The Film Mystery Page 4

  IV

  THE FATAL SCRIPT

  I had no real opportunity to study Manton when he greeted us upon ourarrival, and at that time neither Kennedy nor I possessed even apassing realization of the problem before us. Now I felt that I wasready to grasp at any possible motive for the crime. I was prepared tosuspect any or all of the nine people enumerated by Mackay, so far as Icould speak for myself, and at the very least I was certain that thiswas one of the most baffling cases ever brought to Craig's attention.

  Yet I was sure he would solve it. I waited most impatiently for theoutcome of his examination of Lloyd Manton.

  The producer-promoter was a well-set-up man just approaching middleage. About him was a certain impression of great physical strength, ofbulk without flabbiness, and in particular I noticed the formation ofhis head, the square broad development which indicated his intellectualpower, and I found, too, a fascinating quality about his eyes, deeplyplaced and of a warm dark gray-brown, which seemed to hold afundamental sincerity which, I imagined, made the man almostirresistible in a business deal.

  His weakness, so far as I could ascertain it, was revealed by his mouthand chin, and by a certain nervousness of his hands, hands where asquare, practical palm was belied by the slight tapering of hisfingers, the mark of the dreamer. His mouth was unquestionablysensuous, with the lips full and now and then revealing out of thestudied practiced calm of his face an almost imperceptible twitching,as though to betray a flash of emotion, or fear. His chin was feminine,softening his expression and showing that his feelings wouldoverbalance the cool calculation denoted by his eyes and the ratherheavy level brows above.

  As he entered the room, taking the chair indicated by Kennedy, heseemed perfectly cool and his glance, as it strayed to the lifelessform of Stella, revealed his iron self-control. The little signs whichI have mentioned, which betrayed the real man beneath, were onlydisclosed to me little by little as Kennedy's questioning progressed.

  "Tell me just what happened?" Kennedy began.

  "Well--" Manton responded quickly enough, but then he stopped andproceeded as though he chose each word with care, as if he framed eachsentence so that there would be no misunderstanding, no chance of wrongimpression; all of which pleased Kennedy.

  "In the scene we were taking," he went on, "Stella was crouched down onthe floor, bending over her father, who had just been murdered. She wassobbing. All at once the lights were to spring up. The young hero wasto dash through the set and she was to see him and scream out interror. The first part went all right. But when the lights flashed on,instead of looking up and screaming, Stella sort of crumpled andcollapsed on top of Werner, who was playing the father. I yelled tostop the cameras and rushed in. We picked her up and put her on thecouch. Some one sent for the doctor, but she died without saying aword. I--I haven't the slightest idea what happened. At first I thoughtit was heart trouble."

  "Did she have heart trouble?"

  "No, that is--not that I ever heard."

  Kennedy hesitated. "Why were you taking these scenes out here?"

  It was on the tip of my tongue to answer for Manton. I knew that at onetime many fine interiors were actually taken in houses, to saveexpense. I was sorry that Kennedy should draw any conclusion from afact which I thought was too well known to require explanation.Manton's answer, however, proved a distinct surprise to me.

  "Mr. Phelps asked us to use his library in this picture."

  "Wouldn't it have been easier and cheaper in the long run to reproduceit in the studio?"

  Manton glanced up at Kennedy, echoing my thought. Had Kennedy, afterall, some knowledge of motion pictures stored away with his vast fundof general and unusual information?

  "Yes," replied the producer. "It would save the trip out here, the lossof time, the inconvenience--why, in an actual dollars and centscomparison, with overhead and everything taken into account, thebuilding of a set like this is nothing nowadays."

  "Do you know Mr. Phelps's reason?"

  Manton shrugged his shoulders. "Just a whim, and we had to humor it."

  "Mr. Phelps is interested in the company?"

  "Yes. He recently bought up all the stock except my own. He is inabsolute control, financially."

  "What is the story you are making? I mean, I want to understand justexactly what happened in the scenes you were photographing today. It isessential that I learn how everyone was supposed to act and how theydid act. I must find out every trivial little detail. Do you follow me?"

  Manton's mouth set suddenly, showing that it possessed a latent qualityof firmness. He glanced about the room, then rose, went to the fartherend of the long table, and returned with a thick sheaf of manuscriptbound at the side in stiff board covers. "This is the scenario, thescript of the detailed action," he explained.

  As Kennedy took the binder, Manton opened it and turned past severalsheets of tabulation and lists, the index to the sets and exteriorlocations, the characters and extras, the changes of clothes, and othertechnical detail. "The scenes we are taking here," he went on, "are theopening scenes of the story. We left them until now because it meantthe long trip out to Tarrytown and because it would take us away fromthe studio while they were putting up the largest two sets, a banquetand a ballroom which need the entire floor space of the studio." Heturned over two or three pages, pointing. "We had taken up to scenethirteen; from scenes one to thirteen just as you have them in orderthere. It--it was in the unlucky thirteenth that she"--was it myimagination or did he tremble, for just an instant, violently?--"thatshe died."

  Kennedy started to read the script. I hurried to his side, glancingover his shoulder.

  THE BLACK TERROR

  FEATURING STELLA LAMAH

  SCENE 1

  LOCATION.--Remsen library. This is a modern, luxurious library set witha long table in the center of the room, books around the walls, Frenchwindows leading from the rear, and an entrance through a hallway to theright through a pair of portieres. Note: E. P. wishes us to use hislibrary at Tarrytown.

  ACTION.--Open diaphragm slowly on darkened set as a spot of light isbeing played on the walls and French windows in the rear. As thediaphragm opens slowly the light vanishes, leaving the scene dark attimes and then brightened until, as the diaphragm opens full, wediscover that the light is that of a burglar's flash light, travelingover the walls of the library. When the diaphragm is fully opened wediscover also a faint line of light streaming through the almost closedportieres leading to the hallway outside. This ray of light, strikingalong the floor, pauses by the library table, just disclosing the edgeof it but not revealing anything else in the room. The spotlight in thehands of a shadowy figure roves across the wall and to the portieres.As it pauses there the portieres move and the fingers of a girl areseen on the edge of the silk. A bare and beautiful arm is thrustthrough the portieres almost to the shoulder, and it begins to move theportieres aside, reaching upward to pull the curtains apart at therings.

  SCENE 2

  LOCATION.--Remsen library. Close foreground of portieres.

  ACTION.--Our heroine parts the portieres and stands revealed in thespotlight's glare. She is in dinner gown and about her throat is apeculiar locket of flashing jewels. She cries out and backs away,closing the portieres. The spotlight retreats from the curtains,leaving them dark.

  SCENE 3

  LOCATION.--Hallway, Remsen house. Close foreground of portieres leadingto library. This hallway is lighted.

  ACTION.--The girl holding the portieres shut screams for help.

  SCENE 4

  LOCATION.--Foot of stairway, Remsen house.

  ACTION.--The butler and maid are discovered talking. They hear thegirl's scream and start running.

  SCENE 5

  LOCATION.--Hallway, Remsen house. Close foreground of portieres.

  ACTION.--The girl hears help coming and glances off to indicate thatshe sees the butler and the maid. She continues to cling to the closedcurtains.

  SCENE 6

  LOCATION.--Remsen
library. Full shot.

  ACTION.--The unknown drops the spotlight to the floor and we first seehis legs crossing the rays of light on the floor. Then the spotlightrolls, revealing the body of an elderly man of the American millionairetype, lying crumpled against the table. Finally it rolls a littlefarther and stops, directing its rays into the fireplace.

  SCENE 7

  LOCATION.--Remsen hallway, outside library.

  ACTION.--The girl indicates determined resolve. She throws apart theportieres with a quick motion of her arms and dashes inside. Theportieres close after her. The butler and maid come on running andlooking about.

  SCENE 8

  LOCATION.--Remsen library. Full shot.

  ACTION.--The spotlight is showing into the fireplace when the girlcrosses quickly into its rays. She stoops into the light, revealing herface and picking up the spotlight. She flashes it about the room,pausing as it strikes the French windows and reveals the murderermaking his escape out on a balcony which is revealed in the background.When the rays of light reach the murderer he deliberately turns.

  SCENE 9

  LOCATION.--Remsen library. Close foreground of French windows.

  ACTION.--The intruder, now in the close foreground, pauses as he isabout to shut the window and blinks deliberately into the rays oflight, then laughs and closes the French windows.

  SCENE 10

  LOCATION.--Hallway, Remsen home. Close foreground of portieres tolibrary.

  ACTION.--The butler and maid look around hopelessly. A young man, theexact counterpart of the man who in the previous scene looked into thespotlight at the French windows, comes up to the butler and demands toknow what has happened. The butler explains hurriedly that he heard hismistress cry out for help. The young man steps to the portieres andpauses.

  SCENE 11

  LOCATION.--Remsen library. Full shot.

  ACTION.--The girl, using the spotlight, flashes it about the room anddown on the floor, seeing for the first time the body of the Americanmillionaire.

  SCENE 12

  LOCATION.--Exterior Remsen house. Night tint.

  ACTION.--The murderer scrambles down a column from the upper porch andleaps to the ground, darting across the lawn out of the picture.

  SCENE 13

  LOCATION.--Remsen library. Full shot.

  ACTION.--The spotlight on the floor reveals the girl sobbing over thebody of the millionaire and trying to revive him. She screams and criesout. The portieres are parted and from the lighted hallway we see theyoung man, the butler, and the maid, who enter. The young man switcheson the lights and the room is revealed. The three cry out in horror.The young man, glancing about, leaps toward the partly opened Frenchwindows, drawing a revolver. As the girl sees him she screams again anddenotes terror.

  Finishing the thirteenth scene, Kennedy closed the covers and handedthe script to me. Then he confronted Manton once more.

  "What became of the locket about the girl's neck? In the manuscriptMiss Lamar is supposed to have a peculiar pendant at her throat. Therewas none."

  "Oh yes!" The promoter remained a moment in thought. "The doctor tookit off and gave it to Bernie, the prop. boy, who's helping theelectrician."

  "Is he outside?"

  "Yes."

  "Now try to remember, Mr. Manton." Kennedy leaned over very seriously."Just who approached closely to Miss Lamar in the making of thatthirteenth scene? Who was near enough to have inflicted a wound, or tohave subjected her, suppose we say, to the fumes of some subtle poison?"

  "You think that--" Manton started to question Kennedy, but was given noencouragement. "Gordon, the leading man, passed through the scene," hereplied, after a pause, "but did not go very near her. Werner wasplaying the dead millionaire at her feet."

  "Who is Werner?"

  "He's my director. Because it was such a small part, he played ithimself. He's only in the two or three scenes in the beginning and Iwas here to be at the camera."

  While Kennedy was questioning Manton I had been glancing through thescript of the picture. My own connection with the movies had consistedlargely of three attempts to sell stories of my own to the producers.Needless to remark I had not succeeded, in that regard falling in theclass with some hundreds of thousands of my fellow citizens. Foreverybody thinks he has at least one motion picture in him. And so,though I had managed to visit studios and meet a few of the players,this was my very first shot at a manuscript actually in production. Itook advantage of Kennedy's momentary preoccupation to turn to Manton.

  "Who wrote this script, Mr. Manton?" I asked.

  "Millard! Lawrence Millard."

  "Millard?" Kennedy and I exclaimed, simultaneously.

  "Why, yes! Millard is still under contract and he's the only man whoever could write scripts for Stella. We--we tried others and they allflivved."

  "Is Millard here?"

  Manton burst into laughter, somehow out of place in the room where westill were in the company of death. "An author on the lot at thefilming of his picture, to bother the director and to changeeverything? Out! When the scenario's done he's through. He's lucky toget his name on the screen. It's not the story but the direction whichcounts, except that you've got to have a good idea to start with, and ahalfway decent script to make your lay-outs from. Anyhow--" He sobereda bit, perhaps realizing that he was going counter to the tendency tohave the author on the lot. "Millard and Stella weren't on speakingterms. She divorced him, you know."

  "Do you know much about the personal affairs of Miss Lamar?"

  "Well"--Manton's eyes sought the floor for a moment--"Like everyoneelse in pictures, Stella was the victim of a great deal of gossip.That's the experience of any girl who rises to a position of prominenceand--"

  "How were the relations between Miss Lamar and yourself?" interruptedKennedy.

  "What do you mean by that?" Manton flushed quickly.

  "You have had no trouble, no disagreements recently?"

  "No, indeed. Everything has been very friendly between us--in astrictly business way, of course--and I don't believe I've had anunpleasant word with her since I first formed Manton Pictures to makeher a star."

  "You know nothing of her difficulties with her husband?"

  "Naturally not. I seldom saw her except at the studio, unless it wassome necessary affair such as a screen ball here, or perhaps in Bostonor Philadelphia or some near-by city where I would take her foreffect--"

  Kennedy turned to Mackay. "Will you arrange to keep the people I haveyet to question separate from the ones I have examined already?"

  As the district attorney nodded, Kennedy dismissed Manton rathershortly; then turned again to Mackay as the promoter drew out ofearshot.

  "Bring in Bernie, the property-boy, before anyone can tell him to hideor destroy that locket."