Roger can hardly wait to tell Quentin about the Maggie-Bruno incident.
Bruno is once again playing the only tune they’ve got in parallel time when Inspector Hamilton (welcome, Colin Hamilton!) of the Collinsport police comes by to question him about Angelique’s murder. After Bruno finishes playing his piece and admiring it and himself, he finally tells the inspector that it’s Angelique’s murder he wants to report. The inspector gives the usual diagnosis that Angelique died of a stroke, as confirmed by Dr. Cyrus Longworth. With a smile, Bruno reminds the inspector, Dr. Longworth was a little more complex than anyone suspected. The inspector gets impatient with this coyness, so Bruno show him the page that he photostatted (yes, a PHOTOSTAT!) hen Bruno goes right back to playing “Ode to Angelique,” and the inspector leaves.
Maggie comes downstairs (still wearing the strange yellow robe-thingy) and finds her husband actually at home. He immediately wants to talk about the incident with Bruno, but Maggie dismisses it, saying he was drunk, that was all. (Yaeger molested her, then nearly raped her, then tried to kill her, so presumably she has developed a sense of proportion.) Inspector Hamilton shows Quentin the PHOTOSTAT. Quentin verifies that it is Cyrus’s handwriting, then reads it to himself--reacting in amazement at the interesting part. Roger wanders by the drawing room just in time to hear Quentin describe the contents to Maggie, admitting that Cyrus says: (1) Angelique was murdered; (2) he (C.) falsified the death certificate; and (3) Quentin is the murderer. That isn’t possible! Maggie immediately exclaims. Roger agrees, but only because Cyrus is dead and turned out to be less than perfect anyway. Being a logical fellow, Inspector Hamilton asks Roger whether he was at the séance where the murder took place; Roger looks a little nervous but admits he was.
Maggie takes the opportunity to ask Roger and the inspector to step outside for a moment so she can talk to Quentin alone. They oblige, and Maggie asks, Don’t you want to call a lawyer? Predictably, Quentin demands, Do you think I killed Angelique? I never thought you did, she declares, and I don’t now. Quentin look at her for a long moment, but then that infernal Collins pride kicks in. He calls the inspector and Roger back in, and then “Alexis” returns. The inspector decides he might as well question her too, even though she was in Europe when her sister died. He shows her the photostat of Cyrus’s journal. She plays innocent, but he isn’t fooled, and the first thing he asks her is, Isn’t it true that you now have Cyrus’s diary? (Remember, no one but Bruno and Angelique have seen it, so only they know that Cyrus intended it for Quentin’s eyes only.) I do have it, she admits, but I didn’t want to tell anyone about it because I don’t believe it. She gives herself yet another opportunity to say in front of Maggie that Quentin loved Angelique more than anything else in the world, and she loved him back the same. She asks Quentin to corroborate, but instead he asks her, How did you get hold of Cyrus’s journal? She is silent, but the inspector tells them that he got the photostat from Bruno. Then Angelique admits that she bought the journal from Bruno in the hope of suppressing its contents. Oh, it’s all my fault, she winds up. Even before this latest incident, Quentin already has several reasons to hate Bruno. Right out loud and in front of Inspector Hamilton, he fumes, Bruno is only out to cause trouble, but he won’t be causing trouble much longer. When the inspector opines that there’s no need for that much excitement, Quentin says, You don’t know how much I’ve had to take from that man. Watching him, Angelique smirks at how perfectly her plan is working. Quentin finally refuses to answer the inspector’s questions--because Bruno sent him. Maggie thinks they should just get it over with. I agree, Quentin replies, but unfortunately adds, With Bruno and with my bare hands! “Alexis” takes him out to the foyer and tells him, Bruno isn’t worth it--he’s probably having a good laugh at how angry you must be. He won’t be laughing much longer! Quentin snarls. From the foyer it’s only a step to the front door, and Quentin takes it. Far from being displeased (or from returning to the drawing room), Angelique goes upstairs smiling broadly. Inspector Hamilton observes to Maggie that her husband seems to have a rather volatile temper, then Maggie goes out to the foyer, only to discover that Quentin isn’t there. She goes upstairs to look for him, and Roger suggests to the inspector that maybe Quentin went to Bruno’s cottage. The inspector decides to return there.
The walk to the cottage hasn’t improved Quentin’s temper. Almost before he gets both feet over the threshold, he accuses Bruno of stealing the journal. You aren’t in any position to accuse anyone, Bruno snaps, brushing Quentin’s shoulder insultingly as he passes by him. Quentin finally loses it and starts choking Bruno. Abruptly he flings Bruno aside contemptuously, saying, You aren’t worth killing. Suddenly Bruno, who is now several feet from Quentin, starts choking anyway and falls to the floor.
In her room, Angelique tightens the ascot around a miniature copy of the head and shoulders of the Apollo Belvedere (originally Sky Rumson’s gift to Angelique in our time, but only too appropriate for the conceited Bruno!).
At the cottage, Bruno collapses to the floor. Quentin applauds his performance and sarcastically tells him he can get up and take a bow. But Bruno doesn’t respond. Just as Quentin stoops down to take a look, Inspector Hamilton opens the door and comments, I hope for your sake that he isn’t dead.....
