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diff --git a/old/tltwo10.txt b/old/tltwo10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3231d75 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tltwo10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5084 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext: The Case of The Lamp That Went Out +The Project Gutenberg Etext of A Joe Muller Detective Story: +#2 in our series by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner + +Being the Account of Some Adventures in the Professional +Experience of a Member of the Imperial Austrian Police + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This Etext prepared by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. + + + + +The Case of The Lamp That Went Out + +by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner + + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO JOE MULLER + +Joseph Muller, Secret Service detective of the Imperial Austrian +police, is one of the great experts in his profession. In +personality he differs greatly from other famous detectives. He +has neither the impressive authority of Sherlock Holmes, nor the +keen brilliancy of Monsieur Lecoq. Muller is a small, slight, +plain-looking man, of indefinite age, and of much humbleness of +mien. A naturally retiring, modest disposition, and two external +causes are the reasons for Muller's humbleness of manner, which +is his chief characteristic. One cause is the fact that in early +youth a miscarriage of justice gave him several years in prison, +an experience which cast a stigma on his name and which made it +impossible for him, for many years after, to obtain honest +employment. But the world is richer, and safer, by Muller's +early misfortune. For it was this experience which threw him +back on his own peculiar talents for a livelihood, and drove him +into the police force. Had he been able to enter any other +profession, his genius might have been stunted to a mere pastime, +instead of being, as now, utilised for the public good. + +Then, the red tape and bureaucratic etiquette which attaches to +every governmental department, puts the secret service men of the +Imperial police on a par with the lower ranks of the subordinates. +Muller's official rank is scarcely much higher than that of a +policeman, although kings and councillors consult him and the +Police Department realises to the full what a treasure it has in +him. But official red tape, and his early misfortune ... prevent +the giving of any higher official standing to even such a genius. +Born and bred to such conditions, Muller understands them, and +his natural modesty of disposition asks for no outward honours, +asks for nothing but an income sufficient for his simple needs, +and for aid and opportunity to occupy himself in the way he most +enjoys. + +Joseph Muller's character is a strange mixture. The +kindest-hearted man in the world, he is a human bloodhound when +once the lure of the trail has caught him. He scarcely eats or +sleeps when the chase is on, he does not seem to know human +weakness nor fatigue, in spite of his frail body. Once put on +a case his mind delves and delves until it finds a clue, then +something awakes within him, a spirit akin to that which holds +the bloodhound nose to trail, and he will accomplish the apparently +impossible, he will track down his victim when the entire machinery +of a great police department seems helpless to discover anything. +The high chiefs and commissioners grant a condescending permission +when Muller asks, "May I do this? ... or may I handle this case +this way?" both parties knowing all the while that it is a farce, +and that the department waits helpless until this humble little +man saves its honour by solving some problem before which its +intricate machinery has stood dazed and puzzled. + +This call of the trail is something that is stronger than anything +else in Muller's mentality, and now and then it brings him into +conflict with the department, ... or with his own better nature. +Sometimes his unerring instinct discovers secrets in high places, +secrets which the Police Department is bidden to hush up and leave +untouched. Muller is then taken off the case, and left idle for +a while if he persists in his opinion as to the true facts. And +at other times, Muller's own warm heart gets him into trouble. He +will track down his victim, driven by the power in his soul which +is stronger than all volition; but when he has this victim in the +net, he will sometimes discover him to be a much finer, better man +than the other individual, whose wrong at this particular criminal's +hand set in motion the machinery of justice. Several times that +has happened to Muller, and each time his heart got the better of +his professional instincts, of his practical common-sense, too, +perhaps, ... at least as far as his own advancement was concerned, +and he warned the victim, defeating his own work. This peculiarity +of Muller's character caused his undoing at last, his official +undoing that is, and compelled his retirement from the force. But +his advice is often sought unofficially by the Department, and to +those who know, Muller's hand can be seen in the unravelling of +many a famous case. + +The following stories are but a few of the many interesting cases +that have come within the experience of this great detective. +But they give a fair portrayal of Muller's peculiar method of +working, his looking on himself as merely an humble member of the +Department, and the comedy of his acting under "official orders" +when the Department is in reality following out his directions. + + + + + +THE CASE OF THE LAMP THAT WENT OUT + +by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE DISCOVERY + + +The radiance of a clear September morning lay over Vienna. The +air was so pure that the sky shone in brightest azure even where +the city's buildings clustered thickest. On the outskirts of the +town the rays of the awakening sun danced in crystalline ether +and struck answering gleams from the dew on grass and shrub in +the myriad gardens of the suburban streets. + +It was still very early. The old-fashioned steeple clock on the +church of the Holy Virgin in Hietzing had boomed out six slow +strokes but a short time back. Anna, the pretty blonde girl who +carried out the milk for the dwellers in several streets of this +aristocratic residential suburb, was just coming around the corner +of the main street into a quiet lane. This lane could hardly be +dignified by the name of street as yet, it was so very quiet. It +had been opened and named scarcely a year back and it was bordered +mostly by open gardens or fenced-in building lots. There were four +houses in this street, two by two opposite each other, and another, +an old-fashioned manor house, lying almost hidden in its great +garden. But the quiet street could not presume to ownership of +this last house, for the front of it opened on a parallel street, +which gave it its number. Only the garden had a gate as outlet +onto our quiet lane. + +Anna stopped in front of this gate and pulled the bell. She had +to wait for some little time until the gardener's wife, who acted +as janitress, could open the door. But Anna was not impatient, +for she knew that it was quite a distance from the gardener's +house in the centre of the great stretch of park to the little +gate where she waited. In a few moments, however, the door was +opened and a pleasant-faced woman exchanged a friendly greeting +with the girl and took the cans from her. + +Anna hastened onward with her usual energetic step. The four houses +in that street were already served and she was now bound for the +homes of customers several squares away. Then her step slowed just +a bit. She was a quiet, thoughtful girl and the lovely peace of +this bright morning sank into her heart and made her rejoice in +its beauty. All around her the foliage was turning gently to its +autumn glory of colouring and the dewdrops on the rich-hued leaves +sparkled with an unusual radiance. A thrush looked down at her +from a bough and began its morning song. Anna smiled up at the +little bird and began herself to sing a merry tune. + +But suddenly her voice died away, the colour faded from her flushed +cheeks, her eyes opened wide and she stood as if riveted to the +ground. With a deep breath as of unconscious terror she let the +burden of the milk cans drop gently from her shoulder to the ground. +In following the bird's flight her eyes had wandered to the side of +the street, to the edge of one of the vacant lots, there where a +shallow ditch separated it from the roadway. An elder-tree, the +great size of which attested its age, hung its berry-laden branches +over the ditch. And in front of this tree the bird had stopped +suddenly, then fluttered off with the quick movement of the wild +creature surprised by fright. What the bird had seen was the same +vision that halted the song on Anna's lips and arrested her foot. +It was the body of a man - a young and well-dressed man, who lay +there with his face turned toward the street. And his face was the +white frozen face of a corpse. + +Anna stood still, looking down at him for a few moments, in +wide-eyed terror: then she walked on slowly as if trying to pull +herself together again. A few steps and then she turned and broke +into a run. When she reached the end of the street, breathless +from haste and excitement, she found herself in one of the main +arteries of traffic of the suburb, but owing to the early hour +this street was almost as quiet as the lane she had just left. +Finally the frightened girl's eyes caught sight of the figure of +a policeman coming around the next corner. She flew to meet him +and recognised him as the officer of that beat. + +"Why, what is the matter?" he asked. "Why are you so excited?" + +"Down there-in the lane, there's a dead man," answered the girl, +gasping for breath. + +"A dead man?" repeated the policeman gravely, looking at the girl. +"Are you sure he's dead?" + +Anna nodded. "His eyes are all glassy and I saw blood on his back." + +"Well, you're evidently very much frightened, and I suppose you +don't want to go down there again. I'll look into the matter, if +you will go to the police station and make the announcement. Will +you do it?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"All right, then, that will gain time for us. Good-bye, Miss Anna." + +The man walked quickly down the street, while the girl hurried off +in the opposite direction, to the nearest police station, where she +told what she had seen. + +The policeman reached his goal even earlier. The first glance told +him that the man lying there by the wayside was indeed lifeless. +And the icy stiffness of the hand which he touched showed him that +life must have fled many hours back. Anna had been right about the +blood also. The dead man lay on the farther side of the ditch, half +down into it. His right arm was bent under his body, his left arm +was stretched out, and the stiffened fingers ... they were slender +white fingers ... had sought for something to break his fall. All +they had found was a tall stem of wild aster with its purple blossoms, +which they were holding fast in the death grip. On the dead man's +back was a small bullet-wound and around the edges of it his light +grey coat was stained with blood. His face was distorted in pain +and terror. It was a nice face, or would have been, did it not show +all too plainly the marks of dissipation in spite of the fact that +the man could not have been much past thirty years old. He was a +stranger to the policeman, although the latter had been on this +beat for over three years. + +When the guardian of the law had convinced himself that there was +nothing more to do for the man who lay there, he rose from his +stooping position and stepped back. His gaze wandered up and down +the quiet lane, which was still absolutely empty of human life. +He stood there quietly waiting, watching over the ghastly discovery. +In about ten minutes the police commissioner and the coroner, +followed by two roundsmen with a litter, joined the solitary watcher, +and the latter could return to his post. + +The policemen set down their litter and waited for orders, while +the coroner and the commissioner bent over the corpse. There was +nothing for the physician to do but to declare that the unfortunate +man had been dead for many hours. The bullet which struck him in +the back had killed him at once. The commissioner examined the +ground immediately around the corpse, but could find nothing that +pointed to a struggle. There remained only to prove whether there +had been a robbery as well as a murder. + +"Judging from the man's position the bullet must have come from +that direction," said the commissioner, pointing towards the +cottages down the lane. + +"People who are killed by bullets may turn several times before +they fall," said a gentle voice behind the police officer. The +voice seemed to suit the thin little man who stood there meekly, +his hat in his hand. + +The commissioner turned quickly. "Ah, are you there already, +Muller?" he said, as if greatly pleased, while the physician broke +in with the remark: + +"That's just what I was about to observe. This man did not die +so quickly that he could not have made a voluntary or involuntary +movement before life fled. The shot that killed him might have +come from any direction." + +The commissioner nodded thoughtfully and there was silence for a +few moments. Muller - for the little thin man was none other +than the celebrated Joseph Muller, one of the most brilliant +detectives in the service of the Austrian police - looked down at +the corpse carefully.. He took plenty of time to do it and +nobody hurried him. For nobody ever hurried Muller; his well-known +and almost laughable thoroughness and pedantry were too valuable in +their results. It was a tradition in the police that Muller was to +have all the time he wanted for everything. It paid in the end, +for Muller made few mistakes. Therefore, his superior the police +commissioner, and the coroner waited quietly while the little man +made his inspection of the corpse. + +"Thank you," said Muller finally, with a polite bow to the +commissioner, before he bent to brush away the dust on his knees. + +"Well?" asked Commissioner Holzer. + +Muller smiled an embarrassed smile as he replied: + +"Well ... I haven't found out anything yet except that he is dead, +and that he has been shot in the back. His pockets may tell us +something more." + +"Yes, we can examine them at once," said the commissioner. "I +have been delaying that for I wanted you here; but I had no idea +that you would come so soon. I told them to fetch you if you were +awake, but doubted you would be, for I know you have had no sleep +for forty-eight hours." + +"Oh, I can sleep, at least with one eye, when I'm on the chase," +answered the detective. "So it's really only twenty-four hours, +you see." Muller had just returned from tracking down an +aristocratic swindler whom he had found finally in a little French +city and had brought back to a Viennese prison. He had returned +well along in the past night and Holzer knew that the tired man +would need his rest. Still he had sent for Muller, who lived near +the police station, for the girl's report had warned him that this +was a serious case. And in serious cases the police did not like +to do without Muller's help. + +And as usual when his work called him, Muller was as wide awake as +if he had had a good night's sleep behind him. The interest of a +new case robbed him of every trace of fatigue. It was he alone - at +his own request - who raised the body and laid it on its back before +he stepped aside to make way for the doctor. + +The physician opened the dead man's vest to see whether the bullet +had passed completely through the body. But it had not; there was +not the slightest trace of blood upon the shirt. + +"There's nothing more for me to do here, Muller," said the +physician, as he bowed to the commissioner and left the place. + +Muller examined the pockets of the dead man. + +"It's probably a case of robbery, too," remarked the commissioner. +"A man as well-dressed as this one is would be likely to have a +watch." + +"And a purse," added the detective. "But this man has neither - or +at least he has them no longer." + +In the various pockets of the dead man's clothes Muller found the +following articles: a handkerchief, several tramway tickets, a +penknife, a tiny mirror, and comb, and a little book, a cheap +novel. He wrapped them all in the handkerchief and put them in his +own pocket. The dead man's coat had fallen back from his body +during the examination, and as Muller turned the stiffened limbs +a little he saw the opening of another pocket high up over the +right hip of the trousers. The detective passed his hand over the +pocket and heard something rattle. Then he put his hand in the +pocket and drew out a thin narrow envelope which he handed to the +commissioner. Holzer looked at it carefully. It was made of very +thin expensive paper and bore no address. But it was sealed, +although not very carefully, for the gummed edges were open in +spots. It must have been hastily closed and was slightly crushed +as if it had been carried in a clenched hand. The commissioner +cut open the envelope with his penknife. He gave an exclamation +of surprise as he showed Muller the contents. In the envelope +there were three hundred-gulden notes. + +The commissioner looked at Muller without a word, but the detective +understood and shook his head. "No," he said calmly, "it may be a +case of robbery just the same. This pocket was not very easy to +find, and the money in it was safer than the dead man's watch and +purse would be. That is, if he had a watch and purse - and he very +probably had a watch," he added more quickly. + +For Muller had made a little discovery. On the lower hem of the +left side of the dead man's waistcoat he saw a little lump, and +feeling of it he discovered that it was a watch key which had +slipped down out of the torn pocket between the lining and the +material of the vest. A sure proof that the dead man had had a +watch, which in all probability had been taken from him by his +murderer. There was no loose change or small bills to be found +in any of the pockets, so that it was more than likely that the +dead man had had his money in a purse. It seemed to be a case +of murder for the sake of robbery. At least Muller and the +commissioner believed it to be one, from what they had discovered +thus far. + +The police officer gave his men orders to raise the body and to +take it to the morgue. An hour later the unknown man lay in the +bare room in which the only spot of brightness were the rays of +the sun that crept through the high barred windows and touched his +cold face and stiffened form as with a pitying caress. But no, +there was one other little spot of brightness in the silent place. +It was the wild aster which the dead man's hand still held tightly +clasped. The little purple flowers were quite fresh yet, and the +dewdrops clinging to them greeted the kiss of the sun's rays with +an answering smile. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE BROKEN WILLOW TWIG + + +As soon as the corpse had been taken away, the police commissioner +returned to the station. But Muller remained there all alone to +make a thorough examination of the entire vicinity. + +It was not a very attractive spot, this particular part of the +street. There must have been a nursery there at one time, for +there were still several ordered rows of small trees to be seen. +There were traces of flower cultivation as well, for several +trailing vines and overgrown bushes showed where shrubs had been +grown which do not usually grow without man's assistance. +Immediately back of the old elder tree Muller found several fine +examples of rare flowers, or rather he found the shrubs which his +experienced eye recognised as having once borne these unusual +blossoms. One or two blooms still hung to the bushes and the +detective, who was a great lover of flowers, picked them and put +them in his buttonhole. While he did this, his keen eyes were +darting about the place taking in all the details. This vacant +lot had evidently been used as an unlicensed dumping ground for +some time, for all sorts of odds and ends, old boots, bits of +stuff, silk and rags, broken bottles and empty tin cans, lay about +between the bushes or half buried in the earth. What had once +been an orderly garden was now an untidy receptacle for waste. +The pedantically neat detective looked about him in disgust, then +suddenly he forgot his displeasure and a gleam shot up in his eye. +It was very little, the thing this man had seen, this man who saw +so much more than others. + +About ten paces from where he stood a high wooden fence hemmed in +the lot. The fence belonged to the neighbouring property, as the +lot in which he stood was not protected in any way. To the back +it was closed off by a corn field where the tall stalks rustled +gently in the faint morning breeze. All this could be seen by +anybody and Muller had seen it all at his first glance. But now +he had seen something else. Something that excited him because +it might possibly have some connection with the newly discovered +crime. His keen eyes, in glancing along the wooden fence at his +right hand, had caught sight of a little twig which had worked its +way through the fence. This twig belonged to a willow tree which +grew on the other side, and which spread its grey-green foliage +over the fence or through its wide openings. One of the little +twigs which had crept in between the planks was broken, and it +had been broken very recently, for the leaves were still fresh +and the sap was oozing from the crushed stem. Muller walked over +to the fence and examined the twig carefully. He soon saw how +it came to be broken. The broken part was about the height of a +man's knee from the ground. And just at this height there was +quite a space between two of the planks of the fence, heavy +planks which were laid cross-ways and nailed to thick posts. It +would have been very easy for anybody to get a foothold in this +open space between the planks. + +It was very evidently some foot thrust in between the planks which +had broken the little willow twig, and its soft rind had left a +green mark on the lower plank. "I wonder if that has anything to +do with the murder," thought Muller, looking over the fence +into the lot on the other side. + +This neighbouring plot was evidently a neglected garden. It had +once worn an aristocratic air, with stone statues and artistic +arrangement of flower beds and shrubs. It was still attractive +even in its neglected condition. Beyond it, through the foliage +of its heavy trees, glass windows caught the sunlight. Muller +remembered that there was a handsome old house in this direction, +a house with a mansard roof and wide-reaching wings. He did not +now know to whom this handsome old house belonged, a house that +must have been built in the time of Maria Theresa, ... but he was +sure of one thing, and that was that he would soon find out to +whom it belonged. At present it was the garden which interested +him, and he was anxious to see where it ended. A few moments' +further inspection showed him what he wanted to know. The garden +extended to the beginning of the park-like grounds which surrounded +the old house with the mansard roof. A tall iron railing separated +the garden from the park, but this railing did not extend down as +far as the quiet lane. Where it ended there was a light, well-built +wooden fence. Along the street side of the fence there was a high +thick hedge. Muller walked along this hedge until he came to a +little gate. Then crossing the street, he saw that the house whose +windows glistened in the sunlight was a house which he knew well +from its other side, its front facade. + +Now he went back to the elder tree and then walked slowly away from +this to the spot where he found the broken willow twig. He examined +every foot of the ground, but there was nothing to be seen that +was of any interest to him-not a footprint, or anything to prove +that some one else had passed that way a short time before. And +yet it would have been impossible to pass that way without leaving +some trace, for the ground was cut up in all directions by mole +hills. + +Next the detective scrutinised as much of the surroundings as would +come into immediate connection with the spot where the corpse had +been found. There was nothing to be seen there either, and Muller +was obliged to acknowledge that he had discovered nothing that +would lead to an understanding of the crime, unless, indeed, the +broken willow twig should prove to be a clue. He sprang back +across the ditch, turned up the edges of his trousers where they +had been moistened by the dew and walked slowly along the dusty +street. He was no longer alone in the lane. An old man, accompanied +by a large dog, came out from one of the new houses and walked +towards the detective, he was very evidently going in the direction +of the elder-tree, which had already been such a centre of interest +that morning. When he met Muller, the old man halted, touched his +cap and asked in a confidential tone: "I suppose you've been to +see the place already?" + +"Which place?" was Muller's reserved answer. + +Why, I mean the place where they found the man who was murdered. +They found him under that elder-tree. My wife just heard of it and +told me. I suppose everybody round here will know it soon." + +"Was there a man murdered here?" asked Muller, as if surprised by +the news. + +"Yes, he was shot last night. Only I don't understand why I didn't +hear the shot. I couldn't sleep a wink all night for the pain in +my bones." + +"You live near here, then?" + +"Yes, I live in No.1. Didn't you see me coming out?" + +"I didn't notice it. I came across the wet meadows and I stooped +to turn up my trousers so that they wouldn't get dusty - it must +have been then you came out." + +"Why, then you must have been right near the place I was talking +about. Do you see that elder tree there? It's the only one in +the street, and the girl who brings the milk found the man under it. +The police have been here already and have taken him away. They +discovered him about six o'clock and now it's just seven." + +"And you hadn't any suspicion that this dreadful thing was +happening so near you?" asked the detective casually. + +"I didn't know a thing, sir, not a thing. There couldn't have +been a fight or I would have heard it. But I don't know why I +didn't hear the shot." + +"Why, then you must have been asleep after all, in spite of your +pain," said Muller with a smile, as he walked along beside the +man back to the place from which he had just come. + +The old man shook his head. "No, I tell you I didn't close an +eye all night. I went to bed at half-past nine and I smoked two +pipes before I put out the light, and then I heard every hour +strike all night long and it wasn't until nearly five o'clock, +when it was almost dawn, that I dozed off a bit." + +"Then it is astonishing that you didn't hear anything!" + +"Sure it's astonishing! But it's still more astonishing that my +dog Sultan didn't hear anything. Sultan is a famous watchdog, I'd +have you know. He'll growl if anybody passes through the street +after dark, and I don't see why he didn't notice what was going on +over there last night. If a man's attacked, he generally calls for +help; it's a queer business all right." + +"Well, Sultan, why didn't you make a noise?" asked Muller, patting +the dog's broad head. Sultan growled and walked on indifferently, +after he had shaken off the strange hand. + +"He must have slept more soundly than usual. He went off into the +country with me yesterday. We had an errand to do there and on the +way back we stopped in for a drink. Sultan takes a drop or two +himself occasionally, and that usually makes him sleep. I had hard +work to bring him home. We got here just a few minutes before +half-past nine and I tell you we were both good and tired." + +By this time they had come to the elder-tree and the old man's +stream of talk ceased as he stood before the spot where the +mysterious crime had occurred. He looked down thoughtfully at the +grass, now trampled by many feet. "Who could have done it?" he +murmured finally, with a sigh that expressed his pity for the victim. + +"Hietzing is known to be one of the safest spots in Vienna," +remarked Muller. + +"Indeed it is, sir; indeed it is. As it would well have to be with +the royal castles right here in the neighbourhood! Indeed it would +have to be safe with the Court coming here all the time." + +"Why, yes, you see more police here than anywhere else in the city." + +"Yes, they're always sticking their nose in where they're not +necessary," remarked the old man, not realising to whom he was +speaking. "They fuss about everything you do or don't do, and yet +a man can be shot down right under our very noses here and the +police can't help it." + +"But, my dear sir, it isn't always possible for the police to +prevent a criminal carrying out his evil intention," said Muller +good-naturedly. + +"Well, why not? if they watch out sharp enough?" + +"The police watch out sharper than most people think. But they +can't catch a man until he has committed his crime, can they?" + +"No, I suppose not," said the old man, with another glance at the +elder-tree. He bowed to Muller and turned and walked away. + +Muller followed him slowly, very much pleased with this meeting, for +it had given him a new clue. There was no reason to doubt the old +man's story. And if this story was true, then the crime had been +committed before half-past nine of the evening previous. For the +old man - he was evidently the janitor in No.1 - had not heard the +shot. + +Muller left the scene of the crime and walked towards the four +houses. Before he reached them he had to pass the garden which +belonged to the house with the mansard roof. Right and left of +this garden were vacant lots, as well as on the opposite side +of the street. Then came to the right and left the four new houses +which stood at the beginning of the quiet lane. Muller passed them, +turned up a cross street and then down again, into the street +running parallel, to the lane, a quiet aristocratic street on +which fronted the house with the mansard roof. + +A carriage stood in front of this house, two great trunks piled +up on the box beside the driver. A young girl and an old man in +livery were placing bags and bundles of rugs inside the carriage. +Muller walked slowly toward the carriage. Just as he reached the +open gate of the garden he was obliged to halt, to his own great +satisfaction. For at this moment a group of people came out from +the house, the owners of it evidently, prepared for a journey and +surrounded by their servants. + +Beside the old man and the young girl, there were two other women, +one evidently the housekeeper, the other possibly the cook. The +latter was weeping openly and devoutly kissing the hand of her +mistress. The housekeeper discovered that a rug was missing and +sent the maid back for it, while the old servant helped the lady +into the carriage. The door of the carriage was wide open and +Muller had a good glimpse of the pale, sweet-faced and +delicate-looking young women who leaned back in her corner, +shivering and evidently ill. The servants bustled about, making +her comfortable, while her husband superintended the work with +anxious tenderness. He was a tall, fine-looking man with deep-set +grey eyes and a rich, sympathetic voice. He gave his orders to +his servants with calm authority, but he also was evidently +suffering from the disease of our century - nervousness, for +Muller saw that the man's hands clenched feverishly and that his +lips were trembling under his drooping moustache. + +The maid hastened down with the rug and spread it over her +mistress's knees, as the gentleman exclaimed nervously: "Do +hurry with that! Do you want us to miss the train?" + +The butler closed the door of the carriage, the coachman gathered +up the reins and raised his whip. The housekeeper bowed low and +murmured a few words in farewell and the other servants followed +her example with tears in their eyes. "You'll see us again in +six weeks," the lady called out and her husband added: "If all +goes well." Then he motioned to the waiting driver and the +carriage moved off swiftly, turning the corner in a few moments. + +The little group of servants returned to the courtyard behind the +high gates. Muller, whom they had not noticed, was about to resume +his walk, when he halted again. The courtyard of the house led back +through a flagged walk to the park-like garden that surrounded it +on the sides and rear. Down this walk came a young woman. She came +so quickly that one might almost call it running. She was evidently +excited about something. Muller imagined what this something might +be, and he remained to hear what she had to say. He was not +mistaken. The woman, it was Mrs. Schmiedler, the gardener's wife, +began her story at once. "Haven't you heard yet?" she said +breathlessly. "No, you can't have heard it yet or you wouldn't +stand there so quietly, Mrs. Bernauer." + +"What's the matter?" asked the woman whom Muller took to be the +housekeeper. + +"They killed a man last night out here! They found his body just +now in the lane back of our garden. The janitor from No.1 told me +as I was going to the store, so I went right back to look at the +place, and I came to tell you, as I didn't think you'd heard it yet." + +Mrs. Bernauer was evidently a woman of strong constitution and of +an equable mind. The other three servants broke out into an +excited hubbub of talk while she remained quite indifferent and +calm. "One more poor fellow who had to leave the world before he +was ready," she remarked calmly, with just the natural touch of +pity in her voice that would come to any warm-hearted human being +upon hearing of such an occurrence. She did not seem at all +excited or alarmed to think that the scene of the crime had been +so near. + +The other servants were very much more excited and had already +rushed off, under the guidance of the gardener's wife, to look at +the dreadful spot. Franz, the butler, had quite forgotten to +close the front gate in his excitement, and the housekeeper turned +to do it now. + +"The fools, see them run," she exclaimed half aloud. "As if +there was anything for them to do there." + +The gate closed, Mrs. Bernauer turned and walked slowly to the +house. Muller walked on also, going first to the police station +to report what he had discovered. Then he went to his own rooms +and slept until nearly noon. On his return to the police station +he found that notices of the occurrence had already been sent out +to the papers. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE EVENING PAPER + + +The autopsy proved beyond a doubt that the murdered man had been +dead for many hours before the discovery of his body. The bullet +which had struck him in the back had pierced the trachea and +death had occurred within a few minutes. The only marks for +identification of the body were the initials L. W. on his underwear. +The evening paper printed an exact description of the man's +appearance and his clothing. + +It was about ten o'clock next morning when Mrs. Klingmayer, a widow +living in a quiet street at the opposite end of the city from +Hietzing, returned from her morning marketing. It was only a few +little bundles that she brought with her and she set about preparing +her simple dinner. Her packages were wrapped in newspapers, which +she carefully smoothed out and laid on the dresser. + +Mrs. Klingmayer was the widow of a street-car conductor and the +little pension which she received from the company, as well as the +money she could earn for herself, did not permit of the indulgence +in a daily newspaper. And yet the reading of the papers was the +one luxury for which the simple woman longed. Her grocer, who was +a friend of years, knew this and would wrap up her purchases in +papers of recent date, knowing that she could then enjoy them in +her few moments of leisure. To-day this leisure came unexpectedly +early, for Mrs. Klingmayer had less work than usual to attend to. + +Her little flat consisted of two rooms and a kitchen with a large +closet opening out from it. She lived in the kitchen and rented +the front rooms. Her tenants were a middle-aged man, inspector +in a factory, who had the larger room; and a younger man who was +bookkeeper in an importing house in the city. But this young man +had not been at home for forty-eight hours, a fact, however, which +did not greatly worry his landlady. The gentleman in question +lived a rather dissipated life and it was not the first time that +he had remained away from home over night. It is true that it was +the first time that he had not been home for two successive nights. +But as Mrs. Klingmayer thought, everything has to happen the first +time sometime. "It's not likely to be the last time," the worthy +woman thought. + +At all events she was rather glad of it to-day, for she suffered +from rheumatism and it was difficult for her to get about. The +young man's absence saved her the work of fixing up his room that +morning and allowed her to get to her reading earlier than usual. +When she had put the pot of soup on the fire, she sat down by the +window, adjusted her big spectacles and began to read. To her +great delight she discovered that the paper she held in her hand +bore the date of the previous afternoon. In spite of the good +intentions of her friend the grocer, it was not always that she +could get a paper of so recent date, and she began to read with +doubled anticipation of pleasure. + +She did not waste time on the leading articles, for she understood +little about politics. The serial stories were a great delight to +her, or would have been, if she had ever been able to follow them +consecutively. But her principal joy were the everyday happenings +of varied interest which she found in the news columns. To-day she +was so absorbed in the reading of them that the soup pot began to +boil over and send out rivulets down onto the stove. Ordinarily +this would have shocked Mrs. Klingmayer, for the neatness of her +pots and pans was the one great care of her life. But now, strange +to relate, she paid no attention to the soup, nor to the smell and +the smoke that arose from the stove. She had just come upon a +notice in the paper which took her entire attention. She read it +through three times, and each time with growing excitement. This +is what she read: + + MURDER IN HIETZING + + This morning at six o'clock the body of a man about 30 years + old was discovered in a lane in Hietzing. The man must have + been dead many hours. He had been shot from behind. The dead + man was tall and thin, with brown eyes, brown hair and moustache. + The letters L. W. were embroidered in his underwear. There was + nothing else discovered on him that could reveal- his identity. + His watch and purse were not in his pockets: presumably they had + been taken by the murderer. A strange fact is that in one of + his pockets - a hidden pocket it is true - there was the sum of + 300 guldens in bills. + + +This was the notice which made Mrs. Klingmayer neglect the soup pot. + +Finally the old woman stood up very slowly, threw a glance at the +stove and opened the window mechanically. Then she lifted the pots +from the fire and set them on the outer edge of the range. And +then she did something that ordinarily would have shocked her +economical soul - she poured water on the fire to put it out. + +When she saw that there was not a spark left in the stove, she went +into her own little room and prepared to go out. Her excitement +caused her to forget her rheumatism entirely. One more look around +her little kitchen, then she locked it up and set out for the centre +of the city. + +She went to the office of the importing house where her tenant, +Leopold Winkler, was employed as bookkeeper. The clerk at the door +noticed the woman's excitement and asked her kindly what the trouble +was. + +"I'd like to speak to Mr. Winkler," she said eagerly. + +"Mr. Winkler hasn't come in yet," answered the young man. "Is +anything the matter? You look so white! Winkler will probably +show up soon, he's never very punctual. But it's after eleven +o'clock now and he's never been as late as this before." + +"I 'don't believe he'll ever come again," said the old woman, +sinking down on a bench beside the 'door. + +"Why, what do you mean?" asked the clerk. "Why shouldn't he come +again?" + +"Is the head of the firm here?" asked Mrs. Klingmayer, wiping her +forehead with her handkerchief. The clerk nodded and hurried away +to tell his employer about the woman with the white face who came +to ask for a man who, as she expressed it, "would never come there +again." + +"I don't think she's quite right in the head," he volunteered. The +head of the firm told him to bring the woman into the inner office. + +"Who are you, my good woman?" he asked kindly, softened by the +evident agitation of this poorly though neatly dressed woman. + +"I am Mr. Winkler's landlady," she answered. + +"Ah! and he wants you to tell me that he's sick? I'm afraid I can't +believe all that this gentleman says. I hope he's not asking your +help to lie to me. Are you sure that his illness is anything else +but a case of being up late?" + +"I don't think that he'll ever be sick again - I didn't come with +any message from him, sir; please read this, sir." And she handed +him the newspaper, showing him the notice. While the gentleman was +reading she added: "Mr. Winkler didn't come home last night either." + +Winkler's employer read the few lines, then laid the paper aside +with a very serious face. "When did you see him last?" he asked of +the woman. + +"Day before yesterday in the morning. He went away about half-past +eight as he usually does," she replied. And then she added a +question of her own: "Was he here day before yesterday?" + +The merchant nodded and pressed an electric bell. Then he rose from +his seat and pulled up a chair for his visitor. "Sit down here. +This thing has frightened you and you are no longer young." When +the servant entered, the merchant told him to ask the head bookkeeper +to come to the inner office. + +When this official appeared, his employer inquired: +"When did Winkler leave here day before yesterday?" + +"At six o'clock, sir, as usual." + +"He was here all day without interruption?" + +"Yes, sir, with the exception of the usual luncheon hour." + +"Did he have the handling of any money Monday?" + +"No, sir." + +"Thank you, Mr. Pokorny," said the merchant, handing his employee +the evening paper and pointing to the notice which had so interested +him. + +Pokorny read it, his face, like his employer's, growing more serious. +"It looks almost as if it must be Winkler, sir," he said, in a few +moments. + +"We will soon find that out. I should like to go to the police +station myself with this woman; she is Winkler's landlady - but I +think it will be better for you to accompany her. They will ask +questions about the man which you will be better able to answer +than I." + +Pokorny bowed and left the room. Mrs. Klingmayer rose and was about +to follow, when the merchant asked her to wait a moment and inquired +whether Winkler owed her anything. "I am sorry that you should have +had this shock and the annoyances and trouble which will come of it, +but I don't want you to be out of pocket by it." + +"No, he doesn't owe me anything," replied the honest old woman, +shaking her head. A few big tears rolled down over her withered +cheeks, possibly the only tears that were shed for the dead man +under the elder-tree. But even this sympathetic soul could find +nothing to say in his praise. She could feel pity for his dreadful +death, but she could not assert that the world had lost anything +by his going out of it. As if saddened by the impossibility of +finding a single good word to say about the dead man, she left the +office with drooping head and lagging step. + +Pokorny helped her into the cab that was already waiting before the +door. The office force had got wind of the fact that something +unusual had occurred and were all at the windows to see them drive +off. The three clerks who worked in the department to which Winkler +belonged gathered together to talk the matter over. They were none +of them particularly hit by it, but naturally they were interested +in the discovery in Hietzing, and equally naturally, they tried to +find a few good words to say about the man whose life had ended so +suddenly. + +The youngest of them, Fritz Bormann, said some kind words and was +about to wax more enthusiastic, when Degenhart, the eldest clerk, +cut in with the words: "Oh, don't trouble yourself. Nobody ever +liked Winkler here. 'He was not a good man - he was not even a +good worker. This is the first time that he has a reasonable excuse +for neglecting his duties." + +"Oh, come, see here! how can you talk about the poor man that way +when he's scarcely cold in death yet," said Fritz indignantly. + +Degenhart laughed harshly. + +"Did I ever say anything else about him while he was warm and alive? +Death is no reason for changing one's opinion about a man who was +good-for-nothing in life. And his death was a stroke of good luck +that he scarcely deserved. He died without a moment's pain, with a +merry thought in his head, perhaps, while many another better man +has to linger in torture for weeks. No, Bormann, the best I can +say about Winkler is that his death makes one nonentity the less on +earth." + +The older man turned to his desk again and the two younger clerks +continued the conversation: "Degenhart appears to be a hard man," +said Fritz, "but he's the best and kindest person I know, and he's +dead right in what he says. It was simply a case of conventional +superstition. I never did like that Winkler." + +"No, you're right," said the other. Neither did I and I don't +know why, for the matter of that. He seemed just like a thousand +others. I never heard of anything particularly wrong that he did." + +"No, no more did I," continued Bormann, "but I never heard of +anything good about him either. And don't you think that it's worse +for a man to seem to repel people by his very personality, rather +than by any particular bad thing that he does?" + +"Yes. I don't know how to explain it, but that's just how I feel +about it. I had an instinctive feeling that there was something +wrong about Winkler, the sort of a creepy, crawly feeling that a +snake gives you." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +SPEAK WELL OF THE DEAD + + +Meanwhile Pokomy and Mrs. Klingmayer had reached the police station +and were going upstairs to the rooms of the commissioner on service +for the day. Like all people of her class, Mrs. Klingmayer stood +in great awe and terror of anything connected with the police or +the law generally. She crept slowly and tremblingly up the stairs +behind the head bookkeeper and was very glad when she was left alone +for a few minutes while Pokorny went in to see the commissioner. +But as soon as his errand was known, both the bookkeeper and his +companion were led into the office of Head Commissioner Dr. von +Riedau, who had charge of the Hietzing murder case. + +When Dr. von Riedau heard the reason of their coming, his interest +was immediately aroused, and he pulled a chair to his side for the +little thin man with whom he had been talking when the two strangers +were ushered in. + +"Then you believe you could identify the murdered man?" asked the +commissioner. + +"From the general description and the initials on his linen, I +believe it must be Leopold Winkler," answered Pokorny. "Mrs. +Klingmayer has not seen him since Monday morning, nor has she had +any message from him. He left the office Monday afternoon at 6 +o'clock and that was the last time that we saw him. The only thing +that makes me doubt his identity is that the paper reports that +three hundred gulden were found in his pocket. Winkler never seemed +to have money, and I do not understand how he should have been in +possession of such a sum." + +"The money was found in the dead man's pockets," said the +commissioner. "And yet it may be Winkler, the man you know. +Muller, will you order a cab, please?" + +I have a cab waiting for me. But it only holds two," volunteered +Pokorny. + +"That doesn't matter, I'll sit on the box," answered the man +addressed as Muller. + +"You are going with us?" asked Pokorny. + +"Yes, he will accompany you," replied the commissioner. "This is +detective Muller, sir. By a mere chance, he happened to be on hand +to take charge of this case and he will remain in charge, although +it may be wasting his talents which we need for more difficult +problems. If you or any one else have anything to tell us, it must +be told only to me or to Muller. And before you leave to look at +the body, I would like to know whether the dead man owned a watch, +or rather whether he had it with him on the day of the murder." + +"Yes, sir; he did have a watch, a gold watch," answered Mrs. +Klingmayer. + +Riedau looked at the bookkeeper, who nodded and said: "Yes, sir; +Winkler had a watch, a gold watch with a double case. It was a +large watch, very thick. I happen to have noticed it by chance +and also I happen to know that he had not had the watch for very +long." + +"Can you tell us anything more about the watch?" asked the +commissioner of the landlady. + +"Yes, sir; there was engraving on the outside cover, initials, and +a crown on the other side." + +"What were the initials?" + +"I don't know that, sir; at least I'm not sure about it. There +were so many twists and curves to them that I couldn't make them +out. I think one of them was a W though, sir." + +"The other was probably an L then." + +"That might be, sir." + +"The younger clerks in the office may be able to tell something more +about the watch," said Pokorny, "for they were quite interested in +it for a while. It was a handsome watch and they were envious of +Winkler's possession of it. But he was so tactless in his boasting +about it that they paid no further attention to him after the first +excitement." + +"You say he didn't have the watch long?" + +"Since spring I think, sir." + +"He brought it home on the 19th of March," interrupted Mrs. +Klingmayer. "I remember the day because it was my birthday. I +pretended that he had brought it home to me for a present." + +"Was he in the habit of making you presents?" + +"Oh, no, sir; he was very close with his money, sir. + +"Well, perhaps he didn't have much money to be generous with. Now +tell me about his watch chain. I suppose he had a watch chain?" + +Both the bookkeeper and the landlady nodded and the latter exclaimed: +"Oh, yes, sir; I could recognise it in a minute." + +"How?" + +"It was broken once and Mr. Winkler mended it himself. I lent him +my pliers and he bent the two links together with them. It didn't +look very nice after that, but it was strong again. You could see +the mark of the pliers easily." + +"Why didn't he take the chain to the jeweler's to be fixed?" asked +the commissioner. + +The woman smiled. "It wouldn't have been worth the money, sir; the +chain wasn't real gold." + +"But the watch was real, wasn't it?" + +"Oh, yes, sir; that was real gold. I pawned it once for Mr. Winkler +and they gave me 24 gulden for it." + +"One question more, did he have a purse? And did he have it with +him on the day of the murder?" + +"Yes, sir; he had a purse, and he must have taken it with him +because he didn't leave it in his room." + +"What sort of a purse was it?" + +"A brown leather purse, sir." + +"Was it a new one?" + +"Oh, no, sir; it was well worn." + +"How big was it? About like mine?" Riedau took out his own +pocketbook. + +"No, sir; it was a little smaller. It had three pockets in it. +I mended it for him once, so I know it well. I didn't have any +brown thread so I mended it with yellow." + +Dr. von Riedau nodded to Muller. The latter had been sitting at a +little side-table writing down the questions and answers. When +Riedau saw this he did not send for a clerk to do the work, for +Muller preferred to attend to such matters himself as much as +possible. The facts gained in the examination were impressed upon +his mind while he was writing them, and he did not have to wade +through pages of manuscript to get at what he needed. Now he handed +his superior officer the paper. + +"Thank you," said Riedau, "I'll send it out to the other police +stations. I will attend to this myself. You go on with these +people to see. whether they can identify the corpse." + +Fifteen minutes later the three stood before the body in the morgue +and both the bookkeeper and his companion identified the dead man +positively as Leopold Winkler. + +When the identification was made, a notice was sent out to all +Austrian police stations and to all pawnshops with an exact +description of the stolen watch and purse. + +Muller led his companions back to the commissioner's office and they +made their report to Dr. von Riedau. Upon being questioned further, +Pokorny stated: "I had very little to do with Winkler. We met only +when he had a report to make to me or to show me his books, and we +never met outside the office. The clerks who worked in the same +room with him, may know him better.. I know only that he was a very +reserved man and very little liked." + +"Then I do not need to detain you any longer, nor to trouble you +further in this affair. I thank you for coming to us so promptly. +It has been of great assistance." + +The bookkeeper left the station, but Mrs. Klingmayer, who was now +quite reassured as to the harmlessness of the police, was asked to +remain and to tell what she knew of the private life of the murdered +man. Her answers to the various questions put to her proved that +she knew very little about her tenant. But this much was learned +from her: that he was very close with his money at times, but that +again at other times he seemed to have all he wanted to spend. At +such times he paid all his debts, and when he stayed home for supper, +he would send her out for all sorts of expensive delicacies. These +extravagant days seemed to have nothing whatever to do with Winkler's +business pay day, but came at odd times. + +Mrs. Klingmayer remembered two separate times when he had received +a postal money order. But she did not know from whom the letters +came, nor even whether they were sent from the city or from some +other town. Winkler received other letters now and then, but his +landlady was not of the prying kind, and she had paid very little +attention to them. + +He seemed to have few friends or even acquaintances. She did not +know of any love affair, at least of nothing "regular." He had +remained away over night two or three times during the year that +he had been her tenant. This was about all that Mrs. Klingmayer +could say, and she returned to her home in a cab furnished her by +the kind commissioner. + +About two hours later, a police attendant announced that a gentleman +would like to see Dr. von Riedan on business concerning the murder in +Hietzing. "Friedrich Bormann" was the name on the card. + +"Ask him to step in here," said the commissioner. "And please ask +Mr. Muller to join us." + +The good-looking young clerk entered the office bashfully and Muller +slipped in behind him, seating himself inconspicuously by the door. +At a sign from the commissioner the visitor began. "I am an +employee of Braun & Co. I have the desk next to Leopold Winkler, +during the year that he has been with us - the year and a quarter to +be exact -" + +"Ah, then you know him rather well?" + +"Why, yes. At least we were together all day, although I never met +him outside the office." + +"Then you cannot tell us much about his private life?" + +"No, sir, but there was something happened on Monday, and in talking +it over with Mr. Braun, he suggested that I should come to you and +tell you about it. It wasn't really very important, and it doesn't +seem as if it could have anything to do with this murder and robbery; +still it may be of some use." + +"Everything that would throw light on the dead man's life could be +of use," said Dr. von Riedau. "Please tell us what it is you know." + +Fritz Bormann began: "Winkler came to the office as usual on Monday +morning and worked steadily at his desk. But I happened to notice +that he spoiled several letters and had to rewrite them, which +showed me that his thoughts were not on his work, a frequent +occurrence with him. However, everything went along as usual until +11 o'clock. Then Winkler became very uneasy. He looked constantly +toward the door, compared his watch with the office clock, and +sprang up impatiently as the special letter carrier, who usually +comes about 11 with money orders, finally appeared." + +"Then he was expecting money you think?" + +"It must have been so. For as the letter carrier passed him, he +called out: 'Haven't you anything for me?' and as the man shook his +head Winkler seemed greatly disappointed and depressed. Before he +left to go to lunch, he wrote a hasty letter, which he put in his +pocket. + +"He came in half an hour later than the rest of us. He had often +been reprimanded for his lack of punctuality, but it seemed to do +no good. He was almost always late. Monday was no exception, +although he was later than usual that day." + +"And what sort of a mood was he in when he came back?" + +"He was irritable and depressed. He seemed to be awaiting a message +which did not come. His excitement hindered him from working, he +scarcely did anything the entire afternoon. Finally at five o'clock +a messenger boy came with a letter for him. I saw that Winkler +turned pale as he took the note in his hand. It seemed to be only +a few words written hastily on a card, thrust into an envelope. +Winkler's teeth were set as he opened the letter. The messenger had +already gone away." + +"Did you notice his number?" asked Dr. von Riedau. + +"No, I scarcely noticed the man at all. I was looking at Winkler, +whose behaviour was so peculiar. When he read the card his face +brightened. He read it through once more, then he tore both card +and envelope into little bits and threw the pieces out of the open +window. + +"Then he evidently did not want anybody to see the contents of this +note," said a voice from the corner of the room. + +Fritz Bormann looked around astonished and rather doubtful at the +little man who had risen from his chair and now came forward. +Without waiting for an answer from the clerk, the other continued: +"Did Winkler have money sent him frequently?" + +Bormann looked inquiringly at the commissioner, who replied with a +smile: "You may answer. Answer anything that Mr. Muller has to ask +of you, as he is in charge of this case." + +"As far as I can remember, it happened three times," was Bormann's +answer. + +"How close together?" + +"Why - about once in every three or four months, I think." + +"That looks almost like a regular income," exclaimed Riedau. His +eyes met Muller's, which were lit up in sudden fire. "Well, what +are you thinking of?" asked the commissioner. + +"A woman," answered Muller; and continued more as if thinking +aloud than as if addressing the others: "Winkler was a good-looking +man. Might he not have had a rich love somewhere? Might not the +money have come from her, the money that was found in his pocket?" +Muller's voice trailed off into indistinctness at the last words, +and the fire died out of his eyes. Then he laughed aloud. + +The commissioner smiled also, a good-natured smile, such as one +would give to a child who has been over-eager. "It doesn't matter +to us where the money came from. All that matters here is where +the bullet came from - the bullet which prevented his enjoying this +money. And it is of more interest to us to find out who robbed him +of his life and his property, rather than the source from which this +property came. + +The commissioner's tone was friendly, but Muller's face flushed red, +and his, head dropped. Riedau turned to Bormann and continued: "And +because it is of no interest to us where his money came from - for +it can have nothing whatever to do with his murder and the subsequent +robbery - therefore what you noticed of his behaviour cannot be of +any importance or bearing in the case in any way. Unless, indeed, +you should find out anything more. But we appreciate the +thoughtfulness of yourself and your employer and your readiness to +help us." + +Bormann rose to leave, but the commissioner put out a hand to stop +him. "A few moments more, please; you may know of something else +that will be of assistance to us. We have heard that Winkler +boasted of his belongings-did he talk about his private affairs in +any way?" + +"No, sir, I do not think he did." + +"You say that he destroyed the note at once, evidently realising +that no one must see it - this note may have been a promise for the +money which had not yet come. Did he, however, tell any one later +that he expected a certain sum? Do you think he would have been +likely to tell any one?" + +"No, I do not think that he would tell any one. He never mentioned +to any of us that he had received money, or even that he expected +to receive it. None of us knew what outside resources he might have, +or whence they came. If it had not been that the money was paid him +by the carrier in the office two or three times - so, that we could +see it - we would none of us have known of this income, except for +the fact that he was freer in spending after the money came. He +would dine at expensive restaurants, and this fact he would mention +to us, whereas at other times he would go to the cheap cafe." + +"Do you know anything about the people he was acquainted with +outside the office?" + +"No, sir. I seldom met him outside of the office. One evening it +did happen that I saw him at Ronacher's. He was there with a +lady - that is, a so-called 'lady '-and it must have been one of +the times that he had money, for they were enjoying an expensive +supper. At other times, some of the other clerks met him at various +resorts, always with the same sort of woman. But not always with +the same woman, for they were different in appearance." + +"He was never seen anywhere with other men?" + +"No, sir; at least not by any of us." + +"He was not liked in the office?" + +"No." Bormann's answer was sharp. + +"For what reason?" + +"I don't know; we just didn't like him. We had very little to do +with him at first because of this, and soon we noticed that he +seemed just as anxious to avoid us as we were to avoid him." + +The commissioner rose and Bormann followed his example. "I am very +sorry, sir, if I have taken up your time to no purpose," said the +latter modestly, as he took up his hat. + +"I am not so sure that what you have said may not be of great value +to us," said a voice behind them. Muller stood there, looking at +Riedau with a glance almost of defiance. His eyes were again lit +up with the strange fire that shone in them when he was on the trail. +The commissioner shrugged his shoulders, bowed to the departing +visitor, and then turned without an answer to some documents on his +desk. There was silence in the room for a few moments. Finally a +gentle voice came from Muller's corner again: "Dr. von Riedau?" + +The commissioner raised his head and looked around. "Oh, are you +still there?" he asked with a drawl. + +Muller knew what this drawl meant. It was the manner adopted by +the amiable commissioner when he was in a mood which was not amiable. +And Muller knew also the cause of the mood. It was his own last +remark, the words he addressed to Bormann. Muller himself recognised +the fact that this remark was out of place, that it was almost an +impertinence, because it was in direct contradiction to a statement +made a few moments before by his superior officer. Also he realised +that his remark had been quite unnecessary, because it was a matter +of indifference to the young man, who was only obeying his employer's +orders in reporting what he had seen, whether his report was of +value or not. Muller had simply uttered aloud the thought that came +into his mind, a habit of his which years of official training had +not yet succeeded in breaking. It was annoying to himself sometimes, +for these half-formed thoughts were mere instinct - they were the +workings of his own genius that made him catch a suspicion of the +truth long before his conscious mind could reason it out or +appreciate its value. But that sort of thing was not popular in +official police life. + +"Well," asked the commissioner, as Muller did not continue, "your +tongue is not usually so slow - as you have proved just a few +moments back - what were you going to say now?" + +"I was about to ask your pardon for my interruption. It was +unnecessary, I should not have said it." + +"Well, I realise that you know better yourself," said Riedau, now +quite friendly again, "and now what else have you to say? Do you +really think that what the young man has just told us is of any +value at all for this case?" + +"It seems to me as if it might be of value to us." + +"Oh, it seems to you, eh? Your imagination is working overtime +again, Muller," said the commissioner with a laugh. But the laugh +turned to seriousness as he realised how many times Muller's +imagination had helped the clumsy official mind to its proudest +triumphs. The commissioner was an intelligent man, as far as his +lights went, and he was a good-hearted man. He rose from his chair +and walked over to where the detective stood. "You needn't look so +embarrassed, Muller," he said. "There is no cause for you to feel +bad about it. And - I am quite willing to admit that my remark +just now was unnecessary. You may give your imagination full rein, +we can trust to your intelligence and your devotion to duty to keep +it from unnecessary flights. So curbed, I know it will be of as +much assistance to us this time as it always has been." + +Muller's quiet face lit up, and his eyes shone in a happiness that +made him appear ten years younger. That was one of the strange +things about Joseph Muller. This genius in his profession was in +all other ways a man of such simplicity of heart and bearing, that +the slightest word of approval from one of the officials for whom +he worked could make him as happy as praise from the teacher will +make a schoolboy. The moments when he was in command of any +difficult case, when these same superiors would wait for a word from +him, when high officials would take his orders or would be obliged +to acknowledge that without him they were helpless, these moments +were forgotten as soon as the problem was solved and Muller became +again the simple subordinate and the obscure member of the Imperial +police force. + +When Muller left the commissioner's room and walked through the +outer office, one of the clerks looked after him and whispered to +his companion: "Do you think he's found the Hietzing murderer yet?" +The other answered: "I don't think so, but he looks as if he had +found a clue. He'll find him sooner or later. He always does." + +Muller did not hear these words, although they also would have +pleased him. He walked slowly down the stairs murmuring to himself: +"I think I was right just the same. We are following a false trail." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +BY A THREAD + + +It was on Monday, the 27th of September, that Leopold Winkler was +murdered and robbed, and early on Tuesday, the 28th, his body was +found. That day the evening papers printed the report of the murder +and the description of the dead man, and on Wednesday, the 29th, +Mrs. Klingmayer read the news and went to see Winkler's employer. +By noon of that day the body was identified and a description of +the stolen purse and watch telegraphed to police headquarters in +various cities. A few hours later, these police stations had sent +out notices by messenger to all pawnshops and dealers in +second-hand clothing, and now the machinery of the law sat waiting +for some news of an attempt on the part of the robber-and-murderer +to get rid of his plunder. + +On this same Wednesday, about the twilight hour, David Goldstamm, +dealer in second-hand clothing, stood before the door of his shop +in a side street of the old Hungarian city of Pressburg and watched +his assistant take down the clothes which were hanging outside and +carry them into the store. The old man's eyes glanced carelessly +up and down the street and caught sight of a man who turned the +corner and came hurrying towards him. This man was a very +seedy-looking individual. An old faded overcoat hung about his +thin figure, and a torn and dusty hat fell over his left eye. He +seemed also to be much the worse for liquor and very wobbly on his +feet. And yet he seemed anxious to hurry onward in spite of the +unevenness of his walk. + +Then he slowed up suddenly, glanced across the street to Goldstamm's +store, and crossed over. + +"Have you any boots for me?" he asked, sticking out his right foot +that the dealer might see whether he had anything the requisite size. + +"I think there's something there," answered the old man in his +usual businesslike tone, leading the way into the store. + +The stranger followed. Goldstamm lit the one light in the little +place and groped about in an untidy heap of shoes of all kinds and +sizes until he found several pairs that he thought might fit. These +he brought out and put them in front of his customer. But in spite +of his bleary eyes, the man caught sight of some patches on the +uppers of one pair, and pushed them away from him. + +"Give me something better than that. I can pay for it. I don't +have to wear patched shoes," he grunted. + +Goldstamm didn't like the looks of the man, but he felt that he +had better be careful and not make him angry. "Have patience, sir, +I'll find you something better," he said gently, tossing the heap +about again, but now keeping his face turned towards his customer. + +"I want a coat also and a warm pair of trousers," said the stranger +in a rough voice. He bent down to loosen the shabby boot from his +right foot, and as he did so something fell out of the pocket of +his coat. An unconscious motion of his own raised foot struck +this small object and tossed it into the middle of the heap of +shoes close by Goldstamm's hand. The old man reached out after it +and caught it. It was just an ordinary brown leather pocketbook, +of medium size, old and shabby, like a thousand others. But the +eyes of the little old man widened as if in terror, his face turned +pale and his hands trembled. For he had seen, hanging from one +side of this worn brown leather pocketbook, the end of a yellow +thread, the loosened end of the thread with which one side of the +purse was mended. The thread told David Goldstamm who it was that +had come into his shop. + +He regained his control with a desperate effort of the will. It +took him but a few seconds to do so, and, thanks to his partial +intoxication, the customer had not noticed the shopkeeper's start +of alarm. But he appeared anxious and impatient to regain +possession of his purse. + +"Haven't you found it yet?" he exclaimed. + +Goldstamm hastened to give it back. The tramp put the purse in his +pocket with a sigh of relief. Goldstamm had regained his calm and +his mind was working eagerly. He put several pairs of shoes before +his customer, with the remark: "You must try them on. We'll find +something to suit you. And meanwhile I will bring in several +pairs of trousers from those outside. I have some fine coats to +show you too." + +Goldstamm went out to the door, almost colliding there with his +assistant who was coming in with his arm full of garments. The old +man motioned to the boy, who retreated until they were both hidden +from the view of the man within the store. + +"Give me those blue trousers there," said Goldstamm in a loud voice. +Then in a whisper he said to the boy: "Run to the police station. +The man with the watch and the purse is in there." + +The boy understood and set off at once at a fast pace, while the +old man returned to his store with a heavy heart. He wondered +whether he would be able to keep the murderer there until the +police could come. And he also wondered what it might cost him, +an old and feeble man, who would be as a weak reed in the hands of +the strong tramp in there. But he knew it was his duty to do +whatever he could to help in the arrest of one who had just taken +the life of a fellow creature. The realisation of this gave the +old man strength and calmness. + +"A nice sort of an eye for size you have," cried the tramp as the +old man came up to him. "I suppose you've brought me in a boy's +suit? What do you take me for? Any girl could go to a ball in the +shoes you brought me to try on here." + +"Are they so much too small?" asked the dealer in an innocent tone. +"Well, there's plenty more there. And perhaps you had better be +trying on this suit behind the curtain here while I'm hunting up the +shoes." + +This suggestion seemed to please the stranger, as he was evidently +in a hurry. He passed in behind the curtain and began to undress. +Goldstamm's keen eyes watched him through a crack. There was not +much to be seen except that the tramp seemed anxious to keep his +overcoat within reach of his hand. He had carefully put the purse +in one of its +pockets. + +We'll get the things all together pretty soon," said the dealer. +"I've found a pair of boots here, fine boots of good quality, and +sure to fit." + +"Stop your talk," growled the other, "and come here and help me +so that I can get away." + +Goldstamm came forward, and though his heart was very heavy within +him, he aided this man, this man about whom so many hundreds were +now thinking in terror, as calmly as he had aided his other poor +but honest customers. + +With hands that did not tremble, the dealer busied himself about +his customer, listening all the while to sounds in the street in +the hope that his tete-e-tete with the murderer would soon be over. +But in spite of all his natural anxiety, the old man's sharp eyes +took cognizance of various things, one of which was that the man +whom he was helping to dress in his new clothes did not have the +watch which was described in the police notice. This fact, however, +did not make the old man's heart any lighter, for the purse mended +with yellow thread was too clearly the one stolen from the murdered +man found in the quiet street in Hietzing. + +"What's the matter with you, you're so slow? I can get along +better myself," growled the tramp, pushing the old man away from +him. Goldstamm had really begun to tremble now in spite of his +control, in the fear that the man would get away from him before the +police came. + +The tramp was already dressed in the new suit, into a pocket of +which he put the old purse. + +"There, now the boots and then we're finished," said the dealer +with an attempt at a smile. In his heart he prayed that the pair +he now held in his hand might not fit, that he might gain a few +minutes more. But the shoes did fit. A little pushing and stamping +and the man was ready to leave the store. He was evidently in a +hurry, for he paid what was asked without any attempt to bargain. +Had Goldstamm not known whom he had before him now, he would have +been very much astonished at this, and might perhaps have been sorry +that he had not named a higher sum. But under the circumstances he +understood only too well the man's desire to get away, and would +much rather have had some talk as to the payment, anything that +would keep his customer a little longer in his store. + +"There, now we're ready. I'll pack up your old things for you. Or +perhaps we can make a deal for them. I pay the highest prices in +the city," said Goldstamm, with an apparent eagerness which he hoped +would deceive the customer. + +But the man had already turned towards the door, and called hack +over his shoulder: "You can keep the old things, I don't want them." + +As he spoke he opened the door of the store and stood face to face +with a policeman holding a revolver. He turned, with a curse, back +into the room, but the dealer was nowhere to be seen. David +Goldstamm had done his duty to the public, in spite of his fear. +Now, seeing that the police had arrived, he could think of his duty +to his family. This duty was plainly to save his own life, and +when the tramp turned again to look for him, he had disappeared out +of the back door. + +"Not a move or I will shoot," cried the policeman, and now two +others appeared behind him, and came into the store. But the +tramp made no attempt to escape. He stood pale and trembling while +they put the handcuffs on him, and let them take him away without +any resistance. He was put on the evening express for Vienna, and +taken to Police Headquarters in that city. He made no protest nor +any attempt to escape, but he refused to utter a word on the entire +journey. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ALMOST CONVICTED + + +The evening was already far gone when Muller entered Riedau's office. + +"You're in time, the man isn't here yet. The train is evidently +late," said the commissioner. "We're working this case off +quickly. We will have the murderer here in half an hour at the +latest. He did not have much time to enjoy the stolen property. He +was here in Vienna this morning, and was arrested in Pressburg this +afternoon. Here is the telegram, read it." + +Dr. von Riedau handed Muller the message. The commissioner was +evidently pleased and excited. The telegram read as follows: "Man +arrested here in possession of described purse containing four ten +gulden notes and four guldens in silver. Arrested in store of +second-hand clothes dealer Goldstamm. Will arrive this evening in +Vienna under guard." + +The message was signed by the Chief of the Pressburg police. + +Muller laid the paper on the desk without a word. There was a watch +on this desk already; it was a heavy gold watch, unusually thick, +with the initials L. W. on the cover. Just as Muller laid down the +telegram, a door outside was opened and the commissioner covered the +watch hastily. There was a loud knock at his own door and an +attendant entered to announce that the party from Pressburg had +arrived He was followed by one of the Pressburg police force, who +brought the official report. + +"Did you have any difficulty with him?" asked the commissioner. + +"Oh, no, sir; it was a very easy job. He made no resistance at all, +and he seems to be quite sober now. But he hasn't said a word since +we arrested him." + +Then followed the detailed report of the arrest, and the delivery of +the described pocketbook to the commissioner. + +"Is that all?" asked Dr. von Riedau. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then you may go home now, we will take charge of the man." + +The policeman bowed and left the room. A few moments later the +tramp was brought in, guarded by two armed roundsmen. His guards +remained at the door, while the prisoner himself walked forward to +the middle of the room. Commissioner von Riedau sat at his desk, +his clerk beside him ready to take down the evidence. Muller sat +near a window with a paper on his lap, looking the least interested +of anybody in the proceedings. + +For a moment there was complete silence in the room, which was +broken in a rather unusual manner. A deep voice, more like a growl, +although it had a queer strain of comic good-nature in it, began the +proceedings with the remark: "Well now, say, what do you want of me, +anyway?" + +The commissioner looked at the man in astonishment, then turned +aside that the prisoner might not notice his smile. But he might +have spared himself the trouble, for Muller, the clerk, and the two +policemen at the door were all on a broad grin. + +Then the commissioner pulled himself together again, and began with +his usual official gravity: "It is I who ask questions here. Is it +possible that you do not know this? You look to me as if you had +had experience in police courts before." The commissioner gazed at +the prisoner with eyes that were not altogether friendly. The tramp +seemed to feel this, and his own eyes dropped, while the good-natured +impertinence in his bearing disappeared. It was evidently the last +remains of his intoxication. He was now quite sober. + +"What is your name?" asked the commissioner. + +"Johann Knoll." + +"Where were you born?" + +"Near Brunn." + +"Your age?" + +"I'm - I'll be forty next Christmas." + +"Your religion?" + +"Well, you can see I'm no Jew, can't you?" + +"You will please answer my questions in a proper manner. This +impertinence will not make things easier for you." + +"All right, sir," said the tramp humbly. "I am a Catholic." + +"You have been in prison before?" This was scarcely a question. + +"No, sir," said Knoll firmly. + +"What is your business?" + +"I don't know what to say, sir," answered Knoll, shrugging his +shoulders. "I've done a lot of things in my life. I'm a cattle +drover and a lumber man, and I -" + +"Did you learn any trade?" + +"No, sir, I never learned anything." + +"Do you mean to tell me that without having learned any trade you've +gotten through life thus far honestly?" + +"Oh, I've worked hard enough - I've worked good and hard sometimes." + +"The last few days particularly, eh?" + +"Why, no, sir, not these last days - I was drover on a transport of +pigs; we brought 'em down from Hungary, 200 of 'em, to the slaughter +house here." + +"When was that?" + +"That was - that was Monday." + +"This last Monday?" + +"Yes, sir. + +"And then you went to Hietzing?" + +"Yes, sir, that's right." + +"Why did you go to Hietzing?" + +"Why, see here, sir, if I had gone to Ottakring, then I suppose you +would have asked why did I go to Ottakring. I just went to Hietzing. +A fellow has to go somewhere. You don't stay in the same spot all +the time, do you?" + +Again the commissioner turned his head and another smile went +through the room. This Hietzing murderer had a sense of humour. + +"Well, then, we'll go to Hietzing again, in our minds at least," +said the commissioner, turning back to Knoll when he had controlled +his merriment. "You went there on Monday, then - and the day was +coming to an end. What did you do when you reached Hietzing?" + +"I looked about for a place to sleep." + +"Where did you look for a place to sleep?" + +"Why, in Hietzing." + +"That is not definite enough." + +"Well, in a garden." + +"You were trespassing, you mean?" + +"Why, yes, sir. There wasn't anybody that seemed to want to invite +me to dinner or to give me a place to sleep. I just had to look +out for myself." + +"You evidently know how to look out for yourself at the cost of +others, a heavy cost." The commissioner's easy tone had changed to +sternness. Knoll felt this, and a sharp gleam shot out from his +dull little eyes, while the tone of his voice was gruff and +impertinent again as he asked: "What do you mean by that?" + +"You know well enough. You had better not waste any more time, but +tell us at once how you came into possession of this purse." + +"It's my purse," Knoll answered with calm impertinence. "I got it +the way most people get it. I bought it." + +"This purse?" the commissioner emphasised both words distinctly. + +"This purse - yes," answered the tramp with a perfect imitation of +Riedau's voice. "Why shouldn't I have bought this purse just like +any other?" + +"Because you stole this purse from the man whom you - murdered," +was the commissioner's reply. + +There was another moment of dead silence in the room. The +commissioner and Muller watched intently for any change of +expression in the face of the man who had just had such an +accusation hurled at him. Even the clerk and the two policemen at +the door were interested to see what would happen. + +Knoll's calm impertinence vanished, a deadly pallor spread over his +face, and he seemed frozen to stone. He attempted to speak, but was +not able to control his voice. His hands were clenched and tremors +shook his gaunt but strong-muscled frame. + +"When did I murder anybody?" he gasped finally in a hoarse croak. +"You'll have to prove it to me that I am a murderer." + +"That is easily proved. Here is one of the proofs," said Riedan +coldly, pointing to the purse. "The purse and the watch of the +murdered man are fatal witnesses against you." + +"The watch? I haven't any watch. Where should I get a watch?" + +"You didn't have one until Monday, possibly; I can believe that. +But you were in possession of a watch between the evening of Monday, +the 27th, and the morning of Wednesday, the 29th." + +Knoll's eyes dropped again and he did not trust himself to speak. + +"Well, you do not deny this statement?" + +"No, I can't," said Knoll, still trying to control his voice. +"You must have the watch yourself now, or else you wouldn't be so +certain about it." + +"Ah, you see, I thought you'd had experience with police courts +before," said the commissioner amiably. "Of course I have the +watch already. The man whom you sold it to this morning knew by +three o'clock this afternoon where this watch came from. He brought +it here at once and gave us your description. A very exact +description. The man will be brought here to identify you to-morrow. +We must send for him anyway, to return his money to him. He paid +you fifty-two gulden for the watch. And how much money was in the +purse that you took from the murdered man?" + +"Three gulden eighty-five." + +"That was a very small sum for which to commit a murder." + +Knoll groaned and bit his lips until they bled. + +Commissioner von Riedau raised the paper that covered the watch and +continued: "You presumably recognised that the chain on which this +watch hung was valueless, also that it could easily be recognised. +Did you throw it away, or have you it still?" + +"I threw it in the river." + +"That will not make any difference. We do not need the chain, we +have quite enough evidence without it. The purse, for instance: you +thought, I suppose, that it was just a purse like a thousand others, +but it is not. This purse is absolutely individual and easily +recognised, because it is mended in one spot with yellow thread. +The thread has become loosened and hangs down in a very noticeable +manner. It was this yellow thread on the purse, which he happened +to see by chance, that showed the dealer Goldstamm who it was that +had entered his store." + +Knoll stood quite silent, staring at the floor. Drops of +perspiration stood out on his forehead, some of them rolling like +tears down his cheek. + +The commissioner rose from his seat and walked slowly to where the +prisoner stood. He laid one hand on the man's shoulder and said in +a voice that was quite gentle and kind again: "Johann Knoll, do not +waste your time, or ours, in thinking up useless lies. You are +almost convicted of this crime now. You have already acknowledged +so much, that there is but little more for you to say. If you make +an open confession, it will be greatly to your advantage." + +Again the room was quiet while the others waited for what would +happen. For a moment the tramp stood silent, with the commissioner's +right hand resting on his shoulder. Then there was a sudden movement, +a struggle and a shout, and the two policemen had overpowered the +prisoner and held him firmly. Muller rose quickly and sprang to his +chief's side. Riedau had not even changed colour, and he said +calmly: "Oh, never mind, Muller; sit down again. The man had +handcuffs on and he is quite quiet now. I think he has sense enough +to see that he is only harming himself by his violence. + +The commissioner returned to his desk and Muller went back to his +chair by the window. The prisoner was quiet again, although his +face wore a dark flush and the veins on throat and forehead were +swollen thick. He trembled noticeably and the heavy drops +besprinkled his brow. + +"I - I have something to say, sir," he began, "but first I want to +beg your pardon -" + +"Oh, never mind that. I am not angry when a man is fighting for his +life, even if he doesn't choose quite the right way," answered the +commissioner calmly, playing with a lead pencil. + +Knoll's expression was defiant now. He laughed harshly and began +again: "What I'm tellin' you now is the truth whether you believe +it or not. I didn't kill the man. I took the watch and purse +from him. I thought he was drunk. If he was killed, I didn't +do it." + +"He was killed by a shot." + +"A shot? Why, yes, I heard a shot, but I didn't think any more +about it, I didn't think there was anythin' doing, I thought somebody +was shootin' a cat, or else-" + +"Oh, don't bother to invent things. It was a man who was shot at, +the man whom you robbed. But go on, go on. I am anxious to hear +what you will tell me." + +Knoll's hands, clenched to fists and his eyes glowed in hate and +defiance. Then he dropped them to the floor again and began to +talk slowly in a monotonous tone that sounded as if he were +repeating a lesson. His manner was rather unfortunate and did not +tend to induce belief in the truth of his story. The gist of what +he said was as follows: + +He had reached Hietzing on Monday evening about 8 o'clock. He was +thirsty, as usual, and had about two gulden in his possession, his +wages for the last day's work. He turned into a tavern in Hietzing +and ate and drank until his money was all gone, and he had not even +enough left to pay for a night's lodging. But Knoll was not worried +about that. He was accustomed to sleeping out of doors, and as this +was a particularly fine evening, there was nothing in the prospect +to alarm him. He set about finding a suitable place where he would +not be disturbed by the guardians of the law. His search led him +by chance into a newly opened street. This suited him exactly. +The fences were easy to climb, and there were several little summer +houses in sight which made much more agreeable lodgings than the +ground under a bush. And above all, the street was so quiet and +deserted that he knew it was just the place for him. He had never +been in the street before, and did not know its name. He passed +the four houses at the end of the street - he was on the left +sidewalk - and then he came to two fenced-in building lots. These +interested him. He was very agile, raised himself up on the fences +easily and took stock of the situation. One of the lots did not +appeal to him particularly, but the second one did. It bordered +on a large garden, in the middle of which he could see a little +house of some kind. It was after sunset but he could see things +quite plainly yet for the air was clear and the moon was just +rising. He saw also that in the vacant lot adjoining the garden, +a lot which appeared to have been a garden itself once, there was +a sort of shed. It looked very much damaged but appeared to offer +shelter sufficient for a fine night. + +The shed stood on a little raise of the ground near the high iron +fence that protected the large garden. Knoll decided that the +shed would make a good place to spend the night. He climbed the +fence easily and walked across the lot. When he was just settling +himself for his nap, he heard the clock on a near-by church strike +nine. The various drinks he had had for supper put him in a mood +that would not allow him to get to sleep at once. The bench in +the old shed was decidedly rickety and very uncomfortable, and as +he was tossing about to find a good position, a thought came into +his mind which he acknowledged was not a commendable one. It +occurred to him that if he pursued his investigations in the +neighbourhood a little further, he might be able to pick up +something that would be of advantage to him on his wanderings. +His eyes and his thoughts were directed towards the handsome house +which he could see beyond the trees of the old garden. + +The moon was now well up in the sky and it shone brightly on the +mansard roof of the fine old mansion. The windows of the long +wing which stretched out towards the garden glistened in the +moonbeams, and the light coloured wall of the house made a bright +background for the dark mask of trees waving gently in the night +breeze. Knoll's little shed was sufficiently raised on its +hillock for him to have a good view of the garden. There was no +door to the shed and he could see the neighbouring property clearly +from where he lay on his bench. While he lay there watching, he +saw a woman walking through the garden. He could see her only +when she passed back of or between the lower shrubs and bushes. As +far as he could see, she came from the main building and was walking +towards a pretty little house which lay in the centre of the garden. +Knoll had imagined this house to be the gardener's dwelling and as +it lay quite dark he supposed the inmates were either asleep or out +for the evening. It had been this house which he was intending to +honour by a visit. But seeing the woman walking towards it, he +decided it would not be safe to carry out his plan just yet awhile. + +A few moments later he was certain that this last decision had been +a wise one, for he saw a man come from the main building and walk +along the path the woman had taken. "No, nothing doing there," +thought Knoll, and concluded he had better go to sleep. He could +not remember just how long he may have dozed but it seemed to him +that during that time he had heard a shot. It did not interest him +much. He supposed some one was shooting at a thieving cat or at +some small night animal. He did not even remember whether he had +been really sound asleep, before he was aroused by the breaking +down of the bench on which he lay. The noise of it more than the +shock of the short fall, awoke him and he sprang tip in alarm and +listened intently to hear whether any one had been attracted by it. +His first glance was towards the building behind the garden. There +was no sound nor no light in the garden house but there was a light +in the main building. While the tramp was wondering what hour it +might be, the church clock answered him by ten loud strokes. + +His head was already aching from the wine and he did not feel +comfortable in the drafty old building. He came out from it, crept +along to the spot where he had climbed the fence before, and after +listening carefully and hearing nothing on either side, he climbed +back to the road. The Street lay silent and empty, which was just +what he was hoping for. He held carefully to the shadow thrown by +the high board fence over which he had climbed until he came to its +end. Then he remembered that he hadn't done anything wrong and +stepped out boldly into the moonlight. The moon was well up now +and the street was almost as light as day. Knoll was attracted by +the queer shadows thrown by a big elder tree, waving its long +branches in the wind. As he came nearer he saw that part of the +shadow was no shadow at all but was the body of a man lying in +the street near the bush. "I thought sure he was drunk" was the +way Knoll described it. "I've been like that myself often until +somebody came along and found me." + +When he came to this spot in his story, he halted and drew a long +breath. Commissioner von Riedau had begun to make some figures on +the paper in front of him, then changed the lines until the head +of a pretty woman in a fur hat took shape under his fingers. + +"Well, go on," he said, looking with interest at his drawing and +improving it with several quick strokes. + +Johann Knoll continued: + +"Then the devil came over me and I thought I better take this good +opportunity - well - I did. The man was lying on his back and I +saw a watch chain on his dark vest. I bent over him and took his +watch and chain. Then I felt around in his pocket and found his +purse. And then - well then I felt sorry for him lying out in the +open road like that, and I thought I'd lift him up and put him +somewhere where he could sleep it off more convenient. But I didn't +see there was a little ditch there and I stumbled over it and +dropped him. 'It's a good thing he's so drunk that even this don't +wake him up,' I thought, and ran off. Then I thought I heard +something moving and I was scared stiff, but there was nothing in +the street at all. I thought I had better take to the fields though +and I crossed through some corn and then out onto another street. +Finally I walked into the city, stayed there till this morning, sold +the watch, then went to Pressburg." + +"So that was the way it was," said the commissioner, pushing his +drawing away from him and motioning to the policemen at the door. +"You may take this man away now," he added in a voice of cool +indifference, without looking at the prisoner. + +Knoll's head drooped and he walked out quietly between his two +guards. The clock on the office wall struck eleven. + +"Dear me! what a lot of time the man wasted," said the commissioner, +putting the report of the proceedings, the watch and the purse in a +drawer of his desk. "When anybody has been almost convicted of a +crime, it's really quite unnecessary to invent such a long story. + +A few minutes later, the room was empty and Muller, as the last of +the group, walked slowly down the stairs. He was in such a brown +study that he scarcely heard the commissioner's friendly "goodnight," +nor did he notice that he was walking down the quiet street under a +star-gilded sky. "Almost convicted - almost. Almost?" Muller's +lips murmured while his head was full of a chaotic rush of thought, +dim pictures that came and went, something that seemed to be on the +point of bringing light into the darkness, then vanishing again. +"Almost - but not quite. There is something here I must find out +first. What is it? I must know -" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE FACE AT THE GATE + + +The second examination of the prisoner brought nothing new. Johann +Knoll refused to speak at all, or else simply repeated what he had +said before. This second examination took place early the next +morning, but Muller was not present. He was taking a walk in +Hietzing. + +When they took Johann Knoll in the police wagon to the City Prison, +Muller was just sauntering slowly through the street where the +murder had been committed. And as the door of the cell shut +clangingly behind the man whose face was distorted in impotent rage +and despair, Joseph Muller was standing in deep thought before the +broken willow twig, which now hung brown and dry across the planks +of the fence. He looked at it for a long time. That is, he seemed +to be looking at it, but in reality his eyes were looking out and +beyond the willow twig, out into the unknown, where the unknown +murderer was still at large. Leopold Winkler's body had already +been committed to the earth. How long will it be before his death +is avenged? Or perhaps how long may it even be before it is +discovered from what motive this murder was committed. Was it a +murder for robbery, or a murder for personal revenge perhaps? Were +the two crimes committed here by one and the same person, or were +there two people concerned? And if two, did they work as +accomplices? Or is it possible that Knoll's story was true? Did +he really only rob the body, not realising that it was a dead man +and not merely an intoxicated sleeper as he had supposed? These +and many more thoughts rushed tumultuously through Muller's brain +until he sighed despairingly under the pressure. Then he smiled +in amusement at the wish that had crossed his brain, the wish that +this case might seem as simple to him as it apparently did to the +commissioner. It would certainly have saved him a lot of work and +trouble if he could believe the obvious as most people did. What +was this devil that rode him and spurred him on to delve into the +hidden facts concerning matters that seemed so simple on the +surface? The devil that spurred him on to understand that there +always was some hidden side to every case? Then the sigh and the +smile passed, and Muller raised his head in one of the rare moments +of pride in his own gifts that this shy unassuming little man ever +allowed himself. This was the work that he was intended by +Providence to do or he wouldn't have been fitted for it, and it was +work for the common good, for the public safety. Thinking back over +the troubles of his early youth, Muller's heart rejoiced and he +was glad in his own genius. Then the moment of unwonted elation +passed and he bent his mind again to the problem before him. + +He sauntered slowly through the quiet street in the direction of +the four houses. To reach them he passed the fence that enclosed +this end of the Thorne property. Muller had already known, for +the last twenty-four hours at least, that the owner of the fine +old estate was an artist by the name of Herbert Thorne. His own +landlady had informed him of this. He himself was new to the +neighbourhood, having moved out there recently, and he had verified +her statements by the city directory. As he was now passing the +Thorne property, in his slow, sauntering walk, he had just come +within a dozen paces of the little wooden gate in the fence when +this gate opened. Muller's naturally soft tread was made still +more noiseless by the fact that he wore wide soft shoes. Years +before he had acquired a bad case of chilblains, in fact had been +in imminent danger of having his feet frozen by standing for five +hours in the snow in front of a house, to intercept several +aristocratic gentlemen who sooner or later would be obliged to +leave that house. The police had long suspected the existence of +this high-class gambling den; but it was not until they had put +Muller in charge of the case, that there were any results attained. +The arrests were made at the risk of permanent injury to the +celebrated detective. Since then, Muller's step was more noiseless +than usual, and now the woman who opened the gate and peered out +cautiously did not hear his approach nor did she see him standing +in the shadow of the fence. She looked towards the other end of +the street, then turned and spoke to somebody behind her. "There's +nobody coming from that direction," he said. Then she turned her +head the other way and saw Muller. She looked at him for a moment +and slammed the gate shut, disappearing behind it. Muller heard +the lock click and heard the beat of running feet hastening rapidly +over the gravel path through the garden. + +The detective stood immediately in front of the gate, shaking his +head. "What was the matter with the woman? What was it that she +wanted to see or do in the street? Why should she run away when +she saw me?" These were his thoughts. But he didn't waste time +in merely thinking. Muller never did. Action followed thought +with him very quickly. He saw a knot-hole in the fence just +beside the gate and he applied his eyes to this knot-hole. And +through the knot-hole he saw something that interested and +surprised him. + +The woman whose face had appeared so suddenly at the gate, and +disappeared still more suddenly, was the same woman whom he had +seen bidding farewell to Mr. Thorne and his wife on the Tuesday +morning previous, the woman whom he took to be the housekeeper. +The old butler stood beside her. It was undoubtedly the same man, +although he had worn a livery then and was now dressed in a +comfortable old house coat. He stood beside the woman, shaking +his head and asking her just the questions that Muller was asking +himself at the moment. + +"Why, what is the matter with you, Mrs. Bernaner? You're so +nervous since yesterday. Are you ill? Everything seems to +frighten you? Why did you run away from that gate so suddenly? I +thought you wanted me to show you the place?" + +Mrs. Bernauer raised her head and Muller saw that her face looked +pale and haggard and that her eyes shone with an uneasy feverish +light. She did not answer the old man's questions, but made a +gesture of farewell and then turned and walked slowly towards the +house. She realised, apparently, and feared, perhaps, that the +man who was passing the gate might have, noticed her sudden change +of demeanour and that he was listening to what she might say. She +did not think of the knot-hole in the board fence, or she might +have been more careful in hiding her distraught face from possible +observers. + +Muller stood watching through this knot-hole for some little time. +He took a careful observation of the garden, and from his point of +vantage he could easily see the little house which was apparently +the dwelling of the gardener, as well as the mansard roof of the +main building. There was considerable distance between the two +houses. The detective decided that it might interest him to know +something more about this garden, this house and the people who +lived there. And when Muller made such a decision it was usually +not very long before he carried it out. + +The other street, upon which the main front of the mansard house +opened, contained a few isolated dwellings surrounded by gardens +and a number of newly built apartment houses. On the ground floor +of these latter houses were a number of stores and immediately +opposite the Thorne mansion was a little cafe. This suited Muller +exactly, for he had been there before and he remembered that from +one of the windows there was an excellent view of the gate and the +front entrance of the mansion opposite. It was a very modest little +cafe, but there was a fairly good wine to be had there and the +detective made it an excuse to sit down by the window, as if +enjoying his bottle while admiring the changing colours of the +foliage in the gardens opposite. + +Another rather good chance, he discovered, was the fact that the +landlord belonged to the talkative sort, and believed that the +refreshments he had to sell were rendered doubly agreeable when +spiced by conversation. In this case the good man was not mistaken. +It was scarcely ten o'clock in the forenoon and there were very +few people in the cafe. The landlord was quite at leisure to +devote himself to this stranger in the window seat, whom he did not +remember to have seen before, and who was therefore doubly +interesting to him. Several subjects of conversation usual in such +cases, such as politics and the weather, seemed to arouse no +particular enthusiasm in his patron's manner. Finally the portly +landlord decided that he would touch upon the theme which was still +absorbing all Hietzing. + +"Oh, by the way, sir, do you know that you are in the immediate +vicinity of the place where the murder of Monday evening was +committed? People are still talking about it around here. And I +see by the papers that the murderer was arrested in Pressburg +yesterday and brought to Vienna last night." + +"Indeed, is that so? I haven't seen a paper to-day," replied +Muller, awakening from his apparent indifference. + +The landlord was flattered by the success of the new subject, and +stood ready to unloose the floodgates of his eloquence. His customer +sat up and asked the question for which the landlord was waiting. + +"So it was around here that the man was shot?" + +"Yes. His name was Leopold Winkler, that was in the papers to-day +too. You see that pretty house opposite? Well, right behind this +house is the garden that belongs to it and back of that, an old +garden which has been neglected for some time. It was at the end +of this garden where it touches the other street, that they found +the man under a big elder-tree, early Tuesday morning, day before +yesterday." + +"Oh, indeed!" said. Muller, greatly interested, as if this was +the first he had heard of it. The landlord took a deep breath and +was about to begin again when his customer, who decided to keep the +talkative man to a certain phase of the subject, now took command +of the conversation himself. + +"I should think that the people opposite, who live so near the +place where the murder was committed, wouldn't be very much pleased," +he said. "I shouldn't care to look out on such a spot every time +I went to my window." + +"There aren't any windows there," exclaimed the landlord, "for +there aren't any houses there. There's only the old garden, and +then the large garden and the park belonging to Mr. Thorne's house, +that fine old house you see just opposite here. It's a good thing +that Mr. Thorne and his wife went away before the murder became +known. The lady hasn't been well for some weeks, she's very nervous +and frail, and it probably would have frightened her to think that +such things were happening right close to her home." + +"The lady is sick? What's the matter with her?" + +"Goodness knows, nerves, heart trouble, something like that. The +things these fine ladies are always having. But she wasn't always +that way, not until about a year ago. She was fresh and blooming +and very pretty to look at before that." + +"She is a young lady then?" + +"Yes, indeed, sir; she's very young still and very pretty. It makes +you feel sorry to see her so miserable, and you feel sorry for her +husband. Now there's a young couple with everything in the world +to make them happy and so fond of each other, and the poor little +lady has to be so sick." + +"They are very happy, you say?" asked Muller carelessly. He had +no particular set purpose in following up this inquiry, none but +his usual understanding of the fact that a man in his business can +never amass too much knowledge, and that it will sometimes happen +that a chance bit of information comes in very handy. + +The landlord was pleased at the encouragement and continued: "Indeed +they are very happy. They've only been married two years. The lady +comes from a distance, from Graz. Her father is an army officer I +believe, and I don't think she was over-rich. But she's a very +sweet-looking lady and her rich husband is very fond of her, any one +can see that." + +"You said just now that they had gone away, where have they gone to?" + +"They've gone to Italy, sir. Mrs. Thorne was one of the few people +who do not know Venice. Franz, that's the butler, sir, told me +yesterday evening that he had received a telegram saying that the +lady and gentleman had arrived safely and were very comfortably +fixed in the Hotel Danieli. You know Danieli's?" + +"Yes, I do. I also was one of the few people who did not know +Venice, that is I was until two years ago. Then, however, I had +the pleasure of riding over the Bridge of Mestre," answered Muller. +He did not add that he was not alone at the time, but had ridden +across the long bridge in company with a pale haggard-faced man who +did not dare to look to the right or to the left because of the +revolver which he knew was held in the detective's hand under his +loose overcoat. Muller's visit to Venice, like most of his +journeyings, had been one of business. This time to capture and +bring home a notorious and long sought embezzler. He did not +volunteer any of this information, however, but merely asked in a +politely interested manner whether the landlord himself had been +to Venice. + +"Yes, indeed," replied the latter proudly. "I was head waiter at +Baner's for two years." + +"Then you must make me some Italian dishes soon," said Muller. +Further conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Franz, the +old butler of the house opposite. + +"Excuse me, sir; I must get him his glass of wine," said the +landlord, hurrying away to the bar. He returned in a moment with +a small bottle and a glass and set it down on Muller's table. + +"You don't mind, sir, if he sits down here?" he asked. "He usually +sits here at this table because then he can see if he is needed over +at the house." + +"Oh, please let him come here. He has prior rights to this table +undoubtedly," said the stranger politely. The old butler sat down +with an embarrassed murmur, as the voluble landlord explained that +the stranger had no objection. Then the boniface hurried off to +attend to some newly entered customers and the detective, greatly +pleased at the prospect, found himself alone with the old servant. + +"You come here frequently?" he began, to open the conversation. + +"Yes, sir, since my master and myself have settled down here - we +travelled most of the time until several years ago - I find this +place very convenient. It's a cosy little room, the wine is good +and not expensive, I'm near home and yet I can see some new faces +occasionally." + +"I hope the faces that you see about you at home are not so +unpleasant that you are glad to get away from them?" asked Muller +with a smile. + +The old man gave a start of alarm. "Oh, dear, no, sir," he +exclaimed eagerly; "that wasn't what I meant. Indeed I'm fond of +everybody in the house from our dear lady down to the poor little +dog." + +Here Muller gained another little bit of knowledge, the fact that +the lady of the house was the favourite of her servants, or that +she seemed to them even more an object of adoration than the master. + +"Then you evidently have a very good place, since you seem so fond +of every one." + +"Indeed I have a good place, sir." + +"You've had this place a long time?" + +"More than twenty years. My master was only eleven years old when +I took service with the family." + +"Ah, indeed! then you must be a person of importance in the house +if you have been there so long?" + +"Well more or less I might say I am," the old man smiled and +looked flattered, then added: "But the housekeeper, Mrs. Bernaner, +is even more important than I am, to tell you the truth. She was +nurse to our present young master, and she's been in the house ever +since. When his parents died, it's some years ago now, she took +entire charge of the housekeeping. She was a fine active woman +then, and now the young master and mistress couldn't get along +without her. They treat her as if she was one of the family." + +"And she is ill also? I say also," explained Muller, "because the +landlord has just been telling me that your mistress is ill." + +"Yes, indeed, more's the pity! our poor dear young lady has been +miserable for nearly a year now. It's a shame to see such a sweet +angel as she is suffer like that and the master's quite heart-broken +over it. But there's nothing the matter with Mrs. Bernaner. How +did you come to think that she was sick?" + +Muller did not intend to explain that the change in the housekeeper's +appearance, a change which had come about between Tuesday morning +and Thursday morning, might easily have made any one think that she +was ill. He gave as excuse for his question the old man's own words: +"Why, I thought that she might be ill also because you said yourself +that the housekeeper - what did you say her name was?" + +"Bernauer, Mrs. Adele Bernauer. She was a widow when she came to +take care of the master. Her husband was a sergeant of artillery." + +"Well, I mean," continued Muller, "you said yourself that when the +gentleman's parents died, Mrs. Bernauer was a fine active woman, +therefore I supposed she was no longer so." + +Franz thought the matter over for a while. "I don't know just why +I put it that way. Indeed she's still as active as ever and always +fresh and well. It's true that for the last two or three days she's +been very nervous and since yesterday it is as if she was a changed +woman. She must be ill, I don't know how to explain it otherwise." + +"What seems to be the matter with her?" asked Muller and then to +explain his interest in the housekeeper's health, he fabricated a +story: "I studied medicine at one time and although I didn't finish +my course or get a diploma, I've always had a great interest in such +things, and every now and then I'll take a case, particularly +nervous diseases. That was my specialty." Muller took up his glass +and turned away from the window, for be felt a slow flush rising +to his cheeks. It was another of Muller's peculiarities that he +always felt an inward embarrassment at the lies he was obliged to +tell in his profession. + +The butler did not seem to have noticed it however, and appeared +eager to tell of what concerned him in the housekeeper's appearance +and demeanour. "Why, yesterday at dinner time was the first that +we began to notice anything wrong with Mrs. Bernauer. The rest of +us, that is, Lizzie the upstairs girl, the cook and myself. She +began to eat her dinner with a good appetite, then suddenly, when +we got as far as the pudding, she let her fork fall and turned +deathly white. She got up without saying a word and left the room. +Lizzie ran after her to ask if anything was the matter, but she +said no, it was nothing of importance. After dinner, she went right +out, saying she was doing some errands. She brought in a lot of +newspapers, which was quite unusual, for she sometimes does not look +at a newspaper once a week even. I wouldn't have noticed it but +Lizzie's the kind that sees and hears everything and she told us +about it." Franz stopped to take a drink, and Muller said +indifferently, "I suppose Mrs. Bernauer was interested in the murder +case. The whole neighbourhood seems to be aroused about it." + +"No, I don't think that was it," answered the old servant, "because +then she would have sent for a paper this morning too." + +"And she didn't do that?" + +"No, unless she might have gone out for it herself. There's a news +stand right next door here. But I don't think she did because I +would have seen the paper around the house then." + +"And is that all that's the matter with her?" asked Muller in a +tone of disappointment. "Why, I thought you'd have something really +interesting to tell me." + +"Oh, no, that isn't all, sir," exclaimed the old man eagerly. + +Muller leaned forward, really interested now, while Franz continued: +"She was uneasy all the afternoon yesterday. She walked up and down +stairs and through the halls - I remember Lizzie making some joke +about it - and then in the evening to our surprise she suddenly began +a great rummaging in the first story." + +"Is that where she lives ?" + +"Oh, no; her room is in the wing out towards the garden. The rooms +on the first floor all belong to the master and mistress. This +morning we found out that Mrs. Bernauer's cleaning up of the evening +before had been done because she remembered that the master wanted +to take some papers with him but couldn't find them and had asked +her to look for them and send them right on." + +"Well, I shouldn't call that a sign of any particular nervousness, +but rather an evidence of Mrs. Bernaner's devotion to her duty." + +"Oh, yes, sir - but it certainly is queer that she should go into +the garden at four o'clock this morning and appear to be looking +for something along the paths and under the bushes. Even if a few +of the papers blew out of the window, or blew away from the summer +house, where the master writes sometimes, they couldn't have +scattered all over the garden like that." + +Muller didn't follow up this subject any longer. There might come +a time when he would be interested in finding out the reason for +the housekeeper's search in the garden, but just at present he +wanted something else. He remembered some remark of the old man's +about the "poor little dog," and on this he built his plan. + +"Oh, well," he said carelessly, "almost everybody is nervous and +impatient now-a-days. I suppose Mrs. Bernauer felt uneasy because +she couldn't find the paper right away. There's nothing particularly +interesting or noticeable about that. Anyway, I've been occupying +myself much more these last years with sick animals rather than with +sick people. I've had some very successful cures there." + +"No, really, have you? Then you could do us a great favour," +exclaimed Franz in apparent eagerness. Muller's heart rejoiced. He +had apparently hit it right this time. He knew that in a house like +that "a poor dog" could only mean a "sick dog." But his voice was +quite calm as he asked: "How can I do you a favour?" + +"Why, you see, sir, we've got a little terrier," explained the old +man, who had quite forgotten the fact that he had mentioned the dog +before. "And there's been something the matter with the poor little +chap for several days. He won't eat or drink, he bites at the grass +and rolls around on his stomach and cries - it's a pity to see him. +If you're fond of animals and know how to take care of them, you may +be able to help us there." + +"You want me to look at the little dog? Why, yes, I suppose I can." + +"We'll appreciate it," said the old man with an embarrassed smile. +But Muller shook his head and continued: "No, never mind the payment, +I wouldn't take any money for it. But I'll tell you what you can +do for me. I'm very fond of flowers. If you think you can take the responsibility of letting me +walk around in the garden for a little +while, and pick a rose or two, I will be greatly pleased." + +"Why, of course you may," said Franz. "Take any of the roses you +see there that please you. They're nearly over for the season now +and it's better they should be picked rather than left to fade on +the bush. We don't use so many flowers in the house now when the +family are not there." + +"All right, then, it's a bargain," laughed Muller, signalling to +the landlord. "Are you, going already?" asked the old servant. + +"Yes, I must be going if I am to spend any time with the little dog." + +"I suppose I ought to be at home myself," said Franz. "Something's +the matter with the electric wiring in our place. The bell in the +master's room keeps ringing. I wrote to Siemens & Halske to send us +a man out to fix it. He's likely to come any minute now." The two +men rose, paid their checks, and went out together. Outside the +cafe Muller hesitated a moment. "You go on ahead," he said to Franz. +"I want to go in here and get a cigar." + +While buying his cigar and lighting it, he asked for several +newspapers, choosing those which his quick eye had told him were no +longer among the piles on the counter. "I'm very sorry, sir," said +the clerk; "we have only a few of those papers, just two or three +more than we need for our regular customers, and this morning they +are all sold. The housekeeper from the Thorne mansion took the very +last ones." + +This was exactly what Muller wanted to know. He left the store and +caught up with the old butler as the latter was opening the handsome +iron gate that led from the Thorne property out onto the street. + +"Well, where's our little patient?" asked the detective as he +walked through the courtyard with Franz. + +"You'll see him in a minute," answered the old servant. He led +the way through a light roomy corridor furnished with handsome old +pieces in empire style, and opened a door at its further end. + +"This is my room." + +It was a large light room with two windows opening on the garden. +Muller was not at all pleased that the journey through the hall had +been such a short one. However he was in the house, that was +something, and he could afford to trust to chance for the rest. +Meanwhile he would look at the dog. The little terrier lay in a +corner by the stove and it did not take Muller more than two or +three minutes to discover that there was nothing the matter with +the small patient but a simple case of over-eating. But he put on +a very wise expression as he handled the little dog and looking up, +asked if he could get some chamomile tea. + +"I'll go for it, I think there's some in the house. Do you want it +made fresh?" said Franz. + +"Yes, that will be better, about a cupful will do," was Muller's +answer. He knew that this harmless remedy would be likely to do +the dog good and at the present moment he wanted to be left alone +in the room. As soon as Franz had gone, the detective hastened to +the window, placing himself behind the curtain so that he could +not be seen from outside. He himself could see first a wide +courtyard lying between the two wings of the house, then beyond it +the garden, an immense square plot of ground beautifully cultivated. +The left wing of the house was about six windows longer than the +other, and from the first story of it it would be quite easy to look +out over the vacant lot where the old shed stood which had served +as a night's lodging for Johann Knoll. + +There was not the slightest doubt in Muller's mind that this part +of the tramp's story was true, for by a natural process of +elimination he knew there was nothing to be gained by inventing any +such tale. Besides which the detective himself had been to look at +the shed. His well-known pedantic thoroughness would not permit +him to take any one's word for anything that he might find out for +himself, In his investigations on Tuesday morning he had already +seen the half-ruined shed, now he knew that it contained a broken +bench. + +Thus far, therefore, Knoll's story was proved to be true-but there +was something that didn't quite hitch in another way. The tramp had +said that he had seen first a woman and then a man come from the main +house and go in the direction of the smaller house which he took to +be the gardener's dwelling. This Muller discovered now was quite +impossible. A tall hedge, fully seven or eight feet high and very +thick, stretched from the courtyard far down into the garden past +the gardener's little house. There was a broad path on the right +and the left of this green wall. From his position in the shed, +Knoll could have seen people passing only when they were on the +right side of the hedge. But to reach the gardener's house from +the main dwelling, the shortest way would be on the left side of +the hedge. This much Muller saw, then he heard the butler's steps +along the hall and he went back to the corner where the dog lay. + +Franz was not alone. There was some one else with him, the +housekeeper, Mrs. Bernauer. Just as they opened the door, Muller +heard her say: "If the gentleman is a veterinary, then we'd better +ask him about the parrot- " + +The sentence was never finished. Muller never found out what was +the matter with the parrot, for as he looked up with a polite smile +of interest, he looked into a pale face, into a pair of eyes that +opened wide in terror, and heard trembling lips frame the words: +"There he is again!" + +A moment later Mrs. Bernauer would have been glad to have recalled +her exclamation, but it was too late. + +Muller bowed before her and asked: "'There he is again,' you said; +have you ever seen me before?" + +The woman looked at him as if hypnotised and answered almost in a +whisper: "I saw you Tuesday morning for the first time, Tuesday +morning when the family were going away. Then I saw you pass +through our street twice again that same day. This morning you went +past the garden gate and now I find you here. What-what is it you +want of us?" + +"I will tell you what I want, Mrs. Bernauer, but first I want to +speak to you alone. Mr. Franz doesn't mind leaving us for a while, +does he?" + +"But why?" said the old man hesitatingly. He didn't understand +at all what was going on and he would much rather have remained. + +"Because I came here for the special purpose of speaking to Mrs. +Bernauer," replied Muller calmly. + +"Then you didn't come on account of the dog?" + +"No, I didn't come on account of the dog." + +"Then you - you lied to me?" + +"Partly." + +"And you're no veterinary?" + +"No - I can help your dog, but I am not a veterinary and never have +been." + +"What are you then?" + +"I will tell Mrs. Bernauer who and what I am when you are outside +- outside in the courtyard there. You can walk about in the garden +if you want to, or else go and get some simple purgative for this +dog. That is all he needs; he has been over-fed." + +Franz was quite bewildered. These new developments promised to be +interesting and he was torn between his desire to know more, and +his doubts as to the propriety of leaving the housekeeper with this +queer stranger. He hesitated until the woman herself motioned to +him to go. He went out into the hall, then into the courtyard, +watched by the two in the room who stood silently in the window +until they saw the butler pass down into the garden. Then they +looked at each other. + +"You belong to the police?" asked Adele Bernauer finally with a +deep sigh. + +"That was a good guess," replied Muller with an ironic smile, +adding: "All who have any reason to fear us are very quick in +recognising us." + +"What do you mean by that?" she exclaimed with a start. "What +are you thinking of?" + +"I am thinking about the same thing that you are thinking of - that +I have proved you are thinking of - the same thing that drove you +out into the street yesterday and this morning to buy the papers. +These papers print news which is interesting many people just now, +and some people a great deals. I am thinking of the same thing +that was evidently in your thoughts as you peered out of the garden +gate this morning, although you would not come out into the street. +I know that you do not read even one newspaper regularly. I know +also that yesterday and today you bought a great many papers, +apparently to get every possible detail about a certain subject. +Do you deny this?" + +She did not deny it, she did not answer at all. She sank down on +a chair, her wide staring eyes looking straight ahead of her, and +trembling so that the old chair cracked underneath her weight. But +this condition did not last long. The woman had herself well under +control. Muller's coming, or something else, perhaps, may have +overwhelmed her for a moment, but she soon regained her usual +self-possession. + +"Still you have not told me what you want here," she began coldly, +and as he did not answer she continued: "I have a feeling that you +are watching us. I had this feeling when I saw you the first time +and noticed then - pardon my frankness - that you stared at us +sharply while we were saying goodbye to our master and mistress. +Then I saw you pass twice again through the street and look up at +our windows. This morning I find you at our garden gate and +now - you will pardon me if I tell the exact truth - now you have +wormed yourself in here under false pretenses because you have no +right whatever to force an entrance into this house. And I ask +you again, what do you want here?" + +Muller was embarrassed. That did not happen very often. Also it +did not happen very often that he was in the wrong as he was now. +The woman was absolutely right. He had wormed himself into the +house under false pretenses to follow up the new clue which almost +unconsciously as yet was leading him on with a stronger and stronger +attraction. He could not have explained it and he certainly was not +ready to say anything about it at police headquarters, even at the +risk of being obliged to continue to enter this mysterious house +under false pretenses and to be told that he was doing so. Of +course this sort of thing was necessary in his business, it was +the only way in which he could follow up the criminals. + +But there was something in this woman's words that cut into a +sensitive spot and drove the blood to his cheeks. There was +something in the bearing and manner of this one-time nurse that +impressed him, although he was not a man to be lightly impressed. +He had a feeling that be had made a fool of himself and it bothered +him. For a moment he did not know what he should say to this woman +who stood before him with so much quiet energy in her bearing. But +the something in his brain, the something that made him what he was, +whispered to him that he had done right, and that he must follow +up the trail he had found. That gave him back his usual calm. + +He took up his hat, and standing before the pale-faced woman, +looking her firmly in the eyes, he said: "It is true that I have +no right as yet to force my way into your house, therefore I have +been obliged to enter it as best I could. I have done this often +in my work, but I do it for the safety of society. And those who +reproach me for doing it are generally those whom I have been +obliged to persecute in the name of the law. Mrs. Bernauer, I +will confess that there are moments in which I feel ashamed that I +have chosen this profession that compels me to hunt down human +beings. But I do not believe that this is one of those moments. +You have read this morning's papers; you must know, therefore, that +a man has been arrested and accused of the murder which interests +you so much; you must be able to realise the terror and anxiety +which are now filling this man's heart. For to-day's papers - I +have read them myself - expressed the public sentiment that the +police may succeed in convicting this man of the crime, that the +death may be avenged and justice have her due. Several of these +papers, the papers I know you have bought and presumably read, do +not doubt that Johann Knoll is the murderer of Leopold Winkler. + +"Now there are at least two people who do not believe that Knoll is +the murderer. I am one of them, and you, Mrs. Bernauer, you are +the other. I am going now and when I come again, as I doubtless +will come again, I will come with full right to enter this house. +I acknowledge frankly that I have no justification in causing your +arrest as yet, but you are quite clever enough to know that if I +had the faintest justification I would not leave here alone. And +one thing more I have to say. You may not know that I have had the +most extraordinary luck in my profession, that in more than a +hundred cases there have been but two where the criminal I was +hunting escaped me. And now, Mrs. Bernauer, I will bid you good +day." + +Muller stepped towards the window and motioned to Franz, who was +walking up and down outside. The old man ran to the door and met +the detective in the hall. + +"You'd better go in and look after Mrs. Bernauer," said the +latter, "I can find my way out alone." + +Franz looked after him, shaking his head in bewilderment and then +entered his own room. "Merciful God!" he exclaimed, bending down +in terror over the housekeeper, who lay on the floor. In his shock +and bewilderment he imagined that she too had been murdered, until +he realised that it was only a swoon from which she recovered in +a moment. He helped her regain her feet and she looked about as +if still dazed, stammering: "Has he gone?" + +"The strange man? ... Yes, he went some time ago. But what +happened to you? Did he give you something to make you faint? Do +you think he was a thief?" + +Mrs. Bernauer shook her head and murmured: "Oh, no, quite the +contrary." A remark which did not enlighten Franz particularly +as to the status of the man who had just left them. There was a +note of fear in the housekeepers s voice and she added hastily: +"Does any one besides ourselves know that he was here?" + +No. Lizzie and the cook are in the kitchen talking about the +murder." + +Mrs. Bernauer shivered again and went slowly out of the room and +up the stairs. + +If Franz believed that the stranger had left the house by the +front entrance he was very much mistaken. When Muller found +himself alone in the corridor he turned quickly and hurried out +into the garden. None of the servants had seen him. Lizzie and +the cook were engaged in an earnest conversation in the kitchen +and Franz was fully occupied with Mrs. Bernauer. The gardener +was away and his wife busy at her wash tubs. No one was aware, +therefore, that Muller spent about ten minutes wandering about the +garden, and ten minutes were quite sufficient for him to become so +well acquainted with the place that he could have drawn a map of +it. He left the garden through the rear gate, the latch of which +he was obliged to leave open. The gardener's wife found it that +way several hours later and was rather surprised thereat. Muller +walked down the street rapidly and caught a passing tramway. His +mood was not of the best, for he could not make up his mind whether +or no this morning had been a lost one. His mind sorted and +rearranged all that he knew or could imagine concerning Mrs. +Bernaner. But there was hardly enough of these facts to reassure +him that he was not on a false trail, that he had not allowed +himself to waste precious hours all because he had seen a woman's +haggard face appear for a moment at the little gate in the quiet street. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +JOHANN KNOLL REMEMBERS SOMETHING ELSE + + +Muller's goal was the prison where Johann Knoll was awaiting his +fate. The detective had permission to see the man as often as +he wished to. Knoll had been proven a thief, but the accusation +of murder against him had not been strengthened by anything but +the most superficial circumstantial evidence, therefore it was +necessary that Muller should talk with him in the hope of +discovering something more definite. + +Knoll lay asleep on his cot as the detective and the warder entered +the cell. Muller motioned the attendant to leave him alone with +the prisoner and he stood beside the cot looking down at the man. +The face on the hard pillow was not a very pleasant one to look at. +The skin was roughened and swollen and had that brown-purple tinge +which comes from being constantly in the open air, and from habitual +drinking. The weather-beaten look may be seen often in the faces of +men whose honest work keeps them out of doors; but this man had not +earned his colouring honestly, for he was one of the sort who worked +only from time to time when it was absolutely necessary and there +was no other way of getting a penny. His hands proved this, for +although soiled and grimy they had soft, slender fingers which +showed no signs of a life of toil. But even a man who has spent +forty years in useless idling need not be all bad. There must have +been some good left in this man or he could not have lain there so +quietly, breathing easily, wrapped in a slumber as undisturbed as +that of a child. It did not seem possible that any man could lie +there like that with the guilt of murder on his conscience, or even +with the knowledge in his soul that he had plundered a corpse. + +Muller had never believed the first to be the case, but he had +thought it possible that Knoll knew perfectly well that it was a +lifeless body he was robbing. He had believed it at least until +the moment when he stood looking down at the sleeping tramp. Now, +with the deep knowledge of the human heart which was his by +instinct and which his profession had increased a thousand-fold, +Muller knew that this man before him had no heavy crime upon his +conscience - that it was really as he had said - that he had taken +the watch and purse from one whom he believed to be intoxicated +only. Of course it was not a very commendable deed for which the +tramp was now in prison, but it was slight in comparison to the +crimes of which he was suspected. + +Muller bent lower over the unconscious form and was surprised to +see a gentle smile spread over the face before him. It brightened +and changed the coarse rough face and gave it for a moment a look +of almost child-like innocence. Somewhere within the coarsened +soul there must be a spot of brightness from which such a smile +could come. + +But the face grew ugly again as Knoll opened his eyes and looked +up. He shook off the clouds of slumber as he felt Muller's hand +on his shoulder and raised himself to a sitting position, grumbling: +"Can't I have any rest? Are they going to question me again? I'm +getting tired of this. I've said everything I know anyhow." + +"Perhaps not everything. Perhaps you will answer a few of my +questions when I tell you that I believe the story you told us +yesterday, and that I want to be your friend and help you." + +Knoll's little eyes glanced up without embarrassment at the man +who spoke to him. They were sharp eyes and had a certain spark of +intelligence in them. Muller had noticed that yesterday, and he +saw it again now. But he saw also the gleam of distrust in these +eyes, a distrust which found expression in Knoll's next words. +"You think you can catch me with your good words, but you're makin' +a mistake. I've got nothin' new to say. And you needn't think +that you can blind me, I know you're one of the police, and I'm +not going to say anything at all." + +"Just as you like. I was trying to help you, I believe I really +could help you. I have just come from Hietzing - but of course if +you don't want to talk to me - " Muller shrugged his shoulders and +turned toward the door. + +But before he reached it Knoll stood at his side. "You really mean +to help me?" he gasped. + +"I do," said the detective calmly. + +"Then swear, on your mother's soul - or is your mother still alive?" + +"No, she has been dead some time." + +"Well, then, will you swear it?" + +"Would you believe an oath like that?" + +"Why shouldn't I?" + +"With the life you've been leading?" + +"My life's no worse than a lot of others. Stealing those things on +Monday was the worst thing I've done yet. Will you swear?" + +"Is it something so very important you have to tell me?" + +"No, I ain't got nothin' at all new to tell you. But I'd just like +to know - in this black hole I've got into - I'd just like to know +that there's one human being who means well with me - I'd like to +know that there's one man in the world who don't think I'm quite +good-for-nothin'." + +The tramp covered his face with his hands and gave a heart-rending +sob. Deep pity moved the detective's breast. He led Knoll back to +his cot, and put both hands on his shoulders, saying gravely: "I +believe that this theft was the worst thing you have done. By my +mother's salvation, Knoll, I believe your words and I will try to +help you." + +Knoll raised his head, looking up at Muller with a glance of +unspeakable gratitude. With trembling lips he kissed the hand +which a moment before had pressed kindly on his shoulder, clinging +fast to it as if he could not bear to let it go. Muller was almost +embarrassed. "Oh, come now, Knoll, don't be foolish. Pull yourself +together and answer my questions carefully, for I am asking you +these questions more for your own sake than for anything else." + +The tramp nodded and wiped the tears from his face. He looked +almost happy again, and there was a softness in his eyes that +showed there was something in the man which might be saved and +which was worth saving. + +Muller sat beside him on the cot and began: "There was one mistake +in your story yesterday. I want you to think it over carefully. +You said that you saw first a woman and then a man going through +the neighbouring garden. I believe that one or both of these +people is the criminal for whom we are looking. Therefore, I want +you to try and remember everything that you can connect with them, +every slightest detail. Anything that you can tell us may be of +the greatest importance. Therefore, think very carefully." + +Knoll sat still a few moments, evidently trying hard to put his +hazy recollections into useful form and shape. But it was also +evident that orderly thinking was an unusual work for him, and he +found it almost too difficult. "I guess you 'better ask me +questions, maybe that'll go," he said after a pause. + +Then Muller began to question. With his usual thoroughness he +began at the very beginning: "When was it that you climbed the +fence to get into the shed?" + +"It just struck nine o'clock when I put my foot on the lowest bar." + +"Are you sure of that?" + +"Quite sure. I counted every stroke. You see, I wanted to know +how long the night was going to be, seein' I'd have to sleep in +that shed. I was in the garden just exactly an hour. I came out +of the shed as it struck ten and it wasn't but a few minutes before +I was in the street again." + +"And when was it that you saw the woman in the garden next door?" + +"H'm, I don't just know when that was. I'd been in on the bench +quite a while." + +"And the man? When did you see the man?" + +"He came past a few minutes after the woman had gone towards the +little house in the garden." + +"Ah! there you see, that's where you made your mistake. It is +more than likely that these two did not go to the little house, but +that they went somewhere else. Did they walk slowly and quietly?" + +"Not a bit of it. They ran almost ... Went past as quick as a bat +in the night." + +"Then they both appeared to be in a hurry?" + +"Yes indeed they did." + +"Ah, ha, you see! Now when any one's in a hurry he doesn't go the +longest way round, as a rule. And it would have been the longest +way round for these two people to go from the big house to the +gardener's cottage - for the little house you saw was the gardener's +cottage. There is tall thick hedge that starts from the main +building and goes right down through the garden, quite a distance +past the gardener's cottage. The vegetable garden is on the left +side of this hedge and in the middle of the vegetable garden is the +gardener's cottage. But you could have seen the man and the woman +only because they passed down the right side of the hedge, and this +would have given them a detour of fifty paces or more to reach +the gardener's house. Nov do you think that two people who were +very much in a hurry would have gone down the right side of the +hedge, to reach a place which they could have gotten to much quicker +on the left side?" + +"No, that would have been a fool thing to do." + +"And you are quite sure that these people were in a hurry?" + +"That's dead sure. I scarcely saw them before they'd gone again." + +"And you didn't see them come back?" + +"No, at least I didn't pay any further attention to them. When I +thought it wouldn't be any good to look about in there I turned +around and dozed off." + +"And it was during this dozing that you thought you heard the shot?" + +Yes, sir, that's right." + +"And you didn't notice anything else? You didn't hear anything +else." + +"No, nothin' at all, there was so much noise anyway. There was a +high wind that night and the trees were rattling and creaking." + +"And you didn't see anything else, anything that attracted your +attention?" + +"No, nothing - " Knoll did not finish his sentence, but began +another instead. He had suddenly remembered something which had +seemed to him of no importance before. "There was a light that +went out suddenly." + +"Where?" + +"In the side of the house that I could see from my place. There +was a lamp in the last window of the second story, a lamp with a +red shade. That lamp went out all at once." + +"Was the window open?" + +"Yes." + +"There was a strong wind that night, might not the wind have blown +the lamp out?" + +"No, that wasn't it," said Knoll, rising hastily. + +"Well, how was it?" asked Muller calmly. + +"A hand put out the lamp." + +"Whose hand?" + +"I couldn't see that. The light was so low on account of the shade +that I couldn't see the person who stood there." + +"And you don't know whether it was a man or a woman?" + +"No, I just saw a hand, more like a shadow it was." + +"Well, it doesn't matter much anyway. It was after nine o'clock +and many people go to bed about that time," said Muller, who did +not see much value in this incident. + +But Knoll shook his head. "The person who put out that light didn't +go to bed, at least not right away," he said eagerly. "I looked +over after a while to the place where the red light was and I saw +something else." + +"Well, what was it you saw?" + +"The window had been closed." + +"Who closed it? Didn't you see the person that time? The moonlight +lay full on the house." + +"Yes, when there weren't any clouds. But there was a heavy cloud +over the moon just then and when it came out again the window was +shut and there was a white curtain drawn in front of it." + +"How could you see that?" + +"I could see it when the lamp was lit again." + +"Then the lamp was lit again?" + +"Yes, I could see the red light behind the curtain." + +"And what happened then?" + +"Nothing more then, except that the man went through the garden." + +Muller rose now and took up his hat. He was evidently excited and +Knoll looked at him uneasily. "You're goin' already?" he asked. + +"Yes, I have a great deal to do to-day," replied the detective and +nodded to the prisoner as he knocked on the door. "I am glad you +remembered that," he added, "it will be of use to us, I think." + +The warder opened the door, let Muller out, and the heavy iron +portal clanged again between Knoll and freedom. + +Muller was quite satisfied with the result of his visit to the +accused. He hurried to the nearest cab stand and entered one of +the carriages waiting there. He gave the driver Mrs. Klingmayer's +address. It was about two o'clock in the afternoon now and Muller +had had nothing to eat yet. But he was quite unaware of the fact +as his mind was so busy that no mere physical sensation could +divert his attention for a moment. Muller never seemed to need +sleep or food when he was on the trail, particularly not in the +fascinating first stages of the case when it was his imagination +alone, catching at trifles unnoticed by others, combining them in +masterly fashion to an ordered whole, that first led the seekers +to the truth. Now he went over once more all the little apparently +trivial incidents that had caused him first to watch the Thorne +household and then had drawn his attention, and his suspicion, +to Adele Bernauer. It was the broken willow twig that had first +drawn his attention to the old garden next the Thorne property. +This twig, this garden, and perhaps some one who could reach his +home again, unseen and unendangered through this garden - might +not this have something to do with the murder? + +The breaking of the twig was already explained. It was Johann +Knoll who had stepped on it. But he had not climbed the wall at +all, had only crept along it looking for a night's shelter. And +there was no connection between Knoll and the people who lived +in the Thorne house. Muller had not the slightest doubt that the +tramp had told the entire truth that day and the day preceding. + +Then the detective's mind went back to the happenings of Tuesday +morning. The little twig had first drawn his attention to the +Thorne estate and the people who lived there. He had seen the +departure of the young couple and had passed the house again that +afternoon and the following day, drawn to it as if by a magnet. +He had not been able then to explain what it was that attracted +him; there had been nothing definite in his mind as he strolled +past the old mansion. But his repeated appearance had been noticed +by some one - by one person only - the housekeeper. Why should she +have noticed it? Had she any reason for believing that she might +be watched? People with an uneasy conscience are very apt to +connect even perfectly natural trivial circumstances with their own +doings. Adele Bernauer had evidently connected Muller's repeated +passing with something that concerned herself even before the +detective had thought of her at all. + +Muller had not noticed her until he had seen her peculiar conduct +that very morning. When he heard Franz's words and saw how +disturbed the woman was, he asked himself: "Why did this woman +want to be shown the spot of the murder? Didn't she know that +place, living so near it, as well as any of the many who stood +there staring in morbid curiosity? Did she ask to have it shown +her that the others might believe she had nothing whatever to do +with the occurrences that had happened there? Or was she drawn +thither by that queer attraction that brings the criminal back to +the scene of his crime?" + +The sudden vision of Mrs. Bernauer's head at the garden gate, and +its equally sudden disappearance had attracted Muller's attention +and his thoughts to the woman. What he had been able to learn +about her had increased his suspicions and her involuntary +exclamation when she met him face to face in the house had proved +beyond a doubt that there was something on her mind. His open +accusation, her demeanour, and finally her swoon, were all links in +the chain of evidence that this woman knew something about the +murder in the quiet lane. + +With this suspicion in his mind what Muller had learned from Knoll +was of great value to him, at all events of great interest. Was +it the housekeeper who had put out the light? For now Muller did +not doubt for a moment that this sudden extinguishing of the lamp +was a signal. He believed that Knoll had seen clearly and that he +had told truly what he had seen. A lamp that is blown out by the +wind flickers uneasily before going out. A sudden extinguishing of +the light means human agency. And the lamp was lit again a few +moments afterward and burned on steadily as before. A short time +after the lamp had been put out the man had been seen going through +the garden. And it could not have been much later before the shot +was heard. This shot had been fired between the hours of nine and +ten, for it was during this hour only that Knoll was in the garden +house and heard the shot. But it was not necessary to depend upon +the tramp's evidence alone to determine the exact hour of the shot. +It must have been before half past nine, or otherwise the janitor +of No.1, who came home at that hour and lay awake so long, would +undoubtedly have heard a shot fired so near his domicile, in spite +of the noise occasioned by the high wind. There would have been +sufficient time for Mrs. Bernauer to have reached the place of the +murder between the putting out of the lamp and the firing of the +shot. But perhaps she may have rested quietly in her room; she +may have been only the inciter or the accomplice of the deed. But +at all events, she knew something about it, she was in some way +connected with it. + +Muller drew a deep breath. He felt much easier now that he had +arranged his thoughts and marshalled in orderly array all the facts +he had already gathered. There was nothing to do now but to follow +up a given path step by step and he could no longer reproach himself +that he might have cast suspicion on an innocent soul. No, his +bearing towards Mrs. Bernauer had not been sheer brutality. His +instinct, which had led him so unerringly so many times, had again +shown him the right way when he had thrust the accusation in her +face. + +Now that his mind was easier he realised that he was very hungry. +He drove to a restaurant and ordered a hasty meal. + +"Beer, sir?' asked the waiter for the third time. + +"No," answered Muller, also for the third time. + +"Then you'll take wine, sir?" asked the insistent Ganymede. + +"Oh, go to the devil! When I want anything I'll ask for it," +growled the detective, this time effectively scaring the waiter. +It did not often happen that a customer refused drinks, but then +there were not many customers who needed as clear, a head as +Muller knew he would have to have to-day. Always a light drinker, +it was one of his rules never to touch a drop of liquor during +this first stage of the mental working out of any new problem +which presented itself. But soft-hearted as he was, he repented +of his irritation a moment later and soothed the waiter's wounded +feelings by a rich tip. The boy ran out to open the cab door for +his strange customer and looked after him, wondering whether the +man was a cranky millionaire or merely a poet. For Joseph +Muller, by name and by reputation one of the best known men in +Vienna, was by sight unknown to all except the few with whom he +had to do on the police force. His appearance, in every way +inconspicuous, and the fact that he never sought acquaintance with +any one, was indeed of the greatest possible assistance to him in +his work. Many of those who saw him several times in a day would +pass him or look him full in the face without recognising him. It +was only, as in the case of Mrs. Bernauer, the guilty conscience +that remembered face and figure of this quiet-looking man who was +one of the most-feared servants of the law in Austria. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE ELECTRICIAN + + +When Muller reached the house where Mrs. Klingmayer lived he ordered +the cabman to wait and hurried up to the widow's little apartment. +He had the key to Leopold Winkler's room in his own pocket, for +Mrs. Klingmayer had given this key to Commissioner von Riedau at +the latter's request and the commissioner had given it to Muller. +The detective told the good woman not to bother about him as he +wanted to make an examination of the place alone. Left to himself +in the little room, Muller made a thorough search of it, opening +the cupboard, the bureau drawers, every possible receptacle where +any article could be kept or hidden. What he wanted to find was +some letter, some bit of paper, some memoranda perhaps, anything +that would show any connection existing between the murdered man +and Mrs. Bernauer, who lived so near the place where this man had +died and who was so greatly interested in his murder. + +The detective's search was not quite in vain, although he could not +tell yet whether what he had found would be of any value. Leopold +Winkler had had very little correspondence, or else he had had no +reason to keep the letters he received. Muller found only about a +half dozen letters in all. Three of them were from women of the +half-world, giving dates for meetings. Another was written by a +man and signed "Theo." This "Theo" appeared to be the same sort +of a cheap rounder that Winkler was. And he seemed to have sunk +one grade deeper than the dead man, in spite of the latter's bad +reputation. For this other addressed Winkler as his "Dear Friend" +and pleaded with him for "greater discretion," alluding evidently +to something which made this discretion necessary. + +"I wonder what rascality it was that made these two friends?" +murmured Muller, putting "Theo's letter with the three he had +already read. But before he slipped it in his pocket he glanced at +the postmark. The letters of the three women had all been posted +from different quarters of the city some months ago. Theo's letter +was postmarked "Marburg," and dated on the 1st of September of +the present year. + +Then Muller looked at the postmark of the two remaining letters +which he had not yet read, and whistled softly to himself. Both +these letters were posted from a certain station in Hietzing, the +station which was nearest his own lodgings and also nearest the +Thorne house. He looked at the postmark more sharply. They both +bore the dates of the present year, one of them being stamped "March +17th," the other "September 24th." This last letter interested +the detective most. + +Muller was not of a nervous disposition, but his hand trembled +slightly as he took the letter from its envelope. It was clear +that this letter had been torn open hastily, for the edges of the +opening were jagged and uneven. + +When the detective had read the letter - it contained but a few +lines and bore neither address nor signature - he glanced over +it once more as if to memorise the words. They were as follows: +"Do not come again. In a day or two I will be able to do what I +have to do. I will send you later news to your office. Impatience +will not help you." - These words were written hastily on a piece +of paper that looked as if it had been torn from a pad. In spite +of the haste the writer had been at some pains to disguise the +handwriting. But it was a clumsy disguise, done by one not +accustomed to such tricks, and it was evidently done by a woman. +All she had known how to do to disguise her writing had been to +twist and turn the paper while writing, so that every letter had +a different position. The letters were also made unusually long. +This peculiarity of the writing was seen on both letters and both +envelopes. The earlier letter was still shorter and seemed to have +been written with the same haste, and with the same disgust, or +perhaps even hatred, for the man to whom it was written. + +"Come to-morrow, but not before eight o'clock. He has gone away. +God forgive him and you." This was the contents of the letter of +the 17th of March. That is, the writer had penned the letter this +way. But the last two words, "and you," had evidently not come +from her heart, for she had annulled them by a heavy stroke of the +pen. A stroke that seemed like a knife thrust, so full of rage +and hate it was. + +"So he was called to a rendezvous in Hietzing, too," murmured +Muller, then he added after a few moments: "But this rendezvous had +nothing whatever to do with love." + +There was nothing else in Winkler's room which could be of any value +to Muller in the problem that was now before him. And yet he was +very well satisfied with the result of his errand. + +He entered his cab again, ordering the driver to take him to +Hietzing. Just before he had reached the corner where he had told +the man to stop, another cab passed them, a coupe, in which was a +solitary woman. Muller had just time enough to recognise this woman +as Adele Bernauer, and to see that she looked even more haggard and +miserable than she had that morning. She did not look up as the +other cab passed her carriage, therefore she did not see Muller. +The detective looked at his watch and saw that it was almost +half-past four. The unexpected meeting changed, his plans for the +afternoon. He had decided that he must enter the Thorne mansion +again that very day, for he must find out the meaning of the +red-shaded lamp. And now that the housekeeper was away it would +be easier for him to get into the house, therefore it must be done +at once. His excuse was all ready, for he had been weighing +possibilities. He dismissed his cab a block from his own home and +entered his house cautiously. + +Muller's lodgings consisted of two large rooms, really much too +large for a lone man who was at home so little. But Muller had +engaged them at first sight, for the apartment possessed one +qualification which was absolutely necessary for him. Its +situation and the arrangement of its doors made it possible for +him to enter and leave his rooms without being seen either by his +own landlady or by the other lodgers in the house. The little +apartment was on the ground floor, and Muller's own rooms had a +separate entrance opening on to the main corridor almost immediately +behind the door. Nine times out of ten, he could come and go +without being seen by any one in the house. To-day was the first +time, however, that Muller had had occasion to try this particular +qualification of his new lodgings. + +He opened the street door and slipped into his own room without +having seen or been seen by any one. + +Fifteen minutes later he left the apartment again, but left it +such a changed man that nobody who had seen him go in would have +recognised him. Before he came out, however, he looked about +carefully to see whether there was any one in sight He came out +unseen and was just closing the main door behind him, when he met +the janitress. + +"Were you looking for anybody in the house?" said the woman, +glancing sharply at the stranger, who answered in a slightly veiled +voice: "No, I made a mistake in the number. The place I am looking +for is two houses further down." + +He walked down the street and the woman looked after him until she +saw him turn into the doorway of the second house. Then she went +into her own rooms. The house Muller entered happened to be a +corner house with an entrance on the other street, through which +the detective passed and went on his way. He was quite satisfied +with the security of his disguise, for the woman who knew him well +had not recognised him at all. If his own janitress did not know +him, the people in the Thorne house would never imagine it was he. + +And indeed Muller was entirely changed. In actuality small and +thin, with sparse brown hair and smooth shaven face, he was now an +inch or two taller and very much stouter. He wore thick curly blond +hair, a little pointed blond beard and moustache. His eyes were +hidden by heavy-rimmed spectacles. + +It was just half-past five when he rang the bell at the entrance +gate to the Thorne property. He had spent the intervening time in +the cafe, as he was in no hurry to enter the house. Franz came down +the path and opened the door. "'What do you want?" he asked. + +"I come from Siemens & Halske; I was to ask whether the other man - " + +"Has been here already?" interrupted Franz, adding in an irritated +tone, "No, he hasn't been here at all." + +"Well, I guess he didn't get through at the other place in time. +I'll see what the trouble is," said the stranger, whom Franz +naturally supposed to be the electrician, lie opened the gate and +asked the other to come in, leading him into the house. Under a +cloudy sky the day was fading rapidly. Muller knew that it would +not occur to the real electrician to begin any work as late as this, +and that he was perfectly safe in the examination he wanted to make. + +"Well, what's the trouble here? Why did you write to our firm?" +asked the supposed electrician. + +"The wires must cross somewhere, or there's something wrong with +the bells. When the housekeeper touches the button in her room to +ring for the cook or the upstairs girl, the bell rings in Mr. Thorne's +room. It starts ringing and it keeps up with a deuce of a noise. +Fortunately the family are away." + +"Well, we'll fix it all right for you. First of all I want to look +at the button in the housekeeper's room." + +"I'll take you up there," said Franz. + +They walked through the wide corridor, then turned into a shorter, +darker hall and went up a narrow winding stairway. Franz halted +before a door in the second story. It was the last of the three +doors in the hall." Muller took off his hat as the door opened +and murmured a "good-evening." + +"There's no one there; Mrs. Bernaner's out." + +"Has she gone away, too?" asked the electrician hastily. + +Franz did not notice that there was a slight change in the stranger's +voice at this question, and he answered calmly as ever: "Oh, no; +she's just driven to town. I think she went to see the doctor who +lives quite a distance away. She hasn't been feeling at all well. +She took a cab to-day. I told her she ought to, as she wasn't well +enough to go by the tram. She ought to be home any moment now." + +"Well, I'll hurry up with the job so that I'll be out of the way +when the lady comes," said Muller, as Franz led him to the +misbehaving bell. + +It was in the wall immediately above a large table which filled the +window niche so completely that there was but scant space left for +the comfortable armchair that stood in front of it. The window was +open and Muller leaned out, looking down at the garden below. + +"What a fine old garden!" he exclaimed aloud. To himself he said: +"This is the last window in the left wing. It is the window where +Johann Knoll saw the red light." + +And when he turned back into the room again he found the source of +this light right at his hand on the handsome old table at which Mrs. +Bernauer evidently spent many of her hours. A row of books stood +against the wall, framing the back of the table. Well-worn volumes +of the classics among them gave proof that the one-time nurse was a +woman of education. A sewing basket and neat piles of house linen, +awaiting repairs, covered a large part of the table-top, and beside +them stood a gracefully shaped lamp, covered by a shade of soft red +silk. + +It took Muller but a few seconds to see all this. Then he set about +his investigation of the electric button. He unscrewed the plate +and examined the wires meeting under it. While doing so he cast +another glance at the table and saw a letter lying there, an open +letter half out of its envelope. This envelope was of unusual shape, +long and narrow, and the paper was heavy and high-glossed. + +"Your housekeeper evidently has no secrets from the rest of you," +Muller remarked with a laugh, still busy at the wires, "or she +wouldn't leave her letters lying about like that." + +"Oh, we've all heard what's in that letter," replied Franz. "She +read it to us when it came this morning. It's from the Madam. She +sent messages to all of us and orders, so Mrs. Bernauer read us the +whole letter. There's no secrets in that." + +"The button has been pressed in too far and caught down. That seems +to be the main trouble," said Muller, readjusting the little knob. +"I'd like a candle here if I may have one." + +"I'll get you a light at once," said Franz. But his intentions, +however excellent, seemed difficult of fulfilment. It was rapidly +growing dark, and the old butler peered about uncertainly. "Stupid," +he muttered. "I don't know where she keeps the matches. I can't +find them anywhere. I'm not a smoker, so I haven't any in my pocket." + +"Nor I," said Muller calmly, letting his hand close protectingly +over a new full box of them in his own pocket. + +"I'll get you some from my own room," and Franz hurried away, his +loose slippers clattering down the stairs. He was no sooner well +out of the room than Muller had the letter in his hand and was +standing close by the window to catch the fading light. But on the +old servant's return the supposed electrician stood calmly awaiting +the coming of the light, and the letter was back on the table half +hidden by a piece of linen. Franz did not notice that the envelope +was missing. And the housekeeper, whose mind was so upset by the +events of the day, and whose thoughts were on other more absorbing +matters, would hardly be likely to remember whether she had returned +this quite unimportant letter to its envelope or not. + +Franz brought a lighted candle with him, and Muller, who really did +possess a creditable knowledge of electricity, saw that the wires +in the room were all in good condition. As he had seen at first, +there was really nothing the matter except with the position of +the button. But it did not suit his purpose to enlighten Franz on +the matter just yet. + +"Now I'd better look at the wires in the gentleman's room," he +said, when he had returned plate and button to their place. + +"Just as you say," replied Franz, taking up his candle and leading +the way out into the hail and down the winding stair. They crossed +the lower corridor, mounted another staircase and entered a large, +handsomely furnished room, half studio, half library. The wall was +covered with pictures and sketches, several easels stood piled up +in the corner, and a broad table beside them held paint boxes, +colour tubes, brushes, all the paraphernalia of the painter, now +carefully ordered and covered for a term of idleness. Great +bookcases towered to the ceiling, and a huge flat top desk, a +costly piece of furniture, was covered with books and papers. It +was the room of a man of brains and breeding, a man of talent and +ability, possessing, furthermore, the means to indulge his tastes +freely. Even now, with its master absent, the handsome apartment +bore the impress of his personality. The detective's quick +imagination called up the attractive, sympathetic figure of the +man he had seen at the gate, as his quick eye took in the details +of the room. All the charm of Herbert Thorne's personality, which +the keen-sensed Muller had felt so strongly even in that fleeting +glimpse of him, came back again here in the room which was his own +little kingdom and the expression of his mentality. + +"Well, what's the trouble here? Where are the wires?" asked the +detective, after the momentary pause which had followed his entrance +into the room. Franz led him to a spot on the wall hidden by a +marquetry cabinet. "Here's the bell, it rings for several minutes +before it stops." + +The light of the candle which the butler held fell upon a portrait +hanging above the cabinet. It was a sketch in water-colours, the +life-sized head of a man who may have been about thirty years old, +perhaps, but who had none of the freshness and vigour of youth. +The scanty hair, the sunken temples, and the faded skin, emphasised +the look of dissipation given by the lines about the sensual mouth +and the shifty eyes. + +"Well, say, can't your master find anything better to paint than a +face like that?" Muller asked with a laugh. + +"Goodness me! you mustn't say such things!" exclaimed Franz in +alarm; "that's the Madam's brother. He's an officer, I'd have you +know. It's true, he doesn't look like much there, but that's +because he's not in uniform. It makes such a difference." + +"Is the lady anything like her brother?" asked the detective +indifferently, bending to examine the wiring. + +"Oh, dear, no, not a bit; they're as different as day and night. +He's only her half-brother anyway. She was the daughter of the +Colonel's second wife. Our Madam is the sweetest, gentlest lady +you can imagine, an angel of goodness. But the Lieutenant here +has always been a care to his family, they say. I guess he's +quieted down a bit now, for his father - he's Colonel Leining, +retired - made him get exchanged from the city to a small garrison +town. There's nothing much to do in Marburg, I dare say - well! +you are a merry sort, aren't you?" These last words, spoken in a +tone of surprise, were called forth by a sudden sharp whistle from +the detective, a whistle which went off into a few merry bars. + +A sudden whistle like that from Muller's lips was something that +made the Imperial Police Force sit up and take notice, for it meant +that things were happening, and that the happenings were likely to +become exciting. It was a habit he could control only by the +severest effort of the will, an effort which he kept for occasions +when it was absolutely necessary. Here, alone with the harmless +old man, he was not so much on his guard, and the sudden vibrating +of every nerve at the word "Marburg," found vent in the whistle +which surprised old Franz. One young police commissioner with a +fancy for metaphor had likened this sudden involuntary whistle of +Muller's to the bay of the hound when he strikes the trail; which +was about what it was. + +"Yes, I am merry sometimes," he said with a laugh. "It's a habit +I have. Something occurred to me just then, something I had +forgotten. Hope you don't mind." + +"Oh, no, there's no one here now, whistle all you like." + +But Muller's whistle was not a continuous performance, and he had +now completely mastered the excitation of his nerves which had +called it forth. He threw another sharp look at the picture of the +man who lived in Marburg, and then asked: "And now where is the +button?" + +"By the window there, beside the desk." Franz led the way with +his candle. + +"Why, how funny! What are those mirrors there for?" asked the +electrician in a tone of surprise, pointing to two small mirrors +hanging in the window niche. They were placed at a height and at +such a peculiar angle that no one could possibly see his face +in them. + +"Something the master is experimenting with, I guess. He's always +making queer experiments; he knows a lot about scientific things." + +Muller shook his head as if in wonderment, and bent to investigate +the button which was fastened into the wall beneath the window sill. +His quick ear heard a carriage stopping in front of the house, and +heard the closing of the front door a moment later. To facilitate +his examination of the button, the detective had seated himself in +the armchair which stood beside the desk. He half raised himself +now to let the light of the candle fall more clearly on the wiring +- then he started up altogether and threw a hasty glance at the +mirrors above his head. A ray of light had suddenly flashed down +upon him - a ray of red light, and it came reflected from the +mirrors. Muller bit his lips to keep back the betraying whistle. + +"What's the matter?" asked the butler. "Did you drop anything?" + +"Yes, the wooden rim of the button," replied Muller, telling the +truth this time. For he had held the little wooden circlet in his +hands at the moment when the red light, reflected down from the +mirrors, struck full upon his eyes. He had dropped it in his +surprise and excitement. Franz found the little ring in the centre +of the room where it had rolled, and the supposed electrician +replaced it and rose to his feet, saying: "There, I've finished now." + +Franz did not recognise the double meaning in the words. "Yes, it's +all right! I've finished here now," Muller repeated to himself. +For now he knew beyond a doubt that the red light was a signal - and +he knew also for whom this signal was intended. It was a signal for +Herbert Thorne! - Herbert Thorne, whom no single thought or suspicion +of Muller's had yet connected with the murder of Leopold Winkler. + +The detective was very much surprised and greatly excited. But +Franz did not notice it, and indeed a far keener observer than the +slow-witted old butler might have failed to see the sudden gleam +which shot up in the grey eyes behind the heavy spectacles, might +have failed to notice the tightening of the lips beneath the blond +moustache, or the tenseness of the slight frame under the assumed +embonpoint. Muller's every nerve was tingling, but he had himself +completely in hand. + +"What do we owe you?" asked Franz. + +"They'll send you a bill from the office. It won't amount to much. +I must be getting on now." + +Muller hastened out of the door and down the street to the nearest +cab stand. There were not very many cab stands in this vicinity, +and the detective reasoned that Mrs. Bernauer would naturally have +taken her cab from the nearest station. He had heard her return in +her carriage, presumably the same in which she had started out. + +There was but one cab at the stand. Muller walked to it and laid +his hand on the door. + +"Oh, Jimmy! must I go out again?" asked the driver hoarsely. +"Can't you see the poor beast is all wet from the last ride? We've +just come in." He pointed with his whip to the tired-looking animal +under his blanket. + +"Why, he does look warm. You must have been making a tour out into +the country," said the blond gentleman in a friendly tone. + +"No, sir, not quite so far as that. I've just taken a woman to the +main telegraph office in the city and back again. But she was in a +hurry and he's not a young horse, sir." + +"Well, never mind, then; I can get another cab across the bridge," +replied the stout blond man, turning away and strolling off leisurely +in the direction of the bridge. It was now quite dark, and a few +steps further on Muller could safely turn and take the road to his +own lodging. No one saw him go in, and in a few moments the real +Muller, slight, smooth-shaven, sat down at his desk, looking at the +papers that lay before him. They were three letters and an empty +envelope. + +He took up the last, and compared it carefully with the envelope of +one of the letters found in Winkler's room - the unsigned letter +postmarked Hietzing, September 24th. The two envelopes were exactly +alike. They were of the same size and shape, made of the same +cream-tinted, heavy, glossy paper, and the address was written by +the same hand. This any keen observer, who need not necessarily be +an expert, could see. The same hand which had addressed the +envelope to Mrs. Adele Bernauer on the letter which was postmarked +"Venice," about thirty-six hours previous - this hand had, in an +awkward and childish attempt at disguise, written Winkler's address +on the envelope which bore the date of September 24th. + +The writer of the harmless letter to Mrs. Bernauer, a letter which +chatted of household topics and touched lightly on the beauties of +Venice, was Mrs. Thorne. It was Mrs. Thorne, therefore, who, +reluctantly and in anger and distaste, had called Leopold Winkler +to Hietzing, to his death. + +And whose hand had fired the shot that caused his death? The +question, at this stage in Muller's meditation, could hardly be +called a question any more. It was all too sadly clear to him now. +Winkler met his death at the hand of the husband, who, discovering +the planned rendezvous, had misunderstood its motive. + +For truly this had been no lovers' meeting. It had been a meeting +to which the woman was driven by fear and hate; the man by greed of +gain. This was clearly proved by the 300 guldens found in the dead +man's pocket, money enclosed in a delicate little envelope, sealed +hastily, and crumpled as if it had been carried in a hot and +trembling hand. + +It was already known that Winkler never had any money except at +certain irregular intervals, when he appeared to have come into +possession of considerable sums. During these days he indulged in +extravagant pleasures and spent his money with a recklessness which +proved that he had not earned it by honest work. + +Leopold Winkler was a blackmailer. + +Colonel Leining, retired, the father of two such widely different +children, was doubtless a man of stern principles, and an army +officer as well, therefore a man with a doubly sensitive code of +honour and a social position to maintain; and this man, morbidly +sensitive probably, had a daughter who had inherited his +sensitiveness and his high ideals of honour, a daughter married to +a rich husband. But he had another child, a son without any sense +of honour at all, who, although also an officer, failed to live in +a manner worthy his position. This son was now in Marburg, where +there were no expensive pleasures, no all-night cafes and gambling +dens, for a man to lose his time in, his money, and his honour also. + +For such must have been the case with Colonel Leining's son before +his exile to Marburg. The old butler had hinted at the truth. The +portrait drawn by Herbert Thorne, a picture of such technical +excellence that it was doubtless a good likeness also, had given an +ugly illustration to Franz's remarks. And there was something even +more tangible to prove it: "Theo's" letter from Marburg pleading +with Winkler for "discretion and silence," not knowing ("let us +hope he did not know!" murmured Muller between set teeth) that the +man who held him in his power because of some rascality, was being +paid for his silence by the Lieutenant's sister. + +It is easy to frighten a sensitive woman, so easy to make her +believe the worst! And there is little such a tender-hearted woman +will not do to save her aging father from pain and sorrow, perhaps +even disgrace! + +It must have been in this way that Mrs. Thorne came into the power +of the scoundrel who paid with his life for his last attempt at +blackmail. + +When Muller reached this point in his chain of thought, he closed +his eyes and covered his face with his hands, letting two pictures +stand out clear before his mental vision. + +He saw the little anxious group around the carriage in front of the +Thorne mansion. He saw the pale, frail woman leaning back on the +cushions, and the husband bending over her in tender care. And +then he saw Johann Knoll in his cell, a man with little manhood left +in him, a man sunk to the level of the brutes, a man who had already +committed one crime against society, and who could never rise to the +mental or spiritual standard of even the most mediocre of decent +citizens. + +If Herbert Thorne were to suffer the just punishment for his deed +of doubly blind jealousy, then it was not only his own life, a life +full of gracious promise, that would be ruined, but the happiness of +his delicate, sweet-faced wife, who was doubtless still in blessed +ignorance of what had happened. And still one other would be dragged +down by this tragedy; a respected, upright man would bow his white +hairs in disgrace. Thorne's father-in-law could not escape the +scandal and his own share in the responsibility for it. And to a +veteran officer, bred in the exaggerated social ethics of his +profession. such a disgrace means ruin, sometimes even voluntary +death. + +"Oh, dear, if it had only been Knoll who did it," said Muller with +a sigh that was almost a groan. + +Then he rose slowly and heavily, and slowly and heavily, as if borne +down by the weight of great weariness, he reached for his hat and +coat and left the house. + +Whether he wished it or not, he knew it was his duty to go on to the +bitter end on this trail he had followed up all day from the moment +that he caught that fleeting glimpse of Mrs. Bernauer's haggard face +at the garden gate. He was almost angry with the woman, because she +chanced to look out of the gate at just that moment, showing him her +face distorted with anxiety. For it was her face that had drawn +Muller to the trail, a trail at the end of which misery awaited those +for whom this woman had worked for years, those whom she loved and +who treated her as one of the family. + +Muller knew now that the one-time nurse was in league with her +former charge; that Thorne and Adele Bernauer were in each other's +confidence; that the man sat waiting for the signal which she was +to give him, a signal bringing so much disgrace and sorrow in its +train. + +If the woman had not spied upon and betrayed her mistress, this +terrible event, which now weighed upon her own soul, would not have +happened. + +"A faithful servant, indeed," said Muller, with a harsh laugh. + +Then maturer consideration came and forced him to acknowledge that +it was indeed devotion that had swayed Adele Bernauer, devotion to +her master more than to her mistress. This was hardly to be +wondered at. But she had not thought what might come from her +revelations, what had come of them. For now her pet, the baby who +had once lain in her arms, the handsome, gifted man whom she adored +with more than the love of many a mother for the child of her own +blood, was under the shadow of hideous disgrace and doom, was the +just prey of the law for open trial and condemnation as a murderer. + +Muller sighed deeply once more and then came one of those moments +which he had spoken of to the unhappy woman that very day. He felt +like cursing the fatal gift that was his, the gift to see what was +hidden from others, this something within him that forced him +relentlessly onward until he had uncovered the truth, and brought +misery to many. + +Muller need not do anything, he need simply do nothing. Not a soul +besides himself suspected the dwellers in the Thorne mansion of any +connection with the murder. If he were silent, nothing could be +proven against Knoll after all, except the robbery which he himself +had confessed. Then the memory of the terror in the tramp's little +reddened eyes came back to the detective's mind. + +"A human soul after all, and a soul trembling in the shadow of a +great fear. And even he's a better man than the blackmailer who +was killed. A miscarriage of justice will often make a criminal +of a poor fellow whose worst fault is idleness." Muller's face +darkened as the things of the past, shut down in the depths of his +own soul, rose up again. "No; that's why I took up this work. +Justice must be done - but it's bitter hard sometimes. I could +almost wish now that I hadn't seen that face at the gate." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MULLER RETURNS TO THE THORNE MANSION + + +It was striking eight as Muller came out of a cafe in the heart of +the city. He had been in there but a few moments, for his purpose +was merely to look through the Army lists of the current year. The +result of his search proved the correctness of his conclusions. + +There was a Lieutenant Theobald Leining in the single infantry +regiment stationed at Marburg. + +Muller took a cab and drove to the main telegraph office. He asked +for the original of the telegram which had been sent that afternoon +to the address; "Herbert Thorne, Hotel Danieli, Venice." This +closed the circle of the chain. + +The detective re-entered his waiting cab and drove back to Hietzing. +He told the driver to halt at the corner of the street on which +fronted the Thorne mansion and to wait for him there. He himself +walked slowly down the quiet Street and rang the bell at the iron +gate. + +"You come to this house again?" asked Franz, starting back in +alarm when he saw who it was that had called him to the door. + +"Yes, my good friend; I want to get into this house again. But not +on false pretenses this time. And before you let me in you can go +upstairs and ask Mrs. Bernauer if she will receive me in her own +room - in her own room, mind. But make haste; I am in a hurry." +The detective's tone was calm and he strolled slowly up and down in +front of the gate when he had finished speaking. + +The old butler hesitated a moment, then walked into the house. +When he returned, rather more quickly, he looked alarmed and his +tone was very humble as he asked Muller to follow him. + +When the detective entered Mrs. Bernauer's room the housekeeper +rose slowly from the large armchair in front of her table. She was +very pale and her eyes were full of terror. She made no move to +speak, so Muller began the conversation. He put down his hat, +brought up a chair and placed it near the window at which the +housekeeper had been sitting. Then he sat down and motioned to +her to do the same. + +"You are a faithful servant, all too faithful," he began. "But +you are faithful only to your master. You have no devotion for +his wife." + +"You are mistaken," replied the woman in a low tone. + +"Perhaps, but I do not think so. One does not betray the people +to whom one is devoted." + +Mrs. Bernauer looked up in surprise. "What - what do you know?" +she stammered. + +Muller did not answer the question directly, but continued: "Mrs. +Thorne had a meeting recently with a strange man. It was not their +first meeting, and somehow you discovered it. But before this last +meeting occurred you spoke to the lady's husband about it, and it +was arranged between you that you should give him a signal which +would mean to him, 'Your wife is going to the meeting.' Mrs. Thorne +did go to the meeting. This happened on Monday evening at about +quarter past nine. Some one, who was in the neighbourhood by +chance, saw a woman's figure hurrying through the garden, down to +the other street, and a moment after this, the light of this lamp +in your window was seen to go out. A hand had turned down the +wick - it was your hand. + +"This was the signal to Mr. Thorne. The mirrors over his desk +reflected in his eyes the light he could not otherwise have seen +as he sat by his own window. The signal, therefore, told him that +the time had come to act. This same chance watcher, who had seen +the woman going through the garden, had seen the lamp go out, and +now saw a man's figure hurrying down the path the woman had taken. +The man as well as the woman came from this house and went in the +direction of the lower end of the garden. + +"A little while later a shot was heard, and the next morning Leopold +Winkler was found with a bullet in his back. The crime was +generally taken to be a murder for the sake of robbery. But you and +I, and Mr. Herbert Thorne, know very well that it was not. + +"You know this since Wednesday noon. Then it was that the idea +suddenly came to you, falling like a heavy weight on your soul, the +idea that Winkler might not have been killed for the sake of robbery, +but because of the hatred that some one bore him. Then it was that +you lost your appetite suddenly, that you drove into the city with +the excuse of errands to do, in order to read the papers without +being seen by any one who knew you. When you came home you searched +everywhere in your master's room: you made an excuse for this search, +but what you wanted to find out was whether he had left anything +that could betray him. Your fright had already confused your mind. +You were searching probably for the weapon from which he had fired +the bullet. You did not realise that he would naturally have taken +it with him and thrown it somewhere into a ravine or river beside +the railway track between here and Venice. How could you think for +a moment that he would leave it behind him, here in his room, or +dropped in the garden? But this was doubtless due to the confusion +owing to your sudden alarm and anxiety - a confusion which prevented +you from realising the danger of the two peculiarly hung mirrors in +Mr. Thorne's room. These should have been taken away at once. This +morning my sudden appearance at the garden gate prevented you from +making an examination of the place of the murder. Your swoon, after +I had spoken to you in the butler's room, showed me that you were +carrying a burden too heavy for your strength. Finally, this +afternoon, you drove to the main telegraph office in the city, as +you thought that it would be safer to telegraph Mr. Thorne from +there. Your telegram was very cleverly written. But you might have +spared the last sentence, the request that Mr. Thorne should get the +Viennese papers of these last days. Believe me, he has already read +these papers. Who could be more interested in what they have to tell +than he?" + +The housekeeper had sat as if frozen to stone during Muller's long +speech. Her face was ashen and her eyes wild with horror. When the +detective ceased speaking, there was dead silence in the room for +some time. Finally Muller asked: "Is this what happened?" His voice +was cutting and the glance of his eyes keen and sharp. + +Mrs. Bernauer trembled. Her head sank on her breast. Muller waited +a moment more and then he said quietly: "Then it is true." + +"Yes, it is true," came the answer in a low hoarse tone. + +Again there was silence for an appreciable interval. + +"If you had been faithful to your mistress as well, if you had not +spied upon her and betrayed her to her husband, all this might not +have happened," continued the detective pitilessly, adding with a +bitter smile: "And it was not even a case of sinful love. Your +mistress had no such relations with this Winkler as you - I say +this to excuse you - seemed to believe." + +Adele Bernauer sprang up. "I do not need this excuse," she cried, +trembling in excitement. "I do not need any excuse. What I have +done I did after due consideration and in the realisation that it +was absolutely necessary to do it. Never for one moment did I +believe that my mistress was untrue to her husband. Never for one +moment could I believe such an evil thing of her, for I knew her to +be an angel of goodness. A woman who is deceiving her husband is +not as unhappy as this poor lady has been for months. A woman does +not write to a successful lover with so much sorrow, with so many +tears. I had long suspected these meetings before I discovered +them, but I knew that these meetings had nothing whatever to do +with love. Because I knew this, and only because I knew it, did I +tell my master about them. I wanted him to protect his wife, to +free her from the wretch who had obtained some power over her, I +knew not how." + +"Ah! then that was it?" exclaimed Muller, and his eyes softened +as he looked at the sobbing woman who had sunk back into her chair. +He laid his hand on her cold fingers and continued gently: "Then +you have really done right, you have done only what was your duty. +I pity you deeply that you - " + +"That I have brought suspicion upon my master by my own foolishness?" +she finished the sentence with a pitifully sad smile. "If I could +have controlled myself, could have kept calm, nobody would have had +a thought or a suspicion that he - my pet, my darling - that it was +he who was forced, through some terrible circumstance of which I do +not know, to free his wife, in this manner, from the wretch who +persecuted her." + +Mrs. Bernauer wrung her hands and gazed with despairing eyes at the +man who sat before her, himself deeply moved. + +Again there was a long silence. Muller could not find a word to +comfort the weeping woman. There was no longer anger in his heart, +nothing but the deepest pity. He took out his handkerchief and +wiped away the drops that were dimming his own eyes. + +"You know that I will have to go to Venice?" he asked. + +Mrs. Bernauer sprang up. "Officially?" she gasped, pale to her +lips. + +He nodded. "Yes, officially of course. I must make a report at +once to headquarters about what I have learned. You can imagine +yourself what the next steps will be." + +Her deep sigh showed him that she knew as well as he. In the same +second, however, a thought shot through her brain, changing her +whole king. Her pale face glowed, her dulled eyes shot fire, and +the fingers with which she held Muller's hand tightly clasped, were +suddenly feverishly hot. + +"And you - you are still the only person who knows the truth?" she +gasped in his ear. + +The detective nodded. "And you thought you might silence me?" he +asked calmly. "That will not be easy - for you can imagine that I +did not come unarmed." + +Adele Bernauer smiled sadly. "I would take even this way to save +Herbert Thorne from disgrace, if I thought that it could be +successful, and if I had not thought of a milder way to silence a +man who cannot be a millionaire. I have served in this house for +thirty-two years, I have been treated with such generosity that I +have been able to save almost every cent of my wages for my old +age. With the interest that has rolled up, my little fortune must +amount to nearly eight thousand gulden. I will gladly give it to +you, if you will but keep silence, if you will not tell what you +have discovered." She spoke gaspingly and sank down on her knees +before she had finished. + +"And Mr. Thorne also - " she continued hastily, as she saw no sign +of interest in Muller's calm face. Then her voice failed her. + +The detective looked down kindly on her grey hairs and answered: +"No, no, my good woman; that won't do. One cannot conceal one +crime by committing another. I myself would naturally not listen +to your suggestion for a moment, but I am also convinced that Mr. +Thorne, to whom you are so devoted, and who, I acknowledge, pleased +me the very first sight I had of him - I am convinced that he would +not agree for a moment to any such solution of the problem." + +"Then I can only hope that you will not find him in Venice," +replied Mrs. Bernauer, with utter despair in her voice and eyes. + +"I am not at all certain that I will find him in Venice when I +leave here to-morrow morning," said Muller calmly. + +"Oh! then you don't want to find him! Oh God! how good, how +inexpressibly good you are," stammered the woman, seizing at some +vague hope in her distraught heart. + +"No, you are mistaken again, Mrs. Bernauer. I will find Mr. Thorne +wherever he may be. But I may arrive in Venice too late to meet +him there. He may already be on his way home." + +"On his way home?" cried the housekeeper in terror, staggering +where she stood. + +Muller led her gently to a chair. "Sit down here and listen to me +calmly. This is what I mean. If Mr. Thorne has seen in the papers +that a man has been arrested and accused of the murder of Leopold +Winkler, then he will take the next train back and give himself up +to the authorities. That he makes no such move as long as he thinks +there is no suspicion on any one else, no possibility that any one +else could suffer the consequences of his deed - is quite +comprehensible - it is only natural and human." + +Adele Bernauer sighed deeply again and heavy tears ran down her +cheeks, in strange contrast to the ghost of a smile that parted +her lips and shone in her dimmed eyes. + +"You know him better than I do," she murmured almost inaudibly, +"you know him better than I do, and I have known him for so long." + +A moment later Muller had parted from the housekeeper with a warm, +sincere pressure of the hand. + +"Lieutenant Theobald Leining was here on a visit to his sister last +March, wasn't he?" the detective asked as Franz led him out of the +gate. + +"Yes, sir; the Lieutenant was here just about that time," answered +the old man. + +And he left here on the 16th of March?" + +"On the 16th? Why, it may have been - yes, it was the 16th - that +is our lady's birthday. He went away that day." Franz bowed a +farewell to this stranger who began to appear uncanny in his eyes, +and shutting the gate carefully he returned to the house. + +"What does the man want anyway?" he murmured to himself, shivering +involuntarily. Without knowing why he turned his steps towards Mrs. +Bernauer s room. He opened the door hesitatingly as if afraid of +what he might see there. He would not have been at all surprised if +he had found the housekeeper fainting on the floor as before. + +But she was not fainting this time. She was very much alive, for, +to Franz's great astonishment, she was busied at the packing of a +valise. + +"Are you going away too?" asked Franz. Mrs. Bernauer answered in +a voice that was dull with weariness: "Yes, Franz, I am going away. +Will you please look up the time-tables of the Southern railroad +and let me know when the morning express leaves? And please order +a cab in time for it. I will depend upon you to look after the +house in my absence. You can imagine that it must be something +very important that takes me to Venice." + +"To Venice? Why, what are you going to Venice for?" + +"Never mind about that, Franz, but help me to pray that I may get +there in time." + +She almost pushed the old man out of the door with these last +words and shut and locked it behind him. + +She wanted to be alone with this hideous fear that was clutching +at her heart. For it was not to Franz that she could tell the +thoughts that came to her lips now as she sank down, wringing her +hands, before a picture of the Madonna: "Oh Holy Virgin, Mother +of our Lord, plead for me! let me be with my dear mistress when +the terrible time comes and they take her husband away from her, +or, if preferring death to disgrace, he ends his life by his own +hand!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +IN THE POLICE COURT + + +Commissioner Von Riedau sat at his desk late that evening, +finishing up some important papers. The quiet of an undisturbed +night watch had settled down on the busy police station. An +occasional low murmur of whispering voices floated up from the +guardroom below, but otherwise the stillness was broken only by +the scratching of the commissioner's pen and the rustle of the +paper as he turned the leaves. It was a silence so complete that +a light step on the stair outside and the gentle turning of the +doorknob was heard distinctly and the commissioner looked up +with almost a start to see who was coming to his room so late. +Joseph Muller stood in the open door, awaiting his chief's official +recognition. + +"Oh ! it's you, Muller. So late? Come in. Anything new?" asked +the commissioner. "Have you succeeded in drawing a confession from +that stubborn tramp yet? You've been interviewing him, I take it?" + +"Yes, I had a long talk with Johann Knoll to-day." + +"Well, that ought to help matters along. Has he confessed? What +could you get out of him?" + +"Nothing, or almost nothing more than he told us here in the station, +sir. + +"The man's incredibly stubborn," said the commissioner. "If he +could only be made to understand that a free confession would benefit +him more than any one else! Well, don't look so down-cast about it, +Muller. This thing is going to take longer than we thought at first +for such a simple affair. But it's only a question of time until the +man comes to his senses. You'll get him to talk soon. You always +do. And even if you should fail here, this matter is not so very +important, when we think of all the other things you have done." +Muller, standing front of the desk, shook his head sadly. + +"But I haven't failed here, sir. More's the pity, I had almost +said." + +"What!" The commissioner looked up in surprise. "I thought you +just said that you couldn't get anything more out of the accused." + +"Knoll has told us all he knows, sir. He did not murder Leopold +Winkler." + +"Hmph!" The commissioner's exclamation had a touch of acidity in +it. "Then, if he didn't murder him, who did?" + +"Herbert Thorne, painter, living in the Thorne mansion in B. Street, +Hietzing, now in Venice, Hotel Danieli. I ask for a warrant for +his arrest, sir, and orders to start for Venice on the early morning +express to-morrow." + +"Muller! ... what the deuce does all this mean?" The commissioner +sprang up, his face flushing deeply as he leaned over the desk +staring at the sad quiet face of the little man opposite. "What +are you talking about? What does all this mean?" + +"It means, sir, that we now know who committed the murder in +Hietzing. Johann Knoll is innocent of anything more than the theft +confessed by himself. He took the purse and watch from the +senseless form of the just murdered man. The body was warm and +still supple and the tramp supposed the victim to be merely +intoxicated. His story was in every respect true, sir." + +The commissioner flushed still deeper. "And who do you say murdered +this man?" + +"Herbert Thorne, sir. + +"But Thome! I know of him ... have even a slight personal +acquaintance with him. Thorne is a rich man, of excellent family. +Why should he murder and rob an obscure clerk like this Winkler?" + +"He did not rob him sir, Knoll did that." + +"Oh, yes. But why should Thorne commit murder on this man who +scarcely touched his life at any point ... It's incredible! +Muller! Muller! are you sure you are not letting your imagination +run away with you again? It is a serious thing to make such an +accusation against any man, much less against a man in Thorne's +position. Are you sure of what you are saying?" The commissioner's +excitement rendered him almost inarticulate. The shock of the +surprise occasioned by the detective's words produced a feeling of +irritation ... a phenomenon not unusual in the minds of worthy but +pedantic men of affairs when confronted by a startling new thought. + +"I am quite sure of what I am saying, sir. I have just heard the +confession of one who might be called an accomplice of the murderer." + +"It is incredible ... incredible! An accomplice you say? ... who +is this accomplice? Might it not be some one who has a grudge +against Thorne - some one who is trying to purposely mislead you ?" + +"I am not so easily deceived or misled, sir. Every evidence points +to Thorne, and the confession I have just heard was made by a woman +who loves him, who has loved and cared for him from his babyhood. +There is not the slightest doubt of it, sir." + +Muller moved a step nearer the desk, gazing firmly in the eyes of +the excited commissioner. The sadness on the detective's face had +given way to a gleam of pride that flushed his sallow cheek and +brightened his grey eyes. It was one of those rare moments when +Muller allowed himself a feeling of triumph in his own power, in +spite of official subordination and years of habit. His slight +frame seemed to grow taller and broader as he faced the Chief with +an air of quiet determination that made him at once master of the +situation. His voice was as low as ever but it took on a keen +incisive note that compelled attention, as he continued: "Herbert +Thorne is the murderer of Leopold Winkler. Now that he knows an +innocent man is under accusation for his deed it is only a question +of time before he will come himself to confess. He will doubtless +make this confession to me, if I go to Venice to see him, and to +bring him back to trial." + +The commissioner could doubt no longer. Pedantic though he was, +Commissioner von Riedau possessed sufficient insight to know the +truth when it was presented to him with such conviction, and also +sufficient insight to have recognised the gifts of the man before +him. "But why ... why?" he murmured, sinking back into his chair, +and shaking his +head in bewilderment. + +"Winkler was a miserable scoundrel, sir, a blackmailer. Thorne did +only what any decent man would have felt like doing in his place. +But justice must be done." + +Muller's elation vanished and a deep sigh welled up from his heart. +The commissioner nodded slowly, and glanced across the desk almost +timidly. This case had appeared to be so simple, and suddenly the +hidden deeps of a dark mystery had opened before him, deeps already +sounded by the little man here who had gone so quietly about his +work while the official police, represented in this case by +Commissioner von Riedau himself, had sat calmly waiting for an +innocent man to confess to a crime he had not committed! It was +humiliating. The commissioner flushed again and his eyes sank to +the floor. + +"Tell me what you know, Muller," he said finally. + +Muller told the story of his experiences in the Thorne mansion, +told of the slight clues which led him to take an interest in the +house and its inmates, until finally the truth began to glimmer up +out of the depths. The commissioner listened with eager interest. +"Then you believed this elaborate yarn told by the tramp?" he +interrupted once, at the beginning of the narrative. + +"Why, yes, sir, just because it was so elaborate. A man like Knoll +would not have had the mind to invent such a story. It must have +been true, on the face of it." + +The commissioner's eyes sank again, and he did not speak until the +detective had reached the end of his story. Then he opened a drawer +in his desk and took out a bundle of official blank-forms. + +"It is wonderful! Wonderful! Muller, this case will go on record +as one of your finest achievements - and we thought it was so simple + +"Oh, indeed, sir, chance favoured me at every turn," replied Muller +modestly. + +"There is no such thing as chance," said the commissioner. "We +might as well be honest with ourselves. Any one might have seen, +doubtless did see, all the things you saw, but no one else had the +insight to recognise their value, nor the skill to follow them up +to such a conclusion. But it's a sad case, a sad case. I never +wrote a warrant with a heavier heart. Thorne is a true-hearted +gentleman, while the scoundrel he killed..." + +"Yes, sir, I feel that way about it myself. I can confess now that +there was one moment when I was ready to-well, just to say nothing. + +"And let us blunder on in our official stupidity and blindness?" +interrupted the commissioner, a faint smile breaking the gravity of +his face. "We certainly gave you every opportunity." + +"But there's an innocent man accused - suffering fear of death +- justice must be done. But, sir," Muller took the warrant the +commissioner handed across the table to him. "May I not make it +as easy as I can for Mr. Thorne - I mean, bring him here with as +little publicity as possible? His wife is with him in Venice." + +"Poor little woman, it's terrible! Do whatever you think best, +Muller. You're a queer mixture. Here you've hounded this man down, +followed hot on his trail when not a soul but yourself connected +him in any way with the murder. And now you're sorry for him! A +soft heart like yours is a dangerous possession for a police +detective, Muller. It's no aid to our business." + +"No, sir, I know that." + +"Well take care it doesn't run away with you this time. Don't let +Herbert Thorne escape, however much pity you may feel for him." + +"I doubt if he'll want to sir, as long as another is in prison for +his crime. + +"But he may make his confession and then try to escape the disgrace." + +"Yes, sir, I've thought of that. That's why I want to go to Venice +myself. And then, there's the poor young wife, he must think of her +when the desire comes to end his own life..." + +"Yes! Yes! This terrible thing has shaken us both up more than a +little. I feel exhausted. You look tired yourself, Muller. Go home +now, and get some rest for your early start. Good-night." + +"Good-night, sir." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +ON THE LIDO + + +A Wonderfully beautiful night lay over the fair old city of Venice +when the Northern Express thundered over the long bridge to the +railway station. A passenger who was alone in a second-class +compartment stood up to collect his few belongings. Suddenly he +looked up as he heard a voice, a voice which he had learned to know +only very recently, calling to him from the door of the compartment. + +"Why! you were in the train too? You have come to Venice?" +exclaimed Joseph Muller in astonishment as he saw Mrs. Bernauer +standing there before him. + +"Yes, I have come to Venice too. I must be with my dear lady - when +- when Herbert - " She had begun quite calmly, but she did not +finish her sentence, for loud sobs drowned the words. + +"You were in the next compartment? Why didn't you come in here +with me? It would have made this journey shorter for both of us." + +"I had to be alone," said the pale woman and then she added: "I +only came to you now to ask you where I must go." + +"I think we two had better go to the Hotel Bauer. Let me arrange +things for you. Mrs. Thorne must not see you until she has been +prepared for your coming. I will arrange that with her husband." + +The two took each other's hands. They had won respect and sympathy +for each other, this quiet man who went so relentlessly and yet so +pityingly about his duty in the interest of justice - and the devoted +woman whose faithfulness had brought about such a tragedy. + +The train had now entered the railway station. Muller and Mrs. +Bernauer stood a few minutes later on the banks of the Grand Canal +and entered, one of the many gondolas waiting there. The moon +glanced back from the surface of the water broken into ripples under +the oars of the gondoliers; it shone with a magic charm on the old +palaces that stood knee-deep in the lagoons, and threw heavy shadows +over the narrow water-roads on which the little dark boats glided +silently forward. In most of the gondolas coming from the station +excited voices and exclamations of delight broke the calm of the +moonlit evening as the tourists rejoiced in the beauty that is +Venice. + +But in the gondola in which Muller and Mrs. Bernauer sat there was +deep silence, silence broken only by a sobbing sigh that now and +then burst from the heart of the haggard woman. There were few +travellers entering Venice on one of its world-famous moonlit nights +who were so sad at heart as were these two. + +And there were few travellers in Venice as heavy hearted as was the +man who next morning took one of the earliest boats out to the Lido. + +Muller and Mrs. Bernauer were on the same boat watching him from a +hidden corner. The woman's sad eyes gazed yearningly at the haggard +face of the tall man who stood looking over the railing of the little +steamer. Her own tears came as she saw the gloom in the once shining +grey eyes she loved so well. + +Muller stood beside Mrs. Bernauer. His eyes too, keen and quick, +followed Herbert Thorne as he stood by the rail or paced restlessly +up and down; his face too showed pity and concern. He also saw that +Thorne held in his hand a bundle of newspapers which were still +enclosed in their mailing wrappers. The papers were pressed in a +convulsive grip of the artist's long slender fingers. + +Muller knew then that Thorne had not yet learned of the arrest of +Johann Knoll. At the very earliest, Thursday's papers, which brought +the news, could not reach him before Friday morning. But these +newspapers (Muller saw that they were German papers) were still in +their wrappings. They were probably Viennese papers for which he had +telegraphed and which had just arrived. His anxiety had not allowed +him to read them in the presence of his wife. He had sought the +solitude of early morning on the Lido, that he might learn, +unobserved, what terrors fate had in store for him. + +It was doubtless Mrs. Bernauer's telegram which caused his present +anxiety, a telegram which had reached him only the night before +when he returned with his wife from an excursion to Torcello. It +had caused him a sleepless night, for it had brought the realisation +that his faithful nurse suspected the truth about the murder in the +quiet lane. The telegram had read as follows: "Have drawn money and +send it at once. Further journey probably necessary, visitor in +house to-day. Connected with occurrence in -Street. Please read +Viennese papers. News and orders for me please send to address A.B. +General Postoffice." + +This telegram told Herbert Thorne the truth. And the papers which +arrived this morning were to tell him more - what he did not yet +know. But his heart was drawn with terrors which threw lines in his +face and made him look ten years older than on that Tuesday morning +when the detective saw him setting out on his journey with his wife. + +When the boat landed at the Lido, Thorne walked off down the road +which led to the ocean side. Muller and Mrs. Bernauer entered the +waiting tramway that took them in the same direction. They +dismounted in front of the bathing establishment, stepped behind a +group of bushes and waited there for Thorne. In about ten minutes +they saw his tall figure passing on the other side of the road. He +was walking down to the beach, holding the still unopened papers in +his hand. + +A narrow strip of park runs along parallel to the beach in the +direction towards Mala Mocco. Muller and Mrs Bernauer walked along +through this park on the path which was nearest the water. The +detective watched the rapidly moving figure ahead of them, while the +woman's tear-dimmed eyes veiled everything else to her but the path +along which her weary feet hastened. Thorne halted about half way +between the bathing establishment and the customs barracks, looked +around to see if he were alone and threw himself down on the sand. + +He had chosen a good place. To the right and to the left were high +sand dunes, before him was the broad surface of the ocean, and at +his back was rising ground, bare sand with here and there a scraggly +bush or a group of high thistles. Herbert Thorne believed himself +to be alone here ... as far as a man can be alone over whom hangs +the shadow of a crime. He groaned aloud and hid his pale face in +his hands. + +In his own distress he did not hear the deep sigh - which, just +above him on the edge of the knoll, broke from the breast of a woman +who was suffering scarcely less than he; he did not know that two +pair of sad eyes looked down upon him. And now into the eyes of the +watching woman there shot a gleam of terror. For Herbert Thorne had +taken a revolver from his pocket and laid it quietly beside him. +Then he took out a notebook and a pencil and placed them beside the +weapon. Then slowly, reluctantly, he opened one of the papers. + +A light breeze from the shining sea before him carried off the +wrapping. The paper which he opened shook in his trembling hands, +as his eyes sought the reports of the murder. He gave a sudden +start and a tremor ran through his frame. He had come to the spot +which told of the arrest of another man, who was under shadow of +punishment for the crime which he himself had committed. When he +had read this report through, he turned to the other papers. He was +quite calm now, outwardly calm at least. + +When he had finished reading the papers he laid them in a heap +beside him and reached out for his notebook. As he opened it the +two watchers saw that between its first pages there was a sealed and +addressed letter. Two other envelopes were contained in the +notebook, envelopes which were also addressed although still open. +Muller's sharp eyes could read the addresses as Thorne took them up +in turn, looking long at each of them. One envelope was addressed +in Italian to the Chief of Police of Venice, the other to the Chief +of Police in Vienna. + +The two watchers leaned forward, scarcely three yards above the man +in whom they were interested. Thorne tore out two leaves of his +notebook and wrote several lines on each of them. One note, he +placed in the envelope addressed to the Viennese police and sealed +it carefully. Then he put the sealed letter with the second note in +the other envelope, the one addressed to the Italian police. He put +all the letters back in his notebook, holding it together with a +rubber strap, and replaced it in his pocket. + +Then he stretched out his hand toward the revolver. + +The sand came rattling down upon him, the thistles bent over +creakingly and two figures appeared beside him. + +"There's time enough for that yet, Mr. Thorne," said the man at whom +the painter gazed up in bewilderment. And then this man took the +revolver quietly from his hand and hid it in his own pocket. + +Thorne pressed his teeth down on his lips until the blood came. He +could not speak; he looked first at the stranger who had mastered +him so completely, and then, in dazed astonishment, at the woman who +had sunk down beside him in the sand, clasping his hand in both of +hers. + +"Adele! Adele! 'Why are you here?" he stammered finally. + +"I want to be with you - in this hour," she answered, looking at +him with eyes of worship. "I want to be with my dear lady - to +comfort her - to protect her when - when - " + +"When they arrest me?" Thorne finished the sentence himself. Then +turning to Muller he continued: "And that is why you are here?" + +"Yes, Mr. Thorne. I have a warrant for your arrest in my pocket. +But I think it will be unnecessary to make use of it in the +customary official way through the authorities here. I see that +you have written to both police stations - confessing your deed. +This will amount to a voluntary giving up of yourself to the +authorities, therefore all that is necessary is that I return with +you in the same train which takes you to Vienna. But I must ask +you for those two letters, for until you yourself give them to the +police authorities in my presence, it is my duty to keep them." + +Muller had seldom found his official duty as difficult as it was +now. His words came haltingly and great drops stood out on his +forehead. + +The painter rose from the sand and he too wiped his face, which was +drawn in agony. + +"Herbert, Herbert!" cried Adele Bernauer suddenly. "Oh, Herbert, +you will live, you will! Promise me, you will not think of suicide, +it would kill your wife - " + +She lay on her knees before him in the sand. He looked down at her +gently and with a gesture which seemed to be a familiar one of days +long past, he stroked the face that had grown old and worn in these +hours of fear for him. + +"Yes, you dear good soul, I will live on, I will take upon myself my +punishment for killing a scoundrel. The poor man whom they have +arrested in my place must not linger in the fear of death. I am +ready, sir. + +"My name is Muller - detective Muller." + +"Joseph Muller, the famous detective Muller?" asked Thorne with a +sad smile. "I have had little to do with the police but by chance +I have heard of your fame. I might have known; they tell me you +are one from whom the truth can never remain hidden." + +"My duty is not always an easy one," said Muller. + +"Thank you. Dispose of me as you will. I do not wish any +privileges that others would not have, Mr. Muller. Here is my +written confession and here am I myself. Shall we go. now?" +Herbert Thorne handed the detective his notebook with its important +contents and then walked slowly back along the road he had come. + +Muller walked a little behind him, while Mrs. Bernauer was at his +side. As in days long past, they walked hand in hand. + +With eyes full of pity Muller watched them, and he heard Thorne +give his old nurse orders for the care of his wife. She was to take +Mrs. Thorne to Graz to her father, then to return herself to Vienna +and take care of the house as usual, until his attorney could settle +up his affairs and sell the property. For Thorne said that neither +he nor his wife would ever want to set foot in the house again. He +spoke calmly, he thought of everything - he thought even of the +possibility that he might have to pay the death penalty for his deed. + +For who could tell how the authorities would judge this murder? + +It had indeed been a murder by merest chance only. Thorne told his +old nurse all about it. When she had given him the signal he had +hurried down into the garden, and walking quietly along the path, +he had found his wife at the garden gate in conversation with a man +who was a stranger to him. That part of their talk which he +overheard told him that the man was a blackmailer, and that he was +making money on the fact that he had caught Theobald Leining cheating +at cards. + +This chance had put the officer into Winkler's power. The clerk +knew that he could get nothing from the guilty man himself, so he +had turned to the latter's sister, who was rich, and had threatened +to bring about a disgraceful scandal if she did not pay for his +silence. For more than a year he had been getting money from her +by means of these threats. All this was clear from the conversation. +The man spoke in tones of impertinence, or sneering obsequiousness, +the woman s voice showed contempt and hatred. + +Thorne's blood began to boil. His fingers tightened about the +revolver which he had brought with him to be ready for any emergency, +and he stepped designedly upon a twig which broke under his feet +with a noise. He wanted to frighten his wife and send her back to +the house. This was what did occur. But the blackmailer was alarmed +as well and fled hastily from the garden when he realised that he was +not alone with his victim. Thorne followed the man's disappearing +figure, calling him to halt. He did not call loudly for he too wanted +to avoid a scandal. His intention was to force the man to follow him +into the house, to get his written confession of blackmail - then to +finish him off with a large sum once for all and kick him out of the +place. + +In this manner Herbert Thorne thought to free himself and his wife +from the persecutions of the rascal. His heart was filled with +hatred towards the man. For since Mrs. Bernauer had told him what +she had discovered, he knew that it was because of this wretch that +his once so happy wife was losing her strength, her health and her +peace of mind. + +He followed the fleeing man and called to him several times to halt. +Finally Winkler half turned and called out over his shoulder: "You'd +better leave me alone! Do you want all Vienna to know that your +brother-in-law ought to be in jail?" + +These words robbed Thorne of all control. He pressed the trigger +under his finger and the bullet struck the man before him, who had +turned to continue his flight, full in the back. "And that is how +I became a murderer." With these words Herbert Thorne concluded his +narrative. He appeared quite calm now. He was really calmer, for +the strain of the deed, which was justified in his eyes, was not so +great upon his conscience as had been the strain of the secret of it. + +In his own eyes he had only killed a beast who chanced to bear the +form of a man. But of course in the eyes of the world this was a +murder like any other, and the man who had committed it knew that +he was under the ban of the law, that it was only a chance that the +arm of justice had not yet reached out for him. And now this arm +had reached out for him, although it was no longer necessary. For +Herbert Thorne was not the man to allow another to suffer in his +stead. + +As soon as he knew that another had been arrested and was under +suspicion of the murder, he knew that there was nothing more for +him but open confession. But he wished to avoid a scandal even now. +If he died by his own hand, then the first cause of all this trouble, +his brother-in-law's rascality, could still be hidden. + +But now his care was all in vain and Herbert Thorne knew that he +must submit to the inevitable. Side by side with his old friend +he sat on the deck of the boat that took them back to the Riva dei +Schiavoni. Muller sat at some distance from them. The pale +sad-faced woman, and the pale sad-faced man had much to say to each +other that a stranger might not hear. + +When the little boat reached the landing stage, there were but a +few steps more to the door of the Hotel Danieli. From a balcony on +the first floor a young woman stood looking down onto the canal. +She too was pale and her eyes were heavy with anxiety. She had been +pale and anxious even then, the day when she left the beautiful old +house in the quiet street, to start on this pleasure trip to Venice. + +It had been no pleasure trip to her. She had seen the change in her +husband, a change that struck deep into his very being and altered +him in everything except in his love and tender care for her. "Oh, +why is it? what is the matter?" she asked her self a thousand times +a day. Could it be possible that he had discovered the secret which +tortured her, the only secret she had ever had from him, the secret +she had longed to confess to him a hundred times but had lacked +courage to do it. + +For she had sinned deeply against her husband, she knew. Her fear +and her confusion had driven her deeper and deeper into the waters +of deceit until it was impossible for her to find the words that +would have brought help and comfort from the man whom she loved more +than anything else in the world. In the very earliest stages of +Winkler's persecution she had lost her head completely and instead +of confessing to her husband and asking for his aid and protection, +she had pawned the rich jewels which had been his wedding present to +get the money demanded by the blackmailer. In her ignorance she had +thought that this one sum would satisfy him. + +But he came again and again, demanding money which she saved from +her pin money, from her household allowance, thus taking what she +had intended to use to redeem her jewels. The pledge was lost, and +her jewels gone forever. From now on, Mrs. Thorne lived in a terror +which sapped her strength and drank her life blood drop by drop. Any +hour might bring discovery, a discovery which she feared would shake +her husband's love for her. The poor weak little woman grew pale and +ill. She wrote finally to her step-brother, but he could think of no +way out; he wrote only that if the matter came to a scandal there +would be nothing for him to do but to kill himself. This was one +reason more for her silence, and Mrs. Thome faded to a wan shadow of +her former sunny self. + +As she looked down from the balcony, she was like a woman suffering +from a deathly illness. A new terror had come to her heart because +her husband had gone away so early without telling her why or whither +he had gone. When she saw him coming towards the door of the hotel, +pale and drooping, and when she saw Mrs. Bernauer beside him, her +heart seemed to stand still. She crept back from the window and +stood in the middle of the room as Herbert Thorne and his former +nurse entered. + +"What has happened?" This was all she could say as she looked into +the distraught face of the housekeeper, into her husband's sad eyes. + +He led her to a chair, then knelt beside her and told her all. + +"Outside the door stands the man who will take me back to Vienna +- and you, my dearest, you must go to your father." He concluded his +story with these words. + +She bent down over him and kissed him. "'No, I am going with you," + she said softly, strangely calm; "why should I leave you now? Is +it not I who am the cause of this dreadful thing?" + +And then she made her confession, much too late. And she went with +him, back to the city of their home. It seemed to them both quite +natural that she should do so. + +When the Northern Express rolled out of Venice that afternoon, three +people sat together in a compartment, the curtains of which were +drawn close. They were the unhappy couple and their faithful +servant. And outside in the corridor of the railway carriage, a +small, slight man walked up and down - up and down. He had pressed +a gold coin into the conductor's hand, with the words: "The party +in there do not wish to be disturbed; the lady is ill." + +Herbert Thorne's trial took place several weeks later. Every +possible extenuating circumstance was brought to bear upon his +sentence. Five years only was to be the term of his imprisonment, +his punishment for the crime of a single moment of anger. + +His wife waited for him in patient love. She did not go to Graz, +but continued to live in the old mansion with the mansard roof. +Her father was with her. The brother Theobald, the cause of all +this suffering to those who had shielded him at the expense of +their own happiness, had at last done the only good deed of his +life - had put an end to his useless existence with his own hand. + +Father and daughter waited patiently for the return of the man +who had sinned and suffered for their sake. They spoke of him +only in terms of the tenderest affection and respect. + +And indeed, seldom has any condemned murderer met with the respect +of the entire community as Herbert Thorne did. The tone of the +newspapers, and public opinion, evinced by hundreds of letters from +friends, acquaintances, and from strangers, was a great boon to +the solitary man in his cell, and to the three loving hearts in the +old house. And at the end of two years the clemency of the Monarch +ended his term of imprisonment, and Herbert Thorne was set free, a +step which met with the approval of the entire city. + +He returned to the home where love and affection awaited him, ready +to make him forget what he had suffered. But the silver threads in +his dark hair and a certain quiet seriousness in his manner, and in +the hearts of all the dwellers in the old mansion, showed that the +occurrence of that fatal 27th of September had thrown a shadow over +them all which was not to be shaken off. + +Joseph Muller brought many other cases to a successful solution. +But for years after this particular case had been won, he was +followed, as by a shadow, by a man who watched over him, and who, +whenever danger threatened, stood over the frail detective as if +to take the blow upon himself. He is a clever assistant, too, and +no one who had seen Johann Knoll the day that he was put into the +cell on suspicion of murder would have believed that the idle tramp +could become again such a useful member of society. These are the +victories that Joseph Muller considers his greatest. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext: The Case of The Lamp That Went Out + |