Shadow of the Thin Man Page #6

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- He'll be released. Right, lieutenant?

- Yeah, right. No! Yeah.

- That's all, boys.

- Thanks for the story.

Hey, Nick. What is this?

Lieutenant, look. Everybody but you

and me thinks that Goldez was murdered.

Whoever killed Barrow thinks so too.

Now, when he reads that we think...

...the jockey's murderer

committed both crimes...

...he may try to help us find

that murderer.

You mean he'll try to frame

a substitute for Paul Clarke?

Well, that's what I'm hoping.

Now, if he snaps at our bait,

that's where you come in.

Sure I do. Sure I do.

Where do I come in?

Why, don't you see? You'll be

the first policeman in history...

...to use a fake murder

to solve a real one.

What?

Sure.

I'd like to talk to Mr. Charles.

- He ain't here. Who's calling?

- It's very important.

Who is it, Stella?

Hello there. Come in.

I gotta see Mr. Charles.

I got some information.

I only got a couple of minutes.

Mr. Charles isn't here.

Can you give it to me?

No, I gotta give it to him. I'm going

away, see? And I gotta give it to him.

All right, you wait.

I'll get him on the phone.

Hello? Mr. Charles?

Oh, hello, Nicky, darling.

Mr. Maguire is here.

Yes, from the arena.

He's got some important information

for you.

- He has to give it to you right away.

- Let me talk to him.

Yes, I'll be sure to get

the information correctly. Bye.

Mr. Charles wants you to talk to me.

So you sit right down here.

He's very busy

in a very important conference. Now.

Okay. Now, this is what

I want Nick to know.

Last night, I was in the ticket office...

- Daddy, get another ring.

- Another one?

- Here you are.

- Daddy, get another ring, for this finger.

Hey, I'm groggy now.

Go on, Daddy. You ride that one.

Not me. Daddy go so far,

but no further.

He's afraid. Fraidy-cat! Fraidy-cat!

Big man's a fraidy-cat!

Look! Look!

He's scared to get on the dragon!

Look at that big scaredy-cat!

Afraid to get on the dragon!

He is not! He is not afraid!

You're not afraid, are you, Daddy?

Sure.

No, no, I'm not a fraidy-cat.

I was just fooling.

Yeah, fooling.

Hey, you, let go of my tiger.

- Get off our boat.

- Get off our boat!

- I told you he was afraid!

- Big guy's a coward!

Fraidy-cat, fraidy-cat!

The big man 's a fraidy-cat.

Fraidy-cat, fraidy-cat!

There, who's a fraidy-cat?

Who's a fraidy-cat?

Who's a fraidy-cat?

Enjoying the merry-go-round, darling?

Nicky, I've got to talk to you.

Nicky!

Nicky, I've got to talk to you.

What's up?

It's stopping. It's stopping.

Would you like some nice raw oysters,

dear, or a dish of salt pork?

It's nice sleuthing, Mommy.

Thank you, darling.

Are you going to see Macy?

No, Claire Porter.

I had a feeling you'd be working

that angle before long.

All in the line of duty.

Gee, you were swell, Daddy.

Thank you, sonny.

Tomorrow I'll buy you an earthquake.

Come on, let's get away

from that Mickey Finn.

- Where's Asta?

- What?

I'm very flattered at your visit,

Mr. Charles.

But if it's about the case,

I don't think I can help you.

You see, I hardly knew Mr. Barrow.

You didn't miss much. He wasn't

exactly one of nature's noblemen.

Really?

Well, how nice.

- A camellia doesn't have any fragrance.

- It doesn't need any around you.

I'm glad you like my perfume. It's new.

It's called Out of This World.

Out of This World. Well, that brings us

back to Whitey Barrow.

He was talking with someone,

having an argument in a corner...

...at the arena last night.

That's rather important

in a murder case.

I see. And you thought

it might have been me.

Well, it was a girl about your size.

I thought it might be well to run down...

...the lead without checking

with the police first.

I can't imagine

why you should think that...

Do you know, I think

it might have been me.

I was standing in the lobby

with Mr. Stephens when Whitey...

Mr. Barrow came along,

and he took me to my seat.

- On the way, we stopped to chat.

- Oh, well.

I'm glad you remembered.

It was silly of me to forget.

But it wasn't an argument.

On the contrary, we just...

We just chatted about...

About a mutual friend.

Don't we all?

Well, I'm glad we cleared it up.

Now I can forget about it

and concentrate on prettier things.

You know, you're really not

like a detective at all, Mr. Charles.

You don't pound the table

or shout or threaten.

I'm not really a detective.

I just use that as an excuse

to get out of the house at night.

I don't suppose you enjoyed those

wrestling bouts very much last night.

- You left quite early, huh?

- I found it a bit too brutal.

It gave me a headache.

Yes, especially when that fat clown

broke his arm.

That was dreadful.

But that was next to the last bout.

Then Mr. Stephens didn't take you home

before the murder.

Yes, he did. I didn't see that bout.

I read about it in the morning papers.

You are a detective after all.

Why did Whitey Barrow have

to take you into a secluded corner...

...to chat about a mutual friend?

We just happened to meet

in a secluded corner.

Mr. Charles, this cross-examination

is becoming a bit tiresome.

I'm sorry, but you said that Barrow

was taking you to your seat.

- Why the detour?

- None of your business!

I'm not on trial.

Not yet.

That's what I deserve for letting

a double-crossing cop in the door.

Get out.

Get out.

- Thanks for the camellia.

- And don't come back!

Don't look now,

but your accent's showing.

Baku, did you hear what he said?

Get the car while I get dressed.

Murder Time, with the compliments

of Dr. Fang, your friendly dentist.

Folks, do you have shabby teeth?

Do you have aching teeth?

Do you have teeth? You don 't?

How do you do?

What's your racket, buddy,

brushes or magazines?

I have police permission to look over

Mr. Barrow's apartment.

- You wanna case the joint, eh?

- Yes, I'd like to glom the layout.

But the coppers snooped

all through there this a.m.

But this is the p.m., and I've got

another angle on Barrow.

That grifter owed me two months' rent.

The slug he got saved me the trouble

of tossing him out on his ear.

Yeah, that's always such a bother,

isn't it?

After you, mother.

And now, before you die,

my pretty one, I shall tell you...

... I am not Professor Fetlock,

the astronomer, I am Baggo the Bat!

Mothers, do your kiddies knock

each other's teeth out?

Do you figure it was the mob

that blitzed Barrow? Or a solo job?

I'm just a little bit in doubt.

What do you think?

I'll lay you 6-2 and even

it was a dame.

- Do you think...

- Visit Dr. Fang...

...that your star boarder was...?

I've got that commercial timed

so I never have to hear it.

Now, you were saying

that Mr. Barrow was...

- Have you packed the Tommy guns?

- Yes, chief.

- Have you got the poison gas?

- Yes, chief.

- The tickets for the train?

- Yes, super, chief!

Then I go! Quick! My shortwave hat,

my invisible cape...

... and my six-fingered gloves.

Now we shall see

who is the master of...

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