XXVI
A CIGARETTE CASE
Kennedy's face betrayed only a remote interest. "Have you any copies ofthat particular film?"
"Just the negative, I believe."
"Could I have that for a few days?"
"Of course!" Manton seemed to wish to give us every possible amount ofco-operation; yet this request puzzled him. "Would you care to go downto the negative vaults with me?"
Kennedy nodded.
First we stopped in a lengthy corridor in the rear building, wherethere were no great signs of life. Through a door I could see a longroom filled with ornaments, pictures, furniture, rugs, and all the vastfreak collections of a property room. Along the side of the hallwayitself was a line of steel lockers of recent design.
Manton called out to an employee and he appeared after a long wait andunlocked one of them. At Kennedy's direction I put the traveling bag inthe lower compartment, pocketing the key. Then we retraced our steps tobroad steel stairs leading up and down. We descended to the basementand found ourselves in a high-ceilinged space immaculately clean andused generally for storage purposes.
"The film vaults," Manton explained, "are at the corner of the westwing. They have to be ventilated specially, on account of the highinflammability of the celluloid composition. Since the greatest firerisk, otherwise, is the laboratory and printing departments, and nextto that the studios themselves with the scenery, the heat of thelights, the wires, etc., we have located them in the most distantcorner of the quadrangle. The negative, you see, represents our actualinvested capital to a considerable extent. The prints wear out andfrequently large sections are destroyed and have to be reprinted. Thensometimes we can reissue old subjects. All in all we guard the negativewith the care a bank would give actual funds in its vaults."
In our many visits to the Manton studios I had been struck by thescrupulous cleanliness of every part of the place. The impression oforderliness came back to me with redoubled force as we made our wayaround in the basement. Nothing seemed out of its proper position,although a vast amount of various material for picture making wasstored here. We passed two projection rooms, one a miniature theaterwith quite a bit of comfort, the other small and bare for the use ofdirectors and cutters.
Finally we saw the vaults ahead of us. The walls were concrete,matching the actual walls of the basement. There were two entrances andthe doors were double, of heavy steel, arranged so that an air spacewould give protection in case of fire. At a roll-top desk, arranged forthe use of the clerk in charge of the negatives and prints, was a youngboy.
"Where's Wagnalls?" demanded Manton.
"He went out, sir," the boy replied, respectfully enough. "Said hewould be right back and for me to watch and not to let anything getout."
The promoter led the way into the first room. Here on all four sidesand in several rows down the center, like the racks in a publiclibrary, were shelves supporting stacks of square thin metal boxes ortrays with handles and tightly fitting covers. Cards were secured tothe front of each, by clamps, giving the name of the picture and thenumber under which the film was filed. I was surprised because Iexpected to find everything kept in ordinary round film cans.
"These are the negatives," Manton explained. He pulled out a box atrandom, opening it. "The negative is not all spliced together, the samelength as the reels of positive, because the printing machines areequipped to take two-hundred-foot pieces at a time, or approximatefifths of a reel, the size of a roll of raw positive film stock. Thenwhenever there is a change in color, as from amber daylight to bluetint for night, the negative is broken because pieces of differentcoloring have to go through different baths, and that also determinesthe size of the rolls. The prints, or positives, in the other vaults,are in reel lengths and so are kept in the round boxes in which theyare shipped."
Kennedy glanced about curiously. "The negative of that snake picture ishere, you said?"
Manton went to a little desk where there was a card index. Thumbingthrough the records, he found the number and led us to the proper placein the rack. In the box were only two rolls of negative, both werelarge.
"This was a split reel," the promoter began. "It was approximately fourhundred feet and we used it to fill out a short comedy, a release wehad years ago, a reel the first part of which was educational and thelast two-thirds or so a roaring slap-stick. We never made money on it.
"But this stuff was mighty good, Mr. Kennedy. We practically wrote ascenario for those reptiles. Doctor Nagoya was down himself and for thebetter part of a day it wasn't possible to get a woman in the studio,for fear a rattler or something might get loose."
"Were there rattlers in the film?"
"Altogether, I think. The little Jap was interesting, too. Betweenscenes he told us all about the reptiles, and how their poison--"Manton checked himself, confused. Was it because the thought of poisonreminded him of the two deaths so close to him, or was it from somemore potent twinge of conscience? "You'll see it all in the film," hefinished, lamely.
"I may keep these for a little bit?" Kennedy asked.
"Of course! I can have the two rolls printed and developed and drysometime this afternoon, if you wish."
"No, this will do very well."
Kennedy slipped a roll in each pocket, straining the cloth to get themin. Manton opened a book on the little table, making an entry of thedelivery of the rolls and adding his own initials.
"I have to be very careful to avoid the loss of negative," he told us."Nothing can be taken out of here except on my own personal order."
I thought that Manton was very frank and accommodating. Surely he hadmade no effort to conceal his knowledge of this film made with DoctorNagoya, and he had even mentioned the poison of the rattlesnakes.Though it had confused him for a brief moment, that had not struck meas a very decisive indication of guilty knowledge. After all, no oneknew of the use of crotalin to kill Stella Lamar except the murdererhimself, and Kennedy and those of us in his confidence. The murderermight not guess that Kennedy had identified the venom. Yet if Mantonwere that man he had covered his feelings wonderfully in telling usabout the film.
My thoughts strayed to the towel upstairs. Had an attempt been made yetto steal it from the locker? It seemed to me that we were losing toomuch time down here if we hoped to notice anyone with itching hands.
I realized that Kennedy had been very clever in including all oursuspects in hearing at the time he revealed the importance of the clue.Of the original nine listed by Mackay, Werner was dead and Mrs. Mantonhad never entered the case. Enid we had assumed to be the mysteriouswoman in Millard's divorce, however, and the other six had all beenupon the floor in contact with Kennedy. First there was Marilyn, thewoman. Then the five men in order had displayed a lively interest inthe towel--Shirley, Gordon, Millard, Phelps, and Manton.
Kennedy's voice roused me from my reverie.
"Does this door lead through to the other vaults, Mr. Manton?"
"Yes." The promoter straightened, after replacing the records of thenegative. "I designed this system of storage myself and superintendedevery detail of construction. It is--" He checked himself with anexclamation, noticing that the door was open. With a flush of anger heslammed it shut.
"I should think the connecting doors would be kept shut all the time,"Kennedy remarked. "In case of fire only one compartment would be aloss."
"That's the idea exactly! That's why I was on the point of swearing.The boys down here are getting lax and I'm going to make trouble."Manton turned back and called to the boy outside. "Where did you sayWagnalls went?"
"I don't know, sir! Sometimes he goes across to McCann's for a cup ofcoffee, or maybe he went up to the printing department."
Manton faced us once more. "If you'll excuse me just a moment I'm goingto see who's responsible for this. Why," he sputtered, "if you hadn'tcalled me around the rack I wouldn't have noticed that the door wasopen and then, if there had been a fire--I--I'll be right back!"
As Manton stormed off Ken
nedy smiled slightly, then nodded for me tofollow. We passed through into the rooms for positive storage. These inturn had fireproof connecting doors, all of which were open. In eachcase Kennedy closed them. Eventually we emerged into the main part ofthe basement through the farther vault door. Nothing of a suspiciousnature had caught our attention. I guessed that Kennedy simply hadwished to cover the carelessness of the vault man in leaving the innerdoors wide open.
At the entrance which had first admitted us to the negative room,however, Kennedy stooped suddenly. At the very moment he bent forward Icaught the glint of something bright behind the heavy steel door, andin the shadow so that it had escaped us before. As he rose I leanedover. It was a cigarette case, a very handsome one with large initialsengraved with deep skillful flourish.
"Who is 'J. G.'?" Kennedy asked.
I felt a quiver of excitement. "Jack Gordon, the leading man."
"What's an actor doing down in the film vaults?" he muttered.
Slipping the case into his pocket, he glanced about on the floor andsomething just within the negative room caught his eye. Once more hebent down. With a speculative expression he picked up the cork-tippedstub of a cigarette.
At this instant Manton returned, breathing hard as though his pursuitof the missing Wagnalls had been very determined. The butt in Kennedy'sfingers attracted his attention at once.
"Did--did you find that here?" he demanded.
Kennedy pointed. "Right there on the floor."
"The devil!" Manton flushed red. "This is no place to smoke. By--by allthe wives of Goodwin and all the stars of Griffith I'm going to startfiring a few people!" he sputtered. "Here, sonny!" He jumped at theboy, frightening him. "Close all these doors and turn the combinations.Tell Wagnalls if he opens them before he sees me I'll commit battery onhis nose."
Kennedy continued to hold the stub, and as Manton preceded us up thestairs he hung back, comparing it with the few cigarettes left in thecase. Unquestionably they were of the same brand.
On the studio floor Mackay was waiting for us. Under his arm was a reelof film in a can. He clutched it almost fondly.
"All ready!" he remarked, to Kennedy.
Kennedy's face was unrevealing as he faced Manton. "This bit of film isvaluable evidence also. I think perhaps it would be safer in thatlocker."
"Anything at all we can do to help," stated Manton, promptly. "Shall Ishow you the way again?"
I produced the key, handing it to Kennedy as the four of us arrived inthe corridor by the property room. Kennedy slipped the bit of metalinto the lock; then simulated surprise very well indeed.
"The lock is broken!" he exclaimed. "Some one has been here."
Apparently the traveling bag had been undisturbed as we took it out.Nevertheless, the paper containing the towel was gone.
"This is no joke, Mr. Kennedy," protested Manton, in indignation."Where can I hire about a dozen good men to hang around andwatch--and--and help you get to the bottom of this?"
Mackay, without releasing his grasp of the film, had been inspectingthe broken lock.
"Look at the way this was done!" he murmured, almost in admiration."This wasn't the work of any roughneck. It--it was a dainty job!"