It was Wednesday evening, four whole days since Nita Leigh Selim,
Broadway dancer, had been murdered while she was dummy at bridge.
Plainclothesmen, in pairs, day and night shifts, still guarded the
lonely house in Primrose Meadows, but Dundee had taken no interest in
the actual scene of the crime since Carraway, fingerprint expert, had
reported negatively upon the secret shelf between Nita's bedroom closet
and the guest closet. So far as any tangible evidence went, only
Dundee's fingers had pressed upon the pivoting panel and explored the
narrow shelf.
The very lack of fingerprints had of course confirmed Dundee's belief
that the murderer's hand had pressed upon that swinging panel, had
quested in vain for the incriminating documents or letters which had
been the basis of Nita's blackmail scheme, had deposited upon the shelf
the gun and silencer with which the murder had been accomplished, and
had later retrieved the weapon in perfect safety. A hand loosely wrapped
in a handkerchief or protected by a glove.... The hand of a cunning,
careful, cold-blooded murderer--or murderess.... But--who? _Who?_
Bonnie Dundee, brooding at his desk in the living room of his small
apartment, reflected bitterly that he was no nearer the answer to that
question than he had been an hour after Nita Selim's death.
"Well, 'my dear Watson'," he addressed his caged parrot finally. "What
do you say?... Who killed Nita Selim?"
The parrot stirred on his perch, thrust out his hooked beak to nip his
master's prodding finger, then disdainfully turned his back.
"I don't blame you, Cap'n," Dundee chuckled. "You must be as sick of
that question as I am.... And what a pity it ever had to be asked! If
the murderer had not been so hasty--or so pressed for time that he
really could not wait to listen to Nita--he would have learned from
Nita herself that she had decided to be a very good girl, and had burned
the 'papers'--all because she was genuinely in love with Ralph
Hammond.... One comfort we have, 'my dear Watson': the murderer still
does not know that Nita burned the papers Friday night. Sooner or later,
when he believes police vigilance has been relaxed, he'll go prowling
about that house, and to Captain Strawn, who doesn't take the slightest
stock in my theory, will go credit for the arrest.... Unless--"
Dundee reached for a telegraph form and again scanned the pencilled
message. Only that afternoon had it occurred to him to ask the telegraph
company for a copy of the wire by which Dexter Sprague, according to his
own story, had been summoned to Hamilton by Nita Selim.
The manager had been obliging, had looked up the message and copied it
with his own hand. It was a night letter, and had been filed in Hamilton
April 24--the third day after Nita's arrival. Addressed to Dexter
Sprague, at a hotel in the theatrical district, New York City, the
message read:
"EVERYTHING JAKE SO FAR BUT WOULD FEEL SAFER YOU HERE CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE PLANNING BOOSTER MOVIE FOUNDING AND DEVELOPMENT OF
HAMILTON LOOKING GOOD DIRECTOR WHY NOT TRY FOR JOB AS GOOD EXCUSE
ALL MY LOVE--NITA"
Dundee laid the paper on his desk, locked his hands behind his head, and
addressed the parrot again. The habit of using the bird for an audience
and as an excuse for puzzling and mulling aloud had grown on him during
the year he had owned the doughty old Cap'n.
"As I was about to say, 'my dear Watson', Captain Strawn's boys out at
the Selim house will have their chance to nab our man--or woman--unless
Dexter Sprague ignores my warning, pretends to have the papers himself,
and tries to carry on the blackmail scheme, which he undoubtedly knew
all about and which, most probably, he encouraged Nita to undertake--the
'friend' she had to consult, you know, before she decided to accept Lois
Dunlap's offer."
The parrot interrupted with a hoarse cackle.
"Have you gone over to the enemy, Cap'n?" Dundee reproved the bird. "You
sound exactly like Strawn when he laughed at my interpretation of this
message this afternoon. My late chief contends--and it is just possible,
of course, that he is right--that Nita was afraid she couldn't swing the
job of organizing and directing Lois' Little Theater, and wanted Sprague
here, both as lover and unofficial assistant. But that's a pretty thin
explanation, don't you think, 'my dear Watson'?... Oh, all right! Laugh,
damn you! But I'd feel better if Strawn had taken my advice and set a
dick to trail Sprague, to see that he keeps out of mischief.... All
this, however, gets us no nearer to answering that eternal
question--'Who?'"
With a deep sigh the troubled young special investigator reached for the
"Time Table" he had drafted from his notes made during the grisly
replaying of the "death hand at bridge," and scanned it again:
5:20--Flora Miles, dummy, Table No. 1, leaves living room to
telephone.
5:22--Clive Hammond arrives and goes directly into solarium.
5:23--End of rubber at Table No. 1. Players: Polly Beale, Janet
Raymond, Lois Dunlap, Flora Miles (dummy). Polly Beale leaves
living room to join Clive Hammond in solarium.
5:24--Janet Raymond leaves room; says she went straight to front
porch.
5:25--Tracey Miles parks car at curb; walks up to the house, hangs
up hat in clothes closet and at (his estimate)
5:27--Miles enters living room, talks with Nita, who, as dummy, has
just laid down her cards at Table No. 2. Players: Karen Marshall,
Penny Crain, Carolyn Drake.
5:28--Nita leaves living room, goes to her bedroom to make up.
5:28-1/2--Lois Dunlap and Miles go into dining room, Miles to make
cocktails.
5:31--Judge Marshall enters living room, interrupts bridge game.
5:33--John C. Drake enters living room, having walked from Country
Club, which he says he left at 5:10, and which is only
three-quarters of a mile from the Selim house.
5:36--Karen finishes playing of hand, and Dexter Sprague and Janet
Raymond enter from front porch, proceeding into dining room.
5:37--Penny Crain finishes scoring, and Karen leaves room to tell
Nita the score.
5:38--Karen screams upon discovering the dead body at the
dressing-table.
Dundee laid aside the typed sheet and reached for another, the typing of
which was perfect, since Penny's efficient fingers had manipulated the
keys.
When he had telephoned to the office just before five o'clock Monday
afternoon to see if anything had come up, Dundee had learned from Penny
that Peter Dunlap had issued an informal call to "the crowd" for a
meeting at his home that evening.
"You're going, of course?" Dundee had asked. "Then, during the
discussion of the case, I wish you'd try to get the answers to some
questions which need clearing up--if you can do so without getting
yourself 'in Dutch' with your friends.... Fine! Got a pencil?... Here
goes!"
And now he was re-reading the "report" she had conscientiously written
and left on his desk Tuesday morning:
"Peter, declaring he wanted to get at the bottom of this case, presided
almost like a judge on the bench, and asked nearly every question you
wanted the answer to. Everyone in the crowd adores gruff old Peter and
no one dreamed of resenting his barrage of questions. What a detective
_he_ would make!
"First: Janet admitted that she did not go directly to the front porch
when she left the living room after her table finished the last rubber.
Went first to the hall lavatory to comb her hair and renew her make-up.
Said she was there alone about five minutes, then went to the front
porch. (Revised her story after Tracey had said he did not see her on
the porch when he arrived.)
"Second: Judge Marshall said he glanced into the living room when he
arrived, saw Karen, Carolyn and me absorbed in our game, and went on
down the hall, to hang up his hat and stick. Proceeded immediately to
the living room.
"Third: John Drake told Peter he entered the front hall and passed on to
the lavatory to wash up. Felt sticky after his walk from the Country
Club. Hung up hat in the guest closet. Went to living room within three
minutes after reaching the house.
"Fourth: Polly and Clive told Peter they stayed together in the solarium
the whole time, stationed at a front window, watching for Ralph. When
Peter asked them if they could confirm Judge Marshall's story and Johnny
Drake's story, they said they had seen them both arrive, but had paid no
attention to them after they were in the house. It occurred to Peter,
too, to wonder if either Polly or Clive went to Nita's room to warn her
that Ralph knew about Sprague's having slept the night before in the
upstairs bedroom. They both denied emphatically that they had done so.
"Fifth: Judge Marshall--the pompous old darling--still smarting under
the insinuations you made about him and Nita right after the murder,
volunteered the information to Peter that Nita had _not_ paid her rent,
on the plea that she was short of funds, and that he had told her to let
it go until it was quite convenient.
"Sixth: The word 'blackmail' was not mentioned, and Johnny Drake,
because of professional ethics, I suppose, did not tell about Nita's two
deposits of $5,000 each in his bank.
"Seventh: The secret shelf in the foyer closet was not mentioned.
"Peter's verdict, after he got through with us, was that only Sprague
could have done it--using the gun and silencer which Nita herself had
stolen from Hugo. I couldn't tell him that you are convinced that
Lydia's alibi for him is a genuine one, for apparently Lydia hasn't told
either Flora or Tracey that she was able to furnish Sprague an alibi.
"And that's all, except that Peter asked me to convey to you his
apologies for his rudeness Monday afternoon.... Penelope Crain."
With a deep sigh Dundee laid Penny's report aside.
"And that does seem to be all, 'my dear Watson'," he told the parrot.
"Exactly half a dozen possible suspects, and not an atom of actual
evidence against one of them--except that Judge Marshall owned the gun.
Six--count 'em: Judge Marshall, John Drake, Flora Miles, Clive Hammond,
Polly Beale, Janet Raymond.... Every single one of them a possible
victim of blackmail, since the girls all attended the Forsyte School,
where Nita directed the Easter play for two years, and since the men
make several trips a year to New York.... Six people, all of whom
probably knew of the existence of the secret shelf.... Six people who
knew Nita was in her bedroom, either from having seen her go or from
hearing her powder box tinkling its damnable tune!... Yes, Penny! You're
right! That's all--so far as Hamilton is concerned! If Sanderson won't
let me go to New York--which is where this damned business started--I'll
resign and go on my own, without wasting another day here!"
But Dundee did not go to New York the next morning. He was far too busy
in Hamilton....