Death in the Fifth Position by Gore Vidal Read Free Book Online

than I for one thought proper under the circumstances; our roles were reversed now: I was the one bothered by the publicity and investigation while he was the one who was meditating happily on free promotion andthe coming tour with the customers flocking to see the “murder” ballet.
    “By the way,” I said, “who’s going to dance the lead in
Eclipse
tonight … you have it scheduled, you know, and I should get a release out for the morning papers.”
    “Good God! Where’s Wilbur?” The stage manager, hearing this, went to find the beleaguered choreographer.
    “How would this Jane Garden do? I’m told she’s very fine,” I said, getting in a plug for the home team.
    “It’s up to him … after all we’ve got three soloists.”
    “I think she’d be great in it.” Then, changing from my youthful, eager manner to that somewhat more austere manner which is more nearly me, I said, “About those shears that I found in Eglanova’s room.”
    “What about them?” We went through the whole thing again and, for the second time in five minutes, he was upset.
    “What I want to know is should I tell the police right now that I found the shears in her room and put them outside on the tool chest, or should I wait until the Inspector arrests me for murder, after finding my prints all over The Murder Weapon.”
    Mr. Washburn looked exactly like a man being goosed by the cold horns of the biggest, roughest dilemma this side of the Bronx Zoo. Needless to say, between sacrificing his star and his temporary press agent, he chose yours truly, as I suspected he would, to be offered up as a possible sacrifice to Miss Justice, that blind girl with the sword. “You can do something for me, Peter,” he said, in the cozy voice of an impresario talking to a millionaire.
    “Anything, sir,” I said, very sincerely, looking at himwith honest cocker spaniel eyes … little did he suspect that I was contemplating blackmail, that my mean little mind had seized upon a brilliant idea which would, if it worked, make me very happy indeed and if it didn’t … well, I could always take a lie-detector test or something to prove that I hadn’t eased Ella Sutton into a better and lovelier world.
    “Say nothing about this, Son. Not until the season is over … just a week away. That’s all I ask. I’m sure they won’t go after you … absolutely sure. You have no motive. You didn’t even know Sutton. On top of that … well, I have a little influence in this town, as you know. Believe me when I say there won’t be any trouble.”
    “If you say so, Mr. Washburn, then I won’t tell the police.” I then asked that Jane Garden be given the lead in
Eclipse
(she was understudy anyway), and she got it. Perfidy had paid off.
    “I suppose she’ll be all right,” said Wilbur a few minutes later when he’d been advised of this casting. “She’s up in the part at least. I’d much rather have a dark-haired girl, but …”
    “Garden should be very good,” said Mr. Washburn. “You’d better rehearse her and Louis this afternoon.”
    “I’ll go telephone her,” I said, and I did. At first, she didn’t believe it but then, when she did, she was beside herself and I knew we were going to have a pleasant time … champagne in bed, I decided, as I hung up.
    My second official interview with the Inspector went off well enough.
    “How old are you?”
    “Twenty-eight.”
    “Where were you born?”
    “Hartford, Connecticut.”
    “In the service?”
    “Three and a half years … Pacific Theater of Operations … Army.”
    “What sort of work did you do upon discharge?”
    “Went back to college … finished at Harvard.”
    “Harvard?”
    “Yes,
Harvard.
” We glared at one another.
    “What sort of work after that?”
    “I was assistant drama critic on the
Globe
until a year ago when I opened my own office … public relations.”
    “I see. How long have you known, did you know, the