Chapter 19: Phoning Mars
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The screen died and I sat glaring at it with a savage patience. I then punched the Sternwood's number, and the silver face of the robot butler appeared on the screen. His suave voice said: "General Sternwood's residence." "This is Marlowe. Remember me? I met you about a hundred years ago - or was it only yesterday?" "Yes, Mr Marlowe. I remember, of course." "Is Mrs Regan home?" "Yes, I believe so. Would you -" I cut in on him with a sudden change of mind. "No. You give her the message. Tell her I have the holos, all of them and the memory device, and that everything is all right." "Yes. Yes." The voice seemed to shake a little. "You have the holos and the memory device, and everything is all right. Yes sir. I may say - thank you very much, sir." The phone rang back in five minutes. I had finished my drink and it made me feel as if I could eat the dinner I had forgotten all about. I went out leaving the phone ringing. It was ringing when I got back. It rang at intervals until half past midnight. At that time I put my lights out and opened the windows and yanked the power cord from the telephone and went to bed. I had a bellyful of the Sternwood family. I read all of the net news accounts over my eggs and bacon the next morning. Their accounts of the affair came as close to the truth as news stories usually come - as close as Mars is to Saturn. None of the three connected Owen Taylor, pilot of the Asteroid Belt Suicide Cruiser, with the Lunar Terrace Exotic Bungalow Slaying. None of then mentioned the Sternwoods, Bernie Ohls or me. Owen Taylor was 'chauffeur to a wealthy family'. Captain Cronjager got all the credit for solving the two slayings in his district, which was supposed to arise out of a dispute over the proceeds from a black market communications service maintained by one Geiger in the back of his bookstore. Brody had shot Geiger and Carol Lundgren had shot Brody in revenge. Police were holding Carol Lundgren in custody. He had confessed. He had a bad record - probably at high school. Police were also holding one Agnes Lozelle, Geiger's secretary, as a material witness. It was a nice write-up. It gave the impression that Geiger had been killed the night before, that Brody had been killed about an hour later, and that Captain Cronjager had solved both murders while lighting a cigarette. The suicide of Owen Taylor got little coverage. There was a photo of the cruiser in the airlock of the recovery craft, and something covered with a cloth lying on the decking beside it. Owen Taylor had been despondent and in poor health. His family lived on Titan, and his body would be shipped there. There would be no inquest.
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Part 2