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