Mayne gave his version. He told it well and I listened with some admiration. Engles could hear what really happened later. 'It was just one of those things,' Mayne concluded. 'My fault, really. I should have kept closer touch.'
'What happened to you?' Engles asked, turning to me. 'You had a spill in soft snow, I suppose. Did you get back on your own?'
I told him how a freak change in the weather had enabled me to get back across the glacier and how a search-party had picked me up half-way down the pass.
'I've got a shot of him collapsing as he reached us,' Joe said. 'It's a real beauty. You want a scene like that in the script. It'll grip any audience. His companion telephoning from an hotel, search-parties starting out, the man himself struggling out of the soft snow, trekking back over the pass, and finally collapsing. Have his girl with the rescue party.'
Engles seemed lost in thought for a moment. Then his eyes lighted up with that infectious enthusiasm. 'That's wasting it, Joe. You can get more drama into it than that. And to hell with the girl. Listen — suppose Mayne here wanted to murder Blair. He's a good skier. Blair isn't. A snowstorm comes up. Mayne's leading. He bears right after crossing the glacier — not by mistake, but by design.' I scarcely heard what he said after that. I was watching Mayne. At the mention of 'murder' he had stiffened. He glanced quickly at Keramikos. His eyes were blank and he passed his tongue once or twice across his lips.
'A night out there in a storm, and he's bound to freeze to death,' I heard Engles saying. 'The perfect murder. Can't be proved. But, by a freak chance, Blair comes back. It's a lovely situation. We'll write that into the script, Neil,' he added, turning to me.
Keramikos thrust his head forward. 'This hypothetical case,' he said. 'It is most interesting. But why should Mayne wish to kill Blair?'
'Ah! That is what we have to work out,' Engles said. Then he turned to me. 'Come on, Neil,' he said. 'We'll get this down whilst the idea is clear in our minds. Where can we go? What about your room? Any heating?'
'There's an electric stove,' I said.
'Good!'