The April Robin Murders

by Craig Rice

  “Now, Handsome—” Bingo started.

  “It wasn’t dumb!” April said angrily. “I tried to explain to her, but she wouldn’t listen to reason. And it wasn’t risky. We were drinking together. I put the knockout drops in her glass. And then I left her with the carbon tetrachloride and took her money. We needed it. Seven years is a long and expensive time to wait.”

  Handsome nodded silently. If he had any desire to comment further, he certainly was restraining himself admirably, Bingo thought. And of course Handsome had very nicely led April Robin into saying a lot of things she might not have said except in anger. Unfortunately, though, the pistol was still there. And if Julien was waiting for the word from April, she seemed ready to hurl it instantaneously.

  “Well, let’s not be too hasty,” Bingo said hastily. “Let’s talk a deal. We’re all businessmen and all friends.”

  “We’ve got no money for further deals!” April snapped.

  “The neighbors,” Bingo said desperately. “The shots’ll be heard all over the neighborhood—”

  Julien reached into his pocket and snapped the silencer into place on the end of the pistol. Long and menacing, the pistol swung back toward Bingo again.

  “You won’t gain anything by killing us,” Bingo said. “The police already know—”

  “The police know nothing,” Julien said, leveling the pistol.

  In a very quiet voice, April Robin said, “The big one first.”

  The front door swung open. Mrs. Waldo Hibbing burst into the room, shouting, “Mr. Riggs! Mr. Riggs!” and then froze in her tracks when she saw the gun in Julien Lattimer’s hand. Julien whirled on her and Handsome leaped in the same instant, knocking him to the floor. The pistol clattered noisily across the bare room. April’s eyes followed its dizzying progress, and then she started to sprint after it. Bingo tripped her.

  The forty-seven-year-old star, who’d disappeared twice in a single lifetime, went tumbling to the floor in a bundle of skirt and petticoat and still-superb legs. And then Handsome picked up the pistol, and April Robin suddenly looked as old as time, despite the years of slack-wire work which had preserved her youthful body; suddenly, she looked as old as Methuselah. She didn’t say a word as she got to her feet. She didn’t have to. She’d said it all when answering Handsome’s challenge.

  “Oh, my goodness!” Mrs. Waldo Hibbing said. “I didn’t mean to interfere with your rehearsal. All I wanted was to…”

  “Yes, Mrs. Hibbing?” Bingo said kindly.

  “… was to tell you how lucky I am! Mr. Kusak arranged for me to go to the Fox studios day after tomorrow, remember?”

  “Yes?”

  “Well, I was just driving home in my car, and I happened to have the radio on, and guess who’s going to start filming a movie at Fox day after tomorrow? Just guess who I’ll get a chance to see on the set?”

  “Who?” Bingo asked.

  “Gregory Peck!” Mrs. Hibbing said ecstatically. “Why, he’s one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. I just had to come in and tell you. When I saw your light burning… I was so excited, you see… why, he’s just one of the biggest stars in Hollywood!”

  April Robin looked at Mrs. Hibbing somewhat curiously, somewhat regretfully. Perhaps she was remembering, Bingo thought, perhaps she was remembering.

  “I’ll call Hendenfelder,” Handsome said, handing the gun to Bingo.

  “Yes,” Bingo answered. “And then we’d better call Janesse Budlong to get that long-term contract. And Adelle Lattimer about our cut; she’ll get her back alimony now.” He smiled at Handsome. “You all right?”

  “I’m fine,” Handsome said, walking to the phone. “You?”

  Bingo’s smile widened. “I’m fine, too. Just fine. But—”

  “Yes, Bingo?”

  For a fleeting moment, Bingo thought of New York City and sidewalk pictures, of tourists posing near the skating rink at Rockefeller Center, and carriages waiting outside the Plaza, of July heat and October brilliance and January snow. Then he grinned at his partner and said, “Nothing, Handsome. Everything’s just fine,” and Handsome began dialing the police.