Cue For Murder полностью

Pauline lifted her chin defiantly. “I wanted it announced, and Rod didn’t. I stood that for a while; but when it dragged on and on, the best thing seemed to be a clean break.”

Basil’s glance shifted again to Rod. “And why didn’t you want it announced?”

Rod’s cheeks were cherry red. “Well—because of Wanda. I mean—I was dependent on her for my job and my chance on Broadway. I thought if I let her know, I was engaged before the play opened I—I might not get that chance after all. . . .”

“So you do admit she chased you for the usual reason?” cried Pauline, furiously.

“No, I don’t. I have no idea why she was always after me. That’s the honest truth. But, of course, I couldn’t help wondering. I didn’t want to complicate things any more than they were already—by suddenly getting engaged. . . .”

Basil’s eyes rested on Rod’s face seriously. “I suppose you realize that this may be far more dangerous for you than the fact that the knife belonged to you?”

“How?” asked Pauline.

“It’s the nearest approach to a motive the police have had so far. Assuming that the man who played Vladimir was a lover of Wanda’s, the police will concentrate on you immediately.

They were both silent for a moment. Then Rod’s temper exploded. “How ridiculous!”

“Not at all. You admit you were seen with her everywhere.”

“But good heavens! That doesn’t mean anything. I was engaged to Pauline at the time.”

“But you didn’t want it announced—because of Wanda. And finally it was broken—because of Wanda. The police may say that your engagement to Pauline was a clever move to conceal your real affair with Wanda and your motive for stabbing Vladimir.”

“Why—it sounds as if someone had planned it!” There was awe in Pauline’s breathless voice.

“It does rather.” Basil held Rod’s eyes with his own. “Do you really mean it when you say Wanda seemed almost bored when you were alone with her? Think carefully, for it’s important. Didn’t she ever show any sign of personal interest in you, however subtle?”

“By ‘personal’ I suppose you mean ‘erotic’? No, she didn’t. And—well, it’s silly, but though I didn’t like her I was human enough to feel a little piqued about the whole thing. It is rather insulting to have a woman always seeking your company and yet remaining entirely impervious to your existence as a man. I’d got so I almost hated Wanda and then—this happened.”

“Hell knows no fury like a man scorned,” murmured Pauline, but there was no malice in her voice.

“Possibly Wanda felt she was the woman scorned?” ventured Basil. “You weren’t very responsive, were you?”

“There was nothing to respond to! So she couldn’t have felt that way.”

Pauline’s eyes were dancing. “Basil, you are interested. I can see you are! You will help us, won’t you? There’s nobody else who can. If somebody did plan all this, you’re the one to find out who and why. It might be Wanda herself. Suppose she knew this was going to happen to Vladimir? Suppose she chased Rod all these weeks just so suspicion would fall on him when it did happen? It was she who wanted to play Fedora in the first place. It was she who got Milhau to give Rod the part of the surgeon who carries a knife on stage. And I’m sure Vladimir was not a stranger to her. I’m sure he was the friend she invited to play Vladimir, even if she did deny it afterward.”

“In other words, you believe that Wanda murdered Vladimir herself?” asked Basil. “And planned the details of the crime to throw suspicion on Rod?”

“Isn’t it pretty obvious?” retorted Pauline. “Milhau had no reason to lie about knowing Vladimir. He isn’t a suspect—he wasn’t even on stage during the murder. Milhau must’ve been speaking the truth, and that means Wanda must have been lying. Vladimir must have been someone she had got to play the part, just as Milhau said. That means Vladimir was someone Wanda knew—perhaps someone she loved. There’s nothing to suggest that anyone else on stage ever saw him before, so Wanda must be the one who killed him.”

Rod was tilting the sugar bowl back and forth as if he needed some occupation for his hands. Basil didn’t wonder that he was embarrassed—the position of a man pursued by a woman he doesn’t like is hardly a graceful one.

“When did you first meet Wanda?” asked Basil.

“A year ago. In Chicago.”

“How did it happen?”

“Wanda had taken one of her New York successes, a Guitry play, out there. Leonard Martin was playing opposite her when he fell ill suddenly. They had to get someone else in a hurry. I was in Chicago with a road company that had just been stranded. I applied to Milhau for Leonard’s part and got it—largely because no one else was available. Wanda coached me herself, and I did fairly well.”

“You made a smash hit!” interpolated Pauline.