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diff --git a/41151-0.txt b/41151-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a2b5092 --- /dev/null +++ b/41151-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10118 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41151 *** + + The Mystery Of + + The Hidden Room + + BY MARION HARVEY + + + GROSSET & DUNLAP + PUBLISHERS NEW YORK + + Made in the United States of America + + Copyright, 1922, by + Edward J. Clode + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. THE NOTE 1 + + II. THE SHOT 9 + + III. THE POLICE 15 + + IV. THE INQUEST 24 + + V. THE SECRETARY 36 + + VI. CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE 44 + + VII. THE LAWYER 51 + + VIII. LEE DARWIN 56 + + IX. THE VERDICT 63 + + X. JENKINS' ADVICE 72 + + XI. ARTHUR TRENTON 79 + + XII. AN EXPLANATION 85 + + XIII. THE SUICIDE 92 + + XIV. GRAYDON MCKELVIE 100 + + XV. THE INTERVIEW 108 + + XVI. THE EXHIBITS 115 + + XVII. THE LAMP 121 + + XVIII. THE SECRET ENTRANCE 133 + + XIX. THE LAWYER AGAIN 141 + + XX. DEDUCTIONS 146 + + XXI. THE STEWARD 157 + + XXII. ORTON'S ALIBI 167 + + XXIII. GRAMERCY PARK 177 + + XXIV. THE SIGNET RING 192 + + XXV. THE DECEPTION 200 + + XXVI. JAMES GILMORE 208 + + XXVII. THE STRONG BOX 216 + + XXVIII. GOLD AND BLUE 222 + + XXIX. THE REWARD 229 + + XXX. THE CURIO SHOP 236 + + XXXI. THE RESCUE 243 + + XXXII. LEE'S STORY 250 + + XXXIII. THE SECOND BULLET 257 + + XXXIV. THE WOMAN IN THE CASE 265 + + XXXV. A STRANGE ACCOUNT 273 + + XXXVI. THE TRAP 282 + + XXXVII. MCKELVIE'S TRIUMPH 288 + + XXXVIII. THE MOTIVE 297 + + XXXIX. CONCLUSION 309 + + + + +THE MYSTERY OF + +THE HIDDEN ROOM + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE NOTE + + +I had intended spending the evening at the Club; but after my solitary +meal, I found that I was too tired to care to leave my own inviting +fireside. Drawing up a chair before the open grate in my library, for +the October night was chill and the landlord had not sufficiently +relented to order the steam-heat, I settled myself comfortably with my +book and pipe. The story I had chosen was a murder mystery, extremely +clever and well-written, and so engrossed did I become that I was +entirely oblivious to the passage of time. + +The entrance of my man, Jenkins, brought me back to my surroundings with +a start to find that the clock on the mantel was chiming eleven. A +little impatient at the interruption for I had not concluded the story, +I grew sarcastic. + +"What is it, Jenkins? Have you come to remind me that it is long past my +bed-time?" I inquired. + +Jenkins' face grew longer if such a thing were possible in a countenance +already attenuated by nature into the semblance of perpetual gloom, and +shook his head with a grieved air as though he considered my remark an +aspersion upon his knowledge of his duties as a valet. + +"A man who claims to be Mrs. Darwin's chauffeur, sir," he replied in a +tone that indicated that he at least would not be responsible for the +veracity of the statement, "has just brought this note. He says that he +will await the answer below in his machine, sir." + +He extended an unaddressed white envelope with a funereal air. The note +was from Ruth. The message was brief and to the point. + +"Will you return at once with my chauffeur? I need you." + +"My hat and coat, Jenkins," I cried, flinging aside my jacket. "You need +not wait up for me. I have my key," I added. + +I could have descended the stairs a half dozen times before the elevator +finally arrived, or so it seemed to my impatience. The moment we reached +the lobby I was out of the elevator and down the steps into the waiting +motor before the boy had recovered his wits sufficiently to follow me to +the door. + +The chauffeur evidently had his instructions, for I was hardly within +before the machine was speeding toward the Drive. My bachelor apartments +were situated on 72nd Street, just off the Park, and I knew we could not +cover the distance to the Darwin home on the outskirts of Riverside +Drive in less than twenty minutes, even at the rate at which we were +traveling. + +I had stuffed Ruth's note into my pocket as I left. Mechanically I drew +it forth and tore it to shreds, flinging the scraps from the window. +Letters are compromising things. + +What had possessed Ruth to commit herself to writing after the compact +we had made to have no further communication with each other! It was she +who had suggested that we become as strangers, and I could only read in +this sudden appeal and the haste with which I was being whirled toward +her some dread calamity. Nor was my anxiety lessened by the fact that I +was hopelessly in love with her. Yes, hopelessly, I speak advisedly, +because she was another man's wife, and while that man lived she would +be true to him although he deserved it less than anyone I knew. + +To think that a few short months ago Ruth and I had been engaged! If I +had had my way we should have been married at once without any fuss, and +so should have avoided the trouble that befell us, but Ruth wanted a +trousseau and a big wedding, so like many a better man before me I +humored her to the extent of promising to wait another month. + +Did I say a month? Six have passed and I am waiting yet, while Ruth has +had her wish, for her wedding was a sort of nine days' wonder, Philip +Darwin having long been voted by his feminine friends as "the type of +man who never marries, my dear." + +In letting my bitterness run away with my discretion, I have begun my +story at the wrong end, giving a false impression of the facts of the +case, for I never once dreamed of blaming or censuring Ruth for the +misery that her decision cost me. + +Two weeks before the date set for my wedding, Ruth came to me with tears +in her eyes, and laying the ring I had given her upon the table begged +me if I loved her never to see her again. I was decidedly taken aback, +but I retained sufficient presence of mind to laugh at her and to +request her not to be absurd. She was not to be diverted, however, nor +would she say anything beyond a reiteration of the fact that if I loved +her I would be willing to obey her without questioning her motives. + +All of which was folly to my way of thinking, and being very much in +love, I refused to be disposed of in any such high-handed fashion, +particularly as I felt that as her affianced husband I was entitled to +some say in the proceedings. Never in the course of my life before had I +been called upon to plead so skillfully, and plead I did; for it was +more than my life I was fighting for, it was our love, our happiness, +our future home. Gradually I wore down her defenses and finally she +sobbed out the whole pitiful story. + +Her brother, her adored and darling Dick, whom she had mothered almost +from the time that he was born, had fallen of late under the influence +of Philip Darwin, director of the bank of which her father was president +and Dick assistant cashier. Handsome, spoiled, the boy had been +flattered by the attentions of the older man, who explained his interest +on the ground that Dick reminded him strongly of what he had been ten +years before. Under his tutelage, then, the boy early became a devotee +of the twin gods of gambling and of drink. + +Two nights before in a questionable gambling den to which Philip Darwin +had taken him, Dick, his temper inflamed by the strong liquor he had +been drinking, quarreled with his neighbor, accusing him of trying to +cheat. The fellow, a big, powerful chap, made for Dick, who pulled out a +pistol which Darwin had given him, and fired. His opponent went down +like a log, and as the man fell, Darwin extinguished the light. In the +confusion that ensued the older man got the boy away to his home, where +Dick gathered some things together and with the connivance of his father +left for the West. + +Of course the affair came out in the papers, I recalled it as Ruth +spoke, and the police were on the hunt for the unknown assailant of the +dead man. Fortunately for Dick, both he and Darwin attended these places +in disguise and a trip West for the scion of a wealthy family was no +unusual event, hence his absence from social circles was easily +accounted for, and Ruth and her father were merely waiting for the +furore to abate before sending for the boy, when Darwin exploded a bomb +in their midst. + +He had always admired Ruth, he had always wanted to make her his wife. +She had spurned his love and he had accepted defeat stoically. But now +things were different. Her brother was wanted by the police for murder. +The police, to be sure, didn't know it was her brother that they wanted +but he, Philip Darwin, was quite willing to supply them with the +information unless Ruth agreed to become his bride. + +"What was there for me to do, Carlton, but to acquiesce?" she had ended +with a sob. "Philip Darwin is an implacable man. And even if Dick eluded +the police, think of the disgrace for Daddy and for me. It's terrible +enough that he should have killed a man, but that he should become a +hunted thing, my little brother--! No, no! I'd rather sacrifice my love +than have that happen!" + +I remained silent, for I could think of no argument that would suffice +to meet the situation, and taking my apparent immobility for acceptance, +she continued: "It's a big sacrifice, dear, I know, but you will bear +it bravely for my sake, because--because there is more in life than +love alone and it's the honor of my name that is at stake." + +In the face of her sublime unselfishness I felt that I could do no less +than prove myself as noble as she deemed me. I agreed, therefore, to +give her up and when she said we had better not meet again I consented +dumbly, comprehending the wisdom of her decision even while my heart +rebelled against its enforcement. + +When she had gone my resentment flared full and strong, but curiously +enough not against the one who had been the chief cause of the ruin of +my happiness. I felt only pity, a profound and sincere pity, for the +misguided boy who had committed the crime. My anger blazed toward that +man who by his foolish adoration of his only son had spoiled and +indulged the boy to his own undoing. What right had any man to bring up +a son in that fashion? How dared his father let him loose upon the world +without teaching him the first principles of self-restraint? + +It was not Dick but Mr. Trenton who was to blame for the boy's act. +Almost from the moment that he could make his wants known the boy had +been given to understand that what he wanted was his for the asking. +Everyone in the home had to give way before him. He was never crossed +and never denied. Small wonder that when he grew to manhood he should +expect the world to give as much and more than his father had done, that +when he ran across temptation he had no moral strength to resist, and +that he became an easy prey to a man of Philip Darwin's type. + +Here my thoughts veered abruptly to the man who would soon become Ruth's +husband and for a moment I saw red. Ruth, pure, sweet Ruth, married to +that vile wretch! I could not endure it. + +I had actually grasped my hat and was on the point of hastening to her +home to plead with her not to sacrifice herself in so dreadful a manner, +even if she never married me, when I paused, for the horrible +alternative flashed across my mind. With a groan I returned to my +library where the remainder of the night I wrestled with what to me +seemed the only solution to the problem, the instant and speedy death of +Philip Darwin. + +By morning I was saner. There was not much use in jumping out of the +frying-pan into the fire, and besides what did I know of Philip Darwin +beyond the fact that he had been the one to lead Dick astray? For ought +I knew to the contrary he might make Ruth a very good and devoted +husband. There were hundreds of cases on record where a man had been +reformed and steadied by marriage. + +Though all this philosophizing by no means alleviated the pain in my +heart, still it helped to allay the fever in my tortured brain, and from +that time on I resolutely put Ruth from my mind and plunged into my work +in an effort to forget. + +Forget! How much had I forgotten in the six months that had passed? Not +one single detail had escaped my memory and it all came back with +tenfold force for having been thrust out of sight so long. With a groan +I buried my head in my hands. + +How long I remained thus oblivious to time and space I do not know. The +chauffeur's voice brought me back to a realization that we had arrived +at our destination. I alighted and as he backed the car down the drive I +paused a moment before ascending the steps to try to distinguish +something of this home whose mistress Ruth had become. + +It was very dark, a dull, cloudy night, and all I beheld was a great +black bulk looming before me like some Plutonian monster, harbinger of +evil, and the soughing of the wind in the branches of the nearby trees +gave me such a feeling of superstitious dread that I raced up the steps +and rang the bell as though in fear of my life. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE SHOT + + +The door was opened for me by Ruth herself, who drew me within, and +locked it behind me. Then with a finger on her lip, she led the way in +silence to the drawing-room, seeming to breathe only when the door of +that room was closed against further intrusion. + +"What is it, Ruth?" I asked, more and more alarmed by all this secrecy +coming on top of my own foolish fears. + +Instead of answering she drew me down beside her on the divan and +touched with her fingers my graying temples. + +"Did I do that to you, Carlton?" she murmured, brokenly. "Oh, my dear, I +wonder you had the courage to forgive me!" + +"Ruth!" I cried sharply and at the misery in my voice she slipped to her +knees and buried her face in her arms. + +"Forgive me," she sobbed. "I should not have let myself go, but +sometimes I feel I must go mad, alone night after night in this great +silent house with only that horrible secretary of Phil's for company!" + +"Hush," I returned, drawing her to me, but she pushed me from her and +raised her head in a startled way. + +"Listen!" she whispered, holding up her hand. "I thought I heard someone +prowling around." + +More to satisfy Ruth and ease her fears, for I had heard no sound, I +went to the door and flung it open. But the dimly lighted hall was empty +save for the wavering shadows that lost themselves in the gloom of the +stairwell. The utter silence and loneliness of the great house gave me +an eerie feeling, and I was glad to close the door and return to Ruth. + +She had regained command of herself and was once more seated on the +divan. As I approached she questioned me with her eyes. With a shake of +the head and a reassuring smile, I resumed my place beside her. + +"I thought I could stand it," she said, after what seemed an +interminable interval, "but you don't know what I have had to put up +with. No, Carlton, please!" for I had caught her to me in my desire to +shield her from all harm. + +"Forgive me," I returned humbly, rising and pacing the long room, "but I +can't bear to hear you say such things when I love you so!" + +"I know, Carlton. I won't grieve you that way again. It was for another +reason that I asked you here." + +She was so long, however, in telling me that reason that I had time to +study her more closely, and my heart grew ever more bitter as I saw how +thin she was and how the lines of suffering had gathered on her white +brow and around her sweet, drooping mouth. Verily I cursed the day that +Philip Darwin had crossed Ruth's path, and if he had entered the room at +that moment I honestly believe I should have killed him. + +She must have read my thought for she cried out sharply, "No, no, +Carlton, not that!" and when I flushed she added more quietly, "Won't +you come and sit beside me, please?" + +When I had complied with her request, she lowered her voice until it was +the merest thread, at the same time looking around her as if she feared +the presence of someone else in the room. + +"You know I have a feeling that Mr. Orton, Phil's secretary, is always +hanging around listening and spying upon me. Ugh, he makes me shiver +with his prominent, near-sighted eyes, his eternal humility and mock +grin. He reminds me of Uriah Heep in _David Copperfield_. I suppose I'm +foolish, but I've been alone so much of late." + +"But, Ruth, I thought your father lived here with you?" + +"Yes, he did, but two weeks ago the doctor told him to take a vacation +and he has been visiting friends out of town. I expect him home +to-morrow or the next day at the latest. Then I shall be all right +again." + +She clasped her hands in her lap and strove to keep back the tears. + +"Ruth, dear," I said, taking her little trembling hands in both my own, +"why did you send for me? Surely there is something I can do!" + +She smiled faintly as she gently withdrew her hands and reclasped them +in her lap. "It was for your sake I sent for you," she said, simply. + +"For my sake?" I asked puzzled. + +"You'd think that I had caused you enough suffering without adding +needlessly to your sorrow," she continued, as if to herself. "Oh, +Carlton," turning suddenly toward me, "forgive me, but I did a very +foolish thing last night. I was so lonely and dispirited and nervous +with hearing Mr. Orton prowling around and seeing him appear suddenly +from shadowy corners that I locked myself in my room and poured out my +heart to you." + +"Ruth, darling!" I murmured. + +"It was foolish, Carlton, nay more, it was imprudent, and realizing this +last fact I tore up the letter and threw it in my waste basket. I would +have done better to have kept it, for to-night about ten-thirty, when I +was on the point of retiring, Mr. Orton knocked on my door and said that +Phil desired my presence in his study." + +"You obeyed?" + +"Yes," she answered wearily. "It is only one of the many indignities I +have had to endure. So I followed him to the study and there on the +table the first thing I laid my eyes on was my letter--all those scraps +pasted together on a larger sheet. Think of it, Carlton!" + +But I couldn't think. The petty sordidness of it was beyond me. I could +only stare at her and speak a name below my breath. Orton was what I +said. + +"Yes, he had found the letter. He examines my waste basket every day it +seems," she continued, bitterly, "in hopes of finding just what he did +find this morning. An unfaithful husband is always sure to be suspicious +of his wife, and her moral superiority is equally sure to gall him." + +"I am not going to tell you what Phil said," she went on presently. "I +couldn't, for most of it passed me by. But when he spoke of revenging +himself upon you, of ruining you and breaking you, then I decided it was +time to act. He told me he was going out, so I sent my maid with the +note and instructions to my chauffeur. I had to warn you, to put you on +your guard that you might be able to fight any rumors which he may +spread. But, Carlton, please promise me that you will keep out of his +way. Please, for my sake!" + +She clung to me as I shook my head impatiently. "It would only make it +harder for me, Carlton!" she pleaded. + +"Never mind me, Ruth!" I said almost angrily. "Think of yourself for a +few minutes. Why don't you get a divorce or at least a separation? You +have more than enough grounds." + +"No, no. He would take it out on Dick. Don't you see he has me in his +power?" + +It was useless to try to influence her, especially as I could well +appreciate the justice of her remark. I slightly cursed Philip Darwin +for a blackguard, and then turned the conversation into a side channel. + +"Ruth, do you think you could get that letter for me?" I asked. + +"Why, Carlton?" + +"Because it is a powerful weapon to hold over you if he should ever +decide to cast you aside." Seeing that this had no effect upon her, I +added--would that I had cut my tongue out ere it had uttered those +words! "because he can use it as a weapon against me." + +Instantly she was on her feet. "He put it in the drawer of the table in +his study. Stay here, dear, while I see if I can get it." + +She opened the door of the drawing-room and crossed the hall to the +study. The drawing-room occupied about one-third of the lower floor of +the main wing and lay to the right of the entrance hall, while the study +was its exact counterpart on the left, so that the door of the study was +directly opposite the door of the drawing-room which was now open +before me. + +I saw Ruth try the door of the study and as it yielded to her hand she +advanced timidly into the room, leaving the door barely ajar behind her. +My view being thus effectually cut off I strained forward in an endeavor +to catch the slightest sound, but was only rewarded by the most profound +stillness, through which there presently echoed and re-echoed the voice +of the old clock in the hall proclaiming the midnight hour. Then, as if +that ancient time-piece had been the signal previously agreed upon, +there rang through the house from the direction of the study the sharp +report of a pistol, followed by silence, absolute, profound! + +A moment I remained petrified, then with a bound I gained the study +door, my one thought for Ruth. But on the threshold I stood rooted to +the spot by the sight that met my eyes! + +In the patch of light cast by a small lamp upon the study table, lying +back in his chair with a sardonic grin on his face and an ever-widening +stain upon his shirt front, was Philip Darwin, while beside him as if +turned to stone, stood Ruth with a pistol in her hand! + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE POLICE + + +"Ruth!" + +My cry startled her. Dropping the pistol and flinging out her arms, she +laughed hysterically and stumbled toward me. Something in my face, +perhaps the horror I could not help revealing, arrested her before she +reached me. + +"Carlton! Surely you can't think I killed him!" she cried. "It--it would +be too monstrous!" And with a fluttering sigh she sank in a heap on the +floor. + +Tenderly I gathered her limp form in my arms and was on the point of +bearing her from the room when suddenly without any warning the study +was flooded with light and Philip Darwin's secretary was standing +obsequiously before me. + +"Shall I telephone for a doctor, Mr. Davies? And for the police?" with a +glance at his erstwhile master. + +At mention of the police I frowned though I knew of course that their +presence was inevitable. But there was no need to bring them buzzing +about our ears any sooner than was absolutely necessary. + +"A doctor, yes. The police can wait," I said abruptly. + +"Just as you say, Mr. Davies," he returned with a leering smile. "I'll +call Dr. Haskins." + +He stepped to the table and picked up the phone and while he summoned +the doctor I looked at him more attentively. He was just as Ruth had +described him and instinctively distrust of this pale-faced secretary +arose in my mind, distrust of him and his pussy-footing ways. I had not +heard him enter the room behind me. For ought I knew to the contrary he +might have been in the study when the shot was fired, sulking among the +shadows in the corner while awaiting a chance to kill his employer. But +then how in the name of all the gods had Ruth come by the pistol! + +Which brought me back to the realization that I was still holding her +unconscious form in my arms. I must carry her upstairs to her room. Yet +I disliked intensely leaving the secretary alone with the dead, fearing +I knew not what perversion of justice, dreading also that he might take +the opportunity to summon the police before I was ready for them. + +I glanced around the study and was relieved to find that the room +possessed only one door, that by which I had entered, whose key was +still in the lock, but on the inside. Ordering the secretary to lead the +way to Ruth's apartments, I closed and locked the door of the study +behind me, and pocketing the key followed him up the broad staircase. + +Hardly had I laid Ruth upon her bed when a sharp ring startled me, and I +glanced apprehensively at Orton. Could it be that others besides +ourselves had heard the shot? + +"No one could hear anything. The grounds are too extensive," he said, +answering my unspoken thought. "That must be the doctor. He lives only a +short distance from here." + +Much as I disliked him I could have blessed him for those words, for +already the plan to keep the police from questioning Ruth that night +was simmering in my brain. + +"Bring him here at once," I commanded, and Orton slipped noiselessly +from the room. + +I heard him opening the front door, heard the sound of voices apparently +in consultation, and then the doctor's step upon the stair. I had +expected an old family physician. The man who stepped briskly across the +threshold was small and slight, almost a boy in years, yet having an air +of knowing his business to perfection. Without ostentation, and also +without asking needless questions, he examined Ruth quietly and +attentively while I explained that she was suffering from the shock of +having discovered her husband's murdered body. + +"And, Doctor, could you not give her an opiate to insure a perfect +night's rest," I added in a lower tone. + +He gave me a swift appraising glance from his keen eyes, then as if +satisfied, nodded to himself. + +"Yes, I think you are right. It is far more important to save her reason +than that the police should have the satisfaction of questioning her." + +As he administered the dose to the now conscious girl I mentally decided +that there was not very much that escaped this young doctor's +observation. + +"Is there no one to stay with Mrs. Darwin?" he inquired in a +dissatisfied tone. "Where is her maid?" + +"She sleeps in the servants' wing, Dr. Haskins," replied Orton. + +"Go and get her," ordered the doctor briefly. + +When the maid arrived on the scene, only half awake and very much +tousled as if she had flung on her clothes without regard to appearance, +the doctor bade her establish herself in the boudoir. Then satisfied +that there would be someone within call in case of necessity, he asked +to be conducted to the scene of the tragedy. + +"You have notified the police?" questioned Dr. Haskins as we descended +the stairs. + +"No," I replied. "I waited to hear your verdict first." + +"Better send for them at once," was his reply. + +"I will do it, Dr. Haskins," put in the secretary eagerly. + +As Orton moved to the hall phone I inserted the key in the lock of the +study door and opened it with some trepidation, remembering what lay +within. I had forgotten to turn out the lights and as we entered from +the semi-obscurity of the hall, the chair and its horrible occupant +seemed literally to spring out at us as we approached. To the doctor +death was a familiar sight, but I could not bear to watch him as he +probed the wound with skillful fingers, so I turned away and desirous of +having something other than my thoughts to occupy my mind, I took +cognizance for the first time of this room where the crime had been +committed. + +The study, as I remarked before, lay to the left of the hall and like +its counterpart, the drawing-room, it was exceedingly large, a good +forty feet in length at the very least. Again, like its counterpart, the +side opening upon the garden was a series of French windows hung with +velvet draperies of a rich brown that harmonized perfectly with the +luxurious appointments of the room. Whatever one might say for his +morals, one could certainly find no fault with Philip Darwin's taste in +furnishing his study. It was the den of a sybarite, not the conventional +study of the modern business man. The only jarring notes were supplied +by the mahogany table directly in the center of the room, at whose head +stood the chair in which the dead man lay, and by an immense safe let +into the narrower wall, whose highly varnished surface reflected +Darwin's face as clearly as any pier-glass would have done. + +For a space I stood gazing at the safe, wondering what any man would +want with such a gigantic contraption when I became conscious of the +reflection of the doctor's occupation. With a feeling of nausea I swung +away toward the windows when, struck by a sudden idea, I hastily +examined them. It had occurred to me that while we were standing idle +the murderer had probably made good his escape through one of them, +since there was no other means of egress which he could have used with +impunity. Imagine then my feelings to find that the windows were not +only locked, but were also supplied with burglar alarms, which precluded +beyond the shadow of a doubt their recent use by anyone intent upon +escaping from the study! + +With dwindling hope I tried the safe and finding that locked also, I +returned to the table, where despite my aversion I could not help +glancing at the man who, living, had destroyed my happiness and who, +dead, was about to bereave me of all hope as well. + +I had known Philip Darwin very slightly, a mere bowing acquaintance, so +that it was a distinct shock to me to discover that he was so +fine-looking a man. I had always accounted him handsome in a bold, +dashing way, with his dark hair, his gold eyeglasses, and his neatly +trimmed coal black Vandyke; but, death, that dread visitant that plays +such queer tricks upon us mortals, had ennobled his countenance and +rejuvenated him by wiping away all traces of the dissipation which of +late had coarsened his features and left its marks beneath his eyes and +around his mouth. Had it not been for that red stain which seemed to +mock me as I gazed, I would have said that he was merely asleep, so +gracefully did he repose in the big chair, the left hand holding a small +handkerchief upon his knee, the right flung out across the arm of the +chair. + +Just then I noticed that the doctor was gravely regarding the pistol as +it lay on the floor beside the chair, and recalling where I had last +seen it, I hesitantly asked the question whose answer I knew before the +words had left my lips. + +"Is there any possibility of suicide?" + +"None at all," replied Dr. Haskins. "He has been shot through the left +lung and death occurred from internal hemorrhage. The absence of powder +stains and the fact that the bullet entered at an angle preclude the +idea of suicide." + +"Then Mr. Darwin was not killed instantly?" I asked. + +"No. I should judge that he had lived at least twenty minutes after the +shot was fired." + +It could not have been more than twenty minutes, or at most, a half-hour +since I had heard the report that had turned my world so suddenly upside +down! Had he then been alive when I carried Ruth from the room? Had I +locked him in to breathe his last alone, when perhaps I might have saved +his life? The thought was too horrible to contemplate! + +"Doctor!" I cried. "You mean he has only just died? That something could +have been done to save him?" + +The doctor looked at me in some surprise. "Nothing could have been done +to save him," he answered quietly. "From the condition of the body----" + +But we had no time for further discussion for a great pounding had +ensued at the front door and in a few moments Orton returned with the +police. There were five of them, the Sergeant and his two men and a +couple of detectives from the Central Office, and they made an imposing +array as they entered the room. + +The Sergeant, a mild-looking man, nodded to us pleasantly enough, +deplored the necessity which had brought him to the house, and ordered +his men to guard the premises and to permit no one to leave the place +under any circumstances, while the detectives made the rounds of the +room, examining everything from the carpet to the ceiling. + +"I do not believe I can be of further use," said Dr. Haskins. "Let me +know when the inquest is called and I shall be glad to give my +testimony." + +The Sergeant took down his name and address, and, when the doctor was +gone, turned to me and asked me who I was. I mentioned the name of the +brokerage firm with which I was connected and of which I had the honor +of being the junior partner. The name of that firm was a well-known one +throughout the city and its effect upon the Sergeant was instantaneous. +Glancing at me with marked respect he asked me to give him an account of +the affair. It was precious little that I could tell him, however. I had +been in the drawing-room, had heard the shot, and on rushing in had +found Darwin dead. + +While the Sergeant was transcribing this information in his notebook the +younger of the two detectives, who had been glancing over the objects +upon the table, spoke up. + +"It was an inside job, then, Sergeant. The windows are all locked and +anyone leaving by the door would have encountered this gentleman coming +in," and he looked at me very suspiciously indeed. + +The worthy Sergeant scratched his chin and looked perplexed. Then his +eye fell on Orton standing meekly in the doorway. + +"Hello, where the devil did you come from?" he asked. + +"I--I'm the man who sent for you, who just let you in," he stammered, +whether from fright or awe I don't know. "I'm Mr. Darwin's secretary." + +"I see. What do you know about this affair?" + +He was opening his mouth to say I know not what when he caught my eye. I +was determined that Ruth should have a night's rest if I had to go to +jail as the consequence. + +"I heard the shot and when I entered the room Mr. Davies was looking at +the body," he said with a malicious glance in my direction. + +I could have laughed aloud as the Sergeant regarded me from beneath +frowning brows. I was a prominent man and he dared not risk a false +arrest. + +"Are you the only two people awake in this house?" he inquired, to gain +time. + +"Mrs. Darwin heard the shot but she was prostrated by the news and the +doctor does not wish her disturbed until morning," I said, purposely +giving the wrong impression by my statement. + +Again the Sergeant's troubled glance rested upon me. "What are you doing +here at this time of night, Mr. Davies?" he asked abruptly. + +"I came here on important business," I answered. + +At this juncture the older detective whispered something to the Sergeant +and handed him a paper he had taken from the table drawer. + +"Mr. Davies, I am under the painful necessity of keeping you under +surveillance until the arrival of the coroner. You will remain in this +house until that time." + +I bowed. "Then you have no objections to my retiring?" I asked. + +"None at all, Mr. Davies. Gregory," he called, and when the burly +policeman appeared in the doorway, "You will accompany Mr. Davies to his +room and see that he does not attempt to leave the house." + +"Very good, sir," saluted the policeman. + +"Good night, Sergeant," I said. "I am sorry to put you to so much +trouble." Then I touched Orton upon the shoulder. "If you will be so +kind I should like to be shown to a vacant room and might I borrow a +suit of pajamas?" + +I linked my arm through his and forced him to accompany me upstairs. By +dint of hinting that he had no way of proving that he was not in the +study at the fatal moment and that my word had far more weight than his, +should I choose to cast suspicion upon him, I frightened the cowardly +fellow into promising to keep his knowledge to himself for that night at +least. That the police were bound to learn that Ruth was also in the +study was inevitable, but at any rate I should have gained her a few +more hours of freedom, for whichever way I looked at it the case was +black against her. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE INQUEST + + +When I awoke the sun was pouring into the room and my watch pointed to +eleven o'clock. After hours of pacing the floor in utter anguish of +spirit while the specter of murder stalked hand-in-hand with innocence +and love, outraged nature had asserted herself and I had found respite +in oblivion. But now the weary round of thoughts must be taken up again +and it was with a sigh of relief that I obeyed the summons to present +myself in the study where the coroner was holding the inquest. + +The body had been removed and in the chair where it had so lately rested +reposed the coroner with his papers spread out on the table before him. +I noticed that he had taken the chair from the head of the table and had +placed it around the corner on the right side, facing the direction of +the door instead of the safe. + +In the corner opposite the door sat the younger of the two detectives +who had accompanied the Sergeant to the house the night before. Beside +him was Orton, looking pale and dispirited, while huddled in the +adjacent corner like a herd of frightened cattle stood the servants, +their eyes fastened upon the coroner, watching his every movement as if +in terror lest they be accused of having murdered their master. Grouped +around the table but slightly behind the coroner sat the jury, and I was +glad to note that the coroner had had the good sense to pick a fairly +respectable set of men to judge the case, from which I argued hopefully +that the gray-haired, heavy-set gentleman in charge of the case might +possess a modicum of intelligence and a keener brain than the average +coroner. + +Back of the jury stood Dr. Haskins, in conference with a rotund +individual whom I assumed rightly to be the coroner's physician. Beyond +the doctors sat the assistant district attorney, surrounded by the very +few newspapermen who had got wind of the affair and had insisted upon +being present. + +Passing the jury I seated myself near one of the windows beside a man +whom I recalled having seen, but whom I could not at the moment place, +and looked around in vain for Ruth. Evidently Coroner Graves (I obtained +this information from the man beside me) intended to spare her as much +as possible, for which consideration I thanked him from the bottom of my +heart. + +They must have been awaiting my presence since I was no sooner seated +than the coroner called on Doctor Haskins to give his testimony. The +doctor repeated what he had previously told me, that Philip Darwin had +been shot through the left lung, that death had resulted from internal +hemorrhage, and that the victim had lived at least twenty minutes after +the bullet had penetrated his body. Asked if he had examined Mr. Darwin +immediately upon his arrival, the doctor replied that he had first +attended Mrs. Darwin and that it must have been ten or fifteen minutes +later that he had entered the study. He had found Mr. Darwin lying back +in his chair with a smile on his lips, one hand closed over a +handkerchief, the other hanging limply over the arm of the chair. From +the condition of the body he must have been dead from twenty to thirty +minutes. Also there was a small abrasion on the little finger of his +left hand, as if a ring had been violently removed. Questioned as to +whether he was the family's physician, he said no, that he only knew Mr. +Darwin by sight and had probably been summoned because he was the +nearest doctor. + +This evidence was partially corroborated by the coroner's physician, who +added that he had made a post-mortem examination and had extracted the +bullet, which had narrowly missed entering the heart. From the nature of +the wound it would have been impossible for him to have shot himself, +and the absence of all powder stains pointed to murder rather than +suicide. + +Then he continued, with a slightly commiserating look in Dr. Haskins' +direction: "You have heard Dr. Haskins' testimony, your honor, that the +victim lived twenty minutes after he was shot, and that at the time that +the doctor examined him he had already been dead from twenty to thirty +minutes. This last statement is correct. The post-mortem examination +proves conclusively that Mr. Darwin died at midnight or shortly +thereafter. From questions that I have already put to Mr. Orton I have +learned that the shot was fired as the clock finished striking twelve, +therefore since that was the only shot fired Mr. Darwin must have died +immediately, or at the best, must have lived only five minutes, for Dr. +Haskins was in the study by twelve-thirty." + +"But," interrupted Dr. Haskins, "the nature of the wound is such that +instantaneous death could not have possibly occurred." + +"Please do not volunteer information unless you are being questioned," +returned the coroner with some asperity. He turned to his physician, +"You were saying, Doctor?" + +Dr. Haskins shrugged his shoulders at the coroner's words, while his +boyish face flushed angrily at the rebuke, and he walked away from the +table, but turned to listen as the physician took up the cudgels again +by answering the query he had propounded. + +"Dr. Haskins is young in his profession and this is his first criminal +case, hence his natural inference that because in his medical books such +a wound should produce such results, therefore it must be so in +practice," said the coroner's physician, with pompous superiority. "Now +as a matter of fact where one man will live an hour another will survive +only a few minutes, depending on the life each has led. Now Mr. Darwin, +I have been told, led a very fast life, which probably accounts for his +quick demise. After all, you see, it's a question of fitting your facts +to the circumstances of your case and in this instance no other +conclusion is possible." + +I could see that Dr. Haskins was not at all convinced, and I set it down +to professional jealousy and his desire not to be outdone by the +coroner's physician. I can imagine that that "is young in his +profession" rather stuck in his gorge. + +When the physician had seated himself the coroner took up the bullet and +called the detective, to whom he handed it along with another object +that had been lying upon the table. Whereupon the detective took a step +forward and held up the object for our inspection. It was a +long-barreled thirty-eight caliber revolver, just the sort of weapon a +man would keep in his house for use against burglars, since it insured a +fair chance of more accurate marksmanship. + +"This revolver, gentlemen," said the detective, speaking to the jury, +"was found on the floor beside the chair in which the victim lay. As you +can see for yourselves," here he broke the pistol, "it is fully loaded +with the exception of one chamber, which has recently been discharged. +The bullet extracted from Mr. Darwin's body corresponds in every respect +with the bullets remaining in this pistol. Therefore I have no +hesitation in stating that the deceased was killed with this weapon in +my hand." + +He passed the revolver and the bullet to the jury, adding that Mr. +Darwin had been standing when he was shot, and that as he had been +engaged in writing the moment before, the inference was plain that he +had risen to meet the person who killed him. + +"What makes you certain he was standing when he was shot?" inquired the +coroner. + +"The carpet, if you'll notice," replied the detective, whose name, by +the way, was Jones, "has a very heavy pile. The marks made by that +arm-chair as it was pushed back from the table were apparent to me when +I examined the carpet around it. Now Mr. Darwin had been writing, for we +found a half-finished word on the paper before him, and must therefore +have been seated in the chair. Hence the only person who could have +produced those marks in the carpet was the victim himself, and they +could only have been made if, as I said, he had risen suddenly to meet +his murderer, who was evidently known to him, since Mr. Darwin was +smiling when he was killed." + +There was a murmur of admiration for the clever way in which he had +deduced his statement, and the man beside me softly clapped his hands as +he whispered to himself, "admirable, marvelous. Upon my soul I could not +have builded better had I tried." + +The thought came to me that my companion might be a detective also, and +that he was delighted with the intelligence displayed by his +professional brother, but I had no time to nurse idle speculations, for +Jones had resumed his seat, and I expected the coroner to make an +attempt to discover the ownership of the pistol. To my surprise he +ignored that point and turned his attention to the servants. + +The butler, who was the first servant called upon and who was a vigorous +old man about sixty years of age, gave his name as George Mason and +stated that he had been in his position for thirty years. I saw the +coroner's face clear at this statement, for surely a man who had been +the family retainer for so long a time could be relied on not to pervert +any knowledge he might possess of the events of the previous night. The +coroner should have recalled that though not given to perverting justice +old family servants have a faculty for forgetting what they would rather +not explain. + +"I understand that it is your duty to secure the house at night," began +the coroner. + +"Yes, sir." + +"What time do you usually lock up?" + +"When Mr. Darwin left the house for the evening, sir. Or if he was away, +as he sometimes is, for days together, it would remain locked while he +was gone. That is, it was that way before his marriage, sir. Now I lock +up when Mrs. Darwin goes upstairs." + +"What time did you close the house last night?" + +"At nine-thirty, sir." + +"You are sure you locked all the doors and windows securely?" + +"Oh, yes, sir, everything except the study, for to my surprise Mr. Orton +was in there and said he'd lock the windows himself, sir." + +"Why did Mr. Orton's presence in the study surprise you?" + +"Because Mr. Darwin always keeps the study locked, sir. I have a +duplicate key to let the maid in to clean, sir, and it was my custom in +my rounds at night to knock on the door. If I got no answer I went in to +see that everything was all right, sir." + +"How long has Mr. Darwin been in the habit of locking his study?" + +"A good many years, sir, ten or more." + +"For what reason?" + +"I do not know, sir." + +"Did Mr. Orton explain how he came to be in the study?" + +"No, sir. When I found him there I withdrew at once." + +"After that, what did you do?" + +"I saw to it that all the servants had left the main wing and closed the +door into the servants' wing. When that door is closed it is impossible +to hear what goes on in the main part of the house, sir. We went to bed +and did not know the master was dead until Mr. Orton informed us this +morning, sir." + +"I see. This applies to all the servants, you can swear to that?" + +"Yes, sir, to all except the valet and Mrs. Darwin's maid. They do not +leave the main wing until dismissed for the night." + +"Who opened up the house this morning?" + +"The police, sir." + +The coroner looked inquiringly at the detective, who answered promptly: +"Nothing had been tampered with. The burglar alarms on the windows were +all intact and the front door was double-locked when the doctor +arrived." + +The coroner turned once more to the butler. "When did you last see Mr. +Darwin alive?" + +"Yesterday about six o'clock, sir. He was just going out." + +"Then he was not home for dinner?" + +"No, sir. Mr. Orton and Mrs. Darwin dined alone, sir, for even Mr. Lee +was away." + +"Who is Mr. Lee?" + +"Mr. Darwin's nephew, sir. He has lived here ever since he was a lad, +sir." + +Coroner Graves pondered a moment, then asked abruptly, "Have you ever +noticed any signs of ill-feeling between your master and mistress?" + +The answer came without a moment's hesitation, "No, sir, and even if I +did it was not my place, begging your pardon, sir, to pry into the +affairs of my betters." + +The jury smiled, but the coroner frowned as he told Mason that he was +through questioning him, for he was evidently a stickler in regard to +upholding the dignity of the law as embodied in his own proper person, +of course. + +The examination of the other servants was a mere formality. None of them +knew anything of the tragedy and they were disposed of in a group with +the exception of the valet and Ruth's maid. + +The former, being questioned, stated that his master had given him the +evening, that he had left the house at six and had not returned until +eight this morning. Where had he been at midnight, why at the Highfling, +on Fourteenth Street, dancing with his girl. + +The coroner summoned a policeman and sent him out to verify this +statement, then called Ruth's maid, who supplied him with the first bit +of tangible evidence against her mistress. + +"How long have you been in your present position, Annie?" he asked, +glancing at the sheet he held in his hand. + +"Five months, sir," answered Annie, with a grin and curtsey. She was +quite a pretty girl and it was evident that she was bursting to tell all +she knew, so the coroner asked her to relate everything that had +happened the night before, admonishing her to be careful not to forget a +single detail. + +She tossed her head. "As if I'm like to forget, sir, with it all ending +in murder, sir." She spoke the word in a thrilling whisper, enjoying to +the full her connection with so sensational an affair. + +"Last night, sir, about ten-thirty, as I was getting my mistress ready +for bed, came a knock at the door and who should it be but Mr. Orton, +saying that the master wished to see my mistress in the study. Quick as +a wink she was after him down the stairs, and I hadn't hardly had time +to fix the bed before she was back again----" + +"Be more definite," interrupted the coroner. "Was she gone five +minutes?" + +"Nearer ten, sir," came the ready answer. + +"Were you making the bed that it took you ten minutes to fix it?" +inquired the coroner, sharply. + +The girl hung her head. "No, sir. I went out in the hall to see if I +could hear anything, but there was no sound and when I saw my mistress +coming up the stairs I ran back in the room and noticed the clock said +about twenty to eleven, sir." + +"Be careful how you give false impressions, my girl. Remember that we +always learn the truth," said the coroner, severely. + +The girl was quite abashed and just a little frightened. "It wasn't any +harm, sir," she murmured, "and I didn't hear anything, so I thought it +didn't have to be told." + +"Go on with your story," shortly. + +"Yes, sir. My mistress came back looking very excited and sat down at +her desk. She wrote something on a paper and put it in a white envelope, +then she told me to give it to her chauffeur and to tell him to go for +Mr. Davies and bring him back as fast as possible. She said I needn't +come back to her, so I did what she told me and then went to bed. I +don't know how long I'd been asleep when Mr. Orton woke me and told me +my mistress was ill. I flung on some clothes and followed him to her +room, where the doctor told me to stay the rest of the night. I didn't +know the master was dead until I went to get my breakfast. The butler +told me, and that is all I know, sir." + +"You have no idea what was in the note?" + +"No, sir. It was sealed." + +The chauffeur was called next and testified that what the maid had +related with regard to him was correct. He had taken the note to my +house and delivered it to my man. When I had entered the machine he had +driven me to the Darwin home and left me at the front steps. + +"Did the maid give you Mr. Davies' address?" asked an inquisitive juror. + +"No, sir. I was Mrs. Darwin's chauffeur before her marriage and had +often driven Mr. Davies home, sir." + +"Then Mr. Davies was acquainted with Mrs. Darwin before her marriage?" +This from another juror. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did you not think it odd that your mistress should send for Mr. Davies +at that time of night?" inquired the coroner. + +"I didn't think about it one way or 'tother. I'm paid to obey orders, +sir." + +There was nothing more to be obtained from him and as by this time it +had grown late a short recess was called for luncheon. I had hoped to +see Ruth, but I was disappointed for she kept her room and so, not +caring to join the others in the dining-room, I had Mason bring me a +bite in the room adjoining the study. + +When the inquest was reopened I once more took a chair near a window but +above the table instead of below it, where I could watch more closely +the witnesses as they were called. To my surprise my companion of the +morning again chose a seat beside me. + +Then the coroner rapped for order and inquired if Gregory had returned. + +"Yes, sir," answered the policeman promptly, coming forward and +saluting. "The valet's alibi is O. K., sir. The music hall attendant +remembers speaking to him at midnight, and his girl corroborated his +testimony." + +"Very well. That effectually disposes of the servants," remarked the +coroner. "Now for the more important witnesses." + +I was hoping that he would call me first, but the name that fell from +his lips was that of Claude Orton, private secretary and creature of the +murdered man. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SECRETARY + + +What was Orton going to say? How many of last night's events had come +under his notice? I had no recollection of having seen him until he had +turned on the study lights, yet Ruth had been manifestly uneasy and had +thought that she had heard his step in the hall. Where had he been when +Ruth left the drawing-room and how close was he to the scene of the +tragedy when the shot was fired? But all this was idle conjecture. I +would know soon enough what I had to fear from this man, and as I caught +the ugly gleam in his prominent eyes when he turned them for an instant +my way I realized that he would do his very best to hurt me. My +peremptory manner last night would be paid back in full, measure for +measure, and he was cunning enough to guess that he could wound me most +through Ruth. + +"You are Mr. Darwin's secretary?" the coroner was saying when I was once +more cognizant of my surroundings. + +"I am his private secretary. I have charge of his business affairs," +with a trace of condescension beneath his apparent humility. + +"Where do you discharge your duties?" + +"At his office in Broad Street. I attend to his correspondence." + +"Is it not odd that a man of Mr. Darwin's--er--wealth--should introduce +his secretary on an equal footing with his family?" + +The secretary squirmed and the man beside me grinned delightedly through +his forest of red whiskers. + +"I am a distant connection of the family," answered Orton. "I--er--he +asked me to make my home with him a month ago." + +"And how long have you been in his employ?" + +"About two months." + +"You are then acquainted with his private affairs also?" + +"Not at all, only those relating to his business." + +"And what is this business you are always talking about?" inquired the +coroner ironically. In his opinion rich men evidently had no need of +occupation. + +"He was director of the Darwin Bank," answered Orton, discomfited. "He +also played on the market." + +"A speculator, eh? Did he also play fast and loose in his domestic +affairs?" continued the coroner with a shrewdness I should not have +given him credit for. + +For a moment Orton was puzzled, then a great light dawned upon him and +he laughed feebly. "Yes, he was not on good terms with his wife, if that +is what you mean. He was not what you would call a model husband." + +"What an infernal idiot that fellow is," said the man beside me with a +sneer, but I was too much concerned with what Orton would reveal to take +any interest in side comments. + +"You testified last night that you had heard the shot?" remarked the +coroner, changing the subject abruptly. "Where were you at that +particular time?" + +"On the stairs. I had been doing some work in the little room beyond the +study and on my way to my room had paused on the lower step to count the +strokes of the hall clock. Just as I finished counting twelve the shot +rang out," answered Orton very humbly, as if anxious to efface his +personality from the minds of his listeners. + +"What did you do then?" + +"My first impulse was to flee up the stairs. I am a timid man and +dislike the sight of bloodshed. But sometime previously I had heard a +step in the hall and looking out had seen Mrs. Darwin enter the study. +Fearing that it was she who was hurt I followed Mr. Davies into the +study." + +He wiped his brow with a trembling hand and I mentally decided that he +had had a bad minute concocting that piece of testimony--for one part of +it at least was a decided fabrication. Ruth had been in the study only a +minute and had not gone in some time before, as he tried to imply. + +"Mr. Davies entered ahead of you? Where did he come from?" queried the +coroner. + +"He was in the drawing-room, which is nearer the study than the stairs, +and so he reached the room first, but he paused at the door for a minute +and I was right behind him when he spoke to Mrs. Darwin." + +"What did he say to Mrs. Darwin?" + +"He cried out, 'Ruth!' and she dropped something shiny from her hand and +fainted. While Mr. Davies picked her up I turned on the light and +noticed for the first time that Mr. Darwin was dead." + +Another prevarication! He could no more have helped knowing who had been +shot than I if he was right behind me as he said! + +"The study was in darkness then?" + +"No. There was a small lamp lighted on the table but it did not give +sufficient light to distinguish clearly the rest of the room." + +"And when you turned on the light how many persons were in the room?" + +"Just Mr. Davies, Mrs. Darwin, and I." + +"Might there not have been someone else who left by the windows before +you lighted the room?" + +"No, for I locked the windows at Mr. Darwin's request a half-hour +before, and they were still locked when the police arrived." + +"Could anyone have escaped by the door then?" + +"Impossible, for I should have seen that person. Besides, Mr. Davies was +at the door almost immediately after the shot was fired." + +"You said Mrs. Darwin had something shiny in her hand. Were you able to +tell what it was?" + +"Yes, it was a pistol," he said, with a triumphant look in my direction. + +"That's a lie!" cried a man's voice, and Ruth's chauffeur detached +himself from the group of servants to shake a finger beneath Orton's +nose. "It's a lie, you miserable little worm! Take it back or I'll wring +your neck!" + +I think he would have done it, too, had not a policeman thrust him out +into the hall, where he remained to curse Orton roundly before he moved +away. A servant's loyalty to a sweet and gentle mistress, and I +determined it should not go unrewarded, for nowadays such loyalty is +rare. + +The murmur of approval that followed this act showing in what odium the +secretary was held by the servants, made the coroner a little doubtful +of his man and more than ever anxious that his statement be properly +substantiated. + +"Have you any reason to suspect Mrs. Darwin other than the fact that she +held the pistol in her hand?" he asked after due deliberation. + +"She knew that Mr. Darwin kept a pistol in the drawer of this table and +she had quarreled with him an hour and a half before," replied Orton +with a triumphant expression on his pale face. + +"She quarreled with him, you say? Tell me all you know about it." + +"Mr. Darwin was away for dinner and I believe he returned about +ten-thirty, but of this I cannot be absolutely sure, since he has a key +of his own and I was in the study with the door closed." + +"What were you doing in the study?" interrupted the coroner. + +"I was answering some letters which Mr. Darwin had left for me," replied +Orton. + +"Mason testified that the study was usually kept locked," continued the +coroner. "Have you also a duplicate key?" + +"No, I have no key. He told me he would leave the door open for me and +he unlocked it before he left the house," returned Orton, quietly. + +"Go on with your story." + +"At ten-thirty Mr. Darwin entered the study and told me to call Mrs. +Darwin," resumed Orton. "She, as you know, answered the summons. At +first they talked in low tones, but presently from their raised voices I +knew that they were quarreling and quarreling bitterly, for I heard Mr. +Darwin threaten to do something or other to Mr. Davies. Then Mrs. +Darwin opened the door and rushed upstairs and Mr. Darwin called me to +him. He said that he was expecting a visitor but wished me to watch Mrs. +Darwin's movements and, when he summoned me, to report them to him. +After which he closed and locked the door. It was then that I heard Mrs. +Darwin telling her maid to make haste. I hurried to the back stairs and +followed Annie to the garage where I heard her instructions to the +chauffeur. Coming back to the house I hung around the darkened hall and +while I waited I heard voices in the study, but I was unable to +distinguish whose they were. Then Mrs. Darwin came downstairs and I drew +back into the little room next the study to await developments. She +lighted the drawing-room and about eleven-twenty-five she opened the +front door, admitted Mr. Davies, locked the door, and led him into the +drawing-room. It must have been about five minutes later that Mr. Darwin +called me to the study and asked for my report. He was seated in that +chair leaning back with his pen in his hand and in just the same +position as we found him when he had been shot. I told him what I had +seen and he laughed and clapped his hands softly as if something tickled +his fancy." + +"'So we've a broker in the house, eh?' he said. 'He should know how to +play fast and loose, eh? I'll make him useful, this broker lover of our +stainless Ruth!'" + +Orton got no further. It was more than flesh and blood could endure to +sit and hear him repeat that odious man's remarks in that softly +insinuating voice. "Stop!" I cried, springing to my feet. "Your honor, I +protest against such things being dragged into this court of inquiry!" + +"That will do, Mr. Davies," said the coroner stiffly. But I believe he +feared to antagonize me too far, for he said to Orton, "You need not +repeat Mr. Darwin's conversation." + +Orton bowed obsequiously in deference to his superior. Ugh, how I +despised him! + +"It was then that he told me to lock the windows and he was laughing +when I left the room," finished Orton. + +"Do you know what occasioned the quarrel between the husband and wife?" +suddenly inquired the inquisitive juror. + +"It was a love-letter that Mrs. Darwin had written to Mr. Davies," said +Orton. + +I think the coroner was afraid he was going to divulge its contents, for +he interposed hurriedly, "Did anyone else know that the pistol was kept +in this table drawer?" + +"No, only Mrs. Darwin and myself." + +"Is this the pistol in question?" pointing to the revolver. + +"Yes. It belongs to Mr. Darwin and has his initials engraved on the +handle." + +The coroner nodded in confirmation. "Do you recognize this +handkerchief?" holding up a dainty lace-covered bit of cambric partly +stained with blood. + +"I have seen Mrs. Darwin carry one like it." + +"Are you and Mrs. Darwin the only members of the household?" + +"We were last night. Mrs. Darwin's father has been away for two weeks on +a vacation, and Lee Darwin, Mr. Darwin's nephew, left the house +yesterday morning." + +"What do you mean?" + +"He had a dispute with his uncle and I overheard Mr. Darwin tell Lee to +get out and stay out, which he promptly did. He went to the Yale Club +and has not been back since." + +"That is all, Mr. Orton. Gregory," called the coroner. + +"Yes, sir," answered that worthy. + +"Go to the Yale Club and inquire for Mr. Lee Darwin. If possible bring +him here." + +"Very good, sir." + +When the policeman had gone the coroner turned to me. "Now, Mr. Davies, +we will hear what you have to say." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE + + +How I wished that I had been born blind, or failing that, that I had +been a thousand miles away when that fatal shot was fired! A coward's +attitude? Perhaps, but for the life of me at that moment I could not see +how my testimony could be anything but damaging to the girl I loved. + +"Mr. Davies, will you tell the jury what happened last night," said the +coroner. + +Very calmly I told them all that had happened, saying that I was a +life-long friend of Ruth, that she had asked me to come to the house, +and that in the course of conversation I had urged her to get me a paper +which was of value to me. She entered the study and almost immediately +the shot rang out. I ran to the door and found her standing beside her +husband. The shock of his death caused her to faint and I carried her +from the room. + +When I was through, the coroner stroked his chin reflectively. I was +hoping he would dismiss me without further parley, but instead he began +his cross-examination. + +"Mr. Davies, did you not think it strange that she should send for you +so late at night?" he commenced, after a slight pause. + +"Under the circumstances, no," I replied. + +"Under what circumstances?" + +"In the interview between Mr. and Mrs. Darwin, of which you have heard, +Mr. Darwin threatened to ruin me. Mrs. Darwin sent for me because she +desired to warn me against her husband." + +I saw several of the jurymen nudging each other and even the coroner's +brows shot up a trifle, but I decided that it was far better to +strengthen the case against her than to have them construing all manner +of scandal from my refusal to answer. + +"Could she not have written to warn you, just as well?" pursued the +coroner. + +"She believed that I would take no notice of such a warning unless it +were given in person," I replied. + +"Would not the next morning have been ample time?" caustically. + +"I can't presume to say," I shrugged. + +"You were acquainted with Mrs. Darwin before her marriage. Was it merely +in the capacity of her friend?" He spoke diffidently, as if anxious not +to offend my sensibilities. + +I debated the point and finally came to the conclusion that there was no +object in airing the family skeleton, more particularly as it might get +Dick into trouble with the authorities and thus set at naught Ruth's +dearly bought sacrifice. + +I bowed therefore and replied quietly, "Yes, your honor, I was merely +her friend." + +The coroner gave me a swift glance from beneath half-closed lids as he +fingered a sheet of paper thoughtfully. + +"You said that Mrs. Darwin entered the study to reclaim a paper which +was of value to you, did you not?" he inquired. + +"Yes," I answered, briefly. + +"Is this the paper?" he continued in a peculiar tone, holding up the +letter that Ruth had described to me. + +"I have no idea," I retorted. + +"What do you mean by that?" he continued sharply. + +"Mrs. Darwin simply told me that in the study-table drawer was a letter +which her husband could use against me. I urged her to retrieve it. +Never having seen it I cannot possibly say whether the paper in your +hand is the one or not," I returned, quietly. + +For a moment he was nonplussed, and then he asked: "You heard Mr. Orton +say it was a love-letter written to you by Mrs. Darwin?" + +"Oh, yes, but I didn't hear you ask him how he knew this. No, nor did I +hear him tell you that he fished the torn scraps of Mrs. Darwin's +private correspondence from her basket and pieced it together for her +husband's delectation," I replied, scornfully, glad of the chance to let +the jury know the truth concerning that letter. + +I saw the look of disgust with which various of the members of the jury +favored Orton, and even the coroner was impressed to the point of laying +the letter aside and resuming his attack upon a different line. + +"When you sent Mrs. Darwin into the study you were both aware, of +course, of Mr. Darwin's presence in that room?" + +"No. Mr. Darwin had told his wife he was going out and we had no idea +there was anyone in the study." + +"But finding him there unexpectedly might she not have shot him to +secure the letter?" pursued the relentless voice. + +I shook my head and replied abruptly (I have learned since that he had +no right to ask that question, but I had no knowledge of legal +technicalities): "Impossible. She was in the study only a minute before +the shot was fired. This I am positive of, Mr. Orton's evidence to the +contrary. She had left the door slightly ajar and I remember listening +for sounds from the study just before the clock struck twelve. I heard +no voices. Besides, the study was in total darkness----" + +"You are sure the study was in darkness?" he interrupted with an odd +look. + +"Yes, I think I can safely say it was." + +"It has been proven that Mr. Darwin was writing just before he was shot. +Do you think he was in the habit of writing in the dark?" he inquired +sarcastically. + +I reddened. The detective's statement had slipped my mind, but I refused +to be ridiculed into changing my opinion. I could have staked my life +upon it that the study was dark. + +"Of course I was not in the room itself," I returned stiffly, "but by +the hesitating way in which Mrs. Darwin entered and from the fact that +no glow came through the doorway as she opened the door, I judged that +the study was in darkness." + +"The lamp on this table could never give sufficient light to be seen +from that doorway, Mr. Davies," remarked the coroner. + +I shook my head impatiently. "Nevertheless, I am convinced the study was +in darkness," I reiterated stubbornly. + +Seeing that he was getting nowhere he dropped the point, and asked: "Did +you also see the pistol in Mrs. Darwin's hand?" + +There was no use in quibbling since the fact was known, and I had no +idea of what Ruth herself would say on this point, so I replied in the +affirmative, adding: "As I stood in the doorway I could see that Mr. +Darwin had been shot as plainly as I could see that Mrs. Darwin was +standing beside his chair." + +"I thought you said the study was in darkness?" + +"It was, but the lamp was lighted as I sprang for the door." + +"Then you think there may have been someone else in the room?" + +"Yes." + +"Could you see the door of the study from your position in the +drawing-room?" + +"Yes." What was he getting at, anyway? + +"So that you could see whether anyone came out of the study, or entered +it after Mrs. Darwin?" + +"Yes." + +"Did anyone come out or go in?" + +"No." + +"You heard the evidence concerning the windows?" + +"Yes." + +"Do you still persist in saying there was someone else in the study?" + +So that was it. He was trying to trap me into making a contradictory +statement to pay up for my stubbornness concerning the study. But I had +no intention of being trapped by him. + +"I cannot be absolutely positive, your honor," I said, "but of this I am +certain. I had no knowledge of Mr. Orton's presence until he lighted the +study. Whether he was already in the room when Mrs. Darwin went in, or +whether he entered behind me, I am not prepared to say." + +"That's not so!" cried Orton, his face more pallid than ever. "I was out +in the hall, your honor, I was out in the hall!" + +The detective said something to him in an undertone, whereupon he +subsided tremblingly, but it was very plain to be seen that the coroner, +who had not been previously impressed with the man and who had since +come to regard him in the light of a sycophant, began to be suspicious +of the secretary, eyeing him with great disfavor, wondering, no doubt, +whether he were as innocent as he gave out. I began to breathe more +freely for Ruth, but at the coroner's next words my hopes were dashed +once more. + +"Knowing that Mrs. Darwin was in the study, why did you give the police +the impression last night that she had heard the shot from upstairs?" + +"She was ill. I didn't want her disturbed," I explained. + +"In other words, you feared to tell the truth," he commented. + +I made no answer. Protestations would only have made a bad matter worse. + +"Mr. Davies, you know, of course, that if a man dies intestate, his wife +inherits his property?" + +I nodded, but was decidedly puzzled. + +"Mr. Darwin died intestate," he continued quietly, watching to note the +effect upon me. + +"I don't understand you," I said, and I spoke the truth. I was out of my +depth, for he surely couldn't suppose that I was intimately acquainted +with Philip Darwin's personal affairs! Either that, or else he +possessed information of which I had no knowledge. It proved to be the +latter case. + +"In the waste basket we found partially burned scraps of what was +presumably a will, Mr. Davies, and here," holding up a heavy paper, "is +what Mr. Darwin was at work upon when he was shot. It is a will, Mr. +Davies, or rather the beginning of one, and it is not in Mrs. Darwin's +favor." + +I made no comment, but I could see what he was driving at. This was +another powerful factor to be added to Ruth's motive in taking her +husband's life. + +"This will is in favor of Cora Manning. Did you ever hear of her, Mr. +Davies?" continued the coroner. + +"I can't say that I have." + +"Do you also identify this handkerchief?" + +"No, I have never seen it before to my knowledge." + +"It might be Mrs. Darwin's?" + +"I don't know." + +"That is all at present. Mr. Cunningham, please." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE LAWYER + + +At the coroner's words the man beside me arose and walked to the front +of the room. He was about Philip Darwin's build and height, but his face +was fleshier, and he wore a full, square beard of a peculiar mottled +red, the same shade as his hair, as though both had been liberally +sprinkled with gray. He was very fastidiously dressed, I might say +almost foppishly so, even to the point of wearing spats and an eyeglass, +which he was continually screwing into his eye as he spoke. + +"You are Mr. Darwin's lawyer?" asked the coroner. + +"Yes. You will pardon me if I reply rather briefly. I have a bad throat +to-day and find it trying to speak at length," he apologized in a husky +voice. + +"Certainly, certainly. This is a mere formality," responded the coroner +affably, whereat the lawyer smiled, rather sardonically, I thought. + +"Mr. Cunningham, do you know whether the will that was destroyed was in +Mrs. Darwin's favor?" + +"It was." + +"Are you absolutely certain?" + +"Yes. I made it out when Mr. Darwin was married." + +"Do you know whether Mr. Darwin keeps any of his valuable papers in that +safe?" + +"I am sure he keeps nothing of value in it. His papers are in his vault +at the bank." + +"Have you none, then?" + +The lawyer shook his head and replaced his eyeglass with great +deliberation. "Two nights ago Mr. Darwin removed the last of his +securities from my office," he said with evident difficulty. + +"The last of his securities? Do you mean that he had been gradually +removing them from your care?" + +This time the lawyer nodded. + +"For what purpose?" asked the coroner. + +"I do not know," was the candid answer. "He was rather secretive. I +surmised he needed them in his dealings in Wall Street." + +"He did not actually say so?" + +"No. He told me nothing." + +"Since he was so secretive, might he not have put some of his securities +in that safe?" + +"No, I don't think so. However, you might have it opened--to satisfy +yourself," with a slight, rather mocking accent on the last word. + +"I think it just as well," responded the coroner, briskly. "Mr. +Cunningham, you don't by any chance happen to know the combination?" + +"No, I do not." + +"Jones, can you open that safe?" inquired the coroner. + +"I think so." The detective rose and advanced down the long room to the +safe, where he knelt down, the better to hear the fall of the tumblers. +While he twirled the knob of the dial now this way and now that, Mr. +Cunningham, as if in no way interested, moved to the window, where he +stood looking out with his back to the room. Now it happened that I was +sitting so that I could see his reflection in the window-pane, and I was +surprised to note the look of diabolical joy that overspread his +countenance as he rubbed his hands together in unholy glee, for it +seemed to me that such levity was decidedly out of place at this +particular time. + +But now my attention was diverted, for the detective straightened to his +full height and opened the safe door, which swung back on noiseless +hinges. As the detective darted within the cavernous depths, the lawyer +turned toward the room once more with a remnant of his smile on his lips +as he stroked his beard with a well-kept white hand. And then it flashed +across me where I had seen him before. It was on the Knickerbocker Roof, +late one evening in September, where I was supping with my partner after +the show. Cunningham had come in with a couple of chorus girls and my +partner had mentioned that he was a gay old boy, to which I had agreed +after watching him as he stroked his beard and made love to the girls. I +had not seen him since that night, roof gardens not being much in my +line, and so, of course, I had failed to remember him until that gesture +which seemed habitual with him recalled him to my mind. + +"Nothing, your honor," reported the detective, emerging with a +crestfallen face. "Nothing but a few receipted tailor's bills, an empty +cash box and a stoneless ring." + +"A what?" The coroner screwed himself around in his chair and the jury +strained backward as Jones spoke. + +Mr. Cunningham involuntarily put out his hand for the bauble as the +detective passed him, but Jones shook his head with a smile, as he +returned to the front of the room and placed the objects on the table +before the coroner. + +Coroner Graves examined with meticulous care the sheaf of bills, the +empty box. Then he put them aside and turned his attention to the +stoneless ring. + +"Odd, very odd," he said. "Why should a man like Mr. Darwin preserve a +stoneless ring?" + +"I think I can explain that," said the lawyer, coming forward very +leisurely. "May I look at it?" He held out his hand and the coroner +placed the ring within it. "Ah, yes, it is the same." He handed it back +with a courteous air, but I could not help feeling that somehow he was +merely amused by the attempts of the coroner to solve the problem. But +it must have been my own overwrought fancy, for his voice was sinister +enough through its throatiness, as he said: + +"My client, as perhaps you know, was very fond of the ladies. Before his +marriage he met a very beautiful young lady--her name does not matter, +it was not her own, for she was an actress, I believe--of whom he became +very fond. In fact, he told me he was going to engage himself to her, +and showed me that ring which he had bought her. It held within that now +broken setting a magnificent blue-white diamond. If you will look within +you will see the inscription which Mr. Darwin had engraved upon it." + +He paused, as much to rest his voice as to give the coroner the +opportunity of reading aloud for the benefit of the jury the sentiment +which graced the ring: "To my one love--D." + +"I remonstrated with him, told him she would take the ring and leave him +high and dry, but he would not listen and bestowed it upon her," resumed +the lawyer. "A week later he received a letter from her enclosing that." +He waved his hand toward the golden circlet contemptuously. "She had +kept the diamond and returned him his ring. She left the country and he +never heard from her again. Why he kept that empty shell I don't know. +Perhaps he put it in the safe and forgot it was there." + +"Where did you find it, Jones?" asked the coroner. + +"In one corner of the top shelf. I only discovered it because as I +passed my hand over the shelf the broken prong scratched me," replied +Jones. + +The coroner nodded. "A thin bit of gold not worth considering," he said, +adding as the lawyer was about to return to his seat: "Mr. Cunningham, +do you know Mr. Darwin's nephew?" + +"Yes, I have met him several times," responded the lawyer. + +"Was there not a will in his favor before the wedding?" + +"Yes, but it was destroyed when the new will was made." + +"Did Mr. Darwin mention to you recently that he intended changing his +will?" + +"No." + +"Have you ever heard of Cora Manning?" + +"No." + +"Yet Mr. Darwin had written her name on the will he was making at the +time he was shot, Mr. Cunningham." + +"Indeed? This is all news to me, sir. My client, as perhaps you have +heard, was exceedingly peculiar. He did not confide all his affairs to +me. In fact, he often employed more than one lawyer." + +The coroner raised his brows. "Well, he certainly was peculiar if he did +that. One lawyer ought to be enough for any sane man." + +"Quite right," responded Mr. Cunningham with an odd smile. "But perhaps +my client wasn't quite sane." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +LEE DARWIN + + +The coroner's retort, if he made one, was lost to me, for at this moment +loud voices were heard in the hall and a burly policeman came hurriedly +into the room. + +"What is it, Riley?" asked the coroner in an annoyed tone. + +"Beggin' yer pardon, sorr, but there's a young man out here and a divil +of a strong young man he is, yer honor," said the policeman. + +"What does he want?" + +"Shure an' he says he's Lee Darwin, but Oi'm on to their little tricks. +An' shure by the looks of him I'd say he was one of thim fresh cub +reporters that worries the life out of us huntin' for noos." + +"Reporter be hanged!" exclaimed a wrathful voice, as a young man strode +into the room. + +Here the details of the scene before him, the frowning coroner, the +amazed jury, the dignified lawyer, sank into his consciousness and he +stopped abruptly a few feet from the table. + +"What is the meaning of all this?" he inquired, but in a more subdued +tone. "Mr. Cunningham, what are all these people doing here?" + +Before the lawyer could answer him, he cried out suddenly, "My uncle! +What has happened to him!" + +"Mr. Darwin was shot last night," answered the coroner. + +"Shot? You--you mean murdered?" in a horrified whisper. + +The coroner nodded, then said briskly: "I am glad you are here. There +are several questions I should like to ask you." + +"I am at your service." + +The defiant lift of the head as he spoke, and the fiery look he cast +around the room as if challenging us to contradict him, were so like the +actions of a creature at bay that I examined him more attentively. He +was a tall, broad-shouldered, dark, young man, with a pair of snapping +black eyes that roamed restlessly about the room during his entire +examination. It was evident that he was laboring under some strong +emotion, for much as he controlled his voice and strove to appear calm +the muscles of his face betrayed him by their involuntary twitching, and +his hands were clenched convulsively at his sides. + +"You had a misunderstanding with your uncle yesterday morning. Is my +information correct?" + +No answer, only a savage look in Orton's direction, as though he divined +the source of the coroner's knowledge of his affairs. + +"I should like an answer, if you please," with some asperity. + +The young man laughed harshly. "I'd call it a quarrel," he said. + +"A quarrel, eh? What was the subject of this quarrel?" + +A slight pause while he mentally debated the wisdom of replying, then +with a sudden abandonment of his former brief manner, he said quickly: +"I objected to the way my uncle treated his wife. He took umbrage at +what he called my impertinence and told me to clear out. I did. It was +none too congenial here." + +"What do you mean by that last statement?" + +"My uncle was always at dagger's points with his father-in-law." + +"For what reason?" + +"I do not know. I fancy, though, that it was something pretty strong +that my uncle held over Mr. Trenton. I have heard him say things that +had I been Mr. Trenton, instead of listening meekly, I'd have jumped up +and knocked him down." + +"What was Mr. Trenton's attitude toward your uncle?" + +"He was always very pleasant to him, and never seemed to take offense at +what my uncle said." + +The coroner made a note on one of his many papers and then resumed his +questions. "What brought you back this morning if you had left the house +for good?" + +"I came to get the rest of my belongings. I left rather suddenly +yesterday." + +"When did you last see your uncle?" + +"In this study when I quarreled with him yesterday morning." + +"Did you notice whether he was wearing a ring on the little finger of +his left hand?" + +Was it my fancy, or did he pale? + +"My uncle never wore any rings," Lee Darwin answered. + +"Yet the physician testified that a ring had been pulled off his +finger." + +"He wore none when I saw him last." How proudly, and it seemed to me how +sadly, that was said. + +"Mr. Darwin, did you ever see that handkerchief before?" + +As the coroner held up the dainty trifle the young man started and with +a quick indrawn breath he leaned closer to examine it. Then with a look +of relief he straightened to his full height. + +"No, I do not recognize it," he said. + +"Whose did you think it was when I first held it up?" Again Coroner +Graves surprised me by his astuteness. + +"Why--why, Ruth's--Mrs. Darwin's," stammered the young man, somewhat +taken aback. + +"And it isn't hers?" persisted the coroner. + +"No, I'm positive it isn't." + +Certainly he was a young man after my own heart. + +"Would you swear to that fact?" went on the coroner inexorably. + +"Look here, do you think I'm lying to you?" demanded Lee Darwin, +angrily. + +"Would you swear to that fact?" repeated the coroner monotonously, +taking no notice of the outbreak. + +A dull red suffused the young man's dark face and his eyes smoldered as +he glanced at the coroner. "I refuse to answer," he said, sullenly. + +The coroner shrugged, having won the battle by creating just the +impression that he desired, namely that the handkerchief was Ruth's and +that for some reason Lee was trying to protect her. I swore softly below +my breath at the blunder young Darwin had committed in becoming angered, +for though I knew he could possibly have no motive for shielding Ruth, +having heard none of the previous evidence, he had yet managed to +strengthen the case against her by his strange attitude. + +"Mr. Darwin, did you ever hear of Cora Manning?" suddenly inquired the +coroner. + +Lee Darwin had himself better in hand this time, for his face did not +change from its sullen aspect, but he could not help clenching his +closed hand tighter until the knuckles showed white through the flesh. +That action alone told me that he knew the woman whose name was on +Philip Darwin's unfinished will. It also told me that he would deny it. +So I was not surprised when he said, a little stiffly, as though he +found it hard to speak at all: + +"No, I do not know her." + +"When you first recognized my official capacity what made you think +something had happened to your uncle?" + +For a moment he seemed nonplussed, then he answered readily enough, "I +suppose it was because I was entering his house and the thought of its +master and our last meeting was uppermost in my mind." + +"You are sure that it wasn't because you knew beforehand that he was +dead?" + +I thought he was going to faint, so pale did he become, but he rallied +instantly and said, haughtily, "Do you presume to intimate that I killed +my uncle?" + +"Not at all, since you could not possibly have been in the room at the +time," responded the coroner. "I merely wished to learn, whether when +you were standing outside the house late last night, you saw what +occurred in the study." + +This statement created an immense sensation. Everyone looked at everyone +else and then at Lee Darwin, who stood before the coroner with blazing +eyes and head flung high. + +"I came here to get my belongings and not to be questioned about an +affair of which I know nothing!" he exclaimed angrily. "I refuse to +answer further." + +The coroner shrugged. "Of course it is not really important. You can +tell your story in court when you have been arrested as an accessory +after the fact." + +"I know nothing about it, I tell you!" cried Darwin in exasperation. + +"Your footprints were found in the flower-bed, outside the study window. +What were you doing there at that time of night?" + +Lee Darwin laughed outright, whether with relief or hysteria I don't +know, though I incline to the former. + +"Your honor, your minions are not as clever as they seem to think. I +made those footprints yesterday morning when I left the house through +the study window. I turned around and stood there a moment to shake my +fist at my uncle," he said, sarcastically. + +"Just a moment, Mr. Darwin. Mason," called the coroner. + +The old butler came forward timidly. "Did you see Mr. Lee Darwin leave +the house yesterday morning?" inquired the coroner. + +"No, sir. I knew he was in the study after breakfast but I did not +notice whether he came out," he answered, peering anxiously at the young +man. + +"That will do. Mr. Orton, please." + +The secretary rose and took the butler's place, and as though he had +anticipated the question he said eagerly, "Mr. Lee Darwin left the house +by the window yesterday morning." + +It struck me he was trying to curry favor with young Darwin by the way +he spoke and fawned upon him. + +"You are positive of this?" said the coroner. + +"Yes, Mr. Lee was just leaving the house when his uncle said something +to him and he followed him into the study. I was waiting for Mr. Darwin +in the hall, and after the quarrel, I entered the study at Mr. Darwin's +summons in time to see Mr. Lee leave by the window and then turn back +again, as he said." + +"Now that the word of a gentleman has been vouched for by that of a +miserable spy, I trust you will permit me to go to my apartments." The +sneer that accompanied the words made Orton wince, but the coroner +remained imperturbed. He granted the permission with a wave of the hand. + +"Would it be asking too much to allow me to see my uncle's body?" +inquired the young man, pausing in the doorway. + +"Unfortunately your uncle has been removed to the undertaker's," +responded the coroner affably. "If you care to call on them----" + +With a gesture of disgust the young man left the room and the coroner +was human enough to enjoy his advantage after his own discomfiture at +young Darwin's hands. + +And now only Ruth remained to be questioned. Would he tell me or Orton +to summon her? To my surprise he called Cunningham to him and after a +whispered consultation the lawyer left the room and I heard him +ascending the stairs. + +This unexpected move the coroner explained in a few curt words. "Under +the circumstances Mrs. Darwin is entitled to counsel," he said. "Mr. +Cunningham has kindly consented to act in that capacity this afternoon." + +Had the case against her progressed to the point where she needed legal +advice? Then, indeed I had nothing to hope for from the interview which +was now about to take place. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE VERDICT + + +A few moments later Cunningham returned alone, and presently I heard +Ruth's step upon the stair. I arose and as she entered the room I +hastened to her and led her to a chair, giving her a reassuring smile as +I did so. She looked so little, and so tired, so in need of comfort that +it seemed a sacrilege to question her. As for believing her guilty of +murder, that was too preposterous! + +But then the coroner was not in love with her, and he had his duty to +perform. I will give him credit for this, that as he looked into her +sweet, gentle face his duty became none too pleasant for him and he +conversed with a stranger who had entered the room before he again took +up his burden of office. When he did it was to say: + +"Mr. Ames, the finger-print expert, has a word to say before we can pass +verdict on this case." + +Before Ames could speak, Cunningham held up his hand. + +"I would like you to hear what Mrs. Darwin has to say first before you +attempt to actually incriminate her," he said. + +At his words Ruth turned and glanced at him sharply, with a puzzled +expression on her face which I could not account for, as she stared at +him uncomprehendingly, but as the full meaning of his words dawned upon +her, she turned her terrified eyes in my direction. + +"Carlton," she said, and she raised her right hand solemnly, as though I +were the judge before whom she was taking an oath, "I am innocent of any +crime. In God's name, tell me you do not believe me guilty!" + +She caught my hand and drew me down so that she could see my face. + +"Ruth," I replied--it cost me an effort but for her sake I strove to +speak quietly--"when I found you in the study I was startled, but never +once have I believed you guilty, and now I know that you are innocent." + +She released my hand and settled back in her chair with a sigh of +relief. As long as I knew her innocent what mattered what anyone +thought, was her attitude. But, alas, it was not I but the jury she +would have to convince. + +"Mrs. Darwin, I should like very much to have your version of the events +of last night," said the coroner, and his voice was very gentle as he +addressed her. + +"Ruth," I interposed quickly, "be careful what you say." I was in mortal +dread lest she incriminate herself beyond redemption, and yet I knew her +to be innocent! Explain the paradox as best you may. I could not. + +"Well meant, but ill-advised," said Mr. Cunningham. "Your best plan, +Mrs. Darwin, is complete frankness." + +Again that strange puzzled look on Ruth's face as she turned toward him, +then as if his words found an echo in her own heart, she looked once +more toward me and said simply, "Yes, Carlton, why shouldn't I tell him +all since I am innocent?" + +I groaned and mentally anathematized the coroner for his choice of +counsel. I was powerless to help her in the face of her guileless +attitude and evident inability to realize the danger of her position. + +Very quietly and very candidly she told the coroner all that had +occurred that fateful night, most of which was already known to those +present in the room, the only new evidence being her account of what +took place after she entered the study. + +"The study was dark and as I left the door only barely ajar and the hall +was dim, it was impossible to see any objects in the room. I knew +however about where the table was located and I groped my way to it, and +found the drawer. It was closed and I had to pull quite hard to open it. +As I did so I thought I heard someone breathe quite close to me. I was +paralyzed with fright, but as moment after moment passed and I heard no +further sound, I decided I was mistaken and slowly put my hand in the +drawer and felt around for the letter that I had come to get. Just as my +hand closed around it I heard again that sound. Oh, it was horrible! +Like someone trying to breathe who couldn't!" + +She broke off and hid her face in her trembling little hands, and at my +suggestion Mason brought her a glass of water. When she had sipped it +she thanked him with a sweet smile and I saw the old man hastily wipe +away a tear as he departed. I am not sure but that I did the same +myself, as Ruth resumed her narrative in a voice not quite so steady as +before. + +"I snatched my hand from the drawer and had taken but two swift steps +away from the table, as I thought, when there was a sudden deafening +roar. I stood stock-still, unable to move, and when I did finally take +a step I trod on something hard. Mechanically, I stooped and picked it +up. It was then that the lamp lighted and I saw Phil lying +there--dead--almost beside me. I was stunned and stood like one stricken +until I heard Carlton's voice. I had no idea what I had picked up until +that moment, but when I saw what it was and what Carlton was thinking, I +cried out in horror--and fainted. That's all I know," she ended, +faintly. + +I don't think they really believed her. The skeptical smile on the +coroner's face was reflected on the countenances of the jury. It was an +ingenious account but there was entirely too much that was still +obscure. + +"Why did you not light the study instead of groping in the dark?" asked +the coroner. + +"Because I knew that Mr. Orton was spying upon me, because I saw him in +the hall as I entered, and did not wish him to follow and see what I was +doing," she answered quietly, thereby drawing the noose tighter about +her own neck by providing with a perfectly good alibi the only other +person who could possibly have been in the room at the time! + +But she was ignorant of their suspicions and failed to see the look of +relief that crossed the secretary's pallid face. + +"Mrs. Darwin, do you recognize this pistol?" + +"Yes. It is Phil's. It's the one I picked up." + +The coroner scratched his head in perplexity. Either she was innocent or +she was a magnificent actress, for only in those two instances could she +answer these questions with so much directness and sincerity. I could +see that he inclined toward the latter assumption for his tone grew +harsher as he said abruptly: "You were not on good terms with your +husband. Did you know that he was making a new will when he was shot?" + +Ruth opened her eyes wide in astonishment. "Why, how could I know what +he was doing when I did not know he was at home?" she asked naïvely. + +"Do you know anyone by the name of Cora Manning?" pursued the coroner. + +"Cora--Manning? No." Her voice trembled slightly as she pronounced the +name. + +"You are sure?" + +"I do not know her," repeated Ruth firmly. + +"She is the lady whose name is on the unfinished will. Evidently your +husband must have thought a good deal of her for he had torn up his old +will and was apparently going to leave everything to her." + +Ruth drew herself up proudly. "Excuse me, sir, but my husband's affairs +were his own. I take no interest in them whatsoever." + +"Not even to the extent of losing several millions?" spoke up the juror +who seemed always to have so much to say. + +But Ruth did not deign to answer him. Instead she addressed the coroner. +"By a legal agreement entered into at the time of our marriage my +husband was free to dispose of his wealth as he saw fit." + +If her voice held a tinge of bitterness who can blame her? + +"As you saw fit, since his murder gives it all to you," continued the +irrepressible juror. + +"Your honor, I protest against such insinuations," I cried, for +Cunningham seemed to have fallen asleep. + +"I don't understand you," faltered Ruth, her eyes growing dark as they +traveled over the stern, set faces of the jury. Then her hand fluttered +involuntarily to her throat. "I don't understand you," she said again. + +As the juror opened his mouth to reply, the coroner silenced him with a +gesture. "Kindly permit me to conduct this investigation," he said +curtly, then to Ruth, "Mrs. Darwin, was your husband in the habit of +wearing rings?" + +"I never saw him wear any," she answered. It was plain she was puzzled +by his question. + +"Yet he might have done so last night?" + +"I suppose so." + +"You didn't happen to remove it, did you?" + +"Most certainly not," she said, highly insulted by the implication. + +"Your honor, may I make a suggestion?" Cunningham awoke suddenly to the +exigencies of the situation. + +"Certainly, Mr. Cunningham," responded the coroner graciously. + +"It has occurred to me that perhaps Mr. Darwin had in a moment of +sentiment slipped that stoneless ring on his finger, and then had +trouble in removing it. Of course it is only a suggestion," +apologetically. + +"No doubt it was just as you say," answered the coroner. "After all, the +ring has nothing to do with the actual murder. Thank you, Mr. +Cunningham." + +As the lawyer resumed his seat with that sardonic smile upon his lips, +the coroner picked up the handkerchief. "Is this yours, Mrs. Darwin?" + +"No." + +"Are you sure?" + +"Yes." + +"May I see that handkerchief that you are holding so tightly in your +hand?" + +Without a word she passed the bit of cambric to him and he held it up +beside the blood-stained handkerchief. They were exactly the same, +texture, pattern, and design! + +"Well?" The coroner laid the two articles upon the table and bent a +flashing look upon her. + +"I don't understand how it can be just like mine when it doesn't belong +to me," she said in a frightened voice. "Phil bought it for me at the +church bazaar--just after we were married. He--he only bought me one." + +"Wasn't it strange--his buying only one?" + +"No--no. I wouldn't let him get me any more. I--I didn't want him to buy +me anything at all." + +"Then since it is quite evident that you did not love Philip Darwin, +will you explain why you married him at all?" + +"Ruth," I said, warningly, and this time she heeded my advice. + +"I can't discuss my private affairs, sir. They have nothing to do +with--with Phil's death, and they are my own," she said with troubled +dignity. + +"Do you realize that your silence will militate against you?" + +"I can't help it, sir," she answered with tears in her eyes. + +"Just one thing more. What is your father's present address?" + +"Daddy's address? Surely you can't think--but he wasn't here last +night!" she cried in terror. + +"I know. It is merely a formality," replied the coroner, in a soothing +voice. + +"Shall I tell him, Carlton?" she asked me, ignoring her counsel. + +"Yes, I suppose you had better," I returned. + +"He is staying with Mrs. Bailey at Tarrytown." + +"Thank you, Mrs. Darwin. If you will remain where you are, please, we +will now hear from Mr. Ames," said the coroner. + +The finger-print expert stepped forward. "My evidence is of the +briefest," he said. "I have examined the pistol and have taken an +impression of the finger-prints upon the handle. I have the enlargements +with me and I should like to compare them with a set made by Mrs. +Darwin. If you please." + +He extended an inked pad toward Ruth and showed her how to make the +impressions that he desired. Then followed silence while he compared +them with the enlargements. Then with a brisk nod he passed the plates +to the jury. + +"Well, Mr. Ames?" asked the coroner. + +"Finger-prints, as you know, are infallible evidence," said the expert. +"The finger-prints on the handle of the pistol are the same as those +made by Mrs. Darwin here in your presence and there are no other prints +of any kind upon the pistol. Therefore I do not hesitate to say that the +only person who handled that revolver last night was Mrs. Darwin." + +The expert sat down, and satisfied that the chain of evidence was +complete the coroner ordered the jury to leave the room and arrive at a +decision. We had not long to wait. No sooner had they filed out than +they were back again, nor do I think that anyone was surprised when +they found that the deceased had come to his death by a pistol shot +fired at the hands of his wife, Ruth Darwin. + +"Carlton, do you still believe in me?" she asked dully. + +"With all my heart and soul, Ruth, dear. I shall always believe in you +even against all the world," I answered simply. + +She gave me a look of love unutterable, then for the second time in +twenty-four hours crumpled in a heap on the floor beside me. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +JENKINS' ADVICE + + +Philip Darwin was a man of so great wealth and social prominence that +the news of his murder and the subsequent arrest of his wife aroused the +public to such a pitch of sensational excitement and furor that the +district attorney, an exceedingly clever man by the name of Grenville, +was forced to set the trial for the end of November, within two months +from the date of the murder. + +Whereupon I hastened to lay the case before my lawyers, who were also +the Trenton solicitors, since I took no great stock in Cunningham for +the reason that he had been Darwin's attorney. Therefore, as I remarked +before, I went to the firm of Vaughn and Chase, where I found the senior +partner in his office. I would rather have spoken to Chase, who was +younger and more enthusiastic, but he was out of town, so I had to +content myself with Richard Vaughn. + +The senior partner was the old-fashioned type of lawyer, cautious and +unimaginative, and he listened to my rather disconnected statements with +patient tolerance. When I had finished he shook his head and eyed me +rather pityingly. + +"You know of course that we do not make it a practice to take up +criminal cases?" he said with indulgent kindliness. + +"I didn't know," I said, rising and walking toward the door. "I came to +you because you have handled her father's business for years, but I +certainly won't trouble you to defend her since it might break a rule of +your firm," and I flung open the door. + +"Tut, my dear boy, don't fly off the handle at my first remark. Close +the door and sit down, please. Of course we'll take the case," he +continued as I resumed my seat, "or rather we shall see to it that she +has proper counsel at the time. But you must realize for yourself that +we haven't much evidence to go on." + +"You have a good knowledge of her character, you know she is incapable +of murder, and you have her account of what happened in the study," I +returned. + +Again he bent upon me that tolerant, pitying look. "My dear boy," he +said, laying a hand on my knee, "you are young and in love and as is +only natural you are letting your heart run away with your head. Besides +you know nothing of courts and their proceedings. Mrs. Darwin's account +of that minute or two in the study is, to say the least, extremely +fanciful." + +"But true," I interrupted with conviction. + +"Yes, yes, of course," he replied soothingly. "But remember that a jury +of twelve honest, but more or less stolid, citizens is convinced by +facts and not by fancies." + +"What do you advise then?" I asked dully. + +"I shall call on the little lady myself and have a talk with her and +arrange for her defense. I shall also try to make her more comfortable. +My advice to you is, get more evidence, good, substantial, unshakable +evidence." + +It was all very well for Mr. Vaughn to talk of getting further evidence, +I muttered savagely to myself as I dined that night. But where in +Kingdom Come was I going to find it? Over and over I reviewed the +coroner's inquest and the more I studied the facts the blacker things +grew for Ruth. + +In utter weariness of mind I finally flung myself into my chair, from +which I had been called so abruptly two nights before, and waived aside +the newspapers that Jenkins was offering me. I had caught a glimpse of +the headlines. Philip Darwin's life history, his penchant for chorus +girls, his wealth, and his prominence, were blazoned forth for all to +read. Even his wedding was raked from the files, and old pictures of the +wedding party were on display. I had no desire to go over the sickening +business again. + +And then as Jenkins laid the papers on the table, the name, Cora +Manning, caught my eye and I picked up the discarded sheet and avidly +devoured the column devoted to this woman whose name had appeared on +Philip Darwin's will. An enterprising reporter had discovered where Cora +Manning lodged and had forthwith set out to interview her. But the only +person he saw was the girl's good-natured landlady who declared that +Cora Manning had left the house at eleven the night of the murder, +carrying her suitcase and that she had told her landlady that she was +going on a journey of great importance and not to worry in the least +about her. When the reporter asked where the girl had gone the landlady +returned that she had no idea, but that since she had taken artists, +writers, and actors as lodgers, she had ceased to worry herself about +their comings and goings so long as they paid their board, for according +to her they were all erratic and far from responsible. + +All of which, contended the reporter who had made the scoop, only +corroborated the statement which he had made the previous evening as to +what actually took place in the study between the husband and wife. Mrs. +Darwin had entered the study and had quarreled with her husband about +the letter. Mr. Darwin in anger had torn up his will and had defiantly +begun a new one, writing down the first name that occurred to him to +annoy his wife, whereupon she snatched the pistol from the drawer and +killed him. + +"Fool!" I muttered, flinging the paper into the fire in my indignation. +"Of all the idiotic trash that has been printed that's about the worst. +Does the young idiot think all that could happen in two minutes? Ye +gods, has the whole world gone mad that they can believe her guilty!" + +"It's a dreadful thing, sir," said Jenkins respectfully, as he +replenished the fire that I had so signally extinguished. + +"It's a miserable business and blacker than Egypt," I answered dismally. +Then recalling Mr. Vaughn's words I said abruptly, "Jenkins, if you were +the jury, knowing what you have read in the papers, would you say that +Mrs. Darwin was guilty?" + +"If I were twelve easy-going men not given to much reasoning, I'd say +she was, sir," he replied deferentially, adding before I could speak, +"But knowing Mrs. Darwin--as it were--personally--sir, I'd say she was +innocent." + +I buried my face in my hands with a groan of utter despair. If Jenkins, +a servant, albeit an ultra-intelligent one, was as persuaded as Mr. +Vaughn that the jury would find Ruth guilty, I might as well give up at +once. + +"If I were you, sir, if you will pardon the liberty of my giving advice, +I'd ask Mr. McKelvie to help me, sir." + +I raised my head. "Who is Mr. McKelvie, Jenkins?" + +"He is a gentleman, sir, who is interested in solving problems of crime. +It's a sort of hobby with him, sir," said Jenkins, his usually somber +eyes beginning to sparkle as he spoke. + +"You mean that he is a private detective?" I asked, not overly pleased, +for Jones of Headquarters had struck me as being up to snuff and yet +every clue that he found had only drawn the net more tightly about Ruth. +It was no wonder therefore that I was chary of detectives, for except in +books, I deemed them all cut out of the same mold and after the same +pattern. + +"Oh, no, sir," returned Jenkins, horrified. "He's not a detective in the +ordinary sense of the word. He is what you call an investigator of crime +and he only takes cases that he thinks are worth-while solving. He does +it mostly to amuse himself, sir." + +"Oh, I see. A second Sherlock Holmes, eh?" I said ironically. + +Jenkins looked hurt. "He says, sir, that there is no one who can equal +Sherlock Holmes. He says, sir, that beside Holmes he's only an amateur +burglar, though begging his pardon, I don't agree with him, sir." + +"How does it happen that you know so much about him, Jenkins?" I asked +suspiciously. + +"He once saved my life in the Great War, and in return I help him with +his cases when he needs me, sir." + +"Humph. I thought I employed you, Jenkins." + +"Well, yes, sir. But I have my free hours, sir." The poor fellow's face +grew so very mournful at my insinuation that I could not help smiling +even in the midst of my despondency. + +"I'm not blaming you, Jenkins. I was merely wondering why he didn't hire +you altogether," I said. + +"He's rather eccentric, sir. He does not want to be bothered with +servants." + +"And do you think this very strange gentleman will condescend to help +me, Jenkins?" I inquired dubiously. + +"Oh, yes, indeed, sir, if I ask him." + +"Do you really believe that he can find a ray of light amidst the +Stygian darkness of this horrible business?" I asked, interested in +spite of myself. + +"I'm sure of it, sir." + +"Very well, then. Get me my hat and give me his address. Anything is +better than this deadening inaction." + +When he returned with my overcoat and hat, Jenkins handed me a folded +note. "If you don't mind, sir," he said apologetically. "Mr. McKelvie +doesn't always receive strangers, sir." + +Queer customer, I reflected as I departed on my errand and I had my +doubts of his ability to aid me, grave doubts which were only increased +by the faded gentility of the old house on Stuyvesant Square, and far +from quieted by the sight of the darky who popped her head out of the +front window at my ring. It was a head calculated to frighten away any +but the boldest intruder, a head bristling with wooly gray spikes set +like a picket fence around a face the whites of whose eyes gleamed +brighter and whose thick lips flamed redder against the shiny blackness +of her skin. + +"Courageous man to employ such an apparition," was my thought as I +proferred my request. + +"Mistuh McKelvie?" she repeated after me, parrot-like. "No, suh, he +ain't home, no, suh." + +"Are you sure?" I persisted, holding out the note; for I recalled +Jenkins' remarks. + +"Ah ain't 'customed to tellin' no lies, young man," she responded with a +haughty toss of the head. + +"Will you please tell me then when I can find him at home?" I continued, +too weary to be amused by the incongruity of unkemptness trying to look +haughty and dignified. + +"About a week, suh. He's away, yessuh," and she pulled in her head and +slammed the window in my face. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +ARTHUR TRENTON + + +Discouraged I returned to my car and as I drove across the Square it +suddenly occurred to me that it was somewhere in this vicinity that the +evening paper had stated that Cora Manning lodged. Her name carried me +back to the inquest and the coroner's attempts to learn the girl's +identity. It seemed strange now that I thought of it dispassionately, +that of all the persons present in the study not one had any idea who +she was. I did not for a moment credit the statement of the reporter who +claimed that Darwin had put down the first name that had occurred to him +merely to annoy Ruth. Men as a rule do not leave their fortunes on +impulse to the first person they happen to think of, and I was pretty +certain that Philip Darwin was no exception to this rule. If therefore +the uncle deemed her worthy to become his chief legatee, was it not more +than likely that the nephew was also acquainted with the girl? I +recalled the fact that Lee himself, in view of Ruth's statement, was +Darwin's real heir, yet he had not seemed to take it amiss that his +uncle intended to disinherit him, and I also recollected his peculiar +actions as he denied all knowledge of Cora Manning, and my own belief at +the time that he knew the girl well. + +Now I was convinced of the fact and acting on the impulse I headed the +car in the direction of the Yale Club, determined to see Lee Darwin and +learn the truth from him. When I arrived at my destination, I eagerly +ascended the steps and entered the club; for though not a member myself +I foresaw no difficulty in the way of securing an interview. To my +chagrin the steward to whom I confided my errand told me that Lee Darwin +had gone South the afternoon of the eighth, ostensibly on business, nor +as far as I could discover had he left any address behind. + +That he should leave the city the day after the murder without waiting +to attend his uncle's funeral, which was scheduled for the morrow, +seemed to me the height of disrespect. I began to wonder if Lee Darwin +had had a very urgent reason for leaving town as soon as possible. He +had sensed that his uncle was dead when he saw the coroner. Was it +because he was the murderer? If so, why had he been foolhardy enough to +return to the house, and how in the name of goodness had he vanished +from the study after killing his man in the dark! + +Whereupon I gave it up in disgust and went home. Jenkins had waited up +for me and had evidently been listening for my return, for hardly had I +inserted the key in the lock when he opened the door. + +"There's a gentleman waiting to see you, sir. He is in the library," he +said in a low tone, as he helped me off with my overcoat. "He refused to +give his name, sir." + +"Very well, Jenkins." I started down the hall when I heard him again at +my elbow. + +"Pardon my curiosity, sir," he whispered eagerly, "but did you see Mr. +McKelvie, sir?" + +"No. He is unfortunately away and won't be home for a week," I said +bitterly, realizing for the first time how much I had unconsciously +counted upon this man's aid. + +"Never mind, sir. The trial is two months away and in seven weeks Mr. +McKelvie can solve anything, sir." + +"Thank you for your encouragement at any rate," I answered, touched by +his desire to console me. + +"It's the truth, sir," he replied simply. + +"I wish I could think so," was my comment, but I did not speak it aloud. +Not for anything would I have hurt his feelings by displaying the doubts +which had descended upon me again as to the ability of this man he so +evidently worshipped. Instead I nodded agreement and stepped into the +library. + +"Mr. Trenton!" + +Ruth's father was the last person I had expected to see, for I still +held him responsible for all my misfortunes and I believe he was aware +of the state of my feelings in the matter, since he had refused to give +Jenkins his name, fearing that I might beg to be excused from seeing +him. But he had taken me unawares and there was no retreat after my +first exclamation. + +"Carlton, have they really dared to commit Ruth to jail?" he asked in a +voice that trembled with anger and emotion. + +I nodded dumbly, and abruptly he sat down and hid his face in his hands, +then as abruptly he rose and fell to pacing the room in an agitated +manner. Apathetically I watched him. I too had had my siege of walking +the floor. It was only fair that he should have his turn. + +That he was suffering as I had suffered I divined, but it had no effect +upon me beyond rousing a dull wonder and perhaps anger, that he should +look no older than when I saw him last, six months ago. But, no, I was +wrong. He was still the same spare man with a magnificent head of +snow-white hair above a massive brow and a pair of gray eyes, deep-set +and penetrating, but sorrow and pain had left their trace, for so I read +the meaning of the deep lines that had graven themselves around his +mobile mouth and sensitive nostrils. + +"Has counsel been appointed to defend her?" Mr. Trenton spoke so low and +his voice was so charged with emotion as he sank wearily into my big +chair, that his words made no impression on my brain and he was forced +to repeat them before I could comprehend sufficiently to answer in the +affirmative. + +"Mr. Vaughn will arrange for her defense," I added. + +"You will be permitted to testify in her behalf?" he inquired. + +"No, I'm the chief witness against her," I answered sadly. + +"What!" He was absolutely dumbfounded. + +"Haven't you read the papers?" I asked him. + +He shook his head. "I have been ill for days. To-day the doctor told me +I could go out. I overheard my hostess asking her husband if he thought +it would hurt me to tell me about Ruth. I at once demanded an +explanation and when I had been told that Ruth was in jail charged with +the murder of her husband, I waited to hear no more but took the train +and came straight to you. I naturally supposed--that is, of +course--knowing your love for her I assumed you would do your best to +free her by--by taking her side," he said brokenly. + +I sighed. Once more the miserable details had to be recounted and then I +laughed harshly. Mr. Trenton looked at me as though he thought that I +must have taken leave of my senses. For the moment I verily think I had, +for the thought came all unbidden that I was another Ancient Mariner +relating my tale to all who crossed my path, only I could not remember +what crime I had committed that I should be punished in so terrible a +manner. + +"Do you suppose it could have been in a former reincarnation?" I asked +him in all seriousness. + +"For heaven's sake, man, brace up!" cried Mr. Trenton alarmed. "You +can't afford to go to pieces now!" + +I passed my hand wearily across my brow. "I--I guess I'm pretty nearly +all in," I mumbled, sinking into a chair. + +Ruth's father looked across at me compassionately. "Poor boy," he said +gently. "I won't worry you for your story to-night." + +"Have you any objections to my remaining here with you?" he continued +presently, as I preserved an unbroken silence. "I--I can't bear to +return--to that crime-haunted house," he added with a shudder. + +"Certainly. Glad to have you. I'll ring for Jenkins," I murmured +vaguely, trying to rise. But my legs refused to support me and my head +fell back heavily against the cushions. + +When next I opened my eyes I was in my bed and Jenkins was moving softly +about the room. + +"What time is it, Jenkins?" I asked, sitting up. + +"Twelve-thirty, sir," responded Jenkins, pulling aside the curtains to +let in the light of day. + +"Have I been asleep all that time?" I inquired aghast. + +"You were very tired, sir. You hardly slept the night before," he +apologized for me. + +"Mr. Trenton is waiting luncheon for you, sir. He wants to know how you +are feeling, sir," he continued presently. + +The events of the previous evening flocked into my mind, and I felt the +blood surge into my cheeks. What a chicken-hearted fellow her father +must have thought me! + +"Tell Mr. Trenton I'll join him in the library in half an hour," I said +decisively. + +"Very well, sir." + +It was more than thirty minutes before I made my appearance, but I had +myself well in hand now and after luncheon, at which we spoke only of +common-places, I told him that I was ready to give him the details of +the case. Immovably he sat with his head bowed upon his hands while I +related the facts, nor did he interrupt by word or gesture at any time +during the recital. + +When I had finished he raised his head, and I was startled by the old +and haggard look upon his face. He had aged ten years in as many +minutes. + +"The sins of the father," he said, hoarsely. "Carlton, it's all my fault +that Ruth has killed that wretch!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AN EXPLANATION + + +When a human being has run the gamut of horror and suffering in a short +space of time his mind ceases to be affected by further sensations. At +any other time I should have been appalled that Mr. Trenton could even +for a moment believe his daughter guilty. As it was, I merely accepted +his words as one more link in the chain of evidence against her. + +"My boy," he said humbly, "I know that you have held me responsible for +your misfortunes. And you are perfectly right to feel so. I, and I +alone, am to blame for all that has happened." + +He paused to wipe the moisture that had gathered on his forehead, +showing what an effort he was making to control his emotion. + +"But if I am to blame in spoiling the boy, I have been punished beyond +my due. You do not know, I hope you may never know the anguish, the +torture, the awful horror, of learning that the being you have +worshipped and adored is worthless clay, a--a common murderer! I was +frantic, crazy, and to save my boy I sacrificed my girl. And now, and +now--" He broke off with a sob and buried his head in his hands. + +"Mr. Trenton, don't. I'll stake my life that Ruth is innocent." I held +out my hand, touched as I had thought I no longer possessed the power to +be touched by his sorrow. Certainly if I had suffered, he had been in +hell. + +"My boy, you give me new life," he said, raising his head and taking my +hand. "I do not deserve your forgiveness." + +"It's all behind us, Mr. Trenton, and can't be undone. The task before +us is to free Ruth. We will work together toward that end," I answered. + +He was silent a moment, evidently pondering mentally some question, then +he said with the air of one who has arrived at a decision by which he +will abide whatever comes, "And the first step is to show you something +that I had hoped not to reveal. The very day of the murder I received a +letter from Dick stating--but you had better read it yourself." + +He took from his wallet a single sheet of notepaper which he handed me. +It was dated from Chicago two days before the murder and written in +Dick's unmistakable flowing hand. + + "Dear Dad," it began. + + "Philip Darwin has persecuted the Trenton family for the last time. + I have a weapon to use against him which will free Ruth and myself + from the bondage we are in to that cur. I am leaving for the East + to-morrow and when my task is completed, I shall call upon you at + Tarrytown. + + "Your repentant son, + + "DICK." + +When I finished reading I looked across at Mr. Trenton, wondering if to +him too had occurred the thought which possessed me. Could the weapon be +murder and the answer to the problem the fact that Ruth was shielding +her brother again? Then I shook my head. + +"If Dick was in the study how did he get away without my seeing him?" I +said aloud. "He couldn't vanish into thin air." + +"Carlton!" The word was a cry. "No, no, he would not dare again!" + +"What did he mean by weapon then?" I inquired bluntly. + +"Not--not murder! I could not bear that! No. I am sure he meant that he +had learned that Philip Darwin was his uncle," he said low. + +"His uncle!" I gasped, horrified. + +"Yes, his uncle. But not Ruth's, Carlton! No, no, she was no relation to +him," he reassured me quickly. + +My head began to whirl. Affairs were growing too complicated for me. "I +don't understand what you are talking about," I returned wearily. + +"I'll explain. It all happened so very long ago that I never mention it, +but the fact is that two years after Ruth's mother died I married Philip +Darwin's sister." + +"Darwin knew then that Dick was his nephew?" I asked when he paused. + +"No. No one knows it except myself. Philip Darwin could not have been +more than ten or so at the time, and I doubt if he remembers that he +ever had a sister. You see when I met her I had no idea who she was, for +she was acting under an assumed name. She had been on the stage six +months and was heartily sick of it when I was introduced to her. We fell +in love with each other and before the wedding she confided her story to +me. + +"Her father, Frank Darwin, was a stern, unyielding, puritanical man, who +had no use for what he called the lure of the world. On the other hand, +Leila was just eighteen, beautiful, proud, wilful. She had read of the +wonders of the stage and when her father opposed her desire to become an +actress she ran away from home. When he learned that she had actually +joined a theatrical company, he disinherited her and refused to have +anything further to do with her, forbidding his two sons, Robert, who +became Lee's father, and Philip, from ever mentioning her name or seeing +her again. She died when Dick was born, poor little girl, more than +twenty-five years ago, and I think I had almost forgotten the +relationship. A quarter century is more than ample time to erase a +memory," he ended with a sigh. + +I was silent for a while and then asked him why he had not told Philip +Darwin that Dick was his nephew, thus avoiding all the dire consequences +which had followed Darwin's threat of exposure. + +"Because it would have made no difference to him at all," answered Mr. +Trenton. "He wanted Ruth and if she had refused him he would have +revenged himself by exposing Dick, knowing that we would suffer far more +than he. Besides, he would have demanded proofs. I had none which I +could give him." + +"What about family resemblance?" + +Mr. Trenton shook his head. "They are both dark and about the same +build. That is as far as the resemblance goes, and that's no proof, for +Ruth is dark, too." + +"And you really think that Dick--" + +"Yes, I do. I believe that in some way the boy learned that he was +Darwin's nephew and hoped to use the knowledge to force Darwin to +divorce Ruth," he interrupted. + +This time it was I that disagreed. "But you said yourself that the +knowledge would cut no ice with Darwin," I said, impatiently. + +"But Dick wouldn't know that. He is young and to him it would seem only +natural that an uncle should desire to shield his nephew. The husband +bound to secrecy to preserve his good name would be unable to fight +proceedings if Ruth brought suit for divorce against him. At any rate, +that is how I read it." + +I did not like to say so, and thus shatter his fool's paradise, for he +was entitled to any consolation which he could draw from his deductions. +To me, however, there were two flaws in his reasoning. In the first +place, if Mr. Trenton was the only one who knew his wife's identity and +he had almost forgotten it, how in the name of all the gods had Dick +learned it? And in the second place, I was firmly convinced that Mr. +Richard Trenton stood in no ignorance of Mr. Philip Darwin's true +character and would be under no delusions as to the exact reception such +knowledge would receive. + +No, Dick had some other weapon in mind, and the only one which would +free both himself and Ruth at one stroke was the death of Philip Darwin. +Dick had killed a man once under less provocation. What was to prevent +his repeating the act when he realized the injustice that had been done +Ruth in forcing her to marry such a man? But in that event why had he +not come forward to free Ruth from jail? Surely he had not sunk so low +that he would permit her to pay the extreme penalty for his act. It's +true that she was allowed to shield him once, but I very much doubt +whether Dick knew anything of it until after the wedding when his +coming forward would certainly have created a terrible scandal without +in the least bettering conditions for Ruth. + +Besides, the whole thing was illogical. If Dick killed Darwin to free +Ruth, it was ridiculous to suppose that he would then run away and leave +her to face the consequences. I was more inclined to believe that the +boy had discovered some counter-knowledge which would buy his freedom +from exposure. He had been in New York the day of the murder, or should +have been, according to his letter. Why then did he remain in hiding, or +had he returned to Chicago without making use of his "weapon" when he +learned that Darwin was dead? On the other hand, that would also be a +senseless proceeding, for Darwin dead, he, Dick, had nothing further to +fear. + +The whole affair was a muddle and growing more complicated at every +turn, and I heartily wished that Dick would show up to settle all doubts +on his score at least. + +As if in answer to my thought, the phone in the hall rang sharply and +Jenkins appeared to announce that Headquarters would like to speak with +me. I sighed. What new evidence had they discovered now, I thought +savagely, and my "hello" must have sounded like a roar in the +Inspector's ear. + +When he was through explaining I leaned limply against the wall and +wiped my forehead with a trembling hand. + +"Jenkins!" I said hoarsely. "Ask him if--if--it's really true!" + +Jenkins took the receiver from my nerveless hand and spoke into the +phone. "Yes, sir. I'll tell him, yes, sir." He rang off and turned to +me, his long face graver than ever. + +"He says there is no mistake, sir. And he'd be obliged if you and Mr. +Trenton would receive Detective Jones and give him all necessary +information, sir." + +"Would you tell him--now?" I asked dully. + +"It would be far kinder, sir," answered Jenkins. "I'm very sorry, sir." + +I went slowly back into the library wondering how best to break the news +to Mr. Trenton. My face must have told him much, for he sprang toward me +with a sharp exclamation. + +"Dick!" he cried. "You have news of Dick?" + +I nodded, for I was unable to speak. + +"Don't keep me in suspense, Carlton! What is it? Have they--" Then he +turned away and sought a chair. "You need not tell me," he said very +quietly. "I know that he is dead." + +"Yes." I found my voice, but I hardly knew it for my own. "Yes, he--he +drowned himself in the East River early this morning!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SUICIDE + + +I had anticipated trouble when I gave Mr. Trenton the Inspector's +message, but shock seemed to have rendered his sensibilities numb for +the time being and he made no demur about receiving the emissary from +Headquarters. + +It was just two-thirty, the hour set for Philip Darwin's funeral, when +the Inspector called me and while I awaited the arrival of Detective +Jones my thoughts reverted to the funeral. I pictured to myself the +solitary coffin being lowered into its grave unmourned and unattended by +any save the faithful Mason, for I do not count the idle and the curious +who merely come to gape and stare and be amused. + +He had been rich and popular, with a host of friends, yet I was willing +to wager that not one had taken the trouble to escort the body to its +final resting-place, and though I had never had any use for the man +while living, still my heart was strangely stirred by the spectacle of +desolation which I had evoked. Death is after all dread enough without +the added knowledge that no single human being will shed a tear at our +passage from this earth. Even his own flesh and blood had turned from +him, and for a minute I was sorry I had not attended. If I have one +regret in all this terrible business it is that one omission to +accompany the dead on its journey to the grave. + +"Mr. Davies, how do you do, sir," said Jones, entering and breaking in +abruptly on my thought, for I had not heard his ring. "And this +gentleman is Mr. Trenton, I take it?" + +"Yes, Mr. Jones. I have told him the sad news. You--you wish him to +identify the body?" I asked, returning to earth with a decided jolt, +mental if not physical. + +"Unfortunately," answered Jones, with a commiserating look at Mr. +Trenton, who sat staring vacantly into space, "the body has not yet been +recovered. I really don't need it, but thought I might as well have an +identification of his belongings." + +He placed the package he had brought with him upon the table and opened +it, exposing to view a gray suit of good material, a rather shabby cap, +a watch, and a pocket notebook. + +"These articles," he said, speaking rather loudly to attract Mr. +Trenton's attention, "were found in a lodging-house on Water Street. +Yesterday about noon, a dark young man, not any too well-dressed, and +looking dishevelled and unkempt, applied for lodgings, and was taken in +by the landlady, Mrs. Blake, herself. He spent the afternoon and early +evening wandering about among the wharves and spoke to several loungers +to whom he made no secret of where he was staying. This morning, before +it was light, this strange lodger arose and went out. Mrs. Blake saw him +go, but thought he was going to work. Fifteen minutes later someone +banged on her door to tell her that her lodger had thrown himself into +the river and had drowned. She was frightened and called the police. On +the wharf was found the cap he had worn and in his room those other +articles in a suitcase." + +The detective paused in his narrative to pick up the watch. "The +clothes are new and give no clue except that they evidently belonged to +a gentleman. This watch is more helpful. Do you recognize it, Mr. +Trenton?" + +Mr. Trenton, still somewhat dazed by the rapid sequence of the other's +story, received the watch with tender reverence, looked at it, nodded, +and passed it to me. How well I remembered that gold time-piece of +biscuit thinness, with its plain R. T. engraved upon the back, which Mr. +Trenton had given Dick on his twenty-first birthday! And in further +proof, if such were needed, the inside of the case held a round kodak +picture of Ruth and Dick, taken on the same day! + +No, there could be no mistake as to the identity of Mrs. Blake's lodger! + +"The watch is really superfluous evidence," continued Jones. "In that +notebook we found your name, Mr. Trenton, written along with his on the +sheet reserved for identification." + +He opened the book and showed us the page which had a place for name, +address, parentage, age, height, etc. Dick had filled in only his own +name and his father's. + +"You identify the handwriting?" asked Jones. + +"Yes, it's my son's," returned Mr. Trenton in that same monotonous tone +in which he had first spoken of Dick's death. + +"Knowing that these articles belonged to Mr. Richard Trenton, and +knowing also that he was Mrs. Darwin's brother, we had these things +brought to Headquarters for investigation, because we thought there +might be some connection between this suicide and the murder of Philip +Darwin." + +"I don't believe that Dick had anything to do with the murder," I said +slowly. "Surely you are not of the opinion that he killed Darwin?" + +"Well, hardly, since he wasn't in the study when the crime was +committed. What I meant was that he might have been the instigator; and +she, the tool, as it were." + +I stiffened. "What do you mean?" I asked coldly. + +"This." Jones spoke sharply. "I have been delving into Richard Trenton's +past history. One of the things I learned from a former servant was the +fact that six months ago Richard Trenton came home hurriedly one night +in company with Philip Darwin and that after a consultation with Mr. +Trenton, the boy was packed out West. The next night, according to the +same servant, Philip Darwin came to the house and was closeted with Mr. +Trenton and his daughter for several hours. When Darwin finally left, +Mr. Trenton looked ten years older and Miss Trenton was in tears. Two +weeks later, to the servant's astonishment, she married not you, but +Philip Darwin." + +He looked at me shrewdly and I nodded in confirmation of his story. +"Having satisfied myself that there was decided connection between the +flight of the brother and the marriage of the sister, I proceeded to +trace Richard Trenton's movements on the night of the murder. He came to +New York on the seventh of October and arrived at Grand Central at 10.10 +p. m. From there he took a taxi to the Corinth Hotel. He registered, +went to his room, and in a few minutes came down again and went out on +foot. He returned to the hotel about one o'clock. According to the night +clerk he looked haggard and weary. The next morning he paid his bill +and again left on foot. To-day, the tenth, he commits suicide. Mrs. +Darwin declares she has not seen her brother since he left for Chicago, +but admits corresponding with him and refuses to say about what. Now, +the question is, What was he doing between the time he left the hotel +and one o'clock on the night of the murder? Where did he go between the +morning of the eighth and the afternoon of the ninth? Did he instigate +the murder and then in remorse commit suicide?" + +"No, I don't believe it," I said stoutly. "You have learned so much that +I think the best course which I can follow is complete frankness. +However, there is no need to rake dead ashes, so I will merely say that +Dick was forced to leave New York and that Philip Darwin had the boy in +his power because he knew the reason for Dick's flight. And basely +Darwin used his knowledge to force Mrs. Darwin to marry him to save her +brother from exposure." + +"I see, and of course it strengthens my point. Driven to desperation +young Trenton may have returned with intentions to kill Darwin," put in +Jones. + +"Yes," I interjected eagerly, "and very probably he went so far as the +Darwin home that night. Then he may have thought better of it and +tramped about as one will when fighting a mental battle. In the morning +he left with intentions of returning to Chicago. Then he read of the +murder in the papers and decided to lie low and see what happened. When +he learned that his sister was arrested, he probably considered himself +the primal cause of all the trouble and in a fit of despondency drowned +himself." + +I was quite proud of the theory I had evolved and doubtless it was the +right one. Jones weighed it in his mind and then he said, "You're right, +Mr. Davies, that's probably just what did take place." + +"Besides, if he had instigated the murder, since he was putting himself +beyond the power of the law, he would have left behind a written +confession to that effect," I added. + +"Yes, that's so. Well, I guess we can say he had nothing to do with it +after all. Probably thought he was morally responsible. 'In pace +requiescat.'" + +"Amen to that," I answered so surprised to hear him quote Latin that for +a space I could find nothing to say. + +"There is no hope of finding the body?" I asked when I had recovered my +mental balance. + +"I'm afraid not. It has probably been carried out to sea." + +"You are certain that he drowned himself," I persisted, for I recalled +that Dick could swim. + +"Yes, he was seen and recognized by the men to whom he had spoken the +previous evening. They saw him throw himself into the river. Before they +could reach him he had gone down beyond recall." + +"I should like to interview Mrs. Blake and the others," I said, not with +any hope of discovering a flaw in the evidence, but because I could not +endure to witness the poor father's silent grief. + +"Certainly, Mr. Davies. I have my car outside. I will take you there +myself," answered Jones affably. + +As the detective began to wrap Dick's belongings, Mr. Trenton, who I am +confident had heard no word of our conversation, suddenly realized that +the conference was over and leaning forward took the watch from the +table. + +"May I keep it?" he begged. + +"Yes, we have sufficient evidence in case we should need it," answered +the detective. + +"I'll be with you in a moment," I said, for I wished to give Jenkins +directions to keep an eye on Ruth's father. When I returned Jones had +his package under his arm and though he said good-by, Mr. Trenton did +not respond. + +"Poor old chap," he whispered. "It must have been an awful blow to him." + +"Worse than anyone can imagine," I returned, thinking of the confession +he had made. So we went out, leaving him there alone with the thoughts +of his dead. + +We drove in silence to Water Street and pulled up before a shabby old +house. Decidedly Mrs. Blake's was not the type of home I should have +picked out to live in, but when one has no intention of using one's +lodging, the more obscure the better, I imagine. And it certainly was +obscure, and dingy and ill-smelling. + +I was shown the room in which Dick had slept and where he had left his +clothes, and it struck me that if he hired that room to remain unknown, +he had been very negligent in leaving his belongings around. Then I +decided he chose that locality because it was near the river and the +river was the most convenient end he could think of. Poor Dick! + +I talked with the men who had witnessed the suicide, I was even shown +the place where the event occurred, and the point where the body +submerged! It was all very gruesome and alas, all too true! The only +thing that puzzled me was why the lad had done it. + +It was one thing to convince Jones, but quite another to satisfy myself +that my reasoning was correct. Dick was not despondent by nature and +though he might hold himself responsible for Ruth's marriage, surely he +would have the sense to see that committing suicide would only add to +her sorrow without in the least aiding to free her. I gave it up unless +he really killed Darwin and feared to face the consequences, but that +would make him out a despicable creature indeed, and I resolutely closed +my mind to such a suggestion. + +When I reached home Mr. Trenton put into words the thought I had refused +to harbor. + +"Carlton," he said, with the calm of desperation. "I have been thinking +things over and I believe you are right. We will go to Ruth and tell her +that it is useless for her to shield Dick any longer." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +GRAYDON MCKELVIE + + +It was easy enough for me to procure through Mr. Vaughn an interview +with Ruth and the next afternoon Mr. Trenton and I visited her in the +prison, or rather in that gray reception-room which is as far as +outsiders may come in the Tombs. She was delighted to see her father, +concerning whose silence she had been quite worried, and when he broke +down and told of yesterday's happenings, she wept with him for a few +minutes, then quietly dried her eyes and set herself to comfort him. +What she said I do not know, for I did not like to intrude myself upon +their sorrow, and I withdrew to the other end of the room and looked out +the grated window. + +To think that Ruth, my beloved, should have to spend her days in such a +place, barred from association with her friends, and from the blessed +light of day, innocent of any wrong, yet suffering for some wretch's +crime! Ruth and the horrible creatures who infested the jail! The +thought goaded me to desperation. Abruptly I swung back toward her and +spoke hoarsely, + +"Ruth, for God's sake if you are shielding Dick, tell us at once, for I +can stand this suspense no longer!" + +She had been seated on a chair beside her father, but at my cry she +jumped up and came to me. Verily I must have been mad, I think, for I +caught her to me and kissed her again and again. A moment she clung to +me, then she pushed me away. + +"Carlton! No, you must not!" she sobbed. "No, no," as I followed her, +"not until I am cleared of the shadow of murder!" + +"You have committed no crime," I replied savagely. "What do I care for +the world's opinion!" And I caught her to me once more. + +"Carlton! If you kiss me again I--I shall hate you!" she whispered +fiercely. + +Instantly I released her and walked rapidly away to the other end of the +room. + +"Carlton, please don't be angry," she said, brokenly, timidly touching +my arm with the tips of her fingers, "but, oh, my dear, if you kill my +self-respect what in all the world have I left to offer you!" + +Humbly I carried her hand to my lips. "Forgive me, dear. I don't deserve +to be allowed even the privilege of looking upon you." + +She gave me a smile so forgiving that it brought the tears to my eyes, +and seeing how I was moved she turned away to her father. + +"Ruth," he said, relieving the tension, "we have come here, Carlton and +I, to ask you a question." + +"Yes, Daddy," she replied, softly, sitting down beside him again. + +He drew out Dick's letter and handed it to her. When she had read it he +explained the process of reasoning that had led him to believe that Dick +had killed Darwin and had then committed suicide. + +"And now, Ruth, if you saw him there in the study and helped him to +escape, if you are shielding him as you did once before, I hope you +realize that he is quite unworthy and that it is too much of a sacrifice +for you to suffer for his crime." + +He had spoken with difficulty, showing how much the words cost him, yet +determined to make amends for all the wrong that had been done to Ruth, +both by himself and Dick. When he finished she looked from him to me in +utter bewilderment. + +"I am shielding no one, Daddy. And as far as I know Dick was not in the +study when I was there." + +There was no mistaking her sincerity. She was telling the truth and the +whole business was a worse tangle than ever before. + +"Besides," she added, "I do not think Dick would do such a thing." + +"He did once," returned her father, gloomily. + +"But, Daddy, dear, he did not know what he was doing and it--it was +Phil's fault for giving him that pistol. I have mothered him for years +and I know. Whatever reason he had for committing suicide, Daddy, rest +assured in the conviction that he did not kill my husband." + +A ray of hope lighted Mr. Trenton's face. "You really believe that, +Ruth? You are not saying it just to comfort me?" + +She laid a hand upon his arm as she answered quietly, "I don't believe +it, Daddy. I know he did not murder Phil." + +After that we could not believe it either, and so we were back once more +exactly where we started from. In other words, we were moving in circles +which ended where they had begun: namely, in the police's assertion that +Ruth was guilty, a beginning which we knew to be false on the face of +it, but which we had no means of proving to anyone's satisfaction. + +"The only thing to do is to hire a competent detective," said Mr. +Trenton emphatically, that night at dinner. + +This recalled McKelvie to my mind. "I have one in view," I answered, +"but he is away at present." + +"Hire another one then," he retorted. + +But I preferred to wait, for as I said before I had not much use for +detectives, private or police, and the only reason that McKelvie +appealed to me at all was because he did not seem from Jenkins' account +to have much in common with the usual sleuth. Then Mr. Trenton wanted to +rush out and employ a man on his own initiative, but this also I +negatived, since no detective was far better than a mediocre fellow +without a grain of imagination. I remembered Jones, and shuddered for +Ruth. + +I should like to say right here that if the reader thinks that both Mr. +Trenton and I got over our grief at Dick's horrible end very rapidly, he +must remember that human beings cannot be kept at high tension for a +great length of time or the brain would snap. Everyday occurrences and +the dire need of doing something for Ruth pushed to the background more +recent happenings, particularly when Jenkins brought me word late that +same night that Graydon McKelvie would see me at his home. + +Mr. Trenton of course desired to accompany me, but I finally dissuaded +him, telling him that it was better that only one of us should apply to +McKelvie, especially as I had been forewarned that he was rather +eccentric. To which Mr. Trenton grudgingly agreed, and I set out to +interview this solver of crimes with a fluttering heart, for upon him I +based all my remaining hopes. + +As I sat in the cosy little sitting-room of the old house on Stuyvesant +Square to which I had been conducted by a better combed and more civil +Dinah with the announcement that "Mistuh McKelvie'll be down in a +secun', sah," I conjured a vision of the type of man I expected to see. +I evolved a cross between an oddity and a mental Sampson, a fretful, +thin man, with a head too big for his body, who would speak in a +querulous high-pitched voice. + +The man who entered the room at that moment and came toward me with +extended hand was none of these things. He was a slender, well-dressed +young man, well above the medium height, with a pleasant, but rather +rugged cast of countenance, whose main features were a tenacious chin +and a pair of brilliant black eyes. But when he spoke my name I forgot +his appearance. Never had I heard such a melodious voice. It soothed the +ear with its mellow richness and remained in the mind long after it had +ceased, like the echo of some clear-toned bell. And such was its power +that by merely pronouncing my name he had made me believe that he alone +of all the world could possibly solve the problem which was well-nigh +overwhelming me. + +Later I came to know him better and I should have liked him even without +the added attraction of his voice, for he was a refined and cultured +man, extremely clever, if eccentric, whose main idiosyncrasies seemed to +be confined to a whole-souled worship of Sherlock Holmes, a decidedly +autocratic manner, and a fondness for speaking satirically, even at the +expense of his friends. + +"Jenkins has told me that you have a problem which you wish me to look +into," he said, motioning me to be seated as he settled himself in a +large arm-chair. "Will you give me briefly the details of the case?" + +I am afraid my story was far from brief, for I told him everything from +the moment I heard the shot, through the inquest, to Dick's suicide. He +listened attentively to every word without comment and when I was +through he briskly assumed command. + +"I have read of the crime in the papers," he said, "but I must study the +coroner's personal notes of the inquest, before I come to a decision." + +He rose and walked to his desk as he spoke, where he scratched off a few +lines on a sheet of notepaper, which he enclosed in an envelope. + +"What was the reason for young Trenton's removal from New York six +months ago?" he asked abruptly, turning toward me as he sealed the +envelope. + +"Is it necessary to the investigation?" I inquired, loth to reveal the +family skeleton. + +"I do not ask unnecessary questions," he returned coldly. + +Without more ado I related the affair in all its sordid details. When I +finished he held out the envelope which he still retained in his hand. +"Kindly tell Jenkins to take this note to Coroner Graves," he said. +"Meet me here at ten o'clock to-morrow for your answer. Good-night, Mr. +Davies." + +Before I could adjust my thoughts to his rapid speech I found myself in +the street looking in some perplexity at the closed door of Graydon +McKelvie's house. + +"Well, I'll be hanged!" I exclaimed wrathfully, as I climbed into my +car. + +I drove away in no very pleased frame of mind at the reception I had +received, for when I reviewed the conversation I realized that he had +not compromised himself to help me at all. The moment I reached home, +however, I forgot my annoyance at the cavalier way I had been treated. +The sudden transformation of Jenkins' lugubrious countenance into an +ecstatic smile as he hastened to carry out McKelvie's command, for +that's just what it was, made me feel sanguine once more of that +gentleman's aid. I put down his manner, therefore, to eccentricity and +the natural desire to know more of the problem before he promised to +bring his faculties to bear upon it. + +I passed the evening in Elysium and I came down to earth with a bang +when promptly at ten o'clock the next morning, in answer to my query, +McKelvie tossed a sheet of paper across the table to me with the remark: + +"Find the answers to those questions and you'll have the name of the +person who committed the crime." + +I looked at him, sitting smoking unconcernedly, to the paper in my hand, +undecided which to tackle first, when my mind caught the sense of the +words before me. After that I forgot my surroundings until I had +absorbed every line that McKelvie had written. The document was drawn up +in the form of a series of questions, with sufficient space below each +one to insert the proper answer, and it read as follows: + +(1) Why was the pistol fired at midnight? + +(2) Did the murderer also light the lamp? + +(3) How did the murderer enter and leave the study? + +(4) What was the motive for the murder? + +(5) Why did the doctors disagree, and which was in the right? + +(6) Why did Philip Darwin put that ring on his finger and then pull it +off? + +(7) Whose is the blood-stained handkerchief? + +(8) Where did the second bullet go? + +(9) Why is there so much evidence against Mrs. Darwin, and who would +most desire to injure her? + +(10) Is Cora Manning the woman in the case and if so, who and what is +she? + +(11) What has become of Darwin's securities? + +(12) What is Lee Darwin's connection with the affair? + +(13) Why did Richard Trenton come to New York and then commit suicide? + +(14) What is the relation between Mr. Cunningham and the murdered man? + +(15) Which one of those having a sufficient motive for killing Darwin +answers to the following description: clever, unprincipled, and +absolutely cold-blooded? + +"Find the answers to those questions!" I repeated when I had devoured +the sheet with my eyes. "It would take me a lifetime! For mercy's sake, +don't fail me now when I have only you to depend on to help me!" I +cried. + +With an odd smile he took his pipe from his mouth and tapped the bowl +upon his open palm. Then he looked at me and spoke abruptly, "If I take +this case it will be on one condition." + +"A thousand if you wish," I exclaimed impatiently. + +"No, only one, that when I give commands they shall be obeyed +implicitly, even though you may not be able to perceive their wisdom at +the time." + +I blinked at the unexpectedness of the answer and then held out my hand. +"It shall be as you say, Mr. McKelvie, only don't let them convict +Ruth." + +He clasped my hand. "I won't, Mr. Davies, if she is guiltless, and my +first command is this: I want an interview with Mrs. Darwin this +afternoon." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE INTERVIEW + + +When we entered the Tombs that afternoon I noticed that several of the +wardens smiled at McKelvie, as if his presence were a familiar one in +that place of horrors. The matron too was very accommodating, more so +than she had been to me, when McKelvie suggested that she stand out in +the corridor when Ruth arrived. I noticed, however, that though she did +as he asked and moved out of earshot, she remained where she could keep +an eye upon our movements. + +When I presented Graydon McKelvie to Ruth and explained his mission, she +gave him such a sweet, pathetic smile and wished him success in so +gentle a manner that he was won over to her cause on the spot. + +"Mrs. Darwin," he said, with feeling, in that wonderful voice of his, +"my best is the least I can offer you." + +From that moment I had no misgivings as to the outcome of the affair. +Let come what would, Graydon McKelvie would prove Ruth innocent, not +because he believed, but because like myself he knew her to be innocent. + +"Mrs. Darwin," McKelvie was saying gently, "in order to get at the +bottom of this matter it will be necessary to ask you certain pertinent +questions. I trust you won't be offended by anything I may say and also +that you will answer me truthfully in every case." + +"I will tell you anything you desire to know," she answered quietly. + +"The coroner's inquest brought out a number of facts which do not, in my +estimation, agree with one another. You say the study was in darkness +when you entered, yet the lamp was lighted after the shot was fired. You +are sure you did not light it yourself, unconsciously, perhaps?" he +inquired in a brisk manner. + +"I did not touch it," she answered with conviction. "I had just picked +up the pistol and was standing beside the chair some distance from the +table when the lamp apparently lighted itself." + +"If someone had pulled the cord of the lamp would you have been able to +see that person?" he persisted. + +"Yes, for I turned toward the table the minute the light went on. There +was no one there--except Phil--and myself," she said low. + +"Point to investigate," he muttered, making a note in a small black +book. "Memo: How was the light turned on? + +"Now, Mrs. Darwin, please go back in your mind to the moment when you +heard the shot. What part of the room did it appear to come from?" he +continued. + +"I--I'm afraid I couldn't say." + +"Did it sound very close to you, or far away?" he prompted. + +"Quite close. It was deafening," she said. + +"Did it sound in front or behind you?" he continued, patiently. + +"Behind, I think." + +He nodded. "You say you trod on the pistol as you moved forward. You did +not hear it fall near you, for instance?" + +"No, when I heard the shot I involuntarily closed my eyes. It's a habit +with me when anything startles me. When I opened them again I took a +step and trod on something hard. I heard no sound at all." + +"I see. You did not know the object was a pistol you said?" + +"I did not know it. I merely felt something hard under my foot and in a +dazed way I picked it up, without actually being conscious of what it +was." + +"One thing more. Supposing there had been someone behind you, could you +have heard that person?" + +"No. The carpet is very thick and absolutely deadens any footfall. +Besides I do not see how anyone could have been back of me for I heard +no one breathing." + +"That doesn't follow. A person might have stood far enough away so that +you would not notice the breathing, particularly if that person took +pains that you shouldn't. And now we come to the breathing that you did +hear. Where did it seem to come from?" + +"It was right beside me, very, very close." + +"Was it normal, hurried breathing, or was it labored?" + +"Oh, horrible! A--a gasping sort of breath!" + +"What advice did Mr. Cunningham give you at the inquest?" he asked, with +a sudden change of subject. + +"I don't understand what you mean, Mr. McKelvie," she answered, +surprised. + +"The coroner appointed him your counsel pro tem. and he left the room to +consult with you. Did he not tell you what you should or should not say +in answer to the coroner's questions?" he explained. + +"Oh, no. He merely sent word by a policeman that I was to come down and +that he considered it best that I tell frankly all that had happened +that night. I did not see him until I came into the study and he first +spoke to me, advising me to answer," she replied. + +He made one or two more notes and then held out his hand. "Thank you, +Mrs. Darwin. You have helped me materially. Good-by for the present." + +"Good-by, Mr. McKelvie. Good-by, Carlton. See how quickly you can solve +this mystery, won't you please? It's horrible there!" and she pointed +toward the corridor. + +"I will do my very best, Mrs. Darwin, but don't hope too soon, for the +way is long and dark," returned McKelvie with deep sympathy. + +When she had disappeared from sight around the bend of the corridor, he +spoke again. "She's a brave little woman," he said, greatly moved. "God +grant I'm not too late!" + +I was silent, for Ruth's incarceration was the one subject I dared not +permit myself to dwell on if I desired to retain my sanity, and in +another moment McKelvie himself had changed the subject. + +"By the way, I clean forgot to ask her a rather important question," he +said, and he called to the warden, who brought Ruth back as far as the +door of the reception-room. Somehow I could not bear to part from Ruth +again and as there was no necessity for me to show myself, I remained +where I could hear him without being seen. + +"I'm sorry to disturb you again, Mrs. Darwin, but I forgot to ask you +this question. Why did you deny knowing Cora Manning at the inquest?" + +I was surprised, but Ruth said calmly, "I don't know her, Mr. McKelvie." + +"But you know who she is," he returned, smiling. + +"Will it help you?" + +"Very much." + +"She's Lee Darwin's fiancée. I have never met her, but one day he +confided in me and showed me her picture. She is a very beautiful and +noble girl, so please don't drag her into this inquiry, for whatever +Phil's motives in leaving his money to her, I am sure that she is +innocent of any knowledge of his actions," she pleaded. + +"I won't bring her into it unless it's absolutely necessary," he +replied. + +"Are you a mind-reader?" I inquired as we walked slowly across the +courtyard to the men's building and so out into the street. + +"Not that I'm aware of," he replied seriously. "What makes you ask?" + +"I'd have sworn that Ruth had never even heard of Cora Manning," I said. + +"That's because you hear and see without observing," he explained. "I +read what you heard: namely, that Coroner Graves, dissatisfied with Mrs. +Darwin's first answer, asked her again if she knew Cora Manning. The +inference was plain. She knew or knew of this girl and hesitated to say +no or yes. By the time the coroner repeated his question she had made up +her mind." + +"That's so. Now that you mention it, I recall that she seemed disturbed +by the question. And so she is Lee's fiancée, yet he denied all +knowledge of her," I mused aloud. "Strange that everyone should have +been so intent on shrouding her identity in mystery. What was their +reason, do you suppose?" I asked suddenly. + +McKelvie shrugged. "I do not know--yet. 'There are more things in heaven +and earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy, Horatio,'" he said +lightly. + +I opened my eyes wide at this apt quotation for I did not know him then +as I do now and I pondered in silence upon the oddity of hearing a +detective spout Shakespeare, until I remembered that Jenkins had said +that McKelvie was not a detective in the ordinary sense of the word. + +"Very kind of Jenkins," said McKelvie aloud. "By the way I phoned him to +meet us at the Darwin house. I may need him in the course of the +afternoon." + +In view of his stipulation and fearing to lose him before he had begun +work on the case, I murmured hastily, "That's quite all right," then I +gasped and looked into his amused, slightly ironical eyes. + +"Why, man, it's marvelous," I said. + +"What is?" he asked coolly, although he knew exactly what I meant. + +"Your reading of my thought," I replied. "Why you might almost be +Sherlock Holmes himself." + +"No. I lay no such flattering unction to my soul, if you will pardon the +misquotation. Sherlock Holmes is in a class by himself. No one can touch +him, but I have studied his methods and in this case it was not very +difficult to guess what you were thinking when you eyed me so hard and +murmured, 'Jenkins,' unconsciously, particularly when I know Jenkins so +well." + +We had been walking up Center Street as we talked, in total disregard of +the fact that my car was parked in front of the Tombs, but now McKelvie +paused abruptly and I saw that we were standing in front of Police +Headquarters. + +"I had intended going out to Riverside Drive at once, but I have changed +my mind," McKelvie explained. "I want to look at the exhibits before I +view the scene of the crime. The scent is decidedly cold. I must see +what I can do to warm the trail." + +"Do you think the police will let you see them?" I asked dubiously. + +"We can do no more than ask. I have influence yonder," with a nod of the +head toward the massive abode of the representatives of law and order. +"Besides I would be a poor specimen indeed if I couldn't bamboozle Jones +into giving me whatever I want." + +"You know Jones, then?" + +"We have crossed one another's paths occasionally. Why?" + +"He's persuaded Ruth is guilty. He unearthed most of the evidence +against her," I warned, "and he will guard it jealously." + +"Not Jones. It's only natural that you should be prejudiced against him, +of course. But really he's not a bad sort, and he's only doing his duty +as he sees it." + +"You are not small-minded at any rate," I answered smiling. + +"Oh, well, I always believe in giving the devil his due," he returned +with a mocking laugh as he ascended the steps. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE EXHIBITS + + +We entered the building and at McKelvie's request Detective Jones was +sent for. We awaited his arrival in silence, merely because McKelvie +refused to talk, but he found his golden tongue readily enough when +Jones came forward and blandly inquired what he could do for us. + +The police detective was a shorter man than McKelvie, but heavier of +build, with a pleasant enough face and fairly agreeable manners. He +seemed to consider himself well enough acquainted with McKelvie +magnanimously to overlook his eccentricities, and asked in a bantering +way what he expected to get out of a case which had already been +satisfactorily solved by the police. + +McKelvie laughed good-humoredly, and answered in kind. "I was asked to +investigate," he said, "and my aim, you know, is always to oblige." + +"Whom? Yourself or your client?" inquired Jones shrewdly. + +"My client, of course," McKelvie returned sententiously. "But, +seriously, Jones, I did not come here to exchange witticisms, pleasant +though it is to me to do so with such an opponent as yourself." + +"What did you come for then, you blarneyer?" demanded Jones. + +"I want a look at the exhibits. Come now, be a sport and show them to +me." + +"They will be of no use to you," answered Jones a trifle suspiciously. +"They are all evidence against the accused." + +"What's the objection then to showing them to me?" McKelvie responded. +"I just want to satisfy my client that I have done everything possible +to solve the case. I don't expect to learn anything from them." + +Jones shrugged. "We have deduced all there is to learn and you are +welcome to that," he said quietly. + +"But not welcome to look at the articles themselves, is that it?" +returned McKelvie, with a curl of the lip. Then he laughed outright. + +"Say it. Go ahead. Don't spare me," remarked Jones with a grimace. + +"I was wondering how soon it would be before you would be coming to me +for advice, as you did in that last case of yours," McKelvie answered +reflectively. + +Jones flushed, then grinned. "You win," he said, and ushered us into his +private office. From a cupboard in a corner of the room he produced the +articles in question, and placed them on the flat-topped desk before us. + +McKelvie picked up the pistol and examined it carefully. "Mrs. Darwin's +finger-prints, I understand?" + +"Yes." + +"Anyone else's?" + +"No." + +"Dear, dear, that's too bad." McKelvie laid down the pistol and poked +the bullet with his forefinger. + +"Another theory gone up in smoke?" asked Jones, with a laugh. + +"More or less. Sure the bullet fits the pistol?" + +"As sure as human beings can be of anything in this world. We had the +fellow from whom both pistol and bullets were purchased examine the +weapon." + +"So. You're sharper than I'd have given you credit for being." + +"The police are not overlooking anything in this case," retorted Jones +with some pomposity. + +"Exhibit three--two handkerchiefs," muttered McKelvie. "Where did they +come from?" + +"The blood-stained one was in Mr. Darwin's hand. The other belongs to +Mrs. Darwin. As you see, they are identical," explained Jones. + +McKelvie sniffed at each one critically in turn, and then without any +warning of his intention, passed the blood-stained handkerchief suddenly +beneath my nose. Instinctively I drew back, inhaling involuntarily as I +did so, and then I blinked and looked at McKelvie. But he was engrossed +in reading the sheaf of bills and taking this as a sign that he did not +wish his action remarked upon, I busied my brain in trying to recall the +name of that delicate fragrance that for one fleeting second had +assailed my nostrils when McKelvie brushed my face with the +handkerchief. But try as I would I could not remember, and I decided to +ask McKelvie the name of the perfume when we were once more alone. In +the interest aroused by more pressing matters, however, I completely +forgot the trifling episode. + +By this time McKelvie had opened the cash box and was engaged in peering +at the stoneless ring through his lens. + +"Thank you, Jones," he said, replacing the ring beside the other +objects. "But, hello, what's in this envelope?" + +"Burnt scraps of the torn will. And look here, you have overlooked the +will he was making," returned Jones, pushing forward a heavy sheet of +paper. + +"I noticed that," responded McKelvie indifferently. "May I look inside +this envelope?" + +"Surely. You will find that the most interesting scraps are the one with +the name Darwin and the one with the partially burned letter R," +explained Jones. + +As in the case of the ring, McKelvie used his lens on the scraps, then +he replaced them in the envelope. + +"Thank you, Jones. Some day I hope to return the favor." + +Jones, who had been highly amused by McKelvie's actions, waived aside +the other's acknowledgment with a lordly air. "You are welcome to +whatever you learned. Not much, was it?" he said. + +"No, not much," replied McKelvie with a twinkle, adding as we passed out +of earshot, "not much but quite enough, thank you, Mr. Jones." + +"Then you did learn something of importance after all," I remarked as, +seated once more in my car, we drove swiftly toward Broadway and headed +uptown on our way to the Darwin home. + +"Two things, one of which would have told me if I had not been positive +before that Mrs. Darwin is innocent." + +"Yes?" I prompted as he paused. + +"There's entirely too much evidence against her. Why, man, it's +overwhelming! One quarter of it would be sufficient to establish her +guilt! Just go over it calmly. The quarrel, the change of will, the +letter--any one of which would be ample motive. Her presence in the room +when the shot was fired, your testimony that she held the weapon in her +hand, the finger-prints on the pistol, the handkerchief, the closed +room--It's much too much and thereby proclaims her innocence." + +"And the second thing?" I asked. + +He did not answer for he was employed in making what looked like a +series of hieroglyphics on a page of his notebook. As I shifted closer +to watch his occupation, between the traffic signals, he tore out the +page and turning it over made four letters on it and handed it to me. + +Keeping one hand on the wheel, I accepted the page with the other, and +stole a quick glance at it. The letters he had made were capitals and +were arranged in two sets. In the first group the L and the R were +written with a flourish, so that the first stroke of the R resembled +that of the L. In the second set the first stroke of the L was looped +while that of the R was straight. + +"Well?" I questioned, decidedly puzzled. + +"I wish I knew whether Darwin made his capitals with a flourish," +returned McKelvie. "The initial letter of the name on the scrap Jones so +obligingly showed me had been burned away, leaving only the first stroke +of the letter visible. If Darwin made his capitals like the first set on +this sheet," tapping the paper I still held, "then the will might have +been in favor of either the wife or the nephew and there is no way of +proving which, except by taking Cunningham's statement as truth. If, on +the other hand, Darwin made his capitals like the second set, then the +will he destroyed was in favor of Lee Darwin, and Lawyer Cunningham was +guilty of prevarication at the inquest. It makes a nice little problem +to think about. I must find an answer to it as speedily as possible." + +"Ruth would know Darwin's hand," I said eagerly. + +"But the prison authorities aren't going to let us run in and out of the +Tombs every time we happen to think of something we should like to know +about," he replied dryly. + +Piqued by the irony in his voice I remained silent, for I was not yet +sufficiently accustomed to his manner to let his sarcasms pass +unnoticed, and the remainder of the drive was accomplished in unbroken +silence on both our parts. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE LAMP + + +The moment we drew up before the house, McKelvie sprang out and +disappeared from view. I switched off the motor and clambered out to +find Jenkins waiting for me. He nodded in the direction of the grounds +and as I had no mind to hunt for McKelvie I was on the point of +ascending the steps when he appeared suddenly from behind a clump of +bushes. + +"Just taking stock of the general atmosphere, as it were," he said, +waving his hand in the direction of the grounds, which made me take a +second look at my surroundings. + +My first visit had not been conducive to leisurely inspection and I now +saw that the house was exceedingly unusual, a replica of the relic of a +bygone age, although by no means so very old itself. It had been modeled +after a type of dwelling that is now obsolete, but which was much in +vogue when the English held sway over the Island of Manhattan, and was a +massive affair with the servants' wing tacked on at the back like an +after-thought (which it probably was, since it looked newer than the +original domicile), and connected with the main building by a narrow +enclosed passageway. + +The entire structure, including the garage in the rear, stood directly +in the center of the vast grounds, and was completely screened from the +view of the curious by the forest of trees that surrounded it. It was an +odd house, and it is a great pity it is no longer standing, but in a +way I can hardly blame the heirs for having had it torn down and a +modern home built on the site, since it must forever have remained +coupled in their minds with associations which we who were in any way +connected with the events which took place in that house, were all of us +endeavoring to forget. + +"Only two things to be learned here," said McKelvie. "First, that it +would be easy for anyone to enter or leave the grounds unnoticed on a +dark night." + +"And it was dark that night, beastly dark," I interrupted. + +"And secondly, that there is more space occupied by the left side of the +house than by the right." + +He pointed to the building and I saw what he meant. The left side jutted +out almost beyond the steps. The right side was cut off level with the +topmost gradient and in line with the front door. + +"What a curious way to build a house," I remarked. "What's the +interpretation, McKelvie?" + +His answer was to spring up the steps and ring the bell. He waited a few +minutes, then hearing no sound rang again. + +"It's no good," said McKelvie, with a shrug, after our third attempt to +rouse the inmates. "They've probably deserted the ship. It's a habit +with servants when things go wrong in a house. Jenkins, go around back +and see if you can unearth the butler. He can be depended upon to have +remained behind. Tell him that Mr. Davies wishes to enter the house." + +As Jenkins disappeared, McKelvie continued: "Strange that Orton hasn't +the gumption to find out what's wanted." + +"He left the house for good after the inquest," I returned. "I doubt if +there is anyone living here now." + +"What about young Darwin?" + +"Lee? The last I heard of him he had gone South." + +"Lee Darwin gone South?" he repeated. "How do you know?" + +"I forgot to mention it last night, but when I first called on you I +also went to the Yale Club. They told me Lee had left for the South the +previous afternoon. At the time I thought it queer that he should go so +soon after the murder, without waiting to attend his uncle's funeral." + +"It was odd. I'll have to start somebody on his trail at once. Did you +know that he was here the night of the murder?" + +"Here in the house?" I gasped. + +"No. Outside the study window," he returned. + +"But McKelvie," I answered, thinking to trip him, "that footprint was +made by Lee Darwin in leaving the study." + +"What footprint?" He stared at me in evident surprise. + +"I understood you to mean that you had deduced Lee's presence from the +footprint that Jones discovered," I returned abashed. + +He laughed heartily. "My dear man, where are your reasoning powers? +Footprints don't last forever and we have had a shower since the murder. +Besides I'm not clairvoyant enough to guess by a look at the imprint +whose shoe made it. No, I base my deduction on this." + +He held up a stick-pin of a peculiar dull brown hue, made in the shape +of the head of a bulldog. On the gold setting around the base of the +head had been engraved the name, L. Darwin. + +"Where did you find it?" I asked eagerly, as he slipped it into his +wallet. + +"Beneath the first two windows of the study the ivy has grown very +thickly. I found the pin close to the wall and directly beneath the +second window, entangled in the vine. The head is exactly the color of +the ivy stem and it had remained unnoticed. I saw it because I was +hoping to find proof of his presence there." + +"But I do not see how you could possibly know he had been there," I +objected. + +"I've learned to read between the lines and I spent the night in +thoroughly acquainting myself with the inquest. Besides, Mr. Davies, you +have a very retentive mind and you told me more than you guessed last +night. One of the things you emphasized was the fact that Lee Darwin had +seemed to know that his uncle was dead when he saw the coroner, and that +he had turned deathly pale when suddenly accused of being outside the +study that fatal night. You ended by saying that although that point was +cleared up to everyone's satisfaction you were still persuaded that the +young man knew more than he gave out, and I agree with you there." + +"But if he witnessed events, why doesn't he clear Ruth then?" I +protested. + +"I didn't say he saw anything. I merely said he was there," he retorted, +and refused to discuss the point further, which was just as well +perhaps, for Jenkins was holding the door open and there was much to be +done if McKelvie was to clear Ruth before her trial. + +As we entered I noticed Mason hovering in the background, and I nodded +to him. "Mason, this gentleman is a detective who has come to solve the +mystery of your master's death. I should be obliged if you would let him +in whenever he comes here." + +"Yes, sir, indeed I will, sir. Master was my master and I'm not saying +anything against the dead, sir, but I'd like to see someone else swing +for it, indeed I would, sir," he said in a troubled whisper. + +"Thank you, Mason. That is all. If we need you we shall call you." + +He moved slowly toward the servants' entrance and I turned to look for +McKelvie. He had been examining the lock of the front door, and now he +was employed in measuring the respective distances of the stairs and the +drawing-room door from that of the study. As Mason disappeared, however, +McKelvie looked up at me with a smile. + +"Ready?" he inquired, and when I nodded he opened the door of the study +with an eager air and the light of battle in his eyes. + +I had expected to see him whip out a lens and begin a minute examination +of the room. Instead he adjusted the chair in the position in which it +had stood on the fatal night, and seating himself in, closed his eyes. + +This procedure did not at all impress me as the right way to go about +solving the crime, when every moment was precious. I was on the point of +remonstrating with him when Jenkins enjoined silence upon me. + +"He's thinking, sir," he said low. + +Thinking! I was thoroughly disgusted. With my intimate knowledge of the +case thinking for five consecutive days had brought me nowhere, yet here +was this man whom I had engaged to find clues and investigate the murder +thoroughly, sitting back in a chair thinking--goodness knows about what, +since all the thinking in the world would not produce the tangible +material evidence of which we stood in such dire need! + +"Jenkins!" McKelvie sat up with a suddenness that startled me. "Open +that safe." + +As Jenkins knelt before the huge contraption and manipulated the dial +with deft fingers, McKelvie turned to me with a quizzical smile. + +"Don't become annoyed, Mr. Davies," he said quietly. "Each man his own +method, you know. I was just trying to decide a certain small point and +now that I have satisfied myself as to my correctness in the matter, +I'll be as energetic as anyone could possibly wish." + +I felt the blood surge into my cheeks, as I said a little stiffly, "I +didn't mean to criticize----" + +"No harm done," he interrupted lightly, rising and laying a hand on my +arm for a moment. Then he addressed my man. "You're mighty slow for an +adept, Jenkins." + +"An adept! Jenkins!" I could hardly articulate the words. + +"A former adept in the art of safe-cracking," answered McKelvie with a +flourish. "But I trust you won't count that against him since he +reformed some years ago." + +"No, of course not," I murmured hastily, as Jenkins looked up at me with +pleading in his somber eyes. "He's a very good servant, whatever else +he may have been." + +With a beaming smile Jenkins rose and opened the door of the safe. + +"Now," said McKelvie, "I'm going to show you several curious, but rather +interesting facts." + +He turned to the lamp upon the table and gazed at it thoughtfully for a +moment, then he snapped it on and off. "Did you notice anything odd +about it?" he asked. + +In imitation of his manner, I too gazed steadily at the lamp. I had paid +no great attention to it before, being too overwrought to notice +details, but now I saw, or thought I saw, what he meant. + +In keeping with the style of the room, the lamp though small was made in +the shape of a bacchante who wore on her hair a crown of leaves and +about her bare shoulders a wreath of the grapevine, so exceedingly heavy +that she held it away from her graceful body with her hands, from which +depended a rather large cluster of magnificent grapes. + +"It is very beautiful," I responded, "but odd for a lamp, and that bunch +of grapes seems almost out of all proportion to the rest of the figure." + +"True, but that is not what I referred to," he returned. "Look here!" + +Again he pulled the cord which cleverly imitated a stray tendril +clinging to the wreath, and a pleasant glow suffused the table, but much +as I looked I could detect nothing amiss. + +McKelvie smiled involuntarily at my anxious endeavor to discover the +flaw. "Don't you see that the light comes from the right side of that +cluster and not from the center?" he remarked. "Which means a double +socket of course. Why then doesn't the other bulb light also?" + +"There may be no bulb in the left-hand socket," I suggested. "Or it may +be broken." + +He nodded. "We'll soon settle that." He unscrewed the bunch of grapes +and revealed the double socket, each part of which was provided with a +bulb. He exchanged the bulbs and when he pulled the cord the same +condition obtained. Only the bulb on the right lighted. + +"It isn't broken, you see. Therefore, it must be lighted from some other +source. I divined as much when Mrs. Darwin declared she hadn't touched +it, and that if it had been lighted from the table she would have seen +the person who pulled the cord. The only thing remaining is to find the +switch that operates it." + +Without a moment's hesitation he made for the safe and I followed him +hastily. Now that I was in front of it I saw that the safe was nothing +but a closet containing three shelves, which were built into the side +walls at such a height that by stooping slightly a man could pass under +them with ease. I glanced along the lowest shelf, although I knew that +it was empty since Jones' entrance at the inquest, but McKelvie paid no +attention to the bareness of the cupboard. He was engrossed in fingering +the wall beyond the door. Then with a grunt of satisfaction he caught my +hand and placed it where his had been. Instantly my fingers came in +contact with a small button. I pushed it, and lo! the left bulb of the +lamp sprang suddenly into being. + +"Well, I'll be hanged!" I ejaculated, looking at McKelvie. "Why does any +sane person want to light his lamp from his safe?" I asked. + +"Because, Mr. Davies, it's no more a safe than I am--well--Jenkins," he +returned impressively. + +"Not a safe?" I exclaimed. + +"No." + +"Then what--?" + +"I'm going to show you." McKelvie again fingered lightly the wall, but +this time it was the wall which formed the back of the safe. + +Presently with that same peculiar grunt he took out a pocket-flash and a +knife. Opening the knife he pried the point into what looked by the aid +of the flash like a harmless knot-hole just beneath the lowest shelf. +(He was kneeling on the floor of the safe and Jenkins and I were +stooping to watch him.) The next moment the knot-hole had swung aside, +revealing to our astonished gaze a tiny key-hole! + +The back of the safe was in reality a door! + +Silently we watched as McKelvie fished out his keys and tried them in +the lock but without success. Then he spoke to Jenkins. "Tell Mason to +give you all of Mr. Darwin's keys, but don't let him come in here." + +"Very well, sir." + +When Jenkins returned with the keys McKelvie tried them in the lock, one +after the other, but the door remained as securely locked as before. + +"Strange," he said, looking annoyed. "You are sure you brought me all +the keys?" he added abruptly. + +"Yes, sir, even the ones he had in his pocket when he was shot, sir," +responded Jenkins. + +"Odd. I hate to break it open. It might be useful later on." + +Jenkins, who had been peering intently at the key-hole over McKelvie's +shoulder, spoke suddenly. "No need to smash it, sir. I still have my old +tool kit and if I'm not mistaken I have a master key that will fit this +lock." + +"Off with you, then. Break all traffic laws if necessary. Only be back +as soon as possible," cried McKelvie gayly, and I never saw the solemn +Jenkins move so fast before. + +While we awaited the man's return McKelvie came out of the safe and +resumed his indolent pose. Again I found myself growing exasperated with +his attitude. Surely there were clues to be found in the room, and he +wasn't thinking because those brilliant black eyes were wide-open and +wore an expression of contented ease. + +"Since you object to my inactivity," he remarked quietly, "let's talk. +At least we shall be exercising our tongues, if nothing more," and he +laughed oddly. + +I ceased trying to understand him and welcomed the opening that he gave +me. "Will you answer me three questions?" I inquired. + +"Depends on what they are," he returned laconically. + +"Nothing really startling," I answered, laughing. "I merely wished to +know why if Lee Darwin was outside that study window he did not leave +footprints for the police to discover, as they did the ones that he made +in the morning." + +"Because there is a flower-bed under all the windows except the first +two. Beneath those two the cement walk reaches to the wall. He stood on +this walk that night, but in the morning having just come in the door +he rushed out of the window nearest to him and stepped into the +flower-bed." + +"I see. Now here's question two. How did you know so unerringly that the +lamp was also lighted from the safe?" + +"Childishly simple. I had already deduced a secret entrance." + +"How?" I broke in. + +"Sherlock Holmes says, 'Exclude the impossible, whatever remains +improbable must be the truth.' Mrs. Darwin didn't kill her husband or I +should not be here. The case is one of murder, not suicide, therefore +someone else must have been in the room at midnight. He couldn't leave +by the windows or the door and flesh and blood doesn't vanish into air, +ergo he must have gone out by some other entrance, natural inference a +secret one, since it wasn't discovered." + +I nodded. So far it was absurdly simple and clear. I was a trifle +mortified that I had not divined it myself, but then such things were +not in my line and the affair stuck too close to home to leave me any +capacity for ratiocination. + +"The question that had to be settled then," he continued, "was the +situation of this entrance. I called your attention to the peculiar +architecture of the house. When I entered the study I noticed that the +safe occupied the wall in question. Jenkins opened it for me and I saw +that it was the size of an ordinary closet and not very deep. What was +more reasonable than to deduce that the remaining space between the back +of the safe and the outer wall of the house was occupied by a passage of +some kind!" + +Again I nodded. "Of course. It was just a question of accounting for the +extra square footage of house. But you haven't answered my original +query." + +"About the light? Mrs. Darwin said she didn't touch it, the dead man +presumably couldn't, therefore the murderer must have done so. If he had +pulled the cord Mrs. Darwin would have seen him, hence he lighted the +lamp from some other source. Where? Not at the main switch near the +door, for he had to vanish at once, knowing the shot would rouse the +household. Besides, Mrs. Darwin would have heard the click when he +pushed the button. The only place left was somewhere near the entrance. +It was more likely to be inside than out, since, as before, Mrs. Darwin +heard no sound. So I looked for it in the most plausible spot and found +it." + +I smiled. "You have answered my third question, which related to the +secret entrance, but I have thought of two more to take its place. If +the murderer used Darwin's pistol, how is it that only Ruth's +finger-prints are on it?" + +"He'd be too clever not to use gloves," returned McKelvie shortly. + +"To be sure. But here's a harder one. How did the criminal, if he was +behind Ruth, shoot Philip Darwin with such accuracy in the dark?" + +"Exactly, that's just the point," he replied enigmatically. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE SECRET ENTRANCE + + +When Jenkins arrived with the keys, McKelvie looked them over +critically, selected a couple, and tried them on the door. The first was +too large, but the second turned the trick. Cautioning us to stoop to +avoid the shelves, McKelvie pushed open the back of the safe, which +swung away from him into the darkness beyond. With the flash to guide +him he stepped through the opening, then beckoned us to follow him. +Though it was too dark to see, I knew I was in a room of some sort, for +I felt the velvet softness of a carpet beneath my feet, and I also +tripped over some article of furniture. By this time McKelvie had +located the light and I saw that my room was really an alcove fitted up +with a luxurious divan heaped high with pillows, beside which stood a +small smoking-stand. But ornate and sumptuous as the alcove was I should +not personally have cared for it, since the atmosphere was close and +smoke-laden and there was no means of letting in the light of day. + +McKelvie glanced hastily about and then striding to the divan he bent +down and sniffed at it critically. Instantly I imitated him. To my +amazement the same fragrance clung to the Persian cover of the couch +that I had detected on the blood-stained handkerchief. I smelled it +again to make sure and then as my memory still played me false I turned +to ask McKelvie what it was. He was trying his key in the lock of a door +at the rear of the room, and if he heard my question he failed to reply +to it. + +With less difficulty this time he unlocked this second door, which swung +inwards and stood at the head of a flight of rather steep and dark +stairs. As before, McKelvie preceded Jenkins and myself, but we kept as +close as possible to him that his flash might guide us as well. At the +bottom of the steps was another door of similar make, which also opened +inwards, and to my astonishment it gave exit onto the garden at the side +of the house between the first study window and the corner. So +skillfully had it been cut in the masonry, however, that only one +initiated into the secret of the entrance would have known it was there. + +McKelvie examined the ground around the door and as at this point also +the cement walk reached clear to the wall, I wondered what he hoped to +discover. Whatever it was, his scrutiny satisfied him, for he stood up +with a smile and applied his lens to the key-hole of the door. Then he +nodded his head in a contented manner and remarked that we had better +return to the study. I noticed that he locked all the doors scrupulously +behind him, leaving the secret entrance exactly as he had found it, even +to replacing the round disk which counterfeited the knot-hole. + +Once in the room he knelt down and examined minutely the dial of the +safe. + +"Interesting and unique," he commented. "Look here, Mr. Davies!" He +pointed to the inside of the door, and I noticed to my astonishment that +the dial was duplicated within. "Do you get the significance?" he asked +quickly. + +"Why, that safe can be opened or closed by combination from the inside +as well as the outside," I hazarded. + +"Naturally, to be of any use as an entrance it would have to be capable +of being opened from the inside," he said caustically. "No, what I meant +was this. Supposing we want to lock the safe. Give me a combination." + +"I gave him 'Darwin,' the first word that occurred to me, for it was one +of those old style safes with the six-letter combination. He twirled the +knob of the dial on the outside and pointed as he did so to the inside. +Just as the inside handle of a door will revolve when the outer one is +turned, so the inner knob of the dial duplicated the revolutions of the +outer. + +"Now, don't you see that in order to use this entrance it is necessary +to know what combination was used to lock the safe from the study and +vice versa?" he questioned. + +"Yes, that's plain enough. To use the entrance the criminal had to know +the combination. Well, what of it? A clever man would hardly be balked +by so small a thing." + +"You still don't get what I'm driving at," he returned. "I'll try to +explain. You have arrived at the conclusion that I held a while ago; +namely, that the criminal came in and went out by the secret entrance. +Am I right?" + +"Yes, that is my opinion." + +"Now we come to my point," he said, rising and beginning to pace the +room. "If the criminal entered by the safe, he must have been cognizant +of three things: first, that there was such an entrance; secondly, that +three of the doors were opened by a key of a certain size and make; +thirdly, that the safe door was unlocked by a certain combination, that +combination being the one which Philip Darwin himself had used. That +the criminal should know of one, or perhaps of two of these facts, yes. +But that he should be aware of all three of them seems incredible!" + +"Why incredible?" I objected. "He may have known of the entrance. He +could easily then take an impression of the outer lock and have a key +made, and Philip Darwin himself may have revealed the combination to +him." + +"Very good, but not carried quite far enough," he said with his +quizzical smile. "Before I show you where you are at fault, answer me a +question. How do you suppose that entrance came to be there so very +handy for the criminal's purpose?" + +"I presume it was built with the house," I answered. + +"Precisely. When?" + +"Almost a hundred years ago--1830, to be exact." + +"Exactly, and old Elias Darwin, the great-grandfather of Philip, who was +a firm believer in the established order of affairs, modeled his home in +the country (for this stretch of land was country then) on that which +was built by his ancestors in pre-revolutionary days, secret entrance +and all; for, of course, in those times secret entrances were +indispensable for the concealment of friends, whether Tories or Whigs." + +"Where did you learn all this?" I asked in amazement. + +"I have a book home which details the histories of various mansions in +New York," he replied. + +"That accounts for the entrance. But what about the safe?" I continued. + +"The safe is decidedly more recent. Doubtless the secret entrance had +been blocked up, if it was ever cut through, and no one knew of its +existence until Philip Darwin stumbled on the knowledge. I looked up the +family history of the Darwins this morning while I was awaiting your +arrival. Who's Who describes Mr. Frank Darwin, the father, as having +been a strait-laced, Puritanical man, and you yourself know what the son +was. Can't you imagine the clash between them?" + +In view of Mr. Trenton's story concerning Dick's mother I could well +believe that father and son had not agreed. + +"In 1906 there is record that Frank Darwin went to Europe for a year. Of +course, this is mere conjecture, but it is reasonable to suppose that +Philip, who was then twenty-one, took the occasion to have the safe +built, and the secret entrance unblocked." + +"Mason should know," I said. + +"I don't think so, or he would have mentioned it at the inquest. +However, there is no harm in questioning him. Go and get him, Jenkins." + +When Mason stood before us McKelvie said quietly, though his eyes +sparkled: "You testified that you had been with the Darwin family thirty +years. Did you remain in the house when Mr. Frank Darwin went to Europe +in 1906?" + +"Yes, sir. I remained as caretaker." + +"Then you can tell us when that safe was built?" + +"Yes, sir. It was that same year, sir. Mr. Phil complained he had no +private safe and his father told him to have one built while he was +gone. He chose that place, sir, because he liked the study. His father +used the den upstairs." + +"Why did he build such a large safe?" + +"I don't know, sir. He sent me away to visit some of my folks, sir, +while it was being built. He told his father it was to hold his fortune, +sir." + +McKelvie looked across at me with a triumphant expression which said as +plainly as words, "Notice how accurately I deduced the truth," but his +voice was subdued enough as he continued his questions. + +"He did not get along with his father, I understand?" + +"No, sir. They had different ideas on every subject, sir." + +"Why didn't Philip Darwin live at his club then, when he came of age?" +McKelvie inquired. + +"Because his father told him, sir, that if he left the house it would be +for good, and not one penny of his money would he get, sir. Mr. Phil +knew that his father always carried out his threats, sir." + +"That is all, Mason." + +"Yes, sir." + +The moment the door closed behind the old butler McKelvie said, with a +smile, "Just as I thought. And what came in handy when his father was +alive was doubly useful after his marriage. And thus we come back to the +original discussion, whether the criminal would know the three necessary +facts to enter by the safe." + +"A member of the family might," I said. + +"Yes, a member of the family. Lee, for instance, or even Orton might +discover that there was such a passage and secure a key to it. Would +either of them know the combination?" + +"Orton was Darwin's private secretary." + +"As far as his business down-town went, but not his secretary, as far as +his personal affairs were concerned. Besides, recall Mason's testimony. +He was surprised to find Orton in the study because Darwin always kept +it religiously locked, to preserve his secret, of course. Then, too, +Orton was Darwin's creature and, therefore, he would be doubly careful +not to place himself in the fellow's power. He evidently considered he +was running no risk, since he let Orton into the study that night. +Besides, if you did not want anyone prying into your safe, what +precaution would you take to prevent it?" + +"I'd change the combination frequently." + +"Exactly; and there you have an answer to my problem. Granted that the +criminal knew the first two facts, was he going to depend on a +combination that might be changed five minutes before he wished to use +the entrance? No, no, we're dealing with a person too clever not to +foresee that contingency. Besides, as far as I could detect, no one has +recently taken an impression of the outer lock." + +"Then we get back where we started and the entrance is of no value to us +at all," I pointed out. + +"You jump back too far. It merely shows that the criminal did not enter +by the safe. That he left that way is proved by the fact that he +vanished from the study without using door or windows, and that he very +evidently took Darwin's key with him." + +"But--the combination?" + +"The safe was open, for Darwin had just removed the will from it. Even +if it had been closed, a clever man could find an excuse for making his +victim open the safe. Once inside any combination of six letters would +close the door effectually against intruders." + +"I suppose you are right, but how did he get in then?" + +"Darwin let him in himself, either through the window or the door. Most +probably through the window, since you would have otherwise heard steps +in the hall. Recall Orton's testimony. He went to the garage to follow +the maid. When he returned he heard voices in the study." + +"And when he went in at eleven-thirty, Philip Darwin was alone," I +remarked with a smile. + +"Yes, to be sure, Philip Darwin was alone," he repeated, crestfallen. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE LAWYER AGAIN + + +Before I could retort the front door-bell rang sharply. Turning quickly +McKelvie walked to the safe and silently locked it. Then he spoke to +Jenkins with his usual assured manner. "Tell Mason to answer the bell. +And I sha'n't need you again to-day." + +"Very well, sir." + +As Jenkins opened the door and went out McKelvie dropped into a chair +beside me. + +"I wonder who that can be," he murmured, "but whoever it may be, not one +sign, not one word of what we have learned." + +I nodded comprehendingly, and in the pause that ensued I heard Mason +shuffle to the door and fumble with the lock. Then a man's voice +inquired for me. I heard an answering murmur and rose, turning toward +the open study door just as Mr. Cunningham crossed the threshold. + +"Mr. Davies," he said, with a smile, extending his hand. He had +recovered his voice since the inquest and spoke in a rich baritone. + +I gave him my hand, but not over-cordially as I said, suspiciously, "How +did you know I was here?" + +He laughed, not at all put out. "I called at your apartments to give you +some information, and Mr. Trenton kindly told me where I could find you. +He also explained your mission. A very laudable purpose. Mr. McKelvie, +I presume?" turning toward my companion. + +"I beg your pardon," I said stiffly, for I was ashamed of my unjust +suspicion, which had its inception in the fact that he was the dead +man's lawyer, and as such prejudiced against Ruth, and introduced the +two men. + +McKelvie, who had also risen at the lawyer's entrance, and who was +standing with his hands behind his back, affected not to see +Cunningham's extended hand and merely nodded. Annoyed at his incivility, +and seeing that Cunningham frowned angrily, I hastened to make the +peace. + +"Mr. McKelvie put me out of his house when I first called on him," I +remarked to Cunningham with a laugh. "You may consider yourself highly +honored to have received a bow." + +The frown melted from Cunningham's brow as he said, pleasantly enough, +"I understand. The idiosyncrasies of the great must be indulgently +overlooked," and he returned McKelvie's nod with a ceremonious bow. + +"You have some information to impart?" broke in McKelvie briskly as we +seated ourselves. + +"Yes. I have discovered something that I thought might help toward +freeing Mrs. Darwin. You remember," turning to me, "that I testified +that Philip Darwin had removed his securities from my office. I learned +yesterday that he had used them as I thought upon the market. There was +a slump in the stock he was operating the afternoon of the seventh of +this month and as far as I can make out he was completely ruined." + +"Ruined!" I repeated, for I could recall no rumor to that effect on the +Street that day. "You are sure?" + +"Positive. He was completely, absolutely ruined," returned the lawyer. +He looked at me thoughtfully a moment and then added, "You were +wondering why, being a broker yourself, you had not heard of it? The +explanation is simple. The world has believed Philip Darwin immensely +wealthy for so many years that the truth concerning his financial +affairs would have been a decided shock to his friends and associates. +Naturally, though he lost heavily on the market on the seventh, no one +suspected that he was wiped out, and so nothing was thought of the +occurrence, for he had lost as heavily before without its making any +appreciable difference to him." + +"I understand. And, of course he knew that he was ruined?" I continued. + +"He must have known it." + +"Then why was he troubling himself to make a new will?" I said, +perplexed. + +Cunningham shook his head. "I never pretended to understand him. But I +thought my information might help along this line. If he had no money +Mrs. Darwin certainly didn't murder him to inherit his fortune." + +"She may not have known that he was beggared," I retorted. + +"Humph! If she swore she did know that fact, who could contradict her?" +and he smiled blandly. + +"Are you a criminal lawyer, Mr. Cunningham?" queried McKelvie suddenly. +He had arisen again when Cunningham began to talk and had been pacing +the room in apparent indifference to our conversation. + +"No, I am not," answered the lawyer promptly, just a little surprised. + +"What an infinite pity! You would make a great success in that line I am +sure," responded McKelvie, and in his flexible voice I again detected +traces of irony. + +Cunningham looked at McKelvie undecided whether to take the remark as an +insult or a compliment, and I saw McKelvie's lip curl just a trifle +before he continued suavely, "I meant it, Mr. Cunningham. You would make +a great criminal lawyer. I advise you to try your hand at that branch of +the profession." + +Cunningham laughed. "Thanks, but I'm too old a dog to learn new tricks. +Besides, I am planning to take a little vacation presently. I expect to +travel for the next few years, but I do not mean to intrude my own +uninteresting affairs upon you. You have no time to waste in this case. +Have you discovered anything of value so far?" he continued with +friendly interest. + +McKelvie shook his head and sighed. "I am afraid so far it is a losing +game," he said with an air of great candor. "The trouble is, as I +explained to Mr. Davies, that the scent is cold. The clues are in the +hands of the police. Ah, if only I could have been here from the first!" + +"It is a pity. They say you are a great detective. I should hate to see +you defeated," answered the lawyer, giving McKelvie a Roland for his +Oliver. + +McKelvie laughed--a short, hard laugh. + +"Don't fool yourself, Mr. Cunningham. I am not going to be defeated," he +said tersely. "No, not even if the criminal is the cleverest fellow +living." + +"Pride goeth before destruction, Mr. McKelvie. By this time the criminal +has doubtless betaken himself to other parts," returned the lawyer, +sardonically. + +"The world is small, and I am going to get him if it takes me the rest +of my life." McKelvie's jaw snapped with grim determination. + +The lawyer rose. "I must be going. Good-by, Mr. Davies. Farewell, Mr. +McKelvie. Long life to you, sir." + +"Damn his impudence," said McKelvie as the front door slammed, "but he's +right. I have no time to waste. I'll call you up in the morning if I +have news, and in the meantime say nothing to anyone of our +discoveries." + +"Not even Mr. Trenton?" + +"Not even Mr. Trenton. I'm trusting no one but you and--Jenkins. Also, I +do not want that meddlesome old lawyer hanging around when I want to +work. Good-by." + +"Just a moment. How does what Cunningham told us affect the case as it +now stands?" + +"Not a hair's breadth. I told you before there was more than enough +evidence against her. And I'm hanged if I don't believe he knew it, +too!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +DEDUCTIONS + + +Naturally, Mr. Trenton was eager to know what we had accomplished and +bombarded me with questions the moment I stepped foot in my apartments, +which was not until late, for I had stopped at the office to attend to +some pressing business first. I put him off, however, by saying that +McKelvie was just getting his bearings and we'd have definite news when +I heard from him again. I expected that he would call me up next day, +but I received no word from him, so that I had plenty of time to +speculate on the little I knew. + +Personally, I was not sorry that Philip Darwin had failed, because I did +not relish the idea of Ruth's inheriting his money, but I could not +understand why McKelvie had disparaged Cunningham's motive in giving us +this information. Not that I wanted to side with the man. I felt the +same unreasonable antagonism that McKelvie evidently experienced toward +him, but I wanted to be fair, and as far as I could see he was desirous +of helping us as much as he could. + +At any rate, motives for the crime, as far as Ruth was concerned, were +valueless, since we knew of the existence of the secret entrance. What +troubled me most was this point. Why should any sane man (I presume that +the criminal was sane, if criminality is not another form of insanity) I +repeat, why should any sane man shoot another one in the dark in the +presence of a third person with the chances ten to one against his +hitting the one at whom he aimed, and ten to one in favor of his being +discovered? It was absurd on the face of it, yet it was just what had +happened in the study that night, and twist it as I would I could make +neither rhyme nor reason out of it. McKelvie had said the criminal was a +clever man and clever criminals don't usually leave anything to chance, +for only chance could have directed his aim in a room so dark that he +could not possibly see his prospective victim! + +Though I thought about it continually, this point was still a puzzle +when McKelvie phoned me, early the second day after our visit to +Riverside Drive, and asked me to meet him there at ten o'clock, but to +tell no one where I was going. As I was in the habit of leaving for the +office about eight I said nothing of my ultimate destination to Mr. +Trenton, but I ordered Jenkins to be at the office as near nine-thirty +as possible. I did not know whether McKelvie wanted him or not, and it +was simpler to dismiss him than to send for him. + +When we entered Darwin's study at ten o'clock sharp McKelvie was +standing at one of the windows whistling. He greeted us with a smile and +the remark, "Well, I'm all ready to tell you how the murder was +committed." + +"You have discovered something new?" I asked quickly. + +"One or two things, but nothing bearing on my statement. I knew before I +entered this room day before yesterday how it was done. For another that +might seem impossible, but for me, no. It was simplicity itself." + +I couldn't help smiling at this piece of conceit and catching my look he +laughed good-humoredly. + +"All great detectives--and I am one, according to my friend, +Cunningham--are egotistical," he said. + +"Is that the reason that Sherlock Holmes is an egotist, sir?" asked +Jenkins suddenly. + +"Undoubtedly; and why not, since he is the greatest of his kind. +You see great detectives seldom fail, and so naturally they +become--well--self-opinionated," returned McKelvie. + +But I had not come there to discuss the failings of detectives, great or +small, so I proceeded to dismount him from his hobby. + +"You said you knew how the murder was done. So does anyone who reads the +papers. The coroner's inquest made that fact plain," I said to get him +started. I had learned already that he disliked having his statements +belittled. + +"The coroner's inquest!" he scoffed. "Haven't you the wit to see that +the inquest was in the hands of the police from the start? Jones +questioned Orton in the morning and then calmly used Graves and his jury +as a vehicle for tightening the net in which Mrs. Darwin had become +entangled. What chance then had the truth for even so much as lifting +its head? I suppose the police explained to your satisfaction how the +murderer shot so accurately in the dark?" he ended, cynically. + +I smiled inwardly as I realized that I had drawn the very fire I wanted. +Now I would have the answer to my puzzle. + +"Well, how did he do it?" I asked, unruffled. + +"He didn't. He shot Darwin while the lamp was lighted, like any +right-minded person," he answered triumphantly. "By the way, Jenkins, I +don't believe I'll need you to-day." + +"Very well, sir." + +I waited until Jenkins had gone and then I replied to McKelvie's +statement. "What you have just remarked is utterly impossible," I +retorted. "Ruth heard the shot before she saw the lamp spring into +being, and she was speaking the truth." + +He laughed. "Certainly, I am not disputing that point. I am merely +making the assertion that the murderer shot his victim while the lamp, +and for all I know, all the lights were lighted." + +"But----" + +"On second thoughts I don't believe I'll tell you. You might be as +skeptical of my information as you were triumphant just now at having +roused my ire," he answered laconically, and I knew that I had not +deceived him long with my pretense of blockheadedness. + +"I promise to believe anything you may say and swallow it all, hook, +line and sinker," I pleaded. + +"Well, perhaps under those circumstances--" he appeared to reflect, then +said abruptly, "Would you call Dr. Haskins a man who knew his business?" + +"Yes, decidedly so," I replied, surprised at the turn in the +conversation. + +"He remarked, if you remember, that Philip Darwin lived twenty minutes +after the bullet had penetrated his lung, and yet he also agreed with +the coroner's physician that Philip Darwin died at midnight or shortly +thereafter. You yourself can testify that the shot was fired at +midnight. How then do you account for the discrepancies in these various +facts, for facts they are?" + +My mind reverted to the inquest, and I heard again the pompous +coroner's physician explaining Dr. Haskins' mistake, and I also recalled +the young doctor's face, which certainly belied his apparent +acquiescence with the other's statement. And suddenly I saw what +McKelvie was driving at. Yet, how could it possibly be? + +"You mean that he had already been shot when Ruth entered this room?" I +said slowly, hardly daring to believe that which I uttered. It was so +incredible, so seemingly impossible! + +"Yes, just that." The words came with quiet conviction. + +"But I heard no other shot, and Philip Darwin was alive at +eleven-thirty!" + +"Of course you heard no shot. We're dealing with a clever man, I tell +you, and he wasn't advertising his actions," returned McKelvie, with +that note of impatience in his voice which crept into it whenever I +failed immediately to grasp the point. "I'll show you how it was done, +so that no one could possibly have heard that shot, even if there had +been someone listening at door or windows, which, of course, there was +not." + +He walked to the safe, and unlocked the door. Then he inserted his key +in the back wall and ushered me into the secret room. + +"In here," he said, "no noise, however great, could be heard without +these walls. They are sound-proof, for I have tested them myself. I +fired a pistol by means of a mechanism, and then listened in the hall +for its explosion. I heard nothing. When I returned to this room the +pistol had gone off, as was intended. So you can see that shooting his +victim in here with the doors closed there was no chance that the shot +would be heard by anyone in the house at the time." + +I stared at him in astonishment. "But, McKelvie, Jones proved beyond the +shadow of a doubt that Philip Darwin had just risen in his chair at the +table when he was shot," I protested. + +"Jones proved it!" he jeered. "Ye gods! Jones proved it! Of course he +proved it. What else would you expect of Jones? Why do you suppose the +murderer took the trouble to make those marks in the carpet except to +fool the police?" he raged. "Certainly Jones proved it when it was put +there for that purpose!" + +"Granted," I said pacifically. "He shot Darwin in this secret room. Then +what?" + +McKelvie calmed down and resumed his story. "Then he proceeded to +manufacture evidence. He carried his victim through the safe," returning +to the study as he spoke and relocking the entrance, "placed him in that +chair and arranged everything to look as though Philip Darwin had been +writing, as indeed he had been when Orton came in at eleven-thirty. +Then, satisfied that all was as perfect as he could make it, he turned +off the light and waited." + +"What for?" + +"Mrs. Darwin, naturally." + +"How on earth did he know she would come into the room? How could he +possibly divine that I would urge her to get me that letter when I only +spoke on impulse myself?" + +McKelvie sighed. "I'm not omniscient. If I could tell you how he knew +it, or why, I could tell you who committed the crime. I am only +reconstructing what actually happened, for he was in the room at +midnight, wasn't he, since he fired that second shot and lighted the +lamp? And is it reasonable to suppose that it took him twenty minutes to +shoot his victim and place him in that chair?" + +I acquiesced, but not because I could see through the affair. It was +growing more intricate with every step we took. "But why, man, why?" I +persisted. + +"Because he needed a scapegoat. It may be, of course, and probably is, +the fact that he was about to leave when he heard Mrs. Darwin try the +door, and that the idea then came to him to incriminate her." + +"Why--that's monstrous!" I cried. + +McKelvie shrugged. "When you are dealing with a murderer, his little +ideas are apt to be rather outside the pale of civilized folk," he +returned ironically. "By providing the police with a suspect he escaped +their vigilance. Mrs. Darwin had the most motive for killing her +husband; therefore, she made the best possible victim. But he figured +without me. It's like a game of chess. He makes a move. I block him. At +present it's 'check,' with all the advantage on his side and every +prospect of the jury finding Mrs. Darwin guilty of the murder." + +He had forgotten my presence and was talking to himself, his eyes grown +dreamy as he gazed into the distance. At my exclamation, he passed a +hand across his eyes, saying in a different tone, "I beg your pardon. I +forgot in my interest in matching my wits against his, that to you Mrs. +Darwin is more than a pawn in the game." + +"McKelvie, surely you can't be serious," I implored him. + +"I'm sorry to say that I am," he returned. "The prosecution has a very +strong case, and we have nothing we can offer that refutes a single +point that they can make." He moved away from the window, where he had +been sitting for some little time, and began to pace the room in long, +even strides. + +"If only I knew where that second bullet had lodged itself! The +physician declares there was only one wound and only one bullet; +therefore, it's not in Darwin's body. Also, I have searched every square +inch of this room--walls, ceiling, floor, carpet and furniture. There's +not a trace, nor even the faintest shadow of a trace of that bullet!" + +He shook his head despairingly, but I had hardly listened to his +harangue. My mind had leaped to a sudden joyful conclusion. + +"McKelvie," I cried, "we have evidence to refute their arguments! Let's +go before the district attorney and tell him what we have learned and +insist on his releasing Ruth at once!" + +"What evidence do you refer to?" he inquired a bit coldly. "Do you take +me for a mere calculating machine without any human feelings and +consideration for others? Don't you suppose that if I had any valuable +evidence I should have used it to advantage long ere this?" + +"Why," I stammered, all the wind taken out of my sails, "what about +the--the secret entrance?" + +"As to that, it may or may not have been used upon that fatal night. We +conjecture because we are proving Mrs. Darwin innocent, but we do not +positively know anything about it," he put in imperturbably. "Mr. Darwin +may have lost or misplaced his key." + +"How do you account then for the lighting of the lamp from the safe?" I +persisted. + +"Again, we do not know it was so lighted. Often, if a connection is +loose, a jar or shock will light the lamp of itself." + +"But the shot in the dark?" + +"Ah, the police don't believe for a second that the room was ever in +darkness at any time. They believe that you and Mrs. Darwin concocted +that bit of evidence." + +"When?" I spluttered. + +"You gave the wrong impression about Mrs. Darwin the night of the crime. +They would argue collusion before their arrival." + +"But, McKelvie, what about the actual time when Philip Darwin was +killed, twenty minutes before Ruth ever set foot in the study?" I +continued, exasperated by his skillful refutation of my arguments. + +"On what do I base that conclusion?" he asked quietly. + +"On Dr. Haskins' testimony." + +"Exactly. And do you believe for a moment that the district attorney +will give credence to a fact which Coroner Graves practically ruled out +of his court?" he demanded. + +But I was still determined to have my way, for I wanted to free Ruth +above everything else. "There's the second shot to prove it," I said +stubbornly. + +He looked at me a moment with a strange smile, then he tapped his head +significantly. "Pardon me," he said quizzically, as I flushed angrily, +"I had forgotten you are in love and that lovers are never logical. +Don't be angry with me and I'll show you what would happen if I +approached Grenville with your last statement as a proof of my previous +deductions. You have no experience in such matters, but, unfortunately, +I know Grenville so very well." + +McKelvie drew his mouth down in imitation of the district attorney, +whose picture I had seen more than once in the paper, and then continued +his exposition, mimicking Grenville's soft voice, as I suppose, whenever +the part demanded it. + +"When I had been ushered into his office he would adjust his glasses and +listen with an air of great politeness to all I had to say. Then, when I +was through he would smile, still politely, very, if a trifle +sarcastically, and remark in his purring voice (the purr of the tiger +before he shows his claws): + +"'Of course, since only one shot was fired from Mr. Darwin's pistol, you +have brought with you the weapon that produced the second shot?' + +"I would have to acknowledge that I not only had no such weapon, but not +even the prospect of finding it. + +"'No? Then, of course,' with a still deeper purr, 'you have brought me +the bullet itself?' + +"'Well, no,' I would answer sheepishly, 'I haven't even got that.' + +"'What! No bullet either? Dear, dear, Mr. McKelvie, you really are a +genius in your line. And you would actually have me credit the evidence +of a chimera, a hypothetical revolver that fires a shot that leaves no +trace----'" + +Here McKelvie broke off abruptly and banged his fist against his +forehead. "Stupid, stupid. Oh, that someone would write me down an +ass!" + +"What's the trouble, now?" I asked. "I thought you were doing very +well." + +"As regards Grenville? Well, I'm glad you realize that we couldn't prove +anything with mere deduction unsubstantiated by facts, for any clever +prosecutor could knock our evidence into a cocked hat. No, I was +referring to something else," he returned, gazing somberly before him +with a look akin to horror in his eyes. + +"What is it?" I demanded. + +He shook off whatever was troubling him and replied in a +self-contemptuous tone, "Nothing, except that I must be getting old. I +have actually allowed myself to ape that pompous idiot of a coroner's +physician, and have thus been guilty of the worst crime in the decalogue +of a detective. I have been fitting the facts to my theory instead of +fitting my theory to the facts!" + +"And that proves?" + +"Just what I told you before, that we are face to face with a far +cleverer, more cold-blooded man than even I had given him credit for +being!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE STEWARD + + +I was taken by surprise when Mason knocked on the door to tell us that +he had prepared some luncheon for us. We had talked for two hours and +had virtually arrived--nowhere! The thing was beginning to get on my +nerves and I said as much to McKelvie as we seated ourselves at the +table. + +"Yes," he returned. "It's getting on mine, too. I feel like--well, a +person tied to a tree, who can go so far and no farther. But I'm going +to break away." + +"You mean you are going to try to locate the criminal since we can find +no clues to help Ruth?" I asked. + +"No, not directly, at present. I'm going to try to locate substantial +evidence against him, for your clever criminal is not so easily caught. +The trouble lies right here. Though I know the murderer is clever I have +no idea as to his identity, because I do not absolutely know the true +motive for the crime. Or, rather, I should say, no proof, for +unfortunately there are any number of persons who might have been in the +house at that time and who had sufficient motive for killing Darwin." + +"Can't some of them produce alibis?" + +"Alibis! I spent all day yesterday chasing alibis. Let's go over them. +First, there's Mr. Trenton----" + +"Heavens! You don't suspect him?" I gasped. + +"Why not? Don't you suppose he realized as you did that he was primarily +to blame for Mrs. Darwin's marriage? And didn't he, while living in +this house, have an opportunity to witness and resent the treatment +accorded to his daughter? And more than resent his own humiliation at +the hands of Philip Darwin, a humiliation of which even young Darwin was +cognizant, if he spoke the truth at the inquest?" + +"You're right. I hadn't connected him with the affair at all. I suppose +because he was away," I replied. + +He smiled. "I think we can safely knock him off our list, for though he +had motive he had not the opportunity. I motored to Tarrytown yesterday +and had an interview with Mrs. Bailey. On the night of the seventh, Mr. +Trenton was ill, too ill to leave his bed, and precisely at midnight +she, herself, and her doctor were in attendance upon him." + +"I'm glad of that," I said, drawing a long breath. "It's bad enough as +it is without dragging Mr. Trenton into it, too." + +"Though I made certain of his alibi because I am leaving no stones +unturned in this case, still I never for one moment believed him guilty. +It would be a monstrous father, indeed, who would let his daughter +remain in jail if a word from him could clear her, particularly if he +loved her and had bitterly repented of his former treatment of her." + +"That's one off the list. Who else could have done it?" I prompted, as +he remained absorbed in thought. + +"Cunningham is clever, and though he may have had opportunity, he lacks +motive. I saw the telephone girl in the apartment house where he has a +suite of rooms. She says that he left town about the first of October +and did not return until about ten o'clock the morning of the eighth. +Of course he might have got in the night before, in which case he spent +the night in the street or with a friend, for he is not registered at +any of the hotels, although he could have registered under an assumed +name, both of which presumptions are absurd, since he could have easily +returned home and none the wiser. The girl said he looked as he usually +did when he returned from out of town, but she had no idea where he +went. It seems he has many out-of-town clients whom he visits +occasionally, and it would certainly take quite a while to locate them +and get the desired information, with the chances ten to one that he +went somewhere else altogether, and had nothing to do with the murder +after all. The only thing I have against him is that he is clever, and +for that matter so I should judge was Richard Trenton." + +"You think Dick might have done it?" + +"I'm overlooking no one. I saw Jones and got from him all the data +concerning Trenton's actions on that night. Also I telegraphed to the +Chicago police to try to locate anyone who may have known him there and +we should be hearing from that end in a day or two. There is one fact +that stands out clearly, and can't be explained away. He left the hotel +before eleven and did not return until one. Also there is no trace of +where he went during that time since, though he taxied to the hotel, he +was clever enough to take the Subway or the surface car to his +destination. Then we have the letter he wrote his father, which +certainly points to his intention to see Philip Darwin. Whether he did +or not, we don't know, but it's quite probable that he did come here, +and that the two men had a conference of some sort. Again I'm inclined +to believe that he is innocent for the same reason that exonerated the +father in my eyes. Yet there is his suicide to account for, and the +still stranger fact that he left no word of any kind to explain his +act." + +He paused, then continued with a shake of the head, "There's not much +use bothering with him at present, for he's beyond helping us in our +predicament. There are others who may prove more useful." + +"What about Lee?" I inquired, remembering the stick-pin and where it had +been found. + +"Lee Darwin is the most likely suspect that I have," he returned, then +quietly busied himself with his dessert, for Mason had entered and was +hovering around. "By the way," he added, as we left the dining-room, "I +have an appointment with the steward of the Yale Club on this very +matter. I went there yesterday but Carpe was away and I left word that I +would call at one-thirty to see him. Supposing you drive me over." + +"After this visit I'll be able to decide whether our young friend had +the chance to commit murder," he continued when we were in the car +headed for the Yale Club. "He had plenty of motive." + +"Chance, too, McKelvie. Didn't you say yourself that he was there that +night when you first showed me his stick-pin?" + +"I said he was there and I still say it, but that means nothing at all. +We have got to prove that he was there at the psychological moment." + +I nodded. "But, even if he had been, I can't see where you find a +motive. He quarreled with his uncle, I know, but there was nothing in +that to cause him to shoot Darwin." + +"Wasn't there?" answered McKelvie. "Surely you don't believe that he +really quarreled with his uncle about Mrs. Darwin? It's absurd on the +face of it, that he should suddenly object to treatment that he had +accepted with utter indifference for five months or so. No, no, I have +another theory altogether about that quarrel." + +Our arrival at the Club put an end to our discussion. Carpe, the +steward, whom I had interviewed the night I first sought McKelvie, came +forward as we entered. He was a big, dependable fellow, this steward, +and had been in the employ of the Club for years. Moreover, he could be +trusted to give correct information about the doings of the various +members of the Club, all of whom he knew well. + +"Good afternoon," he said pleasantly. "If you will come into the office +I shall be glad to accommodate you." + +We followed him into a small room at the side of the hall and he invited +us to be seated, as he dropped heavily into a chair at his desk, but +McKelvie remained standing, and as he put his questions he paced back +and forth with his hands clasped behind his back. + +"I desire to ask you some questions about Mr. Lee Darwin, Mr. Carpe," he +began. "You have heard nothing from him since he left?" + +"No, sir, not a word," replied Carpe, slowly. + +"Go back to October seventh, Mr. Carpe. Lee Darwin engaged rooms for +that night, did he not?" continued McKelvie. + +"Yes. He called me personally about noon and said he wanted a suite of +rooms for an indefinite time. He came in some time during the afternoon +but went out again at five o'clock." + +"You are sure of the time?" + +"Yes. There was to be a banquet of some kind to which he had been +invited. It was just striking five as he came into my office here and +told me he could not attend, asking me to make his excuses for him. He +said he would not be back until late. It made an impression on me at the +time because he was not in evening clothes and I had always known Mr. +Lee Darwin for a very fastidious young man." + +"Do you know what time he got back?" McKelvie inquired after a pause. + +"He didn't come back that night," answered Carpe. + +McKelvie and I exchanged glances. "You could swear to that?" asked +McKelvie eagerly. + +"I could. I sleep on the first floor at the back of the house. About +five o'clock in the morning I heard someone knocking on my window and I +got up to see who wanted me at such an hour. We don't keep open house at +this Club. In the dim light I saw that the man was Mr. Lee Darwin, so I +motioned him to the back and opened the door for him myself. It was +quite a shock to me to see him, I can tell you. He was pale and +wild-eyed and his clothes were rumpled and dusty. He stumbled in and I +helped him to his room. He told me to keep quiet about him and naturally +I promised. I thought he had been out on a spree of some kind. He acted +as if he might have been drinking," explained Carpe ponderously. + +"What did he do after you promised silence?" McKelvie took a turn around +the room as he put the question. + +"He went to bed, and at luncheon time I awakened him. He dressed +hurriedly and rushed out without eating and did not return until three. +There was a telegram waiting for him. He read it and then tore it up and +his hands were trembling as he did so. Then he remarked that he was +leaving for the South on business and asked me to leave his rooms +undisturbed. He left in ten minutes and that is the last I have seen of +him," replied Carpe. + +"When he came back the morning of the eighth, were you really positive +that he had been drinking, or did he give you another impression as +well?" continued McKelvie. + +"Well, to be candid, at the time he seemed to me to be scared, as if he +had seen something that had terrified him plumb out of his wits. It was +afterwards in thinking it over that I decided that he had been out on a +lark," responded Carpe, after a moment's consideration. + +"I should like to examine his rooms," said McKelvie abruptly. + +"Certainly." Carpe rose and led the way up the stairs, along a hall and +into a suite consisting of a dressing-room, bedroom, and bath. + +The rooms were nicely furnished but were not unusual in any way and gave +no indication of having been recently used. Everything was in immaculate +order. + +"Any of his belongings still around?" queried McKelvie. + +"Yes, he left some things in the chiffonier." + +McKelvie strode to the article of furniture in question and examined its +contents with great care, as if hunting for some definite object. Then +with a shrug he announced that he was through. I thought he had been +disappointed in his search, but one look into his sparkling eyes told me +a different tale. He had been successful, but what had he expected to +find? + +"Thank you, Mr. Carpe. I'm much obliged to you. Keep my visit a secret, +particularly as your information may not be of value to me and might, if +gossiped about, merely create an unpleasant situation for the young +man," said McKelvie as we returned to the lower floor. + +"Just as you say. Good afternoon, Mr. McKelvie," and the door closed +behind us. + +As we descended the steps I said curiously, "What did you find, +McKelvie?" + +For answer he pulled from his pocket a small yellow satin sachet bag +with the initials L. D. embroidered on it in blue. He placed it in my +hand and with the remark, "Take a good whiff. It's a heavenly scent." + +I held the dainty bag to my nostrils and inhaled deeply. It was +wonderfully, delicately fragrant. I had a distinct recollection of +having been recently made conscious that there was in this world such a +subtle, elusive perfume, but for the moment I could not place it. Like a +melody that haunts by its familiarity even when its name eludes the +mind, did this perfume waft across my senses the knowledge that I had +breathed in its fragrance before and on two distinct occasions. Then +memory awoke and I saw myself drawing back from a blood-stained +handkerchief which had been suddenly thrust beneath my nose at +Headquarters, and recalled wondering where I had come across that +perfume before. Ah, I had it. It was Dick who first introduced me to +it. He also had a tiny sachet of yellow satin embroidered in blue and +when I noticed it with some astonishment among his things he laughed in +an embarrassed way and said a girl he knew had made it for him. When I +asked him what it was he named it for me with a shame-faced look. + +The subtle perfume that now assailed my nostrils and delighted my senses +was none other than the fragrance that scented Dick's belongings, that +clung to the Persian silk cover in the secret room, and that had left +its trace on that square of cambric that Philip Darwin had been holding, +the fragrance of Rose Jacqueminot! And Rose Jacqueminot meant a woman +and the only woman I could think of was--Cora Manning. + +"What do you make of this, McKelvie?" I asked, returning the sachet. + +He shrugged. "May be important and may not. I was more interested in +hearing that he had been out all night." + +"Which means of course that he had the opportunity," I interpreted. + +"Yes, he had the opportunity, but he may not have used it. His stick-pin +is no proof that he was there at midnight. There are all sorts of +possibilities in a case like this one. However, he did have ample +motive, for besides the quarrel there is the will. I examined specimens +of Philip Darwin's handwriting. He does not make his capitals with a +flourish. He makes his R's straight. So he was disinheriting his nephew +and not his wife. Also the criminal knew that fact, or why his attempt +to destroy the scraps by burning, which would account, you see, for his +still being in the study when Mrs. Darwin entered." + +"Somehow I can't believe Lee did it--unless it was on impulse," I said, +recalling the young man's noble countenance. "Besides, McKelvie, surely +he isn't so depraved as to implicate Ruth!" + +"'Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?'" he quoted. "He has +the Darwin blood in his veins." + +"So has Dick for that matter," I thought to myself. + +"I don't mean to imply by that that he necessarily committed the +murder," continued McKelvie. "I merely state that he had plenty of +motive and chance. But so did several others, as we know. And even if he +is the murderer we have no proof of that fact; nor does there seem to be +at present any chance of questioning him. I have a man on his trail, but +so far Wilkins has met with no success. He's evidently disguised, since +no one recognizes his photograph, which, added to his use of Rose +Jacqueminot sachet, looks very bad indeed." + +"Why?" I put in. + +"Ask me that again later and I may be able to give you a more definite +answer," he retorted. "To return to the subject. It may take months to +find Lee and we haven't months to waste on this case." + +"What do you propose to do then?" I asked despairingly. + +"I'm going to let you drive me over to Forty-second Street to see Claude +Orton," he responded, entering my car. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +ORTON'S ALIBI + + +As we drove toward Forty-second Street, I recalled my instinctive +distrust of the secretary, his stealthy attitude, and very evident +desire to see Ruth convicted. I had suspected him that very first night, +and now I envisioned him sneaking through the secret entrance and +returning to the house in time to follow me into the study. + +"I know what you are thinking, but he couldn't possibly have done it," +said McKelvie quietly. "He's the only one I don't suspect. He hasn't the +nerve in the first place, and in the second place he hadn't the time. +How long do you suppose it takes to lock all those doors--they were +locked, remember--and return to the house and lock whatever entrance he +used--not the front door, for you would have heard him--and enter the +study a second after yourself?" + +"He may never have gone out," I cried. "He could easily have stayed in +the room all the time in a dark corner and have come forward when he +turned on the lights. I swear I never heard him!" + +"What about Mrs. Darwin's testimony that he was in the hall?" he asked. + +"She may have been mistaken. He gave false evidence concerning her." + +"That's what we are going to see him about. But, remember this, Mrs. +Darwin would have no reason for saying she saw him if she did not." + +To this last statement I had to agree, for Ruth I knew disliked Orton, +and would hardly be likely to shield him. So I ceased discussing the +point, knowing we would soon have the truth, for McKelvie could extract +information from a stone. + +In due course we drew up before a second-rate apartment hotel that was +sadly in need of a coat of paint. We entered a dingy hall and inquired +for Orton. + +"Suite Four, third door to your left," droned the switchboard girl. + +We walked down the hall, which would have been decidedly improved by an +application of a mop and some soap and water, and knocked at Orton's +apartment. As we waited we heard the sound of a door closing, and then +the shuffle of feet and presently the door opened a crack and Orton's +near-sighted eyes peered at us from the aperture. + +"What do you want?" he asked impatiently. + +"A moment's conversation," replied McKelvie, but at that minute Orton +recognized me and, swiftly retreating, began to close the door. + +McKelvie, however, was prepared for him and the closing door met an +obstruction in the shape of the toe of McKelvie's boot. + +"There is no use trying to keep me out," he continued sternly, "unless +of course you would like to tell your story to the police." + +At mention of the police Orton retreated still farther, and we followed +him into the apartment, closing the door behind us. We found ourselves +in a stuffy, gloomy little parlor filled with a lot of ugly, +old-fashioned furniture. Orton, who was clad in dressing-gown and +slippers, ungraciously asked us to be seated, but before we could state +our errand a quavering voice from somewhere in the rear reached us. + +"What is it, Claude? Who is in there with you?" it said. + +"You have frightened my mother," said Orton, plucking at the cord of his +wrapper, as if undecided whether to go or stay. + +"Tell her it's all right and that you know who we are," commanded +McKelvie. "And without leaving this room," as Orton started to move +away. "I guess she can hear you from here." + +Sullenly, Orton obeyed, and then seating himself on the sofa, demanded +what we wanted. + +"At the inquest you gave several bits of information which had no +foundation in fact," began McKelvie, going straight to the point. "You +lied and you know it. For that matter so do I. Now I want to know why?" + +"Mr. Davies, of course I know," answered Orton with a sneer. "But what +right have you to question me?" + +"I am investigating the case for Mr. Davies on the quiet," answered +McKelvie suavely. + +"And that gives you the right to intrude on my privacy, I suppose?" +continued Orton sarcastically (he had abandoned his rôle of "humble +still," or rather he was Uriah Heep grown bold through triumph), "and to +force yourself into my rooms?" + +McKelvie shrugged. "Really if you would rather be put through the third +degree at Police Headquarters it's a matter of indifference to me." + +Orton's pallid face became livid. "Are you trying to frighten me by +pretending that you believe that I killed Philip Darwin?" he cried, but +his voice trembled in spite of himself. + +"No, I'm not pretending any such thing. I know you didn't kill him. +You're too much of a coward," returned McKelvie contemptuously, whereat +Orton gave a gasping sigh of relief. "But I do say you know more of this +murder than you gave out, and a hint to that effect in the ear of Jones +will be quite sufficient to bring the police to this place. No doubt you +have a telephone that I can use. I'll give you five minutes to decide." + +But Orton didn't need five minutes, no, nor even ten seconds. McKelvie +had hardly finished speaking when Orton flung himself forward with +clasped hands, his prominent eyes fairly popping with terror. + +"I'll tell you everything, anything, though I declare I know nothing. +Only don't send the police here," he pleaded in a frightened voice. + +I was amazed at his abject fear but McKelvie motioned him back, and said +coldly: "Very well, but don't lie to me, for I know why you fear the +police." He leaned closer and whispered a word that I did not catch, but +which had the effect of making Orton wring his hands helplessly, and +whine that he never intended to lie, and would tell us everything we +wanted to know. + +McKelvie silenced him with a gesture, as he said: "I want an account, a +true one, of everything that you did and said and saw on the night of +October the seventh between ten-thirty, when you summoned Mrs. Darwin to +the study and midnight, when the shot rang out." + +"I wanted to tell what Mr. Darwin had said and they wouldn't let me at +the inquest," put in Orton, aggrieved. + +"You're not dealing with the police now, and I want every word that has +any bearing on the case, whatever its purport." + +"Very well. At ten-thirty I told Mrs. Darwin that her husband wanted her +and then I listened at the door. They were quarreling about the love +letter I had put together for him." + +"When did you show him this letter?" interrupted McKelvie. + +"In the morning after Lee left the study. Mr. Darwin told me to patch it +together because he said it would come in handy some day. It did--that +night," and he leered at me in a very unpleasant way. + +"Go on," said McKelvie peremptorily. + +"I couldn't hear what they said----" + +"Then how did you know that they were quarreling about the letter?" I +asked. + +"I was going to say," Orton ignored me completely, "that I couldn't hear +the words exchanged until I opened the door a crack. Then I heard very +well, indeed. Mr. Darwin was threatening Mr. Davies, and Mrs. Darwin +retorted that she would send for him and warn him, but he only laughed +in a queer way and then I saw her coming, so I retreated. After that he +called me in and told me to watch her. I crept upstairs and heard her +orders to the maid, whom I followed to the garage. Then I came back and +hung around the hall. Mr. Darwin had told me he was expecting a visitor, +so when I came back I applied my ear to the door. I could hear voices, +his and a strange one, but not what they said, though they spoke loudly +as if in anger." + +"Why didn't you open the door a crack?" I inquired sarcastically. + +"Because I was too clever. Mr. Darwin had locked the door when I went +out and I knew it was still locked. Besides at ten-thirty only the lamp +was lighted and the region of the door was in comparative darkness, but +at this particular time I could tell by applying my eye to the key-hole +that the other lights had been turned on as well. So even if I could +have opened the door I should still have been afraid of being seen." + +"Never mind that. Go on with what's important," broke in McKelvie, +impatiently. + +"At eleven-twenty-five Mr. Davies arrived, and at eleven-thirty Mr. +Darwin called me." + +"How?" + +"There's a bell connection between the study and my workroom. When I +went in Mr. Darwin had resumed his seat at the table and looked pretty +much as he did when we saw him later, except he was alive." + +"A good deal of difference, I should judge," I thought to myself, +"between a corpse and a well man. However, that's neither here nor +there." + +"He had just finished writing the name, Cora Manning, on his new will, +for the ink was not yet dry when I reached the table. I told him all +that had taken place. It was then he laughed and said: 'So we've a +broker in the house, eh? He should know how to play fast and loose, eh? +I'll make him useful, this broker lover of our stainless Ruth.'" + +Orton mouthed the words with devilish delight and I had all I could do +to keep my hands off of him. But McKelvie paid no heed to our feelings. + +"Go on, man," he said with growing impatience. "Don't repeat what I know +already." + +"You said that you wanted to hear everything that was spoken," grumbled +Orton. + +"Yes, so I did. Only hustle along and get it out. Was that all he said?" +demanded McKelvie. + +"No. He said something else. I remarked that a broker ought to know how +to play fast and loose, and he replied: 'Yes, and other things, too, eh? +Mr. Davies doesn't know it yet, but he has done me the very greatest +service by coming here to-night. See that the windows are properly +locked and then go to bed.' As I locked the windows I could hear him +laughing to himself, and he was still laughing when I closed the door +behind me." + +"What did you think he meant to convey by those words of his?" asked +McKelvie. + +"I thought he might be referring to the fact that now he had good +grounds for divorce. I believe he was tired of Mrs. Darwin," replied +Orton. + +"You are sure that Mr. Darwin was alone at eleven-thirty?" continued +McKelvie, after a slight pause. + +"Yes, absolutely alone," responded Orton. "There was no place where +anyone could hide. I examined the window hangings as I locked up." + +"What about the safe?" + +"It was partly open and I looked in as I passed. It was empty." + +"Humph. Now I'd have sworn--" murmured McKelvie. + +"What?" asked Orton inquisitively. + +"Nothing. What's the rest of your story?" retorted McKelvie. + +"I didn't go to bed. I wanted to see what would happen, for I was sure +from the way he spoke that Mr. Darwin meant to call Mr. Davies into the +study later on, so I continued to work in the little room until I grew +weary and thirsty, and going out in the hall found that it was about ten +minutes to twelve. Still nothing had happened, for I could hear the +murmur of voices in the drawing-room." + +He didn't have to tell us how he knew. We could guess. Ruth was right in +saying that he was always spying upon her. + +"I knew," he continued, "that Mr. Darwin kept a good brand of whisky, +private stock of course, in a cabinet in the dining-room, and I +determined to mix myself a drink. But just then I heard the key turned +in the study door and thinking Mr. Darwin was coming out, I went back to +my room and closed the door. I waited some time, maybe five minutes or +more, and then looked out. No one was around and both drawing-room and +study doors were closed. I decided I had missed the show, since there +was no sound from either room, and I determined to have my drink before +I went upstairs. I went in to the dining-room and had my hand on the +cabinet key when the shot rang out. I hurried to the study and saw--Mr. +Davies in the doorway, Mrs. Darwin holding the pistol, and Mr. Darwin +dead." + +"You didn't see Mrs. Darwin go into the study?" questioned McKelvie. + +"No, but I judged she had gone in when I heard the study door unlock. +You see, I did not know what might happen, especially when Mr. Davies +said I had no proof that I wasn't in the study also, so I decided to +have an alibi for the police. That's why I said I was on the stairs +because then they would not know where I had really been. I didn't know +that Mrs. Darwin had seen me." + +"A good thing for you that she did see you," returned McKelvie grimly, +"or you might be occupying that cell in her place." + +Orton blanched like the coward that he was. "But--but, I'm innocent," he +said, indignantly. + +"Well, you wouldn't be the first innocent person to grace a cell, I +assure you," retorted McKelvie dryly. "You have told us everything?" + +"Yes, everything." + +"Very well, then you can answer several questions. You are positive you +heard the key turned in the study door when you stood in the hall at ten +minutes to twelve?" continued McKelvie. "Remember I want facts, and not +impressions." + +"I am as positive as that I am sitting here. But it was more toward five +minutes to twelve because I paused to ascertain if Mrs. Darwin was still +in the drawing-room and I listened for a minute or two before I started +for the dining-room," replied Orton with conviction. + +"A minute is a good long while, longer than you think, Orton," returned +McKelvie. "But that point is, after all, immaterial. We will say that +somewhere between ten and five minutes to twelve the study door was +unlocked from the inside," and he looked at me significantly. + +If he was right in his premise, then the person who unlocked that door +could have been none other than the criminal, for at ten minutes before +midnight Philip Darwin was past unlocking doors! Yet it seemed a +foolhardy thing to do, for any one then could have entered and +discovered him. But, no, after all, it was the sensible thing to do from +his point of view, since otherwise the prospective suspect would have +been unable to enter the room. Then I looked at McKelvie with dawning +horror in my eyes. The unlocking of that door could have meant only one +thing, that the criminal knew Ruth was across the hall, and +deliberately, cold-bloodedly, planned to saddle her with the murder of +her husband! + +"Why, McKelvie," I began, horrified, but he tread on my toe as if by +accident, and I recalled hastily that we were not alone. + +"Even if I had not heard Mr. Darwin unlock the door," continued Orton +ingratiatingly, "he must have unlocked it at some time, for I heard him +turn the key in the lock when I left him at eleven-thirty and the door +was open when Mrs. Darwin entered the room. But, I know I'm not mistaken +in saying that I heard it unlocked." + +"How do you know that it was Mr. Darwin who unlocked it?" I asked +injudiciously. + +McKelvie frowned, but Orton answered without apparent suspicion, "He was +alone in a closed room. Who else could have opened it, Mr. Davies?" + +"No one, of course," I lied cheerfully, and subsided into the +background, not wishing to give Orton any further inkling of what we +knew. + +"When you came out into the hall the second time, you said that you +heard no sound from either room. Did you open the study door even a +crack that time by any chance?" resumed McKelvie. + +"No. Again I feared to be seen. You see that all the lights in the room +had been turned on," replied Orton. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +GRAMERCY PARK + + +Even McKelvie was taken aback by this statement, more so than I was, I +could see, because he was firmly convinced that the criminal waited for +Ruth in a darkened room. I stole a glance at Orton to see whether he was +triumphing over us, but he was sitting in the same dejected attitude and +did not act at all as though he had made a remarkable declaration. Yet +if he spoke the truth, he sent our theories tumbling about our ears like +a house of cards from which one of the foundation units had been +suddenly removed. If the study was lighted at that time, then Ruth must +have seen the criminal, yet she had said she was shielding no one and I +believed her. What paradox was this, then? Even McKelvie was puzzled. + +"I wish I were sure you are speaking the truth," he muttered, looking at +Orton in a reflective way. + +"It is the truth. Why should I make it up? I applied my eye to the +key-hole to make doubly sure, even when I saw the light shining beneath +the doorsill," said Orton, and there was no mistaking his sincerity and +genuine surprise that McKelvie should doubt him. + +"You did not chance to see anyone when you applied your eye to the +key-hole?" went on McKelvie, putting aside his conjectures. + +"No, I saw no one." + +"You are acquainted with the details of Mr. Darwin's business, are you +not?" McKelvie remarked, abruptly changing the subject. + +"Yes, I'm conversant with a good deal of it," responded Orton. + +"Is it true that he removed his securities from Cunningham's office and +used them to speculate with?" continued McKelvie. + +"I suppose so since the lawyer says it. I myself never even knew he had +those securities. I attended strictly to his business in connection with +the bank, answering letters, arranging committee meetings, taking notes +of any agreements the directors came to, and so on. He speculated with +his own private funds, and advised his brokers himself, so I know +nothing beyond the fact that his transactions were large," answered +Orton. + +"You didn't hear any rumors that he was speculating in M. and R. stock, +for instance?" + +"Well, yes, he told me himself that he was going to take a chance on +it," replied Orton after a slight hesitation. + +"He didn't happen to mention that he was ruined, did he, on the +afternoon of the seventh?" insisted McKelvie. + +"Ruined!" Orton's eyes fairly popped with amazement. "No, I had no idea +it was as bad as that." + +"What do you mean?" asked McKelvie quickly. + +"I was watching that stock go down, and when he came into the office +that afternoon I asked him casually if he had invested. He said, 'Yes, +heavily,' in a dull kind of voice, but I thought nothing more about it, +because he was always pessimistic whenever he speculated and I also knew +he was too cautious to put up more than he could afford. I can't +believe he could have invested his whole fortune," and Orton shook his +head with a shrewd glance at us. + +"Rumors are apt to exaggerate," responded McKelvie lightly. "By the way, +how much was his whole fortune?" + +"I don't really know, but I believe he got quite a bit when he married +Mrs. Darwin. At least I gathered as much from something she said to him +one day when he had been particularly mean to her," explained Orton. + +"Do you recall the exact words?" asked McKelvie, ignoring my frown. + +"Not the exact words, but the sense of them," answered Orton with a +smile. "She wanted to know if he hadn't humiliated her enough when he +forced her to sign over to him her fortune, thus leaving her dependent +upon him, and he replied with a sneer, 'That's all I married you for, my +dear.'" + +At that moment I rejoiced in the murder, and should have thought no ill +of her if Ruth herself had done it. It was not murder but the +justifiable removal of a venomous snake. I was beginning to regret I had +not done it myself six months before when it first occurred to me as the +only solution to our trouble. + +"I think that is all then. Say nothing about our having been here, and +I'll do the same with regard to your affairs. By the way, at the trial +you may use the alibi you gave the police. You might find it awkward +explaining why you lied to them." McKelvie rose as he spoke, and walked +toward the door. + +"You're not joking? I can give the same evidence I gave before?" gasped +Orton incredulously. + +"Yes, only take care not to trip yourself up under cross-examination, +though I doubt if there is much danger from Mr. Vaughn. Why on earth did +you pick that old fossil to defend her?" he continued, as we re-entered +my car. "The prosecution will put it all over him from the start." + +"I went to him because he was the only one I could think of at the +moment, but he will not defend her himself, McKelvie. He will employ +other counsel. Though I can't see that it matters much what kind of +counsel we have or if we have any at all, for the prosecution has the +facts while we have--mere theories," I returned gloomily. + +"You're right. We have only theories and for a moment mine got a mortal +blow when Orton said the study was lighted, for as near as I can figure +that must have been just before Mrs. Darwin went in. Lord, if Grenville +knew that fact he'd laugh in your face when you testify, as I presume +you will, that the study was in darkness. Yes, and how much store would +the jury set by Mrs. Darwin's account then?" + +"Is that the reason you told Orton to repeat his evidence?" I asked. + +"Naturally. I'm not giving my opponents any more points in their favor. +The game is unequal enough as it is," he replied, drawing his brows +together in an effort to reconcile the various facts in the case. + +"But, Orton may give us away," I said presently. "He may become +frightened when he has to testify under oath." + +"He's looking out for A No. 1 and he's an adept liar, to boot. Besides, +he'd say nothing to make me reveal what I know about him," retorted +McKelvie, coming out of his abstraction. + +"What do you know about him?" I asked curiously. + +"Only that he's mixed up in some boot-legging scheme. Not much of a +hold, you think? Perhaps not, where a fearless man was concerned, but +Claude Orton is the greatest coward I have met in many a day. The very +word police is enough to scare him out of his wits, but he isn't worth a +moment's thought. I wanted to frighten him badly enough to get at the +truth and it netted us nothing in the end," he added, shifting +impatiently in his seat. + +I laughed sardonically. "You forget. It netted us a lighted room," I +remarked. + +McKelvie turned toward me with a look of deep concern in his eyes. "Tell +me," he said, "do you believe it was cleverness or sheer bravado that +made the criminal light the study with the door unlocked? Give me your +opinion." + +"How should I know?" I retorted glumly. "It's my opinion he was liable +to do anything." + +"He could hardly be cognizant of the fact that Orton was prowling +around, and he could easily turn off the lights when he heard footsteps +crossing the hall. That's doubtless just what he did, which would imply +that he was somewhere near the door. What a pity Orton caught no glimpse +of him! He would hardly leave Mrs. Darwin's entrance to chance. He'd +want to know when she was coming, for he couldn't be certain of the time +she would choose to enter, no, not if he were twice as clever." McKelvie +was thinking aloud, his brows knit once more, but I did not hesitate to +interrupt him. There was no Jenkins present to preserve the flow of his +thoughts undisturbed. + +"You seem to believe, or rather I should say, you seem absolutely +convinced that the criminal knew that Ruth would come to the study. The +same conviction, with all its attendant horror, flashed over me a while +ago when you were questioning Orton. But, upon my honor, now I review +the thing calmly, I can't figure on what you base your conclusion. Ruth +had no more idea of going into that study than I had, until I suggested +it to her on the spur of the moment. That's the truth. How are you going +to get around it?" I said emphatically. + +He pulled a briar pipe from his pocket and lighted it before he +answered. "That's easy. The criminal was in the room when Orton came in +at eleven-thirty. Probably he was hiding in the safe in the secret +room----" + +"I thought you deduced that the criminal knew nothing of the secret +entrance until he forced the knowledge from Darwin just before he killed +him," I pointed out. + +"I said he did not enter that way, not that he had no knowledge of it. +Orton said that Darwin and his visitor were quarreling. Darwin knew his +secretary and divined that he'd be hanging around the door listening. So +he called him in and got rid of him, in the meantime hiding his visitor +in the safe, from which point of vantage he heard the conversation +between Orton and Darwin. Am I correct so far?" he inquired. + +"Sounds plausible enough," I replied. + +"Knowing human nature (I make this deduction because throughout he has +most certainly traded on his knowledge of human beings in general, and +the police in particular), he put himself in your place. What would he +do if he were in love with Mrs. Darwin and had learned of the existence +of the letter. Why, naturally urge Mrs. Darwin to try to secure the +incriminating evidence. So you see he was pretty sure she would come, +but he did not know when. He couldn't possibly know when, could he?" he +asked appealingly. + +"No, I don't at this moment see how he could, unless he was a magician, +which isn't likely. I think myself we are on the wrong tack altogether. +We are trying to complicate a simple affair. The criminal, no doubt, +came in at midnight and shot Darwin without knowing that Ruth was there. +Then he went off again through the secret entrance, and Ruth was +implicated by pure chance, for, after all, there is only one pistol, +there was only one shot heard, and only one bullet found," was my +contribution. + +"All I can say to that, Mr. Davies, is that in that case the murderer +must have been a magician after all, for surely you are not implying +that Mrs. Darwin lied when she said the study was dark?" he remarked +with a smile, blowing wreaths of smoke along Broadway, for we were +driving slowly toward town. + +I groaned. I had forgotten the problem of the shot in the dark. +Assuredly it was a poser, for the feat was well-nigh impossible, unless +we explained it by assuming a previous shot, which would have been all +to the good if McKelvie could only have found the lost bullet. + +"You have reverted to the theory that the crime was one of impulse," +continued McKelvie. "Disabuse your mind of any such idea. That murder +was premeditated. It was done in cold-blood, and planned down to the +smallest detail, days before it occurred. And so very carefully was it +planned that the criminal was able to work Mrs. Darwin into the scheme, +without in the least disturbing his previous calculations. That is why +we are stumped for the present, because I have not yet been able to put +my finger on the weak spot in the link. There is bound to be a weak +spot, there always is no matter how clever the criminal, but it may take +longer than the time at our disposal before the trial. I shall have to +pick up a new trail, since Orton had nothing of value to give us," +McKelvie ended, knocking the ashes from his pipe. "Speed her up a +little, Mr. Davies." + +"What new trail?" I asked, obeying mechanically. + +"The woman in the case," he said impressively. + +"The woman in the case? You mean--Cora Manning?" I inquired. + +"Yes. You know the old French saying, 'Cherchez la femme.' I have done +my best to keep my promise to Mrs. Darwin to let Miss Manning out of it, +but now it is a matter of necessity. I firmly believe she was in +Darwin's study that night, somewhere between eleven-thirty and +midnight," he answered. + +"But, heavens, man, how did she get in?" I cried. + +"She lodges, or did, at Gramercy Park. Drive me over there. She should +be back by now and if she should prove to be the woman in the case, +we'll make her talk. It ought not to take more than an hour at most, and +if I am wrong, why we shall be no worse off than we are now." + +I gave my car more gas and continued down Broadway, intending to cut +across Twenty-first Street to Gramercy Park, remarking as I did so, +"You haven't told me how she effected an entrance into that closed +room." + +"She must have entered by the secret entrance," he replied. "Eliminate +the impossible, you know." + +"That's all very fine, but it plays ducks and drakes with your previous +reasoning, for how did she obtain a knowledge of those three +all-important facts about the entrance that you said even the criminal +could not divine?" I inquired. + +"When we meet the fair Cora you can ask her to explain the facts for +you, Mr. Davies. I confess that I cannot," he said a little wearily. "It +isn't good to jump at conclusions and I make it a rule not to say +anything which cannot be proved to have foundation in fact. Now I do not +know how she got there, but I do believe she was present in the study. +Until we make that a fact also, we will not discuss it." + +Annoyed at his tone I remained silent, but my eyes betrayed me as I +turned in his direction for a moment and he read curiosity in their +depths. He smiled and clapped me on the shoulder. "I'm an old crank. You +shouldn't mind my talk," he said. "I guess you have as good a right as +anyone to all the knowledge that can be gleaned in this business. I owe +my information to friend Jones. The blood-stained handkerchief is Cora +Manning's, I'm pretty sure, though the police are positive it belongs to +Mrs. Darwin. Perhaps you recall that I gave you an involuntary but +generous whiff of it that day. Did you recognize the perfume?" + +"Not at the time. I have since placed it as Rose Jacqueminot," I +replied. + +"That's right. It was very faint, but unmistakable. Now, I smelled the +other handkerchief also. It was scented with violet. You see, I have +made quite a study of perfumes and the different scents are as distinct +from each other as different brands of cigars or cigarettes. A refined +woman who has any taste at all chooses the perfume best suited to her +personality, and sticks to it. She doesn't use one kind one week, a +different kind the next. We will go over Cora Manning's room. If we find +even the faintest trace of Rose Jacqueminot we will know without a doubt +that the handkerchief is hers." + +By this time we had reached Gramercy Park, and running up the steps of +what was once a fashionable residence, we rang the bell. After an +appreciable interval we heard a shuffle of feet in the hall, and a thin, +emaciated-looking chap opened the door. + +"Is Miss Manning in?" inquired McKelvie. + +"I don't know," said the man, dubiously. "If you'll take a seat in the +parlor I'll call Mrs. Harmon." + +We did as he requested and entered a gloomy room in which all the shades +had been lowered, and as McKelvie moved restlessly around I seated +myself upon a very uncomfortable horsehair sofa. + +"No wonder yonder fellow is pale and thin," I thought, then I rose +hastily, more in astonishment than true courtesy, if the truth must be +told, for coming through the narrow doorway was the very largest woman I +had ever seen outside of a freak show, and when I say large, I don't +mean that she was tall. She was hardly more than middle height, but so +ample of girth that I expected to see her stick midway between the +door-posts, and pictured McKelvie and myself frantically endeavoring to +extricate her by hauling mightily upon her short, fat arms. But she was +evidently accustomed to this particular doorway, for with a sidewise +shift she entered composedly enough. + +"I'm Mrs. Harmon," she said affably. "What can I do for you?" + +"I wish to see Miss Manning," returned McKelvie. + +"Miss Manning has been away since the seventh of October," she replied +quietly. + +A shade of disappointment crossed McKelvie's face. "You know where she +has gone?" + +"No, sir. I don't. I thought she had gone to see some relatives, +perhaps." + +"Please be seated, Mrs. Harmon. I should like to ask a few questions." +She looked at him in evident astonishment, and he hastened to add, "I'm +investigating the Darwin murder and any information you can give me will +be appreciated." + +"Land sakes, you don't mean to tell me, young man, that you think she +did it?" she said indignantly. + +"Oh, no, but her name was on the will and I wanted to trace the +connection, that is all," he replied suavely. + +"There was a young man here not so very many days ago who talked like +that. I told him all I knew and he went and printed it in the paper. If +that's the kind you are I shan't say one word," she retorted, her fat +face flushing at the trick played upon her. + +"We are not reporters, if that is what you mean," returned McKelvie +soothingly. + +Under the spell of his voice she heaved an enormous sigh of relief and +lowered herself into a very wide arm-chair. + +"You said that on the night of the seventh of October, Miss Manning +went away from here?" McKelvie began. + +"Yes, she left somewhere around eleven o'clock." + +"On foot or in a taxi?" + +"She went on foot and I watched her cross Gramercy Park and go toward +the Subway," said Mrs. Harmon. + +"Didn't you think it peculiar that she should leave suddenly at that +time of night without leaving her address behind?" he continued. + +The woman rocked back and forth several times before she answered. +"Well, no. You see I didn't tell that other young man so, because he +didn't ask me, and besides I didn't like his looks. But I guess you're +all right. You have an honest face. I know pretty well why she wanted to +go away. I would have gone, too, in her place, poor girl. + +"It all comes of taking up with these idle rich young men who have more +money than brains, say I," she went on with a self-righteous toss of her +head. I smiled. I couldn't imagine any young man, rich or poor, taking a +fancy to Mrs. Harmon. I wondered what kind of man Mr. Harmon had been, +but then she may have been slimmer when he first met and married her. "I +told Miss Manning she was doing a foolish thing, but she wouldn't listen +and engaged herself to a young chap named Lee Darwin," the good lady +continued. "I hadn't anything against the young man, he seemed a nice +boy, but after a while another man took to coming around. He was older +and wore a beard and eyeglasses. I didn't like him and told her there +would be trouble, but she thought she knew best, and so there was +trouble." Mrs. Harmon closed her lips on the words complacently. + +"The morning of the seventh, Lee Darwin came here looking like a madman, +and they had some kind of a quarrel in this very room. I don't know what +it was about, but I heard him telling her that he was through with the +likes of her, and then he bounced out again. Well, she acted kind of +dazed for a while and then she made an appointment on the phone. When +she came back from her lessons he just mooned around, and at ten-thirty +that night she packed her bag and said she was going on a long journey, +and if anyone inquired where she was, to say I didn't know. But she +wouldn't tell me where she was going, and I figured she had decided to +hide away till she got over her hurt." + +"Yes, I guess you're right," said McKelvie. "And now one more request. I +should like to see her room." + +Mrs. Harmon eyed him suspiciously, but he gave her his best smile, which +would have melted a harder heart than hers, and hoisting herself to her +feet she led the way up the stairs to Cora Manning's room. + +It was a small room but nicely furnished and very dainty, as befitted +the bedroom of a refined young woman, but McKelvie hardly looked at it. +He opened a handkerchief box on the dresser and when Mrs. Harmon had her +back turned he slipped something into his pocket. + +"Thank you, Mrs. Harmon, you have been most kind," he said, as we left +the room. + +"Not at all. I guess you can find your way out. It's kind of hard for +me, climbing stairs so much. Give the door a bang and it'll lock +itself," she returned, and we followed directions while she watched our +departure from the head of the stairs. + +"Well?" I said, as we descended the steps. + +"It's hers. Look!" He removed from his pocket the article he had taken +from Cora Manning's room and held it out on his palm. It was a tiny +yellow satin sachet bag embroidered in blue! + +"This is getting ridiculous," I said, as we took our places in the car. +"How many more of these blooming things are we likely to run across +anyway? That's the third one I've seen." + +"Third? I have knowledge of only two, this one and Lee's, and it's not +difficult to conjecture where he got his," McKelvie said, with raised +brows, as he repocketed the bag. + +I told him of my discovery that Dick possessed one of these sachets +also, adding, "It's identical with this one. Do you suppose she gave it +to him?" + +"Richard Trenton," he mused, glancing at his watch. "We'll just have +time before dinner. Take me up to Riverside Drive, if you will be so +kind. I want another look at that secret room." + +I turned my car, and drove as swiftly as I dared along Broadway, asking +him, "Do you think that Cora Manning is in hiding because of that +quarrel?" + +He did not answer until we were skimming along the Drive. "No," he said +quietly then, "I don't think so." + +"Do you believe she killed Darwin?" I persisted. + +"No, I don't. It was not a woman's job, but I do believe she can prove +for us when he died," he answered. "And through her I hope to locate the +criminal." + +"If she is the woman in the case, she must be shielding the man or she +would have come forward long ago to free Ruth," I pointed out. + +"Or he may be holding her a prisoner because she knows too much for his +peace of mind and body," he retorted. "That puts a different complexion +on it." + +"In that case he will murder her, too, before we can reach her," I said +in a horrified voice. + +"A man kills the woman he loves for only one reason, which does not +exist in this case," he replied. + +"Good heavens!" I said. "The criminal in love with Cora Manning! Then +you mean that Lee killed his uncle?" + +McKelvie shrugged. "That I can't presume to say. Perhaps it's +Lee--perhaps it's another. Remember this. If Richard Trenton knew her, +ten to one he was in love with her, too. I have seen her picture." + +Which statement, since I was a man, only increased my eagerness to see +the fair Cora. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE SIGNET RING + + +At McKelvie's request I parked my car a block from the house and we +traversed that distance in silence, entering the grounds as though we +had come on no good errand. When we reached the house McKelvie piloted +me to the back and rang the servants' bell. It was late, after six, and +growing dark so that Mason was hardly to be blamed if he failed to +recognize us, especially as he did not expect to see us again so soon. + +"It's Mr. Davies, Mason," said McKelvie. "Will you let us in to the main +wing through the passageway, please?" + +"Yes, sir," returned Mason. "This way, sir, if you please." + +He led us through the passageway and opened the door into the main wing, +going ahead of us to switch on the light in the hall. + +"That is all. Leave the door open into the passageway. We shall probably +depart the way we entered." + +"Very good, sir." + +McKelvie waited until the old man had shuffled away before he approached +the study door. It was little more than six hours since we had been in +that room, yet it seemed more like a week to me, so many things had +cropped up in the interval, and I waited impatiently for McKelvie to +turn the knob of the door. + +"I thought I heard someone in there," he whispered, and flung open the +door. + +For one swift instant I had the impression of a glaring eye that winked +and faded as I looked, then only darkness confronted us, darkness and a +brooding stillness in which I could hear my very heart-beats. + +McKelvie stepped into the room and found the switch, then as the study +was flooded with light, he turned and sped toward the safe with me at +his heels. + +"The windows," he said tersely, as he spun the dial. "See if anyone is +hiding behind those curtains." + +I hurried to the windows and swept back the hangings. There was no one +there, and I turned back to the safe just as McKelvie stood up and swung +open the door. + +"Come on," he said, thrusting his skeleton key into the inner door. +"Don't forget to stoop and be careful to make no noise." + +I followed him as he lighted his flash, and passed quickly through the +secret room to the door at the head of the stairs. Unlocking this he +motioned me to keep near him, and together we crept down the stone +staircase and out into the night. We listened a moment, but the only +thing we heard was the wind in the trees, which seemed to mock us +shrilly as we peered into the dusk beyond. + +"Come on back," said McKelvie quietly. "We have work to do yonder," and +he nodded toward the entrance. + +Wonderingly I obeyed him but asked no questions as he relocked the door +and led the way back to the secret room. Here he paused to turn on the +light and then lifting the divan aside with my help, he knelt and felt +the wall against which it had been placed. + +"What is it?" I whispered. His haste and mysterious actions made me feel +somehow that to speak aloud would be to commit an unpardonable offense. + +He raised his head as though listening to sounds from without, then he +sprang to his feet. + +"The divan, quick, and no noise," he whispered. + +I stooped to help him and as we lifted the divan to its place the fringe +of the cover caught in my cuff-link. I tried to untangle it, but +McKelvie had no time for such niceties. He wrenched the fringe free, +leaving a strand in my link, and as he did so something fell to the +floor and rolled along the carpet. He pounced upon the object, then +suddenly turned and switched off the light. By the aid of his flash he +crept to the rear door, and I distinctly heard the sound of steps on +those stairs as McKelvie unlocked the door. + +With a sudden movement he pulled the door open and flashed his light on +the stairs. Again there was nothing but darkness and brooding stillness, +and I could see that the door at the bottom was tightly closed. + +"Well, I'll be hanged," muttered McKelvie. "I must be hearing things. +Let's get back to the study." + +We returned to the brightly lighted room and McKelvie locked up behind +him with scrupulous care. Then he went over to the table and seated +himself at its head in the chair in which Darwin had been found, and +motioned me to take the place beside him. + +"Funny thing," he said presently. "I could have sworn there was someone +in this room when we first entered. I'm positive I saw this lamp go +out." + +"Was that it?" I answered. "It looked like an eye to me, a great glaring +eye that faded as I gazed." + +"You saw it too, then? I'm glad of that," he returned. "I was beginning +to think I was the victim of hallucination. No, it was the lamp, which +means someone was in that safe. However, he had the start of us, and +there is not much use in trying to catch him at present." + +"Who was it?" I asked eagerly. "Do you suspect?" + +He made no answer but took from his pocket the object which had fallen +from the divan. It was a heavy gold ring, evidently a man's. He looked +at it critically and then held it out to me. + +"Do you know whose it is?" he asked low. + +Before I could take it from him he hastily slipped it back into his +pocket and leaning closer, said in my ear, "Don't make a sound, but look +at the safe door. Then turn back and listen to me as though nothing were +amiss." + +I was sitting around the corner from the head of the table with my chair +turned slightly in McKelvie's direction so that my back was partly +toward the safe. At his words I turned and looked at the safe door, +expecting I know not what, and to my amazement I saw that the knob of +the dial was turning silently and apparently of itself! + +There was only one explanation. Someone was opening the door of the safe +from the inside, somebody who knew the combination which McKelvie had +used! And yet how could anyone have cognizance of the six letters +McKelvie had picked out to close the safe. For this was no attempt such +as Jenkins had made, no adept manipulation, since the dial was turning +with precision, as though the hand that twirled it knew exactly how to +spin it. + +McKelvie's foot on mine recalled the remainder of his injunction, and +turning back, I held out my hand for the ring. His lips formed the word, +"No," and his eyes directed me to what he held in his hand. It was Lee +Darwin's stick-pin. + +"I thought there was someone in the room when we entered," he said in a +clear voice, "but since you say you did not see the light, why I must +have been mistaken. The case is getting on my nerves, and nerves are +queer things when they begin to jump. I've been working too hard, and +it's time I took a vacation." + +He paused, and I had an uncomfortable feeling that whoever was in the +safe had succeeded in opening it and was gazing at us from behind the +shelter of the door. I shuddered as I realized the intensity of those +unseen eyes which held me riveted to my chair. I longed to turn around +and look and so break the spell, but McKelvie's glance on mine forbade +it. + +"I'm convinced that Lee killed his uncle," he continued. "The stick-pin +proves his presence, and doubtless he had knowledge of the entrance. +There is nothing more to be learned from this study. My work from now on +must be conducted outside. As I said, I've got a man in the South and +until he picks up Lee's trail there is nothing more to be done." + +He stood up and put the pin away. "I'm dog tired. We've had a strenuous +day. Take me home, Mr. Davies. I've earned a few days' rest." + +Disappointedly I looked up at him. He spoke very convincingly and he did +look tired, but somehow I had hoped that the ring had opened up a new +line of inquiry for the morrow. Inaction was hateful to me while Ruth +remained a prisoner. I wanted to be up and doing, even if it was only +following a false scent. + +"Come on, Mr. Davies. It's long past dinner time," he said impatiently. + +"All right," I said reluctantly, rising and glancing casually at the +safe as I did so. To my surprise the door was closed and had the +appearance of never having been touched. Was I too beginning to have +hallucinations? + +A warning pressure as McKelvie took my arm made me mask whatever +astonishment I felt, and also made me hasten with him from the room +without a backward glance. When we were in the hall I opened my mouth to +question him, but he shook his head and hurried me along to the door +leading into the servants' wing. + +"Wait here a moment," he said, indicating the passageway. "I'll be back +in a second. Keep the door closed." + +He disappeared down a side hall and I stepped into the passageway and +closed the door, wondering what it was all about, and particularly who +the man was who had evaded us to-night, if it was a man and not a freak +of my imagination. Still, McKelvie had heard him, too, and it was hardly +likely that both of us were dreaming. + +"Come, we'll have to hurry," said McKelvie, returning suddenly. + +In silence we let ourselves out the back door and crept through the +grounds to the gate. In another minute we had gained the corner and my +car. + +As I drove toward town I remarked, "Was there really someone in that +safe, McKelvie?" + +"Certainly. I thought I was mistaken at first, but he came back again, +as you observed. I thought you looked uneasy while I was talking," he +said laughing. + +I reddened. "It wasn't very pleasant to feel his eyes on me and be +forbidden to see who it was. You were facing the safe. You saw him?" I +questioned. + +"No, I didn't see him. He was too clever to risk that. He knew we were +there, and he came to find out how much progress we had made toward +putting him behind the bars where he belongs," retorted McKelvie +grimly. + +"You don't mean to tell me that it was the criminal himself who had the +nerve to come there to-night?" I said. + +"It must have been, for who else has a key to those doors? Remember that +he took Darwin's key, and mine is the only other one that will open +those locks. Also he would be too clever to take anyone else into his +confidence," he replied. + +"How did he know the combination that you used?" I continued. + +McKelvie laughed. "When I locked the safe the other day I used the word, +Darwin, the one you suggested. He has since made himself acquainted with +that combination. Just as he was too clever to change it so that I would +believe the safe untampered with, so was I too clever to let him know +that I suspected his visits." + +I nodded. "Why didn't you go over to the safe and capture him then?" I +asked. "You missed an opportunity." + +"What happened when we chased him before? The moment he saw us making +for the safe he would be gone. Besides, I was playing a little game. I +had put him on his guard by hunting for him. I decided to trick him into +thinking that I no longer had any interest in him." + +"Then all that very convincing conversation----" + +"Was mere bunk," he answered. "I'm glad it was convincing, though, for I +was trying to fool a very clever devil." + +He fished around in his pocket and drew out the ring. I could see it +gleam in the light of the street lamps as we sped toward the park. + +"Strange. I had an idea that there was a secret panel or something of +the sort where he could hide such things as he needed, for I could +figure no other reason for his coming to that house, and that is what I +was hunting for when you so opportunely caught your cuff-link in that +Persian cover. This ring must have been tangled in the fringe and when I +yanked the cover I dislodged the ring. That was a stroke of pure luck, +and it changes the whole course of the inquiry. Word from Chicago would +have told me something, but not as much as this band of gold does. Take +a good look at it and tell me whose it is." + +He took out his flash and played it over the ring while I looked at it. +Then I turned away, feeling sick at heart. The ring was a heavy gold +signet with a deep-cut monogram, and it was a ring I knew only too well, +since I had bought it myself at Ruth's request that she might give it to +her brother on his birthday. That was three years ago, and what a very +happy time it had been and how pleased Dick had seemed to receive the +ring, for he always made a fuss over Ruth. I remember that he swore to +wear it always as he slipped it on his finger, and now here it was +cropping up to bring more misery to the girl I wanted most to shield +from all harm and sorrow. + +"Well?" McKelvie's voice broke the thread of my thought. + +"It's Dick Trenton's," I said low. "And now shall I drive you home?" + +"Home? I should say not!" he almost shouted. "We're going to get some +dinner and then we're off to Water Street. The trail's too hot to turn +aside now." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE DECEPTION + + +I did drive McKelvie home after all, for he quite suddenly insisted that +I partake of his hospitality, saying that we should find a better dinner +at his house than at any restaurant in Greater New York. From there I +phoned Jenkins to look after Mr. Trenton, and then followed McKelvie +into a low-ceilinged old room lighted by a mellow glow which made the +heavy mahogany furniture seem even more ancient than it really was. + +I had not realized how tired I was mentally and physically (it's hard +work racing around the city in a car) until I faced my host across the +table, and saw how weary he looked. He smiled a little as I +unconsciously relaxed after partaking of the soup which the old darky +had served to us. + +"Mr. Davies," he said, "I shouldn't drag you around with me. It's not +fair to you. Go on home after dinner and I'll go to Water Street alone." + +"You are tired, too," I returned. + +"I'm paid to do this work. It's part of my business to chase after +clues," he said. "You are my client, so to speak, and the client is not +expected to aid the cause except in furnishing the means to carry it +on." + +But I shook my head. "I'm too keen on the result to stop now," I +replied. + +"Even if it should lead you into unforeseen channels?" he queried. + +"Even so. Ruth is the first consideration," I responded firmly. + +"Very well, and now the best thing we can do is to cease talking about +it," and forthwith he launched into an account of a trip he had once +taken through Africa. + +He was a born narrator, and under the spell of his voice and the +influence of that most excellent dinner, cooked as only Southern darkies +know how to cook, I forgot the problem that was troubling me, forgot +that there were such things as crimes and criminals; aye, even forgot +that there was such a place on the globe as New York City, while I +followed McKelvie on a lion hunt in the heart of northern Africa. + +"And that's where I got that skin," he said, as we rose and sauntered +into the living-room. + +I gazed at the great rug spread out before the fireplace, and pictured +to myself how it had looked the day McKelvie shot it when he spoke +again. + +"I'm afraid we'll have to smoke our cigars on the way. It's getting +late." + +With a sigh I returned to the business in hand, and as I drove through +the poorer sections of New York on my way to Water Street my mind +reverted to the first time I had visited that locality, which brought me +around to Dick and the signet ring. So Dick had been in the Darwin home +that night, and since his ring was in the secret room, then he must have +been behind the safe at some time during the evening. McKelvie claimed +that the criminal was hiding in the safe when Orton entered the room at +eleven-thirty, but he also maintained that the criminal was the man we +had heard when we ourselves had been in the study this very evening. If +that were the truth then it could hardly have been Dick, since Dick was +dead. Yet what did McKelvie hope to learn by visiting the scene of the +suicide? + +When we reached Water Street we pulled up before the lodging house where +Dick had stayed and rang the bell. Mrs. Blake opened the door and eyed +us suspiciously. + +"No lodgings," she said uncompromisingly, beginning to close the door. + +"Just a moment. We don't want lodgings," said McKelvie crisply, at the +same time displaying a bill as he held his hand toward the lighted +doorway. "We want you to answer a few questions." + +Seeing that we were not of the class to which she was accustomed, and +her suspicions allayed by the greenback, she wiped her hands on her +apron and asked us in. + +We went as far as the hallway, which was more ill-smelling than when I +had first made its acquaintance, and paused near the shabby old +staircase. + +"On the tenth of October a lodger of yours committed suicide by +drowning," said McKelvie abruptly. "Is this the man?" + +He took a photograph from his pocket and handed it to her. As she +grasped it I had a glimpse of the pictured face and was not surprised to +note that it was Dick's. + +"Well, I won't say for sure. It looks like the same man, only 'tother +was more like the men I takes to lodge," said Mrs. Blake after gazing at +the photograph. + +"And this one looks like a gentleman, is that it?" supplemented McKelvie +with a smile. + +The woman nodded, and taking a piece of charcoal from his pocket +McKelvie reclaimed the photograph and proceeded to blacken the lower +part of the face, giving Dick an untidy appearance, as though he had +not shaved for a week or more. Then he showed it to her again. + +"Yes, sir. It looks more like him now," she added. + +McKelvie pocketed the picture. "What's the name of the man who told you +about the suicide?" + +"Ben Kite." + +"Thank you," and he placed the bill in her hands. + +"Phew! It's good to get out into the fresh air. How do they stand it!" I +exclaimed. + +"So used to it they don't even notice it," McKelvie returned with a +shrug. "Drive down to the wharves and we'll have a talk with Ben Kite, +if we can find him." + +"What do you expect to learn by all this questioning?" I inquired +anxiously. + +He did not answer except to draw my attention to a group of men lounging +on the wharf. "Stay in the machine while I find out if Kite is among +them." + +He alighted and approached the group, but it was too dark for me to be +able to distinguish more than a general blur of outlines. + +"Can you tell me where I can find Ben Kite to-night?" I heard McKelvie +ask. + +"Who wants 'im?" growled a coarse voice in answer. + +"I do," replied McKelvie. + +"What you want, stranger?" remarked the same voice again. + +"Are you Ben Kite?" + +"That's the name me mither give me," the man returned, detaching himself +from the group, which laughed immoderately at his words. "What you +want?" + +"A moment's conversation and I'll make it worth your while, but I don't +care particularly for an audience. Do you see that car? Tell your +friends to remain where they are. You'll find me waiting in the machine +if you want a ten-spot." + +McKelvie returned to my side and entered the machine. Hardly had he +settled himself when the man was beside us. He was the same fellow I had +questioned. I knew his ugly face in the light cast upon it by the lamp +under which I had parked, but he failed to recognize me, since my face +was in shadow. + +"On October the tenth a man who lodged at Mrs. Blake's jumped into the +East River and was drowned. Am I right?" asked McKelvie without +preliminary. + +"Sure. I told the bulls all I knowed at the time," responded Kite. + +"I know. But I want the information first hand. He came to the wharf and +jumped in. Was that the way it happened?" + +"Sort of like that. When I seed him he was right on the edge. I hallooed +and he flung up his arms high and duve in. I ran to the edge, but he +never cum up. Current got 'im, I guess," answered Kite indifferently. + +"And the body has not been recovered?" continued McKelvie. + +The man grinned. "Well, they ain't had time. It's only four days. He +might bob up yet." + +I shuddered at the callous way in which he spoke of this boy of whom I +had been fond. + +"Is this the man?" McKelvie turned his flash on the picture. + +"Sure, that's 'im, all right." + +"Thank you. Here's your money. Drive quickly, Mr. Davies," McKelvie +added in my ear as the man moved away. "If they think we have money they +may try to get some of it for themselves." + +I gave the car more gas and we were speeding round the corner before the +man had more than joined his friends. + +"Where did you get that picture of Dick? I do not recall having seen it +before. It must be a recent one, for he looks older than I remember +him." + +"What picture of Dick?" he asked. + +"The one you just showed Kite," I returned. + +"Oh, that. I noticed it this morning when I examined the house, before +your arrival, and that is what I went back to get after our adventure in +the study to-night." + +"Do you think the body will ever be recovered?" I asked as we turned +into the Bowery from Catherine Street. + +"No. It would be a very strange thing to recover a corpse that never +existed," McKelvie responded grimly. + +"A corpse that never existed," I repeated slowly and recalled my own +doubts when Jones had first given me the news. "I understand. He was +hardly likely to drown, since he could swim too well." + +"Yes. Kite told us that plainly to-night. His words were: 'He flung his +arms high and dove in,' which meant that he could dive; from which I +deduced that he was probably a good swimmer. When a man who can swim, +strikes the water his instinct is to swim, no matter how much he may +want to drown. Besides, a suicide generally goes in feet first, not head +first, for it takes a lot of skill to dive, even when you don't +contemplate drowning," he replied, giving me his line of reasoning. + +"Then he left his things at Mrs. Blake's to create the impression that +he had committed suicide," I said heavily. + +"Yes, so that the world would believe that Richard Trenton had drowned +himself," returned McKelvie. + +"But why? In God's name why? Not because he--" I broke off, unable to +finish. Yes, I know I had dallied with the thought before, but then it +had only been conjecture with the belief that such a thing was +impossible to sustain me. Now, however, it was grim reality that stared +me in the face. What other reason could Dick have for the deception +which he had practised upon us all? + +"We're not going to jump at conclusions, Mr. Davies." McKelvie laid a +hand on my arm. "He may have had good reasons for his act." + +"What reasons could he possibly have?" I said impatiently. + +"When I hear from Chicago, which ought to be any day now, I can answer +that question more definitely. Until then we will give him the benefit +of the doubt, for, after all, he is not the only one who has vanished +without a trace, nor, which is more important, is he the only one in +love with Cora Manning," he added significantly. + +"That's the second time you've mentioned that the criminal is in love +with Cora Manning," I said, as we neared his house. "But there seems to +me to be a flaw in that assumption." + +"Why?" + +"It stands to reason, does it not, that if the murderer loves Miss +Manning he must know that she uses rose jacqueminot perfume?" I +remarked. + +"Yes, he knows it," agreed McKelvie. "In fact, it wouldn't surprise me +if he owned one of those yellow satin sachet bags himself." + +"Then he can't be as clever as you make out, or he would never have +made the mistake of putting a handkerchief scented with rose jacqueminot +in Mr. Darwin's hands, under the belief that it belonged to Ruth, +particularly if he saw Cora Manning in the study." + +McKelvie smiled. "Do you remember my saying that Lee's use of rose +jacqueminot looked bad for him? It was because of that handkerchief that +I made the assertion. The criminal, as I said before, uses rose +jacqueminot, and he has become so accustomed to the scent of it that his +olfactory nerves have lost the power to respond to it except when it is +present in a fairly detectable amount. There was only the merest trace +on that handkerchief, indistinguishable to him, and, therefore, deeming +it unscented, he decided it belonged to Mrs. Darwin. I have an idea that +he found it somewhere near the door leading into the hall. He would have +done better to carry away the handkerchief with him, but like all the +rest of his kind, he could not resist the chance to strengthen the +evidence against Mrs. Darwin and so put himself into our hands," he +explained. + +"But what applies to Lee, applies to Dick as well," I returned. "He also +possesses a yellow satin sachet bag." + +"Yes, that is true," he responded as he alighted before his door. +"Therefore we have no right to condemn one more than the other until we +have a few more facts at our disposal. I'll call you if there are any +new developments. By the way, don't tell Mr. Trenton that his son did +not commit suicide until we know definitely what happened in the study +that night. _Au revoir_, Mr. Davies." + +"I understand. Good-night, McKelvie," I replied. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +JAMES GILMORE + + +In the morning I returned to the office, for I could hardly expect my +partner to carry on the business alone very much longer. He was +extremely interested in the mystery because of my connection with it and +also because he knew Ruth personally, and asked me what progress we had +made so far. I told him all the various facts that McKelvie had dug up +and he looked very grave when he learned the truth about Dick's +pretended suicide. We were still discussing the matter when McKelvie +called me on the phone to say that he had word from Chicago and would +like me to hear what Dick's friend had to say. + +"What is it, a new clue?" asked my partner curiously. + +I repeated McKelvie's communication, saying that I was sorry to have to +abandon him again, but that I would be back as soon as I could get away. + +My partner clapped me on the shoulder. "That's all right, old man, you +need not feel obliged to get back. I'll worry along somehow without +you," he said kindly, adding with a laugh, "besides, you're worse than +useless any way with this business uppermost in your mind. You'd be apt +to make a bear out of a bull market," and his eyes twinkled. + +So I drove to McKelvie's house and found him in his living-room talking +to an old-young man of some thirty odd years, whose hair was quite gray +and whose skin had a peculiar dead look, as though he had spent a part +of his life shut away from the sunlight. + +"Mr. Davies," said McKelvie when he had introduced me, "James Gilmore is +a friend of Dick Trenton, and he has come from Chicago in answer to my +request to relate to us what he knows of young Trenton's movements." + +James Gilmore nodded. "If you have no objections I'm going to begin +further back a bit so that you will understand how I came to be mixed up +in this affair. Ten years ago I was a teller in the Darwin Bank. I was +twenty-one, ambitious, and eager to make as much money as my pals. My +salary was small, but the son of one of the directors, Philip Darwin, +who was just a few years older than myself, took a fancy to me and told +me that he could help me to make all the money that I wanted. I was +young and foolish and I trusted him. I took money from the bank and gave +it to him to speculate with, money that he feared to take himself, +though I blame only myself for my folly. I did not have to steal, for, +in a measure, I knew the risk I ran. But he was such a smooth fellow, +and being the son of a director he declared that he could prevent any +chance inspections, and I would have the money to replace long before an +accounting was made. I believed him, and two days after I had given him +the money we had an unexpected visit from the inspectors, and I was +caught short. I went to Darwin for the money, but he shrugged his +shoulders and said that the market had gone against him and that that +was a risk that I had to stand. There was nothing to do but face the +music, for, of course, his part in the affair never came to light at +all." + +James Gilmore broke off to add with bitter emphasis, "He was the son of +a rich man, and I was poor, and so I paid for what he gained, for I +have since learned that he made money on that deal and kept it all, damn +him! + +"Well, I got ten years, since it was my first offense," he continued +presently in a quieter tone, "and when I got out last March I vowed +vengeance upon him. I found out what he was doing and where he spent his +evenings, and one night in the beginning of April I ran across a chap +whom I had met in Sing Sing. He told me that he had been hired by a man +to quarrel at cards with some boy whom this man was trying to ruin. The +place was one of the resorts that Darwin attended and the scheme sounded +like the sort of thing he would be capable of, so I asked this fellow, +Coombs, if I could sit in at the game, and he answered. 'Yes, just drop +in and I'll say you're a pal of mine.' + +"That night I repaired to a private room in the rear of the gambling den +and took a seat in a corner until Darwin and the boy had come in. They +were disguised, but Coombs gave me the wink, and instinct, a feeling of +antipathy, told me that the older man was Darwin, although I did not +really see his face, for the light was bad. When I joined them, Darwin +frowned, not because he recognized me (there was no danger of that--ten +years in jail make a difference in a man), but because he wanted no one +interfering with his plans. We began to play, and then Coombs, as per +orders, cheated, cheated so openly it was a farce. But the boy had been +drinking and he hadn't the wit to see that he was being made a fool of. +He accused Coombs of double dealing, and Coombs jumped up and made for +him with his chair, whereupon Darwin pulled out a gun and fired two +shots in rapid succession. The first one bowled Coombs over, but I +sensed what was coming and the second shot went over my head as I +ducked. However, I dropped to the floor, deeming discretion the better +part of valor. Then I saw Darwin press the pistol into the boy's hand, +firing another shot as he did so and exclaiming, 'You've done for him, +Dick, but don't worry, I'll get you away, never fear.' + +"A terrific pounding ensued on the door at this moment and calls and +yells came from the main room. Darwin sprang for the light and +extinguished it, and seeing my chance I, too, sneaked away by the rear +entrance just as the inner door gave way. I didn't want to be accused of +having killed Coombs, and I knew that I could not implicate Darwin, +since at no time had I seen his face. I was an ex-convict, and he a +prominent and wealthy man. It was my word against his. What chance had I +of using my knowledge to account? + +"The murder of Coombs came out in the paper, and there was quite a to-do +over it, and fearing that someone might recall that I had been there +lately, and that I also knew Coombs, I lit out for the West. In +September I drifted to Chicago, and having found a job, looked for a +boarding-place. I found a very respectable home and there made the +acquaintance of a handsome young fellow who called himself Richard +Trenton. I wondered about him, since he seemed above his surroundings, +but never was really intimate until I happened into his room to borrow a +book that he had offered to lend me and found him at his desk writing +the name Philip Darwin over and over on a sheet of paper. + +"I was stunned for the moment, and then I found voice to say, 'You know +him, too?' + +"'Yes,' he said bitterly. 'Do you?' + +"I nodded. 'Yes, I ought to know him. I served ten years in jail on his +account,' I said. + +"'Tell me about it,' he demanded. + +"When I was through he sat for a while in silence and then he said, 'He +has harmed me, too, but only in taking advantage of my own folly,' and +then he told me the story that Philip Darwin had concocted for his +benefit, a story which he, Dick Trenton, was too drunk to have been able +to contradict. He had quarreled with a man and had pulled out a gun and +killed the fellow and Darwin, like an angel of mercy, had got him away +and saved him from the chair. + +"When I heard that I let out a yell and told him the truth. He was mad +then, mad enough to kill, and he swore he would go back to New York to +have it out with Darwin. Then suddenly he seemed to recall something and +just collapsed, and when I urged him to go and revenge himself, all he +did was to shake his head. + +"'He forced my sister to marry him to save my life.' he said hoarsely, +clenching his hands. 'I must free her first and then--he shall pay.' + +"Under those circumstances things were different, so we concocted a +letter and sent it to Darwin, telling him we had proofs of his perfidy, +and he must promise to let his wife divorce him at once or face the +consequences. As soon as he got the letter there came a telegram from +him, saying that his lawyer, who was in his confidence, was on his way +to Chicago to confer with us. Well, we awaited the lawyer's arrival, and +he came to the house and asked for Trenton. He was a red-whiskered, +red-haired fellow called Cunningham, and he asked us for proofs of what +we knew. + +"Trenton did the talking, and he said that he could prove that it was +Darwin who had fired the pistol, that he could produce several witnesses +to that effect, that he had been investigating the thing for months. All +this was pure bluff, of course, but the old chap came off his high horse +and said that his client had deceived him and that under the +circumstances he had nothing more to say. He would return to New York +and advise that Mrs. Darwin be allowed her divorce and after that why he +had no objections if we saw fit to punish Darwin. + +"Seeing that we had won over the lawyer, we waited eagerly for news of +the divorce proceedings, but in the beginning of October there came a +long letter from Darwin. He explained that his lawyer had called on him +and that in view of the fact that we had the proofs he was willing to +grant Mrs. Darwin the chance to divorce him, but there was one +difficulty in the way of that. Mrs. Darwin did not want a divorce, and +he thought it was best for Dick to come to New York to see him +personally before any actions were taken. Then Dick could talk to his +sister and matters could be arranged to the satisfaction of all parties. +If this was agreeable Dick would find him home at eleven-thirty on the +night of October seventh. + +"Well, we talked it over, and as Mrs. Darwin's letters had always been +very cheerful and never held any complaint about her married life, why, +we were in a quandary, for, of course, we couldn't expect Darwin to +denounce himself to her. So the upshot was that Dick telegraphed that he +would confer with Darwin. I told him to go armed, as I didn't trust +Darwin around the corner, and Dick promised, though he said with a laugh +that he knew where Darwin kept his pistol, and it would be easier to +borrow that than to try to buy a new one. + +"I saw him off, and then on the evening of the eighth I read about the +murder in the papers. Right away I jumped to the conclusion that Dick +had fired the shot, but when I read further I was amazed to see that the +murder was the result of a quarrel between husband and wife and that +Dick hadn't been there at all. I wondered why he didn't send me word, +and then two days later I saw an account of his suicide in the papers. I +couldn't quite figure it out, and finally decided that he had arrived +too late to prevent the tragedy and drowned himself in a fit of grief." + +James Gilmore shook his head in a perplexed way. "And now this gentleman +tells me that Dick didn't commit suicide, and I understand it less than +ever. There is one thing sure. He's not in Chicago. The police got your +message, and after combing the city went to his boarding-place for +information, and that's how I caught on that someone was looking for +news of Dick. I said to myself, 'You're the boy to give it,' and here I +am." + +"And I am much obliged to you, I am sure," said McKelvie. "You have +helped me immensely. And now that we may be absolutely sure that no +mistake has been made, take a look at this picture and tell me whether +you recognize it." + +He handed Gilmore a photograph of Dick, an old one, not the one which he +had blackened for Mrs. Blake, and Gilmore nodded quickly. + +"Sure that's Dick Trenton, all right, except that he was wearing a very +full beard when I met him. He told me he grew it as a disguise, but that +he intended to shave it off the moment he reached New York. He said his +sister would disown him if he looked like Daniel Boone." + +McKelvie nodded, and I added, "He evidently kept his word, since he had +only a stubble when he pretended suicide, poor boy." + +"When you discover where he is, let me know," said Gilmore, rising. +"Take my word for it, he is somewhere in this burg. Well, I must be +going. There are some of my pals I want to look up before I go back to +Chi. I'll keep my top eye open, and if I get a hint I'll let you know." + +"I wish you would. Thank you again," said McKelvie, escorting Gilmore to +the door. + +When he returned his eyes were shining. "Well, that was worth-while +news," he said smiling. + +"It certainly was, providing he hasn't--" I said with a gesture. + +"We won't spoil it by dwelling on that fact. Remember what I said last +night. Stay for luncheon and then give me the benefit of your services +as chauffeur. I know you will want to go with me, for I am going to ask +Mr. Cunningham what advice he gave his client about this most +interesting affair." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE STRONG BOX + + +After a luncheon, to which I did full justice, McKelvie flipped over the +pages of the city directory and studied the section devoted to +Cunninghams. + +"That's rather peculiar," he said. "He has no office in the city. If he +is a lawyer, where does he conduct his practice? Something wrong, +somewhere. Come on. We'll get him at his apartments." + +We drove to 84th Street and inquired for Cunningham. + +"Mr. Cunningham? He's not at home," replied the switchboard operator in +the hallway of the fashionable apartment house. + +"Do you mean that he is out of town?" asked McKelvie anxiously. + +"Oh, no. He'll be back at five, I guess. That's the time he usually +comes in when he's in the city," said the girl, bestowing a fetching +smile upon my companion. + +McKelvie improved the acquaintance. He returned the smile. "Is he away +very much?" + +"Yes, quite a bit." + +"Thank you, and you need not mention that I was asking about him. He +might not like it," remarked McKelvie. + +"You said it. He's closer than a clam about himself," she returned with +a little toss of her head. + +"Our friend Cunningham was once quite attentive in that quarter," +explained McKelvie with a laugh as we drove away. "So much I learned +when I first came here, and so I proceeded to make friends with Jane." + +"Where to?" I inquired, laughing. "Home?" + +"No, the Darwin Bank. I have a mind to see whether our lawyer friend, +who has no office, possesses a sufficient capital to live on his income. +Mr. Trenton is the best man to apply to I guess, since I have already +learned that Cunningham keeps an account at his bank." + +When we arrived at the bank I sent my card in, and we were admitted at +once to Mr. Trenton's private office. + +"What is it, Carlton?" he asked fearfully. + +"Good news," I replied, "which I should like you to convey to Ruth" (I +had ceased visiting her at her own request), and I told him Gilmore's +story. + +Mr. Trenton beamed on McKelvie when I had finished the tale. "My dear +sir, this is all your doing. How can I ever thank you? You have lifted a +great load from my mind, and I can think of him with great pity now +instead of horror in my heart." + +He bowed his head and I was glad he did not know that Dick was alive. It +was far better that he think his son drowned than that he know that Dick +was somewhere in New York, afraid to come home. + +"Mr. Trenton," said McKelvie presently, "I came here primarily to obtain +some information. Philip Darwin had an account here, did he not?" + +"Raines can tell you," Mr. Trenton replied, ringing for the head +cashier. + +I nodded to the young man as he entered, for we were acquainted and Mr. +Trenton introduced him to McKelvie, adding, "And Mr. Raines, you have +my authority to tell Mr. McKelvie whatever he desires to know." + +"I'm at your service, Mr. McKelvie," responded Raines, with a cordial +smile. + +"I wish to know whether Philip Darwin has a bank balance here and if so +how much," said McKelvie, getting down to business at once. + +"He closed out his account on the sixth of October," replied Raines. +"I'm not likely to forget it, since it was the very next night that he +was murdered." + +"And the amount of his balance was--" repeated McKelvie. + +"One hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I gave him the money myself." + +"Did he take it in gold or notes?" asked McKelvie. + +"In bills of large denominations, so that it did not make such a very +large package to carry. He put it into a small bag and took it away +himself." + +McKelvie took a turn around the room and then asked abruptly, "Does a +Mr. Herbert Cunningham, who lives on 84th Street, bank here?" + +"Yes. He's a red-whiskered chap, is he not?" + +McKelvie nodded. "Can you give me the amount of his balance?" + +"I'll get it for you in just a moment." Raines left the room and +McKelvie continued to pace the floor. + +"What do you suppose Philip did with all that money?" asked Mr. Trenton. + +"That's what I'm going to find out," returned McKelvie. "I have an idea +I know where it is." + +"According to Cunningham, Darwin lost it on Wall Street," I said. + +"Yes, and according to Orton Darwin was a cautious speculator. I'll +wager the secretary was the better judge of Darwin's character. Orton's +shrewd for all that he's a wretched creature. No, that money did not go +into Wall Street, and I'm going to locate it in just a moment. Well?" as +Raines came in again. + +"Cunningham's balance is ten thousand dollars," returned Raines. + +"Any increase lately?" asked McKelvie. + +"No, just a steady decrease," answered the cashier. + +"Has he a strong box?" + +"Yes, he has." + +"May I examine its contents?" inquired McKelvie. + +Raines looked at Mr. Trenton. + +"It's all right. I'll come along, too," and Mr. Trenton rose. + +"By the way, Mr. Raines," said McKelvie, "I should like this +investigation conducted as inconspicuously as possible. I'm a rich +eccentric who wants to hire a strong box, if anyone asks any questions." + +"All right, sir. Whatever Mr. Trenton says goes. I'll meet you +downstairs with the key," replied Raines. + +Mr. Trenton conducted us through the bank corridor to the rear of the +building and down a flight of stone steps to the entrance to the vault. +The guard swung open the heavy door with a "good-afternoon, sir," to Mr. +Trenton, and we entered the fireproof room where the safe deposit boxes +were kept and paused before the one marked Cunningham. + +When Raines came in he inserted the master key in the lock and opened +the deposit box. Inside was a smaller tin cash box and when he lifted +the lid, for it was unlocked, we saw that it was crammed with bills. +Raines' eyes opened wide with amazement, and if McKelvie hadn't caught +the box it would have fallen from his nerveless fingers. + +"Mr. McKelvie," he said in a strange voice, pointing to the contents of +the box, "those are the bills I gave to Philip Darwin!" + +"I thought as much," said McKelvie seriously. "Lock up this box again. +Until we can prove that Cunningham has no right to the money, we cannot +confiscate it. Thank you very much, Mr. Trenton, for your kindness in +allowing me this privilege, and I'd be much obliged if you will say +nothing to anyone about our discovery. You'll excuse us if we hurry +along?" + +Mr. Trenton nodded and we hastened out, leaving the president and the +cashier to lock up the one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in +Cunningham's strong box. + +"So Cunningham has the money," I remarked as we drove toward Stuyvesant +Square. "Can it be he murdered Darwin, and then helped himself to the +bills. The cash box in the safe was found empty," I added. + +McKelvie smiled grimly. "Oh, no, he didn't steal the money. I don't +believe it was ever in the house on Riverside Drive, but we will make +our friend explain its presence in his strong box just the same. It +should be an interesting account, to say the least," he ended +sarcastically. "Call for me here at five and we'll hear what he has to +say." + +I pondered McKelvie's meaning as I returned to the office. The +explanation should be interesting he had said. I agreed with him, yet +after all it could have no direct connection with the murder, since +Philip Darwin had never taken the money home. But how did McKelvie know +this latter fact? Was he merely theorizing, or did he know more than he +had told me? He had not appeared surprised when we discovered that the +lawyer had the money, for he had even hinted that he knew where it was. + +I determined to ask him what other information he had upon this point +when I called for him at five o'clock, but at four-thirty, as I was +making ready to leave, he phoned me to postpone our visit. His voice was +so high-pitched with excitement that my questions vanished from my mind +as if by magic, and all I could exclaim was, "What is it? What has +happened?" + +"Our friend Cunningham will have a pretty job on his hands explaining +away all the facts I have gathered against him to-day," he exulted. +"He's no more a lawyer than I am, Mr. Davies!" + +"Not a lawyer!" I repeated. + +"No. He's not registered, and he cannot practise law in New York City! +I'm going to look up one or two more details before we call upon him. Be +at the house at quarter to eight, please, providing, of course, that you +desire to accompany me." + +"McKelvie, if you dare to go to 84th Street without me, there's going to +be trouble between us," I warned and he laughed gayly as he rang off. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +GOLD AND BLUE + + +Though I was impatient to interview Cunningham, it was almost +eight-thirty before we arrived at 84th Street, for on the way we had a +blowout and the garage attendant was the slowest specimen of his type +that I had ever had the misfortune to encounter. + +Cunningham himself, debonair and genial as usual, admitted us into his +apartment and invited us into what he designated as his smoking-room. It +was a medium-sized room furnished in good taste, and as I sank into the +depths of a luxurious arm-chair and accepted the cigar he offered me I +felt assured that Cunningham could reasonably explain away the doubts +which I had lately entertained toward him. Yes, the personality of the +man and the soothing influence of that rare cigar had combined to make +me as eager to hear him justify himself as before I had been anxious to +prove him the murderer of his friend. + +But McKelvie was not so easily won over. He accepted a chair and a +cigar, it is true, yet I knew well that he was waiting as a person does +at chess for the next move of his adversary. + +"It is very pleasant to have you gentlemen call upon me," said +Cunningham, breaking the silence. "Have you come in a friendly or an +antagonistic spirit, Mr. McKelvie?" + +"I have come with an open mind," responded McKelvie quietly. + +"Explain yourself, please." Cunningham leaned back and puffed leisurely +at his cigar. + +"In an investigation of the sort that I am conducting one stumbles upon +many queer things." McKelvie paused to draw a long puff and to blow a +series of rings toward the ceiling. "As these smoke rings cross and +recross each other and finally merge together, so do the trails in this +case cross and recross each other until they all come together in the +final solution. To distinguish the truth from the myriad bypaths of +coincidence and false testimony is quite an art, I assure you, for I do +not believe in doing any man an injustice. Therefore, I have come here +to-night to give you a chance to explain certain curious facts which +have come to my knowledge." + +Cunningham bowed. "I thank you for the consideration, and I shall do my +best to satisfy you." + +McKelvie laid aside his cigar. "Are you a lawyer, Mr. Cunningham?" he +asked bluntly. + +If he thought to startle the man facing us so calmly McKelvie was +mistaken in his estimate of the lawyer's character. Cunningham removed +his cigar from his mouth, contemplated its lighted end for a moment, and +then replied simply, "I am not registered in New York, if that is what +you mean." + +"Then may I ask by what right you constituted yourself Mr. Darwin's +lawyer, and acted as Mrs. Darwin's counsel at the inquest?" continued +McKelvie imperturbably. + +Cunningham grinned sardonically. "I fancy that my estimate of the police +coincides with yours, Mr. McKelvie," he said. "They got the idea, from +Orton possibly, that I was Darwin's lawyer. They asked me to attend the +inquest. I assumed the position they thrust upon me. What would you?" he +shrugged whimsically. "It was no time to explain the complicated +relation between us. As far as Mrs. Darwin is concerned, I did not +advise her. In fact, I did not even see her until she entered the +study." + +He paused, and then leaned forward and said pointedly as he eyed +McKelvie coolly, "You have asked me if I'm a lawyer. Yes, I am in this +way. I have studied law and was ready for my bar examinations when the +death of an uncle in a foreign country left me wealthy. I had to go +abroad to secure my inheritance, and when I returned I had no desire to +restudy for those examinations. So you see, I am a lawyer without a +sheepskin, but, nevertheless, Philip Darwin had more confidence in my +judgment than in that of the men who legalized his affairs. I have given +him legal advice, yes, as between friend and friend, because I was his +confident and he asked me for it, but I have never attempted to practise +law in New York City or elsewhere. If you doubt my statement you are at +liberty to verify it." + +"I don't doubt you, Mr. Cunningham," responded McKelvie quietly. "I know +you haven't practised law. I was merely trying to get the connection +between you and Darwin, since you know so many of his affairs and +represented him in a legal capacity when you went to Chicago to see Dick +Trenton." + +A slight tremor of Cunningham's eyelids was the only indication that the +shot had told, but he replied as coolly as ever, "Not in a legal +capacity. He sent me because I was acquainted with the details of the +affair and understood merely that I was to find out how much real proof +the boy had. What Darwin called me in his telegram I do not know, since +I did not see it." + +"How do you know he sent a telegram?" queried McKelvie. + +"Is this the third degree, Mr. McKelvie?" asked Cunningham, frowning. + +"No, Mr. Cunningham. I know it sounds very much like it," apologized +McKelvie, "but it isn't meant to be. You have shown a disposition to aid +us before, and you will help me immensely by making certain matters +clear. Will you answer a few more questions?" + +The frown cleared. "Certainly. Glad to assist you. Fire away," +Cunningham returned indulgently. "And I don't mind saying that Darwin +told me he had sent a telegram when he asked me to go out to Chicago for +him." + +"What advice did you give Darwin when you returned from Chicago?" + +"I told him that the boy had a strong case and advised him to write and +request Dick himself to see Mrs. Darwin and arrange for the divorce. +Whether he followed my advice or not I don't know." + +"For your information let me say that he did follow that advice, that +Young Trenton came to New York and, without apparent cause, committed +suicide. Whether there was an interview between them or not I cannot of +course say positively," was McKelvie's astonishing reply. Why was he +permitting Cunningham to remain in ignorance of our latest discovery +concerning Richard Trenton? + +"I'm very sorry to hear this," murmured Cunningham. "I should hate to +think that my advice had brought him to such an end." + +McKelvie changed the subject as abruptly as he had introduced it. "You +said you had charge of Darwin's securities. What made you keep them?" +his eyes on the other man's face. + +"He was a very peculiar man and hated responsibility. I have cared for +his securities and valuables for many years." + +"Are you also caring for the one hundred and fifty thousand dollars that +he drew from the bank and that is now reposing in your strong box?" + +Cunningham looked annoyed, and then laughed cynically. + +"Nothing escapes you, does it?" he sneered, then in a different tone, +"No, that money is mine. A year ago I loaned Darwin enough to cover a +slump in the market and thus saved him his fortune. I told him I was in +no hurry for it, but as I've remarked more than once, he was peculiar. +He came to me on the sixth and handed me the cash. I asked him what I +should do with all that money in that shape and told him I'd prefer a +check. He said that I'd given him cash and he felt better returning it +in kind. And so he left it. I was going to add it to my bank account, +but I'm going on a trip shortly and decided the cash would be useful to +me. Therefore I put it in my strong-box for safe keeping." + +"Thank you very much. Sorry to have disturbed you," said McKelvie, +rising. + +"Answers satisfactory?" asked Cunningham with a wry smile. + +"Quite." + +"And how much nearer to the solution have I carried you?" Cunningham +continued with great politeness. + +"Unfortunately I have remained static. Your answers though satisfactory +as far as you yourself are concerned, have not helped me a particle +toward solving my problem. I shall have to resort to desperate measures, +I'm afraid," responded McKelvie, smiling rather oddly. + +"Desperate measures, eh? That sounds like business. Before you undertake +this work, honor me by drinking to your ultimate success," returned +Cunningham. "My man is away, so if you will pardon me a moment I will +get the whisky and soda." + +The moment Cunningham left the room, McKelvie to my astonishment, sprang +to the heavy portieres through which our host had passed and looked out. +Then he drew back and walking swiftly to a door at the side of the room, +he opened it and darted within. + +Wondering what he was up to, I rose and followed him to this doorway and +looked into the room beyond. To my surprise it was a bedroom, +extravagantly but exquisitely furnished in gold and blue, a woman's +boudoir, but I had no time to fix the details in my mind, for at this +moment McKelvie came toward me hurriedly from his search of the +dressing-table. + +With a final comprehensive glance, and a whispered, "I thought I heard +his step in the hall," McKelvie closed the door silently while I +retreated to my chair and sank into its comfortable depths, none too +soon. With a clink of glasses, Cunningham entered through the portieres. +He glanced at us rather suspiciously, I thought, but McKelvie was +contemplating the ceiling as he puffed his discarded cigar, and I was +deep in the pages of a book, what book I have no idea. + +Cunningham set the tray he carried on the table and poured out the +whisky, allowing us to help ourselves to the soda. Then we raised our +glasses and drank to the toast Cunningham had proposed, though I noticed +that McKelvie merely touched his glass to his lips and set it down +untasted. + +"I never drink whisky," he said quietly, as Cunningham raised his brows +in interrogation. + +"Is there anything else I can offer you?" + +"No, thank you. I appreciate your efforts in my behalf. Good night, Mr. +Cunningham," and McKelvie bowed, a trifle too deeply to be really +sincere. + +"Good night, Mr. McKelvie," responded Cunningham, returning the bow. +Then he offered his hand to me. "Good night," he said again as we left. + +"What on earth were you doing in that bedroom?" I inquired as we parted +at McKelvie's door. "By the way, it was rather an odd room--for a +bachelor." + +"Did you remark the gold and blue? Rather a familiar combination, eh? +Here's the true significance of that very charming room." + +Holding up his hand, he dangled before my eyes a tiny yellow satin +sachet bag embroidered in blue, a satin sachet whose fragrance was the +fragrance of Rose Jacqueminot! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE REWARD + + +Cunningham and the fragrance of Rose Jacqueminot! Cunningham and a +yellow satin sachet embroidered in blue! + +These words kept pounding in my brain and though I went over them in the +light of the facts which we had gleaned, I could see no plausible reason +for Cunningham's having committed that murder. He could have no possible +motive for wanting to harm Ruth since he did not know her, nor could I +believe, despite the gold and blue room, that he was in love with Cora +Manning. He had evidently never called on her at Gramercy Park or her +landlady would have described him to us, and it was not likely that +being engaged to Lee, Cora Manning would have received the advances of +other men, at least so I judged from the manner in which Ruth had spoken +of her. + +Cunningham's explanations, too, had been eminently satisfactory, and had +cleared him even in McKelvie's eyes, as far as I could judge last night. +Besides, it wasn't as though Cunningham were the sole possessor of one +of those sachets. + +McKelvie was in much the same position as that robber in "Ali Baba and +the Forty Thieves," of which I used to be fond in my childhood days, +that robber who led his chief to the cross-marked house only to discover +that all the neighboring houses were also cross-marked. As a clue, then, +the fragrance of Rose Jacqueminot and the yellow satin sachet were as +useless as the robber's chalk-mark. + +It might also be that Cunningham's use of that particular fragrance, and +his acquaintance with a woman who also affected yellow satin sachets +embroidered in blue, was one of those coincidences that often occur in +life, where truth is in many cases stranger than fiction. + +As McKelvie had truly remarked, the trails crossed and recrossed until +the right one was lost to view in the labyrinth of paths. As I looked +back over the facts we had learned I was amazed to find how little real +progress we had made toward the solution. It was all conjecture and +except for Dick's ring, we had no clues which could rightly be termed +such. And when it came to suspects, Lee and Dick and Cunningham ran a +close race, though the greatest amount of evidence pointed toward Dick, +since McKelvie was inclined to hold Lee guiltless, and Cunningham had no +adequate motive. + +About two o'clock McKelvie called at the office and found me alone. + +"Can you spare me a few minutes?" he inquired, as he glanced at the work +on my desk. + +"I should say so," I returned quickly, pushing aside my papers. +"Anything new?" + +"No, I've come to the end of my tether--" + +"You don't mean that you're giving up the case?" I interrupted, +dismayed. + +He laughed. "Giving up the case when it's just becoming exciting? You +don't know me, Mr. Davies," he cried, and his voice was exultant, his +eyes fairly dancing. "I was going to say that I have reached the point +where skirmishing in the dark is no longer satisfactory. I'm coming out +in the open and I'm going to fight him with the plan of campaign spread +out for him to read." + +"You think that is wise?" + +"Yes, decidedly so. I'm going to let him know I'm after him, and then +we'll watch him struggle to escape my net," he declared. + +"Then you know who the criminal is?" I asked. + +"No. I suspect, but I have no proof," he replied. "Ah, he's a clever +devil, that fellow, and we're just beginning to break below the surface +in this affair. Here's my scheme." + +He drew from his pocket a folded sheet, opened it, and handed it to me +with the remark, "I've distributed copies of that around the city." + +I looked at the sheet, which still smelled strongly of the printer's +ink, and saw that it was a hand-bill offering a reward of one thousand +dollars for any authentic information which might lead to the discovery +of the present whereabouts of Lee Darwin, last seen about four o'clock +at the corner of Twenty-fifth Street and Third Avenue, on the afternoon +of October the eighth. There followed a description of the young man, +accompanied by his photograph and the added announcement that the reward +would be paid by Graydon McKelvie, at No. -- Stuyvesant Square. + +"Ought to bring results, eh? When some six million people become +interested in finding him we ought to locate him in short order." + +"What makes you think he is in New York?" I inquired. + +"Wilkins returned yesterday morning and reported that Lee never went +South at all. There is no trace of his having gone there. So I started +Wilkins at this end again. Last night when I got back from Cunningham's, +Wilkins was waiting for me. He had discovered that Lee had taken a taxi +as far as Third Avenue and Twenty-fifth Street. After that he vanished +completely. So the presumption is that he is still in the city." + +"In the city and in hiding," I mused. "Yet you said the night we chased +the criminal, that in accusing Lee you were putting the true culprit off +his guard by making him think you had no interest in him. That would +imply Lee's innocence, yet what other possible motive could he have for +disappearing?" + +"There are two reasons for his disappearance, as far as I can see. One +is the assumption that he is the criminal. This reason, as you remarked, +I have discarded. Lee did not kill his uncle. I'll tell you why I make +this assertion." He rose abruptly and took a turn around the room, then +halted in front of me again. "You saw and heard him at the inquest? How +did he impress you, as regards his character, I mean?" + +"He struck me as being a rather passionate, quick-tempered chap, one who +also possessed the power of self-control. He has a frank face and clear +eyes. Also I've heard Mr. Trenton say in discussing him that he is a +fine, upright boy, and that he liked him very much indeed," I replied. + +"Passionate and quick-tempered," repeated McKelvie. "Is he the type to +commit murder in cold-blood?" + +"No. In a moment of passionate anger, yes, but not in cold-blood," I +returned with conviction. + +"Just what I decided from the first, and as this murder was +premeditated, that let's him out. Now for the second reason for his +disappearance. He was engaged to Cora Manning, yet he denied knowing +her. When the coroner showed him the handkerchief he was in mortal dread +that he would recognize it as hers. Therefore he knew something of what +took place in the study, in which Miss Manning was involved. Or, +perhaps, he knew of her intended visit to the Darwin home. However that +may be, he knew something of importance. He left the inquest before all +the evidence was brought in, therefore he was in ignorance of the +verdict when he returned to the Club. Nevertheless he was a menace to +the criminal's plan to implicate Mrs. Darwin, for Lee would come forward +and tell what he knew the moment he learned of Mrs. Darwin's +predicament. What does the criminal do then? He decoys Lee from the Club +with a telegram, and keeps him a prisoner somewhere in the city, to +prevent him from giving evidence." + +"What a fiend the man must be!" I exclaimed. "But how did he know so +quickly that Lee was a menace to him. The papers were hardly out by that +time," I added. + +"Because he was at the inquest, and he deduced danger to himself from +Lee's actions," replied McKelvie. "That is, of course, he must have been +there to act so promptly since he has no confederate, I am sure. There +were any number of extra persons in the room. He could easily form one +of the curious, or disguise himself as a reporter, or any other +character that happened to occur to him. He is daring enough to have +impersonated the District Attorney himself." + +I agreed. "But, in that event, when the man realizes you are after Lee +because you need his evidence, for of course he will see your reward, +won't he murder the boy to get rid of him? He seems to be capable of any +outrage." + +"Unfortunately that is a risk I shall have to run. Now that I am +persuaded that the criminal is holding Lee a prisoner I've got to rescue +him, since the murderer is not likely to hamper himself with the boy +overlong--if he hasn't done away with him already. We have wasted much +valuable time following a false lead. Well, it can't be helped now, and +there is nothing to be gained by crying over spilt milk. Wilkins is +combing the East Side and I hope to have news in a few hours. From now +on it's a fight to the finish," he ended, exultantly. "I have shown the +criminal my hand. I want Lee, and the man I'm ultimately going to get +will do his best to balk me--if he can." + +"Here's to our side," I said, catching his enthusiasm. "And remember +that I want to be in on anything that happens." + +"Right. I won't forget you." + +But he did, for I heard nothing further from him during the remainder of +the afternoon, which I spent in an endeavor to pin my mind to market +quotations which I considered merely trivial beside the problem that was +worrying me, and when I called his house that evening Dinah reported +that he had gone out and she had no idea when he would return. +Disappointedly I sought my favorite chair and my pipe, offering Mr. +Trenton a cigar, which he declined. He had been to see Ruth that +afternoon and as usual after such a visit he was very disheartened. I +tried to cheer him, but with little success, since my feelings coincided +so accurately with his own and I could ill bear the thought of Ruth in +that dreadful place day after day, with no hope of release. I finally +turned in, determined to forget my troubles in oblivion. But I could not +sleep. Over and over I reviewed the case, particularly the latest phases +of it, and wondered if Dick's ring in the secret room, where it +certainly had no business to be, might not serve as a clue upon which to +secure Ruth's release. Then my mind wandered to Lee and the girl of the +perfume, to Cunningham and the gold-and-blue room, until gradually it +seemed to me that a delicious fragrance pervaded the room, and I drifted +into the land of dreams. + +And in that sleep I dreamed a weird and awful dream. I thought I stood +in the secret room behind the safe, which somehow resembled the +gold-and-blue room in Cunningham's apartment, and as I stood there +breathing the fragrance of Rose Jacqueminot a man dashed by me and +entered the study. He had a pistol in his hand and as he fired at +Darwin, whom I could see dimly in the distance, I heard a woman shriek. +Then the man came back, dragging a girl by the arm, and as he went by me +he dropped Dick's ring at my feet, and turned toward me such a face as I +hope never to see even in my dreams again. It was the face of a demon +distorted by passion, and it bore no resemblance to anyone I knew, or +rather, it was a composite of those concerned in the case, for he had +Dick's eyes, Lee's nose and chin, and Cunningham's red hair. A moment I +looked into his mad eyes and then I saw him raise his arm and fire at +the girl and I realized with horror that she was Ruth. With a cry I +flung myself toward him--and woke with my arms around my pillow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE CURIO SHOP + + +I sat up and passed my hand dazedly across my brow and then suddenly I +was broad awake and listening intently to the sound that had startled +me, the sound of my door opening stealthily. I peered through the +darkness but could discern nothing. + +I waited a moment, but hearing no further sound reached under my pillow +for my revolver, for I knew I wasn't dreaming now, noticing by my +radium-faced watch that it was close to midnight. Then as I became +conscious of another presence in the room, the light was switched on +without warning, and I flung out my arm, covering the man who stood +there before me. + +He was a rough-looking customer in an ugly, worn blue suit, and his cap +was pulled low over his brow. His face was unshaved, his lips were +coarse, his nose was thick, his eyebrows bushy, and the eyes beneath +were sunken and dull, a dead black in color. + +"What are you doing here?" I demanded, holding the pistol in line with +his heart. + +But he did not reply except by a chuckle, and I flung down the pistol +with the cry, "McKelvie!" + +"I'm glad I pass muster," he said, chuckling again, but I could only +stare at him in genuine amazement. Except for that chuckle I should +never have known him! + +"Here," he said, flinging a bundle on my bed, "get into those things as +fast as you can, and meet me in your library. We have no time to waste, +but I knew you would never forgive me if I left you out of this." + +As soon as he was gone I attired myself in the battered old suit of +brown which he had provided, and clapped a greasy cap upon my head. Then +I surveyed myself in the mirror and turned away disappointedly. I was +disreputable enough in all conscience, but no one would have taken me +for anyone else but Carlton Davies, grown somewhat seedy in appearance. +How did McKelvie do it? + +In the library I found McKelvie talking to Jenkins, the latter clad in +bathrobe and slippers, as though he had just been dragged from his room. + +"Ready?" asked McKelvie, as I entered, and when I nodded he turned again +to Jenkins. "Stay out in the hall beside the phone and don't go to +sleep. If I do not phone you by one o'clock, call Headquarters and tell +them to rush some men to Hi Ling's curio shop. You understand?" + +"Yes, sir," answered Jenkins, blinking. + +"Don't fall asleep, as it may mean our lives," repeated McKelvie +impressively. + +"No, sir. I'll stay awake. You can depend on me, sir," said Jenkins in a +hurt tone. + +"Yes, I know I can," returned McKelvie. "Come on, Mr. Davies." + +McKelvie swung toward me and then began to laugh. "You're far too clean. +They'd spot you for a fake in a moment." + +He took what looked like a box of lampblack from his pocket and applied +it to my face. As we hurried down the hall I glanced at my reflection in +the mirror. My face was a dirty gray, sallow, unshaved. I smiled as I +followed McKelvie into the outer hall. + +"Ever read Gaboriau?" he asked as we crept stealthily down the stairs. + +"Yes." + +"Then you know the advice that Lecoq gave his men when they wanted to +disguise themselves. 'Change the eye,' he said. 'The eye is the +important factor in disguise.' He was right and I have spent some time +practising the maxim. Try to look stupid and your eyes will deaden. Not +that way," and he caught my arm as I made for the lobby. "The back +entrance for ours unless we want to land in a cell at the police +station." + +We sneaked out into the back yard, around the building, and out into the +street, where a motor car was waiting. + +"All right, Wilkins. Full speed ahead," said McKelvie as we got in. With +a jerk we were off toward the Park. + +"Now," I demanded, "what's it all about?" + +"You've got your pistol with you?" he asked, and when I answered in the +affirmative, he went on, "Don't use it unless I give you leave. The less +shooting the better for us, I expect." + +"Is it Lee?" I inquired. + +"Yes. My offer of reward hustled things up a bit." McKelvie leaned +forward and called out, "Faster, Wilkins. We'll never make it at this +rate." + +"He's in danger, then," I said, as we tore around corners and down side +streets to avoid the cops. + +"Yes. But let me begin at the beginning. Wilkins got onto the track of a +mysterious taxi that had been seen on Mott Street about four-fifteen the +afternoon of October the eighth, and while he was hanging around one of +those Chinese joints, he saw two toughs lounging down Pell Street, and +evidently discussing the reward, since one of them was waving the +hand-bill in the other's face. Wilkins followed them into an +eating-house and by securing a table next to them, overheard their +conversation. It seemed that they had identified Lee as the young man +they had kidnapped and they were weighing the respective merits of +giving their information to me or blackmailing the 'old man,' as they +called whoever had hired them. The younger tough was for telling me, but +the older one seemed to think they could make more from the 'old man.' +Whereupon the younger one declared that the old fellow was stingier than +hell and reminded his companion that Hi Ling had tipped them that the +young man was to disappear that night, after the boss's visit at one +o'clock. When the men separated Wilkins followed the younger one and by +many judicious hints and the added compensation of some money and +promised immunity from the police, he got the rest of the story. + +"This fellow and his companion had been hired to kidnap a young chap and +they had deposited him in Hi Ling's back shop in an upstairs room. There +was something the young man knew that the 'old man' wanted to learn so +much, he had gathered from the Chinaman who kept the shop. In other +words, Lee knew something of the murder and the criminal wanted to find +out just how much, or else he wanted to keep Lee from giving evidence. +It doesn't matter which. The main fact remains, that he is holding the +boy a prisoner. + +"Well, when he realized that through my efforts I was bound to learn +where Lee was, since he did not trust the toughs, he gave orders that +when he had paid the boy his customary visit at one o'clock, they were +to get rid of Lee for him. One more murder wouldn't disturb his +conscience very much, I guess. Our only chance lies in getting there +ahead of the criminal." + +"How do you know it's not a trap?" I asked. + +"I've provided for that by my orders to Jenkins. If it's a trap the +police will have to rescue us, that's all. I feel conscience-stricken, +lugging you into what may turn out to be a fight for life," he added. + +"You needn't. I wouldn't have missed it for anything," I returned. "But +why don't you surround the place with the police right away?" + +"Do you know where we are going?" he asked curiously. + +"To Chinatown, I should judge," I answered. + +"Exactly. They keep scouts on the watch at those places, which are +respectable without and--hells within. The moment they saw the sight of +a uniform Lee Darwin would disappear and no one would ever learn what +had become of him. Days later an unrecognizable corpse would be dragged +from the river." + +I shuddered. What a horrible end for the boy if we should fail to reach +him in time! + +At this juncture the car stopped with a jerk at the corner of Mott and +Hester streets, and we piled out. + +"Wait here for us. If we do not come by one-thirty, you can go home," +said McKelvie. + +The man turned off his engine and settled himself to wait, and the next +moment we were hurrying toward Pell Street. Then we turned another +corner and modifying our pace, lounged carelessly toward the back +entrance of Hi Ling's curio shop. + +Remembering Lecoq's advice I tried to look dull and stupid as McKelvie +opened the door. We stepped inside the shop and faced the Chinaman +seated behind a counter at the rear of the room. He was a fat old +Chinaman and he gazed at us stolidly as he smoked his pipe. + +In a coarse voice McKelvie asked whether the "old man" had come, saying +he had sent us to stay with the prisoner until his arrival. + +The Chinaman looked at us unblinkingly for five steady minutes, then he +waved his pipe toward a rear door. We shuffled toward it as fast as we +dared, and I for one, expected that every minute he would call us back +and question us more closely. But he did not move and we gained the +doorway and saw before us, in the flickering light of a gas-jet from +above, a staircase, steep, narrow, dirty. This we climbed and found +ourselves in a small entry with a door at the back. Stealing to this +door, McKelvie listened intently for a moment, then drew his revolver +and tried the door softly. It was locked. Shifting the gun to his left +hand he took out a long, narrow steel instrument, which he inserted in +the lock. As the door yielded silently, he stole into the room and I +followed him closely. + +I did not hear but I knew he had closed the door behind us, and then his +flash glowed and the disk of light darted here and there over the black +interior of the room, or, rather, hole, in which we found ourselves. It +was empty save for a narrow cot, on which lay an inert figure, +apparently asleep. We moved closer to the cot and McKelvie let the disk +of light rest upon the face of the man before us. + +It was Lee Darwin, I could not be mistaken, but he looked as though he +were in the last stages of some terrible disease. His form was quite +wasted, his eyes were mere sunken hollows in his ghastly face, and his +cheekbones stood out prominently where the flesh had fallen away. I +contemplated him in horrified silence, until a touch on my arm recalled +me to action. + +"I'm afraid he's too far gone to walk," whispered McKelvie. "We'll have +to carry him. The main thing is to get him out before the criminal +arrives. I don't think the old Chink will give us much trouble." + +Silently McKelvie bent over Lee and shook him into consciousness. The +boy opened his haggard eyes, stared at the flash, then shuddered away +from McKelvie's restraining hand. + +"Go away," he said feebly. "I have nothing to tell you. Nothing, I say." + +"Mr. Darwin," said McKelvie soothingly, "it's all right. We only want to +help you get away." + +Lee turned toward the sound of the voice, a dawning wonder in his eyes, +then as the sense of McKelvie's words penetrated his dulled brain and +the sound of McKelvie's rich voice fell like balm on his spirit, which +had been harassed for days by harsh voices and coarse threats, he put +out his hand and pushed aside the flash which McKelvie still kept +focused on his face. + +"Help me--get up," he said. + +In the darkness we helped him to his feet and got him out into the +corridor, where he collapsed again. So we lifted him by his head and +feet and carried him down the stairs. + +When we reached the bottom we looked across into the placid face of the +old Chinaman contemplating us fixedly from the doorway! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE RESCUE + + +"Lord," McKelvie muttered low, as we set Lee down upon the lowest step. +"He's evidently in the game, too. No wonder he was so obliging about +letting us pass, since there probably is no outlet yonder," and he +jerked his head toward the top of the stairs. + +He pulled out his gun and leveled it at the Chinaman. "Now then, Hi, or +whatever your name is, just raise your arms above your head and back +into that room, or you'll get a taste of this," and he tapped his +revolver menacingly, but the Chinaman only continued to regard us +placidly, with no change of expression on his yellow countenance. + +McKelvie spoke to me in an undertone. "He knows darn well I won't shoot, +damn him, since it would bring the house about our ears. I have a better +plan. I'll take Lee on my back and you can give yonder Chinaman a punch +in the jaw. Then we'll make tracks for the door. Once we get outside +we'll be fairly safe, for these Chinamen don't want a row with the +police if they can avoid it." + +He slipped his automatic back into his pocket, and while he slung Lee +over his shoulder, I swaggered up to the Chinaman. + +"Better let us pass, bo," I said roughly in character, to gain time. +"You might get hurt, Chink." + +Again that stolid indifference, as though to him we did not exist, which +made my blood boil and gave my arm an added impetus. The next moment the +Chinaman was sprawling on the ground and we had gained the other room. +With my cap pulled well over my face I was making tracks for the door to +get it open for us to pass, when I heard a yell from McKelvie. + +"Duck!" he cried, and as I obeyed I heard something whizz over my head +and a hatchet buried itself in the wall ahead of me. I turned sharply +and grappled with a lithe, yellow-clad figure that had sprung at me from +the side of the room. + +In tense silence we struggled, each striving to reach the other's +throat, and as we fought I caught a glimpse of some heavy metal object +on a stand near one corner of the room. Warily, inch by inch, I forced +my adversary back until he fell against the stand, losing his balance +and almost carrying me with him. With an effort I kept my feet, freeing +my arm with a sudden movement, and as he swayed clutching at me, I +grasped the metal candlestick and brought it down upon his head. His +fingers loosened from my arm and he went down with a sickening thud. + +Then, panting, I turned to look for McKelvie. He was standing in the +opposite corner, shielding Lee's unconscious form, with his gun covering +the old Chinaman whom I had first knocked out and who had succeeded in +joining the fray again, and now stood as stolidly as ever beside a third +Chinaman, who lay prostrate on the floor. + +I advanced to McKelvie's side and as I did so I glanced again at the +prostrate Chinaman. To my horror he was not as insensible as I had at +first supposed. One arm was drawn back and he was on the point of +hurling a murderous looking hatchet at McKelvie's head. + +"Look out," I yelled, but McKelvie had seen him too. + +There was a spat from McKelvie's gun, the hatchet went flying backwards +and the Chinaman rolled over, howling with pain and rage. The momentary +diversion, however, had served the other Chinaman in good stead. Before +I could reach him he had glided to a counter, lifted a clapper and +struck upon a gong. The next moment the Chinks came pouring in about us +like rats from their holes. + +I managed somehow to reach McKelvie's side before the onslaught began, +and together we kept our backs to the corner where Lee lay huddled. Then +McKelvie raised his pistol and deliberately shot out the light. After +that, confusion reigned. I could hear the scuffle of feet, an occasional +flash from McKelvie's gun, and a scream of agony as the bullet tore its +way through soft flesh, followed by a quick report from my automatic, +which I had drawn even though he had given me no leave, then again the +shuffle, shuffle of feet, while we warded off blows and tried to keep +our unseen enemies at a distance. + +And then into the midst of this turmoil a high pitched voice cut like a +knife. It was not a Chinaman's voice. It was a refined, cultivated, but +distinctly American voice, and it seemed to me that I had heard its +intonation before at some time. + +Querulously it demanded a light, and as someone lighted the gas the +Chinamen fell away from before us. We were battered and bruised, +McKelvie and I, but otherwise unhurt, and we still stood with our backs +to Lee Darwin, protecting him from the assault of his foes. + +In the flickering light of the one poor burner I could see that the room +was filled with Chinamen, or perhaps I mistook shadows for the reality, +since though they remained inactive they shuffled about in the +background, passing and repassing each other continually. Then a man +stepped forward into the limelight and I saw the owner of that cutting +voice. + +With arms folded and head thrust forward, he stood and glared +malevolently at McKelvie, and I beheld with astonishment the bent old +figure and the white hair and beard shining like silver in that light. +Though he took no notice of me, still I could feel his antagonism and +wished for a moment that he would cast aside the heavy blue glasses he +wore and give me a chance to see his eyes. + +"So," he said, in that high-pitched voice, sarcastically strident in its +intonation, "you thought to get ahead of me, eh? You thought I was such +a fool that I wouldn't prepare for your visit, eh? There are a few +people still left who have more brains than you think, Mr. McKelvie." + +McKelvie returned his empty gun to his pocket very coolly, and then +laughed softly. + +"Stand aside and let Hi Ling take that boy. Then I will settle with you, +Mr. Detective," went on the old man, unfolding his arms and thrusting a +hand into the pocket of the long coat he wore. + +McKelvie laughed again. "Come and get him, you murderer," he said, +quietly. + +With a snarl of rage the man flung out his arm and fired. I saw McKelvie +draw aside quickly and then bite his lips as his left arm fell limply at +his side. With a curse I leaped forward, but McKelvie pulled me back +just as there arose a banging on the outer door and a shrill whistle +sounded clear and loud outside. + +There was a cry of "Police, the Police" and with an oath the old man +fired again, at Lee, and then he shot up tall and extinguished the +light. Pandemonium was let loose. There was a scurry of feet, the +banging of a door, yells and execrations, hoarse cries, men's voices +shouting loudly, and then something struck me on the head. I fell +heavily to the ground, and as I did so a flash was thrust into my face +and I heard Jones' voice exclaim as from a great distance, "Mr. Davies, +by all that's holy," and then blackness descended upon me. + +I came to myself with the sensation that someone was pouring red-hot +liquid down my throat. I sat up, gasping, to find Jones bending over me +with a brandy flask in his hand. + +"All right?" he asked. + +Recollection swept over me. "Where's McKelvie?" I managed to reply. + +"Yonder." Jones nodded his head toward the chair where McKelvie sat, +grinning like a Cheshire cat. + +His clothes were torn, his face was smeared with blood, and his left arm +had been recently bandaged, but he wore the expression of a conqueror, +as he commanded the doctor to cease fussing over him and to look after +Lee, who was still unconscious. + +Then I realized that we were no longer in the curio shop, but in +McKelvie's living-room, and that Lee was lying upon a couch, as +motionless and rigid as a corpse. + +The doctor ordered that the boy be put to bed, and McKelvie told Jones +to ring for Dinah. When she came in presently, wrapped in an old kimona +and with her woolly wig more belligerent than ever, McKelvie asked her +to get a room ready. Then the doctor and Jones carried Lee from the +room. + +"What happened after I went down?" I asked, feeling the lump on my head. +"I remember hearing Jones, and that is all." + +"I'm ashamed to acknowledge that when I knew that the police were +actually in the room, I fainted," he replied with a grin. "When I came +to myself, those Chinamen who could get away had vanished, and with them +the old man. I'd have given ten years of my life to get a glimpse of his +eyes behind those glasses. I have a feeling that once having seen them I +should never forget them." + +"So he got away," I said. + +"Oh, yes, Jones of course knew nothing about him, and when I was in a +condition to explain, the fellow was far away. The police searched for +him, but without avail. So I told them not to bother and ordered Jones +to bring us here." He sat back with a smile, but I could see that his +arm was giving him pain. "It was a great fight and the best part was +that we were able to rescue Lee." + +"Yes," I replied. "I should very much like to hear his story. By the +way, that vindictive old man didn't shoot him, did he?" + +"No, I don't believe he more than grazed him, if he hit him at all. +Naturally he was trying to prevent us from taking the boy away from +there." + +"He had no trouble recognizing you," I continued. "Has he seen you +before?" + +"Doubtless. A man of his caliber would acquaint himself with his +adversaries for safety's sake. He saw me the night we chased him in the +study, and what is more, I made no attempt to disguise myself to-night +when he stood there looking at me. That's why he tried to kill me. I +read his purpose though and waited until he had flung out his arm to +fire, and then I moved aside, but not quite out of range, as you saw," +and he glanced at his arm. "But here is Jones. What does the doctor +say?" + +"He'll pull him around. That black woman of yours is certainly a trump. +She's making him some broth. The boy's starved," answered Jones, then he +looked at us and grinned. "It's a good thing for you fellows that I +happened to be at Headquarters to-night, when your man called us, Mr. +Davies. I twigged what was up and had the dope in a second, so I was +able to get to you in time." + +"I'm eternally grateful to you, Jones, and so is Mr. Davies," returned +McKelvie, holding out his hand, which Jones accepted with a sheepish +smile. "But for you we might be occupying the river by now." + +"Don't say any more," expostulated Jones, as I added my share of +gratitude. "It's all part of the job. Well, doctor?" + +"He's coming on fine. He's got a good nurse. I'll be around in the +morning to have another look at him," said the doctor. "And now my +advice to you, sir," turning to McKelvie, "is to get to bed and let that +arm have a chance to recover. That was a nasty flesh wound you got. Come +along, Jones." + +"I'll be around again, too," said Jones, "to hear that young man's +story. I don't know what all this has to do with the murder, but his +tale should be interesting, to say the least." + +We agreed and then went upstairs, where we got rid of our rags and had a +good wash. Then McKelvie loaned me a pair of pajamas and a bed, which +had never been more welcome to my throbbing head. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +LEE'S STORY + + +Despite his arm, which he had redressed himself and which was quite +stiff, McKelvie was up ahead of me, and when I came down at noon attired +in my own garments (McKelvie had phoned Jenkins to bring me my things) I +felt quite like myself again. + +"Has the doctor been here?" I asked as we had our luncheon. + +"Yes, but he will be back later. Lee is still asleep. We shall hear his +story this afternoon." Then he sighed. "I wish we had been able to catch +that old chap. I am positive he is the murderer. I felt it in my bones +when he looked at me and my bones are quite infallible, I assure you," +and he smiled whimsically. + +"It is a pity," I said, "for then this business would be over." + +When we rose from the table and went back to the living-room, McKelvie +moved about restlessly, and then said impatiently, "I wish the doctor +would come. I want to get at the boy's story as soon as possible, for I +think he may help us locate Cora Manning, and we shall have to work fast +now if we expect to catch the criminal. He's too clever to hang around +much longer, now that he knows the game is up as far as Mrs. Darwin is +concerned." + +I heartily indorsed McKelvie's words, for I was eager to hear what Lee +had to say, but he did not waken until five o'clock and the doctor, who +had come in some time previous, forbade our disturbing him. When we +finally mounted to his room, Jones, McKelvie and I, we could hardly wait +for the doctor's assurance that he thought it would not harm the young +man to talk. As we gathered about the bed, Lee leaned back against his +pillows, his hollow cheeks flushed and his black eyes glittering +strangely as he looked at us. I heard Jones mutter something about "eyes +like a madman's," which Lee evidently overheard, for he turned to the +doctor with an appealing glance. + +"Before I begin," he said, in a weak voice, "I want you, doctor, to +answer me a question. Am I perfectly rational and sane?" + +"Yes, perfectly sane," responded the doctor, quietly. + +Lee breathed a sigh of relief. "Please remember that, gentlemen," he +continued. "I may look mad but I'm not. No, nor ever have been, though +at times I thought I was pretty near to it." + +He paused to gather strength and then he told his tale almost without a +break, for it gripped him too vitally to admit of his stopping, once he +had begun. + +"To explain my actions I must go back to the morning of the seventh. I +testified at the inquest that I quarreled with my uncle about Ruth. I +lied. We quarreled about Cora Manning." + +At this name Jones leaned closer, a greater interest in his face. + +"I met her a year ago when she came to New York to study for the stage. +Three months ago we became engaged and I gave her, as is customary, a +diamond ring. Later I introduced my uncle to her. Instantly he evinced a +great interest in her, cloaking his infatuation (I know it was that now) +under the guise of a desire to aid her in her career. He took her out a +number of times and when I protested she accused me of being jealous of +my uncle, which she said was unworthy of me if I loved her, since my +uncle was an old married man. + +"To make a long story short, on the morning of the seventh, as I was +leaving the house, my uncle called me back into the study and there +showed me the ring I had given Cora, swearing she had bestowed it upon +him to return it to me, as she no longer cared for me and was coming to +see him there in the study that night. He had the ring on the little +finger of his left hand and he pulled it off with a laugh and held it +toward me. I snatched it from him and flung it in his face, and would +have leaped upon him to strangle him then and there, but he read my +purpose in my face, and like the craven that he was, he called to Orton +to come into the room. Then he ordered me to leave his house and I went +out by the window, vowing vengeance upon him. + +"I hurried to Cora's and accused her of treachery, declaring I'd kill my +uncle before he should have her. I was mad, crazy, and refusing to +listen to any explanations I rushed away and bought a pistol. That +evening I hung around the house on Riverside Drive. I would wait her +arrival and then go in and kill them both. I saw my uncle let himself +into the house and about an hour later Mr. Davies arrived, but still no +Cora. I began to think I had been a fool, but determined to wait a while +longer just to make sure. About eleven forty-five, for I looked at my +watch as I reached the gate, I saw her coming down the street with a +suitcase in her hand. Mad with rage, I hid behind some bushes and +followed her as she turned into the grounds. It was very dark and I lost +her as she slipped around the house. + +"I decided to enter by the front door and confront them, then I recalled +that Mr. Davies had not yet gone, and determined to try the windows. I +crept to the second window and by means of my flash saw that the shade +did not come level with the bottom of the window. I knelt down and +applied my eye to this space. By looking upward from the extreme corner +of the window I discovered that I could see what my uncle was doing. The +room was dark except for the lamp that threw its rays over the table and +chair, and in the latter my uncle was reclining asleep. Then as I +looked, suddenly Cora appeared beside the table and in her hand she +carried a small pistol. She pointed it at my uncle, and just then the +light went out. I judged that she had shot him, though I heard no sound, +and so paralyzed with horror was I that I remained where I was gazing +into the darkness of the room before me. + +"How long I stayed there I don't know. Presently I thought I heard the +sound of a step on the walk. I wrenched myself free from the entangling +ivy and hastened to the gate. There was no one in sight. For a long time +I stood there, debating whether to go back or not, and then I came to +the conclusion that if she had really shot my uncle she needed every +minute to get away. I fled the place and paced the streets in an agony +of suspense. In the morning I returned to the Club, where I slept until +noon. When the steward woke me my first thought was for Cora. I dashed +around to Gramercy Park. She was gone, had been gone since the night +before. Then I rushed up to my uncle's house, thinking she might have +been caught. I found the coroner in possession. Persuaded that Cora had +killed my uncle and not seeing her present, I determined to shield her +by denying all knowledge of her. After my testimony I went upstairs to +my rooms, gathered together a few necessary articles and went back to +Gramercy Park. She was still missing. I thought of advertising for her +and had gone as far as the _Herald_ office when it occurred to me that +by locating her I would only be putting her life in danger. + +"Dejectedly I returned to the Club once more and there found a written +message awaiting me. I read and destroyed it, but the words are burned +into my brain: + + 'Lee, my darling: I killed him to save my honor. If you love me, + help me to get away. I could not bear the notoriety of a trial. + Meet me at the corner of Twenty-third Street and Third Avenue and + I'll be waiting for you in a brown taxi. CORA.' + +"I told the steward to hold my rooms as I was going South on business, +and took a taxi to Twenty-fifth and Third Avenue, where I dismissed the +man and walked rapidly to Twenty-third Street." + +Lee paused and drew a gasping breath, whereupon the doctor hastened to +administer a stimulant. + +"The car was waiting?" prompted McKelvie. + +"Yes, and when I appeared the door opened and a hand beckoned. I entered +the car unsuspectingly, but I was no sooner seated and the door had been +closed (it was dark as pitch inside, since all the shades were drawn) +than I felt a hand on my face and smelled something that made me gasp. +Some instinct warned me not to breathe and I thrust out my hand and my +fingers closed on a man's rough coat. Then I realized I'd been trapped +and flung myself toward my assailant. He grasped my throat and thrust a +handkerchief over my face. The deadly fumes got into my lungs, for I +felt myself suffocating, and drawing a deep involuntary breath I fell +unconscious. + +"When I came to I was lying in the room where you found me, and a couple +of ruffians were guarding me. I do not recall much of this part of the +affair, for I was kept in a semi-conscious state most of the time and +left absolutely alone all day, with little or no food. I have an +impression that once every night I was shaken into consciousness by +someone who spoke in a harsh whisper and asked me a lot of questions +about the murder. Fearing for Cora, I refused to answer. Every day I +grew weaker and every day the harsh voice grew more insistent, until the +man, whoever he was, started to torture me as well. The day before you +rescued me I lost all consciousness of what was going on, for my mind +had been partly drugged, I believe. I guess that's all except that I +want to thank you fellows for getting me out of there." + +Lee closed his eyes wearily, and Jones scratched his head in perplexity. + +"If what he says is true," whispered Jones to me, "where does Mrs. +Darwin come in? He must have dreamed all this. Darwin was shot at +midnight." + +"He didn't dream that he had been held a prisoner, at least," I +returned. "As for the rest, I presume it's all true enough," and I +turned toward McKelvie to get his opinion in the matter. + +"Mr. Darwin," McKelvie said, as Lee opened his eyes again, "are you +strong enough to answer some questions?" + +"Yes," Lee answered. + +"Describe the man who questioned you?" + +"I never saw him. The room was always dark. I heard his voice, that is +all. It was always a harsh whisper. But wait, once I put out my hand +and felt a beard, long and silky." + +McKelvie nodded quickly. "What questions did he ask you?" + +"He asked me where I was the night of the murder, and he kept saying +over and over, 'someone you love is in danger and when you tell me what +you know about your uncle's murder, she will be freed.' + +"I had a feeling this was another trap," Lee went on, "since if I told +him that she had committed the murder they would send her to prison. I +had no idea what his connection with the affair might be, but I +determined not to be caught napping again." + +"There is no connection between him and the murder," responded Jones +authoritatively. "We've got the criminal locked up this minute." + +"Oh, have you," returned McKelvie, sarcastically. "Just listen to what I +have since discovered, Jones," and he sketched rapidly the main facts in +the case. + +They listened spellbound, as he told of the secret entrance and the +second shot, declaring that Darwin was murdered at eleven-forty by the +man we had seen in the curio shop, that this man was keeping Cora +Manning a prisoner, and had deliberately set about implicating Ruth in +the murder. Jones' eyes grew wide with astonishment as he listened, for +it upset all his preconceived ideas. + +"Then she didn't kill him, thank God, thank God," sobbed Lee, quite +overcome by all he had been through. + +"No, she didn't kill him," returned McKelvie kindly. "And now we are +going to do our best to find her for you." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE SECOND BULLET + + +When we were downstairs again and the doctor had gone, Jones turned to +me. McKelvie was smoking his pipe and pacing the room, his brows knit in +thought, and Jones did not like to disturb him. + +"I say, Mr. Davies, can't you give a fellow a few more details?" he +begged. "I seem to have got the dope all wrong in this case. Who is this +mysterious man?" + +I glanced at McKelvie, but he was paying no attention to our +conversation. I decided that there was no harm in telling Jones all that +we knew, since McKelvie himself had already disclosed the more vital +points. + +So I gave Jones a rapid account of our search for the criminal, how we +had discovered the secret entrance, where the trail of the sachet bags +had led us, how we had interviewed Orton, Mrs. Harmon, and Cunningham, +and how the finding of Dick's ring led to the discovery that he was +still alive. + +"But as regards the mysterious man in the curio shop," I ended, "I can't +tell you who he is since I don't know, but my impression is that he was +disguised and that he is not old at all, for one moment he was feeble +and bent, and the next, when he turned off the light, tall and strong." + +Jones slapped his hand on his knee. "By George, you're right. What did +he look like, anyway?" + +"When I first saw him he was bent and his head was thrust forward, his +hair and beard were silver-white, his eyes protected by blue glasses," I +answered. + +"Disguised all right," said Jones with conviction. "It's a remarkable +thing now, Mr. Davies, but when a man runs to disguise he always chooses +the appearance which is his very opposite, the idea being, I suppose, to +look as unlike his former self as possible. He stooped and was old, +therefore he really is young and tall. He wore whiskers and glasses, +therefore he is smooth-shaven and has good eyesight. That's your man." + +"And if you add the fact that he is dark, you have a pretty good +description of the murderer," put in McKelvie suddenly. + +"Good heavens!" I began, but McKelvie raised his hand. + +"Keep your suspicions to yourself," he said, and returned to his +meditation. + +"Seems to me you've made pretty good progress so far," Jones continued, +"but what you need is the police on his trail. We'd soon have him where +he belongs." + +"Well, I don't know that we have made so much progress after all," I +went on, as McKelvie ignored Jones' insinuation. "We have reduced the +number of suspects by finding Lee, but we really are no further than we +were three days ago. We progress so slowly," I added, impatiently, +"because we discover only unsubstantiated facts. We thought Lee might be +able to help us but he cannot swear to having seen his uncle die, and +without that proof Ruth must stay in jail." + +"I'm sorry," returned Jones. "The only thing to do is to catch the +criminal or learn his identity." + +"How?" I demanded. Did Jones think he could win out where McKelvie had +been unsuccessful? Then I recalled McKelvie's words before he took the +case, when he had handed me his list of questions. "Find the answers to +those questions and you will have the name of the man who committed the +crime." We ought to be able to answer almost all of them by now. + +I pulled out my wallet and opened it, drawing forth the sheets that I +had placed there less than a week ago (it seemed more like years) and +spread them out in front of Jones, explaining their purpose and how I +came by them. He read them through, glanced at McKelvie's back (he was +seeking inspiration from the falling night), and then he grinned. + +"Say," he whispered loudly, "we ought to be able to dope it out, you and +I. I'll read you the questions and you give me the answers." He took out +his fountain pen, prepared to fill in my replies, and I humored him. + +"Question one. Why was the pistol fired at midnight?" Jones asked. + +"To implicate Ruth," I returned. + +"Did the murderer also light the lamp?" Jones' pen scratched away as he +spoke. + +"Yes. He lighted it from the safe," I said, explaining how we had +ascertained this fact. + +"How did he enter and leave the room?" + +"He entered by the window and he left by the secret entrance," I +replied, remembering McKelvie's assertion. + +"Wrong." McKelvie swung toward us for a moment. "He entered by the +door." + +"But I thought you said--" I began. + +"I've changed my mind," he retorted, and turned his back on us again. + +Jones' eyebrows went up a trifle, and then he asked, "What was the +motive for the murder?" + +"I don't know," I said frankly. "It seems to me that answer depends on +who murdered him. Find the murderer and you have the motive, not learn +the motive and you have your man, as in most cases," I added. + +"We'll leave number four blank, then. Why did the doctors disagree, and +which was in the right? I recall that fact now. They had quite a tiff +over it and the young doctor was worsted." Jones laughed at the +recollection. + +My answer astonished him. "I'd say they disagreed because the coroner's +physician was a pompous old ass," I returned vindictively. I could not +forget that in very truth Ruth's accusal had been the result of this +verdict. "Dr. Haskins was in the right, since Darwin was shot at +eleven-forty." + +"Why did Philip Darwin put that ring on his finger and then take it off +again?" + +"Cunningham explained that Darwin did it in a moment of sentimentality. +It seemed an idiotic thing to do, after all, and I don't believe he was +addicted to sentiment," I said. + +"Well, no, he might have had it in his hand and slipped it on +unthinkingly, and then had trouble taking it off," replied Jones, +reflectively. + +I shook my head. "No, I am inclined to believe that he hurt his finger +with Cora's ring. Lee said his uncle was wearing it on his little finger +and that he removed it hastily and handed it to him. It was probably +tight for him, and so he bruised the finger," I said. + +"Where's the diamond then?" asked Jones. + +"It may have fallen out and the murderer may have found it," I +returned. "Or better yet, Orton may have taken it. You know Lee flung +the ring at his uncle." + +"That's plausible, and I never liked the secretary's face, anyway. Whose +was the blood-stained handkerchief?" continued Jones. + +"Cora Manning's, because of the perfume which all her male friends seem +to have adopted also," I remarked. + +"Where did the second bullet go?" + +"By the way, McKelvie, where did it go?" I inquired. + +But he pretended not to hear me, so I said to Jones with a laugh, +"Another blank. I have no idea where it went." + +"Did McKelvie search the room?" + +"With a magnifying glass. It's not there." + +"That's queer. It's bound to be somewhere. I'll have to have a look +myself. Why is there so much evidence against Mrs. Darwin?" + +I permitted myself a smile at Jones' evident estimate of McKelvie's +abilities as far as searching a room was concerned, then I replied to +his question. "I suppose the criminal believed in being thorough while +he was about it." + +"Who and what is Cora Manning?" + +"She is, or was, Lee's fiancée. As to what she is, I'll tell you better +when I see her. According to McKelvie she's a beauty," and I smiled. +"Also, if you can believe what he says, the criminal is in love with +this girl, so she is not the one who fired the shot." + +"So McKelvie says, but if the criminal loves her, how do we know she +wasn't his tool. Even the boy upstairs thought she had killed his +uncle," remarked Jones. + +"Don't be an idiot, Jones," said McKelvie's voice. "She wasn't likely to +shoot a man who was already dying when she entered the room. She got +there at eleven-forty-five, or later." + +"Oh, yes. I forgot that fact. But the boy's watch may have been fast at +that," replied Jones, unabashed. "She pointed a pistol at him, you know." + +"Yes, and I presume she kept the man she loves in duress all this time? +But have it your own way," returned McKelvie, dryly. Then I heard him +add to himself, "Where can she be? If I could only lay my finger on her +hiding-place, I'd have him in my toils." + +"What has become of Darwin's securities?" Jones returned to the paper +before him. + +"Cunningham says Darwin lost his fortune in Wall Street," I answered. + +"What is Lee Darwin's connection with the affair?" + +"Like Ruth he is a victim of circumstances and the criminal's +machinations," I said. + +"Why did Richard Trenton come to New York and then commit suicide?" +Jones went on. + +"He came to New York at Darwin's request to see him. This we know to be +a fact," and I told Jones the gist of Gilmore's story. "Also we know +that he did not commit suicide although he tried to give the world that +impression." + +"That looks very bad. What's Cunningham's relation to the murdered man?" + +"Just his friend since Cunningham is not a lawyer." + +"That looks bad, too," said Jones. "He acted as counsel at the inquest +illegally then." + +"He says not. That he did not see Mrs. Darwin and gave her no advice. +You can prosecute him when the case is over. We have no time for that +now," I added. + +"Which one of those having sufficient motive for killing Darwin answers +to the description: Clever, unprincipled, absolutely cold-blooded?" + +"There's an immense amount of latitude in that question. There might be +any number of men of that type, since we do not know how many may have +had sufficient motive for killing him. I expect that we haven't met all +the men who have grudges against him, not by a long shot. And now, Mr. +Jones, having doped it out, as you expressed it, would you mind telling +me who committed that murder?" I asked quizzically. + +Jones grinned. "I'll be hanged if I know," he replied. "But then we have +not answered all the questions, you know. There's the motive and that +second bullet. Oh, I say, McKelvie, what about letting me get busy on +the trail of the revolver that made that second shot? There's a good +substantial clue for you, though I know your preference for deductions." + +McKelvie turned away from the window laughing at Jones' irony, then said +quietly, "I won't trouble you to locate it as it might inconvenience you +sadly. You see, I know where it is." + +"You do?" Jones looked incredulous. "You know where it is and you +haven't produced it?" + +"How could I when you have had it under lock and key at Headquarters +right from the start," returned McKelvie, his eyes twinkling. + +"I? Oh, no, you're wrong there. I have only Darwin's pistol," replied +Jones. + +"That's the one I refer to." + +"But, man, there's only one shot fired from that, the shot that killed +Darwin," expostulated Jones. + +"Use your imagination, Jones. Did you never hear of a man's cleaning his +pistol and recharging it?" inquired McKelvie sarcastically. + +"By Jove," said Jones, then added quickly, "What about the second +bullet, then? I don't happen to possess that, too, do I?" + +"No, for there was no second bullet." + +"No second bullet!" I exclaimed, remembering the stress he had laid on +that fact. + +"No," he returned coolly, "there was no second bullet because--he took +the trouble to remove it before he fired the cartridge." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +THE WOMAN IN THE CASE + + +My mind remained appalled before the contemplation of the devilish +ingenuity of this man, who could plan the murder with such diabolical +cunning. No wonder we were finding it a difficult matter to secure proof +against him! Who was he? Was he someone I knew or a stranger who had +hitherto remained unsuspected by us? Did McKelvie have any idea of the +man's identity, or was he also groping in the dark? Persistently I +discarded the thought of Dick, even though the ring was his, and Jones' +description of the criminal fitted the boy, for I could not believe that +he could have become such a fiend, unless indeed he had suddenly lost +all sense of proportion and balance. + +It was at this point in my meditations that Jones arose and declared +that he must be going, but McKelvie refused to listen to him. He liked +Jones, even though the two were so often on opposite sides of the case +they were investigating. + +"Stay for dinner," McKelvie urged. "I owe you that much anyhow. Also, I +may need you. And now I wish you fellows would cease worrying about the +criminal's identity and put your faculties to work on a more pressing +subject. Where do you suppose he has hidden Cora Manning?" + +Where, indeed, with the whole of New York to choose from. + +We were enjoying our after-dinner cigars when McKelvie suddenly gave a +shout. "Eureka!" he cried. "I've got it. She's at Riverside Drive. What +an idiot I was not to think of it before." + +"How do you make that out?" asked Jones. + +"Lee thought he heard a step on the walk and assumed that it was the +girl leaving the grounds. He hurried to the gate, but when he looked +around there was no one in sight. If she had really left the place he +would have been in time to see her as she walked down the block. There +would be no place for her to disappear to unless she jumped in the +river, which would hardly be likely." + +"She may have hidden in the grounds and have waited for Lee to go away +first," I objected. + +"She did not know he was there and would have no reason then for hiding. +No, no, she's at the Darwin house. It was the easiest place to hide her +in, safe and secure, and it would not involve his having to take anyone +into his confidence. The house, doubtless, has more than one secret +room. We'll go out there now, and in an hour we'll have her free." + +"Do you want a taxi?" asked Jones. + +"No, we'll use the subway this time," replied McKelvie. + +We walked to Union Square and took the Broadway Subway to Dyckman +Street, walking from there to Riverside Drive. As we entered the Darwin +grounds I paused to admire the brilliancy of the stars, and noticed how +the reflection of the lights from the river craft twinkled in the waters +of the Hudson as if in friendly rivalry. + +But my companions did not wait to look at the scenery, and I had to +hurry to catch up with them. + +"We'll go in the back entrance again," said McKelvie. "I want to +question Mason." + +After a slight delay the old man admitted us and McKelvie asked him if +he ever took occasion to go into the main wing of the house. + +"Yes, sir. I have been in twice, sir, to open the windows and air the +place against Mrs. Darwin's coming home," he replied. + +"And while you were there did you hear any sounds, a person walking, for +instance?" continued McKelvie. + +Mason looked at him in great surprise. "Oh, no, sir. There is no one in +the house now, sir." + +"Is there an attic to the house?" + +"Yes, sir; but I'm sure there's no one there. I went in yesterday +morning to put away Mr. Darwin's things, sir." + +"Have you any provisions in the house?" was the next question. + +"Yes, sir, for myself." + +"Prepare some broth for me, please. I'll send for it when I want it." + +"Yes, sir." + +"What's the idea? Do you think she's starving, too?" asked Jones, as we +crossed the passageway and entered the main hall. + +"Does he strike you as the kind that would be gentle with his prisoners? +We'll ransack the whole house from attic to cellar, despite Mason's +assertions." + +We ascended the broad staircase to the second floor. McKelvie then +apportioned the back rooms to Jones, the front ones to me, and reserved +for himself the whole third floor, which was mostly the attic. My part +comprised the sleeping apartments of Ruth as well as Darwin's suite. + +I entered Ruth's rooms first, but did not remain in them long, since +every article spoke to me of the girl I loved and who was at this moment +enduring the hardness of a narrow cot in a barred and grated cell +instead of enjoying the comforts to which she had been always +accustomed, and all this because she had been accused of a crime that +she was utterly incapable of committing. + +Darwin's suite of dressing-room, bedroom, and bath were also +unproductive of any clues to Cora Manning's whereabouts, although once I +thought I detected a faint odor of rose jacqueminot and wondered idly +whether Darwin, too, had caught the epidemic. + +Out in the hall I encountered Jones. + +"Nothing doing," he said. "Besides, she wouldn't be lying around loose, +or that old butler would have come across her, unless he was lying. For +my own part, I think this is a wild goose chase." + +Before I could reply McKelvie descended from the attic. "Would you mind +talking in a lower key," he remarked in a whisper. "I could hear you +distinctly upstairs, Jones, and if the criminal should come here, we +would frighten him off for good." + +"You don't mean to tell me he'd have the nerve to come here!" exclaimed +Jones. + +"He's come here more than once, as Mr. Davies and I can prove," he +returned, drawing us into a room and closing the door. "Don't you +suppose he comes here to see the girl? It's my opinion he is trying to +break her into going away with him, though I can't see what is to stop +him from drugging her and carrying her away." + +He walked to the window and looked out into the night. "She's not in the +attic. There's no secret room up there; yet I'm positive she's in the +house. He wouldn't come back for anything less important, though I did +think once that he had a hiding-place in the room behind the safe. You +remember that I was looking for it the night we found Dick's ring," he +continued, more to himself than to us. Then he turned away from the +window, his eyes shining, "Lord, I'm growing dull! Do you recall, Mr. +Davies, that we heard steps on the stone staircase and that when I +opened the door and turned my flash on the stairs they were empty and +the door below locked?" + +I nodded, and he went on quickly, "It never occurred to me before, but +he must have vanished into a second secret room off those stairs. Come +on, I'll bet that's where he's got her hidden." + +At the door, however, he paused to issue final instructions. "Go softly +and obey me implicitly. Also don't talk, and have your gun handy, Jones, +in case of need." + +We tiptoed down the stairs and crossed the hall to the study door, which +McKelvie opened slowly and silently. The room was dark. With the aid of +his flash we walked down the length of the room to the safe, our +footfalls deadened by the thickness of the carpet. Then McKelvie +manipulated the dial and opened the safe. It was Jones' first initiation +into the mysteries of the entrance, and I pulled him down to a stooping +position as we passed through to the secret room. Then we crossed to the +door at the head of the stairs and McKelvie listened intently before he +inserted his key in the lock. Then he turned to us. + +"Stay here," he whispered. "When I locate the room I'll call to you. If +anyone comes in that lower door, don't hesitate to shoot, Jones." + +Jones and I obeyed and stood together in the darkness, watching the disk +of light from McKelvie's flash dart here and there along the walls as +McKelvie descended the stairs. Then the ray of light rested upon the +wall into which the staircase had been built and which extended about +three feet beyond the lowest step, that is, extended the length of the +distance between the bottom of the staircase and the outer door, which, +being but two feet in width, had plenty of margin with which to swing +inwards. On this three feet of wall space the light danced up and down +as McKelvie hunted for indications of a second secret room. Then we +heard him calling to us softly. + +We descended the stairs cautiously, and when we neared the bottom +McKelvie pressed a depression which he pointed out to us. We saw a +section of the wall disappear from view and the ray of light rested on +the interior of a dark room. McKelvie stepped through first and called: + +"Miss Manning, are you there?" he asked. + +There was no answer, and telling us not to advance further, he +disappeared into the darkness. We strained forward to look, and I +distinctly smelled a musty, damp odor, as though the room or cell, or +whatever it was, had been used as a vault, or maybe a tomb. + +Then McKelvie came out again and swung the panel into place. He shivered +slightly. "It's empty, but there are indications of a trap door in the +ceiling. What is the room directly above this end of the study?" + +"Darwin's dressing-room," I replied. + +"Any windows on this side?" + +"No." + +"Just as I thought. There is a room above that vault. We'll try the +second floor. I trust we are not too late," he added as we returned to +the study. There we waited while McKelvie relocked the entrance, and +when he was ready to lead the way upstairs again, Jones spoke in a +troubled whisper. + +"What's the idea of building a house with holes in the wall? It's a +regular rat-trap," he said. + +"I have a book at home that I'll have to lend you, Jones. The man who +built this house was a nut on old-fashioned ideas. He copied an +ancestral home, secret rooms and all. Not that he meant to use them, of +course, but because it suited him to put them in. The one I just +examined was used in ancient times, I think, to receive the bodies of +those who fell through the trap door from the room above. A convenient +way of getting rid of your enemy, that is all." + +"This criminal of yours seems very familiar with this house," said +Jones. + +"Yes, he had been here many times before the murder, and he took pains +to learn all he could about the place," returned McKelvie. + +"I thought he only learned of the entrance on the night of the murder," +I objected. + +"Well, what of it. He is clever enough to have deduced what I did. He +probably stumbled across the lower room in opening the outer door and +then it was mere child's play to discover the room above." + +Yes, that part was easy enough, but it was another matter to find the +hidden spring that worked the panel. We turned on the light in the room, +and divided the wall into three parts, each of us fingering a third +carefully and painstakingly from top to bottom. It was Jones finally who +stumbled on the spring. He had pressed the center of one of the +mahogany flowers that formed the carved border of the dash-board and +silently the panel slid back. + +Never shall I forget the sight revealed to my eyes as the light from the +dressing-room dispelled slightly the gloom of that interior. + +In the center of the narrow room kneeled a young girl, with her dark +hair streaming about her shoulders and her pale face raised to heaven as +she pressed the barrel of an automatic to her heart. In that attitude of +utter renunciation, she was very beautiful, so beautiful that she took +away our breath and held us motionless. + +That at least was her effect upon Jones and myself, but McKelvie was +less susceptible, or perhaps his quick eyes noted a motion that we did +not observe. At any rate, he sprang forward and knocked up the pistol. +There was a sharp report, and the girl fell forward into his arms in a +dead faint. + +He carried her into Darwin's bedroom and laid her on the bed. While he +worked over her, I descended to the kitchen where Mason was watching the +broth McKelvie had ordered him to make. + +When I returned she was sitting up, and as she sipped the broth I looked +at her again and felt my pulses stirring as I looked into her face. I'm +not much of a hand at describing beauty in a woman, and perhaps the +greatest compliment I can pay her is to say that though she had suffered +and her lustrous black eyes were dull and her face wan and pale, she was +beautiful still, and her voice held all the haunting quality of the +South in its depths as she told us her story, a story so unusual that it +was almost unbelievable. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +A STRANGE ACCOUNT + + +"I come of a race whose blood is hot and easily provoked," she began in +a low voice, "and who consider honor a thing to be cherished and +guarded. A year ago I came to New York to study for the stage, which had +always been my ambition, and before I left New Orleans my dear old +teacher told me to beware of the pitfalls of that great metropolis, +which I intended to make my home. In the beginning I followed his advice +and was wary, receiving no visitors, although I made many acquaintances. +But when one is alone one becomes lonely, and so I permitted two young +men to call upon me, since I knew that both of them came from good +families. I was playing with fire without realizing it, for the elder of +the two, and he was hardly more than a boy, proposed to me when I had +known him a month. I did not love him, and I told him so. In a burst of +jealousy he accused me of being in love with his rival, and declared +that since I would not marry him he cared not what became of him. He +would go straight to the devil, he said. I tried to be kind and to +reason with him, but he was spoiled and wanted only his own way, so I +told him he must not try to see me again, and he never did, for six +months ago he left the city for good." + +As she paused in her recital, I realized with a shock that she was +speaking of Dick Trenton. It was she who had given him the sachet then, +and it was she who had been responsible, through the fault of that +beauty with which nature had endowed her, for the attitude of +devil-may-care, which had made the boy an easy prey to Darwin's +fascinations. What a mixed up mess life really was! + +"Three months ago I became engaged to Lee Darwin," she continued, "and +in an evil hour for both of us, Lee introduced his uncle Philip to me. I +knew Mr. Darwin was recently married, and so I deemed his interest in me +what he said it was, a natural desire to aid me in my career. He took me +to see the best actors and introduced me to one or two managers. Of +course, Lee was jealous, but as I was never out with Mr. Darwin alone, +and as Lee generally accompanied us, I felt I was doing no wrong, and +that he was very inconsiderate to feel that way. + +"The real trouble started on the sixth of October when I broke the +setting of my engagement ring. I was afraid Lee would think I had been +very careless, and I decided to have the ring mended and to say nothing +about it. When Mr. Darwin came in unexpectedly that evening with plans +for introducing me to an eminent playwright, he noticed that I wasn't +wearing the ring, and asked why. I explained the circumstances and asked +him to give me the name of a reliable jeweler, whereupon he offered to +take it himself to Tiffany's. + +"I had no suspicions of him," she said with an appealing glance for her +indiscretion. "I gave him the ring." + +She rested her voice as she sipped some more of the broth, which I +brought up at McKelvie's request. + +"The next morning about ten o'clock Lee came to Gramercy Park. His face +was pale and his eyes gleaming wildly. He called me names and accused me +of a liaison with his uncle, telling me that I might have saved myself +the trouble of returning the ring, as he did not want it. Then vowing he +would kill his uncle before the day was over, he dashed out, leaving me +terrified, cowed. + +"But not for long. When I realized Philip Darwin's perfidy I determined +to avenge myself for the aspersions he had cast upon my honor. I +recalled that Lee had declared that one of Mr. Darwin's assertions had +been that I was going to the house on Riverside Drive that night. Very +well. I would keep the appointment, and I would tell him I was coming, +meeting guile with guile. + +"I phoned his office and asked him whether my ring was ready for me. In +a voice as false as his heart he apologized for not having taken it as +yet to Tiffany's, but said he would return it to me, if I so desired, at +dinner time, when he hoped to have the privilege of taking me to the +Ritz. I pleaded a previous engagement, and asked him to let me come out +to the house that afternoon to get the ring. + +"He debated a while and then said that it was locked up in his study, +and as he would not be home until late it would be impossible for me to +come for it. I said that the lateness of the hour didn't matter, that I +must have the ring, for if Lee should learn where it was he would break +off the engagement. He inquired if I had seen Lee, and I said, 'Not +to-day, but he was asking for it last night, and I put him off with an +excuse.' + +"Then he said all right, that I could come to the house at quarter to +eleven. I wanted to know if there wasn't a window or some other way for +me to enter, because I didn't want his wife and servants to know of my +call. He laughed and said that I had only to use the secret entrance +and no one would be the wiser. He explained how to find it and said he'd +leave the doors unlocked for me. + +"I had fully intended being at the Darwin house at ten-forty-five, but in +thinking the matter over I became frightened. My anger had exhausted +itself and I was horrified at my own thoughts. I decided not to go. When +ten-thirty struck, however, the memory of all my wrongs swept over me +again, coupled with the thought that Lee had threatened to kill his +uncle, also. I must get there before my lover, since it was all my fault +that he was planning murder. Yet even in my haste I took occasion to lay +my plans with care. I would kill Darwin and myself since Lee no longer +cared for me. I wrote a confession and put it in my pocket, that I might +leave it in Darwin's study, so that no one else need suffer for the +crime. It was eleven when I came downstairs, and meeting my landlady I +informed her that I was going on a journey and should anyone inquire for +me to say that she had no idea where I had gone. + +"I took the Subway to Dyckman Street and walked from there to the Darwin +home. I slipped into the grounds and around the house to the place where +Mr. Darwin had told me there was a door in the masonry. I pushed against +the wall, the door gave way, and I found myself at the bottom of a +flight of stairs. I closed the door and then climbed the steps, feeling +my way in the darkness until my hand came in contact with another door +that yielded at my touch. I felt a carpet under my feet and knew I was +in a room. I groped my way along until I reached an open space, and +collided with what I thought was a bar. I remembered that he had told +me to stoop when I passed through the safe. When I straightened up I saw +that I was in his study and that the lamp on his table was lighted. At +the head of the table sat Philip Darwin asleep. I advanced toward him, +taking out my automatic as I walked. When I was close to him I pointed +the pistol at him, then staggered back in horror, just as the lamp went +out. There was a blood-stain on his shirt-front! Someone had reached him +ahead of me! + +"In the darkness I fled from him in a panic of fear, thrusting my pistol +into the bosom of my dress. Then realizing that I had gone in the wrong +direction, I ran back again--straight into the arms of a man! Before I +could scream he had flung a cloth over my head and carried me to a +couch. How long I remained thus I don't know, but just when I thought I +must suffocate, someone removed the cloth, a glass was held to my lips, +and Lee said, gently: + +"'Drink this and you'll feel better, dear.' + +"I thought he had rescued me. I drained the glass. Then I tried to ask +where I was, but my head began to feel queer and heavy and my tongue +refused its office. I closed my eyes and slipped into a dreamless sleep. +When I awoke I could still feel the couch beneath me. I got up and +groped my way around until I encountered the light switch. Then I saw +that I was in a small carpeted room, which was furnished only with a +divan and a smoking-stand. At either end of the room were doors. One of +these was locked but the other had been left partly open and gave egress +on the stairs that I had climbed. + +"I thought of going down again, but felt too shaky to risk it, and +returned again to the divan, deciding that I was in the room I had +crossed to enter the study by the safe. There was a beautiful Persian +cover on the couch and idly I examined it, lifting it clear of the +floor. Then it was that I saw something bright shining where the fringe +of the cover had swept the floor. I picked up the object and saw that it +was a ring, Dick Trenton's ring. + +"I knew it was his," she added, her pale cheeks flushing, "because when +he proposed to me he wanted to take it off and put it on my finger. + +"I gazed on the ring for a long time, trying to solve the mystery into +which I had stumbled. Philip Darwin was dead, I was evidently a +prisoner, and Dick's ring was in this room. If he had killed Mr. Darwin +it was only right that he should pay the penalty. I would keep the ring +and when the police found me, if someone else was in prison for the +crime I would give them the ring and tell them what I knew. + +"I still felt very drowsy, so I put out the light and as I lay down +again the thought occurred to me that if Dick should come back while I +slept and found the ring in my possession, he would take it away from +me. Hastily I conceived a plan. I tied the ring to the fringe of the +cover, where it would remain hidden until I could make use of it. + +"I was dozing off when a step on the stairs aroused me. Someone came +into the room. + +"'Dick?' I asked, tentatively. + +"He laughed oddly and replied, 'No, not Dick. Lee,' and I felt his arms +around me and his kisses on my face. + +"I was bewildered. Lee! Why had he drugged me then? + +"'Lee,' I cried, 'why am I here?' + +"'It's all right, dear. Uncle Phil was murdered and they think you did +it.' + +"'But I didn't kill him,' I protested, sitting up and pushing him away. +'He was dead when I entered the room!' + +"'I know,' he answered. 'But just the same the police are hunting you. +That's why I hid you away.' + +"I heard him moving around the room, then he came back to me and said, +'You must be thirsty. Drink this.' + +"But I was not going to be drugged a second time if I could help it, +police or no police, so I said, 'I'm not thirsty, Lee.' + +"'That doesn't matter. Drink, I tell you. I'm in a hurry.' + +"His voice took on a sinister note as he held the glass forcibly to my +lips. I gave his hand a shove, spilling the contents of the glass over +him. + +"'You she-devil,' he said, and crushed me to him. + +"Then he flung the cloth over my head again and almost strangled me. I +felt him lift me in his arms and carry me up a flight of steps. He +placed me on the floor of a room and went away. I was in that room a +long, long time before he came again. I was thirsty and hungry and +heartsore to think that he would treat me so, for the room was narrow +and bare and I hadn't even a bed to lie upon. My only comfort lay in the +fact that my revolver still reposed where I had placed it. I took it out +and held it in my hand, for I no longer trusted him. + +"The second time he came to see me he opened the panel that formed the +door to my cell and I could see his figure silhouetted against the dim +light in the further room. + +"'Lee!' I exclaimed. 'Why, oh why, have you done this! Is it because you +killed your uncle and are afraid that I will tell what I know?' + +"He did not answer and I went on: 'Why didn't you listen to my +explanation that morning? You would have known then that your uncle only +took the ring to have it mended. I do not know what he told you, but +whatever it was, he lied.' + +"'Did he lie about your coming to see him?' he replied then, in a hard +voice. 'Did he? Answer me that, when I saw you enter his study!' + +"'Yes, he lied,' I returned. 'I came to kill him and myself for his +perfidy. Only you had already shot him. Oh, Lee, Lee, why didn't you +listen to my explanation!' + +"'I don't believe you. You came because he asked you to, but I got him +first. And now your turn has come.' + +"He made as if to step toward me and I put the pistol to my breast. + +"'If you come any nearer, Lee, I'll kill myself,' I said steadily. 'Oh, +to think that I could ever have loved you, you murderer!' + +"He drew back. 'You'll pay for this. When you have starved for a couple +of weeks you'll be more amenable, I guess,' and he went away laughing. + +"I was horrified and I lay and wept for hours. Then as I moved about I +discovered a jug of water. For a long time I was afraid to touch it, +fearing it was a trap to catch me, but when my thirst got the better of +my judgment I drank just enough to satisfy my worst craving. I waited +to learn the results, and as I remained clear-headed, I decided the +water was pure and hoarded it with care. + +"I came to the conclusion that jealousy and its consequences had made +Lee mad and that he was not responsible for his actions. Instead of +horror, pity filled my heart for I loved him still. + +"He did not come near me again until to-night, and then he was more +fiendish than ever. He said he must leave the city, that he would come +for me to-morrow night, and I could then make my choice between going +with him and death. He pressed a button and showed me a yawning hole in +the middle of the floor, telling me that he would throw me down into the +pit below before he would let me go free to relate to the police what +had happened to me. Oh, it was dreadful! I was glad when he was gone. + +"I knew that nothing on earth could induce me to go with him, but the +thought of falling through that black hole was more than I could bear. +As long as I had to die I would choose a less harrowing way. I took out +my pistol and was just going to kill myself when you flung up the barrel +and rescued me." + +She gave McKelvie a tremulous smile and burst into tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +THE TRAP + + +For a space there was silence in the room while McKelvie paced the +floor, a worried crease between his brows. As for Jones and myself, we +looked from the girl to one another in undisguised perplexity. + +How was it possible for Lee Darwin, whom we had rescued from the hands +of the criminal at Hi Ling's shop, to be the same person who had kept +Cora Manning a prisoner? Or had the boy been merely pretending to be +unconscious, and the old man had been a confederate in the game which +they were playing to trap McKelvie? Yet, the doctor had said that Lee +was really ill, and the doctor could not possibly have any motive for +lying, since he had been called in by Jones and was a stranger to us. +Again, Cora had said that Lee had come to see her just previous to our +rescue of her, and at that time I can swear to it that he was upstairs +in one of the rooms in McKelvie's house. + +Of course there was always the chance that the young man we had saved +was not Lee Darwin at all (though who else he could be I had no idea), +for I had only seen him once the day of the inquest, and the others had +never laid eyes on him before. To counterbalance that hypothesis, +however, was the straightforward story he had told, which tallied point +for point with Cora's account. There was some deep mystery here which I +for one could not fathom. + +"My dear child," said McKelvie presently (from his tone one would have +judged him old enough to be her father), "are you sure that you did not +dream this tale?" + +"Dream it? Oh, no, it was too horribly real for me to have dreamt it," +she answered, astonished that he should doubt her. + +"I was not referring to the treatment you had received, but to Lee +Darwin's connection with your incarceration," he explained. "At the time +of which you speak, Lee was himself a prisoner in Chinatown. And +to-night he is at my home, ill in bed, too ill to have been able to come +here at all." + +"Lee--a prisoner? Lee--at your house ill? How can that be?" she asked in +wondering tones. + +"Miss Manning, did you see this man's face so that you could swear to +it?" continued McKelvie earnestly. + +"No. It was dark when he spoke to me in the little room, and up here the +light behind him was always dim. But I heard his voice, Mr. McKelvie. I +could swear it was Lee's," she insisted. + +"Voices are easily imitated. He did not talk to you for any great length +of time and he was careful that you should not see his face too closely. +If he had been Lee he would not have cared how much you saw his +features." McKelvie laid a hand on the girl's arm, as he added: "I want +you to believe that Lee had nothing to do with this affair. On the +contrary, he has done his best to protect you, almost giving his life +for your sake. Let me tell you his story briefly. He can fill in the +details for you later," and he told her of our trip to Hi Ling's shop. + +"I'm so glad," she said, raising tear-filled eyes to his face as he +ended. "You see I love him still, even though I thought him--all that +was bad. May I see him soon?" + +"Yes, but I'm going to ask you to remain in this house to-night. You are +not strong enough yet to take a journey in the Subway and I have no +desire to use the phone to call a taxi. The criminal may have a means of +tapping the wire, for all we know. Now, Miss Manning, are you sure he is +coming back to-morrow?" + +"Yes, he told me he would return to-morrow night. He said he had to get +money enough for our trip in case I should go with him, and that a woman +always needed plenty of spare cash. Besides, he'd be sure to come, if +only to give me my choice. He would not leave me here alive for someone +to discover. He made that very plain to me," she returned, with a +shudder. + +"Very well, then, we will meet him in your place. I'm going to guard you +to-night myself, in case he should change his mind and come again +unexpectedly. In the meantime, I wish that you, Mr. Davies, would spend +the night at my house to protect Lee. And if you will come around to +Stuyvesant Square at ten o'clock to-morrow morning, Jones, I'll give you +the other details necessary to catch the murderer in his own little +trap." + +"Do you want a taxi for to-morrow, then?" asked Jones, as we were +leaving. + +"Yes, send one around about nine o'clock. Tell him to wait at the corner +of Dyckman and Broadway. Or, better yet, send one of your own men with +the car, in order that there may be no hitch in our plans." + +Jones promised and we returned to town via the Subway, and parted +company at Union Square. When I reached McKelvie's house I stopped at +Lee's room and found that he was awake. He called to me to know whether +I had any news, so I told him the latest developments, watching his face +while I talked. He listened eagerly to what I had to say, was +unaffectedly glad of the girl's release and thankful to learn that she +was safe. His face darkened when I spoke of the impersonation, and he +was just as much at a loss as myself to account for it. + +When I turned in I had come to one conclusion at least, and that was +that Lee had had no hand in the murder, either as principal or as +confederate. + +At ten o'clock the next morning Jones put in an appearance, but McKelvie +had not yet returned, so we occupied ourselves with a discussion of the +events of the previous night. Finally we came to the conclusion that +Cora Manning in her dazed state had, perhaps, mistaken Dick for Lee, +since both were more or less of a height. But in that event, Dick +purposely misled her. Why? What reason could he have for such an action, +unless indeed, his love for her, coupled with the crime committed in a +moment of passionate anger against the man who had injured him, had +turned his brain. + +When McKelvie arrived he brought Cora Manning with him and asked me to +conduct her to Lee. I helped her up the stairs and to the room where Lee +was sitting, and as he rose and held out his arms to her I turned away +and went back downstairs, where McKelvie was issuing his orders to +Jones. + +"I want you to bring three men to the house with you, Jones. Be out +there at five o'clock and get Mason to let you in the back way. Wait in +the passageway for me. Get Grenville to accompany you. Tell him it's +important." + +"You think you'll be able to catch him?" inquired Jones, as he picked up +his hat. + +"He has no suspicion of our visit last night. Our rescue of Lee, +although in a measure it proves that Mrs. Darwin had nothing to do with +the crime, does not in his opinion help us to locate Cora. He only kept +Lee at Hi Ling's to prevent him from giving evidence in Mrs. Darwin's +behalf. He will come to the house to-night without the least suspicion +that there will be anyone there to greet him as he deserves," and +McKelvie laughed. + +"Then you know who he is?" I inquired, as Jones left the house. + +"I still suspect. I shall not know positively until to-night. And now +I'm going to get some sleep. Then we will go over to the Darwin bank. I +have a mind to see whether that one hundred and fifty thousand dollars +is still there." + +Taking advantage of the respite, I went back to my own apartments for +luncheon, and returned to Stuyvesant Square in my car. Evidently in +McKelvie's mind Cunningham was still under suspicion, yet I could hardly +credit that it was Cunningham who had kept the girl a prisoner. He did +not resemble Lee. + +When we arrived at the bank Mr. Trenton turned us over to Raines, who +conducted us to the safe-deposit vault. + +"Do you know whether Cunningham was in to-day?" asked McKelvie. + +"No, I don't. One of the tellers might be able to tell you," responded +Raines. + +"Never mind. The strong box will tell me all I want to know," McKelvie +answered. + +We approached Cunningham's box and Raines inserted his key in the lock. +As he pulled it open I leaned closer to look at the interior. Then I +gave an exclamation of astonishment. The box was empty! The one hundred +and fifty thousand dollars in bills was gone! + +It was two days ago that we had interviewed Cunningham and he did not +then contemplate removing the money from the bank. What had occasioned +this sudden need for so much cash? I could think of only one reason. His +must be the master mind that had conceived the crime and struck the blow +against Darwin, even though he had since hired confederates to aid him +in his scheme of holding Cora, as he had done in the case of Lee. + +I spoke my thought to McKelvie as we drove back to his home, but he +shook his head. + +"The criminal had no confederates to aid him against the girl. He has +played a lone hand all through with one exception, that is, in the case +of Lee." + +"Then why did he remove that money from the bank?" I asked. + +"Perhaps he is going on that trip he was telling us about the other +night," responded McKelvie cynically, and I knew by his tone that he +himself did not believe any such thing. + +"A trip which will end before it has begun, since it's very apparent his +only reason for flight must be that he killed Philip Darwin," I said +with a laugh. + +"Oh, no," responded McKelvie, coolly, "he is clever and unprincipled, +and all kinds of a blackguard, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he +had a couple of murders to his name, but this I do know. He did not +murder Philip Darwin." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +M'KELVIE'S TRIUMPH + + +When we drove into the grounds of the Darwin home at five o'clock that +night, McKelvie ordered me to hide my car behind the garage and then to +join him in the passageway. As I obeyed I saw him helping Lee, with +Cora's aid, to mount the steps to the back door, for he wanted the two +of them for purposes of identification, since both had been victims of +the unprincipled man we had come there to-night to try to trap. + +I parked my car where it could not be seen by anyone approaching the +house and then returned to the servants' wing and entered the +passageway, where McKelvie was disposing of his forces. The three burly +policemen that Jones had brought with him McKelvie ordered to remain +where they were until it grew dark, when they were to hide themselves in +the grounds, toward the side of the house. When they saw a light in the +study they were then to group themselves around the door to the secret +entrance, which he had already pointed out to one of their number while +I was parking my car. If anyone came out through this door they were to +arrest that person, and under no circumstances to let him get away, even +if they had to shoot him. The men saluted and I could see by the +determination written on their faces that the criminal would have small +chance of escaping their vigilance. + +Then McKelvie opened the door into the main wing and asked Cora and Lee +to remain in Orton's workroom until they were needed. + +"And under no circumstances show a light of any kind," he added. They +did not need to promise, for they preferred a darkened room in which to +tell each other the sweet nothings that lovers are fond of murmuring, +and I envied them their happiness as I thought of Ruth shut away where +even my loving care could not reach her. + +In the fading daylight the study was dim, but we managed to make out the +outlines of the furniture, and so were able to move about without +turning on the lamp. McKelvie grouped some chairs around the table and +told us to seat ourselves, since at that distance we could not be seen +by the criminal as he stepped from the safe. Then McKelvie arranged the +shades, drawing them so that they did not quite reach the bottom of the +windows, thus allowing the light to gleam through later, as a signal to +the waiting policemen. + +When everything was ready McKelvie spoke to us in an undertone. "I do +not know how long we shall have to wait for him. He will come when it is +dark, perhaps, and again he may not turn up until midnight. In any +event, whether our vigil be long or short, I want to impress upon you +the necessity for absolute silence. A false move and we may lose every +advantage and the criminal as well." + +We declared ourselves ready to obey his instructions, however long we +might have to wait, and he crossed the room and took up his position +beside the safe door with the metal handcuffs in his hand, prepared to +snap them on the wrists of the man who should come forth from the +entrance. + +I glanced at Jones and Grenville and saw to my amusement that the police +detective was sound asleep. He reminded me of a watchdog that though he +might doze would yet be instantly on the alert at the least hint of +danger. The District Attorney caught my look and smiled, then he leaned +back in his chair and set himself to wait with what patience he might +possess. + +I turned to my thoughts, thankful that McKelvie had spared Mr. Trenton +this ordeal, for now that Cunningham was exonerated, the burden of the +crime must fall upon Dick, who, after all, was the only one well enough +acquainted with circumstances to have attempted the schemes which +McKelvie had foiled. Yet it seemed such a mad thing to do, to put his +head in the noose a second time when he had just been cleared of his +first crime, unless James Gilmore's story was all of a piece with the +other deceptions Dick had practised upon us. Who was Gilmore any way? +Had we any proof that his story was true? He may have been paid to put +us off the scent by making us believe that Dick could not commit another +crime since he was innocent of the first one. But, again, there was +McKelvie's statement that with the exception of the Chinamen and those +two ruffians, the criminal had steered clear of confederates. I could +not divine Dick's motive for the deed, since the murder was not and +never had been, one of impulse. + +I wished heartily that the whole thing was over and this suspense ended, +yet when the lamp suddenly lighted on the table and I knew that the hour +was at hand, since it must have been the criminal's hand that had +pressed the switch in the safe, I closed my eyes. I did not want to see +the door swing open and Dick step out of that safe. + +I heard a metallic click as McKelvie snapped on the handcuffs, and I +opened my eyes with a start as I realized by the snarl of rage that had +come from the murderer's lips that we had caught the man as neatly as +one traps a wild and dangerous animal. + +McKelvie laughed as he slammed the door of the safe, and the three of us +rose precipitately (Jones had wakened when the lamp went on), for we +could make out the criminal's figure as he came rapidly toward us. When +he stood within the circle of light, confronting the muzzle of Jones' +gun, I looked into his face, then I gasped audibly. + +The man before me was not Dick, but the lawyer--Cunningham! + +"This is an outrage!" he exclaimed furiously. "What do you mean by +putting such an indignity upon me?" and he glared at McKelvie. + +McKelvie smiled in an exasperating manner. "I was expecting the criminal +to come through that entrance, since he alone possesses a key to it. I +saw a man appear and clapped on the bracelets. It happened to be you. +How do you explain the circumstance?" he inquired politely. + +"Very easily," retorted Cunningham coolly, recovering his poise, "I was +going over a lot of old papers and came across a sealed envelope +addressed to me in Darwin's hand. Wondering what it could portend I +opened it. Inside I found a small key and the explanation of the secret +of the entrance. Darwin also went on to say that he was taking me into +his confidence in case anything should ever happen to him. Having a +fondness for amateur detective work, like yourself, Mr. McKelvie," here +he bowed ironically to McKelvie, "I decided to use the opportunity which +fate had bestowed upon me to do a little investigating on my own +account." + +"Very ingenious, but it won't do," returned McKelvie, adding with a +sarcastic inflection, "I suppose he also told you the six-letter +combination that I used to lock the safe--after he was dead?" + +Cunningham flushed and bit his lip, but before he could think of an +appropriate retort, McKelvie had turned to Jones. + +"You won't need to use that gun, Jones," he said with a twinkle. "Our +prisoner is too valuable to shoot--as yet. Call in the others, please, +and light the room as you pass the switch." + +Jones pocketed his gun, and departed on his errand, lighting the study, +as we had agreed to do, for the guidance of the men outside. In a second +he was back again with Lee and Cora. As Cunningham's eyes rested on the +girl, who had her arm around Lee and was helping him tenderly to a +chair, the man's face darkened and his eyes blazed upon her. + +"Miss Manning, have you ever seen this man before?" asked McKelvie when +Lee was seated and Cora had turned toward us. + +The girl looked Cunningham up and down, from the sole of his patent +leather shoes to the crown of his gray-streaked red hair, then she shook +her head and answered simply, "No, Mr. McKelvie, I have never seen him +before." + +"Now I trust that you are satisfied?" demanded Cunningham, insolently, +a gleam of triumph in his eyes. "You will oblige me by removing these +things." + +Though he held out his manacled hands to McKelvie, his eyes remained on +Cora's face with a look impossible to mistake. The man was in love with +her, though how that was possible when she did not know him, I was at a +loss to decide. McKelvie took a step forward and I thought he was going +to comply with Cunningham's request, but he made no move to release his +prisoner. + +"Sorry to have to refuse a gentleman of your standing, but you are far +safer to me with the bracelets on," returned McKelvie imperturbably. +"You are undoubtedly clever or you could not have evaded me so long, but +the trouble with you, as it is with all clever criminals, is that you +are egotistical. You commit a crime and get away with it and then you +immediately think yourself a genius, so much more wonderful than your +fellows who have paid the penalty for their deeds, so infinitely +superior to the police and the detectives that you have no fear of being +caught. But like all your class, there is a weak joint in your armor. +There is no such thing as an infallible criminal and a perfect crime. +You may get away once, or perhaps a score of times, but in the end your +weakness trips you and you fall into the hands of the authorities. In +your case the thing that tripped you and delivered you to us was--love +for a woman. A dangerous game to play, the woman game, Mr. Cunningham, +but love knows no reason. You were so desperately infatuated with Cora +Manning that the thought of going away and leaving her to a more +successful rival was agony to you, and so you remained to persuade her +to go with you. That is why you are here now, facing arrest under an +accusation of murder." + +In wondering silence we listened to McKelvie's words and Cora said +quickly, "In love with me? But I never saw him before." + +Cunningham only smiled coolly. "You have no proof, my dear sir, no proof +at all." + +"Haven't I? I am not as amateurish as I look," said McKelvie, dryly. +Then he faced the man before him squarely and addressed him in a tone of +grim earnestness from which all hint of banter had fled. "You demand +proofs. I will give them to you. I know why the murder was committed, +why Mrs. Darwin was implicated, because I know exactly what took place +in this room on the night of October seventh, from the moment when +Richard Trenton stepped through that French window to the moment when +the murderer left the room by the secret entrance. In other words, the +game is up--Mr. Philip Darwin!" and McKelvie's hand shot out toward his +prisoner's face. + +I heard Lee's wondering, "Uncle Phil?" and unable to believe my ears I +took a second look. Then, "Good God!" I cried, for the red hair and +beard were gone and the man standing where Cunningham had been was +indeed Ruth's husband, for whose murder she was even now enduring the +horrors of prison life, Philip Darwin, but Philip Darwin without his +eyeglasses and without his beard! + +Who, then, was the man we had found dead in this room, the man we had +buried under Darwin's name? A sudden conviction borne of McKelvie's +last words flashed across my mind. + +"Was it--?" I began. + +"Yes," replied McKelvie, "the man who was so foully murdered in this +room that night was--Richard Trenton!" + +Cora cried cut, "Dick, oh, not Dick!" and I put my hand to my head, for +my brain was in a whirl. Yet I was conscious of a feeling of +thankfulness that he was the victim rather than the perpetrator of the +crime. + +With a snarl of rage Darwin broke from McKelvie's hand and fled toward +the safe. Jones started to follow, but McKelvie checked him with a +laugh. + +"Let him go, Jones. Have you forgotten that there are three men guarding +the outer door?" he said. + +Darwin paused abruptly and turned a hate-distorted face toward us, then +he recovered his cool manner and walked back calmly to where we stood. + +"You win," he said to McKelvie with a shrug. "What do you want of me?" + +"If you will kindly be seated I should like to explain, with your +corroboration, just exactly what did take place in this room that +night," answered McKelvie. + +"No," returned Darwin, "let me tell the story, for you would bungle the +tale. I'll accept your word that you know what happened, since otherwise +you could not have unmasked me. Kindly take off those bracelets, they +annoy me, and give me a cigar. I swear to you that I shall make no +attempt to leave this room." + +For a long minute the two men looked into one another's eyes, then +McKelvie stepped forward and removed the handcuffs. He bestowed them in +his pocket, took out a cigar, and offered it to Darwin. + +The man accepted the cigar with a bow, lighted it, and then drawing a +chair into the center of the circle which we had formed, he leaned back +nonchalantly and began his tale. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE MOTIVE + + +"You must know, then," said Philip Darwin, "that I was the child of a +second marriage contracted between my father and a young woman who had +just begun to earn a name for herself upon the stage. She endured two +years of walking the straight and narrow path as his wife, and then she +eloped with an actor friend. My father hushed the scandal and withdrew +from social life, becoming morose and bitter and narrower than ever, +watching over me with a zealous eye as I grew older, and endeavoring to +eradicate the talents which I had inherited from her, looking with +particular disfavor on my ability to act and mimic the speech of those +about me. + +"Knowing my inherited love of pleasures of all kinds he strove to curb +me by refusing to let me go out in the evenings with my young +companions. This I considered an indignity since I was then old enough +to be my own master, and so I took matters into my own hand, retiring +early and then sneaking away from my rooms to join my friends. This +practice I continued until by an unforeseen chance I was among those +arrested in a raid upon a gambling-house. I would have given a false +name but unfortunately the Sergeant knew me, and of course the affair +came to the ears of my father. + +"He was exceedingly wroth and threatened to disinherit me if I ever +disobeyed him again. I did not want to lose my chance to secure his +fortune, which would come to me intact since Robert, my older brother, +was dead, and my sister, Leila, had run away from home, so I remained at +home on my best behavior. It was just at this time that I came across an +old book in the study that gave the history of the house from which ours +had been copied. I investigated and found the door in the masonry, took +an impression of the lock, had a key made, and so discovered the secret +room. That room gave me an idea. I knew that it was next the study +although it had never been cut through, but this fact did not trouble +me. My father had planned to take me to Europe with him, but I told him +that I preferred to remain at home and look after the business, into +which I had been taken as junior partner on my twenty-first birthday. +Thinking that I had reformed he gave his permission for me to have a +safe built in the study, since I had pointed out to him that now that I +was a man of affairs I needed such a contrivance for my personal papers. +But though he left for Europe without me he did not altogether trust me, +for I discovered that his lawyer had orders to telegraph my father if at +any time he learned that I had deviated from the rule of conduct laid +down for me to follow. + +"I determined to outwit him. I sent Mason away, hired some workmen, had +a door cut between the study and the secret room and had a safe built +into the wall as a blind. Then I spent the rest of the year in evolving +the character of Cunningham. He should be a young law student, +red-haired, red-bearded, fastidious. Also as Darwin, I adopted glasses +to make myself and Cunningham as opposite as possible in appearance. + +"When my father returned he heard no scandal of me for Cunningham had +taken young Darwin's place in the beaumonde. Thereafter I had no +difficulty in getting away, retiring early and then leaving the house by +the secret entrance, after changing to Cunningham in the little room. + +"After my father's death Cunningham was of no further value to me, but I +was too clever to utterly destroy him, since I had no idea when I might +need him again. So he told his friends that a relative had died abroad, +leaving him a fortune, and that he was going on a trip around the world. +Then Darwin came back and took his place in the social world. + +"I pass over the next few years, in which I played the fool and +speculated beyond my means. Eight months ago I was in desperate need of +money, although none knew of it, and I saw that my only course lay in +marrying some wealthy woman. + +"I looked around me and decided that Arthur Trenton's daughter would +serve my purpose. I made friends with her brother and discovered to my +annoyance that the young lady in question had just engaged herself to a +young broker by the name of Carlton Davies and that the wedding was +scheduled to take place in a very short time. This was something of a +set-back, since I knew that Miss Trenton was not likely to jilt her +lover for a man she was barely acquainted with. But once I make up my +mind to obtain a thing I never give up until that thing is mine. I cast +about for a way to make her marry me, and having cultivated her brother, +Dick, for a month, I laid my plans accordingly. + +"I enticed the boy, who was inclined to be wild, to a gambling-den, +after I had taken the trouble to get him fairly intoxicated. I had hired +a jail-bird to quarrel with Dick and when the man pretended to go for +the boy, I shot and killed him, telling Dick that he had done it. He +became frightened and I took him to his home, where his father was told +my version of the tale, and Dick was dispatched to Chicago. Then I +forced Ruth to marry me to save her brother from going to the chair for +something he had never done!" + +Darwin paused in his narrative to puff his cigar and to let us +sufficiently admire the cleverness that had conceived such a plan. +Admire! I could only shudder at the thought that there could be in +existence a man who could carry out such diabolical schemes in +cold-blood, and actually pride himself on his accomplishment. + +"After the marriage I made Ruth sign away her dower rights as well as +her dowry, all to save her brother. Then I took up my old way of living +again. But now there was a fly in my ointment. People began to talk, and +I had enough of my father in me to make gossip distasteful to me. Yet +marriage was a bore, I discovered, and so I resurrected the lawyer, +Cunningham. If as Darwin I must endure life with Ruth, as Cunningham I +would be as gay as I chose. I hired an apartment and began my double +life. + +"When Darwin was bored to distraction by prosaic affairs, he would take +a business trip and Cunningham would have his fling. When pleasures +cloyed, Cunningham would be off to see his out-of-town clients and +Darwin would return to the city. The excitement and the danger of +detection that this sort of existence afforded fascinated me and I +should have kept it up indefinitely if fate in the person of a former +teller of the Darwin Bank had not intervened. + +"This man, James Gilmore, who had been my dupe ten years before, and had +since been in jail, was at the gambling-den the night I shot Coombs, and +he realized the trick I had played upon Dick. I thought at the time when +Gilmore fell that I had killed him also (I did not know him at the time. +I merely shot at him on the principle that dead men tell no awkward +tales), but by some freak of chance he escaped unhurt and became +acquainted with Richard Trenton. + +"The first intimation I had that my plans had gone awry was in a letter +from Dick explaining the circumstances. I thought the matter over and +finally made up my mind to go to Chicago as Cunningham, to kill Dick, +and then return as Darwin, abolishing forever the character of the +lawyer. + +"When I reached Chicago, however, and saw Dick, a new plan, more daring, +more subtle, more pleasing in every way leapt fully matured into my +mind, since by means of it Darwin would disappear and Cunningham would +remain, free to live his life unhampered by the marriage tie. + +"Dick had grown a beard. Trim it as mine was trimmed, give him a pair of +gold eyeglasses, and he could pass superficially for myself. I marveled +at the likeness then. Now I know it was only natural, since it seems he +was my nephew as well as my brother-in-law. + +"I pretended as the lawyer to be on his side, returned to New York, and +wrote him a letter in which I declared that as Ruth refused to divorce +me, which was one of the terms of reparation Dick insisted upon, he had +better call upon me and talk things over. He walked into the trap I had +laid for him, and telegraphed that he would come to see me." + +Again Darwin paused and eyed us in that strange exultant manner. + +"You will think, perhaps, that it was a daring thing to do, this that I +had in mind, but its very audacity would serve to carry it through, I +knew. Have you ever studied psychology? I commend it to you, for my +knowledge of that subject was the foundation stone upon which I built. + +"When a man is found shot in his own study, remaking his own will, +looking like himself to all outward appearance, the conclusion is +naturally that the dead man is the one whom the world believes him to +be, that is, the master of the house. Also I had no fear that the +deception would be remarked. Orton was near-sighted, Mr. Davies (for as +I shall show you presently, I intended to bring him into this affair +also), knew me only slightly, had not seen Dick for six months, and +never with a beard, besides being under the belief that the boy was in +Chicago, and Ruth would be too overwrought to notice anything amiss. The +only one I really feared was Lee, as he knew me thoroughly. I determined +to get rid of him. The question was, how? and the answer was supplied by +the girl, Cora Manning. + +"I had been intrigued by her beauty, but had no thought, despite my +nephew's assertions, beyond being allowed to gaze upon her occasionally, +but the night of the sixth as she told me of her broken ring I knew I +loved her and wanted her for my own. I saw a way ahead of me and seized +the opportunity presented to me. + +"I inveigled her into giving me the ring and the next morning I gave Lee +to understand that the girl had been false to him. He believed me and I +knew him well enough to guess that he would break off the engagement, +leaving the way free for me later. I also ordered him to leave my house +for his insolence to me, thus getting him out of the way for that night. + +"It was at this point in the game that a new element was introduced. I +had meant merely to leave Ruth a supposed widow, but when Orton showed +me the letter she had written to her former lover, I determined to make +her pay for my crime. I told him to piece the letter together and bring +it to me, and then I left for the office. + +"And now I was guilty of my first error. I permitted my infatuation for +Cora to get the better of my discretion, and told her to come to the +house at ten-forty-five, knowing I would have time to see her in the +secret entrance and get rid of her before Dick was scheduled to arrive. +I should have known better, for it was too dangerous a game to play. + +"At ten-thirty that night I called Ruth to the study and upbraided her, +threatening Mr. Davies in such terms that she took fright and declared +she would send for him to warn him. I only laughed and thoroughly roused +she left me to call her lover to her, as I hoped she would. + +"Then I locked the study door, opened the secret entrance as I had +promised, and waited for Cora. She did not come, and when eleven struck +I gave her up and was on the point of leaving the study to relock the +entrance when Dick suddenly stepped in through the window, one half-hour +before he was due. We talked for twenty-five minutes, while I waited for +Mr. Davies' arrival. Dick insisted upon seeing Ruth at once. I told him +she had gone out with friends and would not return until eleven-thirty. + +"At eleven-twenty-five I heard a motor drive up, and guessing it must be +Mr. Davies who had come, I set to work to carry out my plan. I told Dick +Ruth had come, and he sprang up and went to the door. I followed him and +as I did so I soaked a handkerchief with chloroform from a bottle I had +in my pocket, and as he fumbled with the key I came up behind him and +pressed the handkerchief over his face. As he sagged into my arms I +switched off the light and carried him to the secret room, depositing +him on the couch. + +"Then I returned to the study, unlocked the door, and called in Orton +that he might take away with him a mental image of myself seated in my +chair, as I later intended that Dick should sit. When Orton was gone I +relocked the door, and returned to Dick. I exchanged clothing with him, +and it was no easy task, for he lay an inert mass. Then I trimmed his +beard and placed my eyeglasses on his nose. Finally, I took out my +revolver and shot him through the heart as I supposed, but he had come +out from under the influence of the anesthetic and as I fired he moved +so that the bullet only penetrated his lung. I knew that he was done for +in any case and as I bent down to pick him up I noticed the ring on his +finger. I never wore rings, and that one was too familiar to Ruth to +risk leaving it. I was removing it with care when I heard a step on the +stairs of the entrance. I remembered Cora and dared not let her guess +the truth. Hastily I snatched off the ring, slipped it in my pocket and +carried Dick into the study, setting him down in my chair. Then I hid +behind the curtains of the window, which was nearest the safe. I saw her +enter, and as she advanced toward the table where only the lamp was +lighted, I slipped into the safe and switched it off. + +"I took off my coat and as she fell against me in the dark I flung it +over her head, and carried her to the divan in the secret room. Then I +went about my other business, for I had much to do. I cleaned my gun, +and recharged it, removing the bullet from the cartridge I intended to +fire later. I returned to the study, pushed back the chair so that it +would look as though Darwin had been shot when he rose to meet someone, +arranged the matter of the wills, and left a word half finished upon the +testament I was supposed to have been making, burning the old one which +I had torn up when I recalled it was in Lee's favor and not Ruth's. + +"When I saw that I had bruised Dick's finger I flung Cora's ring, from +which the stone had dropped that morning, on the top shelf of the safe +in order to explain the abrasion with some degree of plausibility, since +I knew that Lee had seen the ring on my finger in the morning. Then when +everything was as perfect as human ingenuity could make it, I went to +the door and unlocked it, that Ruth might find no obstacle to her +entrance. I switched on the lights for a moment for a last survey and +saw a handkerchief lying near the door. When I picked it up I saw that +it was Ruth's, but caution prevailed and I smelled it to make sure, +knowing well that Cora used Rose Jacqueminot, since I had adopted it +myself after becoming acquainted with her. The handkerchief was +unscented and I decided to add it to the evidence against Ruth. I put +out the light, stained the handkerchief with blood, arranged it in +Dick's hand, turned out the lamp, and waited for Ruth. + +"How did I know she would come to the study? Because I had decoyed Mr. +Davies to the house to bring about that very result. He was a man and he +loved her and he feared what I might do to her if I remained in +possession of that letter. I had purposely told her I was going out and +had let her see me throw the letter in the table-drawer. Mr. Davies, I +knew, would urge her to get the letter. + +"When she came in and I heard her fumbling with the contents of the +drawer I fired my revolver. I knew it would startle her, and that she +would move away from the table, so I slung the gun along the carpet, +trusting that it would carry as far as her feet. Then I hastened to the +safe and turned on the lamp, closing the door to behind me, but +remaining where I could hear what occurred in the study. + +"I heard Mr. Davies' order to Orton, and locking the safe I hastened +through the entrance to the front door, letting myself in just as they +disappeared into Ruth's apartments. I went into the dining-room and +opened a bottle of wine, into which I mixed a sleeping potion. While I +was there I heard the doctor arrive and go upstairs, then I returned the +way I had come, poured out a glass of the wine and gave it to Cora. Then +I locked the entrance doors and left her there to sleep while I returned +to the Corinth as Dick, so that there would be no undue search made for +him. The next morning I went back to my apartments as Cunningham, and +from there to the inquest. + +"When Ruth had been adjudged guilty, I determined to get rid of Lee, +since his actions told me plainly he knew something of Cora's visit. I +decoyed him from the club with a fake message and had him kidnapped, but +could get nothing from him. I decided to keep him a prisoner until after +Ruth had paid the penalty for the crime. + +"My thought now reverted to Cora, but I dared not return to the house +that night, as the police were still in charge. I waited until they had +left about nine o'clock the next morning, and went to the secret room, +where I found Cora awake. It was too risky a matter to take her to my +other apartments, besides she knew too much to suit me, so I +impersonated Lee to kill her love for him. Then as Cunningham I would +rescue her and through her gratitude I could earn her love. I did not +guess she had a revolver or things might have taken a different turn. + +"The afternoon of the ninth I carried out the plans for the suicide of +Richard Trenton. It was necessary to account for his disappearance, +since two men were gone and there was only one body which could be +produced. It was I who jumped in the river. It was an unpleasant duty, +but I had to make some sacrifice to attain my ends. I swam down the +shore and made my way to Chinatown to my refuge at Hi Ling's. + +"From then on I faced the world as Cunningham, and in the end I should +have triumphed but for one thing. Mr. Davies' refusal to believe Ruth +guilty brought a new element into the case, a man with brains as keen as +my own, who was not to be duped as I had fooled the police. He was +suspicious of Cunningham from the first, but I did not think that even +he could uncover the truth, so in the end I lost." + +Darwin ceased speaking and there was silence in the room for a moment, +then unexpectedly he rose and turned to McKelvie. "You are clever, but +you haven't got me yet. You think to try me. The man doesn't live who +can put me in a cell." + +Even as he spoke, before we could grasp the meaning of his rapidly +uttered words, he sprang down the room toward the door, wrenching it +open as Jones fired. We saw Darwin make for the stairs and we were after +him in a second. On the floor above he rushed into his dressing-room, +and as we entered we saw him disappear into the secret closet. There was +a whirring sound and a cry of dismay, then silence, horror-filled. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +CONCLUSION + + +Leaving Jones in charge of the house and its gruesome burden, McKelvie, +Grenville and I drove to Center Street to secure Ruth's release. On the +way Grenville asked McKelvie whether he would mind explaining how he +first divined the truth. McKelvie obligingly complied. + +"I owe my success to Miss Manning's quick-wittedness in leaving us that +clue in the secret room. But for that the case might still be hanging +fire. Until we discovered the ring I had no suspicions of the real truth +of the matter. I merely mistrusted Cunningham, because he was the only +clever unprincipled person connected with the case, but I could conceive +of no plausible motive which would cause him to commit the crime. + +"I had never swallowed that neat account of how Darwin's finger came to +be bruised. The reason was deeper than mere sentiment, I felt. When we +stumbled on the ring, the truth flashed across my mind. The ring had to +be removed because the dead man was Dick, not Darwin. If that were so, +then Dick could not have committed suicide. I determined to test my +theory. + +"I took with me to Water Street a photograph of Darwin taken when he was +Dick's age (I had seen it in an old album in the den upstairs when I +first examined the house on Riverside Drive). Both Mrs. Bates and Ben +Kite recognized it as the picture of the man who had jumped into the +river. So far, so good. Dick had been murdered and Darwin was alive. +What was the motive? James Gilmore supplied the answer and the case was +simplified. With Darwin as the murderer every fact fell into place with +the ease of a carefully pieced puzzle. + +"Darwin wanted to rid himself of his wife, Darwin knew she had written a +love-letter, Darwin knew that Mr. Davies was in the house and would urge +Mrs. Darwin to secure the epistle. Also the quarrel with Lee took on a +new phase, a scheme for ridding himself of a pair of keen eyes. + +"The only question to be solved was the one, Where was Darwin? Was he +still in the city or had he left the country? I could not rid myself of +the idea that Cunningham had some share in the affair. He was too keenly +interested to be a mere on-looker. Could it be that Cunningham was +Darwin, I asked myself. I investigated and discovered that the two men +were never in the city at the same time, that they had never been seen +together, although they were more than lawyer and client. The finding of +the one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in Cunningham's strong box +clinched the matter for me. I knew that Darwin was not likely to give +another man the money which he would need himself with which to get +away." + +McKelvie paused and turned to me. "Do you remember the night he told us +that pleasant fiction about the one hundred and fifty thousand dollars? +I was positive then that he was Darwin, but I had no way of proving it +and I had no desire to put him on his guard. That is why I advertised +for Lee. I wanted to frighten him into thinking I was on to him and so +catch him with the goods, which we were able to do, thanks to his own +folly." + +"And thanks to you, Mrs. Darwin's life has been saved," I said, as he +ceased speaking. "I can never repay you for what you have done," and I +held out my hand. + +He grasped it with an embarrassed laugh. "Don't thank me. I enjoyed +running him to earth. I'm glad he got his deserts." + +"Did he really mean to kill himself?" I asked presently. + +"No. I examined that closet. It had a double purpose. There was a +trapdoor in the ceiling as well, and when you pressed a button in the +wall a ladder was let down and you could escape over the roof. That was +Darwin's plan, but in his haste he touched the wrong spring, for they +were near together and it was dark, and so he fell to his death. Thus is +evil punished in the end." + +"How did Cunningham happen to have a sachet bag embroidered with his +initials when Cora did not know him as Cunningham?" I inquired. + +"He had foolishly preserved the one she had given him as Darwin. The +initials on it were P. D." + +"You told me that when I learned the answers to those questions that I +should know who committed the crime. Why was it then that Jones and I +did not guess the truth the night we heard Lee's story?" + +"Because you had no idea of the motive for the crime. Also you answered +some of the questions wrong," he replied with a smile. + +"Wasn't it odd that Ruth failed to recognize Cunningham as her husband +when he spoke to her at the inquest?" I asked. + +"No. He kept his voice disguised. Didn't he say he had a bad cold or +something of the sort? When I was positive that Cunningham was Darwin I +had a second interview with Mrs. Darwin. She told me then that when +Cunningham spoke to her she had an impression that she was hearing the +voice of her husband, but as she was persuaded that Darwin was dead she +thought it must be her own foolish fancy, and so said nothing about it." + +I nodded, recalling the puzzled look on Ruth's face when she glanced at +Cunningham at the inquest, for which I had at the time been unable to +account, and while I waited McKelvie's return in the reception room of +the Tombs, I pondered upon the kindness of Fate in having disposed of +the man who had stood so long between me and the one desire of my heart. +I wondered how I would tell Ruth the actual facts in the case, and was +debating the wisdom of enlightening her when McKelvie returned with a +beaming smile. + +"She'll be here in just a minute," he said, adding quizzically, "You +won't need my help in solving this problem, I'll wager," and he waved +his hand toward the door. + +The next moment Ruth was in my arms. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Mystery of the Hidden Room, by Marion Harvey + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41151 *** |