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First published in Great Britain by
LONG 1940
Copyright © Francis Durbridge 1940
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Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
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This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780008125608
Ebook Edition © June 2015 ISBN: 9780008125615
Version: 2015-06-01
1
âBryant! Where the devil is Bryant?â Ralph Cosgrove, news editor of the Evening Post, replaced the telephone and repeated his question into the mouthpiece of the dictograph. A few seconds later the door opened and a resonant tenor announced: âDo I hear you calling me?â
âCut out the fooling and shut the door,â snapped Cosgrove. âYou should have been here hours ago. What the devil have you been doing?â
Rex Bryant came into the office and perched himself on the arm of the chair reserved for visitors. He was young, attractive, well dressed, and, oddly enough, did not wear a trilby on the back of his head. âIâve been to a movie,â announced Rex. âIt was terrific. All about a newspaper. The editor got the scoop. The reporter got the girl. And the girl got the baby.â
There was an unpleasant glint in Cosgroveâs eye. âUnless you take the lead out of your pants youâll get the sack!â he barked. âGet down to Southampton and cover the Clipper story!â
Rex frowned. âLook here, Chief, Iâm just about tired of meeting film stars.â
âIâm not asking you to meet film stars. Maybe youâve never heard of the Golden Clipper?â
âOf course I have! New York to Southampton in twenty-four hours. Nice easy passage. Whereâs the story?â
Ralph Cosgrove smiled. It was not a pleasant smile. âI donât suppose you know by any chance who happens to be travelling on the Clipper?â
âThe Quintuplets?â suggested Rex.
Cosgrove thoughtfully fingered a newspaper cutting he had picked up from among the pile of papers on his desk.
âNo, not the Quintuplets,â he said softly. âJust Paul Temple. Mr and Mrs Temple, to be more precise.â
âAre you sure of this?â There was no mistaking the note of urgency in Rex Bryantâs voice.
âOf course Iâm sure. It was in last nightâs Standard.â
âWell, Iâm damned!â
âYouâll also be fired if you donât get down to Southampton. Weâve been waiting for this story to break for weeks.â
âBut everybody knows why Temple is on his way home,â protested Rex. âTheyâve been rehearsing that new play of his. Itâs due to open in a fortnight.â
âThatâs old stuff. Iris Archer in The First Lady Seaton.â
âYes. Only for some reason or other Iris Archer isnât going to play the part.â
This was obviously news to Cosgrove and he raised his eyebrows in surprise. âWhatâs the matter with Archer? Why isnât she playing the part?â
âI donât know. Gibson had a chat with her last night. She talks a lot of nonsense about the part being unsuitable.â
Cosgrove nodded. âWell, get down to Southampton and see what Temple has to say about it.â
Rex wearily levered himself from the arm of the chair.
âIâd sooner cover that new movie at the Empire,â he grinned. âItâs all about an editor who took the wrong turning.â
âSouthampton!â
âOK, Snow White! OK!â
Rex made a hasty yet dignified retreat.
Four hours later, his vermilion two-seater sports car was nosing its way through Southamptonâs dock traffic, and he was wondering if there would be any other newspapermen present. There was nothing Rex hated more than mass interviews. However, knowing Temple and his wife in the days when they were both journalists was certainly a point in his favour. When the Golden Clipper bumped gently to a standstill, Rex had no difficulty in segregating Paul Temple and Steve from the crowds that thronged to see Hollywoodâs latest film face, which, as usual, proved more than a little disappointing in its everyday proportions.