La Danza Morte' by Robert F. Clifton (ereader android txt) 📕

no secret. My dance career was very short. I saw the merit of directing a ballet as more lucrative financially opposed to dancing in ballet.”

“So I gather that when you formed your own company your wife was the ballerina.”

“Yes, and that's when the marriage began to unravel. It's not easy to critique someone that your married to in front of other members of the cast. Little by little the love we had for each other just vanished.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't be. Both of us went on to have excellent careers, hers as a dancer, me as a choreographer.”

“Right about here I have to get personal.”

“Ask. I have nothing to fear.”

“The question is, do you have an insurance policy on Gabriela?”

“Yes.”

“With who and what is the face value?”

“It's with Lloyds of London for five hundred thousand dollars.”

“Why Lloyds and not an American company?”

“The premium payments were much more inexpensive with Lloyds. Now, let me also tell you that Gabriela had the same kind of policy on me.”

“Why?”

“Strictly business. With her death her insurance would give me funds to continue with the ballet company. With my death she could continue by hiring a new choreographer.”

“Then I assume that upon your death she would have inherited the ballet company.”

“Only during the time of our marriage. The divorce resulted in her giving up her share of the company.”

“And she agreed to that?”

“Yes, she still had stock in the show so she was still financially secure.”

“So she continued to dance for you.”

“Yes, for me it was an excellent situation. When she danced she captivated the audience. People bought tickets and the stock went up. I had a headliner ballerina and she had her name in lights and in the art sections of newspapers and magazines.”

“You mention her name in lights. Was Brunsdorff her maiden name?”

“Yes, but it's not unusual for someone to prefer her own name. Perhaps she didn't want to known as my protege.”

“Do you have any idea who wanted her dead.”

“No.”

“Unfortunately, that half a million dollar life insurance policy could label you as a suspect.”

“I agree, but I'm sure right now you have other suspects in mind, otherwise you wouldn't be questioning me.”

“Perhaps.”

“If that's the case, have you listed Natasha as a suspect?,”asked Viktor.

“I'm assuming you mention her because she had a lot to gain with Gabriela's death.”

“Yes, of course.”

“I've looked at her. The fact that she was dancing her solo

places her on the stage and not in Gabriela's dressing room. Right now our opinion is that it was at that time an overdose of Lanoxin was deliberately put in Gabriela's drinking water.”

“I'm no detective, but one might consider that you might make excuses for Natasha. After all, it's no secret that you two are now lovers.”

“That may be true, but I don't have to make excuses for her. As I mentioned, she couldn't have been two places at once.”

“If you say so. Do you have any more questions? As it is I'm missing lunch.”

“Only one other question. Natasha has been acting as if something or someone was bothering her. Do you know anything that might be the cause of her stress?”

“No, it's not the dance routine. She's handling all of her procedures very well. You might ask her agent. It is possible that it's business related.”.

“You mean Harry Brummel.”

“Yes.”

“Thank you Mr. Baranovsky. Good luck with the rest of your tour here.”

“You're welcome. Let me know if you make any more progress in your case,” said Viktor as he walked away.

***********

“Hey! Hey! Where are you?” Mary Wallace asked her husband.

Her loud voice brought Robert out of his reverie and he blinked, then looked at her. “What? What's the matter?”, he asked.

“You're daydreaming again. I asked you what you wanted for dinner.”

“Oh. Whatever is easier for you.”

“In that case we eat out, but since that's not going to happen what would you like?”

“I don't care.”

“Fine. Now that we've settled that question I'll let you go back to La La land.”

“I'm just thinking about an old case I worked.”

“What else is new? While you're rehashing old memories I'll get supper ready, said Mary as she got up from her desk and went to the kitchen.

Wallace closed his eyes. Again in his mind he saw Natasha. She was on stage rehearsing with Alexey. When she leaped, it seemed that she hung in the air suspended, then gracefully ascended. She twirled and spun, danced on her toes and performed pirouette's flawlessly. If Viktor Baranovsky had any complaints it was about Alexey. “Show her! The ballet is called Sleeping Beauty not Prince Charming. You have your own solo. Stop hamming it up at her expense!,” Viktor had shouted.

When the rehearsal was finished Wallace walked up to the stage then stood looking up at Natasha. “Hello beautiful”, he had said.

“Aren't you supposed to be working?”, she asked.

“I am working. When you're all refreshed and dressed and we can get out of here there are some questions I want to ask you”.

“More questions? Don't you ever stop?”

“Not until I have all the answers.”

“Alright, wait for me. I have to shower and get dressed.”

“Can I wait in your dressing room?”

“Sure. Margaret can keep you company.”

Wallace left the stage area and walked down the narrow hallway that led to backstage and the dressing rooms. As he approached Natasha's room he could hear the chatter of the girl dancers in the large dressing room provided for them. He knocked lightly on Natasha's door. Margaret Helms answered the door an upon seeing Wallace said, “Hello Officer Wallace. Natasha's in the shower. She told me to make you comfortable. Is there anything I can get you?,”she asked.

“No Miss Helms. I'll just sit here and try to keep out of your way.”

“You won't be in my way. May I ask how your investigation is going?”

“Sure. It's going slow, very slow. Still, once in awhile something new comes along. I want to thank you again for you're co-operation.”

“Oh, you're welcome. Has anything turned up on the Lanoxin pills and the container?”

“No, for some reason Law enforcement laboratories seems to take forever in giving up results.”

“I see.”

“While you're here, do you mind if I ask you another question?”

“No, of course not”.

“Do you have any idea of how many people knew about Gabriela's heart condition and the fact that she took Lanoxin?”

“Any one that knew her. Everyone in the production. She would often either ask for it from me or take it out of her pocketbook. The odd thing about Gabriela was the fact that she was fastidious. Often she would refuse to dance with the male lead, The Danseur Noble, if you will, if she thought he was perspiring too much. When it came to her medication after opening and then closing the container she would wipe it all over with a tissue. She did it every time.”

“Really? Did she do it the last time you handed her the pills in the container?”

“I can't say exactly, but more than likely she did.”

“Thank you.”

“You're welcome. Now if you will excuse me I just heard Natasha turn off the shower.”

Back at the condominium Wallace unlocked the door, opened it and allowed Natasha to enter first. “Such a gentleman”, she said.

“Not really. There's always the possibility that an intruder might be inside waiting to attack me. This way if there is someone inside they get you instead of me.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Well, how did it go today?,”

“Fine. Why?”

“Well, recently you've been under stress about something you won't tell me about. I was just wondering if you're still having the same problem.”

“Everything is fine Robert.”

“You're sure”.

“Yes, now leave it alone. What are we doing for dinner?”, she asked.

“I had Esmeralda to pick up dinner. It should be a whole baked chicken, potato salad and coleslaw and rolls. Does that meet your fancy?”

“Absolutely. I don't have to go out and I don't have to cook.”

“Will you help with the dishes?”

“No”, she answered with a giggle.

“I'll go make the coffee. Do you want me to heat the chicken in the oven?”he asked.

“No. Cold chicken is fine.”

“O.K. Now, you're sure that you're not under any stress”, he said from the kitchen.

“I am right now and it's you that's causing it.”

“And work is going well?'

“Lately Viktor is adding more and more Pas de deux and neither Alexsey or I can understand why.”

“You got me on that one dear. What the hell is Pas de deux?”

“Oh, I'm sorry. Pas de deux is couple dancing. In most cases it is to express to the audience the love and romance between the two dancers. Since Sleeping beauty is a ballet about the princess and prince, Viktor, since he is the choreographer decided to add more romance.”

“And you don't go for it?”

“Well, it does away with one of my solo's and the same thing happens to Alexsey.”

“I'm sure the three of you will work it out. Is that all that's bothering you?”

“No I do have one more problem.”

“What is it?”

“Can I move in here with you until the troupe leaves for Pittsburgh?”

Certainly. You didn't even have to ask. And, because I intend to make love to you tonight I'm not even going to ask why. It would just piss you off and get you out of the mood.”

The next morning back at headquarters Wallace sat at his desk going over statements and evidence reports. He looked up when a member of C.S.I. walked up to him and handed him a white, thick envelope. “What's this,” asked Wallace.

“A report from the F.B.I. we sent that frosted glass to them to see if they could find out anything more about the amount of Dioxin that might have been in the glass.”

“And?”

“And, they got the same results we did. Impossible to tell.”

“Then why are you giving this to me?”

“For your records champ. It also gets us off the hook just in case you or someone else thinks we're incompetent.”

“Anything on the fingerprints you guys found on the pill container and glass shards?”

“Not yet. When we hear something we'll let you know.”

“That's mighty nice of you.

“Hey, we aim to please.”

When the C.S.I. technician left the office, Stiles seated at his own desk asked, “What's new with you and the ballerina?”

“She's moving in with me,” Wallace answered.

“Why?'

“Why? Evidently because she wants to”

“Since you're a friend of mine I'm going to tell you a story.

Once upon a time there was a red fox. This fox considered himself to be very handsome. One of his greatest attributes was his beautiful, long, red tail. One day he decided to take a short cut and he crossed the railroad tracks. Instead of going all the way across he stopped to admire his tail. As he did that a locomotive came by and cut off part of his beautiful tail. Now, the fox was very upset. He couldn't sleep. He couldn't eat. He missed the part of the beautiful tail. He decided to go look for it on the railroad tracks. As he looked and sniffed, searching for the part of his tail another locomotive came along and cut off his head. Now, the moral of this story is, don't lose your head over a piece of tail. Do you get the message?”

“Did anyone ever tell you that you're a pain in the ass?”,asked Wallace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Eight

Lester Cummings

 

Detective Robert Wallace sat calmly in a hardwood chair listening to Chief William Connors more or less berate Sergeant John Ackerman. “Would you kindly tell me not only how long this investigation has been going on, but also just how long before you at least provide me with a suspect?” Right now I've got the press, television, the Chamber of Commerce and a bunch of pain in the ass concerned citizens on my ass demanding

information and results.”

“Chief, we can't rush things. We have evidence that a homicide did take place and we have several suspects. We can't name them at this time because we still need collaborating evidence that one of them committed the crime. If I may, I suggest that it is better to take our time, as we are doing right now, opposed to