Natalie Sumner Lincoln

“ THE KNAVE OF HEARTS The death of Austin Hale under mysterious circumstances had created a veritable sensation in Washington, and the residents of the National Capital read with avidity every newspaper account. To the indignation of the city editors and the staffs of newspaper men few details were forthcoming from either Police Headquarters or the Hale residence. Thus thrown upon their own resources, imagination played a large part in their “write-ups” of the tragedy which, headed by display type of the most sensational character, had but served to whet the appetite of the reading public. ”

“ She was unaware of the passing time as she gazed at the face before her, a face scarcely less gray in death than her own, from which every ray of color had been stricken. Slowly, slowly she took in every detail of the man’s appearance, then with numb, clumsy fingers she jerked a long pair of steel shears from her sewing bag and, kneeling down once more by the dead man, she hacked and tore at his watch chain until she had loosened a small locket. ”

“ Bound, blindfolded, gagged, deprived of her earphone, and her hearing deadened by nature, Judith’s heart was beating with suffocating rapidity. She must get aid—aid before she fainted. Instinctively she bit and worried her gag, and the handkerchief, insecurely tied, parted finally. [Pg 251] Judith filled her lungs with air, moistened her parched lips, and tried to call for help.
The whispered cry reached only to the confines of the room. To Judith’s ears no sound penetrated, and she waited in agony. Had her shout carried beyond the library? Surely the maids, her father—some one must hear her? ”

“ Judith spoke with increasing earnestness. “The girl tries hard to keep up with her work, and your manuscript is not always easy, Father. You ought to recollect, also, Mother, that she has led a colorless life until this winter. She has a mother entirely dependent upon her, and they are cruelly poor.”
“All the more reason for attending strictly to her work,” grunted Hale, but his voice had softened, as it always did when Judith was a special pleader and that his daughter was much in earnest was plainly evident. “Can’t you manage those notes yourself, Agatha?” ”

“ Ferguson reached the library just as Latimer forced some cognac between Hale’s bloodless lips.
“He will revive in a minute,” he said, laying [Pg 67] down the flask which John Hale, recovering his dazed wits, had taken from a cabinet in one corner of the library where his brother kept some wine secreted. “His pulse is better now—there,” as the powerful stimulant took effect. “He is coming to. Here, take a sip of this,” and Latimer snatched the glass of water out of Ferguson’s hand. Hale, his eyelids fluttering, drank slowly as Latimer tilted the glass gently against his lips. ”

“ I don’t wish Mother to know I am playing the market, here she comes.”
His ideas in a whirl, Latimer assisted them into their limousine just as a touring car drove up to the curb and stopped with a grinding of brakes which echoed down the street. A second more and John Hale had flung himself out of the car and dashed over to the limousine. A rapid survey showed him that the only occupants of the car were Mrs. Hale and Judith.
“Where have you left Polly?” he demanded.
“Left her?” Mrs. Hale’s voice showed her astonishment. “Nowhere; Polly has not been with us.” ”

“ As she passed the drawn portières across the entrance to the library, her eyes caught a ray of light showing between its folds. Judith halted in surprise and, parting the portières, looked inside the library. Seated in her father’s favorite chair was her uncle, John Hale. By his side stood Frank Latimer, both with their backs partly turned toward her. Her uncle’s raised voice reached her in the stillness and she caught the mention of her husband’s name.
“I know very little about Joe Richards’ antecedents,” John Hale stated. “He seems a good fellow, whole-souled, well-set-up—educated. ”

“ Fifteen minutes later Latimer was mounting the high steps of the old-fashioned mansion on C Street where Polly and her mother eked out a small and steadily shrinking income by taking “paying guests,” a profitable business during the World War, but one that had grown less so with the departure of the army of war-workers who had transformed Washington from a city of leisure into one of volcanic activity and unpleasant congestion. ”

“ Hale bounced out of her chair. “How dare you insinuate that Judith was having an affair with Austin?” she demanded. “You are most insulting—I shall inform Major Richards—”
“My dear madam, pray, calm yourself,” Ferguson begged, appalled by the storm he had provoked. “I thought we agreed to talk over all aspects of the Hale murder—it was your own suggestion.”
“Certainly it was, but I did not expect—” Mrs. Hale sniffed. “If you ask Major Richards to account for all his time Tuesday night he will do so, I am convinced. A man of his temperament and record—”
“Where is his record?” broke in Ferguson. ”

“ Judith’s loyalty to her husband was instantly in arms. He might be a kleptomaniac,—if so, he was to be pitied and protected,—but he was not a murderer—Judith’s faith remained unshaken. With all her woman’s wit she would prove him worthy of her trust and devotion, and [Pg 245] clear him of any suspicion of complicity in Austin’s murder.
But how to go about it? The locket had disappeared while she and her husband were sitting in the boudoir through which the thief had to pass to enter the bedroom. There was but one person to her knowledge to whom the locket was of vital importance—Polly Davis. ”

“ Polly’s contact with the world had borne fruit in an embittered outlook on life which in some degree alienated her from her former friends, and she had turned to Judith with the heart-hunger of a nature thrown upon itself for woman’s companionship. ”

“ A dead easy one if you are in the ‘know,’” and she chuckled. “Let me pour you out another cup, Miss Anna,” and, not waiting for permission, she replenished Anna’s tea, at the same time refilling her own cup. “My, don’t cook make good toast! No wonder Major Richards is so partial to it.”
“Is he?” Anna’s tone was dry.
“Yes, ma’am, and he’s partial to a good deal more besides.” Maud relished an opportunity of airing her views to so superior a person as Anna, for it was not often that she had her undivided attention. “Major Richards knows a good-looking woman when he sees one.” ”

“ Ferguson was watching her as a cat watches a mouse. He had maneuvered his chair so that his back was to the light while she faced the sun’s merciless rays. “Austin returns to this house unexpectedly on Tuesday night, is found by your son-in-law, Major Richards, stabbed to death, and not a soul in your house knows anything about the tragedy.” Ferguson’s gesture was expressive. “No weapon to be found but a pair of shears, no motive for the crime but the theft of a more or less valuable antique watch—a watch whose very ownership would lead to an [Pg 215] arrest on suspicion. ”

“ When she turned around she saw a man sitting on the edge of the bed watching her. A slight scream broke from her and she swayed dizzily. With a bound the man gained her side.
“Don’t be frightened, Mrs. Hale. It is only I, Detective Ferguson,” he explained. “I thought you saw me when you first entered the room.”
Mrs. Hale shook her head as she sank into the chair he placed for her.
“Dear me,” she exclaimed, “I declare you gave me quite a turn. I had no idea I should find any one in Austin’s bedroom.” Resentment against its cause conquered her fright in some measure and she whirled on him. ”

“ Richards, who had thrust his hands into his trousers’ pockets, clenched them until the nails dug into the flesh, while Detective Ferguson, with a covert smile, rolled up the shears once again in the piece of oilskin and replaced them in his pocket.
“Suicide is then out of the question,” he commented gravely. “It leaves us face to face with homicide. What motive inspired Austin Hale’s murder, gentlemen?” ”

“ There was no trace of a burglar’s having broken into the house. Therefore the crime must have been committed by an inmate of your house, Mrs. Hale.”
“No, no!” she protested vehemently, and he detected the whitening of her cheeks under the delicately applied rouge.
“And every member of your household has an excellent alibi,” he went on, not heeding her interruption. “There must be a flaw somewhere; there has to be one.” ”

“ Hale feels Miss Judith’s marriage more than she is willing to allow, I believe, and she’s just looking ’round to find somebody to ‘mother.’”
“It’s a funny deal her picking on Miss Polly for that,” laughed Maud as she arranged the tea dishes on the tray preparatory to departure. “D’ye know, as poor as I am, I’d give a month’s wages to know who had a hand in killing Mr. Austin.” She paused and placed her lips against Anna’s right ear. “Them bloody shears Mr. Ferguson is forever exhibiting never belonged to Miss Judith,” she whispered, “but Miss Polly’s are missing from her desk.” ”

“ I must tell Polly what you say. It is always well to sell on a rising market, isn’t it?”
“If you wish to sell, yes,” dryly. Latimer, conscious of the passing time, was having difficulty concealing his uneasiness as he thought of John Hale waiting a block away in his car. In his impatience he might forget the rôle he had cast for Latimer and, instead of awaiting the latter’s return, walk in at any moment and, by incautious questions, betray his own plot to discover Polly’s whereabouts. “How soon will Miss Polly be in?” ”

“ At the words the detective vanished.
Richards rose from his perch on the chair arm and paced slowly up and down the library. Penfield, paying no attention to his movements, knelt down by the dead man and with infinite care went through his pockets. His search produced some loose change, a bill-folder containing nearly a hundred dollars, and a bunch of keys.
“Not much help for identification purposes,” he remarked dryly, as Richards halted by his side. “He was a handsome fellow; women rave over that type of beauty in a man. He looks a gentleman—high-bred, and all that.” ”

“ She was convinced, however, that Polly had been more than ordinarily attracted by Austin Hale’s good looks and his marked attention to her charming self. It was not in human nature, Mrs. Hale argued, that a young and penniless girl would refuse a wealthy young man, especially not in favor of a man of John Hale’s age. It was absurd of Joe Richards to insinuate that her brother-in-law might have supplanted Austin in Polly’s affections. ”

“ McLane pointed to them. “Only one blade is bloodstained.”
“Quite sure they are bloodstains and not rust?” As he put the question, Richards again scrutinized the shears.
Ferguson smiled skeptically. “The stains have already been subjected to chemical tests,” he said. “It is human blood. Another thing, Major, if Austin Hale fell on these shears and, improbable as it may seem, was stabbed by only one blade, that blade would have remained in the wound, would it not, doctor?” ”

“ Hale had broken the news of Mr. Austin’s death. Men are silly creatures.”
“Some of ’em are,” amended Maud. “I never would call Mr. Robert Hale silly. Say, Miss Anna,”—and Maud hitched her chair close to the waitress—“do you s’pose he knows anything about the courting that went on between Miss Polly and his brother?”
“There isn’t anything that escapes Mr. Hale’s notice,” Anna responded dryly.
“But Miss Polly was mighty sly about it,” argued Maud. “Mr. Austin caught her once, though, and my, didn’t he flare up!” Her eyes grew bigger at the recollection. ”

“ Richards sprang forward with an imploring gesture, but for once his wife ignored him.
“I used them,” she reiterated, “to remove a locket from Austin’s watch chain when I found him lying dead in this library. That locket,” she paused to take the smelling salts which Maud who had hurriedly entered a second before handed to her,—“that locket Polly Davis stole from my bedroom last night with other jewelry.”
No one spoke, and Judith, resting one hand on Anna’s shoulder and the other on Maud’s arm, rose stiffly to her feet. ”

“ John Hale shouldered Latimer to one side as he stepped nearer the center of the room. “You tried to fasten Austin’s murder on an innocent girl to shield your daughter’s husband.”
“An innocent girl!” Hale’s mocking smile brought his brother’s rage to fever heat. “So innocent that when she quarreled with her lover at their midnight meeting she killed him with her shears—shears which I had bought for her the week before.” Swiftly he turned to Ferguson. [Pg 269] “Release Major Richards and arrest the real criminal, Polly Davis.” ”

“ Hale and her husband turned to her testily.
“I am troubled with amnesia,” he said. “It is just a touch, but I am sensitive about having it known or suspected, and so occasionally I jot down figures and numbers. I play solitaire so continuously that I am never without the safe-combination; but on Friday I missed the card and the next day asked Maud, or shall we say Jim Turner,”—and he indicated the pseudo-maid—“if she had seen the card. She brought it to me later, stating that she had found it on your dresser, Richards, and it led me to believe that you had a hand in Austin’s murder.” ”

“ Latimer turned determinedly to Judith. “Your husband sold your Troy Valve bonds at somewhat of a sacrifice.”
Mrs. Hale caught the words and looked at her daughter in open consternation.
“Judith! You haven’t parted with the bonds your grandfather left you?” she exclaimed.
“Yes.” Judith tossed down her napkin and pushed back her chair. “Joe and I decided that this was the time to invest in Liberty Bonds.” Her charming smile disarmed criticism. “Besides, industrials are dangerous investments.” ”

“ She was still looking directly inside the safe when a handkerchief was drawn across her eyes and a hand detached the wire connecting her earphone and the little electric battery which she wore tucked inside her belt. Completely taken by surprise and too paralyzed to move, Judith sat motionless as the hand, having completed its mission, slid around and covered her mouth. ”

“ Mrs. Hale thought a minute, then came to a decision. “It is no matter,” she said brusquely. “Forget I mentioned it; there is a more pressing matter”—from her silver mesh purse she drew out a much creased letter. “Read that,” she directed, and held it almost under Polly’s nose, “but not aloud, read it to yourself.”
Obediently Polly took the paper and, holding it at the proper focus, read:
Dear Aunt Agatha:
I started for San Francisco on the midnight train, so forgive this hasty scrawl in answer to your long letter. I will see the happy bride and groom on my return. ”