The Four of Hearts by Ellery Queen Page A

number nineteen?’
    The croupier looked baffled. ‘I’m afraid I didn’t see –’
    â€˜It’s Ty’s!’ said one of his companions.
    â€˜No, it vuss Bonnie’s. I see her put it there,’ said the Russian director.
    â€˜But I tell you I saw Ty –’
    â€˜Bonnie –
    The table was in an uproar. Ty and Bonnie glared nakedly at each other. The Boy Wonder looked angry. Alessandro ran up.
    â€˜Ladies, gentlemen. Please! You’re disturbing the other players. What’s the trouble?’
    Ty and Bonnie both tried to explain.
    â€˜That’s not true,’ stormed Bonnie. ‘You let my hand go!’
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ barked Ty, ‘but I don’t see why I should. If it were anybody else I might accept her word –’
    â€˜How dare you!’
    â€˜Oh, stop mugging. You’re not doing the big scene now. It’s a cheap stunt.’
    â€˜Mugging, am I?’ cried Bonnie. ‘You – comedian! ’
    Ty applauded. ‘Keep it up, sister; you’re going great.’
    â€˜Pretty boy!’
    That stung him. ‘I ought to slap your face –’
    â€˜You took the words right out of my mouth!’ And Bonnie whacked his cheek resoundingly.
    Ty went pale. Bonnie’s bosom heaved. The Boy Wonder whispered sharply in her ear. Alessandro said something to Ty in a curt undertone.
    â€˜I don’t give a damn. If she thinks she can maul me and get away with it –’ said Ty, his nostrils quivering.
    â€˜Insulting pup!’ raged Bonnie. ‘Accuse me of cheating –
    â€˜I’ll pay you back for that smack if it’s the last thing I do!’ shouted Ty across Alessandro’s fat shoulders.
    â€˜There’s more where that came from, Ty Royle!’
    â€˜Please!’ thundered Alessandro. ‘I’ll credit each of your accounts with the winnings on that bet. Now I’ll have to ask you, Miss Stuart and Mr. Royle, either to quiet down or leave.’
    â€˜Leave?’ shrieked Bonnie. ‘I can’t get away from the contaminated air surrounding that fake old lady’s delight soon enough!’
    And she wrenched herself from the Boy Wonder’s grasp and flew to the door. Ty shook Alessandro off and ran after her. The Boy Wonder dived after both.
    They all disappeared to the accompaniment of screams and bellows.
    â€˜That,’ said Ellery to Lew Bascom, ‘was one damfool trick, my playful friend.’
    â€˜Ain’t it the truth?’ sighed Lew. ‘C’mon, toots, let’s watch the wind-up of this bout.’ And he dragged his brunette companion away from the wheel and hurried her after the vanished trio.
    Something made Ellery turn and look at Jack Royle. The actor still sat at the bar, motionless, as if he had not heard a word of the quarrel behind him.
    But in the mirror Ellery caught a glimpse of his lips. They were twisted into a bitter smile.

CHAPTER 4
    BATTLE ROYLE
    The seven days following that quiet evening at Alessandro’s whistled by Mr. Ellery Queen’s ears with the terrifying intimacy of bullets; it was like being caught out in No Man’s Land between two blasting armies. By the end of the week he had not only collected a smoking mass of notes but several lesions of the nervous system as well.
    He was entangled in a mass of old Royle-Stuart clippings in the studio library, trying to unsnarl his notes, when he was summoned by page to Jacques Butcher’s office.
    The Boy Wonder looked gaunt, but triumphant. ‘ Mirabile dictu. We’re sitting on top of the world.’
    â€˜Peace, it’s wonderful,’ grinned Lew. ‘It sure is.’
    â€˜They’ve agreed?’ asked Ellery incredulously.
    â€˜Absolutely.’
    â€˜I refuse to believe it. What did you use – hypnosis?’
    â€˜Appeal to their vanity. I knew they’d fall.’
    â€˜Blythe put up a battle,’ said Lew,