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The Hidden Assassinsby: Robert Wilson |
Photo Finishby Ngaio MarshPhoto Finish is about the murder of an opera singer, Isabella Sommita (nee Pepitone). La Sommita is a coloratura soprano with a rich, golden voice and a peasant background. She has an ongoing feud with a sly photographer called 'Strix,' who manages to photograph her in the most ungainly situations and poses – then sells them to the newspapers. Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn, CID, is Ngaio Marsh' protagonist – and in this book, his talented painter wife Troy is invited down to New Zealand to paint a portrait of the famous singer. Alleyn is also invited, but intends to refuse the invitation. La Sommita is a guest at the newly completed mansion of her friend, Montague V. Reece. The house is named Waihoe Lodge, located on an island in the middle of a lake on the scenic western side of southern New Zealand . C.S. Roderick Alleyn is then informed by his superior that he should go, since both Mr. Reece and La Sommita were implicated once in drug smuggling. When they arrive at the huge estate, it's to find a young composer, Rupert Bartholomew, is present – not only as La Sommita's lover, but as her secretary and protégé. All this because he's written a one-act opera called The Alien Corn, based on the Biblical Ruth story and containing a hefty part for the coloratura. Present also are not only Mr. Reece, but Sommita's maid and dresser, Maria, Ben Ruby, her manager, and the remainder of Mr. Reece' staff – including Ned Hanley, Mr. Reece' secretary, Marco, a manservant, Les, a launch man, Bert, the chauffeur, and Mrs. Bacon, the housekeeper. The photographer, Strix, has evidently followed La Sommita to Waihoe Lodge, able to get still another unflattering picture through a window while the soprano is going over the music. Waihoe Lodge has a vast music room with a stage at one end, and it's there that La Sommita intends to present Bartholomew's opera, with an invited cordon of music critics and special guests from Australia to be ferried over from the mainland in a launch after being flown from Australia for the occasion. Rupert Bartholomew suddenly realizes his operatic effort is musically inferior when he hears La Sommita rehearsing her part for the first time, but his pleas to cancel the performance go unheeded. The Sommita only sees herself in a major role and hasn't the musical taste to realize The Alien Corn is just that – pure corn – something her manager and all other musically adept people realize even though the soprano doesn't. Troy Alleyn confines herself to sketching the famous singer at rehearsals, since no sitting is possible until the opera is performed. Signor Beppo Lattienzo, Sommita's Master of Singing, arrives with others who will perform in the cast, a tenor, mezzo-soprano, contralto and bass. They rehearse, with Rupert agonizing all the while. Then the opera is given, and Rupert Bartholomew, who had to conduct his own work, attempts an apology onstage afterwards, but faints. At the reception following the performance, neither Isabella Sommita nor Rupert Bartholomew attend. A vicious storm called a 'rosser' begins to pelt the island with torrential rain, and many of the guests leave early while the launch is still able to navigate the lake. But the phones cut out, the launch is marooned on the other side of the lake, and screams from Maria finally alert the remaining guests that La Sommita has been murdered. This, of course, is where Roderick Alleyn's expertise comes to the fore. Maria is desperate to lay out her mistress' body properly, but is denied access to the murdered soprano's bedroom. Careful not to disturb the crime scene until the local police can get there, C.S. Alleyn does the best he can with talcum powder for fingerprinting. With the help of Dr. John Carmichael, Alleyn goes over the body, found on the bed in an ungainly position with a stiletto through a photograph, which in turn was over the soprano's heart. The photograph points to the stealthy Strix, whom Alleyn suspects is part of La Sommita's own staff or followers. But there is also La Sommita's background, which is rooted in an old family feud between the Pepitones and the Rossis; one of the reasons The Sommita changed her name. So far, there seem to be no drugs involved in the present situation. The storm eventually abates and the police arrive, happy to find Alleyn not only in temporary charge, but having preserved the scene. Then when the identity of Strix is finally cleared, and the murderer discovered through the untangling of keys to La Sommita's bedroom door, the mystery novel ends without Troy ever painting the soprano's likeness, even though she's managed to sketch her in charcoal! The murderer naturally turns out to be the individual you'd least suspect, in the best murder mystery tradition. Anyone who hasn't Ngaio Marsh on their list of preferred English mystery writers should certainly read her work while still in publication. Alan Paul Curtis |
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