Dwight Venable, 22, sole heir to the multi-million dollar Venable estate since the knife-murder of his sister, Faith Venable, 24, on Tuesday, was arrested and charged with suspicion of murder last evening. Venable was taken into custody at his home, a lavishly restored brownstone at 32 Washington Square North, at about ten P.M. The surprise arrest followed the release of Regina Blue, jetset playgirl in whose Park Avenue penthouse the crime occurred. Homicide Division Lieutenant Raoul Rodriguez, in charge of the case, refused to comment on evidence leading to the charges against Venable.
A self-confessed homosexual, Venable was arrested three months ago and charged with assaulting a police officer during a disorder following a protest march by the Gay Liberation Front. Charges were dismissed when it was established that the alleged assault consisted of Venable’s kissing the officer on the lips while the policeman was attempting to club him. “He kissed back, and with his tongue, too,” Venable told reporters upon leaving the courtroom. The arresting officer, overhearing the remark, had to be restrained from attacking Venable.
Faith Venable, the victim, was the leader of a small, select religious cult practicing “Transcendental Meditation.” She was a disciple of the Mahareeshee Unguentinanina and is believed to have broken with him over the pronunciation of a holy mantra (chant). Following his arraignment, Dwight Venable was released in $50,000 bail provided by Mr. Calvin Cabot acting for the Hemisphere Guaranty Bank and Trust Company which manages the Venable estate.
Done reading, Regina looked up at Angus MacTeague questioningly.
“The Hemisphere Guaranty Bank and Trust Company, in the person of Mr. Calvin Cabot, has retained ATOMICS to prove Dwight Venable's innocence, and to find the real killer, if possible,” MacTeague explained.
“Why are you telling me this, Angus?”
“You’re involved. You knew the Venable girl. She was slain in your apartment. The police held you on suspicion and then released you. I don’t know what it is but I’m guessing you have some information that would be useful to us. Since you and I are friends, I thought-—”
“I see.” Regina interrupted him. “I’ll be glad to cooperate,” she said carefully, “if—” She deliberately left it hanging.
“If?”
“As I told you this morning, Angus, I’m quitting the profession. I need a job.”
“A job? You mean with ATOMICS?”
Regina nodded.
MacTeague thought about it. “A girl with your talents could be a great asset to ATOMICS,” he decided. “We could arrange tor you to have intimacies with certain men. As a result of such liaisons, you could doubtless supply valuable information for our files.”
“That’s out,” Regina said firmly. “I’m through whoring. If I won’t do it for myself, I certainly won’t do it for ATOMICS.”
“All right. Perhaps that won’t be necessary. It might be enough if you simply supplied data on your own clients, past clients, in whom ATOMICS has a particular interest.”
“That would be unethical!”
“Every profession has its ethics,” MacTeague agreed seriously. “But if people didn’t violate those ethics, private detectives couldn’t function. The violation of ethics, of confidences -- that’s one of the main principles on which I built ATOMIC S into the largest and most successful detective agency in the world.”
“I guess I’m one of those people who sticks to her ethics and keeps the confidences of her clients,” Regina replied. “I can’t see myself feeding dossiers of former customers—names, dates, compromising information -- into your data bank. If I went to work for ATOMICS, I might be willing to use my former contacts and experience on a selective basis without breaking confidentiality. Only I’d have to judge that for myself. Whatever I used, ATOMICS might get the results, but the raw information and the modus operandi would remain my personal business.”
“I don’t think I understand. Just what kind of job did you have in mind, Regina?”
“Special investigator.” Regina told him earnestly. “All I want is a chance to prove myself. “If I can solve the Venable case for you, will you give me a permanent job as a special investigator?”
“I don’t want you to solve it. All I want you to do is tell us what you know.”
“No soap!” Regina was firm. She had nothing to lose. If MacTeague knew how little she really knew about the ease, he probably wouldn’t even bother talking to her. The only thing she could do was bluff. “I want to work on the case. Look, Angus, I’ve got the inside track,” she lied. “Why not give me a chance?”
MacTeague laughed. The idea amused him. He didn’t see how Regina could do any harm. And-— who knows?-—she might just stumble on something useful. “All right,” he agreed. “I’ll hire you on a temporary basis. Just for this case. After that, we’ll see. Now will you tell me what you know about Faith Venable, and why the police held you, and why they let you go?”
“Am I hired?”
“You’re hired. Temporarily."
“Good. What’s my salary?”
“Avaricious wench!” MacTeague named a modest figure.
“Including expenses?”
“Yes. . . . Now will you—?”
Regina told him everything she knew. “That’s not much,” MacTeague grumbled when she finished. “I have the feeling I’ve been had.”
“You’re not going to renege?”
“No. A deal is a deal.”
“Good.” Regina relaxed. “Do you think the brother could possibly be innocent?” she asked.
“I have no idea. I’m not in the business of making guesses. I’m in the business of providing services for my clients.”
“Meaning that even if he’s guilty, you want to come up with proof that says otherwise.” Regina grinned wryly. “I’m beginning to understand the ethics of my new profession. Now then,” she added briskly, “what’s the brother’s story?”
“We haven’t had a chance to interrogate him yet. All we know is what Cabot says Dwight Venable told him. Venable claims he arrived at his sister’s apartment about eight o’clock. She wasn’t home. Since he has a key, he let himself in to use the john. Then-—”
“Urinate or defecate?” Regina interrupted in a “just-the-facts-Ma’am” tone of voice.
“Lord save us from amateurs!” MacTeague groaned. “What difference does that make?”
“It could have a bearing on the time sequence.”
“Urinate,” MacTeague grumbled. “Which Venable did. And then he claims to have walked upstairs to your place.”
“Why? How did he know Faith would be there?”
“According to Venable, she told him about you over the phone earlier in the day. Said she’d met you, that you lived right over her, and that she might drop in on you that evening. So he decided to see if she was there.”
“Did she know he was coming?” Regina remembered what Faith had said about expecting someone she wanted to avoid.
“No. He was in the neighborhood and he just dropped by on impulse.”
“I see. Go on.”
“Your front door was off the latch. He opened it and called his sister’s name. He heard a noise—- groan-—and went into the living-room. She was lying there with the knife in her. But she wasn’t quite dead yet. Venable claims she had a piece of paper in her hand and was trying to hold it up to him. She sort of shook the paper and said two words; ‘the murderer.’ Then she died. Venable grabbed the paper and ran.
“Did he leave the front door opened or closed?” Regina wanted to know.
“We don’t know yet.”
“Some story! It’s got more holes than a Bowery hooker’s underwear!” Regina snorted. “Why did he run? How does he explain my speaking to him through the bathroom door before the murder? What was on the piece of paper? What happened to it?”