Rollison saw why a moment later. Perky had been struck on the back of the head, blood matted his hair, and he was slumped forward over the wheel.
Perky Lowe came round when Rollison reached the flat with him, and Jolly helped to carry him to the sofa. He vaguely remembered a man coming along the street and asking if he were free, but he wouldn’t recognise him again. He’d said “no” —and had then been struck on the back of the head by someone who had approached from behind.
“But never mind abaht me,” he insisted. “I’m okay, Mr. Ar. You ‘ad any luck?”
“I don’t think so,” said Rollison, looking at Jolly, who had doubtless opened the letter.
“I’m afraid not, sir,” said Jolly. He took the letter from the desk and handed it to Rollison. Perky watched, with bloodshot eyes. Jolly stood erect and at attention, as he always did in moments of crisis. And Rollison read:
“The police will find Merino’s body; and the gun, with his finger-prints on it; and impeccable evidence that he shot Merino. But you can have the gun and the evidence after the broadcast on Saturday night, if it all goes well.”
“That settles the issue, sir,” said Jolly.
“We wait until to-morrow night, after the broadcast,” agreed Rollison.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“OF course you can stay,” said Hedley, warmly. “Very glad to have you with us, Mr. Rollison—thought any more about that broadcast of yours, yet?”
“Not very much,” said Rollison truthfully. “I hope you will,” said Hedley. “Quiet a minute, the tenor’s going to sound off.”
He grinned and held up his hands for silence, and sat down on a slung-canvas chair, one of twenty or so which were ranged along the walls of the studio. The Italian tenor, a short man with a shock of dark hair, chest and shoulders like a bull, and plump hands which were clasped together nervously, spoke in frantic Italian to a much smaller man, obviously a foreigner, who kept pulling at his pink and blue tie and looking as if he would strangle himself. Another Italian, of aristocratic mien, sat at the grand piano in a corner of the large studio, his long, pale hands raised above the key-board. He glared at the pink and blue tie, and a compact, middle-aged man—a B.B.C. official with a patient, tired manner, kept saying:
“Now take your time, there’s no hurry—this is only a rehearsal, remember.”
The Italians jabbered on; the rest of the people in the studio watched them or someone else, openly or furtively; or else read their scripts or stared with wide-eyed interest at the upright microphone in front of the tenor, the two table-mikes planted on small tables at one end of the room or—greatly daring—through the glass partition which separated the studio from the next room. Some were composed and poised, others obviously and unashamedly nervous. One little group of young people gathered in a corner and whispered.
Rollison sat next to Allen.
The tenor opened his mouth, threw back his head, and let forth a tremendous bellow. The patient-looking man jumped, the pianist clutched his head in horror, the blue and pink tie suddenly became unfastened, its wearer jabbered. Hedley jumped up and went towards them, saying mildly: “That was a bit too loud.” The little group in the corner giggled, but the tenor seemed quite unaware of the minor consternation he had caused. He glared at the mike as if it would lean forward and strike him.
Allen stared at the scene with lack-lustre eyes.
Rollison had been to fetch him that afternoon, and as far as he could find out, Allen had made no effort to leave Dinky’s; had eaten and slept and mooned about all day. For different reasons, Allen and his wife were behaving in exactly the same way.
Obviously he had expected Rollison to come for him.
Hedley had been busy with the tenor, and beyond greeting them with a bright smile and a few cheery words, paid them no attention. The question of the alteration in the text had not yet been brought up.
Jolly was still at the flat, but was due to arrive here just after five o’clock. McMahon of the
The stage and screen “comics” certainly weren’t here yet; he would have recognised them. A young couple, with blonde hair and nervous smiles, were sitting on two chairs, touching hands, leaning forward every now and again and whispering; they were the young Danes, he hadn’t much difficulty in placing them. A burly man in ragged and patched clothes, who had shaved badly and had long, curly side-whiskers, was standing in a corner, reading his script with a vast frown which wrinkled his forehead; he would be the busker, Rollison decided.
He glanced through the roneoed sheets. The “wandering artist” or the writer of inn-signs didn’t appear to be here yet— unless he was the pale, neatly dressed young man who sat by himself, smoking a new pipe. His name, according to the front page of the script, was Arthur Mellor. He was to broadcast first; the Danes were to follow; the Lundys were third, then came the busker followed by the tenor, with Allen the final act. Allen hadn’t glanced at his script—just seemed prepared to sit back and do nothing.
The tenor suddenly burst forth again, still much too loudly. Hedley pulled the mike away from him, the blue and pink tie fluttered wildly and its wearer held his hands palms outwards a few inches from the singer, urging him backwards. The tenor tried to watch him, the mike, the pianist—and suddenly tossed his arms high in the air, stopped singing, and struck an attitude which he proceeded to justify with a string of fluent Italian— including, as Rollison knew well, one or two of the choicest Milanese oaths.
His friends pleaded with him. The tired-looking man raised his eyebrows resignedly, spoke to Hedley and went out into the mysterious chamber behind the studio. There, three or four men were sitting, one of them with earphones on and looking very earnest
The altercation over, the tenor took up his stand again— and suddenly everything went right. His volume was exactly what was required, no one disapproved, the ends of the blue and pink tie hung straight and its wearer
