The Mystery of the Magic Circle - M. V. Carey [41]
“We have a witness,” said Jupe. “And we can tie both Goodfellow and Long in with the missing films.”
“You’re crazy!” cried Long.
Jupiter didn’t answer. He went out into the hall and opened the front door. “Come on in,” he said.
A moment later he appeared in the living-room doorway. Pete was at his side.
“Surprised?” Jupe said to Jefferson Long. “You should be. Because the last time you saw Pete, he was unconscious, and you were locking him in the trunk of a wrecked car!”
Chapter 21
Crash!
“YOU’RE MAD!” said Jefferson Long. “I don’t have to stay here and be insulted!”
“We would all appreciate it if you’d stay,” said William Tremayne, and he waved the gun in his hand.
Long sat back and folded his arms. “Very well,” he said, “if you’re going to use strong-arm tactics.”
Beefy grinned. “Okay, Jupe. Go ahead.”
“When I was in his office the other day,” said Jupiter, “Jefferson Long said that he’d researched a television series on drug abuse, and that he’d found that some people employed in legitimate drug firms were involved in the illicit distribution of drugs. My guess is that in the course of his investigation, Long happened to meet Harold Thomas, who was an employee at one of these firms. Like Marvin Gray, Long recognized Thomas. He knew he had once attempted to steal a necklace from Miss Bainbridge, and that he was once known as Charles Goodfellow. Perhaps he checked up on Goodfellow. Perhaps Goodfellow had a record. He might even be a fugitive. In any case, Long could blackmail him — or at least put considerable pressure on him.”
“Is that the way it was, Long?” asked Beefy.
“I have nothing to say,” announced Jefferson Long.
“Thomas, was Long blackmailing you?” the young publisher asked his former accountant.
“I’ll talk to my lawyer,” said Thomas. “No one else.”
“All right,” said Jupe, undismayed. “Now at about this time, something happened which disturbed Long very much. Video Enterprises decided to purchase Madeline Bainbridge’s films, and they told Long that the series on drug abuse would be cancelled because the money originally budgeted for this series would be used for the films.
“No doubt Long was very bitter, especially since he had never liked Madeline Bainbridge. And it must have occurred to him that he could get back at Madeline Bainbridge and could also make a great deal of money if he could steal the films.
“Jefferson Long knew he could find out what day the films would be transferred to the laboratory in Santa Monica. Anyone at Video Enterprises could learn this. It wouldn’t be any secret. But before that day came, while the negotiations for the films were still going on, he had Harold Thomas apply for a job at the business firm closest to the laboratory. Doubtless Thomas would have accepted a much humbler position than accountant to get into Amigos Press.
“By the time the films arrived at the laboratory, Thomas knew the routine at the film lab perfectly. He saw most of the employees leave at five that day. Then he left Amigos Press, joined Long, and they forced their way into the lab. They knocked out the technician who was there, loaded the films into a van, and drove off.
“Thomas was, of course, busier than he had planned to be, since that afternoon Marvin Gray had delivered the counterfeit memoirs from Madeline Bainbridge.
Thomas had to plant his incendiary device and later, after helping to steal the films, return to Amigos Press to check on the fire. Then he had to burgle Beefy’s apartment.”
“You haven’t a shred of evidence to back up what you’re saying,” declared Jefferson Long.
“But we do have evidence,” said Jupiter. “I overlooked it for a long time, but when I finally remembered, everything else fell into place.
“You interviewed Marvin Gray the night the films were stolen. You said that the hold-up was perpetrated by a couple of men. It was a statement that sounded perfectly correct. But there was no way you could have known that there were two men. There could have been three or four or ten — or perhaps only one. Even the police