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No help at all. “Thank you, Bertram. It’s time for me to leave for the theatre.”
* * *
“I demand you take me to my theatre now. I need to see what kind of evidence you have against me.”
“Sorry, sir, but we have to handle this by the book.” Moustache wrinkled his nose.
“Damn it! We have to go by the theatre to get to your offices. I only wish to see what’s going on. Nanette Lloyd left the theatre last night before nine thirty, at which time I left the theatre. And I assure you that when she left, she was very much alive. An
gry, but very much alive.”
“I insist you stop speaking, Newland,” Harkins said. “You’ll have a chance to talk to your solicitor.”
“For God’s sake, I’m innocent of any wrongdoing here. You know me, Harkins. I’m no killer. I have no need of any solicitor. Now take me to my theatre.”
Harkins looked to Moustache. “You know, Benny, it is on our way. The fellow has a right to see why he’s being charged.”
Moustache—Benny—furrowed his brow. “You always love to make your own rules, don’t you, Harkins?”
“He’s a good chap, Benny. He gave my sister an audition and a job. We’ve been to dinner at his home, for God’s sake. He just wants a quick look at the scene.”
“The boss won’t like it.”
“Please,” Zach said again. He had to find out what was going on. His heart was nearly beating out of his chest.
“Fine,” Benny relented, looking to Harkins. “But you owe me one.”
Zach breathed out a sigh. He would get to the bottom of this ridiculousness. Nanette couldn’t possibly be dead. The bitch was too mean to die. This was one of her cruel hoaxes. She was trying to get him back. Well, it wasn’t going to work.
Within a few minutes, they stopped at the theatre. It had already been roped off. Damn, what was he going to do about the production? He had put much of his benefactors’ money and some of his own into the production. It was to be Sophie’s debut. It had to go on.
“Could you unbind me please? There are people here that can’t see me like this. I’m the owner and the manager, for God’s sake.”
“I assure you,” Benny said, “the only people here are law enforcement. Everyone else was told to leave. This is a crime scene, and it is currently under investigation.”
“Oh, for the love of…” Zach huffed.
Harkins escorted him across the barrier and into his own damned theatre. The nerve of all of them. Several constables and inspectors milled about.
“I see nothing out of the ordinary, so far, except my doorman and my night shift are not here. I usually relieve them when I come in at six bells.”
“What you are looking for is not out in the open. One of your night persons is the one who called us at about four this morning.”
Zach knew where he had been at four in the morning. Of course, he couldn’t tell the constables that. Sophie’s reputation was at stake.
“I assure you I was not here at four in the morning, gentlemen.”
“Four in the morning was just the time when your worker found the body. We’re not sure when the crime took place yet.”
The peelers escorted Zach through the hallway toward his office. His office door was open, and several inspectors and constables hovered around inside.
“Move out of the way, gentlemen,” Harkins said. “The suspect here wants to see the scene.”
“Laddie, he has no right. The boss won’t like it,” one of the men said.
“Yeah, well, I’m not telling the boss, Jonesy, and neither are you. You owe me for bending the rules for you enough times. It don’t hurt to let him have a look. I know him. He’s a good bloke. Then we’ll take him in.”
Jonesy relented, and the group of people parted.
