Compulsion Page #3

Just another lucky break.

About the glasses.

Glasses? Wh

What do you mean? What kind of glasses?

Eyeglasses, you know.

Police thought they belonged to the boy,

but they looked pretty big to me.

So, when nobody was around,

I tried 'em on the body.

- Oh, Sid!

- Well, I had to. Anyway, they didn't fit...

so they couldn't

have been his.

I didn't say

anything to anybody

You mean, they could have

belonged to the murderer?

- The police think it's possible.

- It's not a logical conclusion.

- Anyone could have dropped them.

- But anybody didn't.

- They must belong to the murderer!

- Oh, Artie.

- You're bleeding.

- What set you off?

Don't know.

Wow. What'd they put in

that drink, anyway?

- Artie

- No!

Just, uh, wash it off.

- Gotta get some air.

- He really should have that looked at, Judd.

Judd?

Well, at least

he didn't propose another toast.

He might have hurt himself

badly with that glass.

Oh, for a guy who dodges.38 caliber bullets,

that's nothin'.

- We'd better get goin'.

- Yeah. What's the rush?

We got an early class in the morning.

You know how it is.

- Yeah, well, good night.

- Okay, so we'll see you later.

Good night, Ruth.

Somebody sure let the air

out of this balloon in a hurry.

- The check.

- Yeah, the check. 23.80.

You wouldn't rush off

and forget it, would ya?

- This party was on Artie.

- Which one was he, Miss? The wacky one?

- There goes the bonus.

- T'anks. I'll bring ya the change.

I can't find them.

They've got to be here somewhere.

- I couldn't have left them out there.

- Of course not.

The last time I wore

them, I was studying.

- In that tweed jacket.

- Yeah. The same one he had on yesterday.

The same one he tossed on

the ground when he got that...

brilliant idea

about hiding the body.

Left them there like a calling card,

didn't he, Teddy?

- Huh?

- I didn't drop them.

You picked my coat up. You grabbed it up

by the tail and tossed it to me.

That's when they fell out.

I agree, it was inexcusable

He agrees with us, Teddy.

Isn't that lovely? He agrees.

It was all our fault.

We said, dump the body in the lake, but no,

he had a stroke of genius.

Shove the kid in the culvert, he said.

Nobody'll ever find him there.

No, not in a million

years, he said.

- Artie, will you please stop?

- Shut up, we're not talking to you!

The first guy by

on his way to work...

pulled him out of

that stinkin' culvert.

Why do you suppose he picked

the culvert, Teddy? Huh?

Huh?

Because he was scared, and

it was the first place handy?

Yeah, I think you're right.

And you know

what else I think?

I think he never wanted

to go through with it, anyway.

That's not true,

and you know it, Artie.

We agreed it was the true test

of the superior intellect.

Superior intellect?

What do you think

of that, Teddy?

You and I work out this perfect, beautiful

crime, and then this superior intellect...

tries to see how many ways

Shh!

I heard some

loud voices, and

Well, what are you doin'

with all this stuff?

- I was looking for something.

- At 2:
00 in the morning?

- What were you looking for?

- I don't think

I'm terribly sorry we disturbed you, Max, but

Judd was looking for a corkscrew I loaned him.

Then he was just gonna drive me

home anyway, weren't you, Judd?

Drive you? It's two blocks.

But the neighborhood's swarming

with kidnappers and degenerates.

Max, you wouldn't want to be responsible

for anything happening to me, would you?

- Or would you?

- What's that for?

- Protection?

- Teddy?

I always take him along.

He's indispensable.

Cute?

Girls always get a big kick

out of him, anyway.

- Coming, Judd?

- You be back in five minutes.

Or what?

I don't know how

I could have been so stupid.

You were.

I could go in and

claim the glasses tomorrow.

Tell 'em I read about them

in the papers.

Mm-hmm. Did you go out

to the park a lot?

With my students, sure. I don't have

to know when I dropped them.

- Ah, you'd butch it up.

- As I say, Sergeant...

I take my birding classes

to the park very often.

- And there's just the possibility

- "Boiding" classes, Steiner?

'Ey, what are you?

Some kinda nut or somethin'?

I happen to be

an ornithologist, Sergeant.

With special permission from the Department

of Parks to take my classes on field trips.

Oh, I see. And, uhThat's how ya figure

you lost the glasses, huh?

- It's possible.

- That, uh, uh...

wouldn't have been, uh,

Wednesday afternoon, about 6:00?

Wednesday? Oh, no, Sergeant.

I remember it particularly,

because it was just about that time...

that a friend of mine and I...

picked up a couple of girls

on Lake Shore Drive.

- They said their names were Mae and Edna.

- Betty! You idiot.

No, Artie. We agreed on

Mae and Edna. I know we did.

And we picked them up on Lake Shore Drive,

right by the Aquarium.

So what difference does it make?

It's so pat, nobody would believe it.

When you start remembering

details like that, they know it's an alibi.

But it's all we've got! Suppose

they pick me up and question me?

You promised you'd stick by it.

You swore you would.

All right. I'll stick to it.

For a week. One week,

and not a minute longer.

After that, I'll

make up my own alibi.

Stop worrying. It's not that easy to trace

an ordinary pair of glasses.

But suppose they do?

And suppose it is more than a week?

So what?

They're not my glasses.

- Can you tell us

what you expect to learn...

by investigating the neighborhood

around the school, Lieutenant?

Well, I guess we'll just have

to start right at the beginning...

and see whether anybody

noticed anything at all.

- Hey, Sid!

- Hi, Artie.

What's goin' on?

Well, they know the boy

was in school on Wednesday...

and he never got home, so they think he might

have been picked up along here somewhere.

Nobody saw nothin' unusual, Lieutenant.

Except one old dame.

Thinks there was a big, black sedan

cruising around.

- When?

- When the kids got out of school.

Well, what time?

Lf, uh, you're talking about

Paulie Kessler, officer...

that would be

about 4:
10.

The older kids stay

on the playground till 5:00.

How do you happen

to know so much about it?

L- I went here for six years.

That's right, Lieutenant. This is Artie Strauss.

He goes to the Graduate School with me.

Oh, well. I'd like to talk to you

for a minute, Artie.

Sure, Lieutenant.

Come on over here, will ya?

Excuse us.

- Well, let's get a statement.

- Stay right where you are...

for a minute,

will ya, fellas?

How long ago has it been

since you went here?

- Uh, four years ago.

- Four?

Oh I went to college at 14,

University of Michigan.

Well, I don't suppose the place

has changed much in four years.

Uh, are they pretty strict here? Do they

keep a pretty close watch on the kids?

Uh, do you ever notice any strange characters

hanging around? Like after school?

- Oh, no. The teachers wouldn't allow that.

- Oh.

And the police are

very efficient out here.

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