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Hartma
He didn’t like the Chilean co
Well, it wasn’t good enough for Dunwich. Not since the business with the billiard ball.
She was back beside him in the darkness. Her voice went straight for his aching phallus. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Where to?’
‘We can go back to my flat.’
‘But what about … Novak?’
‘He has other plans.’
‘If you don’t mind me saying, you have a strange marriage.’
‘Why should it worry you?’ The darkness soothed away his fears with a gentle pressure at the place he needed it most. ‘Novak doesn’t care what I do.’
He groaned. ‘But do you like me a little bit, Dolores?’ He knew that he had revealed his weakness in the question. And he knew in the callous tinkling of her laughter that she would do everything she could to exploit it.
The sound of Will Oakland’s voice grated more than ever. His song of shattered dreams was the last thing Dunwich wanted to hear.
The gramophone played on. Harry Macdonough was singing now, ‘When Irish Eyes Are Smiling’.
Whenever Bittlestone heard this song, he could only think of his proprietor, Harry Le
No doubt Le
Bittlestone found it unsettling to be in this social situation with his employer. He was wary; nervous of putting a foot wrong. He decided the best course of action was not to say anything unless he was directly addressed. Meanwhile, he had ample opportunity to study the interesting people around him. The most interesting of whom was Konrad Waechter.
He recognized the telltale signs in Waechter: the familiar lightness and precision, the secret vigilance he might even say, with which such men – men of his own kind – carried themselves. And Waechter betrayed himself too by his fluttering eyelids as he presented his cheeks to be very nearly kissed by Jane Le
Bittlestone smiled to himself. Yes, Waechter was most definitely one of the brotherhood.
Jane Le
‘You understood vot I voz sayink mit der film?’
‘Of course, darling. You were saying how horribly frightful it is to have one’s eyes plucked out.’ Jane Le
Waechter must have sensed it too. He became suddenly solemn. ‘I voz werry sorry to hear about your fiancé.’
‘Let’s not talk about it now, sweetie.’
Harry Le
‘Don’t mention that man to me, Daddy.’
‘He has a lot to answer for, that’s for sure. Bittlestone, do you not agree?’
‘Oh, I do, Mr Le
‘And will the Clarion be the paper to hold him to account?’
‘Of that you can rest assured, sir.’
‘What’s our angle on this eye attack business? Have you filed your story yet?’
Le
‘Do you have a headline for me?’
‘I was thinking of …’ Bittlestone hesitated. In point of fact, he had not given a thought to the headline. Inspiration came to him suddenly: ‘Eyeless in Cecil Court. There is a strange irony about it, given that this alleyway happens to be the centre of the English film industry.’ Bittlestone broke off anxiously. It might have been too ‘clever’ for Le
‘Can’t you give me something snappier?’
Jane Le
‘She has one … eye … less,’ insisted Bittlestone with slow, deliberate emphasis. His irritation was heightened by the suspicion that she might have a point.
Jane Le
Le
‘But even the police don’t know who she is.’
‘Don’t you worry about the po-lice! Find out which hospital she was taken to. Get to see her, man. Get her story.’
‘I rather thought she might need some time to recuperate from her experience. Besides, the hospital won’t let me see her at this hour, I’m sure.’
‘Do you have no gumption, man? To be sure, when I was a cub reporter such lily-livered, weasel-minded equivocations never got in my way!’
His daughter confirmed this with a terse nod, as if she had been there to witness her father’s early reporting triumphs.
Bittlestone produced his notebook and pencil. ‘Very well, if that is what you wish me to do. However, if you have no objection, sir, I think it wise first to file an intermediate account based on what we know already. That way, we will have something in the morning edition. While I’m here, I will take some statements. Herr Waechter, how do you feel about this bizarre attack happening so soon after the showing of your film? Given the fact that, according to the police, she attended the screening.’
‘My film is proven to be ein Werk of prophecy.’
‘There, Bittlestone, you have your film people quote. Now find the girl. Cherchez la femme! That’s the thing!’
Jane Le