The Early Ayn Rand (56 page)

HASTINGS: Ah. . . . What did you think of, Miss Knowland?

ADRIENNE: I thought . . . [
Looks at
INGALLS
. He is watching her
]

INGALLS: [
Slowly
] What did you think of, Adrienne?

ADRIENNE: I thought . . . I thought that Steve would take advantage of Walter’s absence and . . . and that Steve would be upstairs with Helen, and I wanted to tell Walter about it.

HASTINGS: I see. And what did you do?

ADRIENNE: I went out into the garden—to find Walter.

HASTINGS: And then?

BILLY: Then the fireworks stopped.

HASTINGS: How soon after Miss Knowland left did the fireworks stop?

FLASH: Almost immediately. Almost before she could’ve been a step away.

HASTINGS: And then?

FLASH: Then we waited, but nothing happened. We just talked and—[
Stops. Gasps:
] Jesus Christ!

HASTINGS: What is it?

FLASH: Jesus Christ, I think we heard it when Mr. Breckenridge was murdered!

HASTINGS:
When?

FLASH: Bill, do you remember the dud? Remember there was a kind of crack outside and I thought the fireworks were starting again, but nothing happened and I said it was a dud?

BILLY: Yes.

CURTISS: I heard it too, Mr. Hastings. But there had been so many rockets outside that I thought nothing of it at the time.

HASTINGS: Now that’s interesting. You heard it
after
the fireworks had stopped?

FLASH: Yes. Quite a bit after. Five minutes or more.

HASTINGS: What happened after that?

BILLY: Nothing. Then Steve came back from the garden, and we talked, and then Flash took me to my room.

HASTINGS: You didn’t see Mrs. Breckenridge or Mr. Fleming come back down these stairs while you were here?

BILLY: No.

HASTINGS: Now, Curtiss, you were in the pantry all that time?

CURTISS: Yes, sir. I was polishing the silver.

HASTINGS: Could you see the back stairway from the second floor all the time you were there?

CURTISS: Yes, sir. The pantry door was open.

HASTINGS: Did you see anyone coming down the stairs?

CURTISS: No, sir.

HASTINGS: [
To
FLEMING] Well, I guess that lets
you
out.

FLEMING: [
Shrugging
] Not necessarily. There’s a window in my room.

HASTINGS: What were you doing in your room? Getting drunk?

FLEMING:
Staying
drunk.

HASTINGS: And you, Mrs. Breckenridge, were you in your room?

HELEN: Yes.

HASTINGS: Since I can’t see you climbing out of a window, I presume at least that it lets you out.

HELEN: Not necessarily. There’s a balcony outside my room with a perfectly functional stairway leading to the garden.

HASTINGS: Oh. . . . What were you doing in your room?

HELEN: Packing.

HASTINGS:
What?

HELEN: My suitcase. I wanted to go back to New York.

HASTINGS:
Tonight?

HELEN: Yes.

HASTINGS: Why?

HELEN: Because I felt that I couldn’t stay in this house. [HASTINGS
looks at her. She continues quietly:
] Don’t you see? I had always wanted a house of my own. I wanted a small, very modern house, simple and healthy, with huge windows and glass brick and clean walls. I wanted to hunt for the latest refrigerators and colored washstands and plastic floor tiles and . . . I wanted to work on it for months, to plan every bit of it. . . . But I was never allowed to plan anything in my life. . . . [
Controls herself. Continues in a matter-of-fact voice:
] I was ready to leave. I came downstairs. Steve and Tony were here. I was about to go when we heard Adrienne scream . . . and . . . [
Finishes with a gesture of her hand, as if to say: “And that was that”
]

HASTINGS: I see. . . . Now, Miss Knowland. What were you doing in the garden?

ADRIENNE: I was looking for Walter. But I went in the wrong direction. I went toward the lake. I got lost in the dark. Then I came back and—I found him. Dead. [
Looks at
HASTINGS
, adds:
] Of course, I could have been doing anything.

HASTINGS: Is that what you want me to think?

ADRIENNE: I don’t care what you think.

HASTINGS: You know, I
would
think it—if it weren’t for one fact. The fireworks stopped too soon after you left. You wouldn’t have had the time to get from here to the spot where Mr. Breckenridge was found. And I think it was the murderer who stopped those fireworks—or interrupted Mr. Breckenridge and caused him to stop. Because there’s nothing wrong with the machine it-self. I think the murderer got there when the fire-works stopped. Perhaps earlier. But not later. [
Turns to
INGALLS] Now, Steve. What were you doing in the garden?

INGALLS: I have no alibi at all, Greg.

HASTINGS: None?

INGALLS: None. I just went for a walk through the grounds. I saw no one and no one saw me.

HASTINGS: Hm. . . . Now, Mr. Goddard. You were playing the piano in the library?

TONY: Yes.

HASTINGS: [
To
BILLY
and
FLASH] How long did you hear him playing? Till after the fireworks stopped?

BILLY: Yes, till quite a bit after.

FLASH: Yes.

HASTINGS: [
To
TONY] Well, that lets
you
out.

TONY: Not necessarily. If you look through the phonograph records, you will see that there is one of Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in G Minor.

HASTINGS: [
Leans back in his chair, disgusted
] Is there anyone here who does
not
want to be the murderer?

FLASH: Oh,
I
don’t.

SERGE: I think it is horrible! It is horrible that these people should act like this after the death of their benefactor!

HASTINGS: [
Turns to look at him with curiosity. Then, to
HELEN
:
] Who is this gentleman?

HELEN: Mr. Serge Sookin. A friend of my husband’s.

HASTINGS: Mr. Sookin, we seem to have forgotten you. Where were you all that time?

SERGE:
I
was not here at all.

HASTINGS: You weren’t?

BILLY: That’s right. I forgot him. Mr. Sookin left long before everybody else. He went to Stamford.

HASTINGS: [
Interested, to
SERGE:] You drove to Stamford?

SERGE: Yes. To get the evening newspaper.

HASTINGS: What newspaper?

SERGE: The
Courier.

HASTINGS: What time did you leave?

SERGE: I am not certain, I think it was—

INGALLS: A quarter to ten. I looked at my watch. Remember?

SERGE: That is right. You did.

HASTINGS: When did you get back?

SERGE: Just a few minutes before you arrived here. HASTINGS: Which was at ten-thirty. Well, you made pretty good time. You couldn’t have gotten to Stamford and back any faster than that. I presume you didn’t stop anywhere on your way?

SERGE: No.

HASTINGS: Did anyone see you buying that newspaper?

SERGE: No. It was the drugstore, you know, with the newspapers on the box outside the door, and I just took the newspaper and left the five cents. HASTINGS: What drugstore was it?

SERGE: It was . . . yes, it was called Lawton’s.

HASTINGS: You didn’t speak to anybody at Lawton’s?

SERGE: No. [
Begins to understand, looks startled for a second, then laughs suddenly
] Oh, but it is funny! HASTINGS: What is?

SERGE: [
Very pleased
] You see, there is no place between here and the Lawton’s drugstore where I could buy a newspaper.

HASTINGS: No, there isn’t.

SERGE: And Mr. Ingalls he said that the Lawton’s drugstore they do not get the last edition of the
Courier
until ten o’clock, so I could not have had it with me earlier. And I left here at one quarter to ten. And I came back with the last edition of the
Courier.
And I could not have waited somewhere till four minutes past ten and killed Mr. Breckenridge, because then I could have only twenty-six minutes to get to Stamford and back, and you say that this would not be possible. And it is funny, because it was Mr. Ingalls who gave me the real alibi like that.

INGALLS: I sincerely regret it.

HASTINGS: Where is the paper you brought, Mr. Sookin?

SERGE: Why, right here . . . right . . . [
Looks around. Others look also
] But that is strange. It was right here. They were reading it.

TONY: That’s true. I saw the paper. I read the comic strips.

HASTINGS: It was the
Courier
?

TONY: Yes.

HASTINGS: Who else saw it here?

INGALLS: I did.

HELEN: I did.

FLEMING: I did, too.

HASTINGS: Did any of you notice whether it was the last edition?

INGALLS: No, I didn’t. [
The others shake their heads
]

HASTINGS: And Mr. Sookin did not seem to mind your reading that paper he brought? He did not seem in a hurry to take it away from you?

HELEN: Why, no.

HASTINGS: No. What I’m thinking wouldn’t be like Mr. Sookin at all.

SERGE: [
Still looking for it
] But where is it? It was right here.

HASTINGS: Did anyone take that paper?

SERGE: But this is ridicable!

HASTINGS: Oh, I guess we’ll find it. Sit down, Mr. Sookin. So you have a perfect alibi . . . unless, of course, you telephoned to some accomplice to get that paper for you.

SERGE:
What?!

HASTINGS: Did anyone see Mr. Sookin using the telephone? [
They ad-lib denials
] And, of course, there’s no other place to phone from, closer than Lawton’s. No, I don’t really think you phoned, Mr. Sookin. I just mentioned it. . . . How long have you been in this country, Mr. Sookin?

SERGE: I escaped from Russia during the World War Number Two.

HASTINGS: How long have you known Mr. Breckenridge?

SERGE: About three months.

HASTINGS: What do you do for a living?

SERGE: In my country I was a physicist. That is why Mr. Breckenridge he took an interest in me. Now I am unemployed.

HASTINGS: What do you live on?

SERGE: I get from the Refugees’ Committee the fifteen dollars each week. It is quite sufficient for me.

HASTINGS: And Mr. Breckenridge didn’t help you?

SERGE: Ah, Mr. Breckenridge he offered many times to help me. But money I would not take from him. I wanted to get work. And Mr. Breckenridge wanted to give me the job in his laboratories. But Mr. Ingalls refused.

HASTINGS: Oh? [
To
INGALLS] Is that right, Steve?

INGALLS: That’s right.

HASTINGS: Why did you refuse?

INGALLS: Well, I’ll tell you: I don’t like people who talk too much about their love for humanity.

HASTINGS: But how could you override Mr. Breckenridge’s wish?

INGALLS: That was a condition of our partnership. Walter received seventy-five percent of the profits and he had sole authority over the disposition to be made of our products. But I had sole authority over the work in the laboratory.

HASTINGS: I see. . . . Now tell me, Steve, how many hours a day did you usually spend in the laboratory?

INGALLS: I don’t know. About twelve, I guess, on the average.

HASTINGS: Perhaps nearer to sixteen—on the average?

INGALLS: Yes, I guess so.

HASTINGS: And how many hours a day did Mr. Breckenridge spend in the laboratory?

INGALLS: He didn’t come to the laboratory every day.

HASTINGS: Well, average it for the year. What would it make per day?

INGALLS: About an hour and a half.

HASTINGS: I see. . . . [
Leans back
] Well, it’s very interesting. Any of you could have committed the murder. Most of you have halfway alibis, the kind that make it possible, but not probable. You’re worse off than the rest, Steve. You have no alibi at all. At the other end—there’s Mr. Sookin. He has a perfect alibi. [
Pauses, then:
] Here’s what makes it interesting: someone deliberately smashed Mr. Breckenridge’s watch. Someone was anxious that there should be no doubt about the time of the murder. Yet the only person who has a good alibi for that particular time is Mr. Sookin—who was, at four minutes past ten, just about driving into Stamford.

SERGE: Well?

HASTINGS: I’m just thinking aloud, Mr. Sookin.

DIXON: The statements of the cook and the chauffeur, Chief.

HASTINGS: [
With a brief glance at the paper
] What do they say?

DIXON: They went to bed at nine o’clock. Saw nothing. Heard nothing—except Curtiss in the pantry.

HASTINGS: Okay.

DIXON: [
Handing him the other papers. His voice a little less casual:
] And here are the fingerprints off the gun—and another set.

HASTINGS: [
Looks carefully at two cards of fingerprints. Then puts them on the table, facedown. Then raises his head and looks slowly at all the people in the room, from face to face. Then says slowly
:] Yes. The fingerprints on that gun are those of someone in this room. [
Silence. He turns to
DIXON] Dixon.