Free Death out of Thin Air by Clayton Rawson Page A

one on me.”
    Inez LaValle was a slim, lithe brunette with a figure that must have made Mrs. Saylor green with envy. Mickey later admitted to Don that she had a twinge of it herself. Inez’s years of dancing — she had started ballet when she was six — had given her a sleek, assured physical poise, and, as Don noticed when she gave him her hand, a muscular strength that some men would have envied.
    Inez LaValle wasn’t nearly as wealthy as Estelle Saylor. She wasn’t exactly destitute either. Her father was president of the LaValle Motor Car Company and, judging from the way Chandler kept his eyes on her, Don figured that Woody’s column would probably announce before long that the wealthy producer and the Music Hall’s premiere danseuse were middle-aisling it. Chandler, in spite of his short leg was definitely a catch — an otherwise well built, handsome man, with charm and money.
    Miss LaValle’s dark flashing eyes looked at Don and she said, “If you do not believe that a vampire has materialized and escaped the control at Count Draco’s séances — then what killed Marie Zsgany?”
    â€œMarie killed? ” Mrs. Saylor’s voice was horror-stricken — her eyes round. “What do you mean?”
    The Maharajah answered Inez first. “I understand from the papers that the police seem to think Diavolo, an actor — a magician, I believe — did it.” He turned to Mrs. Saylor. “Hadn’t you heard? The papers are full of it tonight.”
    She shook her head nervously, her hand at her throat again. “No, no,” she said. “We have not seen the papers. What—”
    Inez cut in, “Gilles de Rais, Mrs. Saylor, killed Marie this afternoon in Don Diavolo’s dressing room. The police think the magician did it because his door was locked on the inside and a boy in the corridor had seen no one else enter. The window, however, was open!”
    Estelle Saylor was genuinely frightened. She moved back and sat down, shakily. “The Vampire!” she said in a low husky voice. “Gilles de Rais — he can kill, then!”
    Ogden Saylor who had been listening quietly, scowled and said, “Chandler, is this true? Because of these séances will our names be connected with—”
    â€œIt’s true enough, Ogden,” Chandler replied. “And though the police haven’t as yet identified the girl as Marie Zsgany, I suspect our names will be drawn into it. I think your robbery is somehow connected with Marie’s murder. The Bat appeared at my offices this afternoon. He rifled my safe also. He got thirty thousand in bonds. His Highness arrived just in time to save my life. He saw the Bat.”
    Inez turned to Diavolo. “You saw him?” she asked incredulously. “And you still do not believe in him?”
    â€œI saw a man who seemed to have the head of a bat, yes,” His Highness answered gravely. “But I was also in the Music Hall this afternoon. I saw Don Diavolo make an elephant disappear. That does not mean that I believe elephants can vanish into thin air. It is only that they can be made to appear to do so.”
    Ogden Saylor smiled, “I think I agree with you. The Bat is not strictly kosher. I have suspected it all along. Chandler, those séances are phoney as hell. We’ve been so careful all along to tie Mlle. Zsgany in her chair so that she could not move. But we should have tied Count Draco. He could have produced all the phenomena.”
    â€œBut, Ogden,” Mrs. Saylor objected. “You saw the Vampire yourself. The Count was there when he appeared. Surely you can’t say that he is the Bat — No, no, I won’t believe it. Marie Zsgany was a true medium. The Count wouldn’t dare — what could he gain?”
    The Maharajah answered that one. “You ask what the Count could gain, Mrs. Saylor. You have just lost a fortune in precious