Brass Rainbow Read Free Page A

time.”
    â€œThe police say Weiss killed him?”
    â€œOf course! Who else … You did say you were a detective?”
    â€œPrivate,” I admitted.
    â€œPrivate? You mean for hire?” He was all alert now. “Is there some factor involved that I am not aware of?”
    â€œI’m not allowed to discuss my client, Mr. Ames,” I said, which was more or less true—if I had had a client. “Perhaps you could tell me about yesterday?”
    It is amazing how much the rich, the secure, accept without bothering to question. They’re not used to being deceived, and they aren’t afraid of much. What can hurt them? Ames didn’t even ask for my credentials. All he did was show annoyance. He seemed confused by the whole affair, and I was a flea under his collar.
    â€œWhat? Oh, yes, yes. What do you want?”
    â€œWas your cousin expecting any visitors besides Weiss?”
    â€œHe wasn’t expecting anyone. He had a slight cold or he would have been at his office as usual.”
    â€œSo he made the appointment with Weiss yesterday morning?”
    â€œI don’t know when he made it. I didn’t see him after breakfast. When Walter and I left, Jonathan was out.”
    â€œWalter Radford lives here?”
    â€œNo, no,” Ames said testily. “Walter has his own apartment. I presume he came to talk to Jonathan. After Jonathan went out, Walter came back to my rooms and suggested we share a taxi as far as my club. He knows I always lunch at the club if I’m not working in a show.”
    Then I knew where I had seen him before. “I’ve seen you on television, haven’t I? Broadway, too. I saw you play a high commissioner of a British colony. You were good.”
    â€œWhy, thank you.” He beamed now. “It’s gratifying to be recognized, although it says more for your sharp eyes than my fame. I’m not exactly in demand. TV bits, mostly. An actor has to work.”
    â€œRich men don’t often go in for acting.”
    â€œThe one thing in my life I am really proud of, Mr.… What did you say your name was?”
    He had me. If you want to stay anonymous, don’t praise a man. People always want to know who is flattering them.
    â€œFortune,” I said. “Dan Fortune.”
    â€œMy pride, Mr. Fortune, is that I tried to carve my own place in a hard arena. Most of our family tend to regal indolence. Not that I’m rich. Through devious twists of family history, Jonathan and his brother, Walter Senior, were the rich ones. The rest of us are not impoverished, but we are not rich. I shared this apartment with Jonathan for twenty-five years, but he owned it.”
    I took the opportunity of his better humor. “Can you tell me anything more, Mr. Ames? For instance, what led the police to Weiss?”
    â€œI found his name on Jonathan’s desk calendar.”
    â€œCareless of him to leave his name.”
    â€œI presume he isn’t a mental giant. Besides, it seems clear that he struck, probably, in anger. I suppose he panicked.”
    It was a pretty good description of Weiss, and of the only way he might have killed a man.
    â€œYou didn’t see Jonathan again after the morning?”
    â€œNo. I came home at half-past five. When he did not appear for our cocktails at six, I went to his study. I found him on the floor in a pool of dried blood. I’m afraid I was sick. I had a drink. Then I called the police.”
    â€œWhere did he go that morning? When did he get back?”
    â€œWe learned later that he had been to lunch with Deirdre. She says they returned here at about one o’clock.”
    â€œWho’s Deirdre?”
    â€œDeirdre Fallon, young Walter’s lady friend. She actually let Weiss into the apartment before she left.”
    â€œWhat time was that?”
    â€œShe says about one-fifteen. When Gertrude, Walter’s mother, came to call at about two o’clock,