Isaac Asimov - Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Vol. 73, No. 3. Whole No. 424, March 1979

“Don’t worry.”

Hope Trennis was at the front of the room, flanking the television set and calling for attention. “It’s about to begin, ladies and gentlemen. Do be seated. After the show we’ll be serving a buffet supper in the study.”

Nick glanced at his watch as the lights dimmed. 9:15, exactly. That meant the film would end its hundred-minute run at 10:55, since it was playing without interruptions. He wondered why the British TV schedules always seemed so irregular. Nothing would ever begin at 9:15 back home. He settled back in his chair to watch the beginning of “100 Minutes,” keeping an eye on the study door which was slightly ajar. A light was on in there, and he saw the butler and maid pass across his slender line of vision from time to time, preparing the buffet supper for later. He realized he might have no chance to slip into the study unobserved.

The film droned on and he watched a surprisingly agile Hope Trennis scale a board fence while pursued by the villains. She played the middle-aged wife of an important presidential advisor, sought by kidnapers who hoped to force her husband to deliver certain top-secret documents into their hands. It was predictable but exciting.

Nick glanced at the glowing numbers on his digital watch.

9:39.

The light in the study was still on. He had a glimpse of the maid carrying a tray of cups.

On the television screen Hope had eluded her pursuer for the moment and taken refuge in a gas station where she’d met a handsome mechanic. While Gloria watched the screen as if she’d never seen the film before, Nick grew increasingly restless. He was missing the perfect opportunity to search the study.

9:52.

As the minutes passed he decided the butler and maid intended to remain in the study until supper was served. But then, as if in answer to his silent prayer, the study light went out and the door opened. The servants slipped into the living room to watch the last half of the film.

The time was 10:05.

In the darkness no one but Gloria noticed him leave his chair and slip quietly to the back of the room. For the most part the audience watched the film in polite silence, though occasionally Hope would cause a ripple of laughter with some remark directed to her image. During one suspenseful moment Nick slipped into the darkened study and closed the door. He was certain not even the servants had noticed.

10:08. He turned on the desk lamp and set to work. He had 47 minutes to find the newspaper. Plenty of time.

If it was in the study at all.

10:15.

The desk had yielded nothing, nor had the cabinet with drawers that stood against the far wall. His eyes passed over the fireplace and a crowded bookcase, searching for the most likely hiding place for a safe.

Nick found it behind one of the paintings, in the best British tradition. As he twirled the knob experimentally he really did begin to feel like Raffles, the famous gentleman crook.

The safe was an old one, not very good. But then he wasn’t a very good safecracker, either. He pressed his ear against the cold metal and listened for the sound of the tumblers.

It took him ten minutes to get the first number.

He began to sweat a bit. The time was 10:30. Could he do it in twenty-five minutes?

The second number came at 10:38. He was working close to the line. He heard a cheer go up from the next room and he knew the moment of the grand climax was approaching.

Just a few more minutes...

The safe came open at 10:51. Four minutes to spare.

He was reaching inside it just as the door opened and Eric Noble stepped into the study. The man from the BBC eyed him for an instant and quickly closed the door before others could follow. “Well! What have we here?”

The safe held nothing but a satin-covered jewel box. Nick closed the door, spun the dial, and replaced the painting. “Just keeping my hand in,” he said.

“So I noticed.”

The study door opened again and the butler hurried in to complete the food arrangements. The guests were crowding behind him. Nick tried to keep cool. “So the BBC dropped four minutes out of Hope’s triumph?”

“Not at all,” Noble said. “Oh, I see! You were working against the running time of the film. You didn’t know—”

“Food’s ready, everyone,” Hope Trennis announced. “Be sure to pick up a glass of champagne at the end of the table.”

Felix Poland came in with Gloria. He glanced over to where Nick stood, a question in his eyes. Nick ignored it and stepped to one side with Eric Noble. “You’re the first thief I ever met,” the BBC man said. “Out of loyalty to Hope I really should turn you in.”

“I stole nothing. And there’s only your word that the safe was open.”

“True enough,” Noble agreed. “What’s your game, Velvet? You’re not the usual run of thief. And you did arrive with Felix Poland.” Even as he said the words a light dawned. “Of course! That rascal hired you, didn’t he?”

“Did he?”

Gloria came up to them with a plate of food. “You’d better get in line, Nicky, before it’s all gone.”

“I don’t think Hope Trennis is likely to run out of food,” he said, but he joined Noble in line nevertheless.

“I’ll give you a tip for next time,” Noble said. “An engineering quirk of British television transmission causes an imperceptible speed-up of projection. A twenty-five-minute film loses one minute on our TV. And Hope’s ‘100 Minutes’ is a fast ninety-six minutes here.”

“So you didn’t cut anything.”

“Oh, no. You saw it all. Or I should say you would have seen it all if you hadn’t been busy cracking Hope’s safe.”

Nick gathered up a plate of food, feeling depressed. He’d been caught in the act by this man who taunted him, and he still had no idea where the newspaper was.

He watched Hope approach the butler and wave toward the fireplace. “Didn’t I tell you to burn that right away?” she asked. The butler murmured an apology and picked up a long match.

The fireplace!

Nick’s eyes shot to it, saw the folded newspaper lying on top of the wood, and knew instinctively it was the one he sought. It was valuable only to Poland, not to Hope Trennis, and she wanted it burned.

He turned quickly to Gloria and whispered, “Sorry, my dear” — and upset his plate of food down the front of her dress.

“ Nicky!” she screamed.

The butler, half bent toward the fireplace, heard her cry, and straightened up. He blew out his match and hurried over with a napkin.

“I don’t know how I could be so clumsy,” Nick murmured. He stepped behind the butler, and while all eyes were on Gloria quickly scooped up the newspaper from the fireplace. Before he tucked it under his coat he verified the date. It was indeed yesterday’s London Free Press.

He went back to Gloria’s side while the butler and maid finished wiping off her dress. “How could you do that to me?” she asked.

“I’ll explain later,” he said softly. “It was necessary.”

“I don’t think this is our lucky day any more.”

“We’ll see.”

They departed soon afterward, with Hope Trennis seeing them to the door. She seemed suspicious of something, but uncertain of what it was. “I hope you enjoyed the evening,” she said.

“It was most profitable,” Felix Poland assured her. “You’ll be hearing from me.”

The actress smiled thinly. “Not too soon, I trust.”

In the taxi back to the hotel Nick handed over the paper. “Is this what you wanted?”

Felix Poland quickly opened it to an inside page. “I’ll tell you soon enough. Yes, this is the one! You do good work, Velvet.”

“What’s this all about?” Gloria asked.

“Your husband is an extremely accomplished thief. And you are quite an actress to distract their attention the way you did.”