Death Of A Dude Read Online Free PDF Page B

thoughts, no one is. Tell us and we’ll vote on it.”
    “If I wasn’t going to tell you,” Diana said, “I wouldn’t have mentioned it.” She forked a bite of meat to her mouth and started to chew. She often did that; she might get a part in a play with an eating scene, and mixing chewing and talking needed practice. An actor can practice anywhere any time with anybody, and most of them do. “It was this,” she said. “If that man hadn’t been murdered, Archie wouldn’t be here. He would have left three days ago. So the murderer did us a favour. You won’t have to vote on that. That’s an awful thought.”
    “We’ll thank him when we know who he is,” Lily said.
    Diana swallowed daintily and took a bite of potato. “It’s no joke, Lily. It was an awful thought, but it gave me an idea for a play. Someone could write a play about a woman who does awful things-you know, she lies, she steals, she cheats, she takes other women’s husbands, she might even murder somebody. But the play would show that every time she hurts someone it helps a lot of other people. She makes some people suffer awful agonies, but she gives ten times as many people some kind of benefit. She does lots more good than she does harm. I haven’t decided what the last scene would be, that would be up to whoever writes the play, but it could be a wonderful scene, utterly wonderful. Any actress would love it. I know I would.”
    The bite of potato was gone and another bite of meat was being chewed. She was really pretty good at it, but she had the advantage of a very attractive face. A girl with a good face has to be really messy to make you want to look somewhere else when she talks while she eats. Diana looked at Worthy and said, “You’re a writer, Wade. Why couldn’t you do it?”
    He shook his head. “Not that kind of writer. Suggest it to Albee or Tennessee Williams. As for the murderer doing us a favour, it wasn’t much of one. We’ve seen darned little of Archie this week.” He looked at me, the friendly grin. “How’s it going?”
    “Fine.” I swallowed food. “All I need now is a confession. Diana was there picking berries on the best and biggest bush, and he came and pushed her away and she shot him. Luckily-“
    “What with?” Diana demanded.
    “Don’t interrupt. Luckily Wade came along with a gun, out after gophers, and he shot him first but only in the shoulder, and you asked him to let you try and he handed you the gun.”
    Wade pointed his knife at me. “We’re not going to confess. You’ll have to prove it.”
    “Okay. Do you know about personal congenital radiation?”
    “No.”
    “That the personal congenital radiation of no two people is the same, like finger-prints?”
    “It sounds reasonable.”
    “It’s not only reasonable, it’s scientific. It’s a wonder any detective ever detected anything without modern science. I went to Blue Grouse Ridge today with a new Geiger counter, eight cents off the regular price, and it gave me Diana and you. You had both been there. All I need now-“
    “Certainly we were there,” Diana said with her mouth full. “You and Lily took us there! Three or four times!”
    “Prove it,” Lily said. “I don’t remember.”
    “Lily! You do! You must!”
    One of the difficulties about Diana was that you were never absolutely sure whether she was playing dumb or was dumb.
    By the time we got to sherbet and coffee the evening had been discussed and settled. Evenings could be pinochle, reading books or magazines or newspapers, television, conversation, or private concerns in our rooms, or sometimes, especially Saturdays, contacts with natives. For that evening Wade suggested pinochle, but I said it would have to be three-handed because I was going to Lame Horse. They considered going along and decided not to, and after doing my share of table-clearing I went out and started the car.
    Now I have a problem. If I report fully what I did the next four days and nights,