BELSIZE (_casually_): He was blackmailing her, you know. DAN: Tch! tch! Was he? BELSIZE: Whoever he was. DAN: She had a lot of fellows on a string, though, didn't she? BELSIZE (_guardedly_): That's true. DAN: Though this one seems to have made a bit more stir than any of the others, don't he? BELSIZE: Yes. (_Indicating the cuttings_) Regular film star. Made his name. DAN (_abstractedly_): If you _can_ make your name withou nobody knowin' what it is, o' course. BELSIZE (_slightly piqued_): Yes, of course.... But I don't reckon he's been as bright as all that. DAN (_after a slight pause_): Oh, you don't? BELSIZE: No! They'll nab him in no time. DAN: Oh ... Mrs. Bramson'll be that relieved. And the whole country besides.... BELSIZE: Look here, Dan, any self-respecting murderer would have taken care to mutilate the body to such a degree that nobody could recognise it--and here we come and identify it first go! (DAN _folds his arms and looks thoughtful_.) Call that clever?... What d'you think? DAN _catches his eye and crosses to the sofa._ DAN: Well, sir, I'm a slow thinker, I am, but though it might be clever to leave the lady unide--unide---- BELSIZE: Unidentified. DAN (_sitting on the edge of the sofa_): Thank you, sir.... (_Laboriously_) Well, though it be clever to leave the lady unidentified and not be caught ... hasn't it been more clever to leave her _i_dentified ... and still not be caught? BELSIZE: Why didn't you sleep in your bed on the night of the tenth? _A pause._ DAN _stiffens almost imperceptibly._ DAN: What you say? BELSIZE: Why didn't you sleep in your bed on the night of the murder? DAN: I did. BELSIZE (_lighting his pipe_): You didn't. DAN: Yes I did. Oh--except for about half an hour--that's right. I couldn't sleep for toffee and I went up the fire-escape--I remember thinkin' about it next day when the woman was missing, and trying to remember if I could think of anything funny---- BELSIZE: What time was that? (_He rises, crosses to the fireplace, and throws his match into it._) DAN: Oh, about ... oh, you know how you wake up in the night and don't know what time it is.... BELSIZE (_staring at him doubtfully_): Mmm ... DAN: I could never sleep when I was at sea, neither, sir. BELSIZE: Mmm. (_Suddenly_) Are you feeling hot? DAN: No. BELSIZE: Your shirt's wet through. DAN (_after a pause_): I've been sawin' some wood. BELSIZE: Why didn't you tell us you were having an affair with the deceased woman? DAN: Affair? What's that? BELSIZE: Come along, old chap, I'll use a straighter word if it'll help you. But you're stalling. She was seen by two of the maids talking to you in the shrubbery. Well? _A pause._ DAN _bursts into tears, but with a difference. His breakdown a few minutes ago was genuine; this is a good performance, very slightly exaggerated._ BELSIZE _watches him dispassionately, his brows knit._ DAN: Oh, sir ... it's been on my conscience ... ever since ...