CHAPTER TWENTY
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 thelonely house in Primrose Meadows, but Dundee had taken no interest inthe actual scene of the crime since Carraway, fingerprint expert, hadreported negatively upon the secret shelf between Nita's bedroom closetand the guest closet. So far as any tangible evidence went, onlyDundee's fingers had pressed upon the pivoting panel and explored thenarrow shelf.
The very lack of fingerprints had of course confirmed Dundee's beliefthat the murderer's hand had pressed upon that swinging panel, hadquested in vain for the incriminating documents or letters which hadbeen the basis of Nita's blackmail scheme, had deposited upon the shelfthe gun and silencer with which the murder had been accomplished, andhad later retrieved the weapon in perfect safety. A hand loosely wrappedin 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 smallapartment, reflected bitterly that he was no nearer the answer to thatquestion than he had been an hour after Nita Selim's death.
"Well, 'my dear Watson'," he addressed his caged parrot finally. "Whatdo you say?... Who killed Nita Selim?"
The parrot stirred on his perch, thrust out his hooked beak to nip hismaster's prodding finger, then disdainfully turned his back.
"I don't blame you, Cap'n," Dundee chuckled. "You must be as sick ofthat question as I am.... And what a pity it ever had to be asked! Ifthe murderer had not been so hasty--or so pressed for time that hereally could not wait to listen to Nita--he would have learned fromNita herself that she had decided to be a very good girl, and had burnedthe 'papers'--all because she was genuinely in love with RalphHammond.... One comfort we have, 'my dear Watson': the murderer stilldoes not know that Nita burned the papers Friday night. Sooner or later,when he believes police vigilance has been relaxed, he'll go prowlingabout that house, and to Captain Strawn, who doesn't take the slighteststock in my theory, will go credit for the arrest.... Unless--"
Dundee reached for a telegraph form and again scanned the pencilledmessage. Only that afternoon had it occurred to him to ask the telegraphcompany for a copy of the wire by which Dexter Sprague, according to hisown story, had been summoned to Hamilton by Nita Selim.
The manager had been obliging, had looked up the message and copied itwith his own hand. It was a night letter, and had been filed in HamiltonApril 24--the third day after Nita's arrival. Addressed to DexterSprague, at a hotel in the theatrical district, New York City, themessage 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, andaddressed the parrot again. The habit of using the bird for an audienceand as an excuse for puzzling and mulling aloud had grown on him duringthe year he had owned the doughty old Cap'n.
"As I was about to say, 'my dear Watson', Captain Strawn's boys out atthe Selim house will have their chance to nab our man--or woman--unlessDexter Sprague ignores my warning, pretends to have the papers himself,and tries to carry on the blackmail scheme, which he undoubtedly knewall about and which, most probably, he encouraged Nita to undertake--the'friend' she had to consult, you know, before she decided to accept LoisDunlap's offer."
The parrot interrupted with a hoarse cackle.
"Have you gone over to the enemy, Cap'n?" Dundee reproved the bird. "Yousound exactly like Strawn when he laughed at my interpretation of thismessage 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 thejob of organizing and directing Lois' Little Theater, and wanted Spraguehere, both as lover and unofficial assistant. But that's a pretty thinexplanation, 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 adick to trail Sprague, to see that he keeps out of mischief.... Allthis, however, gets us no nearer to answering that eternalquestion--'Who?'"
With a deep sigh the troubled young special investigator reached for the"Time Table" he had drafted from his notes made during the grislyreplaying 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 ofwhich was perfect, since Penny's efficient fingers had manipulated thekeys.
When he had telephoned to the office just before five o'clock Mondayafternoon to see if anything had come up, Dundee had learned from Pennythat Peter Dunlap had issued an informal call to "the crowd" for ameeting at his home that evening.
"You're going, of course?" Dundee had asked. "Then, during thediscussion of the case, I wish you'd try to get the answers to somequestions which need clearing up--if you can do so without gettingyourself 'in Dutch' with your friends.... Fine! Got a pencil?... Heregoes!"
And now he was re-reading the "report" she had conscientiously writtenand left on his desk Tuesday morning:
"Peter, declaring he wanted to get at the bottom of this case, presidedalmost like a judge on the bench, and asked nearly every question youwanted the answer to. Everyone in the crowd adores gruff old Peter andno 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 porchwhen 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 frontporch. (Revised her story after Tracey had said he did not see her onthe porch when he arrived.)
"Second: Judge Marshall said he glanced into the living room when hearrived, saw Karen, Carolyn and me absorbed in our game, and went ondown the hall, to hang up his hat and stick. Proceeded immediately tothe living room.
"Third: John Drake told Peter he entered the front hall and passed on tothe lavatory to wash up. Felt sticky after his walk from the CountryClub. Hung up hat in the guest closet. Went to living room within threeminutes after reaching the house.
"Fourth: Polly and Clive told Peter they stayed together in the solariumthe whole time, stationed at a front window, watching for Ralph. WhenPeter asked them if they could confirm Judge Marshall's story and JohnnyDrake'
s story, they said they had seen them both arrive, but had paid noattention 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 herthat Ralph knew about Sprague's having slept the night before in theupstairs bedroom. They both denied emphatically that they had done so.
"Fifth: Judge Marshall--the pompous old darling--still smarting underthe 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 letit 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 twodeposits 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 Spraguecould have done it--using the gun and silencer which Nita herself hadstolen from Hugo. I couldn't tell him that you are convinced thatLydia's alibi for him is a genuine one, for apparently Lydia hasn't toldeither 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 hisapologies 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 actualevidence 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 possiblevictim of blackmail, since the girls all attended the Forsyte School,where Nita directed the Easter play for two years, and since the menmake several trips a year to New York.... Six people, all of whomprobably knew of the existence of the secret shelf.... Six people whoknew Nita was in her bedroom, either from having seen her go or fromhearing her powder box tinkling its damnable tune!... Yes, Penny! You'reright! That's all--so far as Hamilton is concerned! If Sanderson won'tlet me go to New York--which is where this damned business started--I'llresign 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 busyin Hamilton....