Lady in the Lake Page #9

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'God bless us, every one. "'

Then, when I was 16, I had to go to work.

Counter girl at a soda fountain.|Peanut butter sandwiches and hot coffee.

If all the malted milks I served|were laid end to end, Marlowe...

- Do we answer it this time?|- No. More malted milk.

I worked there for a year.

Then, when I was 17...

Adrienne, it's I. Open the door.

- Kingsby. Do you want to see him?|- He's your boss.

No, he's yours.

All right. Let him in.

What's the idea?

Are you hiding for someone?|I've been phoning you for hours.

I thought you might know|where I could find Marlowe.

I do. Who's that?

Where have you been?|I've searched everywhere for you.

Your office, hotel room,|three different jails.

They're very sore at you at Bay City jail.|They told me you were there.

Then they brought out a different man.

Somebody's impersonating you.|They're looking for you.

- They happen to follow you here?|- Yes.

That is, two detectives|have been tailing me all day.

I go in and out of places,|they always wait outside in a car.

That's fine. Why didn't you invite them up?

I don't know what your troubles are,|but I have my own.

All right, let's hear yours.

Well, the reason I've been trying|to find you is...

It may seem ridiculous,|but Chrystal, my wife, she's in Bay City.

How do you know?

She telephoned me. She's in awful trouble.

The police are after her, and she needs|money. She sounded desperate.

Naturally, I want to help her|until we can get lawyers...

If she wants money,|why don't you take it to her?

With two detectives following me? No.|They're not going to find her through me.

- You're going to take her the money.|- I am, am I?

I have $500 here,|all the cash I could raise on a holiday.

It's worth anything to me to get it to her.

You've used that word "anything"|a couple of times. How much is anything?

You'll get $5,000 either way.

- That's a deal, Santa Claus.|- What's a deal?

I don't want you|going down there to see her.

I don't want you even near her.

She's trouble.|Two people have been killed already.

Maybe she's got some answers.

I don't want you near her.|Something might happen to you.

Should I just stay here|and let the cops come after me?

- We'll figure a way out.|- And end up where?

In a gutter somewhere|with my teeth bashed in...

smelling of whiskey I never drank?|Running down alleys?

The only way out is to see Chrystal|to solve things.

- Let somebody else solve it.|- And there's the money.

$5,000, just in case my typewriter|breaks down and I can't write stories.

Just in case New York gets cold|this winter.

$5,000. It's enough money to start on.

And more than enough to bury you with|if you're killed.

I said once, everything or nothing.|This is it.

No, it isn't it. I won't let you go.|We'll leave town, go anywhere.

Still trying to pull me off it?|Trying to make me duck the windup. Why?

- Any personal reasons?|- Don't be ridiculous.

I'm not. If I ran away and never found out|the answer to the rest of this...

I'd never know for sure about you,|would I?

All right, then.

Where do I meet her?

She'll be near a cocktail bar|called The Peacock Room...

on the main boulevard near 14th Street.|Here, wear this. She knows it.

She'll go there every half-hour.

You'd better leave|and take the detectives off me.

Take them on a tour of Chinatown.

Keep them following you|while I go to Bay City.

Right. I got it. Good luck, Marlowe.

Marlowe. Wait a minute.|You realize, of course, it may be a trap...

that Kingsby himself has set for you.|Please don't go.

Everything or nothing.|I'm going to trust you.

If you're not on the level,|I get a face full of bullets.

- lf you are, I'll see you down there.|- What?

I want 10 minutes alone|with Chrystal Kingsby.

And then I want you to show up with|Capt. Kane and one or two of his boys.

It's the chance I have to take.|What I'm going to try to do is this.

Make Chrystal take me|to wherever it is she's hiding out...

hotel room, apartment, wherever it is.

How will we know where it is?|How will we find you?

Quoting a girl named Fromsett,|I read a story once...

how a detective carried rice in his pocket.|As he walked along, he distributed it...

kernel for kernel, and left a very nice trail.

Why don't you let Kane arrest Chrystal?

We'd never get anywhere.|She'd be locked up and so would I.

- Are the keys in your car?|- Yes.

I'll go down the back stairs to the garage.

Goodbye, Miss Fromsett.|You've been charming company.

This is the payoff, isn't it?

Say that again about...

the "I'm scared,|but it's wonderful" feeling.

I'm scared, but it's wonderful.

Goodbye.

- Give me the money.|- You get right to the point, don't you?

You've got the scarf, haven't you?|Don't give me any conversation.

Slow down.|I want to talk to you, Mrs. Kingsby.

There's nothing to discuss.

Hand over the money and leave me.

It's not that simple.|Where are you hiding out?

What makes it your business?

An envelope I have in my pocket|with $500 in it.

A measly $500. That would be him.

That's all he could scrape up|with the banks closed.

Do you want it|or just want to crab about it?

Give me that money.

Nice job of hair dyeing. Of course,|I never saw it blonde, Mrs. Kingsby.

Have your hopes.

You talk my language, Mrs. Kingsby.|Let's go.

- All right. Come on.|- Sure you haven't been spotted?

As sure as I know how to be.

- How far is it?|- Not far.

- Close the door.|- Sure.

I'm afraid you're never going to get to see|my hair blonde.

Too bad, isn't it?

I can stand it.

Sit down.

There.

- Nice to have a pair of them, isn't it?|- A pair?

A pair of little guns.

Little guns that fit into purses or pockets|and kill just the same as big guns.

Why don't you take it out?

Yes, it is nice, isn't it?|Now if you'll just hand over...

You did the landlady,|the Mrs. Fallbrook character, very well.

You weren't bad as the finance company.|"The friend of every landlord."

The cops say Lavery was killed|the night before we met in his house.

What I can't figure is|what you came back for that morning.

Money, mister. I was looking for money.|I needed it.

A little careless about money, aren't you,|for a girl who's so careful about murder?

Give me that money.

You don't really think|I've got the dough in my pocket, do you?

- Think of my trading position.|- Where is it? In your car?

No. It's in my hotel room.|Under the mattress.

- You're a liar. He promised...|- Take a look for yourself.

Don't be afraid.|I don't carry a gun when I call on ladies.

- lf you haven't got that money, l...|- What will you do, shoot me?

- Don't you think I will?|- Sure I do, Mildred.

- What?|- I said sure, I think you will.

- You shot Lavery, didn't you?|- No.

You don't think|I believe you're Chrystal Kingsby, do you?

Mr. Kingsby believed it when you talked|on the phone, didn't he, Mildred?

You're Mildred Havelend.|You murdered the Almore woman.

She was asphyxiated in her car.|It was an accident.

The lady in the lake, instead of being you,|is Chrystal Kingsby. Is that an accident?

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