Lycée Chateaubriand de Rome

 “I’ve never had any dealings with private detectives, Mr. Marlowe. I don’t know anything about them. Your references seem satisfactory. What are your charges ?”
-“To do what, Mrs. Murdoch ?”

-“You know, that detective stuff”.
-“I haven’t even started yet and you already want to pay me, wow, I must be amazing at this job !”
-“Oh, you know what I mean, you silly man !”
-“I don’t know and I don’t particularly care to, so it’s OK. All I’m thinking about is where to start on your diamond necklace mystery. Where did you last see it ?”
-“Right on that table. I left it there before going to bed.”
-“OK.”
Mr. Marlowe started inspecting around the room and suddenly bounced up and said :
-“A-ha !”
-“What ?” said Mrs. Murdoch.
-“Footprints !”

He pointed towards the ground where there were very vague smudges of dirt, which to Mrs. Murdoch looked like nothing but to the detective seemed like very important clues. He started to follow these smudges. They led to the window.
-“The burglar must have got in and got back out through the window,” explained Mr. Marlowe.
-“That’s impossible, I had security guards in the front and at the back of the house.”
-“Is the security guard that was guarding your room here ?”
-“I think so….Mr Jefferson !”
A tall, strong-looking man walked into the room. He looked quite scared, at least he definitely wasn’t calm.
-“Yes, ma’am ?” said the guard.
-“This is Mr. Marlowe, he would like to ask you some questions about the stolen family necklace,” said Mrs. Murdoch.
-“Umm…OK.”
-“So, Mr. Jefferson, that’s your name, right ?” said Mr. Marlowe.
-“Yes, Mr. Jefferson, that’s me.”
-“You were the one guarding this room on the night of the theft, right ?”
-“Yes…”
-“Did you see anyone around ?”
-“No, I mean, I don’t think so.”
-“Are you the robber ?”
-“What ?! No, of course not…That’s ridiculous !”
-“Why are you sweating ? Going to miss the train ?”
-“What train ? I’m not taking a train !”
-“I think you’re coming downtown with me, Mr. Jefferson.”
-“No, I didn’t do anything, I swear !”
-“Yeah, of course you didn’t, now come.”

Mr. Marlowe grabbed the guard’s arms and pushed him against the wall. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and put them on the suspect. He brought the guard outside and threw him into the car, just as Mrs. Murdoch told the detective to come back into the room.
-“What is it ?” said Mr. Marlowe.
-“The phone, someone wants to talk to you,” replied Mrs. Murdoch. Philip took the phone and said :
-“Yes, this is Mr. Marlowe speaking.”
-“You got the wrong guy, Philip !” said the man on the phone. “You disappointed me… That was pathetic…”
-“Who is this ?!”
-“You can call me Rob and your hat is on the floor.”
-“What ?”
-“Your hat, it’s on the floor behind you.”
-“I don’t understand.”
-“Turn around.” The detective turned around and saw that his hat was in fact lying on the floor.
-“Where are you ? Who are you ?”
-“I already told you, you can call me Rob !”
-“OK, then, where are you.. ?”
-“You’d like to know that, wouldn’t you ? Well, all I can say is that I can see you very clearly through my sniper scope.”

Mr. Marlowe looked out of the window ; it was already dark and the entire house was surrounded by trees.
-“What do you want ?”
-“Who, me ? Well I just wanted to kill you, Mr. Marlowe.”
-“And why would you want to do that, Rob ?”
-“Because you are the only person who could solve the necklace mystery.”
-“So you did it ?”
-“Well, congratulations…”
-“Why ? Why did you do it ?”
-“I needed money.”
-“Why didn’t you get a job ? That’s what they’re for.”
-“Very funny. I was in serious debt after gambling. This necklace is just enough to pay it off.”

Mr. Marlowe wasn’t concentrating on what this certain Rob was saying, but was in fact observing his surroundings very carefully and imagining the perfect spot for a hideout. He noticed that the light in the gatehouse at the entrance to the property was turned off, which should not have been the case. He couldn’t be sure that the robber was in the gatehouse but he was prepared to risk it – he couldn’t think of any other option. He had to keep Rob distracted so he said :
-“How much were you in debt ?”
-“Around seventy-five thousand dollars.”
-“But the necklace is worth two hundred thousand dollars ; what are you planning to do with the rest ? Charity ?”
-“Oh you are very amusing Mr. Marlowe, even though you are going to die…”
-“Frankly, I’d rather not”.

While Rob was talking, Mr. Marlowe told a guard nearby to send two of his men to sneak into the gatehouse and shoot the person inside. He insisted that they had to be extremely discreet and quiet. Meanwhile, he would do his best to keep Rob talking.
-“Do you like your job, Mr. Marlowe, or are you starting to wonder whether you made the wrong decision ?”
-“Well I do admit this isn’t my favourite part of the profession ; I prefer the bit where I sit and drink brandy with my clients…”
-“You think you’re superior to the average human being, don’t you ?” Rob was beginning to get impatient. Marlowe had to take drastic measures to keep him on the phone.
-“You do realise that you won’t get away with this, don’t you ? Because after you kill me, someone else will be after you.”
 “Shut up, Marlowe. It was nice knowing you, but it’s time for you to go. Say hi to God for me.”

There was a very loud gunshot. The detective thought his time had come and closed his eyes, but he felt nothing. He realised that he was still standing, his body intact. He glanced out of the window and saw that the guards had reached Rob before Rob got him. They had taken him completely by surprise and killed him as he kneeled at the gatehouse window with Marlowe in the sights of his gun.
-“Thank God that’s over,” thought Marlowe. “I didn’t really want to die for the sake of some lousy necklace”. He wandered out to his car to release the man handcuffed inside. “I guess I owe the poor fellow an apology,” Marlowe muttered to himself.