The Toff In Town

by John Creasey

  “That settles the issue, sir,” said Jolly.

  “We wait until to-morrow night, after the broadcast,” agreed Rollison.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  REHEARSALS

  “OF course you can stay,” said Hedley, warmly. “Very glad to have you with us, Mr. Rollison—thought any more about that broadcast of yours, yet?”

  “Not very much,” said Rollison truthfully. “I hope you will,” said Hedley. “Quiet a minute, the tenor’s going to sound off.”

  He grinned and held up his hands for silence, and sat down on a slung-canvas chair, one of twenty or so which were ranged along the walls of the studio. The Italian tenor, a short man with a shock of dark hair, chest and shoulders like a bull, and plump hands which were clasped together nervously, spoke in frantic Italian to a much smaller man, obviously a foreigner, who kept pulling at his pink and blue tie and looking as if he would strangle himself. Another Italian, of aristocratic mien, sat at the grand piano in a corner of the large studio, his long, pale hands raised above the key-board. He glared at the pink and blue tie, and a compact, middle-aged man—a B.B.C. official with a patient, tired manner, kept saying:

  “Now take your time, there’s no hurry—this is only a rehearsal, remember.”

  The Italians jabbered on; the rest of the people in the studio watched them or someone else, openly or furtively; or else read their scripts or stared with wide-eyed interest at the upright microphone in front of the tenor, the two table-mikes planted on small tables at one end of the room or—greatly daring—through the glass partition which separated the studio from the next room. Some were composed and poised, others obviously and unashamedly nervous. One little group of young people gathered in a corner and whispered.

  Rollison sat next to Allen.

  The tenor opened his mouth, threw back his head, and let forth a tremendous bellow. The patient-looking man jumped, the pianist clutched his head in horror, the blue and pink tie suddenly became unfastened, its wearer jabbered. Hedley jumped up and went towards them, saying mildly: “That was a bit too loud.” The little group in the corner giggled, but the tenor seemed quite unaware of the minor consternation he had caused. He glared at the mike as if it would lean forward and strike him.

  Allen stared at the scene with lack-lustre eyes.

  Rollison had been to fetch him that afternoon, and as far as he could find out, Allen had made no effort to leave Dinky’s; had eaten and slept and mooned about all day. For different reasons, Allen and his wife were behaving in exactly the same way.

  Obviously he had expected Rollison to come for him.

  Hedley had been busy with the tenor, and beyond greeting them with a bright smile and a few cheery words, paid them no attention. The question of the alteration in the text had not yet been brought up.

  Jolly was still at the flat, but was due to arrive here just after five o’clock. McMahon of the Morning Cry wasn’t here yet, but Rollison had no doubt that he would come. He looked round at the others. There were nine in addition to the Italian contingent, and he glanced down at the comprehensive script, covering each broadcaster which Hedley had pushed into his hand, trying to place the people from their appearance.

  The stage and screen “comics” certainly weren’t here yet; he would have recognised them. A young couple, with blonde hair and nervous smiles, were sitting on two chairs, touching hands, leaning forward every now and again and whispering; they were the young Danes, he hadn’t much difficulty in placing them. A burly man in ragged and patched clothes, who had shaved badly and had long, curly side-whiskers, was standing in a corner, reading his script with a vast frown which wrinkled his forehead; he would be the busker, Rollison decided.

  He glanced through the roneoed sheets. The “wandering artist” or the writer of inn-signs didn’t appear to be here yet— unless he was the pale, neatly dressed young man who sat by himself, smoking a new pipe. His name, according to the front page of the script, was Arthur Mellor. He was to broadcast first; the Danes were to follow; the Lundys were third, then came the busker followed by the tenor, with Allen the final act. Allen hadn’t glanced at his script—just seemed prepared to sit back and do nothing.

  The tenor suddenly burst forth again, still much too loudly. Hedley pulled the mike away from him, the blue and pink tie fluttered wildly and its wearer held his hands palms outwards a few inches from the singer, urging him backwards. The tenor tried to watch him, the mike, the pianist—and suddenly tossed his arms high in the air, stopped singing, and struck an attitude which he proceeded to justify with a string of fluent Italian— including, as Rollison knew well, one or two of the choicest Milanese oaths.

  His friends pleaded with him. The tired-looking man raised his eyebrows resignedly, spoke to Hedley and went out into the mysterious chamber behind the studio. There, three or four men were sitting, one of them with earphones on and looking very earnest

  The altercation over, the tenor took up his stand again— and suddenly everything went right. His volume was exactly what was required, no one disapproved, the ends of the blue and pink tie hung straight and its wearer achieved a seraphic smile. This was reflected on the face of the tenor; the pianist also beamed broadly.

  A curious thing happened.

  Everyone in the studio stopped whatever he was doing and looked at the Italian. In the small studio his voice was loud but the notes were perfect, and they flowed easily and smoothly, he swayed slightly to and fro, keeping his hands raised, as if without effort. The tenor’s eyes were half-closed and dreamy, he were holding them out to some invisible maiden, appealing, beseeching.

  Even Allen was affected.

  Rollison fought against the seductive beauty of the singing and glanced at Allen, seeing his face relieved of strain—not smiling, but almost serene, as if he had been taken into a new world of peace. The tough-rough busker watched the tenor without blinking. The smartly-dressed man who was probably the wandering artist had his mouth open, and he also swayed from the waist. The two Danes held hands tightly. The little crowd which Rollison could not identify was the last to come under the spell, but its members fell eventually. Hedley looked dreamy. The weary-looking man, who wore a cream-coloured linen coat and flannel trousers, shed his tiredness. Two girl members of the staff stood near the piano.

  The singer stopped but the spell remained, until he lunged forward and gripped one end of the blue-and-pink tie, and cried:

  “It was wonderful—yes, yes, wonderful!”

  Then he was submerged in a welter of congratulations from his friends. Hedley sent an inquiring glance towards the glass partition, where the earnest-looking man, smiling with quiet satisfaction, shook his head. Hedley turned to one of the girls and said sotto voce:

  “We’ll give him another try-out at the last minute, let him rest now.”

  Another man came into the room, dressed in navy blue, wearing brown suede shoes, ruddy-faced, smiling and cheerful. Hedley called him “Bill”, and brought him immediately to Rollison and Allen. Rollison stood up, Allen hesitated before following his example. If Hedley and “Bill” noticed that Allen seemed strained, they showed no sign.

  “This is Bill Wentworth, who will interview you, Mr. Allen,” said Hedley. “Mr. Allen—Mr. Rollison.”

  Wentworth had a quick, firm handshake.

  “Satisfied with your script?” Hedley asked Allen.

  “Er—I’d like a few alterations,” said Allen. “If—if that’s all right with you.”

  “Oh, of course,” said Hedley. That’s easy enough, we’ll have a look at it in a minute. Better give the young Danes a run through,” he added to Wentworth, and took him off, saying: “Won’t keep you a jiff. Now there’s no need to worry,” he said to the Danes. “Just read naturally, don’t raise or lower your voice too much. The mike’s “live” on both sides.”

  “Live?” queried the girl, brushing her blonde hair back from her forehead.

  “Er—it can pick up anything you say, even a whisper,” said Hed
ley. “Speak into it, not to one side—keep a foot away. Don’t let the script rustle too much, or the mike will pick that up, too.”

  The Danish girl gripped the script tightly, until her knuckles showed white and the paper quivered violently. Her companion moistened his lips, stared at the mike and then at Wentworth, who had his copy of the script flat on the table in front of him. He was calm, friendly and reassuring. He leaned forward and whispered something, and then looked round.

  “Quiet, everyone, please,” called Hedley.

  A hush fell on the chattering Italians, but they continued to whisper earnestly near the piano. Wentworth opened with a summary of the organization which the Danes represented, finishing with the question:

  “And you like it here in England?”

  “Oh, we do!” exclaimed the girl.

  “It is wonderful!” cried the boy.

  Wentworth shook his head and sat back, tapping his script. Hedley raised his hands hopelessly and watched, half-way between the table and Rollison and Allen.

  “I’m sure it’s wonderful,” said Wentworth patiently, “but you have to read from the script—from the paper. Now, look—I finish by saying: “And you like it here in England?” and then Hilda—not you, Hans, you come next, when I’ve spoken again. Hilda, you answer, just as it says on the paper. Forget about the microphone, just follow my words on the paper as you’re told there—see your name?”

  “But how foolish!” cried Hilda.

  “I shall never do this,” muttered Hans. That thing—it frightens me.” He glared at the microphone.

  “Oh, yes you will,” said Wentworth reassuringly. “Now try again.” He read casually and fluently, and finished: “And you like it here in England?”

  Hedley turned away from them, cutting them from Rollison’s view, and bending low near Allen.

  “We must whisper,” he said. “Have you the alterations in the script?”

  “Yes, they’re down here,” said Allen.

  “Let me have a look at them.” Hedley took the script and began to read, scratching his chin as he did so. Wentworth, the boy and the girl continued to read, and Rollison judged that they were still giving trouble, the girl dropped her voice too much at the end of every sentence, the boy had a tendency to shout.

  “Still determined on doing the alterations?” he asked Allen.

  Allen nodded without speaking.

  “Anyone here you know?” asked Rollison.

  Allen shook his head, then looked at Hedley, as if to say that he knew this man, whom he had seen when he had called on Wednesday afternoon. Hedley kept nodding, and began to read in a whisper. The Danish couple reached the end of their few minutes” trial and Wentworth raised his voice, while everyone in the studio relaxed.

  “That was very good—very good indeed,” said Wentworth. He looked through the glass partition, and one of the people with the head-phones beckoned. Wentworth called to Hedley: “Freddy wants a word with you, Mark—Mr. Allen ready yet?”

  “No, we’ll have to have the last bit of his script re-typed, it’s been altered and affects your cues,” said Hedley. “Peggy!” he called one of the girls and gave her hasty instructions, then hurried out of the studio.

  “How are you feeling?” asked Rollison.

  “Hellish!” growled Allen.

  Rollison shrugged his shoulders, stood up, and walked across the studio to listen from further away to the burly busker who sat in front of the microphone with every appearance of confidence. From here, Rollison could also study Allen more closely. His forehead was still plastered and his face scratched, but his sullen expression was most worrying.

  One of the girls came into the studio, looked about her and made a bee-line for Alien.

  Wentworth, at the mike, began to read: “Artists have the reputation of being unconventional people, and in the studio to-night is Mr. Arthur Mellor, whose pictures have been hung in the Royal Academy but who prefers to paint in a rather unusual fashion—in the leafy lanes and lovely villages of England. That is so, isn’t it, Mr. Mellor?”

  The burly “busker” said crisply:

  “That’s right. I dislike towns, and I don’t see why pictures I paint should hang on the walls of houses where only a few people can see them. If they’re worth looking at, then I think everyone, rich and poor, should have a chance to see them and if they’re not worth looking at, they ought to be burned. I paint inn-signs—have done for years.”

  Rollison grimaced to himself.

  The burly “busker” was the travelling artist and the neatly-dressed little man was presumably the real busker.

  Then Rollison saw that the girl had given Allen a note; Allen was reading it, his hands clenched, his mouth tight. He gave an almost frightened, furtive glance, searching the faces of all the people near him, then looked back at the note. He crumpled it up and thrust it into his pocket.

  The wandering artist talked on about his inn-signs . . .

  Rollison let a few minutes pass and, when there was a break in the rehearsal, strolled across to Allen, who met him with a cold, hostile stare. It would be useless to ask him what the message said, and Rollison sat down as if he noticed nothing. They waited until the artist’s rehearsal was over, and the well-dressed man approached the other table, where Wentworth awaited him.

  “All ready?” asked Wentworth.

  “Yes—fire away.”

  “This is a world of queues,” began Wentworth, “and weary queuers are often entertained by actors who prefer the road and the pavement to the stage itself. With us in the studio is . . .”

  Rollison slid his right hand to Allen’s pocket, felt the crumpled paper, caught it between his middle finger and forefinger and gently drew it out. Allen was quite unaware of what he was doing. Rollison slipped the paper into his own pocket. The other girl came in, carrying some sheets of paper, and

  Hedley took one from her and brought it to Alien.

  “Just check this new script, will you?” he asked.

  Allen read it and after a few minutes, Wentworth looked across at them inquiringly. Hedley gave the interviewer the sheet of the revised script, and Wentworth scanned it, then nodded.

  “All set?” asked Hedley, and Allen went slowly, almost nervously, to the table. He sat down, and Hedley took the seat he had just vacated.

  “Very nervous, isn’t he—much more than I thought he’d be, when I saw him the other day,” he remarked. “He looks as if he’s had an accident.”

  “He has, and it shook him up a bit,” said Rollison, “but he’ll be all right once the stage-fright’s over.”

  “Mike-fright,” corrected Hedley absently. “Hallo, here are the Lundys.” He hurried across the studio as a couple in evening dress entered. The man was tall and good-looking, dressed in tails, a fitting foil to his wife, who wore a gown of blue sequins—a handsome woman. Neither of them looked like the comic turn they were on stage and screen.

  Allen was talking freely enough, in a low-pitched, well modulated voice.

  Rollison took out the note, and read: “Don’t forget you’re being watched in the studio. If you get a word wrong, you won’t leave the room alive.”

  Rollison asked the girl where the note had come from, and was told that a commissionaire had given it to her. The commissionaire had said that a boy had brought it in—and Rollison needed no more telling that the messenger had been Max. He went into the street, and saw Perky Lowe a little way along. He strolled to the cab. Perky’s cap hid the adhesive plaster patch on the back of his head.

  “Going places?” he asked.

  “Not yet, Perky,” said Rollison. “Are there any more like you?”

  “Cabbies, yer mean?”

  “Yes, who’ll take a risk.”

  “Make it worth their while?” asked Perky.

  “Certainly.”

  “How many do you want?”

  “One will do,” said Rollison. “Ask him to come here right away, and if Allen comes out, to take him on. You wait for four
minutes and then follow if I haven’t turned up. Is that clear?”

  “Okay,” said Perky. “I’ll “ave ter fix it wiv me mate, so’s I can pick ‘im up, if “e “as free or four minutes’ start, but it’ll be okay. Why Allen, Mr. Ar?”

  “Just an idea,” said Rollison.

  He returned to the studio, where the Lundys were at the microphone, cracking away and keeping everyone, except the Italians, in fits of laughter.

  “Not a doubt they’re good,” Hedley enthused, “it’s a good programme this week, isn’t it?”

  “Very,” agreed Rollison, and added as an after-thought: “Who makes the Lundys’ films?”

  “He was just telling me,” said Hedley. “They were with a Rank firm, but they’re just going over to some new people, the Meritor Company.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  ALL PRESENT

  THE studio clock on the wall above the glass partition showed that it was five minutes to six.

  The studio itself seemed a different place. It was warmer, and there were more people; the friends and relatives of some of the broadcasters had come, and chairs were set a few yards away from the microphone, so that they could listen without walking about the studio during the broadcasts. Rollison detected a slightly harassed air in Hedley, Wentworth and the tired-looking man, as the hour for going on the air drew near, but they had succeeded in putting the “performers” at their ease.

  Everyone had been downstairs to the underground café and had tea; that interlude had helped them to get together. They now seemed like old friends. Rollison marvelled at the way in which he had come to know not only what the people looked like, but so much of their past lives. For each had rehearsed several times, until Rollison knew their life-stories almost off by heart. The busker and the artist were chatting freely in one corner, the Italians were congratulating themselves in another, and now and again the pianist strummed the keys. Hedley and the official staff were having a hurried consultation and looking at the tenor. The Danes, and several of the visitors, were chatting together. The Lundys and two other people in evening-dress were sitting in a row, swapping stories. Allen, who had rehearsed twice and seemed word and voice perfect, had lost something of his tension. Rollison, who had tucked the note back into his pocket, had watched every man and woman, every official who had entered the studio, but saw no one who appeared to take the slightest interest in Allen. Lundy certainly didn’t