Cue For Murder полностью

Rod smiled at her enthusiasm. “It was pure luck; the part happened to suit me, and Wanda’s coaching was a big help. Overnight I jumped from playing small parts in road companies to the male lead in a company fresh from Broadway. I was grateful, but I didn’t fall for her. That’s what made things so hard when she started behaving as if she’d fallen for me.”

“You’re not just being chivalrous when you say she didn’t care for you?” inquired Basil.

“No, that’s the truth. I’m never chivalrous.”

“Indeed you aren’t!” put in Pauline.

“And you’ve remained with the company ever since?” went on Basil.

“By the time we reached San Francisco, Sam Milhau put me under contract to play the lead in Fedora on Broadway this autumn.” Some lumps of sugar fell out of the bowl. Rod’s restless fingers arranged them in rows like dominoes.

“But Dr. Lorek is not the male lead in Fedora,” objected Basil.

“No,” agreed Rod, without looking up from the sugar lumps. “The big male part is Loris Ipanov; but he doesn’t come on until the second act so I played Lorek in the first. Milhau’s a thrifty producer, and as I’m just a beginner—glad of the chance—I couldn’t very well refuse to double in both parts. Lorek was a bad role for me, but Loris Ipanov might have been the making of me. Now—” He shrugged. “This murder may push me right back to where I was when I started a year ago.”

“When did Leonard Martin rejoin the company?”

Rod’s wall of sugar lumps toppled, and he began piling them up again. “Milhau was still casting Fedora when Leon turned up in New York a few weeks ago, quite recovered and raring to go. Of course, he wanted to play Loris Ipanov. He’s been Wanda’s leading man in lots of plays. But Milhau had already signed me for Ipanov, and most of the other good parts like Siriex were already cast. The best Milhau could do was to give Leon the part of Grech. He was game enough to take it and make a good job of it. He deserved a better break. He doesn’t just mug like the rest of us; he really acts.”

“You don’t mug!” protested Pauline. “You’re good! Really good!”

“You think so?” Rod eyed her with pleasure. For a moment they both seemed to forget Basil.

“Have you told the police about this gossip linking you to Wanda?” inquired Basil.

“N-no.” Rod frowned.

“You think we should?” cried Pauline.

“They’re sure to find out. They always check on the personal history of everyone involved in a case. They may miss some of the subtleties; but they never miss a matter of general knowledge, and anything concealed makes them suspicious. You’d better forestall them by letting all the skeletons out of the cupboard now before the bones begin to rattle.”

“But what is there to tell them?” Rod had the grace to flush. “I can’t say: See here, Inspector, Wanda Morley was always chasing me, but I didn’t care a hoot about her, and I’m sure she didn’t care a hoot about me. So if you hear any gossip, it’s just smoke without fire. That isn’t the sort of thing you can say to anybody, least of all a policeman. He’d never believe it, would he?”

“I see your point.” Basil smiled. “The police might agree with Pauline: Hell knows no fury like a man scorned—especially when he has a chance to stab a successful rival on the stage.”

“Basil!” cried Pauline. “Don’t say such things—even in fun!”

“Pauline, dear,” said Rod, gently. “He’s only anticipating what the police will say.”

“I know what to do!” Pauline turned to Rod. “We’ll tell the police you’re engaged to me!”

“But I’m not—”

“You can be—if you want to.”

Rod shook his head. “You know I won’t drag you into this!”

“Why on earth not?”

“Because.” Rod pushed his sugar lumps into a star pattern. “Just think what fun the more scurrilous tabloids would have with all three of us if we told the truth.”

“Three of us?”

“You and I and Wanda—the good old triangle.”

“You forget Vladimir,” put in Basil. “That would make it a quadrangle.”

“I don’t care! If there’s any question of your being accused of murder I’m going to say you’re still engaged to me! Then they couldn’t say that you were jealous of Wanda’s affair with Vladimir—if there was one.”

“Oh, yes, they could!” returned Basil. “They could say that you loved Rod, but that he didn’t love you. And they would say it if they heard you had broken your engagement to him yesterday.”

Tears stood in Pauline’s eyes. “Then you’ll have to find the murderer—as I said in the first place. The police wouldn’t listen to us, but they would listen to you. Last night that Inspector treated you as if you were a little tin god!”

Basil laughed. “That’s only because I have the District Attorney’s ear.” He looked Pauline in the eyes. “Are you quite sure you want me to find the murderer?”

“Sure? Why, of course!”