Alfred Hitchcock: Alfred Hitchcock Presents: 16 Skeletons From My Closet

Downstairs, he rang the superintendent's bell again. Mr. Price, clearly relieved to see him on his way out, made a polite effort not to show it.

"Are you finished, Lieutenant?" he said.

"Yes. For the present, at least. I'm taking this with me. It's a pair of matched target pistols. Was either Mr. Gray or Mr. Fleming an enthusiast for target shooting, do you know?"

"Both were, as a matter of fact. Sunday mornings, fair days, they have gone off regularly for matches. I believe they made small wagers. I do hope you will take good care of the pistols."

"The best. I'll give you a receipt for them if you want me to."

"I'm sure that won't be necessary."

"Thanks. By the way, there's a photograph on the mantel upstairs. A young lady. Blonde hair cut quite short. Very pretty face. It's signed Sandy. Do you know her by any chance?"

"I've met her. Miss Sandra Shore. She was introduced to me in the hall one evening when I happened to encounter her with Mr. Gray and Mr. Fleming. Afterward, on several occasions, I exchanged a few words with her when she came to call."

"Has she come here often?"

"Frequently. Many times, I suppose, when I didn't see her. I'm sure that it was all quite proper. She was equally the friend of both gentlemen. They had been friends, she told me once, since childhood. It was quite a charming relationship."

"I'm sure it was. Tell me, do you know Miss Shore's address?"

"No, but it's probably in the directory."

"Would you mind checking it for me?"

"Not at all."

Marcus was invited in, but he preferred to wait in the hall. After a few minutes Mr. Price returned with the address written down on a sheet from a memo pad. Engaging again in mental cartography, Marcus located the address in relation to where he was.

"One more question, if you don't mind," he said, "and I'll run along. I assume both Mr. Gray and Mr. Fleming own automobiles?"

"Only one between them, which they both used. One might think that such an arrangement would lead to difficulties, but they apparently worked it out very well."

"Mr. Gray and Mr. Fleming seem to have been extremely compatible. Share apartment. Share car. Share girl. Most commendable. Where is the car kept?"

"There's a garage at the rear, just off the alley. Stall number five. The automobile, if you wish to know, is a Ford. I'm not sure of the model. Recent, however."

"Thanks again. You've been most helpful."

Marcus turned with his sometimes offensive abruptness and went out of the building and around to the garage. Stall number five was occupied by a 1960 Ford. Mr. Fleming, wherever he was, was obviously moving either by shank's mare or in some other vehicle than his own. Marcus, in the one furnished by the department, drove to the address on the memo sheet, and this time it was unnecessary to disturb the superintendent, for there was a directory of tenants in the entrance hall that told him where to go, and he went.

The photographer who had taken Sandra Shore's picture, he learned, was an artist. He had caught on paper precisely the elfin and haunting quality of her face. The sadness and tenderness and passion assembled in the lean heart. Now, in person, there was more, of course. A small and slender body exquisitely formed, suggesting its delights in a boyish white blouse and a narrow skirt. Marcus, in the hall, held his hat and offered up a short and silent paean.

"Yes?" Sandra Shore said.

"My name is Marcus," Marcus said. "Lieutenant Joseph Marcus. Of the police. I wonder if I may speak with you for a few minutes?"

She surveyed him gravely, her head cocked a little to one side.

"Whatever for?"

"It will take only a few minutes. I'd appreciate it very much."

"Well, if you are actually a policeman, you will certainly speak with me whether I am willing or not, so there isn't really much use in asking my permission, is there?"

"It distresses me, but I must admit that you're right. Thank you for clarifying the situation so nicely. May I come in?"

She nodded and closed the door after him, when he was across the threshold. Following her into the living room to a chair in which he sat, he admired her neat ankles and lovely legs. When she was in another chair across from him, the narrow skirt tucked primly beneath her knees, which showed, he continued to admire the legs for a moment, discreetly, but soon went back to her face, which was the best of her, after all, in spite of distractions.

"You don't look like a policeman," she said.

"Don't I? I wouldn't know. What is a policeman supposed to look like?"

"I'm not sure. Not like you, however. What do you wish to speak with me about?"

"Not what, really. Who. A young man named Alexander Gray."

"Alex?" She managed to appear slightly incredulous without, somehow, disturbing the serenity of her expression. "What possible interest could the police have in Alex?"

"He's dead. Murdered, apparently. Someone shot him sometime early this morning on the course of the Greenbrier Golf Club."

She sat quite still, her only movement the folding of her hands in her lap. In her great, grave eyes there was a slight darkening, as if a light had been turned down.

"That's ridiculous."

"The truth is often ridiculous. Things don't seem to make sense."

"Alex isn't even a member of the Greenbrier Golf Club."

"Apparently you don't have to be a member to be killed on the course."

"I simply refuse to believe you. It's cruel of you to come here and tell me such a lie."

"It would be cruel if I did. And pointless."

"I see what you mean. You would have no reason. Unless there's a reason that I can't understand. Is there?"

"No. None whatever. Surely you realize that."

"I suppose I do. I suppose I must believe you after all." She stood up suddenly and walked over to a window and stood there for a minute looking out, slim and erect against the glass, her pale hair catching afire from the slanting light. Then she returned, sitting again, tucking the skirt and folding her hands. "Poor Alex," she said. "Poor little Alex."

He hadn't been so little. Average height, at least, but Marcus skipped it. Miss Sandra Shore was striking him as a remarkable young woman. There was genuine grief in her voice, in her darkened eyes, but her face was in repose, fixed as serenely in shock and grief as it had been in the photograph.

"You are very composed under the circumstances," he said. "I'm relieved and thankful."

"Perhaps I can't quite accept it yet, in spite of knowing that it must be true."

"Sometimes it takes a while for things to hit us hard. Do you feel like talking with me now?"

"What do you want to know?"

"You were a good friend of Alexander Gray's. Is that true?"

"Yes, it's true, but I can't imagine how you know. Unless you've talked with Rufe. Have you?"

"Rufus Fleming? No. I'd like to talk with him, however. I don't know where he is."

"Have you been to the apartment? Alex and Rufe lived together, you know."

"Yes, I know. I've been there. Do you have any idea where Fleming could be?"

"Just out somewhere, I imagine. He'll show up soon."

"His car was in the garage."

"Rufe often walks places. Quite long distances sometimes. He enjoys it."

"There was a photograph of you in their apartment. A very good one. I noticed that it was inscribed to both Gray and Fleming. All your love. Were you an equally good friend to both?"

"Equally? That's so hard to judge, isn't it? I loved them both. I still love them both, even though Alex must be dead, since you say so."

"Did they both love you?"

"Oh, yes. We all loved each other."

"Isn't that a rather unusual relationship to exist among two men and a woman?"

"I don't think so. Perhaps it is. It has been that way for so long that it seems perfectly natural to me."