Sapphire Page #3

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but the ground!s too hard to show tracks.

- Did David Harris kill her?

- What makes you say that?

She was pregnant.

- I!ve seen the autopsy.

- Yes, but that!s no proof that he killed her.

If he did, we!ll get him, rest assured.

There is no assurance for me or my kind,

Superintendent.

I!ve been black for 38 years.

I know.

She may have looked white,

but Sapphire was colored.

Your sister was murdered.

We!ll find out who killed her.

- I!m sure that is your intention.

- It is my intention.

It!s also my job.

I!m sorry.

Thank you.

When I was a child...

another boy touched me.

He then held out his hand.

!!Look,!! he said...

!!nothing!s come off on me.!!

Trouble is,

something came off on me.

- How do I get to Bloomsbury?

- I!ll give you a lift. It!s on my way.

- Oh!

- Sorry, sir.

[ Chuckling ]

[ Boys Chattering ]

[ Rings ]

[ Rings ]

I!m full.

I don!t want a room. I!ve come to thank you

for looking after my sister.

You!ve got the wrong address.

I take only white students.

My name is Robbins.

How much did Sapphire owe you?

Her rent was paid up.

May I come tomorrow

and pick up Sapphire!s things?

The police have sealed her room.

You must ask them.

Patsy.

Patsy! You in, Patsy?

What is it, Mrs. Thompson?

That girl you brought here -

Did you know she was colored?

- What girl?

- Sapphire.

Yes. Yes, I did.

- When did she tell you?

- Well, she didn!t. A friend told me.

This house is my living.

If it got round

that I took colored students...

certain white people wouldn!t allow

their children to stay here.

- Well, I think it!s a damn silly prejudice!

- I!m not saying it isn!t.

But I can!t afford

to have my rooms empty.

- To think that she could be so sly.

- It!s people like you who made her sly.

Well, you!ve jolly well

got another room empty now!

Patsy!

Yes?

You took Sapphire home to Guildford,

didn!t you?

Yes.

Did you tell your father and mother

she was colored?

No.

Well, then don!t be so quick

to call me prejudiced.

[ Crying ]

Are you sure? Right.

Well, Harris!s van could have made it.

- Not on Saturday night, it couldn!t.

- What?

The van was in the garage

having a big end fixed.

Harris didn!t pick it up

until Monday morning.

Well, how the blazes

did he get her there?

Ask Sergeant Cook to come in, will you?

Thank you.

Red taffeta under a tweed skirt.

Yes. That!s the black

under the white, all right.

- Oh, come off it, Phil.

-[ Knocking ]

- Yes?

-[ Door Opens ]

Oh, come in, Sergeant Cook.

Tell me...

what do you make of that?

- I wouldn!t know what to make of it, sir.

- Oh, come. You!re a woman.

Now, where do you suppose

a thing like that could be bought?

- I wouldn!t know, sir.

- No.

Try Babette!s, Shaftesbury Avenue.

- And how would you know?

- You just take my word for it.

They cater for girls

who like flashy, pretty underwear.

- It certainly isn!t built for durability.

- No.

Well, check on it

first thing in the morning, will you?

- Babette!s, you say?

- Shaftesbury Avenue.

Shaftesbury Avenue.

There!s a good girl.

And I bet you her boyfriend

bought it for her.

- Going in today, Davy?

- Course he is.

I!m not going in.

You!ve got to face it sometime, lad.

Better now than later.

It!s in the paper this morning.

The autopsy-

- They don!t mention David.

- Won!t stop them guessing.

Oh, Davy, whatever made you

get mixed up with a colored girl?

[ Silverware Clatters ]

I didn!t know.

- When did you know?

- Last week.

- By then, I didn!t care.

- That!s what she banked on.

Never say you didn!t know

till last week. Never!

What!s it matter?

It gives you a motive.

That!s what it matters.

It gives us all a motive.

We none of us knew

till the weekend, did we?

No.

I!ll never forget her

standing here Saturday.

And when Dad said he!d see her brother

and tell him that Davy would stand by her...

she laughed and said...

!!He!ll be a shock to you.

He!s as black as a pot.!!

- Shut up!

- Milly.

Then she laughed some more

and said, !!Don!t look like that.

David doesn!t care.!!

Have you done your teeth?

- Hands well scrubbed?

- Smell.

[ Sniffs ]

Mmm. Lovely smell.

Oh,janice, I!ve got something for you.

- Here you are. Now you!ve both got one.

- Oh, thank you, Granddad.

Granddad, will you make me another one?

I can!t find mine.

Well, you better look for it.

Buck up with your breakfast, you two,

and Grampy will take you to school in the van.

Don!t bother, Dad.

I!ll take them to school.

Yes, I remember the girl.

She used to spend quite a bit of money here.

She was a good customer for a little while.

- When?

- About six, seven months ago.

- Did she come alone?

- Usually.

- Oh.

- Except once.

- Well?

- She had a young fellow with her then.

- Tall, slim boy, fair?

- No, I remember being very surprised.

She was such a dainty kid...

and he was a great big colored chap.

Colored.

!!A great big colored chap,!! she said.

- [ Phone Rings ]

- Hmm. The other side of the picture.

Before she learnt

she could pass for white.

Really? It!s a doctor in Bloomsbury.

Says Sapphire went to see him

on Saturday morning.

- Tell him we!ll be right over.

- Right.

Sergeant, ring up the Royal College of Music...

and see if they have any record

of Sapphire!s previous addresses.

Very good, sir.

Oh, and then you could nip over

to the Harrises! place...

and see if any of the neighbors

saw the girl leave on Saturday.

No, she wasn!t a regular patient.

I!d never seen her before.

She rang for an immediate appointment.

I saw her at 1 2:30 on Saturday.

- Did you tell her at once?

- Yes, she was bursting to know.

- Was she upset?

- No, on the contrary, excited.

Delighted at having

her own suspicions confirmed.

- What name did she use?

- The one on the card.

Mrs. Harris.

Did she tell you she was colored?

No, she didn!t mention it.

No, I!ll bet she didn!t.

But you can always tell, can!t you?

No, Inspector.

As a matter of fact, you can!t.

What? [ Chuckles ]

Well, I can tell them a mile away.

Oh, I don!t know, Inspector.

- Would you say you were a policeman?

- What?

Well, you haven!t got

very big feet, have you?

Don!t they say you can always tell a policeman

a mile off by the size of his feet?

Oh, that!s bloody silly.

Yes, isn!t it?

Well, I!m afraid there!s nothing we can do

about Learoyd!s feet.

But regarding the girl, was there

anything else about her that struck you?

Yes. I thought she was a rather nice person.

- Well, thank you, Doctor.

- Not at all.

You!ve been most helpful.

- Good-bye.

- Good-bye.

Good-bye.

She must have been pretty sure

about young Harris.

At any rate, she thought he!d take

the doctor!s news happily enough.

- Perhaps she summed the boy up wrongly.

- Mmm.

- Any of the girl!s addresses come through?

- Yes, sir.

A house in Bloomsbury.

Before that, a place in Earls Court.

And another lead -

Chelsea Women!s Hospital.

- We!ll try Earls Court first.

- Yes, sir.

- Yes, I remember Sapphire Robbins.

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