Chapter 6 Chapter Six

Marta.Harold, a society woman straddling St. James's and Haymarket, lived in one of those thickly carpeted stairways and monastery-like cloisters.Grant shuffled wearily up the steps, admiring the carpet and wondering how it was supposed to be cleaned.He walked through the revolving door just in time to see the pale pink elevator closing its doors and going upstairs. Rather than wait for the next one, he would rather climb two floors. The guard at the gate had told him that Marta was at home: she had returned from the theater with a few others around eleven o'clock.Grant didn't like the presence of others, but he decided to deal with Christine anyway by the end of the day.Clay has a clearer picture of her friendship status.Her attorney, Erskine, could not be reached by Balck; his staff said he had been so shaken for three days that he had gone to the country for the weekend; address unknown. ("Have you ever heard of lawyers being shocked?" Balck said.) So the part of Grant's greatest interest—the contents of Christine Kray's will—had to wait until next Monday.The Clay dossier he'd seen at the police station—incomplete, of course—had been assembled over the past twelve hours.In all five pages of the dossier, Grant found only two things of note.

Her real name, according to records, is Christina.Song Taobai. She has never had a lover. Which means no overt lovers, and even during the years when she went from tiny Broadway dancer to singing and dancing superstar, no one seemed to be around to support her.That didn't change until she got tired of musicals and turned her attention to dramas; it seemed that her rocket to superstar status seemed to be her own strength.Such a situation means only two possibilities: she was a virgin until she married at the age of twenty-six (in the eyes of grant, who has more life experience than psychology textbooks, this is quite possible), or her feelings Only give when she meets someone who can turn her heart (or turn her head, depending on whether you take it romantically or sarcastically).

Edward four years ago.Lord Chance, the fifth son of the old Duke of Budd, met her in Hollywood and married within a month.She was making her first feature film at the time, and she is generally credited with "getting a good marriage for herself".But two years later, Lord Edward became "Christine Clay's husband". Reports say he embraced the title and the marriage survived.Their relationship was respectful and informal, partly because Christine's career took up so much of her time and space, and partly because of Edward.Chance's main interest in life (besides Christine) was exploring wild and exotic places and writing books about those experiences.During his busiest period of writing, he and Christine would more or less share the same roof, and seemed quite happy.Although Edward was the fifth son, he still inherited a large fortune from his uncle (Bream, the leather king), and these wealth at his discretion played a big role in avoiding the most vulnerable dangers in his marriage. role.The rest is due to his pride in his wife's accomplishments.

With such a life as shown in the files, how could a murder happen?Grant asked himself as he toiled up the stairs on thick mats.What about Hamer?She spent three months in England with him.True, they worked together (producers still like to insert christine's songs in movies starring her: viewers feel cheated if they don't hear her), but the entertainment world doesn't suspect their relationship , regardless of what their colleagues think.As for Tistor?A psychologically unbalanced boy who accepts casual or generous kindness in the face of his own recklessness and disorientation. Well, Tistor will go to find out a little more.Now he had to find out what Hamer had to do with her life.

He walked up to the second floor, heard the sound of the elevator door closing softly, and as soon as he turned the corner, he saw Jimmy.Hopkins retracted his thumb from the doorbell. "Well," said Jimmy, "it's a busy day!" "I hope you were invited." "I hope you have a search warrant. These days, when people see a policeman standing in front of their house, they immediately call for a lawyer. I say, Inspector." Then he changed his voice and said quickly, "Let's not bother each other." business. Since we are all here for Marta, why not share the results together.No need to scramble. "From this remark Grant inferred that Hopkins was not sure of his reception. He followed Grant into the small hall without giving his name, and Grant, while admiring his cleverness, would not conceal it for him.

"I believe this gentleman is here on behalf of The Horn," he said to the steward who turned to report. "Oh!" she said, turning back, looking coldly at Hopkins, "Miss Harold is very tired in the evenings, and now she has some friends in--" But luck struck Hopkins without further effort.The double doors of the living room flew open, and there was a highly excited welcome from the room inside. "Mr. Hopkins! You're very welcome! I want to hear from you what the papers were about in the morning. I didn't know you knew Mr. Hopkins, dear Marta! "I never thought I'd be glad to hear her voice!" Jimmy whispered to Grant as he stepped forward to greet the speaker, and Grant turned to Marta Harold who had just walked from the room to the hall.

"Aaron Grant!" she said with a smile. "Is it business or business?" "Both. Do me a favor. Don't tell these people who I am. Keep talking the way you were before I came. If you can get them away quickly, I'd like to have a private chat with you." "More favors I'd love to do. Every time I wear this around my neck," She pointed to a string of pearl necklaces, "I will think of you." The necklace was not from Grant, but because he had found it for her. "Come and meet the others. Who are your friends?" "Not friends. Hopkins of The Clarion."

"Oh. Now I understand why Lydia welcomes him so much. They say a professional is a dog that won't pass up the press!" She ushered Grant in and introduced the people in the house.The first is Clement.Clemens, the society photographer, has glorious purple "braids" and a soft cream shirt.He had never heard of Aaron.Who Grant was, and it was evident.The second was the little-known Captain So-and-so, a humble follower of Marta.He reached for his glass of whiskey and soda as if it was the only familiar thing in some unknown land.The third is Judy.Cyrus, a sullen, pretty girl who plays year after year as a douchebag type of blond, has lived her life as a constant battle between gluttony and weight.

And the fourth place is a close friend in the star circle, Lydia.Miss Keats, she's with Jimmy now.Hopkins chatted hard. "Mr. Grant?" Jimmy said maliciously when Grant was introduced. "Why, isn't it?" asked Lydia, her ears perked up, and her eyes blinking curiously. "of course not! " But as soon as Hopkins caught Grant's eye, he lost the courage to carry out his intention.It would be foolish to make an enemy of a CID detective. "He had a title of Greek nobleman, but he was ashamed to use it. He got it because he helped the Greek royal family recover a shirt from a laundromat."

"Don't pay too much attention to him, Mr. Grant. He likes to talk nonsense. I know him, you see. He visits me all day long. But never listens to me carefully. Of course it can't be his fault. Aries love to talk. He I knew he was born in April the first time I walked in my door. As for you, Mr. Grant, you're a Leo, am I right? No, you don't have to tell me. I can tell. Even if I feel No, here—" She thumped her thin chest, "You have those characteristics." "Hopefully these features are not fatal?" Grant asked, wondering how long it would take him to get rid of the ugly woman.

"Fatal, my God, Mr. Grant! Don't you know astrology at all? Leo people are like kings, the favorites of the stars. Destined to enjoy success and glory.The luckiest group in the world. ""When do you have to be born to be considered a Leo?" " "Between mid-to-late July and mid-to-late August. I dare say you were born in the first week of August." Grant wished his expression wasn't as surprised as his heart.His birthday is August 4th. "Lydia is terrible," interposed Marta, handing Grant a glass of wine. "You know she counted poor Christine Clay's fate two years ago, and foretold her death." "That's a good guess!" Judy said lazily, picking things between the sandwiches. Instantly Lydia's long face convulsed with rage, and Marta hurriedly put out the fire. "It's not fair for you to say that, Judy! It's not the first time Lydia has been right. Tony Pidgeon. She warned him before he had the car accident. If he listens to her, be careful, today his legs are gone." Just kept it. She also told me not to accept Collins's offer, and..." "You don't have to speak for me, Marta dear. It's not mine anyway. I'm just stating the facts.Astrology doesn't lie.But you certainly can't expect vision or belief from a Pisces! ""The assistant exited, and the boxing match began. murmured Jimmy, tapping his fingernails on the rim of the glass with a faint ding. As a result, the boxing match was not played.Clemens diverted everyone's thoughts. "What I want to know," he said slowly, "is not what Lydia found in the stars, but what the police found in Siover." "I wonder who killed her?" Judy said, taking a big bite out of her sandwich. "Judy!" Marta protested. "Oh come on!" Judy said. "You know we're all thinking the same thing. Spinning around the possibilities. I'm all for Jason. Anybody else?" "Why Jason?" Clemens asked. "Because he is a smoldering type, all the enthusiasm is smoldering in his heart." "Smoldering! Jason!" Marta protested again. "Nonsense! He's simmering. Like a self-sufficient kettle." Grant shot her a look.Was she defending Jason?How much does she like him? "Jason is too easy to be smoldering. ~Anyway," Clemens said: "People who take a hot bath don't kill people. Only cold-blooded people are easily irritated. They are driven by the desire for revenge." Possessed, wanting to seek justice for the suffering he has suffered.” "I thought a masochist was rarely a sadist," says Grant. "Whether it is or not, you can exclude Jason." Marta insisted: "He wouldn't even have the heart to hurt a fly." "Oh, really?" Judy said, and everyone stopped to look at her. "What the hell do you mean by that?" Clemens asked. "Forget it. I'll bet on Jason." "What was the motive?" "I guess she wants to break up." Marta intervened bluntly, "You know it's all bullshit, Judy. You know very well that there's nothing between them." "I don't know about such things. He never left her sight." "Bitch always thinks the whole world is a bitch," Jimmy whispered to Grant. "I think"--and now Lydia joins the growing debate--"Mr. Hopkins may know better than we do. He was at Westover today for an interview." Jimmy immediately became the center of attention.What does he think?What did the police find?Who do they think did it?Was the suggestion in the evening papers that she was living with someone true?Jimmy was happy to talk.He alluded to who might be the murderers, expounded his views on the facts of the case, inferred human nature haphazardly, slandered the police and their methods of handling the case unconscionably, and looked at the helpless Grant with pleasure from time to time. "They're going to arrest the boy she lived with," he concluded, "and take him away from me. His name is Tistor.A handsome guy.He would cause a stir in the dock. "" Tisprit? They said in confusion: "I have never heard of this person." " Except Judy.Beyond Cyrus. Her mouth opened in panic, maintained it helplessly for a while, and then closed it tightly again, a look of pretending to be meaningless appeared on her face.Grant watched them all with interest. "This is ridiculous," Marta said contemptuously. "Can you imagine Christine Clay doing such a shameful thing? There's no way! Then I might as well—maybe—" Trust Edward to kill!" There was a small burst of laughter. "Why not?" Judy asked.Cyrus said: "He came back to England and found out that his dear wife had been unfaithful, and he was so pissed off." "Six o'clock in the morning on the cold seashore. How could it be Edward!" "Chance only got back to England on Thursday." Hopkins provided the message: "So we don't have to think about him." "I really think it's the most heartless, nasty talk," Marta said. "Let's talk about something else." "Okay, no problem," Judy said. "It's a useless topic. Of course, especially since you were the one who killed her." "Me! ," Marta froze in an overwhelmed silence. Then someone broke the ice. "Of course!" Clemens said, "You want her in the new movie! We almost forgot!" "Oh, if there's a motive, Dear Clemens, you once flew into a rage and uttered nasty words because she refused to let you be photographed. If I recall correctly, she said your work was like spilled gravy .” "Clemens won't drown her. She'll poison her," Judy said, "with a box of chocolates, like the Borgias. No, come to think of it, it's supposed to be LeJon." , so that he doesn't have to act opposite her. He's the boorish type.His father is a butcher, maybe he inherited the character of killing without blinking an eye!Or how about Conn?He might have tried to kill her while making "The Iron Bar," if he'd caught a chance when nobody was around. "She seemed to have forgotten about Jason. "Stop making such absurd remarks, okay?" Marta raised her voice angrily, "I know that after three days, the shock has subsided. But Christine is our friend after all, and we all like her." It would be too nasty to joke about the death of someone else." "Come on!" said Judy viciously.She drank her fifth glass of wine. "No one in this room gave her an iota of thought. We'd be pretty damn happy without her in the way."