lewis hewitt, the millionaire owner of even more orchids than Nero Wolfe, asked Wolfe to loan him Fritz brenner to cook the annual dinner of theten for aristology, a society devoted to perfection in food and drink," "Wolfe not only allowed it, he agreed to attend himself, besides, who would have cooked his dinner?" "(sniffing) Ahh... (sniffing)" "(sniffing)" "Excuse me, thank you very much." "Quiet!" "Merci." "You'll each be assigned one gentleman." "Miss peggy choate... you'll be assigned vincent pyle." "(clamoring)" "Well, well, well, yes!" "I'm Archie Goodwin, i'm a friend of the cook's... uh, sorry, Felix, pardon, carry on." "Uh... my reason for wanting your phone number is purely personal, it's your dimples." "I don't have any dimples." "Oh, yes, you do." "Actually, you have two of them, so?" "Nora jaret, without an "h"." "Where would it go if it were there?" "(chatter)" "Yeah, I... uh, sorry." "I must confess something, i came here tonight determined to get the phone number but i am stalled." "I cannot complete my mission, you know why?" "Because you're all it, you are all it, beyond the wildest dreams of any poet." "It may be that i am so dazzled by the collective radiance that i am blind to the glory of any single star." "Theten for aristology was a group of very different men, alike in only one thing:" "They had the money to be aristologists." "Since they billed themselves as lovers of great grub, i expected them to be the size of Nero Wolfe, but they all saw themselves as big in their own right." "The shareholders... shareholders!" "Sharecroppers is more accurate!" "Your corporation takes the share... my compliments, Wolfe, i've never seen cymbidium aphrodite better grown." "I don't care for flowers with spots and streaks, they're messy." "Don't be foolish, man, they're incredibly expensive." "I would not attempt to breed them." "They are to regular blossoms as beluga is to salmon roe." "(laughing)" "(oohing and ahhing)" "What..." "what is this flummery?" "(hewitt) We went to ancieece not only for our name, but for other precedents." "The goddess of youth was cupbearer to the gods." "It is our custom to be waited on by maidens in appropriate attire." "(Wolfe) Aristology is the science of dining, therefore, you gentlemen are all witlings." "Dining is not a science, it's an art." "Then, as an actor, a man who lives to embody art, i agree." "We must change our name, we'll appoint a committee... right after dessert, but until then, right after dessert, let us indulge ourselves." "Wolfe had begun to boil." "I only hoped that Fritz's blini and caviar would keep him under control." "Mmm... a new idea?" "Putting sand in caviar." "Are we chickens, that we need grit?" "Thank you, monsieur." "What does he know?" "He had three flops on broadway this season." "And he deserved them all." "(chuckling)" "Mmm..." "(contented murmuring)" "Bravo... bravo!" "Bravo!" "Bravo!" "Superb." "Yes, i must have the recipe." "Any sand?" "(all chuckling)" "(grunting)" "Please, excuse me." "(retching)" "I'm sorry." "Gentlemen, i, uh..." "(oohing and ahhing)" "Oh, wonderful!" "(clapping)" "Vincent is in considerable pain, and a doctor has come." "There's nothing we can do, the aristologists all resumed with the pheasant, but the spirit wasn't the same." "The annual dinner of theten for aristology was a flop." "Excuse me." "Hewitt left the banquet three more times, and when he rose from his chair for the fourth time, Wolfe went too." "I figured he was at a rolling boil now and wanted to glower at vincent pyle for spoiling Fritz's dinner." "Well, did he say anything?" "Well, did he say anything?" "He keeps repeating, "jack in the pulpit"." ""Jack in the pulpit", that's a wildflower." "No, no, no, that complete flop he backed last spring, he lost a small fortune." "What does he complain of?" "The money, of course." "No, i mean, the symptoms, the symptoms." "Oh, well, it's... clearly, it's food poisoning." "He... he vomited, he fainted, his throat's very sore." "His mouth is dry, but his cool." "Oh, Wolfe, i'm sorry." "I can't believe that Fritz could be responsible for... but what else could it be?" "Phooey!" "Wolfe, where are you going?" "What are you up to?" "This is nothing but an unfortunate incident." "What are you gonna do in my house?" "!" "Wolfe!" "Phooey!" "(Wolfe) Confound it!" "(clamoring)" "Uh, ladies, will you make room for mr." "Wolfe, please?" "I have gathered you for a purpose." "My conclusions may be proven wrong, but i must act on them, in any case." "I remind you that the first course brought to the table was caviar." "The portion served to vincent pyle contained arsenic." "(gasping)" "Mr. Pyle is upstairs, attended by doctors, and will probably die within the hour." "(murmuring)" "I'm speaking... i speak not of facts, of course, but of conclusions formed by me." "(woman) Arsenic?" "How do you know?" "From the symptoms." "A burning throat, faintness, dry mouth... i concluded it was the first course." "One, because of the amount of time it takes for arsenic to act, and, two, that mr." "Pyle had complained of sand in the caviar." "But, i assure you... i repeat, i need no assurances from you, Fritz." "Who prepared the plates?" "Zoltan and i, here." "And they were taken from that table by the women." "From the pantry." "Yes." "I watched them, mr." "Wolfe, i saw nobody put arsenic in anything." "No, of course not." "Which one of you took the plate to mr." "Pyle?" "(clamoring)" "Which one of you?" "!" "Phooey!" "Uh, speak up there, red." "I didn't!" "I heard Felix assign you tohim, and i saw you with my own eyes give him the soup." "But i didn't take him that first thing." "He already had some." "But you were supposed to?" "Yeah, i was supposed to." "(woman) I took the plate from that table there, and i started to serve him, and i saw that he already had a plate, and i just... i thought i made a mistake, so, i... i gave my plate to you." "Indeed." "Who was assigned to me?" "I was, Helen Iacono." "Did you bring me the first course?" "No... well, when i saw that peggy had already served you, i didn't wanna make a fuss, so i just gave mine to the man at the end." "(Wolfe) Who was assigned to him?" "Felix, the chart." "(woman) Yeah, that was my table... (woman) I was sitting here." "(commotion)" "(Archie) It was so simple, all Wolfe needed was to get one girl to admit she hadn't delivered her caviar, but it turned out to be a game of "ring aro"." "Although, a better name would be, "passing the buck"." "And, finally, to you, miss faber." "Miss faber, you were assigned to mr." "Hewitt, correct?" "I sure was." "But you did not serve him, since he was served by... lucy morgan." "By miss morgan, thank you." "I sure didn't." "What did you do, miss faber?" "Nonsense, th and there were 12 at the table, and each received a portion." "How can you say that there wasn't any?" "Ere wasn't." "I was in the john fixing my hair, and when i come back, lucy's taking the last one from the table." "So i asked zoltan where mine was, and he says he didn't know." "And then i went to the dining room and everybody had one." "How long were you in there?" "I don't know, i didn't time it." "When i came here, i thought it would be simple to learn who had served the poisoned food, but you... and, now, i speak to the poisoner... you must have extraordinary faith in your attendant angel, for you took great risks." "You took a plate from zoltan's table, and on your way to the dining room, you put arsenic in the caviar, using a device, perhaps a paper spill." "You served pyle, came back, immediately, to get a second plate, and gave it to one who had not been served." "You may be fleering at me inwardly, for it was a remarkably adroit stratagem." "But you cannot possibly be impregnable, i warn you." "Archie, you have the skill." "Make sure none of these women leaves." "(loud complaining)" "(Archie) Quiet!" "You're not going anywhere." "(Wolfe) Zoltan, you were there when the plates were handed out." "I didn't look at their faces, and they were all dressed alike." "Fritz?" "I was at the range with the flounder." "Felix... i have neglected you purposely to give you time to reflect, you were in the dining room." "I look to you for the fact itself, i look to you to point her out." "I cannot." "Phooey!" "You are trained to see everything." "True, and i knew you would ask me this, but i cannot answer, i can only explain." "I've always found you to be worthy of trust, Felix." "But it is possible that in your exalted position atrusterman's, that you have chosen to dodge, rather than to admit involvement in a poisoning." "Are you dodging, Felix?" "Good god, mr." "Wolfe, no, no." "Iaminvolved, i am involved." "I saw nothing, except that stupidgirl... uh... quinn!" "Marjorie quinn." "It was ahorriblegaffe." "(hissing)" "Horrible!" "As soon as i saw that she was the blini with her fingers, i had to move in..." "fast!" "Zoltan, what are you thinking?" "I was looking at the flower." "The wretch has incredible luck!" "Incredible luck!" "(chatter)" "Oh, there you are." "Uh, our custom is to ask the chef to join us with champagne, which is barbarous, but gay, but, of course, under the circumstances... ahem... is mr." "Pyle still alive?" "Oh, we hope so, we sincerely hope so." "There's been no word for an hour." "I suppose i should go up." "Gentlemen, i have discovered the artifice which the culprit used, but not her identity." "Aren't you a bit premature?" "There may be no culprit... an acute and severe gastric disturbance... that's nonsense, i am too provoked for civility, sir." "By a remarkable combination of luck and cunning, she has thus far eluded identification, i appeal to you, all of you, i want you to close your eyes and recall the scene." "Imagine yourselves sitting in your places." "The girls come in with the caviar." "Who served vincent pyle?" "Which one was it?" "Who... served..." "mr." "Pyle?" "Oh!" "It's gon i must have seen it, but it's gone, utterly." "I didn't see it, i simply didn't." "I saw it, i don't recall it." "Then, i'm in for it." "Gentlemen..." "i am your guest, and i do not wish to be offensive, but i am to blame for enticing" "Fritz brenner to this deplorable fiasco." "And when mr." "Pyle dies, as i'm sure he will... vincent pyle is dead, half an hour ago." "(man) Okay, ladies, down this way, straight ahead." "(woman) Can i help you?" "(chatter)" "Heya, Fritz." "(cramer) Quit twisting my words around!" "I didn't charge you with complicity!" "I merely said you were concealing something." "What the hell is that to scrape your neck?" "You always do!" "(Wolfe) Everyone omits something, if only because to include everything is impossible!" "You witnessed the commission of a murder, and you... it was not a murder until he died!" "All right, a felony, but you didn't report it 'til... that a felony had been committed was my own conclusion, not a fact!" "Then, why did you start questioning witnesses?" "To test the conclusion!" "God damn it, will you let me finish one sentence?" "!" "Just one!" "If it has import!" "You knew pyle was dying, you said so.?" "Death, that was also my own conclusion." "Till death, that was also trying to save him!" "Ctors were s all right, those three men," "Fritz brenner, Felix courbet and zoltan mahany, we can forget about brenner." "But it's hard to believe the other two didn't know who served pyle." "Yes, indeed, indeed, they are highly trained men." "Now, let me question you on a theory... in the trash container in the kitchen, we found a plain, white sheet of ordinary paper, rolled up in a tube, held with tape, smaller at one end." "And in that tube, the laboratory found particles of arsenic." "Yes, as i suspected, a paper spill." "And the only two fingerprints on that spill were zoltan's." "Now, he claims he saw it on the floor after dinner was served, picked it up and threw it in the trash." "Now... what's wrong with the theory that zoltan poisoned one of the portions, aw to it that a certain girl delivered it?" "That is not only untenable, it's egregious." "Why did one of the girls come back and get a second plate?" "She was confused..." "nervous... dumb, and now she's too scared to admit it." "I suggested that mr." "Stebbins have the lab check the girls' pockets for traces of arsenic." "So only zoltan is tied to the arsenic, but Felix could have helped." "Now, you know these men, Wolfe." "Yes, i know these men, but i do not answer for them." "They might have a dozen murders on their soul, but they had nothing to do with the death of mr." "Pyle." "And i shall unmask the conniving wretch who was responsible!" "Now, have you established the order in which the plates were served?" "No, all we get is contradictions." "I got the last five, but the first seven, i can't pry it out of them." "Put them to work on it, i'm going home!" "Always a pleasure." "(grunting)" "That wasn't so bad." "I've never seen cramer turn that shade of red." "There will be no breakfast until further notice." "Archie, take a note up to theodore." "I will not be there at nine, and probably won't be there at four." "Just make sure they're all here by six o'clock." "All of whom?" "The girls." "To see them singly would be interminable." "I have a suggestion." "Why don't we postpone operations until you get your wires connected?" "Or an aspirin?" "Do you want an aspirin?" "I want them." "(doorbell ringing)" "Well, here comes one now." "Helen Iacono, she must have heard you." "Now, shall we keep her until we gather the rest or what?" "Confound it!" "Bring her!" "I came because you're a detective, and you're very clever, and i'm afraid that they'll find out something that i did, and if they do, then, i won't have a career," "so i've decided to tell you my secret, and if you'll help me, then, i'll help you." "Well, i can't keep a secret if it's a guilty one." "Is it a crime?" "No." "Then, proceed." "I stabbed vincent pyle, and i got blood all over me." "(clearing throat)" "Uh, miss Iacono... ordinarily, um, stabbing a man is considered a crime." "Well, that's why i'm telling you." "Uh, when and where did this happen?" "Three months ago in his penthouse." "Of course, i knew all about pyle, everyone does, but they were about to start casting for" ""jack in the pulpit"" "and i didn't know that it was gonna be a flop." "And if a girl wants to have a career, she has be sociable." "And then he turned into a beast, so i grabbed a knife from the table, and i stabbed him." "And then i went home and tried to get the blood out of my cardigan, but it left a stain." "That cost me $46." "$46?" "But, uh, mr." "Pyle recovered." "Oh, yes." "I don't know if he backs shows just so that he can get girls, but it might as well be... and i don't just mean taking them out, i mean, "the last ditch"." "That's what we say on broadway, if you know what i mean." "Well, i can surmise." "Well, sometimes we say, "the last stitch"." "The last stitch?" "Mm-hmm, so, do you think that the police will find out?" "Well, the police are not simpletons." "You wouldn't be arrested for murdering mr." "Pyle last night simply because you stabbed him in self-defense in the past." "But if they were to find out right away, then that would be the end of it, and i would be okay." "Only, i don't think that they will find out right away, but you could, if i were to help you." "See, i can't help the police because they'll wonder why." "I see, and how would you propose to help me?" "Well, if you're right, and one of the girls went back to the kitchen twice, that means it has to be one of the last five girls." "Peggy choate, nora jaret, carol annis or lucy morgan." "Or you." "No, not me." "Not you." "There's a lot of talk about the girls that pyle gets, but nobody knows for sure because he's very careful." "But i could talk to those girls, and i could find out which one went to the last ditch with him, and then i could call the police and i could tell them that i saw her going back" "to the kitchen for a second plate." "You didn't think a 20-year-old girl could help you, did you?" "I saw the look on your face when i said it." "Uh, miss Iacono, it's possible that you're oversimplifying the problem." "Uh, mr." "Pyle was in agony, but he could speak." "Why did he not denounce his poisoner?" "Surely, when he saw this woman serving him, he was put on guard." "He didn't see her, she came up from behind him, and he didn't know that she wanted to poison him." "Men don't understand how a girl feels." "Look at me, pyle thought that i would give up my virtue and my honor for a part in his play and it was a flop." "Miss Iacono, um... we are dealing with a malign and crafty harpy, and i will not be a party to your peril." "What?" "I don't think you should go and see these women alone, but i will propose an alternative... a meeting with you and him an oh, like a party?" "Yes, like a party, mr." "Goodwin is a, uh... is a well-trained investigator and knows how to beguile." "Okay." "All right, before you leave, speak to mr." "Goodwin about the details and... good luck in your career." "Heh..." "(Archie) Nora jaret's apartment was on the fourth floor of an old walk-up near amsterdam avenue." "It was furnished and had the kind of hominess that places get when they're used by a lot of different people for 50 or 60 years." "Our hostesses were peggy choate, the redhead, and nora jaret, with the dimples." "Whatdothe police think?" "Well, the police think that one of you killed pyle because you were the last five to serve a plate." "And i thought you were nice." "How do you know what they think?" "I'm not at liberty to say." "What's that?" "I think it was zoltan." "He's a chef atrusterman's, and Nero Wolfe is the trustee there, and, so, he's the boss there, and i think zoltan hated him, and tried to poison him, but he gave the poisoned plate to the wrong girl." "Well, that is, i mean, that's just, that's fantastic!" "The police wouldn't buy any of it." "What woulice buy ?" "Well, anything that fits." "They think one of us served d pyle." "They're a bunch of dopes." "They get an idea, and then they haven't got room for another one." "And there's no proof any of us went back for another plate." "And come on, even if she did go back, there's no proof that she didn't do it by accident." "Well, yeah, but there is, there is." "Now, it's a little tricky, but, uh, look, i brought something... could you move the snack tray?" "All right, now, ahem, gather around." "Let's play a little game here, this here is the seating chart from Felix's dinner, there." "Now, what i have here" "why don't we write our names on them?" "That's a very good idea, Helen." "Now, here's the thing, try to move the girl pieces, so that one of them, either, takes out two plates at once, or goes back for a second plate, butnever gives one to pyle, right?" "It can't be done." "Why not?" "Well, because either way, you might happen to do it, there wouldn't have been one mix-up, there would have been two." "I don't believe it." "(clamoring)" "My memory has had a long and stiff training" "Wolfe has put on it, but i wouldn't undertake to report all the combinations they tried, even if i thought you cared." "(clamoring)" "(woman) I give up." "Nuts!" "Can't be done." "It's just a trick." "Well, i can't believe that one of us deliberately poisoned a man." "Point at her, smarty-pants, i dare you to, point her out." "Well, if i could, would i be bothering the rest of you?" "Okay, one by one..." "let's go." "Ahem, did you know pyle?" "Of course." "Everybody in show business does." "I met him at a party, he came backstage at thecoronetonce." "Ah, miss morgan?" "I danced with him once at the that was the closest i'd ever been to him." "Yeah, all right, uh, miss choate?" "No, i never had the honor." "I just moved here from montana." "Uh, miss..." "miss jaret?" "Sure, i mean, i saw him all the time atsardi's, but that is the only place that i ever saw the great pyle, and i wasn't with him!" "Okay..." "all right, Helen?" "I never met him." "So you said." "Now, if one of you poisoned pyle, and i hate to say it, but, uh, i just don't see any other way around it..." "one of you is lying." "Right here and now, one of you is lying." "Well, now you've got us all suspecting each other." "Archie Goodwin, a girl's best friend." "This is no broadway production." "If you don't wanna tell the cops that you went to the last ditch with pyle, then, tell me." "And if one of you sairl serve py le a plate, and you don't wanna tell the cops, tell me, i'll tell the cops i wormed it out of you." "But, let's have it, let's have it, right here and now." "Well, we're gonna go to Nero Wolfe's office." "I don't say he can sort this out just by snapping his fingers, but, uh, he may surprise you." "All right, all r this is getting too damn painful, come on." "I'm surprised at you, Goodwin." "These ladies need their sleep." "Purly stebbins, wax my shoes." "Greetings and..." "and welcome, welcome, yes." "Button it." "Where were you, in the bathroom?" "Button it, i said," "under arrest, huh?" "Well, well." "Hey, where are the cuffs?" "Clown if you want to, let's go." "'Evening, ladies." "Bye." "Bye, Archie." "Since stebbins had less reason than usual for arresting me, i was home by 2:00 a.m." "So, what are your conclusions from all this?" "Well, my basic conclusion is i came up with nothing." "You're saying it must be left to the police?" "That i can expose her only by a stroke of luck?" "Or genius." "I make no conclusions about genius." "Then, why the devil were you going at midnight?" "Don't answer!" "I know, to badger me." "What is it?" "!" "I'm sorry to interrupt, sir." "But the watercress we have been delivered is at least a day old." "Again?" "Yes, sir." "Ahem, i must see this abomination for myself." "What?" "There is another matter, sir." "Yes?" "Felix and zoltan would like an appointment with you after lunch, and i would like to be present." "Is there something wrong at the restaurant?" "No, sir, concerning the... misfortune of tuesday evening." "What about it?" "It is better that they tell you, sir." "It is their concern." "Would half past two be convenient?" "(Archie) You want me to go pry it out of him?" "No." "So, this isn't urgent." "It might be." "While there is no one more obliging than Fritz, there is also no one more steadfast when he takes a press him." "I'm going to check on the... day-old watercress." "(doorbell ringing)" "Felix, zoltan." "So, what did he say?" "He asked if half past two would be convenient." "Nothing else?" "You will be quiet, nothing else?" "Nothing else." "I tooktaurant." "All the staff contributed, all in a proper ratio, of course." "Can't expect a bus boy to contribute as much as... now, i have... no, no, you cannot." "Ah, i said, "be quiet," mmm?" "You cannot." "If that is how it is to be." "(Felix) For themaitre d'hotel and one of our chefs to assist at a dinner where a guest is served poison, a few of our most desirable patrons, they make jokes." "But most do not, and some of them don't come." "I have avowed my responsibility." "Have you come for the gloomy pleasure of reproaching me?" "No, sir, of course not." "Of course not." "We wish to engage your professional services." "We know it wouldn't be proper to pay you from restaurant funds, since you are the trustee, so we will pay you from our own money." "We appeal to you." "We appeal to you." "Phooey!" ""Phooey."" "I have ears, i heard." "Ahem, i, uh, wished to be present, so i could add my appeal to theirs." "I offered to make a contribution, but they said no." "Gentlemen, i am solely to blame for this affair, and you offer to pay me now to clean it up?" "It's preposterous." "You should know that i have already bestirred myself." "Archie?" "Yes, sir, at least you have bestirred me." "Your coming here today is opportune... now, i have concluded that the only way to manage this affair is to provoke the wretch into betraying herself." "Oh, i have conceived a plan for which i must enlist your cooperation, zoltan." "Do i have it?" "May i depend on it?" "But, yes!" "But, how?" "You are to phone five of those women thng with Helen Iacono, and you are to ask her to meet you atrusterman's." "You will then say to her that you saw her returning for a second plate, but that... but i didn't, i told you... tais-toi!" "But that, because you desire her, you do not wish to go to the police." "If she does not meet you, then, you will go to the police at once." "Then, if she agrees, she's guilty?" "No, no..." "an innocent woman may agree for several reasons, depending on her temperament." "Now, gentlemen, let us rehearse." "Okay, now, look, we gotta take it from the top." "It's like opening a beautiful christmas present." "(zoltan) I have stayed silent until now because i couldn't believe anyone as beautiful and charming as you could be guilty of such a crime." "Lower your voice." "(Archie) Oh, zoltan, how can you be so cruel?" "Ah... heh." "If we were to become friends, that would change everything." "Oh, zoltan." "Exemplary." "Is that good?" "Excellent performance." "(Archie) Is that good?" "Are you kidding?" "I have never rated above, uh, satisfactory." "So are you ready for a real woman?" "Wolfe went up to the plant rooms, and zoltan began by calling Helen, while i listened in on the extension." "Of course, if we were to become friends, that would change everything." "I could never betray an intimate rela... she hung up." "All right, next up is lucy morgan." "We offered the girls different appointment times, just in case one of the innocent ones decided to meet zoltan." "We also told cramer about the scheme, which was a good thing, because when Helen Iacono hung up on us, she immediately called the district attorney." "Non, ca va pas, non, non." "Eh, attention, heh?" "Well, peggy choate's not coming." "Ah, we have to hold on." "With a redhead, you never can tell." "Felix, look at this, me, if i had to write this stuff down, i'd use "1 p.m.", but, policemen, they're trained to do it right." "Oh, can it, will you, Goodwin?" "Knock it off." "(Wolfe) It's preposterous!" "Who?" "Me or him?" "They... they have the temerity to... to sell this... horse fodder as fresh watercress?" "Is this the other shipment?" "It looks fine, it looks fine." "(Archie) Shall i do a countdown?" "You'd clown in the hot seat, wouldn't you?" "(music and chatter)" "Good evening." "Wait, wait, she's here." "An with the brown hair, but there was still no salt on her tail, yet." "She could claim she thought she was being framed, and came to get the goods on zoltan." "It was up to him to get the goods on her." "Will you have a drink?" "No, i don't want anything." "It is more friendly if we eat." "The spaghetti with anchovy sauce is excellent." "I had some." "You've already eaten?" "Oh, uh, ha... but only to taste." "Come, eat, hmm?" "No, i'm..." "no, eat." "Oh, all right." "Hans?" "Two spaghettis anchovy for us." "Ah, oui, monsieur." "How's he gonna trap her into admitting she's a killer?" "Ah, he'll find a way." "Young man." "(carol) You're mistaken, mr." "Mahany." "You didn't see me go back for another plate, because i didn't." "(zoltan) But i'm not mistaken, my dear." "But it would be nicer if you called me zoltan." "Well, i might, someday, it depends." "Monsieur." "Thank you." "How could i be mistaken when the first moment i saw you, i felt... ahh, but i will not try to tell you how i felt." "Oh no, do." "If any of the other girls had come in for another plate, i would have stopped them, e you, i was dumb." "E stopped them, befor oh..." "yeah, i see." "So, you're sure?" "I am, my dear, very sure." "But you haven't told the police?" "Oh, no." "Or Nero Wolfe?" "No." "Or Archie Goodwin?" "I've told no one, how could i?" "It is terrible for me to say you've killed a man." "If you weren't wearing the veil, i would look into your beautiful eyes." "And i know i would see suffering and sorrow." "And i know i would see suffering and sorrow." "It." "Nah, he's perfect, you should take notes." "You might learn something." "(carol) Yes, yes!" "That's why i'm wearing the veil, mr... zoltan, because i know it's in my eyes." "He made you suffer." "Oh, he ruined my life." "No, my dear, your life is not ruined, no matter what he did." "I never thought i'd ever let a man touch me again, but the way you..." "ahh... oh." "Well, i'm glad you know i killed him." "Yes." "It's better now that somebody knows, huh?" "Oh, i had to kill him, i had to." "Or i would have had to kill myself." "Yes." "It just makes me so hungry, you know?" "It just makes me want to... wait, wait!" "Don't eat that, the cheese." "The spaghetti with anchovy sauce is not served without cheese, this is an outrage." "It... it's unbelievable." "Wait..." "when i return, we will discuss our future, hmm?" "No cheese, that is outrageous!" "(man) I'll take that." "You tricked me!" "Mr. Fritz brenner, one of my most valued friends." "You lie!" "And i wished him to witness your humiliation, d by me, and i wished him in my presence." "Humiliation, rive that's enough of that." "I admit my reason is puerile." "Oh, then, you're no better than pyle." "You may have been intolerably provoked by mr." "Pyle, but not by zoltan." "He presented himself not as a leech or a nemesis, but as a bewitched and befuddled champion." "He offered you his homage." "Your counter offer was death." "No, you lie, and he lied." "He said he saw me, but he didn't, he couldn't." "He threatened me!" "The conversation was overheard." "You lie!" "Thisis not the trap... the trap has already sprung, and you are caught in it." "My rancor is appeased, actually, i would prefer... that's enough of that, Wolfe, i didn't agree to let you preach at her all night." "Take her out of here, sergeant." "May i say something?" "Go ahead." "Mr. Wolfe said that you injured me." "That is true." "It is also true that i wanted him to find you." "I cannot speak for Felix." "You tried to kill zoltan, and i cannot speak for him." "But i can speak for myself, i forgive you." "You lie!" "All right, let's get out of here." "(stebbins) Let's go." "(carol) You lie!" "What?" "Me." "What?" "Co" "captioning made possible by ae television networks captioned by soundwriters™"