The Thin Man Goes Home Page #5

- We clean once a day. In the morning.

- You two had better stay here.

- Yes, sir.

And remember, mum's the word.

"Cubana Perfecto."

"Boston Children's Home."

Why don't you girls go to bed?

I'm worried. Something might have

happened to him.

Nonsense. Nick's old enough

to take care of himself.

To think that I fell for that cider routine.

He's probably got the case

half-solved by now.

But where can he be?

He's probably turning that auto camp

upside down.

It's possible he might

be turning a drink upside down.

Not on your tintype.

When Nick puts his mind on a thing,

he never makes a false step.

That's my boy.

Well, let's see, Asta.

Where shall we put it?

I really shouldn't give him

a birthday present at all.

Sneaking off like that, getting drunk...

...without me.

Running into an old sweetheart.

If all his old sweethearts

were laid end to end...

...I'd use them as a sidewalk.

But he's a pretty good guy.

He keeps us in dog biscuits.

I hope he likes it.

"Nora, darling, what a lovely surprise."

Darling, what time is it?

It's almost 11:
00.

Oh, boy, I'm late

And I've got a date

Deep in the heart of Texas

I'll choose a tie

Then I must fly

Deep in the heart of Texas

Deep in the heart of Texas

Darling, where's my belt

with the gold buckle?

Buckle, buckle, who's got the buckle?

Buckle down, Winsocki

Buckle down, down, down

There it is, right in front of you.

Deep in the heart of Texas

Some detective.

Deep in the heart of Texas

Don 't tell my tomato

I got a date with a potato

Deep in the heart of Texas

Goodbye, mama

I'm off to Yokohama

Nicky. What is this sudden epidemic

of kisses for?

For my birthday, remember?

Deep in the heart of...

You know what that is?

Remember that old mill I pointed out to

you from the baggage car? Well, that's it.

What a pain in the neck

that turned out to be.

Full of snakes, skunks, poison ivy

and a truant officer.

Gives me the shudders

just to look at it.

How dear to my heart

Are the scenes of my childhood

Deep in the heart of Texas

- Hilda, take this out and burn it.

- Don't you like it?

No.

Can't say I blame you.

Hilda, what are you doing

with that picture?

Mrs. Charles told me to burn it.

Let me see.

Why, I think it's very pretty.

It's just the thing to give

to the bazaar at the hotel.

It's all right with me.

- I'll tell Miss Laurabelle you're here.

- Thank you.

Miss Laurabelle!

Miss Laurabelle!

- I hope I'm not disturbing you.

- Oh, it's all right.

You came to talk to me

about Peter Berton, didn't you?

Yes, and you're very brave to see me

at a time like this.

Oh, it doesn't matter.

People are born, people die, life goes on.

Poor Peter.

At least he has outsoared

The shadow of our night

Envy, pain and hate can touch him not

That's Shelley. I always turn to the poets

for comfort in all my sorrows.

Yeah, me too.

Now, about Peter.

I just wanted to ask you a few things

about his friends, his family.

He was alone. He had only me.

Well, he must have talked about

his family, though. His childhood?

He talked of nothing.

Our souls and spirits communed.

Words would have been empty.

Meaningless.

Yes, I can understand that.

- Cigarette, Mr. Charles?

- Thank you, no.

- A cigar?

- I've rather lost interest in cigars.

Father has some very good ones.

A special brand he keeps all for himself.

- A special brand?

- Yes. Won't you try one?

"Cubana Perfecto."

Well, yes, yes, this does interest me.

Thank you.

You and Peter saw quite a good deal

of each other?

Yes. Fellow artists, you know.

That fight he got into recently

must have been rather distressing to you.

- Fight?

- Yes.

- He gave somebody a pair of black eyes.

- I know absolutely nothing about that.

Is that so? Your father didn't approve

of Peter, did he?

Poor Dad. So provincial, you know.

He just didn't understand.

Oh, I tried again and again to explain

to him how platonic and beautiful it was.

But he just made scenes.

I thought he was gonna have a stroke

or something. It was awful.

- You poor child.

- Oh, and it wasn't only Dad.

No one understood what Peter and I

meant to each other.

Why, Tom Clayworth made such a fuss

if I even...

Well, you wouldn't be interested

in all that.

On the contrary. What about Tom?

Well, you know what an emotional type

Tom is. And so jealous.

Why, if he heard I spoke to Peter,

he'd hit the ceiling.

- Did he ever hit Peter?

- Oh, no.

- Were you afraid he might?

- Well, you see...

Oh, Mr. Charles, Tom had nothing to do

with Peter's death. I know that.

But the last time you went out

to see Peter...

...wasn't it to warn him that Tom

was jealous? Perhaps made threats?

You're quite wrong, Mr. Charles.

Was it to warn him against your father?

- My father?

- Yes, he didn't want you to see Peter.

He made violent scenes about it.

You told me so.

You... You tricked me

into telling you that!

Tricked you? Say, what do you think

this is, Miss Ronson, a parlor game?

A man has been murdered.

Your father threatened Peter, didn't he?

That isn't true. You must believe me.

I swear it!

- I believe you.

- No, you don't.

You're trying to trick me

into telling you more. I won't.

And I won't listen to your accusations.

Get out!

Go on, get out!

I'm sorry if I upset her, Mr. Ronson.

What do you want here?

I wanted to talk to Laurabelle

about Peter Berton.

- What about Peter Berton?

- Well, for one thing, he's dead.

And you think my daughter killed him?

Well, no, but I wanted to ask her

a few things about him.

Who his friends were...

...and who his enemies were.

Why did you object to him

seeing your daughter, Mr. Ronson?

- Who says I objected?

- Your daughter.

I'm not responsible

for what Laurabelle says.

She is a girl

with a very vivid imagination.

Why should I object to him?

That's what I would like to know.

Now look, Charles, I'm just as interested

in seeing justice done as you are.

But I think you ought to be careful.

I know that you don't want to hurt

innocent people.

You don't want to damage

good reputations needlessly.

That might be harmful to

the whole community. Your own family.

Your own father might have ambitions

and plans that could be ruined.

You mean my father's ambition

for a hospital might be blocked?

Just think that over, Charles.

Yes.

I will think it over, Mr. Ronson.

I will indeed.

And I'll also think over what you were

doing in Peter Berton's cabin...

...the day he was killed. Good day.

Well, hiya, Mac. Right on the job, I see.

Say, that was a dirty trick

changing those numbers.

I didn't find out I was in the wrong cabin

till this morning.

- That was just the Halloween in me.

- Well, this isn't Halloween.

- Say, I thought you were on a vacation.

- I just thought I'd help a bit.

Well, you didn't happen to run

into anything, did you?

- Are you keeping an eye on Crazy Mary?

- Why Crazy Mary?

Well, as I remember, she used to go

on the warpath at times, didn't she?

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