IV

THE FATAL SCRIPT


I had no real opportunity to study Manton when he greeted us upon
our arrival, and at that time neither Kennedy nor I possessed
even a passing realization of the problem before us. Now I felt
that I was ready to grasp at any possible motive for the crime. I
was prepared to suspect any or all of the nine people enumerated
by Mackay, so far as I could speak for myself, and at the very
least I was certain that this was one of the most baffling cases
ever brought to Craig's attention.

Yet I was sure he would solve it. I waited most impatiently for
the outcome of his examination of Lloyd Manton.

The producer-promoter was a well-set-up man just approaching
middle age. About him was a certain impression of great physical
strength, of bulk without flabbiness, and in particular I noticed
the formation of his head, the square broad development which
indicated his intellectual power, and I found, too, a fascinating
quality about his eyes, deeply placed and of a warm dark gray-
brown, which seemed to hold a fundamental sincerity which, I
imagined, made the man almost irresistible in a business deal.

His weakness, so far as I could ascertain it, was revealed by his
mouth and chin, and by a certain nervousness of his hands, hands