The Roman hat mystery : $b A problem in deductionQueen, Ellery
General
The Roman hat mystery : $b A problem in deduction
Queen, Ellery
Detective and mystery stories; Fathers and sons -- Fiction; Novelists -- Fiction; Police -- New York (State) -- New York -- Fiction
“Well, Inspector,” replied the detective, ruffling the edges of his
papers, “it’s hard to say. This is half of the list—the other half
isn’t ready yet. But I think you’ll find something interesting here.”
He handed Queen a batch of hastily written names and addresses. They
were the names which the Inspector had ordered Velie to secure by
interrogation of the audience.
Queen, with Ellery at his shoulder, examined the list, studying each
name carefully. He was half-way through the sheaf when he stiffened. He
squinted at the name which had halted him and looked up at Velie
with a puzzled air.
“Morgan,” he said thoughtfully. “Benjamin Morgan. Sounds mighty
familiar, Thomas. What does it suggest to you?”
Velie smiled frostily. “I thought you’d ask me that, Inspector.
Benjamin Morgan was Monte Field’s law-partner until two years ago!”
Queen nodded. The three men stared into each other’s eyes. Then the old
man shrugged his shoulders and said briefly, “Have to see some more of
Mr. Morgan, I’m afraid.”
He turned back to the list with a sigh. Again he studied each name,
looking up at intervals reflectively, shaking his head, and going on.
Velie, who knew Queen’s reputation for memory even more thoroughly than
Ellery, watched his superior with respectful eyes.
Finally the Inspector handed the papers back to the detective. “Nothing
else there, Thomas,” he said. “Unless you caught something that escaped
me. Did you?” His tone was grave.
Velie stared at the old man wordlessly, shook his head and started to
walk away.
“Just a minute, Thomas,” called Queen. “Before you get that second list
completed, ask Morgan to step into Panzer’s office, will you? Don’t
scare him. And by the way, see that he has his ticket-stub before he
goes to the office.” Velie departed.
The Inspector motioned to Panzer, who was watching a group of policemen
being marshaled by detectives for Queen’s work. The stout little
manager hurried up.
“Mr. Panzer,” inquired the Inspector, “at what time do your scrub-women
generally start cleaning up?”
“Why, they’ve been here for quite a while now, Inspector, waiting
to get to work. Most theatres are tidied early in the morning,
but I’ve always had my employees come immediately after the evening
performance. Just what is on your mind?”
Ellery, who had frowned slightly when the Inspector spoke, brightened
at the manager’s reply. He began to polish his pince-nez with
satisfaction.
“Here’s what I want you to do, Mr. Panzer,” continued Queen evenly.
“Arrange to have your cleaning-women make a particularly thorough
search to-night, after everybody is gone. They must pick up and save
everything—everything, no matter how seemingly trivial—and they’re to
watch especially for ticket-stubs. Can you trust these people?”
“Oh, absolutely, Inspector. They’ve been with the theatre ever since it
was built. You may be sure that nothing will be overlooked. What shall
I do with the sweepings?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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