Page:Oriental Stories Volume 02 Number 01 (Winter 1932).djvu/46

Rh ford with a reckless disregard for their probable repercussions. Then his mouth lost its scowl; it softened to a smile of recognition. A girl had appeared at the door, a small, piquant figure garbed in old-rose silks banded with silver, her ebony hair smoothed back like a cap of lacquer. The camera man's eyes suddenly glinted with fear. He spoke urgently:

"Run away, Laura! Please!"

The Chinese girl obeyed, but not before she had glimpsed the sprawled, grotesque shape on the floor. For an instant her body had gone rigid. Her face, however, had remained expressionless.

"And who might that geyrrl be?" demanded Andrews curtly.

"Laura Sun, our leading woman," answered Rutherford with equal curtness. He paused an instant and then burst out: "And, see here, don't you bring her into this! She has nothing to do with the killing of that swine there!"

"See here, young fellow, you'll get along much better for yourrself if you try answerrin' me wi' a bit of civility"

"Oh, it's civility you want?" interposed the young camera man in the same reckless tone. "Why should I be civil? You've made up your mind that I committed the murder! Just because I've had words with Li." His voice lifted a notch and the lips twitched nervously. "Well, I'll add to that. Not only have I threatened to bash in Li's head, but I've promised him a rawhiding; I've threatened to drown him, to tie him to a railroad track. And why? Because he was the nastiest, slimiest worm that ever tried to disguise himself as a human being. A rotter if there ever was"

"Wait a moment," cut in the sergeant. "Is it because he is Chinese that ye felt so prrovoked wi' him?"

"No, of course not. The other Chinese on the lot are as decent a crew as you could ask for. You'd have to go a long way in Hollywood to get a cast of white men that are as honest and hardworking. But Li—he was all bad. And he made life a purple hell on earth for poor little Miss Sun."

"And I suppose you defended her?" Andrews asked.

"I did my best. The trouble was, he usually waited to begin his indecent proposals until they were playing a scene together. When she was supposed to be registering love for him, he'd spring something hot. I don't know the Chinese language, but I know that what he said was steamy. The extras would cackle and Miss Sun would cringe back and spoil the scene. There's no question in my mind that Li wanted her out of the way; wanted to wear her down and force her to resign"

"Now, wait a moment," checked Andrews. "Where was O'Conner when this was goin' on?"

"O'Conner was there. He didn't like it, and he told Li so. But Li had been buttering O'Conner up and the Chief was always making excuses for him. To give the devil his due, Li could be a superb actor when he wanted to be. And Laura Sun—although she's lovely, as you saw—isn't in the same acting class with Li."

Andrews was silent a moment; then he asked: "Does O'Conner speak Chinese?"

"No. We've had to depend upon interpreters. Mr. Li did most of that. Miss Sun does a little. She was born in San Francisco and she speaks better English than she does her native tongue. As a matter of fact, if she hadn't been bilingual I doubt if she could have held her job. Her brain is keen, but there are moments when it doesn't seem to function before the camera."

"You say that the said Li acted as in-