Spy in a Little Black Dress - By Maxine Kenneth Page 0,49

of the auditorium and illustrated scenes from Spanish history, from El Cid’s noble defense of Valencia, through Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the New World, to the first settlements founded on the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba.

Jackie looked at her ticket stub and found her seat, which was located about ten rows back from the screen. Seating herself, she tried to find where Batista was sitting, and found him with his retinue in one of the boxes on the right-hand side of the auditorium.

Seated several rows ahead of her she could see Sinatra, Giancana, and their “dates” for the evening. The men were busy talking to each other and barely spoke a word to their window dressing. Nearby, Hemingway made himself comfortable and put his feet up on the back of the lone empty seat in front of him.

The two Dracula stars, Jackie saw, had a box to themselves on the left-hand side of the screen and couldn’t seem to wait for the movie to begin.

Just then, the houselights went down, and Jackie settled herself in her seat. She took out a reporter’s notepad, a pen, and a miniature flashlight and prepared to take notes during the movie when Metzger’s treasure map appeared in the film. If Maheu was right, she would have to wait until the third reel. For that reason, she would have to be aware of the reel changes, always designated by four dots that appeared consecutively at the upper right-hand corner of the screen to warn the projectionist that the projectors needed to be switched.

The movie began with the familiar Universal art deco logo of the airplane flying around the globe. Then the titles announced

CARL LAEMMLE

presenta

“DRACULA”

The audience burst into spontaneous applause.

The movie opened with a group of tourists being taken by carriage through the Carpathian Mountains. They were informed that this was Walpurgisnacht, when the dead walked, and that they must be sure not to leave the safety of the inn where they were staying. It was rather funny to watch as one tourist, a frightened young woman wearing owlish glasses, kept getting rocked right into the arms of a male fellow traveler.

As she watched the movie, the memory of the man in the coveralls kept coming back to Jackie. Something about him didn’t seem quite right. The way he didn’t fit in with the rest of the crowd. And the way his attention perked up only when Batista made his entrance. And then there was the matter of his toolbox, which could have concealed any manner of things besides tools. Like a weapon, for instance. Or even worse, a bomb.

More scenes continued to unspool. Count Dracula creepily arising from his mist-filled coffin, greeted by three seductively beautiful lady vampires. The English lawyer, Renfield, arriving at Castle Dracula and giving the count the deed to Carfax Abbey. Jackie found herself torn between watching the movie for any sign of Metzger’s treasure map and concern about that man in coveralls and what possible mischief he might be up to at this very minute.

Jackie watched with growing discomfort as Renfield spent his first night at Castle Dracula, where the count looked on as his three lady vampires feasted on the English lawyer. Then, from out of the corner of her eye, Jackie caught sight of some movement from the edge of the auditorium to her right. There he was, the man with the coveralls. Only now he was wearing a Dracula cape over them to disguise his appearance. Now, for sure, Jackie knew that something wasn’t right. She looked around for someone she could warn about this. But the nearest police were guarding Batista in his box and there was no time to get to them.

Not wanting to waste another second, Jackie quickly stuffed her notepad, pen, and flashlight back into her purse, jumped up out of her seat, and started down the row to the aisle.

“Perdóname, perdóname,” she said to those also seated on the row, whose viewing pleasure she was disturbing.

Once out in the aisle, she turned to see where the man in the Dracula cape had gone. To her right, she saw a sudden shadow flitting up the arched stairway leading to the projection booth, ironically, to Jackie’s eye, imitating the movie’s gothic, shadow-filled mise-en-scène. Without a moment’s hesitation, she went up the stairs and found the door to the projection room. Again, without hesitating, she tried to open it, but the door was locked. Either locked or blocked—she wasn’t sure. So she tried again. And