He laid it down with a grimace, and answered her questioning look by reporting, “Your Mr. Barstow is a very cautious soul. Maybe… and maybe not. It
“He only saw the man once, Michael.”
Shayne growled, “I know. Let’s hope Mrs. Conrad does better.” He paused for a moment, rubbing his chin and regarding Lucy thoughtfully. “Let’s see if we can kill two birds with one stone. Suppose you come up the stairs with me, Lucy? We’ll peek and see if she’s in her room with the door open. If so, you stay back out of sight and take your high-heeled shoes off. I’ll go in her door and close it behind me and distract her attention by showing her the picture. You take this key to the Lambert apartment.”
He produced the padlock key from his pocket and handed it to her. “As soon as I close her door, you go up quietly and unlock the door. You’ll find Mrs. Nathan’s wide black hat still lying on the table by the door where she put it last night. Get it and close the door and go back for your shoes. Put the hat on, pulling the brim down on the left side to conceal your face and let your heels go clackity-clack up the corridor. I’ll open her door so she can get a good look at you. Have you got that?”
“I guess so,” she said uncertainly. “But I don’t see…”
“It’s just an experiment,” he said hurriedly, “which may prove one thing I’d like to know. Come on.”
He led her firmly out the door and up the flight of stairs, and at the top he peered down the corridor and nodded with satisfaction when he saw Mrs. Conrad’s door standing open a foot or more and heard music coming out of her room.
He squeezed Lucy’s arm and nodded reassuringly, left her standing there on the third step from the top taking off her shoes, while he strode down the hall; through the open door he saw Mrs. Conrad sitting inside her room in a strategic position where she had a clear view of the hallway.
She recognized the detective and got to her feet as he paused at the open door, and he stepped quickly inside and pushed it shut behind him, saying, “I’m so glad to find you in, Mrs. Conrad. You can be a great help to me if you’re willing to.”
“Of course, Mr. Shayne. I’ve been wondering and wondering…”
“It’s this picture, Mrs. Conrad,” Shayne stayed between her and the closed door, extending the print. “I wish you’d look at it very carefully and see if you recognize it.”
She took the picture from him and glanced at it, then nodded her head and spoke firmly and positively. “That’s him all right. That’s Mr. Lambert.”
“You couldn’t be mistaken?”
“I’ve got eyes in my head, haven’t I? I looked right at him across the hall there… not once but three times. How could I be mistaken?”
“You may have to swear to it on the witness stand, Mrs. Conrad,” Shayne warned her gravely. “With a lawyer cross-questioning you and trying to get you confused. I want you to be very positive.”
“I am. I’ve got a memory for faces. Oh, I’ll testify on the witness stand, all right.”
Shayne said, “That’s wonderful, Mrs. Conrad. You’ll be a very important witness.” He took the print back from her and slid it into his coat pocket, then turned and reopened the door and glanced out into the corridor to see that it was clear and the door across the hall was properly closed.
“Not many people using this hall tonight I guess.” At the end of the hall he saw a slender figure wearing a droopy black hat suddenly materialize from the stairway and start toward them. He stepped back to stand beside Mrs. Conrad so she could have a clear view through the open door, and heard the clack of high heels nearing them briskly.
“There hasn’t been for a fact.” She stiffened as she heard the heels, and peered past him inquisitively. Then her mouth fell open and she gave a little shriek of panic as Lucy came into her view, and she shrank back and caught Shayne’s arm with thin fingers.
Then she straightened herself, her eyes bulging as Lucy went past with the brim of the hat concealing her features, and she stammered, “My goodness, I thought for a moment…” Then her voice rose excitedly. “It’s the same
Shayne smiled down at her reassuringly and pulled the door open and said, “Okay, Lucy. Let Mrs. Conrad see who you are.”
“Well I never! It’s Miss Hamilton,” she exclaimed as Lucy turned toward them and showed her full face.
“Just that first minute I thought I was seeing a ghost,” she chattered excitedly. “Then I saw you weren’t near as tall or heavy as her. My goodness, you did give me a turn.”
“I’m sorry,” Shayne said smoothly. “I was testing your memory and your powers of observation, Mrs. Conrad. I must say they are both excellent, and I’m sure you’ll be a perfect witness if it comes to identifying Lambert’s picture.”
When they were able to get away from her questions and back to the apartment downstairs, Lucy threw the droopy black hat on the sofa and turned on Shayne with her hands on her hips to demand angrily, “What
He told her seriously, “I proved two things. First, that Mrs. Conrad is a very observant woman with an excellent memory… so I don’t think there’s much doubt that Grogan is the man she saw… wearing a trick mustache and blue glasses. We can also now be fairly positive that Suzie Conroy didn’t impersonate Mrs. Nathan by wearing that hat. She’s about your size, Norris said, and Mrs. Conrad spotted the discrepancy in size at once.”
“Suzie Conroy?” Lucy sank down onto the sofa, her face a mask of bewilderment. “The secretary whom Paul Nathan took to dinner a few times? Whatever made you think…?”
“All right,” said Shayne harshly. “I’m grasping at straws. Every elimination helps.” He strode up and down the room, pounding his left fist into his palm, a scowl of concentration on his face. “After I get the answers to a few more questions, everything will be clear to me. About as clear as mud, probably,” he added in disgust, pausing in the center of the floor to glare at her. “But I want to know whether Joe Grogan was left-handed… and whether he owned a shotgun. Let’s see. Mrs. Grogan said she went to work in the Hotel Griffin Lounge as a waitress at six o’clock. See if you can get her there, Lucy.”
Lucy compressed her lips, and went to the telephone book to get the number while Shayne resumed his impatient pacing up and down.
She called a number and spoke into the phone, then replaced it and told him, “Mrs. Grogan did not come to work. She’s at home sick.”
Shayne said, “Good. If I can see her at home I can pick up another piece of the puzzle I need. I think I have her phone number here.” He began to search his pockets for the telephone message Mrs. Grogan had left.
Lucy said, “Michael,” in a queer, stifled voice. He looked up, still searching his pockets.
“I’ve just remembered something.”
He said, “Oh?”
“Talking about people who are left-handed. Did you know Mr. Armbruster is?”
“Eli?” Shayne stood very still and stared at her. “Is left-handed?”
Lucy nodded emphatically. “I don’t suppose it means anything, but… he is. When he wrote out that check in the office this morning. He wrote and signed it with his left hand.”
Shayne sat down heavily, his eyes narrowed, his features tight in concentrated thought. He muttered, “Eli? I don’t see…”
He sat like that for several minutes, shaking his head and moving his lips although no words came out. Then he began looking in his pockets again, found the slip of paper he wanted and held it out to Lucy. “Please call Mrs. Grogan and see if she’s well enough to see me. Get her address if she is.”
Lucy took the slip and asked, “Do you think it’s important, Michael? About Eli?”
Shayne shook his head with a harried grin and ran fingers distractedly through his red hair. “Right now I’m so mixed up with half a dozen fantastic theories that I don’t know what’s important and what isn’t. We have to take it a step at a time, Angel. Call Mrs. Grogan.”
He got up and went into the kitchen to pour a drink while Lucy made the call. She turned to him with the phone in her hand when he came back with a glass in his hand. “She’s not sick… just didn’t feel like working tonight. Do you want to talk to her?”
He shook his head. “Just ask if Joe is left-handed.”
