we take a beating these days, thanks to television.... However, I can’t open the safe. I don’t know the combination.”
“But I do. Mr. Turner gave it to me before he went away.”
Terry did not answer. The mention of £200 had stirred his mind into action again. He watched as Madge Tansley took a slip of paper from her pocket, and afterwards he watched every detail. Five right, six left, two right, seven left. The lock clicked.
When Madge looked again Terry was examining a batch of stills for the next feature picture.
“That’s that,” Madge Tansley said—and departed.
Terry looked at the inscriptions in the light dust on top of the desk. He had traced them with his finger...5-R, 6-L 2-R, 7-L. He transferred the information to a slip of paper and put it in his pocket, then he wiped the dust with the sleeve of his coat.
Two hundred pounds! Enough to pay off Naylor in one sweep. He could lay his hands on it right now—but that would never do. Too bald—too blatant, and no chance of getting away with it. Careful thought was needed. He sank down in the swivel chair and lighted a cigarette absently. He had been smoking it for a few moments before he realized it was a Turkish one that Sid had given him. Sid had a curious liking for them.
Taking it out of his mouth, Terry made a wry face, stubbed the Turkish in the ashtray, then lighted one of his own brand. It occurred to him suddenly that to remain in the office when there was obviously nothing for him to do might look suspicious—so he left, locking the door.
Harry, the doorman, came in from the stalls as Terry emerged.
“Can I order some more Coke, Terry, or do I have to wait for the boss’s okay?”
“Order it,” Terry answered briefly.
He turned to the staircase. Helen Prescott was coming down it backwards, dusting the gilded balustrade supports as she came.
Terry went slowly down the stairs until he was level with her.
“Hallo, Helen,” he said quietly.
She turned from her job of dusting to look at him. “Oh, hello, Terry. Anything I can do?”
“Do? Not particularly. Why?”
“Well, since you’re the deputy manager you can give orders.”
“Oh, forget that! If there’s anything at all I do want, it is to explain something to you.”
Helen inspected her duster and then raised her eyes. “It wouldn’t be about Vera, would it? You hitting her?”
“You don’t have to put it that way,” Terry protested.
“In that case,” Helen said, “why should you want to explain it all over again? You did that pretty effectively earlier on, didn’t you?”
“That’s just the point; I did not. That wasn’t the whole story by a long shot, Helen. I want you in particular to know that the whole thing was a ghastly mistake. I found that Vera had been leading me up the garden and it made me see red. I’d hit her before I knew it.”
“What about it?” Helen asked coolly. “Why justify yourself to me?”
“Because.... Because I really am concerned as to what you think about me. You’ve known for months that I’m fond of you. I’ve tried in every possible way to show you as much—what bit of time we’ve had to see each other. Why can’t you break down and give me a bit of encouragement?”
“I just don’t know,” Helen admitted frankly. “Can’t be because you’re repulsive. You’re not that.”
“Then why don’t you give me a chance?” Terry insisted.
“Mmm, maybe I will,” Helen reflected. “All right, I’ll wait for you after the show tonight.”
“Do that!” Terry’s face brightened. “I’ll be a bit late because it’s film stripping night and the programme has to be put ready to go back. Always the same on Wednesday night with the half weekly change. Anyway, I shouldn’t be more than ten minutes behind.”
“’Struth, ain’t love grand?” the doorman asked, as he prowled from stalls to foyer. “Nice legs you’ve got, lass,” he added approvingly, peering up the staircase.
“Oh, go and shout your prices!” Helen called after him.
“You’d better take care he doesn’t hit you as hard as be did me, Helen,” added another voice.
Helen and Terry looked across the foyer. Vera Holdsworth had been standing behind a fall-length cutout of Rock Hudson, as he would appear in a forthcoming feature. Presumably Vera had been dusting the cutout. Certainly she must have heard everything.
“Depends if I deserve hitting, doesn’t it?” Helen asked pointedly.
“I’ll see you tonight,” Terry muttered.
He went on his way and then up the second flight of steps, which led to the Circle. He wanted the chance to think by himself, and this seemed as good a place as any. But he was not alone, after all. Against the left hand wall, perched on a ladder, was Sid. He was working on a high wooden structure in-banded as a still picture frame.
Ignoring him, Terry sat down on the second seat of Row A.
“Two hundred pounds,” he muttered to himself. “There’s only one way in which that can vanish without implicating me, and that’s by a faked burglary. We’ve been burgled twice before—the lavatory window each time. Can’t use the office window now those bars are there. I’ve a passkey to the building, which makes the thing dead easy. Mmm...anyway, the boss can afford it and I’ve got to tip up to Naylor or I’ll be in a spot—”
Violent hammering made him jump. Sid was at work. The still frame was one of the manager’s ideas. For two reasons it had to be perched above the head of anybody passing it. Stills had a habit of vanishing if they were within reach, and the law demanded a certain head clearance. Electrical work was not Sid’s only accomplishment. He was a passably good joiner, too....
* * * * * * *
Sid made a point of catching up with Vera Holdsworth when she left the cinema for lunch. She did not reveal any particular surprise as his fast running footsteps caught up with hers.
“Well, did I do it right?” he questioned.
“Oh you mean about Terry?” Vera glanced at his big, eager face. “Yes, I suppose so, but I’d have liked something a bit more—er—persuasive. You know! A fellow who hits a girl across the face wants more than just a ticking off. I’ll bet you’re as thick with him now as you ever were.”
“Well—yes,” Sid admitted uncomfortably. “But look, Vera, it isn’t because I think any the less about you. You don’t know how it is in the projection room. You’re on top of each other and you’ve got to maintain a certain air of peace.”
They both walked on in silence for a while as Vera appeared to be thinking matters over. Then she said slowly,
“You
