The Missing of a Pretty Lady Learn English through story level 3

chapter one

where is crystal

the man in front of me was tall and

strong with thick dark hair

he sat in an expensive chair behind an

expensive desk and looked at me with

cold gray eyes

he didn’t have time to smile

okay marlo he said

so you’re a private detective

one of the best in los angeles i hear

i have a job for you

i want you to find my wife

think you can do that

i sat back in my chair and lit a

cigarette slowly

yes mr kingsley i said

i think i can do that

how much

twenty five dollars a day

half a dollar a mile for my car

and a hundred in my hand now before i do

anything

he looked at me

and i looked back at him and waited

then he smiled

okay marlon you’ve got the job

but don’t talk about it to the police

i have an important job here

he looked around his quiet expensive

office

the hot july sun didn’t get into this

room

i want to stay in this job and i can’t

have any trouble with the police

is your wife in trouble

i asked

i don’t know

perhaps

she sometimes does very stupid things

and she has dangerous friends

he gave me a drink and told me the story

i have a house in the mountains near

puma point

crystal went up there in may

she often meets her men friends up there

he looked at me

she has a lot of men friends

you

understand but there was an important

dinner down here on june 12th and

crystal didn’t come back for it

so what did you do

nothing

because of this

he gave me a letter and i read it

el paso 14th june

i’m leaving you and going to mexico

i’m going to marry chris lavery

good luck and goodbye

crystal

i wasn’t very unhappy about that

kingsley said

she can have him and he can have her

then two weeks later i heard from the

prescott hotel in san bernardino

crystal’s car was there and they wanted

money for it

but yesterday i met lavery here in town

he didn’t know anything about crystal

and he last saw her two months ago

so where is she

what happened to her

i thought about it for a minute or two

and then i asked him some questions

we talked for about half an hour

kingsley gave me a photo of his wife

with chris lavery

it was a good picture of lavery

but not very good of the lady

i finished my drink and stood up

okay mr kingsley

i’m going to talk to lavery

and then go up to your house in the

mountains

my house is at little fawn lake he told

me

a man works for me up there

bill chess is his name

and the girl at the telephone desk

outside can help you

she knows a lot of my wife’s friends

talk to her and you can phone me anytime

day or night

outside kingsley’s office i looked at

the girl at the telephone desk

she was small and pretty with short red

hair and blue eyes

i like redheads

i gave her my best smile

hi blue eyes i said

your boss says you know a lot of people

tell me about chris lavery

chris lavery

what do you want to know

anything

do you like him

well she said

he has a beautiful body

and all the girls like a man with a

beautiful body huh

she laughed

perhaps

but i know nicer men than chris lavery

he knows too many women

we talked for about 10 minutes

kingsley was right

redhead knew a lot of people and she

liked talking

perhaps her job wasn’t very interesting

i sat on her desk and listened and

smiled into her blue eyes

she smiled back

then i stood up

well i must go

see you again blue eyes

redhead laughed happily

anytime mr marlow

i started with lavery

he was at home at 623 altair street down

in bay city

he didn’t want to talk to me but nobody

wants to talk to private detectives

no he told me angrily i didn’t go to el

paso with crystal kingsley okay so we

sleep together but i don’t want to marry

her she’s very rich and money is nice

but crystal’s a difficult lady

i last saw her about two months ago

i sat and watched him

so why did she write that letter from el

paso

don’t know

she likes playing games stupid games

it wasn’t a very good story and he knew

it

i asked him some more questions but his

story stayed the same

i went out and sat in my car outside his

house

i thought about lavery

perhaps he went away with mrs kingsley

and then they had a fight

but where did mrs kingsley go after that

a big black cadillac drove up and

stopped at the house across the street

a thin man with a black doctor’s bag got

out and went into the house

i looked at the name on the door

dr albert s almore

doctors know a lot about people

perhaps this one knew lavery

i saw dr al moore at the window

he watched me carefully and his face was

angry and afraid

then he sat down and made a telephone

call

but he watched me all the time

five minutes later a green car came

along and stopped at the doctor’s house

the driver walked across the road to my

car

waiting for somebody

he asked

i don’t know i said

am i

don’t get clever with me he said coley

i’m detective digarmo bay city police

why are you watching dr elmore’s house

i looked out of my car window at him

he was a big man with a square face and

very blue eyes

what’s all this about i asked

i don’t know dr almore and i’m not

interested in him

i’m visiting a friend

what’s the doctor afraid of

i asked the questions not you he said

go on get out of here move

he walked away and went into dr elmore’s

house

back in los angeles i phoned mr kingsley

and asked him about dr albert s almore

i don’t know him but he was crystal’s

doctor for a time he told me

his wife died a year and a half ago

she killed herself

it was very sad

i got into my car again and started for

the mountains

dr elmore was afraid of something

but what

chapter 2

the lady in the lake

i drove through the hot afternoon to san

bernardino then up into the mountains

past the village of puma point i took

the road up to little fawn lake

the road was slow and difficult through

the mountains and soon there were no

more houses or people

when i got to the lake i stopped at the

nearest house and got out

a man came out and walked across to me

he was a heavy man not very tall

and he had a hard

city face

bill chess i asked

that’s me

i want to look at mr kingsley’s house i

said i have a letter for you from him

he read the letter carefully

and then i asked him some questions

about the house

he was happy to talk to me

i don’t see many people up here he said

he looked at the blue sky and the

mountains and his eyes were sad

no friends no wife

nothing

i got a bottle of whiskey from my car

and we sat together in the evening sun

and drank

i’m a good listener

no wife

bill chess said again

he looked into his glass of whiskey

she left me

she left me a month ago

the 12th of june

i gave him some more whiskey and sat

quietly

june 12th

the day when mrs kingsley didn’t go back

to los angeles for the dinner

tell me about it i said quietly

he drank his whiskey quickly

it was not his first drink that day

i met muriel a year and three months ago

he said slowly

we married three weeks later

i loved her a lot

but

well

i was stupid

here i am

i’ve got a good job a pretty little wife

so what do i do

he looked across the lake at the

kingsley’s house

i get into bed with that kingsley cat

over there

okay she’s as pretty as muriel

the same long yellow hair same eyes same

nice little body

but she’s nothing to me

but muriel knows all about it

so we had a fight

and that night she left me

i went out and when i got home there was

a letter on the table

goodbye bill she says

i don’t want to live with you after this

he finished his whiskey

i didn’t see the kingsley woman again

she went down the mountain that same

night

and not a word from muriel now for a

month

he turned and looked at me

it’s an old story he said

but thanks for listening

i put the whiskey bottle back in the car

and together we walked round the lake to

the kingsley’s house

i looked round the house

but there was nothing interesting for me

there

perhaps mrs kingsley went away with your

wife i said to bill chess

he thought about it for a minute

no

he said

muriel never liked that kingsley cat

we walked on round the lake

there were only two other houses and

there was nobody in them

it was quiet and clean and beautiful by

that lake away from the hot dirty city

we stopped by an old boat and looked

down into the water at the fish

suddenly bill chess caught my arm

look he said look down there

his hand was heavy on my arm and his

face was white

i looked

and about ten feet below the water

i saw something yellow

something long and yellow

it moved slowly through the water

a woman’s hair

i started to say something but bill

chess jumped into the lake and swam down

under the water

he pulled and pushed and quickly came up

again through the water

the body followed him slowly

a body in red trousers and a black

jacket

a body with a gray white face

without eyes without mouth

just long yellow hair

it was not a pretty thing

after a month in the water

muriel

said bill chess

suddenly he was an old old man

he sat there by the lake with his head

in his hands

it’s muriel

he said

again

and again

down in puma point village the police

station was just a one-room little house

the name on the door said

jim patton police

i went in

jim patton was a big slow man with a big

round face and a big slow smile

he spoke slowly and he thought slowly

but his eyes weren’t stupid

i liked everything about him

i lit a cigarette and told him about the

dead woman in little fawn lake

bill chess’s wife muriel i said

she and bill had a fight a month ago

then she left him

she wrote him a letter

a goodbye letter or a suicide letter

i don’t know

jim patton looked at me

okay

he said slowly

let’s go and talk to bill

and who are you son

marlo

i’m a private detective from l.a

i’m working for mr kingsley

he wants me to find his wife

we drove up to the lake with the doctor

and the police boys in the back of the

car

bill chess was a very unhappy man

you think that i murdered muriel he said

angrily to patton

perhaps you did and perhaps you didn’t

said patton sadly

but i must take you down to the police

station bill

there’s going to be a lot of questions

chapter three

al to mildred

i had dinner at the hotel in puma point

when i finished a girl came up to my

table

i didn’t know her

she smiled at me

can i sit with you for a minute mr

marlow she asked

i got out my cigarettes

word gets round fast in small villages i

said

what do you want to talk about

she smiled again

about bill chess

do you think he murdered muriel

i don’t know

perhaps

but i’m not interested in bill or muriel

chess

no

the girl put out her cigarette

listen to this then

there was a los angeles policeman desoto

up here about six weeks ago

big man with a square face

said he wanted to find a woman with the

name mildred havilland

he had a photograph with him

we thought the photo was muriel chess

okay the hair was red brown but a woman

can easily change the color of her hair

nobody here liked this desoto so we

didn’t tell him anything

what do you think about that

i lit another cigarette

but i don’t know a mildred have a land

and i never heard of muriel chess before

today

bill chess isn’t a bad man

she said quietly

we like him

and we don’t think he’s a murderer

when she left i found a telephone and

called the derace kingsley

his answers to my questions didn’t help

no

he didn’t know muriel chess very well

yes his wife was friendly with muriel

no he didn’t know a woman called mildred

havilland

it was dark when i got back to bill

chess’s house by little fawn lake

i went in quietly through a back window

and looked round the house very

carefully

why was i interested in bill chess’s

wife

i didn’t know

but she knew mrs kingsley

she lived in the same place and she went

away on the same day

perhaps that was important

and perhaps it wasn’t

in the kitchen i looked in all the

cupboards and threw the tins of food

and in the tin of sugar

i found a small very pretty watch inside

some paper

on the back of the watch there were some

words

al

to mildred with all my love

al to mildred

al somebody to mildred haveland

mildred haveland was muriel chess

muriel chess was dead

two weeks after a policeman called

desoto came to puma point with her

photograph

i stood there and thought about it

mrs kingsley didn’t come into this story

i drove back down to puma point and went

into jim patton’s office

i put the little watch on his desk

i looked round bill chess’s house i said

and i found this in a tin of sugar

jim patton looked at me sadly

are you going to give me trouble son

i looked round the house and didn’t find

anything

but your eyes are younger than mine

he looked carefully at the little watch

so what do you think about this he asked

me

i don’t think bill chess murdered his

wife

i don’t think he knew she had another

name

but somebody from her past looked for

and found her

with a new name and a new husband

he didn’t like that and so he murdered

her

jim patton thought about it

he said slowly

i like it

the story begins well but

how does it finish

ask me tomorrow i said

jim patton laughed

you city detectives are too fast for a

slow mountain people

good night son

at about 11 that night i drove into san

bernardino and found the prescott hotel

the garage boy was happy to talk to me

when he had some of my dollars in his

dirty hand

he looked at the photo of crystal

kingsley and chris lavery

yeah i remember the man he said

he came up to the woman at the hotel

desk but this photo’s not very good of

the woman

a woman with the name mrs kingsley left

her car here on the evening of june the

12th and took a taxi to the station that

night with the man

she wore a black and white dress with a

black and white hat and she was small

and pretty with long yellow hair

perhaps she was the woman in this photo

but i don’t know

i thanked him and gave him two more

dollars for luck

it was too hot in san bernardino so i

got back in my car and drove home to

hollywood

i got in at a quarter to three in the

morning

i had a bath went to bed

and slept well

chapter four

a pretty ladies gun

in the morning i drank a lot of black

coffee and made some phone calls

a good friend of mine worked in the city

police offices

there was no detective with the name of

desoto in the city of los angeles he

told me

i phoned kingsley’s office said hello to

redhead

and then told kingsley about lavery and

the prescott hotel

what are you going to do now he asked me

go and talk to lavery again i said

he met your wife in san bernardino on

june 12th

so i want a better story from him today

i drove down to bay city and stopped the

car up the street from lavery’s house

i smoked a cigarette and thought about

lavery

then i saw a woman at lavery’s front

door

she came out closed the door quietly

behind her and walked away down the

street

she wore dark glasses a brown coat and a

light blue hat

i didn’t see her face but her hair was

dark brown

and she had very nice legs

i like legs

i watched them all down the street

lavery’s front door was shut

but i gave it a little push with my

finger and it opened

i went in and called his name

but there was no answer

i walked around the house and had a look

in his bedroom

there was a very big bed in there

but lavery wasn’t in it

i looked into some of the cupboards

shoes jackets shirts trousers

and a woman’s dress

an expensive black and white dress

with a nice little black and white hat

i closed the cupboard quietly and opened

another door at the back of the room

inside was a bathroom

and lavery was at home

he was in the bath

and he was very

very dead

there was a gun on the floor

a small pretty ladies gun

but it can kill as well as any other gun

i looked around the bathroom

there wasn’t a fight

lavery knew his killer

she opened the door came in and shot him

three or four times

not lavery’s lucky day

i took the little gun with me and went

out to my car

the street was quiet and sunny

no police cars no policemen

only marlow finding another dead body

murder a day marlow they call him

i got into my car and drove away from

there fast

in his quiet expensive office derice

kingsley listened to me with a white

face

did your wife have a gun i asked

yes

is this it

i showed him the gun from the floor in

lavery’s bathroom

he looked at it and then at me

i don’t know

perhaps

but crystal isn’t a murderer she didn’t

kill lavery

why not

the police are going to think she did

she was with lavery in san bernardino

they didn’t go to mexico

then perhaps one day she sees him with

another woman

so she gets angry and goes around to his

house

she leaves the gun on the floor her

dress in the cupboard

the police are going to love it

i stood up and looked down at him

i must take the gun back now and call

the police

i can’t cover up a murder

kingsley said nothing and put his head

in his hands

then he looked up at me

listen marlo

he said quietly

you’re working for me right

i know crystal didn’t kill lavery

what about that woman in the blue hat

who was she

lavery knew a lot of women

go and find the murderer

show the police that crystal didn’t kill

lavery

do that and there’s five hundred dollars

for you

okay mr kingsley i said

but the job gets more difficult every

day

when i went out the redhead at the

telephone desk called to me

mr marlow she said quickly

yesterday you wanted to know about dr

almore mr kingsley told me

well

i talked to some friends last night

i went over and sat on her desk

okay blue eyes

tell me

some rich women drink a lot and take

drugs

they think it’s exciting she began

sometimes they take too much and get ill

well

people say that dr elmore helps these

women

he gives them different drugs they get

better

and dr elmore gets a lot of money

florence elmore his wife took drugs too

she wasn’t a very nice woman

one night a year and a half ago she came

home ill

dr elmore’s office nurse put her to bed

but later that night mrs almore walked

down to the garage

chris lavery found the body

when he came home he heard the sound of

a car in the elmore’s garage

he opened the door and found her dead on

the floor

dr al moore was out

the police say it was suicide

but some people say it was murder

florence elmore’s parents thought it was

murder

she looked up at me with her big blue

eyes

does that help you mr marla

yes i said slowly

i think it does

i gave her a big smile

you and i must have dinner together

sometime blue eyes

i drove back to altair street bay city

i put the gun back on lavery’s bathroom

floor and called the police

they came fast

hard men with hard cold eyes

i knew one of them

detective digarmo the big man with a

square face and very blue eyes

his boss was an angry little man called

webber

i sat in one of lavery’s chairs and

answered their questions

i told them all about kingsley his wife

bill chess and muriel the black and

white dress

all the time digarmo watched me with

cold eyes

then the police doctor arrived

webber turned to de garma

okay al you stay here with marlo

i’m going to look at the body with the

doctor

he went out

i looked at the garma

how’s dr elmore this morning i said

what’s he afraid of today

you said you didn’t know elmore

digarmo’s eyes were angry

i didn’t yesterday but today i know a

lot of things

chris lavery knew mrs elmore and he

found her dead body

perhaps he knew it wasn’t suicide

perhaps he knew that dr elmore was the

murderer and that there was a police

cover-up

digarmo stood up and walked over to me

say that again he said angrily

i said it again

he hit me very hard across the face with

his open hand

he didn’t break my nose

but that was because i have a very

strong nose

i looked at him and said nothing

he spoke through his teeth at me

i don’t like private detectives get out

of here

fast

and don’t make trouble

chapter five

a little dance

i got back to my flat it was early

evening

i washed my face and had a drink

weber thought that crystal kingsley

killed lavery

i thought that was too easy i phoned

redhead

where did florence almore’s parents live

i asked her

she told me

and i went out to my car again

mr and mrs grayson were old and gray

they had tired gray faces and gray

smiles

very sad people

they listened to me quietly

i’m interested in dr elmore because his

house is across the road from chris

lavery’s i said

you see

somebody shot lavery this morning in his

bathroom

perhaps it was dr almore

you think he murdered your daughter a

year and a half ago right

yes said mr grayson we know he killed

her

why do you think that

and how do you know

i asked quietly

florence wasn’t a very good wife or

daughter mr grayson said sadly

but she found elmore and his office

nurse in bed together and she wanted to

make trouble for elmore

he didn’t like that

difficult for his job

so one night he killed her with drugs

he always had a lot of dangerous drugs

in the house

it was easy for him

there was a police cover-up about it we

know that too

i heard that elmore’s nurse put mrs

elmore to bed that night i said

was that the same nurse

yes it was said mrs grayson

we never saw the girl

but she had a pretty name

what was it now

just give me a minute

we gave her a minute

mildred something she said

i didn’t move

mildred haveland perhaps i said quietly

mrs grayson smiled

yes

that’s right

mildred haveland

at bay city police station i asked at

the desk for weber

he didn’t want to see me but i said it

was important

he took me into his office and we sat

down

i want to talk about the florence elmore

suicide i said

why asked where that happened a year and

a half ago i’m working on the lavery

murder now that happened today

but i think lavery is the key to the

story i said

listen

one

muriel chess’s dead body came up in

little fawn lake yesterday

two

i think muriel chess was mildred

havilland

mildred haveland was dr elmore’s office

nurse a year and a half ago

mildred haveland put mrs almore to bed

on the night when she died was it

suicide or murder

but mildred haveland left town soon

after

why was that

mildred havilland then married and lived

with bill chess at little fawn lake

bill chess worked for mr kingsley up at

the lake

seven

kingsley’s wife sometimes slept in the

same bed as chris lavery

eight chris lavery found mrs almore’s

dead body a year and a half ago

i don’t understand said weber slowly

i don’t understand all the story i said

i don’t understand why or how

but it’s the same story the same names

go round and round and a little dance

i lit a cigarette and looked at webber

and detective digarmo doesn’t like any

questions about the elmores

he gets very angry

why

was there something

wrong about mrs elmore’s suicide

okay said webber

i wasn’t in this office at the time of

the elmore suicide but there was

something

not right

perhaps somebody did murder mrs almore

and digarmo worked on the elmore suicide

that’s right

and his name is al

and the writing on mildred haveland’s

watch says al to mildred with all my

love

and a big man with a square face was up

at puma point six weeks ago with a photo

of mildred haveland

okay marlo webber said tirely

what do you want

i want to show that mrs kingsley did not

murder lavery

i think lavery died because he knew

something about dr almore or mildred

havilland

and when i show that mrs kingsley is not

a murderer

i get 500 from mr kingsley

webber smiled

okay

he said

and de garma

webber’s face was sad

she

was his wife at one time

six or seven years ago

she gave him a very hard time

i sat very very quietly and looked at

him

mildred havilland was degarmo’s wife

yes

she’s dangerous that lady she eats men

for breakfast

but they love it

one smile from her and men jump out of

windows for her

digarmo loved her then

and he loves her now

i got back to my flat at about midnight

when i opened the door i heard the phone

i walked across the room and answered it

it was derace kingsley

i heard from crystal this evening i’m

coming round to your flat now

be ready to move

the phone went dead

chapter 6

room 618

kingsley arrived five minutes later

he didn’t want to sit down and he didn’t

want to drink

he pulled out a brown envelope and gave

it to me

take this to crystal he said she’s

waiting for you now in the black cat bar

down in bay city

there’s five hundred dollars in that

envelope

she’s in trouble she knows the police

are looking for her she must get out of

town tonight but she wants money

i put the envelope on the table

not so fast i said

how does she know the police are looking

for her

and did she kill lavery

i’m not going to help a murderer

kingsley’s eyes were very unhappy

i know that’s difficult for you he said

quietly

but what can i do

perhaps she killed lavery perhaps she

didn’t

i didn’t speak to her on the phone

the girl in my office took the call

crystal didn’t want to talk to me

and i didn’t want to talk to her

i don’t want to see her again

but she is my wife

i walked across to the window and

thought for a minute

okay i said

i’m going

i want to hear her story

but i give murderers to the police okay

now

how is she going to know me

kingsley smiled for the first time

thanks marlo he said

crystal says her hair’s light brown now

and short not long and yellow

and you can wear my scarf she knows that

he took it off and gave it to me

it was green and yellow and red

the colors hit me in the eye

at 1 15 in the morning the black cat bar

was quiet

only five or six people were at the

tables by the door was a small woman

with light brown hair

she wore a yellow dress and a short grey

coat

she saw my scarf first and then me

we walked out into the street together

and stopped by a sharp window

give me the money

she said

i want to hear your story

no

no story

no money

she turned her head away and said

nothing for a minute

then

okay

come to the granada hotel room 618

it’s in the next street

come in 10 minutes

she walked away down the street

i stood by the window and followed her

with my eyes

room 618 was a big sitting room

there was a half open door at the back

perhaps to the bedroom and bathroom

i sat down and looked at mrs kingsley

very carefully

i had one not very good photo of her

but i had a good picture in my head

crystal kingsley was young and pretty

and not very clever

the woman in front of me was young and

pretty

and very very

clever she gave me a quick little girl

smile

and i watched her quiet eyes carefully

give me the money please she said

the story first i said you left your car

in san bernardino and you met lavery

there you sent kingsley a letter from el

paso

what did you do then

why do you want to know

do you want the money

she looked at me for a minute

then she told me her story

she left lavery in el paso and he went

home to bay city

she didn’t want to stay with him

after that she moved about she stayed in

hotels here and there

she wanted to be quiet

to think she said

i listened

it was a good story and she told it well

clever mrs kingsley

before you left little fawn lake i said

did you have a fight with muriel chess

about bill

bill chess

what are you talking about

bill says you went to bed with him

don’t be stupid that dirty little man

perhaps he is

the police think he’s a murderer too

of his wife

we found muriel’s dead body in the lake

after a month

she put a finger between her teeth and

watched me carefully

what a sad story

she said slowly

but muriel chess was mildred havilland

and mildred haveland was dr elmore’s

office nurse

and lavery lives across the road from dr

almore so you understand that i wanted

to talk to you

i can’t help you about muriel

no i said

oh well

here’s the money from kingsley

i gave her the envelope and sat down

again

i watched her eyes and said quietly

that was a very pretty blue hat

your hair was a darker brown this

morning but those nice legs are the same

i always remember a woman’s legs

i don’t think you saw me in my car

outside lavery’s house this morning

she went very quiet

so

you think i shot chris lavery

she said slowly

i don’t think it

i know it

what are you going to do now

give you to the police

suddenly there was a gun in her hand and

she laughed

not a nice laugh

stand up she said

i stood up and gave her a weak smile

detective meets murderer and murderer

shoes detective is that it i asked

but you’re not very good with guns

you’re standing too near me

she didn’t like that and her eyes moved

angrily

i hit her gun hand hard and kicked her

feet at the same time the gun hit the

floor and i caught her arms behind her

back

she was strong and fought and kicked

suddenly i heard a new sound but i had

no time to look

i knew that there was a man behind me

and that he was a big man

then something hit me on the back of the

head

and everything went black

chapter 7

little fawn lake

when i opened my eyes i was on my back

on the floor

i sat up slowly and my head went round

and round

i closed my eyes again and waited

after two or three minutes i opened them

and began to stand up

it took me a long time

suddenly i was an old man of 95

and where was i

i remembered a girl a girl with light

brown hair and quiet eyes

i looked round the room

she was on the floor by the door to the

bedroom

her eyes were open

but she didn’t see me

she didn’t see anything and she didn’t

say anything

there was a long kitchen knife in her

throat and the light brown hair and the

yellow dress were all red

murder day marlow i thought

this was my third dead body and i wasn’t

happy about it

you can find one murdered body or

perhaps two and walk away

but when you find three bodies in two

days

the police start to get very interested

in you

the hotel was very quiet

but suddenly i heard sounds of cars in

the street

i went to the window and looked out

carefully

police cars

a lot of them

they stopped outside the hotel

quickly i found my coat kingsley’s scarf

and the envelope of money

i left the room fast and went down at

the back of the building

i found the door to the garage under the

hotel

opened it quietly and went through

i began to run to my car

but a big hand came out of the dark and

caught my arm

and somebody said quietly into my ear

let’s take a walk marlo

i looked round into the very blue eyes

of detective digarmo

we drove away from the hotel and then

stopped and talked in my car

degarmo was in trouble with his boss

weber and he didn’t want weber to find

me

what happened marlo as a dead woman up

in room 618

somebody called the police ten minutes

ago

i lit a cigarette and told him my story

about the call to kingsley my meeting

with mrs kingsley the man in the room

the hit on my head

he looked at me carefully

did you see this man

no

he was a big man but i didn’t see his

face

this yellow and green scarf was on the

floor

i showed it to de garma

i saw it on kingsley earlier this

evening

perhaps kingsley killed her

she made a lot of trouble for him

i watched his face

he thought about it for a minute

okay

i’m interested he said

he looked at me i want to find this

murderer before webber finds him and

then perhaps i can get out of trouble

let’s go and talk to kingsley eh

where does he live

but kingsley was not at home

we found a phone and i called redhead

but she didn’t know

then i phoned policeman jim patton up at

puma point

it was now half past four in the morning

half an hour later jim patton called me

back

yes he said there was a light on in

kingsley’s house at little fawn lake and

his car was outside

we drove up into the mountains stopped

ate some breakfast and drove again

after a long time degarmo spoke

that dead girl in the lake up there

that was my girl

mildred

whoever told me last

night i’d like to get my hands on that

bill chess

don’t make more trouble i said

you covered up from mildred a year and a

half ago

when she murdered dr elmore’s wife

he turned his head and looked at me

he laughed but his eyes were hard and

angry

a dangerous lady i said but she loved

her

she put florence elmore to bed and gave

her a killer drug

when elmore came home his wife was dead

but you and he covered up for mildred

almore because he was afraid and you

because you loved her

am i right

the big man didn’t say a word

then you sent mildred away

so she went away and married bill chess

but little fawn lake isn’t a very

exciting place and after about a year

mildred wanted to leave

she didn’t have any money

so she wrote to almore

no address just send money to mildred at

puma point

but that’s a dangerous game

the first time it’s fifty dollars the

next time it’s five hundred dollars

almore didn’t like that

so he sent you up to puma point with a

photograph

i think meltry was a little afraid of

you digarmo

but you didn’t find her

right

degarmo looked out of the window

after a minute or two he said

okay

let’s forget it

it’s all finished now

we drove on to little fawn lake

the sun was up now and the mountains

were very beautiful in the early morning

light

chapter 8

every man jumped

jim patton met us on the road near

kingsley’s house

he had a young policeman with him a boy

called andy

we got out of the car

hi jim i said

jim patton gave me his big friendly

smile

how are you son he said

he looked at the garma

this is detective de garma of the bay

city police i said

somebody murdered kingsley’s wife from

bay city last night said to garma

i want to talk to him about it

you think mr kingsley killed her

jim patton asked

we told him the story and then the three

of us moved up to kingsley’s house

digarmo had a gun under his jacket

patton had a gun too

but i don’t like carrying guns

they can get you into trouble

we pushed open the door and went in

kingsley was in a chair his eyes closed

and a whiskey bottle on the table next

to him

his face was tired and gray

digarmo spoke first

your wife’s dead kingsley

and you left your scarf behind in room

618

that was stupid

he turned to me

show him the scarf he said

i got out the yellow green and red scarf

and put it on a table

kingsley looked at it

then at me

then at the garmo

i don’t understand he said

that’s my scarf but marlow wore it when

he went down to bay city my wife didn’t

know him and

digarmo made an angry sound and turned

to me

you didn’t tell me that he said quickly

you didn’t want to know i said

you wanted kingsley to be the murderer

that was a nice easy answer

i looked at kingsley

i only saw your wife in a photograph

but i did see her before last night

she was the woman in the blue hat

outside lavery’s house yesterday morning

i told you

remember

i didn’t hear about a woman in a blue

hat said digarmo angrily

so mrs kingsley did murder lavery then

no i said

she didn’t murder lavery

and you know that better than anybody

she didn’t shoot lavery yesterday

morning

because she died a month ago

crystal kingsley was the dead woman in

little fawn lake

and the woman in the granada hotel last

night was mildred havilland and mildred

haveland was muriel chess so mildred

haveland murdered chris lavery yesterday

morning and somebody murdered mildred

last night

for a long time nobody spoke

then jim patton said slowly

but bill chess thought the woman in the

lake was his wife

after a month in the water i said

the body wore his wife’s clothes and had

the same long yellow hair

everybody thought it was muriel why not

finish the story son

jim patton said

he watched agarmo all the time

he didn’t look at kingsley

so i told them

they all listened to me very carefully

digarmo’s face was white and his eyes

were hard and cold

i told him about florence elmore’s

murder a year and a half ago

and about the police cover-up

mildred was a very dangerous lady i said

after the first murder the next murder

is easy

she wanted to leave little fawn lake and

she wanted money

almor didn’t give her any money

but crystal kingsley was rich

and mildred found her in bed with her

man bill

mildred didn’t like that

so she murdered mrs kingsley and put her

body in the lake

then she pretended to be mrs kingsley

she took her money her clothes and her

car and went down to san bernardino

there she met trouble

chris lavery

lavery knew that she was muriel chess

and not crystal kingsley

but mildred was a clever girl

when she said jump every man jumped for

her

so she took lavery away with her and

wrote to kingsley from el paso

i stopped

nobody said anything

nobody moved

kingsley looked at the floor patton

looked at digarmo and digarmo looked at

nothing

i lit a cigarette

but then lavery went home to bay city

she stayed near him because he was

dangerous to her

he knew that she wasn’t crystal kingsley

then i began to ask questions about mrs

kingsley and that was the finish for

lavery

mildred went down to his house and shot

him in the bathroom

i stopped again and patton said slowly

so

who killed mildred son

do we know that too

the room was very quiet

let’s say that it was a very unhappy man

he loved mildred he helped her many

times but it wasn’t easy for him

he wanted to stop the murders

three were too many

but he didn’t want everybody to know her

story

let’s say it was digarmo

digarmo moved away from the window and

his gun was in his hand

that’s a very interesting story marlow

he smiled but not with his eyes

how did i find her then

i think elmore saw her outside lavery’s

house one day

he told you then you followed her to the

granada hotel

easy for a detective

yeah de garmo said

he began to move to the door

well

i’m leaving now

and no fat old policeman is going to

stop me

don’t do it son

jim patton said to him quietly

digarmo laughed and looked at the gun in

his right hand

patton didn’t move

but his gun spoke for him and degarmo’s

gun flew out of his hand and hit the

floor

digarmo turned and ran to the door

we went to the window and watched

i can’t shoot a man in the back

patton said sadly

he’s going to take andy’s car

but he can’t get out of these mountains

we can stop all the roads

digarmo ran to andy’s car got in and

drove away fast

i turned and looked at kingsley

he stood up got a new bottle of whiskey

from the cupboard

went into the bedroom and closed the

door

patton and i went quietly out of the

house

we drove down to puma point

on the road outside the village there

were some cars and a lot of people

we stopped and got out

a man came over to us

there’s a car down there jim he said the

man drove too fast and went off the road

down the mountain they’re pulling them

out now

we went and looked

a hundred feet down the mountain was

andy’s little red car

the men down there carefully pulled

something big and heavy out of the car

it was the dead body of a man

you