Ellery Queen - Roman Hat Mystery

“The second act begins at 9:15 sharp and ends at 10:05 sharp,” said Panzer instantly.

“Was tonight’s performance run according to this schedule?”

“Certainly. We must be on the dot because of cues, lights, and so on,” responded the manager.

The Inspector muttered some calculations to himself. “That makes it 9:25 the boy saw Field alive,” he mused. “He was found dead at...”

He swung about and called for Officer Doyle. The man came running.

“Doyle,” asked the Inspector, “Doyle, do you remember exactly at what time this fellow Pusak approached you with his story of the murder?”

The policeman scratched his head. “Why, I don’t remember exactly, Inspector,” he said. “All I do know is that the second act was almost over when it happened.”

“Not definite enough, Doyle,” said Queen irritably. “Where are the actors now?”

“Got ’em herded right over there back of the center section, sir,” said Doyle. “We didn’t know what to do with ’em except that.”

“Get one of them for me!” snapped the Inspector.

Doyle ran off. Queen beckoned to Detective Piggott, who was standing a few feet to the rear between a man and a woman.

“Got the doorman there, Piggott?” asked Queen. Piggott nodded and a tall, corpulent old man, cap trembling in his hand, uniform shrunken on his flabby body, stumbled forward.

“Are you the man who stands outside the theatre — the regular doorman?” asked the Inspector.

“Yes, sir,” the doorman answered, twisting the cap in his hands.

“Very well. Now think hard. Did anyone — anyone, mind you — leave the theatre by the front entrance during the second act?” The Inspector was leaning forward, like a small greyhound.

The man took a moment before replying. Then he said slowly, but with conviction, “No, sir. Nobody went out of the theatre. Nobody, I mean, but the orangeade boy.”

“Were you there all the time?” barked the Inspector.

“Yes, sir.”

“Now then. Do you remember anybody coming in during the second act?”

“We-e-ll... Jessie Lynch, the orangeade boy, came in right after the act started.”

“Anybody else?”

There was silence as the old man made a frenzied effort at concentration. After a moment he looked helplessly from one face to another, eyes despairing. Then he mumbled, “I don’t remember, sir.”

The Inspector regarded him irritably. The old man seemed sincere in his nervous way. He was perspiring and frequently looked sidewise at Panzer, as if he sensed that his defection of memory would cost him his position.

“I’m awfully sorry, sir,” the doorman repeated. “Awfully sorry. There might’ve been someone, but my memory ain’t as good as it used to be when I was younger. I–I just can’t seem to recall.”

Ellery’s cool voice cut in on the old man’s thick accents.

“How long have you been a doorman?”

The old man’s bewildered eyes shifted to this new inquisitor. “Nigh onto ten years, sir. I wasn’t always a doorman. Only when I got old and couldn’t do nothin’ else—”

“I understand,” said Ellery kindly. He hesitated a moment, then added inflexibly, “A man who has been a doorman for as many years as you have might forget something about the first act. But people do not often come into a theatre during the second act. Surely if you think hard enough you can answer positively, one way or the other?”

The response came painfully. “I–I don’t remember, sir. I could say no one did, but that mightn’t be the truth. I just can’t answer.”

“All right.” The Inspector put his hand on the old man’s shoulder. “Forget it. Perhaps we’re asking too much. That’s all for the time being.” The doorman shuffled away with the pitiful alacrity of old age.

Doyle clumped toward the group, a tall handsome man dressed in rough tweeds in his wake, traces of stage make-up streaking his face.

“This is Mr. Peale, Inspector. He’s the leading man of the show,” reported Doyle.

Queen smiled at the actor, offering his hand. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Peale. Perhaps you can help us out with a little information.”

“Glad to be of service, Inspector,” replied Peale, in a rich baritone. He glanced at the back of the Medical Examiner, who was busy over the dead man; then looked away with repugnance.

“I suppose you were on the stage at the time the hue-and-cry went up in this unfortunate affair?” pursued the Inspector.

“Oh, yes. In fact, the entire cast was. What is it you would like to know?”

“Could you definitely place the time that you noticed something wrong in the audience?”

“Yes, I can. We had just about ten minutes before the end of the act. It was at the climax of the play, and my role demands the discharge of a pistol. I remember we had some discussion during rehearsals of this point in the play, and that is how I can be so sure of the time.”

The Inspector nodded. “Thank you very much, Mr. Peale. That’s exactly what I wanted to know... Incidentally, let me apologize for having kept you people crowded back here in this fashion. We were quite busy and had no time to make other arrangements. You and the rest of the cast are at liberty to go backstage now. Of course, make no effort to leave the theatre until you are notified.”

“I understand completely, Inspector. Happy to have been able to help.” Peale bowed and retreated to the rear of the theatre.

The Inspector leaned against the nearest seat, absorbed in thought, Ellery, at his side, was absently polishing the lenses of his pince-nez. Father motioned significantly to son.

“Well, Ellery?” Queen asked in a low voice.

“Elementary, my dear Watson,” murmured Ellery. “Our respected victim was last seen alive at 9:25, and he was found dead at approximately 9:55. Problem: What happened between times? Sounds ludicrously simple.”

“You don’t say?” muttered Queen. “Piggott!”

“Yes, sir.”

“Is that the usherette? Let’s get some action.”

Piggott released the arm of the young woman standing at his side. She was a pert and painted lady with even white teeth and a ghastly smile. She minced forward and regarded the Inspector brazenly.

“Are you the regular usherette on this aisle, Miss—?” asked the Inspector briskly.

“O’Connell, Madge O’Connell. Yes, I am!”

The Inspector took her arm gently. “I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to be as grave as you are impertinent, my dear,” he said. “Step over here for a moment.” The girl’s face was deathly white as they paused at the LL row. “Pardon me a moment, Doc. Mind if we interrupt your work?”

Dr. Prouty looked up with an abstracted scowl. “No, go right ahead, Inspector. I’m nearly through.” He stood up and moved aside, biting the cigar between his teeth.

Queen watched the girl’s face as she stooped over the dead man’s body. She drew her breath in sharply.

“Do you remember ushering this man to his seat tonight, Miss O’Connell?”

The girl hesitated. “Seems like I do. But I was very busy tonight, as usual, and I must have ushered two hundred people all told. So I couldn’t say positively.”

“Do you recall whether these seats which are empty now” — he indicated the seven vacant chairs — “were unoccupied all during the first and second acts?”

“Well... I do seem to remember noticing them that way as I walked up and down the aisle... No, sir. I don’t think anybody sat in those seats all night.”

“Did anyone walk up or down this aisle during the second act, Miss O’Connell? Think hard, now; it’s important that you answer correctly.”

The girl hesitated once more, flashing bold eyes at the impassive face of the Inspector. “No — I didn’t see anybody walk up or down the aisle.” She quickly added, “I couldn’t tell you much. I don’t know a thing about this business. I’m a hard-working girl, and I—”