grief came to him and he broke down. Waves of shudders racked his body and this man of fifty-five wet the pillow with his tears.
TWO
Warren was—and was not—surprised to hear from Hellier again. In the forefront of his mind he wondered what Hellier was after and was almost inclined to refuse to see him. In his experience prolonged post-mortems with the survivors did no one any good in the long run; they merely served to turn guilt into acceptance and, as a moral man, he believed that the guilty should be punished and that selfpunishment was the most severe form.
But in the remote recesses of his mind still lurked the nagging doubt which had been injected by Hellier’s final words and so, somewhat to his surprise, he found himself accepting Hellier’s invitation to meet him in the St James’s flat. This time, oddly enough, he was not averse to meeting Hellier on his own ground—that battle had already been won.
Hellier greeted him with a conventional, ‘It’s very good of you to come, Doctor,’ and led him into a large and softly luxurious room where he was waved courteously to a chair. ‘Drink?’ asked Hellier. ‘Or don’t you?’
Warren smiled. ‘I have all the normal vices. I’d like a Scotch.’
He found himself sipping a whisky so good that it was almost criminal to dilute it with water, and holding one of Hellier’s monogrammed cigarettes. ‘We’re a picturesque lot,we film people,’ said Hellier wryly. ‘Self-advertisement is one of our worst faults.’
Warren looked at the intertwined R H stamped in gold on the handmade cigarette, and suspected that it was not Hellier’s normal style and that he went about it coldbloodedly in what was a conformist industry. He said nothing and waited for Hellier to toss a more reasonable conversational ball.
‘First, I must apologize for the scene I made in your rooms,’ said Hellier.
‘You have already done so,’ said Warren gravely. ‘And in any case, no apology is necessary.’
Hellier settled in a chair facing Warren and put his glass on a low table. ‘I find you are very well thought of in your profession.’
Warren twitched an eyebrow. ‘Indeed!’
‘I’ve been finding out things about the drug racket—I think I have it pretty well taped.’
‘In three days?’ said Warren ironically.
‘In the film industry, by its very nature, there must be an enormous fund of general knowledge. My Research Department is very nearly as good as, say, a newspaper office. If you put enough staff on to a problem you can do a lot in three days.’
Warren let that go and merely nodded.
‘My research staff found that in nearly one-third of their enquiries they were advised to consult you as a leading member of the profession.’
‘They didn’t,’ said Warren succinctly.
Hellier smiled. ‘No, I told them not to. As you said the other day, you’re a very busy man. I didn’t want to disturb you.’
‘I suppose I should thank you,’ said Warren with a straight face.
Hellier squared his shoulders. ‘Dr Warren, let us not fence with each other. I’m putting all my cards on the table. I also had you independently investigated.’
Warren sipped whisky and kept steady eyes on Hellier over the glass. ‘That’s a damned liberty,’ he observed mildly. ‘I suppose I should ask you what you found.’
Hellier held up his hand. ‘Nothing but good, Doctor. You have an enviable reputation both as a man and as a physician, besides being outstanding in the field of drug addiction.’
Warren said satirically, ‘I should like to read that dossier some time—it would be like reading one’s obituary, a chance which comes to few of us.’ He put down his glass. ‘And to what end is all this…this effort on your part?’
‘I wanted to be sure that you are the right man,’ said Hellier seriously.
‘You’re talking in riddles,’ said Warren impatiently. He laughed. ‘Are you going to offer me a job? Technical adviser to a film,
TWO
Warren was—and was not—surprised to hear from Hellier again. In the forefront of his mind he wondered what Hellier was after and was almost inclined to refuse to see him. In his experience prolonged post-mortems with the survivors did no one any good in the long run; they merely served to turn guilt into acceptance and, as a moral man, he believed that the guilty should be punished and that selfpunishment was the most severe form.
But in the remote recesses of his mind still lurked the nagging doubt which had been injected by Hellier’s final words and so, somewhat to his surprise, he found himself accepting Hellier’s invitation to meet him in the St James’s flat. This time, oddly enough, he was not averse to meeting Hellier on his own ground—that battle had already been won.
Hellier greeted him with a conventional, ‘It’s very good of you to come, Doctor,’ and led him into a large and softly luxurious room where he was waved courteously to a chair. ‘Drink?’ asked Hellier. ‘Or don’t you?’
Warren smiled. ‘I have all the normal vices. I’d like a Scotch.’
He found himself sipping a whisky so good that it was almost criminal to dilute it with water, and holding one of Hellier’s monogrammed cigarettes. ‘We’re a picturesque lot,we film people,’ said Hellier wryly. ‘Self-advertisement is one of our worst faults.’
Warren looked at the intertwined R H stamped in gold on the handmade cigarette, and suspected that it was not Hellier’s normal style and that he went about it coldbloodedly in what was a conformist industry. He said nothing and waited for Hellier to toss a more reasonable conversational ball.
‘First, I must apologize for the scene I made in your rooms,’ said Hellier.
‘You have already done so,’ said Warren gravely. ‘And in any case, no apology is necessary.’
Hellier settled in a chair facing Warren and put his glass on a low table. ‘I find you are very well thought of in your profession.’
Warren twitched an eyebrow. ‘Indeed!’
‘I’ve been finding out things about the drug racket—I think I have it pretty well taped.’
‘In three days?’ said Warren ironically.
‘In the film industry, by its very nature, there must be an enormous fund of general knowledge. My Research Department is very nearly as good as, say, a newspaper office. If you put enough staff on to a problem you can do a lot in three days.’
Warren let that go and merely nodded.
‘My research staff found that in nearly one-third of their enquiries they were advised to consult you as a leading member of the profession.’
‘They didn’t,’ said Warren succinctly.
Hellier smiled. ‘No, I told them not to. As you said the other day, you’re a very busy man. I didn’t want to disturb you.’
‘I suppose I should thank you,’ said Warren with a straight face.
Hellier squared his shoulders. ‘Dr Warren, let us not fence with each other. I’m putting all my cards on the table. I also had you independently investigated.’
Warren sipped whisky and kept steady eyes on Hellier over the glass. ‘That’s a damned liberty,’ he observed mildly. ‘I suppose I should ask you what you found.’
Hellier held up his hand. ‘Nothing but good, Doctor. You have an enviable reputation both as a man and as a physician, besides being outstanding in the field of drug addiction.’
Warren said satirically, ‘I should like to read that dossier some time—it would be like reading one’s obituary, a chance which comes to few of us.’ He put down his glass. ‘And to what end is all this…this effort on your part?’
‘I wanted to be sure that you are the right man,’ said Hellier seriously.
‘You’re talking in riddles,’ said Warren impatiently. He laughed. ‘Are you going to offer me a job? Technical adviser to a film,
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