Several Deaths Later

trouble or not.'

'He's actually quite a good lover.'

'I'm happy to hear that.'

'And a very attentive mate when he wants to be.'

'Another good quality.'

'But he needs a mother and I'm tired of playing the role.' She watched Tobin as he stood up and then she said, 'I'm not very brave, am I, Tobin?'

'That's the hell of it.'

'What?'

'None of us are.'

21

2:47 P.M.

Several times-and at perhaps too great a length-Tobin had made the argument in print and on television alike that Rudolph Mate's D.O.A., with Edmond O'Brien, and Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me, Deadly were two of the greatest film noirs ever made. He believed this so much that he took them with him whenever he traveled, and dipped into them for fifteen or twenty minutes, the way others dipped into swimming pools for similar amounts of time. Their perfection exhilarated him-the grim and mournful O'Brien; the psychotic but fascinating Ralph Meeker; and the black-and-white photography that showed roots in German expressionism but that became, in these instances, inexorably American-the urban streets at night, the millions of twisted tales played out on them.

He was watching Edmond O'Brien down the fatal glass of poison when the phone rang in his cabin. He swore and punched Freeze on the VCR remote control.

'Hello.'

'I want to say this in a friendly way.' The voice, sleek, theatrical, modulated, belonged to the sort of man who would spend a good deal of time catching his reflection in mirrors and windows.

'Say what in a friendly way?'

'I know you're doing a little snooping about.'

'What gives you that impression?'

'I had a bite with Alicia Farris.'

It was nice to be able to trust people, Tobin thought. He'd had the impression, while talking to Alicia, that they were friendly if not exactly friends. But apparently Alicia had reported right back to Todd Ames.

'I see.'

'We should stick together, Tobin; the 'Celebrity Circle' people, I mean.'

'I didn't know that we weren't.'

'You're going around asking questions.'

'You make that sound like some sort of betrayal.'

Todd Ames's voice got very tight. 'In a way, I consider it a betrayal.' He paused. 'There's the show to consider.'

'Ah. The show.'

'You're not very good with sarcasm.'

'I guess I'm just sort of old-fashioned.'

'And how would that be?'

'I'd just naturally assumed that three deaths took precedence over 'the show.''

Another pause. 'Did you like 'Celebrity Gardener?''

'I beg your pardon?'

'Did you like that show?'

'Not much, no.'

'You work very hard for twenty or thirty years and you nearly make it to the top and then-well, something unfortunate happens to you, and there you are one day… on 'Celebrity Gardener.' After you'd had your own network series and been on the cover of TV Guide and been interviewed countless times on 'ET' and… I think you know what I'm talking about.'

'You're saying that you've all worked hard.'

'Precisely.'

'And that 'Celebrity Circle' is your one and only… blue chip stock, I suppose.'

'Yes.'

'And that it's been jeopardized.'

'Badly so.'

'And that I shouldn't be asking questions because that only casts more unfavorable light on the show.'

'You're beginning to understand and I really appreciate that.'

'I'm not unsympathetic, Todd.'

'Thank you.'

'Being a has-been is no easy life. I happen to be one.'

'I don't really care for that implication. We're hardly has-been's.'

'No, but you are almost totally dependent on 'Celebrity Circle' for your income and whatever prestige it gives you.'

'It may interest you to know that Universal contacted my agent just before we sailed and that there's a pilot in the offing and-'

'So you'd give up your new position as host of 'Celebrity Circle' for the pilot?'

'Of course not. But…'

Tobin gathered himself and said, 'A friend of mine tells me that on the night Ken Norris died, he threw a drink in your face. I wonder if you'd care to tell me why.'

'Once this cruise is over, Tobin, you'll never work on 'Celebrity Circle' again. I can promise you that.'

'And last night at dinner, Cassie McDowell stood up and slapped you. I wonder if you could shed any light on that for me.'

'What the hell do you have against us, anyway?'

'Nothing, Todd, believe it or not. I just happen to take murder very seriously.'

In books people are always chuckling. Tobin had never been sure what that particular noise was actually supposed to sound like. But just then Todd Ames made a noise that Tobin could only classify as a 'chuckle.' It was an irritating sound. 'You know, back in my theater days-I don't know if you knew that I worked with Kate Hepburn and Larry Olivier-anyway, back then I did a murder play and every night I'd come home, I'd find myself petrified to go into my apartment. Afraid.'

But Tobin was still back on 'Kate' and 'Larry.'

'I guess I'm not seeing the point, Todd,' Tobin said.

'The point is that I don't like murder much, either. So I suppose I'd just as soon let the police handle all this when we get back to the States.'

'Right,' Tobin said, 'and give the killer plenty of time to cover his or her tracks and get away.' He paused. 'You haven't answered my questions yet. Why did Ken throw a drink in your face and why did Cassie slap you?'

'Neither one of those questions is any of your business.'

'Maybe I'll make them my business.'

'We're a family,' Todd Ames said. 'We squabble like a family-but we've been a family ever since Day One of 'Celebrity Circle.' And we're going to amaze you with how close-knit we are.'

'You're saying you won't cooperate with any investigation?'

'We have our reputations plus a show to protect, Tobin. You don't seem to understand that.'

'I'm afraid I do understand, Todd, and only too well.'