The Woman in the Window Page #4

Yes, but a trace like that

on a barbed wire fence,

could that be enough to be of any use?

Did I say a barbed wire fence?

- Didn't you?

- No.

Well, what other kind could a man

more naturally scratch his hand on?

It was a barbed wire fence, of course.

I was only trying to impress you fellows

with my keenness.

Can't a man get any credit

around here at all?

Then in that case, I'll give you

an opportunity to impress the whole city.

Does this suggest anything to you?

Yes. It suggests very strongly

that you're eaten up with envy.

You see my name

on the front page of every paper,

so you make a desperate effort

to elbow your way into my case

by insinuating that you are the guilty man.

But it's no use, my boy.

You scratched yourself for nothing.

Did you ever see such selfishness?

- Did you put anything on it?

- Yes, some antiseptic.

- How did you do it?

- Last night, I cut it on a tin can.

- Well, watch it.

- So I will.

FRANK:
Would you like to hear exactly

how the police figure it happened?

- Yes.

- You bet we would.

Well, come in the lounge.

- Oh, thanks.

- Good night.

Good night, sir.

- Coffee and cigars inside, Boris.

- BORIS:
Yes, sir.

- William, check in the lounge.

- Very well, Mr. Lalor.

We got a line on a woman this afternoon.

- Frank?

- Yes?

Hello, Mark.

- May I see you for a moment?

- Certainly.

I'll join you in a minute.

Great stuff knowing a district attorney.

Get all the inside dope.

Yes.

- Frank's a very smart man.

- Yes.

- You're a bit off your feet, aren't you?

- Just a bit, I suppose.

Haven't been sleeping very well.

- Missing the family, eh?

- Yes, very much.

Yes, well,

I think you could do with a few pills.

You're not the absent-minded-professor

type, are you?

I've tried not to be.

Two a day is all right.

Should pep you up considerably.

But I'd hate to think of you wandering

foggily into the bathroom,

popping them into your mouth

like salted peanuts.

- Poison?

- No, not in the technical sense.

It's a gland concentrate.

Too much would hit the old heart

like a sledgehammer.

Instantly?

Well, a matter of 20 or 30 minutes

and... Bang.

- What's that?

- Prescription for Richard.

It not only kills you

if you take enough of it, it leaves no trace.

"Just a case of heart disease,"

that's all they could say.

I suppose there's no way of telling

how many of your patients

you've disposed of in that way.

None whatever, so forget it.

You said they've located the woman.

Not quite.

The police theory this afternoon was this,

Mazard, a bachelor, had a sweetheart.

His business associates

are quite sure of that.

But who she is or where she lives,

they don't know.

Pretty nervous man in romance, it seems.

At any rate,

when he reached Penn Station,

he went to call on her.

Either a man was already there

or he came during Mazard's visit.

And this man the lady preferred

over Mazard.

Why do they think that?

Well, otherwise,

if her true love had been killed,

she would have most likely done

something to bring the killer to justice.

- This is just a theory, of course?

- I said that.

So they fought and Mazard was killed,

probably with a pair of scissors.

That's the medical examiner's belief,

anyway.

Then in a panic, they loaded the body

into a car, his or hers,

and took it to the place

where it was found.

Now these two people,

this man and this woman,

sit hating and fearing each other,

each wondering how long it'll be

before the other is caught

and blabs out the whole story.

- Always a woman, eh?

- Wait, I'm not through.

That, I said, was the theory this afternoon.

And what is it now?

Well, now it's anybody's guess.

Something came up just as I left the office

that pulls the rug right out

from under that theory.

Really?

It seems that Mazard's associates,

always afraid he'd get into trouble

with his temper,

had engaged a man, a bodyguard,

to follow him secretly at all times.

- On that night, too?

- That we don't know.

We don't know

because he's disappeared as well.

- Then there's your murderer, isn't it?

- Could be, but not necessarily.

Then why hasn't he shown up?

It's not that simple.

He could have murdered Mazard, yes.

He might have tried to blackmail him

and killed him in the fight.

Or he might have witnessed the killing

and is getting ready

to blackmail the killers.

But even if he's 100% innocent,

he still won't walk in and talk.

Why not?

Because he's hot. He's a known crook

with a blackmailing record.

That's why he was thrown off the force,

for shaking people down.

He's wanted for at least two other raps.

We'll get that gentleman

when we run him down and not before.

Nice fellow to pick for a bodyguard.

Oh, don't ask me why.

Wall Street geniuses do anything.

He's tough and strong, and I suppose

that's all they thought of it.

Anyway, I'm going up tomorrow morning

to have a look over this place

where they dumped the body.

Either of you fellows like to go with me?

Sorry, I wish I could,

but I'm operating in the morning.

- Richard?

- Oh, I'm afraid that...

Oh, you go with him.

You've got no classes tomorrow,

you told me so.

Yes, I know, but...

He'll go. I'm his physician, I order him to.

It'll give you something to think about.

What time?

- I'll pick you up at your apartment at 9:30.

- Very well, I'll be ready.

Good. We'll try to show you

how the law operates to nail a man.

Richard?

This is quite an adventure for me.

- Anything new?

- Nothing very important.

- Fred.

- Yes, sir.

- We're picking up Jackson at the toll gate.

- Right, sir.

District attorney's office.

FRANK:
Any luck?

Fellows is not on duty.

We'll check at his home this afternoon.

Inspector Jackson, Professor Wanley.

- How do you do, Inspector?

- Pleased to meet you, sir.

Excuse my left hand, I have a little cut.

- Oh, yes. How's it coming?

- All right, it's nothing.

How did you say you did it?

I was opening a can in the kitchen the

other night and the can opener slipped.

What was in the can? Poison ivy?

I'm... I'm afraid that was pure stupidity.

The next day

I was looking for a lost golf ball

and evidently I got into some poison ivy.

You must have scratched it.

That's a pretty bad infection.

Well, it's an awful nuisance, I know that.

- Is this your case, Inspector?

- For the moment.

They're all his cases, all the tough ones.

Inspector Jackson is head

of the homicide bureau.

Oh.

Anything new since I left?

Well, we picked up

that woman this morning.

FRANK:
Good. What's she got

to say for herself?

JACKSON:
Well, we'll see her

when we get there. They're bringing her up.

- Inspector.

- Good morning, Captain.

- You know Mr. Lalor, don't you?

- You bet.

- Very glad to see you, Mr. Lalor.

- Glad to see you, Captain.

- And this is Professor Wanley.

- That's right.

- Captain Kennedy.

- Pleased to meet you, Captain.

- Pleased to meet you, Professor.

- Is that woman here yet?

KENNED Y:
Beck has her in the car.

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