Murder, My Sweet Page #3

and your father's wife.

Open the door.

It was a nice little front yard.

Cozy, okay for the average family...

only you'd need a compass

to go to the mailbox.

The house was all right, too,

but it wasn't as big as Buckingham Palace.

I had to wait

while she sold me to the old folks.

It was like waiting to buy a crypt

in a mausoleum.

Mr. Marlowe.

Mr. Marlowe, Father.

- How do you do?

- How are you?

It's good of you to come.

This is Mrs. Grayle.

Are you familiar with jade, Mr. Marlowe?

What do you know about jade?

It's green, isn't it?

Yeah. No, thanks.

Jade, Mr. Marlowe...

is not sufficiently known

or appreciated in this country.

The great rulers of the East, however...

- Sit down, won't you?

- Thank you.

The great rulers of the East have treated it

with a reverence accorded no other stone.

They've spent years

searching for a single piece.

Fei-ts'ui jade, in which I, as a collector...

am particularly interested,

is extremely valuable.

I'm afraid,

like most old men with a hobby...

I'm inclined to be a bit of a bore.

Keep going.

But since my daughter

has brought you into this matter...

injudiciously perhaps...

I was already in it up to my eyebrows.

I take it the whatchamacallit you lost

was this stuff, fei-ts'ui?

A necklace, Mr. Marlowe.

A necklace. 60 beads

of about six carats each.

- Worth how much?

- That's difficult to say.

The Chinese government

had a somewhat larger necklace...

which once brought as much as $125,000.

You were about to ask, Mr. Marlowe,

why I should be so reckless...

as to go out in the evening

wearing an irreplaceable necklace.

Something like that.

It's unanswerable. I shouldn't have.

I never should have worn it out.

Where was the stickup?

If you'll excuse me,

I'm feeling a little tired.

But Mrs. Grayle will tell you

anything else you want to know.

Goodbye, sir.

We're naturally anxious

to locate the necklace, Mr. Marlowe.

I only hope it can be managed

without any publicity.

Yeah. So do I.

Let's dispense

with the polite drinking, shall we?

- Would you mind...

- No. Not at all.

I didn't think

there were enough murders these days...

to make detecting very attractive

to a young man.

I stir up trouble on the side.

How much money

was in Marriott's envelope?

$8,000.

- Cheap at the price.

- Dirt cheap.

We guessed

they didn't know its real value.

Who knew you'd be wearing the necklace

this particular night?

My maid, perhaps,

but she's had a hundred chances.

- Besides, I trust her.

- Why?

I don't know. I trust some people.

- I trust you.

- Did you trust Marriott?

Not in some things. In others, yes.

There are degrees.

I thought detectives were heavy drinkers.

Some of them are.

Some of them just encourage

other people to drink.

- Shall I tell you about the holdup?

- It might help.

Lin and I had been out dancing.

He was bringing me home.

- Where were you stopped?

- Near here.

Does it matter a lot?

Not too much at the moment.

How many other Marriotts are there:

Pretty guys who take you dancing?

I'm very fond of my husband.

Only his two-step's getting a little stiff.

Do you know a Jules Amthor?

- I've heard Lin speak of him. Why?

- I don't know.

The cops told me to leave him alone.

That makes me want to look him up.

- Is he a bad boy?

- A lot of Lin's friends are, I'm afraid.

Lin was rather a heel himself...

but he was a nice heel.

The papers didn't say much

except that he wasn't shot.

- How...

- With a sap, only good.

If an elephant had stepped

on his head, same effect.

How awful.

I feel so responsible now,

but it seemed quite simple to buy it back.

I don't understand.

I've tried to put it together

with the holdup, but I can't.

You know, there was something peculiar

about the holdup.

They gave me back one of my rings.

Rather a good one, too.

- What's Amthor's racket?

- I'm not sure.

Some sort of psychic consultant.

A quack, probably.

You see, Lin fancied himself a sculptor,

but he was mixed up about it.

That's why he went to him originally.

He couldn't get started for fear of failure.

I wonder if he'd take my case.

- Who was that?

- Ann.

Strange child.

You will help me, won't you?

Is this for love, or are you paying me

something in money?

I never hired a detective before.

What are the rates?

As much as the traffic will bear.

- When can you start?

- I've already started.

How do I find Amthor?

I'll see if I can smoke him out for you.

He's quite inaccessible.

- Yes?

- Mr. Amthor is here, Mrs. Grayle.

Show him in.

Don't look so judicial.

He really is inaccessible.

I hadn't the faintest idea he was coming.

I haven't seen him in months.

How do you spend your evenings?

Recently, I've been playing

Button Button with the cops.

- And then where do you go?

- I'm in the book.

Let's see what's on his mind.

I'm sorry.

This is Mr. Marlowe. Mr. Amthor.

Mr. Marlowe's a private detective.

He was with Lin when...

I was hired as a bodyguard

and bungled the job.

Now I'm investigating myself.

You must forgive me

for not coming sooner. It's such a shock.

These things are so difficult to believe.

Close friend, someone you know so well...

- What could have happened?

- I've got a couple of notions.

When could you help me work them out?

I wouldn't make a good detective,

Mr. Marlowe, and l...

I know. You are inaccessible.

In what way do you think I could help you?

I spent last night with the police.

It was their idea.

They took it for granted

that if I'd known Marriott, I knew you, too.

They told me not to get too close to you,

said you'd bite.

You look harmless to me.

I'd be glad to arrange an interview if...

Just leave the number with Mrs. Grayle.

Don't go to any special trouble.

I'll bring my own crystal ball.

- How do you get out of this funhouse?

- This way, sir.

Come in.

It's on the bed.

This is six weeks

since you sent your laundry out.

You must be in love.

Bring it back tomorrow.

You've got a nice build

for a private detective.

It gets me around.

How does one get to be

a private detective?

You don't mind my sizing you up a little?

Most are ex-cops.

I worked for the D.A., got fired.

- Not for incompetence, surely.

- For talking back.

I had an interesting childhood, too, but

you didn't drop in to get a biography.

I thought you'd like to know

what Amthor said...

and I wanted to make it official.

Shall we call this a retainer?

Yeah, let's call it a retainer.

If the cops get to you, you sent for me.

I didn't want to take the case.

You talked me into it.

- You hired me.

- Do they have to know about me?

Would that bother you?

We live pretty much by ourselves.

And my husband has a morbid fear

of any kind of publicity.

He's not very strong.

I'll manage it. How did it go with Amthor?

I'm stubborn. I don't like being rushed.

I figured, the way you're dressed,

you're on the town, stopped by here to...

I was hoping

you'd buy me a drink somewhere...

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