Page 105 of The Girl Who Knew Too Much

“At least we know the identity of Helen’s killer.”

“Wemayknow it,” Oliver said. “We need to be certain. Did you get Claudia Picton to say anything else?”

“Well, she raised the specter of the mysterious Mr. Ogden again.”

“Men like Ernie Ogden usually resort to cash payments when they want to make problems disappear. But if money doesn’t do the job, he wouldn’t hesitate to apply brute force to clean up a mess.”

“I’ve been focused on Nick Tremayne from the start because of Peggy’s notes. But what if she was wrong? Do you think that Ogden might go so far as to have someone murder a woman if he thought she was a threat to his star?”

“If he couldn’t bribe her or frighten her, it’s conceivable,” Oliver said. “But I knew Daisy Jennings. Pell knew her, too. Both of us are convinced that money would have worked. There was no reason to murder her to keep her quiet.”

“Unless she knew something about Nick Tremayne that was so damaging that Ogden didn’t want to take any chances. What if she could implicate Tremayne in Gloria Maitland’s murder?”

“Yeah, that might be enough for Ogden to send in the heavy muscle. But if that’s true, it means the studio considers Tremayne absolutely crucial to the bottom line.”

“I can tell you one thing: Bribery wouldn’t have worked with Peggy Hackett.”

“You’re sure?”

“Peggy was trying to get her career back on track,” Irene said. “She wasn’t after money. She wanted a headline.”

“Get anything else from Picton?”

“She warned me that Ogden can be ruthless. It’s obvious she’s scared of him. She also said she’s decided she’s not cut out for Hollywood or Burning Cove. She just wants to get enough money together to go home, get a job, and get married.”

“Married?”

“Married. Ever tried it?”

“No,” Oliver said. “Came close once upon a time. Got engaged. But it didn’t work out. You?”

“Same story. I thought I was going to marry someone once. But it didn’t work out.”

“The lying, cheating bastard you mentioned in the prop locker?”

“He neglected to mention that he was engaged to someone. When his fiancée informed me of the facts, the lying, cheating bastard thought it was odd that I didn’t want to play the part of his mistress.”

Oliver nodded with a sage air. “Yeah, that lying and cheating stuff will ruin a perfectly good relationship every time.”

Irene propped her elbows on the arms of her chair and put her fingertips together.

“You speak from personal experience, I assume?” she said.

“I do. She was one of my assistants. Ran off with a man I considered a trusted employee. He handled the bookings, ticket sales, and advance publicity for the act.”

“I see.”

“They eloped to Hawaii.”

“Very romantic.” Irene tapped her fingertips together once. “Costs money to travel all the way to Hawaii by steamship or airplane. And then there’s the price of a hotel room. You must have paid your staff well.”

“I like to think so, but evidently Dora and Hubert didn’t agree. On their way out the door, they helped themselves to the cash receipts from nearly two months of performances.”

“Given that the Amazing Oliver Ward usually played to packed houses, that would have been a tidy sum.”

“It was,” Oliver said. “They sent me a postcard from Hawaii apologizing and explaining that they could not deny their hearts. Said they hoped I would understand.”

“Well, look on the bright side,” Irene said. “At least the card didn’t saywish you were here.”

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