Sinclair Gluck

“ So, with a little electric torch in one hand and the other held out blindly before me, I crept into the darkness that was, presumably, Vining’s entrance hall.
After a moment I heard the front door close softly behind me, and then I ventured to use the torch.
Have you ever gone into a strange house and tried to make out the lay of the land with a pocket torch? The torch shows up only one tiny spot at a time, and when you have swept it all over one article of furniture and made out its general dimensions, you have forgotten everything else! ”

“ Across the end of the room from him the door into the sunken garden stood open, admitting a shimmering flood of light. His eyes narrowed246 to meet the glare. Beyond the door, nature lay glittering and alert under the bright blue sky, as though she had gathered herself for one recrudescent blaze of splendor before her winter sleep. A puff of breeze with a sweet, chill tang swept in through the open door and set the smoke-laden atmosphere aswirl.
Landis turned his head. In three deep chairs before a blazing fire, Anita and Russell and Allen lay slumped on their shoulder-blades. ”

“ As before, we halted, listening, at the foot of the stairs which led up to the next floor. It was well after midnight by now and the street outside, and indeed the whole city, had grown quiet, but in spite of the stillness we could hear no sound from above.
“Come on, sor,” whispered Larry, and hand in hand we crept up the thickly carpeted stairs, keeping close to the wall where the steps were less likely to creak. And as we advanced the black darkness that was the upper hall seemed to creep down and envelop us like an intangible cloud. ”

“ He left one large globe to light the main hall, a standard lamp switched on in the library for the policeman on guard there and a ceiling light at the head of the stairs. At the end of each hall in the wing a single bulb burned all night as a guide to the fire-escape staircase. Except for these and the bedrooms whose tenants had not yet retired, Stimson left the house in darkness, mounting, somber and noiseless as a shadow, to his own suite on the third floor. ”

“ After a few moments of general conversation, Mrs. Fawcette rose to her feet, smiling. “Droga,” she called to him—he was talking to Natalie—“I have brought something to show you. I am sure that the young people will excuse us for a moment!”
Before I had recovered from my amused surprise at the somewhat crude method of classifying me with Natalie, Ivanovitch, our host, had risen to his feet with a smile and a bow and followed Mrs. Fawcette through a pair of heavy curtains into a room beyond. ”

“ Why not tell her so, Miss Mount? She’ll need her mother now. She’s far too sensible to care about the past.”
Miss Mount’s fine eyes never wavered from his, though a slow and painful blush crept up to stain her white face.
“There are times,” said Bernard quietly, “when pride ought to be dumped out the window. This is one of them. We’re going now. Mr. Brent will help you with details. That’s why I telephoned him. Good-by, Miss Mount.”
She brushed the fresh tears from her eyes and held out her hand to him.
“You’re a good man,” she said. “Good-by.”
“Good-by, Miss Mount,” echoed Landis. ”

“ I stationed myself in the window of a corner drug-store, across the street from the car, and waited, keeping a sharp eye on Moore’s house.
It was a long wait. Seven o’clock came and passed, with the driver of the Bengal kicking his heels on the opposite curb and I lounging about the drug-store and staring down the inquiring glances of an anemic-looking drug clerk. At seven-ten I bought some cigars that I did not want. At seven-thirty I bought and drank one of the most horrible soft drinks that I have ever encountered. And at seven-forty-five I began to get desperate. ”

“ Graham’s admission that everyone in the household could shoot with a bow and arrow had brought the eyes of Bernard and Landis from the dead man to the living. Aware of their swift attention, he hastened to explain.
“You see,” he began, “Mr. Harrison has a brother, Joel Harrison, who’s not quite—well—he’s unusual!”
“D’you mean he’s crazy?” suggested Bernard.
“No. He’s absent-minded and rather like a child—a sane child. He’ll devote immense enthusiasm to a fad that most of us would consider unimportant.” Graham smiled. ”

“ Fawcette had been one of the last people to see Margaret.
She smiled into my eyes then, a strange, elusive smile that was yet vaguely repellent. “You are pleased to be facetious,” she said.
“Indeed, no. Of all interests a human interest is the keenest. And when that interest is beautiful——” I sighed.
I felt her hand touch mine for a fleeting instant. “Come,” she answered, “you must not flirt with me on such short acquaintance!” ”

“ With a nod to the mystified sergeant, who had been unable to hear what they said, the two detectives mounted the stairs and again knocked on the door of Miss Mount’s bedroom.
They heard the creak of a rocking-chair and the sound of firm footsteps. The door opened to disclose Miss Mount still fully dressed. At sight of them she raised her eyebrows in surprise and displeasure.
“Well, gentlemen, what is it now?”
“The same thing—murder!” snapped Bernard.
“The fact is,” Landis cut in, “we find Mr. Joel Harrison a bit difficult, Miss Mount. One doesn’t like to be harsh with him, you see. ”

“ Some one had found the switch and the lights in the main hall were on full. The place was a shambles. Dead men, in queer, contorted attitudes, their faces pale, sunken and ghastly in the bright light, lay scattered about the walls. The walls themselves were seamed with bright slashes from flying bullets and the naked nymphs still simpered down on us, though their bodies were tattered and torn. The hardwood floor was a welter of blood in streaks and half-congealed pools. ”

“ Harrison quarreled with aside from Joel Harrison, yourself and the servants.”
“Was I?”
“I hope so, Miss Mount. A court-room is such a stuffy, public place to be questioned. We’ll have to have the answers now or there—all of them!”
Miss Mount glanced at Brent. He had risen from the desk to greet them, had joined them and now sat with his finger-tips together, looking more like a stage lawyer than a real one. He repulsed her glance with frowning gravity. She turned back to Landis, a gleam in her eyes. ”

“ The veneer of civilization is thin, I found, for after what he had done to Margaret I could contemplate killing him in cold blood quite calmly.
And it was Ivanovitch who came!
The first hint I had of the presence of any one besides myself was the sudden glare of electric lights in the room beyond the cell in which I stood. I went softly to the barred door and looked through it. Two men had just entered through a door at the other side of the larger room. As they came from behind the glass cylinder I saw that one of them was Ivanovitch. ”

“ The real event of the day began when I met Larry at nine o’clock. He was at the appointed place promptly on time, and I could see by his slightly increased girth that he had brought the kit of tools with him. I myself was dressed in my oldest clothes and looked as much like a burglar as possible, so that if Vining saw me he would not connect me with Moore or think it more than a coincidence. With nothing more than a nod and a smile, Larry jumped into the car and we proceeded to Vining’s home, parking the car down the street a little way. ”

“ Now he strode through the arched doorway to the path beyond, turned to the left and made for the kitchen steps, Bernard at his heels. With the aid of his torch he picked up, on the second step, a moist heel-print. He glanced triumphantly at Bernard, whose bending face was visible in the refracted rays of the torch. Bernard felt rather than saw the glance and chuckled.
“Well, what about the back stairs?”
“Some people are hard to please,” said Landis thoughtfully. But he entered the back door, turned to the back stairs and began to study the treads carefully. ”

“ Ivanovitch was losing patience. He strode over to me. “If you do not choose the manner of your death and choose now, into that cylinder you will go by force. The Emperor has promised you the choice of your death, and it is his whim to keep his promises. If you do not choose, why——” He shrugged his shoulders. “But if you choose now, you can die in any way you please: drugs, shooting, this machine, drowning, suffocation, what you will. ”

“ Bernard suggested.
“I’ve told you! Armed with the Cuddys’ address, Miss Mount goes to Long Island last Thursday, finds them, storms or bluffs or frightens out of them an admission that they kidnapped Ethel when she was three. Then she comes home and accuses Harrison of being a monster of cruelty. He sees the game is up and tries to bluff it out. Just imagine the feelings of a woman with Miss Mount’s temperament and character! Imagine her rage and hatred toward the man who had wilfully robbed her of eighteen years of motherhood, years that could never be recalled!” ”

“ I whispered to the sergeant just before Vining spoke.
“Good! That’s the man! Good-evening, Sergeant!” He took a step or two in our direction. “I want that man with you. I have been after this fellow for a long time for robbing my flat. But he’s as slippery as an eel. However, I’m glad you caught him at last. I have a warrant for his arrest, and I’ll take him with me now if you please.”
I saw the sergeant’s hand steal under the desk and close on the butt of a heavy police revolver. ”

“ Bernard smiled with irritating slowness. “There were no finger-prints. Therefore, gloves were probably worn by the murderer. If so, why not these, which lay so conveniently at hand near the cross-bow? Well, gloves leave no finger-prints. But old gloves like these, worn smooth inside as well as out may retain distinct finger-prints on the inside of the glove fingers—finger-prints left there by the last wearer who is, let us suppose, the murderer! A murderer is usually in a sweat of nerves and if his fingers were moist that would help, see?”
Graham and Landis stared at him incredulously. ”

“ Moore stirred in his place on the bed beside me and the Chief glanced up at him.
“There’s one other feature to it, sir,” he said. “I’ve been working on the abductions and nothing else. But they had a damned good try at picking me off. Clarke worked on the drug smuggling only—and——”
The Chief nodded. “Neither the one gang—nor the other, if there are two gangs, will hesitate at murder,” he said quietly.
“Good Lord, do you mean to say in this day and age——”
“This day and age is just about the same as any other day and age—because human nature doesn’t vary much,” he interrupted. ”

“ Bernard demanded suddenly.
Miss Mount smiled a wintry smile.
“Most of his correspondence consisted of writing checks and enclosing them in envelopes,” she said. “He wrote very briefly and in long hand, as a rule. When there was a longer letter or a document to be written, I typed it for him.”
“All right,” nodded Bernard. “Now for the wing.”
“There you are, Mr. Brent,” Landis smiled. “Sorry to delay you!”
Brent became genial.
“Not at all, Mr. Landis! One can only admire a man for doing his duty!” ”

“ One man found a staircase leading up from a small door in the main hall, and started up into the darkness to explore the floor above. But the Chief and I made for the corridor that led to the room of the voices, kicking or jemmying open the doors we passed, and making as sure as we could that we left no enemies behind us to take us in the rear.
Evidently the place was a regular labyrinth. But the most curious feature of it was the fact that we found no windows anywhere. The inhabitants must have lived eternally in an artificial light or in darkness. ”

“ Landis then and afterwards thought of Joel Harrison in terms of a bird or an animal rather than as a human being. Everything about the man, his sudden silences, his relaxed immobility, his dreamy or bird-like glances, belonged to the woodland rather than to civilized mankind. Remembering the dead man’s face it was difficult to imagine the two brothers getting on together.
“Mr. Harrison,” he began at last, “did you lock the door at the end of the wing on this floor tonight?” ”

“ With a sigh of relief I climbed into that wheezing little Ford. The mystery of my ungracious reception was explained. For if any man has a right to be bad-tempered it’s a small-town doctor.
As long as I live I shall bless that doctor and his car. He took me miles on my way and, I suspect, some little distance out his own, although he would not admit it and was grumpy and disagreeable to the last. But he went to the trouble of setting me down at a railroad station, which was all that I wanted. ”

“ Bernard rose to his feet and they walked down the library toward the Japanese armor.
With a nod to Sergeant Forbes, Landis bent over the blunted arrow. A moment later he restored the bit of feather to his pocket and smiled at Bernard.
“She fits!” he said.
“I expected it would!” growled Bernard. “I liked that check on Allen and Miss Mount and getting Brent’s finger-prints better. But the feather may be useful.”
“In a case of this kind,” said Landis with mock pomposity, “we’re in the position of a man cast up on a desert island. Anything may be useful.” ”

“ I felt the car stop and heard some one open the door. “This way,” said Ivanovitch, and I stepped out. Judging by the freshness of the air we were well out into the country and somewhere quite close to the sea, for the tang of it was strong.
Some one took my arm on either side, and I stumbled forward for perhaps a hundred yards over what I took to be a dirt road. But in a little our footsteps began to echo and I knew that we were under cover. There was a strong smell of gasoline and oil now—so strong that I would have been willing to swear that we were in a garage. ”

“ Where were you when you heard Susan scream?”
“I was—I was playing billiards, of course.”
“So you ran up the back stairs and down the front to get to the library, eh? Better cover up your legs before you catch cold,” he added dryly. “They don’t interest us.”
Anita sat up quivering, between fright and rage, flung the overcoat across her knees and glared at him.
“You—you growly old beast!” she stammered.
“The truth from beginning to end!” demanded Bernard. “So far it’s been mostly lies. You’ll tell the truth now or in court! You’ll get your picture in the paper anyway. ”