"I don't think it was more than three minutes," Hazel objected. "I wasn't tired."

"You were trembling, dear. I saw you. You mustn't tire yourself-it makes lines. Anyhow," she added, "I'll just keep this," and she put the egg timer in her purse. "We'll time it ourselves."

"It was three minutes," Jack insisted.

"Never mind," she answered. "From now on it'll be three minutes, or mamma will have to lock Jackie in the dark closet."

Jack started to answer, thought better of it, then walked away to the other end of the bar. Estelle shrugged, then threw down the rest of her drink ~ left us. I saw her speak to Jack again, then join so customers at one of the tables.

Hazel looked at her as she walked away. "I'd pad that chippie's pants," she muttered, "if she wore an "A b.u.m beef?"

"Not exactly. Maybe Jack is a friend of yours- "Just an acquaintance."

"Well . . . I've had worse bosses-but he is a bit ( jerk. Maybe he doesn't stretch the poses just out meanness-I've never timed him-but some of th poses are too long for three minutes. Take Estel Aphrodite pose-you saw it?"

' ' I'Jo.' ~ "She balances on the ball of one foot, no costum all, but with one leg raised enough to furnish a fig li Jack's got a blackout switch to cover her if she bre~ but, just the same, it's a strain."

"To cover himself with the cops, you mean."

"Well, yes. Jack wants us to make it just as stronl the vice squad will stand for."

"You ought not to be in a dive like this. You ough have a movie contract."

She laughed without mirth. "Eddie, did you ever to get a movie contract? I've tried."

"Just the same-oh, well! But why are you sorc Estelle? What you told me doesn't seem to cover i "She- Skip it. She probably means well."

"You mean she shouldn't have dragged you into i "Partly."

"What else?"

"Oh, nothing-look, do you think I need any wrin remover?" I examined her quite closely, until she tually blushed a little, then a.s.sured her that she not.

"Thanks," she said. "Estelle evidently thinks She's been advising me to take care of myself lat and has been bringing me little presents of bea preparations. I thank her for them and it appears to be sheer friendliness on her part.. . but it makes me squirm.

I nodded and changed the subject. I did not want to talk about Estelle; I wanted to talk about her-and me. I mentioned an agent I knew (my own) who could help her and that got her really interested, if not in me, at least in what I was saying.

Presently she glanced at the clock back of the bar and squealed. "I've got to peel for the customers.

'Bye now!" It was five minutes to twelve. I shifted from the end of the bar to the long side, just opposite Jack's Magic Mirror controls. I did not want that bright light of his interfering with me seeing Hazel.

It was just about twelve straight up when Jack came up from the rear of the joint, elbowed his other barman out of the way, and took his place near the controls. "Just about that time," he said to me. "Has she rung the buzzer?"

"Not a buzz."

"Okay, then." He cleared dirty gla.s.ses off the top of the bar while we waited, changed the platter on the turntable, and generally messed around. I kept my eyes on the mirror.

I heard the two beeps! sharp and clear. When he did not announce the show at once, I glanced around and saw that, while he had the mike in his hand, he was staring past it at the door, and looking considerably upset.

There were two cops just inside the door, Hannegan and Feinstein, both off the beat. I supposed he was afraid of a raid, which was silly. Pavement pounders don't pull raids. I knew what they were there for, even before Hannegan gave Jack a broad grin and waved him the okay sign-they had just slipped in for a free gander at the flesh under the excuse of watching the public morals.

"We now present the Magic Mirror," said Jack's voice out of the juke box. Somebody climbed on ti stool beside me and slipped a hand under my arm.

looked around. It was Hazel.

"You're not here; you're up there," I said foc ishly.

"Huh-uh. Estelle said- I'll tell you after the show The lights were coming up in the Mirror and the jul box was cranking out Valse Triste. The altar was in th scene, too, and Estelle was sprawled over it much she had been before. As it got lighter you could see red stain down her side and the prop dagger. Haz had told me what each of the acts were; this was ti one called "The Altar Victim," scheduled for the oi o'clock show.

I was disappointed not to be seeing Hazel, but I h2 to admit it was good-good theater, of the nasty soi sadism and s.e.x combined. The red stuff-catsup guessed-trickling down her bare side and the hand of the prop dagger sticking up as if she had be stabbed through-the customers liked it. It was a na ural follow-up to the "Sacrifice to the Sun".

Hazel screamed in my ear.

Her first scream was solo. The next thing I can rec~ it seemed as if every woman in the place was screar ing-soprano, alto, and some tenor, but most screeching soprano. Through it came the bull voice Hannegan. "Keep your seats, folks! Somebody turn the lights!"

I grabbed Hazel by the shoulders and shook hc "What's the matter? What's up?"

She looked dazed, then pointed at the Mirror. "Shc dead. . . she's dead . . . she's dead!" she chanted. 5] scrambled down from the stool and took out for ii back of the house. I started after her. The house ligh came on abruptly, leaving the Mirror lights still oi We finished one, two, three, up the stairwa through a little dressing room, and onto the stage almost caught up with Hazel, and Feinstein was do on my heels.

We stood there, jammed in the door, blinking at the flood lights, and not liking what we saw under them. She was dead all right. The dagger, which should have been faked between her arm and her breast with catsup spilled around to maintain the illusion-this prop dagger, this slender steel blade, was three inches closer to her breastbone than it should have been. It had been stabbed straight into her heart.

On the floor at the side of the altar away from the audience, close enough to Estelle to reach it, was the egg timer. As I looked at it the last of the sand ran out.

I caught Hazel as she fell-she was a big armful- and spread her on the couch. "Eddie," said Feinstein, "call the Station for me. Tell Hannegan not to let anyone out. I'm staying here." I called the station but did not have to tell Hannegan anything. He had them all seated again and was jollying them along. Jack was still standing back of the bar, shock on his face, and the bright light at the control board making him look like a death's head.

By twelve-fifteen Spade Jones, Lieutenant Jones of Homicide, showed up and from there on things slipped into a smooth routine. He knew me well, having helped me work up some of the book I did for the Chief, and he grabbed onto me at once for some of the background. By twelve-thirty he was reasonably sure that none of the customers could have done it. "I won't say one of them didn't do it, Eddie my boy-anybody could have done it who knew the exact second to slip upstairs, grab the knife, and slide it into her ribs. But the chances are against any of them knowing just when and how to do it."

"Anybody inside or outside," I corrected.

"So?"

"There's a fire exit at the foot of the stairs."

"You think I haven't noticed that?" He turned away and gave Hannegan instructions to let anybody go who could give satisfactory identification with a local address. The others would have to go downtown to have closer ties as material witnesses put on them 1 the night court. Perhaps some would land in the ta]

for further investigation, but in any case-clear 'e out!

The photographers were busy upstairs and so we the fingerprint boys. The a.s.sistant Medical Examin showed up, followed by reporters. A few minutes lat after the house was cleared, Hazel came downstai and joined me. Neither of us said anything, but I p~ ted her on the back. When they carried down the b2 ket stretcher a little later, with a blanket-wrapp shape in it, I put my arm around her while she bun her eyes in my shoulders.

Spade talked to us one at a time. Jack was not ta] ing. "It ain't smart to talk without a lawyer," was Spade could get out of him. I thought to myself that would be better to talk to Spade now than to sweated and maybe ma.s.saged a little under the ugh My testimony would clear him even though it wou show that there was a spat between him and Estel Spade would not frame a man. He was an honest cc as cops go. I've known honest cops. Two, I think.

Spade took my story, then he took Hazel's, a] called me back. "Eddie my boy," he said, "help me d into this thing. As I understand it, this girl Ha; should have had the twelve o'clock show."

"That's right."

He studied one of the Joy Club's programs. "Ha; says she went upstairs to undress for the show abc eleven-fifty-five."

"Exactly that time."

"Yeah. She was with you, wasn't she? She says s went up and that Estelle followed her in with a sor and-dance that the boss said to swap the two shoi around.

"I wouldn't know about that."

"Naturally not. She says she beefed a little but ga in and came on downstairs, where she joined you.

C( rect?"

"Correct."

"Mmmm .. . By the way, your remark about the fire door might lead to something. Hazel put me onto a boy friend for Estelle. Trumpeter in that rat race across the street. He could have ducked across and stabbed her. Wouldn't take long. Trumpet players can't be pushing wind all the time; they'd lose their lip."

"How would he know when to do it? It was supposed to be Hazel's show."

"Mmmm.. . Well, maybe he did know. Swapping shows sounds like Estelle had made a date, and that sounds like a man. In which case he'd know about it. One of the boys is looking into it. Now about the way these shows worked-do you suppose you could show me how they were staged? Hannegan tried it but all he got was a shock."

"I'll try it," I said, getting up. "It's nothing very fancy. Did you ask Jack about Hazel's statement that Estelle had permission from him to swap the shows?"

"That's the one thing he cracked on. He states flatly that he didn't know that the shows were swapped. He says he expected to see Hazel in the Mirror."

The controls looked complicated but weren't. I showed Jones the rheostat and told him it enabled Jack to turn either set of lights down slowly while the other set went up. I found a bypa.s.s switch back of the rheostat which accounted for the present condition- all lights burning brightly, house and stage. There was a blackout switch and there was a switch that cut the hand microphone and the turntable in through the juke box. Near the latter was the buzzer-a small black case with two binding posts-which the girls used to signal Jack. Centered on the under side of the bar was a hundred-and-fifty watt bulb hooked in on its own line separate from the rheostat. Except for the line to this light all the wires from all the equipment disappeared into a steel conduit underneath the bar. It was this light which had dazzled me during the eleven o'clock show. It seemed excessive; a pear bulb would have been more appropriate. Apparen Jack liked lots of light.

I explained the controls to Spade, then gave hin dry run. First I switched the rheostat back to "Hou~ and threw off the bypa.s.s switch, leaving the roc brightly lighted and the Magic Mirror dark. "The tii is five minutes of twelve. Hazel leaves me to go i. stairs. I shift around to the bar stool just oppos where I am now standing. At midnight Jack comes and asks me if I've heard the buzzer. I say 'No.' I fiddles around a bit, clearing away gla.s.ses and t like. Then come two beeps on the buzzer. He picks the microphone but he doesn't announce the show a few seconds-he's just noticed Hannegan and Fe stein. Hannegan gives him the high sign and he gc ahead." Then I picked up the mike myself and spc into it: "We now present the Magic Mirror!"

I put down the mike and flipped on the turntal switch. The same platter was on and the juke h started playing Valse Triste. Hazel looked up at i sharply, from where she had been resting her head her arms a few tables away. She looked horrified, a the reconstruction were too much for her stomacF I turned the rheostat slowly from "House"

"Stage." The room darkened and the stage lit r "That's all there was to it," I said. "Hazel sat do~ beside me just as Jack announced the show. As lights came on she screamed."

Spade scratched his chin. "You say Joy was star ing in front of you when the buzzer signal came fr upstairs?"

"Positive."

"You gave him a motive-the war he was havi with Estelle. But you've given him an alibi too."

"That's right. Either Estelle punched that buz: herself, then lay down and stabbed herself, or she '~ murdered and the murderer punched it to cover i then ducked out while everybody had their eyes on the Mirror. Either way I had Jack Joy in sight."

"It's an alibi all right," he conceded. "Unless you were in cahoots with him," he said hopefully.

"Prove it," I answered, grinning. "Not with him. I think he's a jerk."

"We're all jerks, more or less, Eddie my boy. Let's look around upstairs."

I switched the bypa.s.s on, leaving both stage and house lighted, and followed him. I pointed out the buzzer to him, after searching for it myself. A conduit came up through the floor and ended in a junction box on the wall, from which cords ran to the flood lights. The b.u.t.ton was on the junction box. I wondered why it was not on the "altar," then saw that the altar was a movable prop. Apparently the girls punched the b.u.t.ton, then fell quickly into their poses. Spade tried the b.u.t.ton meditatively, then wiped print powder off on his trousers. "I can't hear it," he said.

"Naturally not. This stage is almost a soundproof booth."

He had seen the egg timer but I had not told him until then about seeing the last of the sand run out.

He pursed his lips. "You're sure?"

"Call it hallucination. I think I saw it. I'll testify to it."

He sat down on the altar, avoiding the blood stain, and said nothing for quite a long time. Finally he said, "Eddie my boy-"

"Yes?"

"You've not only given Jack Joy an alibi, you've d.a.m.n' near made it impossible for anyone to have done it."

"I know it. Could it have been suicide?"

"Could be. Could be. From the mechanics angle but not from the psychological angle. Would she have started that egg timer for her own suicide? Another thing. Take a look at that blood. Taste it."

"Huh?"

"Don't throw up. Smell it then."

I did, very gingerly. Then I smelled it again. T' smells. Tomato. Blood. Blood and tomato catsur thought I could detect differences in appearance well. "You see, son? If she's going to have blood on I chest she won't bother with catsup. Aside from ti and the timer it's a perfect, dramatic, female-style: icicle. But it won't wash. It's murder, Eddie." Feinstein stuck his head in. "Lieutenant-" "What is it?"

"That musician punk. He had a date with her right."

"Oh, he did, eh?"

"But he's clear. The band was on the air at midnig in a number that features him in a trumpet solo.'

"d.a.m.n! Get out of here."

"That ain't all. I called the a.s.sistant Medical I aminer, like you said. The motive you suggested wo go-she not only wasn't expecting; she hadn't e' been had. Virgo intacta," he added in pa.s.sable hi school Latin.

"Feinstein, you'll be wanting to be a sergeant ne~ Spade answered placidly, "using big words like th Get out."

"Okay, Lieutenant." I was more than a little s prised at the news. I would have picked Estelle a case of round heels. Evidently she was a tease in m~ ways than one.

Spade sat a while longer, then said, "When it's 1i1 in here, it's dark out there; when it's light out thc it s dark in here.

"That's right. Ordinarily, that is. Right now we got both sides lighted with the bypa.s.s."

"Ordinarily is what I mean. Light, dark; dark, hg Eddie my boy-"

"Yes?"

"Are you sweet on that Hazel girl?"

"I'm leaning that way," I admitted.

"Then keep an eye on her. The murderer was in K for just a few seconds-the egg timer and the buzzer prove that. He wasn't any of the fei~~~ people who knew about the swap in the shows-not since the trumpetplaying boy friend got knocked out of the running. And it was dark. He murdered the wrong party, Eddie my boy. There's another murder coming up."

"Hazel," I said slowly.