by George Baxt
Brunhilde trilled at Souvir. “Raymond, darling. Why don’t we join Marlene’s group. I do so wish to meet Mr. Villon.”
Adela said to Marlene, “She’s headed this way with your French actor. Try a smile for a change. You look like Sylvia Sidney in anything, and she’s always on the verge of tears.” Tallulah Bankhead said to no one in particular, “That young man is really beautiful. I wonder if that’s all there is to him.”
Marlene suddenly brightened; catching her second wind had brought with it a dynamite shift in her mood. “Brunhilde, I thought you’d never join us.” She introduced Messer to everyone. Tallulah roared, “You woke me up in London!” Brunhilde took a few steps backward, startled, expecting to be attacked, but Tallulah’s face was wreathed in one of her most enchanting smiles. “And I’ll be eternally grateful to you because I awoke to one of the most exquisite voices in the history of opera.”
Brunhilde also wore a phony smile. “You are too kind.”
“Not too often.”
“So, Mr. Villon,” said Brunhilde, “I hear you are up to your waist in murder. I knew Mai Mai. We were good friends. She did not deserve to die, at least not this way. And the waiter, obviously murdered to silence him. But he probably wasn’t aware the pill was poisoned.”
“Oh, so that’s it!” blurted Hazel.
“Be quiet.” Villon might have hit her with a whip. “Where did you get your information, Madam Messer?”
“What information?” Her voice was husky. Marlene had a tight grip on her handbag and Adela’s instinctive nose for news told her there might be a story brewing here.
“About the waiter.”
Brunhilde was cool and self-contained. “My friends just explained to me what they told you when you questioned them last night. That, and what I read in the papers and heard on the radio gave me enough hints to come to my conclusion. So, obviously I am correct and it annoys you. Why are you so upset?”
“I’m not upset. I’m delighted with what you said. Very delighted. Hazel, you should be very delighted. Here’s an item for you, in fact, a bit of a delicacy like broiled pig’s snout.” Hazel said nothing and just glared at him. “Adela? What does what you heard from Madam Messer imply to you?”
“That somebody should have kept their mouth shut, but blissfully didn’t.”
Marlene was thinking, somebody thought the information was safe with Brunhilde. It was Brunhilde who should have kept her mouth shut, but she was so busy being charming and enchanting with Herb Villon that she inadvertently supplied him with the break he so desperately needed. He was right. One of the suspects was Morton Duncan’s contact. He killed Morton Duncan because Duncan might tell who supplied him with the pill if his blackmail demands weren’t satisfied. Hazel said, “You’ll have to excuse me.”
Marlene said, “There’s a phone in the alcove under the staircase in the hall. You can’t miss it. There’s a lovely painting of the Madonna and Child hanging near it.” Hazel shot her an unpleasant look and left.
Souvir had been chatting affably with Tallulah until he heard Brunhilde’s gaffe and was now dabbing at his brow with a handkerchief. Marlene and Villon recognized his discomfort. Tallulah asked Souvir, “Are you warm, dahling? It is a bit close in here, isn’t it.”
“Delightfully so,” said Adela, who was making a mental note to consider the possibility of a very long article about this case for the Saturday Evening Post.
Brunhilde deftly changed the subject. “So, Marlene, you are helping Raymond with his screen test. You are always so generous.”
“Just like you, Brunhilde,” said Marlene with a sly smile. “We are birds of a feather. I see the Countess and Dong See left together.”
“She offered him a lift home and he accepted.”
“Did she really? But Raymond, I thought you were his favorite chauffeur.”
Adela asked, “Doesn’t Dong See drive?”
Raymond said, “Not since his near fatal car accident last year.”
Adela looked amazed. “But you can’t exist in this town without driving a car. The public transportation is a myth and there were more covered wagons crossing the country than there are taxis to be found here. He’d better hire himself a car and driver. There are lots of those available.” She paused. “I think Tallulah’s lost interest in us. She’s wandered away.” Souvir said nervously. “She wants very much to coach me.”
“Is that how they put it these days.7” asked Adela.
Marlene said to Herb, “I’m sure you’re thinking what I’m thinking. And isn’t it delightful. I’m going to phone Anna May and tell her when I get home.” She remembered something and drew Villon away from Adela and Souvir. Adela was a good sport about it and engaged Souvir in a conversation about acting techniques, of which his knowledge was sadly negligible.
Herb was repeating what Marlene had just told him. “Certain words are underlined.7”
“In all the charts.”
“When we put them all together, I’m sure they’ll spell ‘murder.’ ”
“Aha!” said Marlene very eagerly, “you think they are a clue.”
“Marlene, everything I look at, everything I touch and smell, is a clue. And believe me, it’s not an easy thing to deal with. Do you suppose the soprano’s aware she blew it?”
“Oh yes, but she covered beautifully. Well, at least we know the murderer is definitely one of them and not somebody we hadn’t thought of, such as my chauffeur or my very boring butler. Oh dear, Adela is struggling to converse with Raymond. Let’s rescue her.”
Villon said, “Brunhilde just stands there staring at Raymond. Do you suppose she sees something we don’t see?” Marlene said, “More than likely, she knows something we don’t know.”
Villon stayed Marlene with a touch of his hand on her wrist. “Do you suppose Messer knew exactly what she was doing when she dropped her clanger?”
“It’s possible. But somehow I don’t think so. You see, it completely unnerved Raymond. You can’t feign perspiration. If you haven’t observed it for yourself, then let me tell you in very plain English, Raymond Souvir is a very frightened young man, and from the way Brunhilde is staring at him, I think his fear is contagious. Ah, you three! Forgive us for being so exclusive for a few minutes, but Herb wanted some advice on a birthday gift for his delightful young assistant and I made a suggestion. Did I make sense, Herb?”
“Marlene, you most certainly did make sense.”
Brunhilde Messer was lighting a cigarette. She took a deep drag and exhaled a frightening cloud of smoke. Adela was reminded of a volcano in eruption, not realizing the analogy was right on the nose.
FOURTEEN
DOROTHY DI FRASSO drove like royalty. She demanded the road to herself, an impossible exclusivity. Her impatience with other drivers was nerve jangling, bearing down on the horn as often as she bore down on the gas pedal. Dong See was as uncomfortable with her driving as he was with Ray- mond Souvir’s, but he said nothing. Her mouth had also accelerated and she was now busily grinding Brunhilde Messer into pulp.
“The big cow. They should never have sent her here. Using that preposterous offer for Marlene from Adolph as an excuse. Why are the Germans so unimaginative?”
“They only seem so,” said Dong See. “Don’t discredit them so rashly. There are some very impressive imaginations at work there. You’ll soon be witnessing a rebirth of that country that will astonish the world.”
“That cow would have to give the game away.”
“She gave nothing away.”
“Don’t be dense. She confirmed for Villon the fact that one of us convinced the waiter to drop the pill into the champagne. He could have been kept floundering in the dark for ages.”
“You mustn’t underestimate him while overestimating yourself The man’s smart and he’s smart enough to let Dietrich and Wong contribute. They’re very smart ladies. I’m amazed at the large population of clever women in this town. Properly used, they could be very helpful. Adela Rogers St. Johns has a mind like a stee
l trap.’’
“She’s a bitch.’’
“I like her. She’s forthright and convincing. 1 can see where she can be a very dangerous enemy. I’m sure you’re aware she doesn’t like you.”
“Very few women like me. I’ve been aware of that ever since I set out in the world to make my fortune. My family was dirt poor and I made up my mind at the age of seven, when I seduced the son of a candy store proprietor, that I was going to be a somebody and be in a position of purchasing candy instead of bartering for it.”
“You’ve been bartering ever since.”
“It becomes a pleasant habit after a while.” She shouted out the window to a jalopy she finally managed to pass. “Hire a horse, you nitwit!” This won her an obscene gesture. “Marlene intensely dislikes me. We’ve been rivals in love.”
“Dietrich doesn’t strike me as a woman who will suffer the indignity of being the third point in a triangle. She accepts her husband’s affair with Tamara Matul. Her bisexuality is an open secret; I can’t imagine you two having been rivals for a woman.”
“Of course not.”
“I can’t believe this offer of Adolph’s was a sincere one. Doesn’t he know her maternal grandfather was a Jew? Conrad Felsing. He sold jewelry. Hitler loathes Jews. You should read his book; it tells you everything you could want to know about him.”
“I tried. I found it unreadable.” She was bearing down on the horn again, and a little old lady pulled over and let her pass. She recognized character actress Beryl Mercer. “Those charts are beginning to worry me. I’m beginning to think they contain something that can be very injurious. Anna May was Mai Mai’s pet. She could have told her things or hinted at things that could add up to trouble. Like you said, Anna May’s a very clever woman.”
Dong See said, “I have a yen for her.”
“It’ll take more then a yen to get her. I’ve learned she’s unattainable.”
“Doesn’t she like men?”
“Oh, very much. What little one knows of her involvements, they are of brief duration. She’s the kind of woman Virginia Woolf champions in her essay A Room of One’s Own. Anna May’s a rebel who at an early age was determined to have her own space. Now that she’s got it, she’s holding on to it. What’s this about Monte Trevor planning to go to Mexico?”
“Someone’s needed there. Monte’s the logical one.”
“Villon will never let any of us leave town. Not while he suspects one of us is the murderer.”
“Dorothy, it won’t be too hard to slip out of here when it becomes necessary.”
“What about Raymond?”
“What about him?”
“His test. Supposing it’s a success.”
“Good for Raymond. He goes under contract to Paramount, a major studio. This leads to major contacts. He could become even more important in the scheme of things.”
“He’s a pussywillow bending in the wind.”
“Raymond has greater strength than you give him credit for.”
“I can only judge by what I see. We have an expression in this country, ‘weak sister.’ Raymond strikes me as a ‘weak sister.’ He perspires a lot.”
“At the wheel of a car he has nerves of steel. Christ! Must you use that bloody horn so often?”
“I have no tolerance for anything that gets in my way.”
“Take the next right. That’s my road. It’s a dead end. My house is at the top.”
“Raymond has me worried.”
“There’s nothing to worry about. Watch out for that rabbit!”
“Let it watch out for itself. It should look both ways before crossing the road!”
Ivar Tensha wished he found Brunhilde Messer sexually attractive. It had been days since he’d been favored with a woman’s favors and if he didn’t have one soon, he was afraid he’d break out in a rash. They were sipping brandies, having finished the dinner he’d ordered from room service. Ivar stared at Brunhilde as she lit a cigarette. The thought of bedding down a woman her size repulsed him. He had to remind himself she wasn’t here for a romantic rendezvous.
“Why do you look at me that way? Is it the unfortunate slip I made before Villon?”
“You must learn to think before you speak, Brunhilde. You treat every place like it is the extension of a stage in an opera house. Everything you do is large, as though you’re trying to be heard at the top of the second balcony. I must admit you’re in the right place. Everything in Hollywood is larger than life, like you are. This Villon is no fool. He’s no hick cop in a hick town. I have done a check on his past record and it is formidable. He is a favorite son of the movie industry. His superiors are never less than supportive. He has not been known to make a false move. His only apparent lapse in taste is this Hazel Dickson.”
“He’s a magnet for women. Tallulah Bankhead salivated at the sight of him. And I suspect Marlene is keeping him in reserve once she’s had enough of Chevalier and Herbert Marshall. I don’t know how she does it. She juggles lovers like she’s center stage in a music hall. Well, why not, she began in music halls.”
Tensha was lighting one of his torpedo-style cigars, and Brunhilde was finding it hard to mask her distaste. “I don’t understand Mai Mai’s foolishness last night.”
“How so?”
“A few of her predictions were too close to the bone. Too close to what she had learned in Europe. She was told too much.” He sighed. “But we were so desperate to have her. She would have been such a valuable asset. It was Trevor’s idea to go after her and I seconded it. She could have disseminated so much false information, she would have been invaluable. But no. She was a woman drowning in ethics and morals and was shocked that we would think she would even consider betraying her great gifts.” He shook his head from side to side. “When will people learn that loyalty is much too expensive. Did Dietrich believe you when you said you only just arrived last night?”
“I’m sure she did. One thing I know you admire in me is how convincing I can be when I have to be. I’m a much better actress than Marlene.”
“Marlene doesn’t have to act. She has a face.”
“I had the devil’s own time keeping out of her way at the party last night. I’m positive Mai Mai saw me. She was on the bandstand and could see over everyone’s head. Still, she might not have recognized me immediately in my red wig.”
“You looked like Harpo Marx.”
“That’s terribly unkind.”
“I’m too rich to be kind.”
She sipped her brandy. “Something may have to be done about Raymond.”
“I like Raymond.”
“I think he’s frightened. He perspires more than usual.”
“It’s the little boy in him. Try mothering him. He’ll respond.”
“He doesn’t interest me that way. I like big boys. Very big boys. Is there no way to kill this investigation?”
“There is, but I prefer to see it expire a slow death. Villon won’t rest until he’s caught the guilty party.”
“That means you could be trapped here indefinitely!”
“If necessary, we’ll give him a murderer.”
“Who do you have in mind?”
“At the moment, no one in particular.” His smile was crooked and ugly. “There is no dearth of candidates. On the other hand, if Villon solves the case quickly, we’ll be spared any unpleasantness among us.”
“If Villon succeeds, there could be another kind of unpleasantness. An explosive one.”
“Silence can be induced. I wonder how Miss Wong is faring with those charts? Mine sounded amusingly simple when Mai Mai read it to me. Of course, I now suspect strongly she was guilty of the sins of omission.” He was on his feet and pacing, cigar in mouth and hands clasped behind his back. “Damn her for her fidelity to herself. She even quoted Shakespeare at the time. Shakespeare! That hack!” He boomed the quote, “‘This above all, to thine own self be true.’ Polonius in Hamlet.”
Brunhilde made a face as she helped herself
to more brandy. “I never liked the character of Hamlet. He had terrible taste in women. Ophelia and his mother.”
“Unfortunately, my dear Brunhilde, Hamlet had to suffer the manipulations of his creator.”
“What happens now?”
“My dear, we continue to follow the blueprint. I haven’t too much time to spare. I must get back to Romania. There’s a new gas we’re developing that will soon be tested in northern Tibet. It’s safe to test there. Nobody cares if entire villages are destroyed in outlands like northern Tibet. I considered an Eskimo community in the North Pole, but you can’t be sure there’s not some party of explorers in the vicinity who might survive and report the infamy. You know, Mai Mai predicted I would be involved with a tragedy in an outlying territory. I wonder if she meant Tibet or the Moon.” He sat and folded his hands in his lap. “I have some interesting plans for the Moon. But they’ll have to wait. Pour me some brandy, Brunhilde, this one should give me the glow I desire.”
After leaving the party, Marlene and Herb made a detour to Anna May’s apartment house. Hazel had been condemned to Coventry by Herb for her miserable behavior at the party, much to Marlene’s displeasure.
“You can’t let her drive in the condition she’s in,” insisted Marlene. “Get one of Ramon’s hired help to take her home.”
“Marlene, Hazel’s car knows the way back. Don’t worry about Hazel. I’ll follow you to Anna May’s, and don’t go too fast. In this darkness I might lose you.”
“Herb, when I don’t want to be lost, it’s not easy to lose me.”
When they arrived at her apartment, Anna May led them to the living room, where there was champagne cooling alongside a hot plate of egg rolls and spare ribs.
“I thought you’d like a little nosh,” said Anna May. Marlene was no advocate of art deco but had to admit Anna May’s apartment seemed more comfortable than bizarre. Anna May had the horoscope charts laid out on a dining table, and while sipping champagne and nibbling at egg rolls Marlene and Herb examined them. Anna May translated more of the underlined words for them but they could make no sense of them.
