Murder in the Menagerie by Victor Mollo

Author:Victor Mollo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pavilion Books
Published: 2014-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

North/South Game. Dealer West.

West

North

East

South

1NT

Dble

Pass

2

Pass

3

Pass

4

All Pass

“There. The One No Trump opening was fifteen-to-seventeen,” he said. “Papa leads the king of clubs, you duck, he continues with the queen, you duck again, and ...”

“I do no such thing,” broke in the Penguin. “I go up with the ace and exit with the ten of clubs.”

“Suppose, however, that you duck a second time,” pursued O.O., “and that a third club is led. What now?”

“Assuming the heart and diamond finesses to be right, as they should be on the bidding,” rejoined P.P., “I have a heart loser and probably two spade losers, one if Papa has a doubleton king ...”

“He hasn’t,” interjected the Owl.

“Then,” went on the Penguin, “I shall look for some sort of endplay, hoping to get out of it for one down. What did that Rabbit do? No one else would have ducked that second club.”

“The Rabbit ducked,” explained O.O., “in the hope that Papa might switch to something more helpful. Ever an optimist, he didn’t discount the possibility of a doubleton king-queen of clubs.

“At trick four he led a low spade from dummy. Karapet followed with the four and R.R. inserted the seven, losing the trick to Papa’s ten. Suspecting rightly that a heart or diamond return would cost a trick, Papa exited with the thirteenth club. This came as a distinct boost for the Rabbit’s morale, not because it was of any great help in itself, but because it showed that even experts, like Papa, miscounted occasionally. After all, he wouldn’t have conceded a ruff-and-discard unless he thought that there was another club out, would he? That’s what he said later.

“Anyway, the Rabbit threw a heart from dummy and ruffed in hand. Next came the queen of diamonds, covered by Papa with the king. The Rabbit won with the ace, cashed the knave of diamonds and, to get back for the heart finesse, ruffed a diamond. Papa’s card was the ten and this gave the Rabbit food for thought. A trick had fallen into his lap, but to cash it he would have to draw a round of trumps. Then it wouldn’t matter if Papa ruffed for he would have to exit with a heart, and with the finesse right, dummy would be high.”

While he paused for a sip of Madeira and several sagacious blinks, Oscar’s round amber eyes glowed sombrely. “At this point,” he continued, “something – I don’t say it was his Guardian Angel – prevented R.R. from leaping to his death. Like you, Peregrine, R.R. was happy to settle for one down, and yet there was occasion here for a touch of artistry. The natural play was a low trump to the ace, but R.R. had seen the Hog, in similar situations, brazenly lead the unsupported queen. People didn’t always cover honours these days and sometimes the queen would slip through.

“Papa, however, covered in the old-fashioned way. The Rabbit shrugged his shoulders philosophically. Since he was going to lose a trump trick anyway, his play had cost nothing.

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