The Oblong Box Page #4

Sir. Hello.

You doing anything tonight, sir?

What do you got that mask on for?

Hey now, get a hold of him.

Hey, Govnor.

Lm very sorry, gentlemen.

Its perfectly all right.

- Perfectly all right, sir.

- Have you been to a party?

- Looks like hes been to a fancy dress ball.

- Come in and have a drink.

- Thank you, but I really havent time.

- Come along with us.

- Come to Macgregors and have a drink.

- Youre very kind, but I must be going.

- Wait till you see whats going on there.

- Come on.

Youre very kind, but perhaps another time.

See what I mean?

- Sorry, dearie.

- Whats he doing in that hood?

He must be very important to hide his face.

Or very ugly. Or both.

How are you tonight, dearie?

Isnt that Prince whats-his-name?

Can they let him out at night?

- Too proud to show your face?

- Sally?

My name is Heidi.

But for every taste we have a name.

If you want me to be Sally, I will be Sally.

Come with me.

How do you want me?

No, I shouldnt be here.

Of course you should.

Whats the matter with you?

Are you frightened?

You can leave on your mask. I dont mind.

I like you as you are.

That will cost you extra.

Give me the britches, darling.

And the dress. I said extra for the dress.

Thats my wife there, mister, understand?

If youre the Prince of Wales, its gonna

cost you money to get outta here.

And if you are the Prince of Wales,

itll cost you even more.

And he has gold in his pockets

enough to blind you.

Has he now?

Youd better hand it over then.

Who the devil are you?

Come on, Heidi. We might have

a real treasure on our hands here.

Lets see whats behind this mask.

No. You wont get out of here...

...until I see your face.

- Its a bear!

- Its a dancing bear.

- Dance!

- It is a bear!

Dance!

Yes, dance for us.

Dance.

Get off me!

Get him.

Boy! Stop!

Come back here!

Stop him, someone.

Whats the matter with him?

Here, cut it out!

Murder!

Murder!

Bloody murder.

- What kind of a beast did that?

- Lve told you. It was the man...

- I know. The man in the crimson hood.

- Going downstairs?

Away, all of you.

Out of the way. Go on.

- You must know who he was.

- Well, I dont.

And you didnt want to lose

this future customer?

No.

You dont think ld set a loony

straight out of Bedlam on my lady, do you?

Knowing you, Harry, ld say yes.

But well find out, wont we?

If anybody knows anything,

bring them along.

Very good, Mr. Hawthorne, sir.

You say this hooded figure had money.

So Heidi told me.

Which you were both going to

relieve him of?

No, we werent.

No. You wouldnt do

anything like that, would you?

No, of course not.

- Would you say he was of the gentry?

- I dont know. He never talked to me.

Excuse me, sir. Take a look at this.

A cloak with blood on it.

- Hey, thats his cloak.

- Thats his, all right!

- And he was wearing this cloak?

- Yes.

J. N.

- I wonder.

- What?

If theres anything underneath that tape.

E. P. Higgs.

Tailor.

Langford.

There we are. Now you take those

and come back to see me in two days.

- Good bye.

- Bye, Doctor.

Hope you feel better soon.

- Dr. Neuhartt?

- Yes?

Lm a Crown Officer from London.

I want to speak to you.

Very well. Wont you come in?

These are your initials, Doctor,

and this is your cloak.

The tailor who made it told us so.

Yes, they are mine.

Why, thats blood.

Blood of a tart in London

who got her throat cut.

- Throat cut?

- By someone wearing that cloak.

I dont understand.

Dr. Neuhartt,

I must ask you some questions.

Where were you last night?

I was at the house of Mr. Jenkins,

the local magistrate. I was dining there.

He will confirm that.

Could you possibly explain how your cloak

came to be worn in London?

Why, no, I cant. I lost it.

I must have left it somewhere.

Where?

If I knew that, Mr. Hawthorne,

I wouldnt have lost it, would I?

I suggest you obtain confirmation of

my presence in Langford last night...

...and continue your investigations

in London and take these with you.

- Good day to you.

- Thank you, Doctor. Good day.

- What did you tell them?

- I told them nothing.

You killed that woman, didnt you?

Thats an interesting group

you have up there.

Thank you, Julian.

Thats a fine composition.

I have a great deal of work

to do on that yet.

Here is a portrait that I just finished

for Lord Wallace.

Ld suggest the same size

for Lady Elizabeth.

A different style, of course,

for her entrancing beauty.

Julian, here are some more things

I think you might be interested in.

- Thats a wonderful landscape.

- I think I can really be pleased with that.

You see this strong line coming

from left to right, right across the picture.

- Another line...

- Who is that a portrait of?

Lts just a sketch I did from memory.

From memory?

Yes, some unknown man

my dog found dead in the river.

Now this other strong line

coming from top...

- Julian?

- Yes.

You dont know who it is, do you?

Quite a shock it was.

It just caught my eye.

Yes, its quite an interesting face.

One plummets the depths for answers.

Only the customs...

Would you sell it?

Sell it? My dear Julian,

you can have it for nothing.

- Mysteries just disturb me.

- Thats very kind of you, thank you.

Now for this forest picture,

I tried to get the feeling of the forest...

But lm afraid lm going to have

to be running along now.

We can work out the sittings later on.

Thank you so much, lve really enjoyed...

You and Norton threw that body

into the river. Why?

- Thats rubbish! Who says that?

- I do.

Because its now in the hands

of a parish magistrate.

There was nothing on the body

to say who it was.

Except that it had been viewed earlier

by the people of my village...

...as the body of my late brother.

And not only that.

The man who found it was an artist.

He made a sketch. Look.

Fortunately, I managed to get hold of it.

Why didnt you put the body

back where it came from?

- Because it was too risky.

- Why?

Because it was. Thats why.

Trench...

...how did that man die?

- What are you so inquisitive about...

- What grave did it come from?

- Whats this all about?

- You heard what I said. Answer me.

What are you hiding?

- Lve got enough troubles of me own!

- Lm not hiding anything, man.

Theres something going on

I dont like the sound of.

If its as important as that

for you to know...

...then itd be far more important for me

not to tell you. And lm not going to!

And another thing. After this,

therell be no more dealings with me.

Youve become far too nosy.

In my business,

thats taking too much of a risk.

- Weller...

- Good day, Doctor.

After Edward was free,

what happened then?

Nothing.

You locked him up, you nailed him down.

- Our plan didnt work.

- Go on.

Rescue was out of the question.

My God, Trench,

do you know what that means?

It means that my brother was buried alive!

Lts all gone.

Lll go and get some more.

You havent been looking for me,

have you, Trench?

And we did have a bargain.

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