Negative of a Nude

by Charles E. Fritch

  “There are a couple of them. The least of which is that I was pumped full of heroin tonight.”

  “No!” Lenny said, looking concerned.

  “Yes, indeed,” I said. “I was forced to inject myself by a couple of lovely young ladies, Eloise Dutton and Cherry Collins.”

  Lenny nodded. “You mentioned them before. Maybe we’d better tell the police. I know you don’t like MacPherson, but—”

  “The police already know. Eloise was shot, and Cherry was in an accident.”

  “Dead?”

  “I’m sure Cherry is. The car was a mess. Eloise will probably be okay, though. Oh yes, and there’s Harvey Dutton; he’s dead, too. This has been a busy night.”

  “I can see that,” Lenny said sympathetically.

  “It’s going to be busier, I’m afraid. Somebody came out of Cherry’s closet and tried to inject me with a hypo full of water. I’m sure Cherry didn’t know there wasn’t heroin in that hypo. And Harvey didn’t know anything at all about the injection. But it was a man in the closet, I’m sure of that.”

  “Maybe you were mistaken, Mark,” Lenny said. “Maybe it was Eloise.”

  “Even when I’m drugged I can tell the feel of a woman, Lenny; it’s one of my few talents. No, it was a man, all right. Another thing, the photos—the ones of Eloise and the ones of Abernathy—came professionally wrapped, and even the envelopes were rubber-stamped. A person wouldn’t buy stamps like those unless he sent a lot of photos through the mail, Lenny. Unless, for example, he were a free-lance photographer.”

  Lenny wet his lips. “Mark—”

  “Cherry Collins came to me at the beach yesterday afternoon like a bird dog goes after a pheasant. You’re the only one who knew I’d be at the beach, Lenny.”

  Lenny got up. “I—I don’t think you realize what you’re saying, Mark. I helped you kick the habit before; I’ll help you again.”

  “I’m sure you would, Lenny, but there’s no time for it. I’ll manage. Thanks for putting plain water in that hypo, too.”

  He looked up, quickly.

  “It was while I was with Eloise,” I said, “that I remembered where I’d seen that bedroom she posed in. I’d seen it the time you were helping me suffer out withdrawal two years ago. It was in your bedroom that the pictures were taken!”

  Lenny stood looking at his hands. “I didn’t know you’d get mixed up in it, Mark,” he said finally, “or I never would have done it. Afterward, I tried to warn you off by sending you that threatening letter.”

  “Why did you do it, Lenny?”

  “I—I needed the money, Mark. I wanted to show the old man I wasn’t a failure, after all. I knew both Eloise and Cherry from their modeling days. Eloise was anxious to get free of Harvey, and she decided to blackmail him. I—I’ve never done anything like that before, but it looked so easy.”

  “Then Harvey dragged me in on the case to set up a frame, so he could do away with Eloise and get Cherry,” I supplied.

  Lenny nodded. “But I didn’t have anything to do with that, Mark, believe me. Cherry told Harvey about you; she said it was accidental, but now I doubt it. I wanted Cherry to distract you from the case, but she had other plans for you. She wanted to frame you for Jake Richey’s death. It was her idea, too, to steal the film and blackmail Abernathy.”

  “But you went right along with it, didn’t you, Lenny? Especially since you thought I’d never know you’re the one who had the film. $15,000 split three ways comes out to $5,000 apiece, if you kept up the partnership. That’s not very much, but it was just for the negatives, wasn’t it? Then you were going to sell the pictures, one at a time, to bleed Abernathy slowly.”

  Lenny shrugged. “I’m sorry, Mark. Now what happens?”

  “Now, we go down to see Lieutenant MacPherson,” I said.

  “Can’t—can’t we make a deal, Mark. After all, we’re good friends. I helped you—”

  “I’ve been put in a position where I can’t afford to make deals, Lenny, even if I wanted to. By helping Cherry you almost helped keep a dope ring alive. You know how I feel about that. Besides, MacPherson’s probably already asked Eloise some questions, and she’s probably already answered them. Better get dressed. It’s chilly out.”

  Dejectedly, Lenny went into his bedroom, closed the door. I used his phone to call the Dutton residence. MacPherson answered.

  “I might have expected you to be there, Mac. This is Mark Wonder.”

  “Wonderboy,” he said. “You sure caused us a lot of trouble tonight.”

  “It was worth it, Mac. In the living room safe, there’s a notebook full of names that will interest the Narcotics people. You can get the combination from Dody. Is Dody there?”

  “She’s here. She told us what she overheard. There are still some questions I’d like to fire at you, though. Where are you?”

  “Culver City,” I said, “doing some of your work for you. I’ll tell you about it later, though. Meanwhile, I’d like to talk to Dody.”

  “Hold on,” he said.

  “Mark,” Dody’s concerned voice came over the phone, “are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” I said. “How are things there?”

  “Eloise will have to be in the hospital for a week or so, but she’ll be all right. She confessed everything, so I guess that means you’re not in trouble any more.”

  “Any water I’m in isn’t as hot anyway,” I admitted. “Apparently, MacPherson thought I was mixed up in the dope racket. That’s why he had me tailed, hoping I’d lead him to some of the others. Well, I did. I—I’m sorry about Harvey, Dody.”

  “So am I, Mark. When will I see you again?”

  “Soon,” I promised, “and frequently, if it’s okay with you. I think maybe I’ll get to like those moonlight swims and the coffee and stuff afterward.”

  “Coffee and—stuff?” she asked.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I know. Do you want to talk to the police again?”

  “Not right now. I’ll have enough of that to do later. Be a good girl, Dody. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  I hung up, thinking: it’s going to be a beautiful friendship—if I survive. I was feeling very good, and not merely because of the heroin in me. I knew that tomorrow I’d be very sick, and it would be a temptation to take just a little more dope to get rid of the sickness and then maybe taper off. But Dody wouldn’t like that. The thought of going without dope didn’t bother me nearly as much as the thought of going without Dody. Girls can be habit-forming, too.

  All was not sweetness and light with MacPherson. He’d try to pin something on me, but I was sure he couldn’t make it stick. I could take care of that when the time came.

  But there was the problem of Lenny. I felt sorry for him. If he hadn’t been in this up to his rangefinder, if Eloise hadn’t told all, if I had a million dollars—I wished I could just forget it. Prison would be hard on Lenny. It annoyed me to think about it.

  “Nearly ready?” I called to him.

  No answer.

  “Lenny?”

  The thought occurred to me. Of course. I had no patent on ducking out windows. Lenny could have escaped while I was in the living room waiting for him. I opened the bedroom door.

  The bed was mussed, unoccupied. The window was open, and the curtain was blowing in a gentle night breeze. I looked out, but there was no movement.

  Run, Lenny, run, I thought.

  Then I turned from the window and saw him. He hadn’t run. There was no place to run to.

  He was in the closet, hanging from a high hook. He’d taken off the top part of his pajamas, fashioned the bathrobe cord into a noose, and quietly committed suicide. I felt sick, but there was no time for that now. I went to cut him down.

  It was then I noticed the tattoo of needle marks discoloring both arms.

 

 

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