The Mystery of the Rogues' Reunion - Marc Brandel [41]
Chapter 15
Baby Fatso Turns the Tables
“CUT IT OUT,” Bonehead repeated, keeping his eyes on Luther Lomax. “I’m through listening to you. You got me into this mess, using me to steal those cups for you and promising me half their value and that you’d coach me with the right answers and give me half the quiz money. And what did I get out of it? Nothing.”
Bonehead looked at Jupe. “It was his idea right from the beginning,” he went on. “He saw me in a play I did at a little theatre in Hollywood. He came to see me backstage afterwards, and he told me what a great actor I was.”
Lomax was still standing with his hands in his jacket pockets. He shook his head slightly.
“I was just flattering you,” he said. “You have a small talent, but that’s all. You could never be a star. Not even with my help.”
Bonehead ignored him. He was still looking at Jupe.
“I wasn’t going to spill all this in Milton Glass’s office,” he said. “I knew Lomax had Peggy locked in a room here. And that’s a kidnapping charge. I knew the cops would say I was as guilty as he was, even though it was all his idea. I made him promise there wouldn’t be any violence. But I did help him set it up. I called Peggy and got her to come to my apartment last night. I told her Milton Glass wanted to talk to us both. But I said that Glass didn’t want anyone else to know about it. So I said Glass would pick us up on Hollywood Boulevard.”
The First Investigator nodded. What Bonehead had said checked with the facts as he knew them, but he was wondering what the young blond actor was hoping to get in return for this confession.
“We had to get Peggy out of the way so she wouldn’t win,” Bonehead went on, “and so we’d have a way to make you stop trying.”
“What do you want?” Jupe asked.
“A deal,” Bonehead told him. “I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll take you to Peggy. We’ll …” He smiled briefly. “We’ll rescue her together. And in return, you back me up. You tell her it was my idea to come here, to set her free. No harm done. She’ll listen to you if you tell her the whole story and about the way you made sure she won that quiz money. You persuade her not to bring any charges against me.”
Jupe looked at Bob and then at Pete. The First Investigator knew he had no authority to make any deals. If Peggy wanted to press charges against Lomax and Bonehead, the law would step in. Once that happened he would have to tell every word of the truth, everything he knew, everything Bonehead had said.
On the other hand, the first, the most important thing, was to get Peggy out of there. After that it would be up to her whether she wanted to go to the police or not. Jupe was still looking at his two friends in a questioning way.
Pete nodded.
Bob hesitated a second longer and then nodded too.
“Okay,” Jupe said. “I’ll do my best to persuade her that you didn’t mean her any real harm. I’ll tell her you came here to set her free. But that’s all I can promise. After that, it’s up to Peggy. Where is she?”
“Upstairs. This way. I saw him lock her in one of the bedrooms.” Bonehead took a quick step forward and then stopped.
Luther Lomax had taken his right hand out of his jacket pocket. He was holding a small black automatic.
“No,” the director said. “You’re not going to have her. Peggy’s going to stay here with me.”
He was standing with his feet slightly apart, his head thrown back. He looked exactly the way Jupe remembered him — tall, imposing, a figure of authority.
“I made a child star out of her,” he went on in a deep, ringing voice. “And I can do it again. She has the talent. I know she has. And I can bring it out. I can make her a great actress. Together we’ll produce a great motion picture. An Oscar winner. We’ll both make a superb comeback. We’ll both be famous and rich again.”
Pete looked at Lomax, measuring the distance between them. One of the Second Investigator’s specialities was flying tackles. A headlong leap and a quick grab at an antagonist’s knees had got the three friends out of some dangerous situations in the past.
But there