John Meredith

“ He had as nearly as possible realised Sir John Meredith's idea of what an English gentleman should be, and the old aristocrat's standard was uncompromisingly high. Public school, University, and two years on the Continent had produced a finished man, educated to the finger-tips, deeply read, clever, bright, and occasionally witty; but Jack Meredith was at this time nothing more than a brilliant conglomerate of possibilities. ”

“ Each of our lives is like a book with one strong character moving through its pages. The strong character in Lady Cantourne's book had been Sir John Meredith. Her whole life seemed to have been spent on the outskirts of his—watching it. And what she had seen had not been conducive to her own happiness.
She knew that the note she had just received meant a great deal to Sir John Meredith. It meant that Jack had come home with the full intention of fulfilling his engagement to Millicent Chyne. At first she had rather resented Sir John's outspoken objection to her niece as his son's wife. ”

“ No one had questioned him as to his having gone to John Meredith’s bedroom instead of his own, and he had not mentioned the presence of a woman in the dead man’s room. Could it be that she was the “female” of Herman’s story, and was that “female” Anne Meredith, as the butler evidently believed? If so, what then did the parrot’s cry, “Anne—I’ve caught you—you devil!” signify? Had the parrot repeated Meredith’s death cry?
The lines about Curtis’ firm mouth tightened. His creed in life was simple: to live straight, never forget a friend, and never go back on a woman. ”

“ With one last comprehensive look at the silent jury and the busy reporters, Mrs. Meredith wasted no time in leaving the room. Her place was taken in rapid succession by Jules, the chef, and Fernando, the Filipino, both of whom stated that they had retired early, slept soundly through the night and knew nothing of the death of John Meredith until awakened by Herman the next morning. Susanne, Mrs. Meredith’s maid, told of sharing her bedroom with Gretchen, the chambermaid, and of sound and dreamless slumber until also awakened by the agitated butler. ”

“ John Meredith, taking the cross-lots road through Rainbow Valley on his way home from some pastoral visitations around the Harbour head one evening, turned aside to drink of the little spring. Walter Blythe had shown it to him one afternoon only a few days before, and they had had a long talk together on the maple seat. John Meredith, under all his shyness and aloofness, had the heart of a boy. He had been called Jack in his youth, though nobody in Glen St. Mary would ever have believed it. ”

“ Downstairs in the library Sam Hollister rubbed his bald head with a large silk handkerchief and gratefully accepted Herman’s suggestion of a cocktail from what had once been John Meredith’s private stock.
“Bring three,” he added. “I am sure Mr. Armstrong will join me, and Doctor Curtis will be here presently.” As the butler disappeared, he turned to Gerald Armstrong. “A cocktail,” he remarked dryly, “may make you a more agreeable companion.” Armstrong transferred his gaze from his carefully creased trousers to Hollister’s flushed countenance. ”

“ Having been taught to take all the chances and changes of life with a well-bred calmness of demeanour, Jack Meredith turned the teaching against the instructor. He pursued the course of his social duties without appearing to devote so much as a thought to the quarrel which had taken place in the conservatory. His smile was as ready as ever, his sight as keen where an elderly lady looked hungry, his laughter as near the surface as society demands. It is probable that Sir John suffered more, though he betrayed nothing. ”

“ Curtis pushed back his chair. “It would seem so,” he admitted, “as far as locating the missing papers is concerned. Tell me, Hollister,” as his companion rose, “what was the relationship between John Meredith and Gerald Armstrong?”
“Why, none,” responded Hollister. “Armstrong is a man of about thirty, I should imagine. He is a partner of Colonel Hull’s and that threw him more or less in contact with John in a business way, as Hull’s firm transacted some financial deals for John at one time.”
“Is Armstrong particularly attractive?”
“I believe he is quite a favorite with women.” ”

“ Loving luxury, the idol of an indulgent father, she had spent twenty-six indolent years, petted by men and gossiped about by women. She had made her debut into Washington society upon her eighteenth birthday and, in spite of the many predictions of her approaching engagement to this man and that, one season had followed another and she still remained unmarried.
Her father, Julian Hull, by courtesy a colonel, was a first cousin of John Meredith, and at one time a business associate. ”

“ Sir John Meredith gave himself a little jerk—a throw back of the shoulders which was habitual—which might have been a tribute either to Millicent behind, or to Lady Cantourne in front.
The pleasantest part of existence in a large country house full of visitors is the facility with which one may avoid those among the guests for whom one has no sympathy. Millicent managed very well to avoid Sir John Meredith. The baron was her slave—at least he said so—and she easily kept him at her beck and call during the first evening. ”

“ Falling over a dead man, and that man his host, was enough to shake the stoutest nerves of a person possessing all his faculties—but to a blind man! Curtis was conscious that the hand holding his cane was not quite steady as he felt his way down the hall in search of his bedroom. The soft chimes of the grandfather clock in the hall below brought not only a violent start on his part in their train but an idea. The house telephone in his bedroom! John Meredith, that very afternoon, had taught him how to manipulate the mechanism of the instrument. ”

“ John Meredith seemed to be looking at a torn plain strewn with the bodies of “able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five.” Only the other day Carl had been a little scrap of a boy, hunting bugs in Rainbow Valley, taking lizards to bed with him, and scandalizing the Glen by carrying frogs to Sunday School. It seemed hardly—right—somehow that he should be an “able-bodied” man in khaki. Yet John Meredith had said no word to dissuade him when Carl had told him he must go. ”

“ Lucille flushed. “Cousin John was absurdly puritanical,” she protested. “We—ah—” she hesitated. “How has Cousin John’s death affected his plans for that extraordinary marriage? Surely, Anne won’t be forced to wed that blind surgeon. Doctor Curtis?”
“Our thoughts have not gone beyond the moment,” replied Mrs. Meredith. “We can think of nothing but John’s tragic death; all else is secondary. We must adjust ourselves,” she paused. “Hurry, Lucille, and join me in the dining room.” ”

“ Meredith and her daughter Anne, No. 2; his own bedroom call No. 3; that occupied by Gerald Armstrong, No. 4. Lucile Hull, Anne’s cousin and another guest over the week-end, was No. 5—no, five was the number of Sam Hollister’s bedroom in the west wing. But was it? Curtis paused in uncertainty. He did not like the idea of awakening Lucille Hull at nearly three o’clock in the morning. He was quite positive that to tell her John Meredith lay dead in the hall would send her into violent hysterics. It was no news to impart to a woman. ”

“ Sir John Meredith was sitting stiffly in a straight-backed chair by his library fire. In his young days men did not loll in deep chairs, with their knees higher than their heads. There were no such chairs in this library, just as there was no afternoon tea except for ladies. Sir John Meredith was distressed to observe a great many signs of the degeneration of manhood, which he attributed to the indulgence in afternoon tea. Sir John had lately noticed another degeneration, namely, in the quality of the London gas. ”

“ Curtis’ hesitation was imperceptible except to McLane.
“I believe that the fact that Meredith was ambidexterous will enable experts to cast sufficient doubt on the medical testimony to render it practically valueless,” he said.
“Perhaps an expert can tear it to pieces,” broke in Mitchell. “But you can’t get over the fact that no weapon was found near the body. If John Meredith killed himself, what did he do with the weapon?”
“I can tell you.” A new light shone in Anne’s eyes and her voice held an unaccustomed ring, a note of hope, mixed with relief. ”

“ Sir John Meredith was a man whose words commanded respect—partly because he was an old man whose powers of perception had as yet apparently retained their full force, and the vast experience of life which was his could hardly be overrated. ”

“ Galvanized into life, Armstrong turned and glared at Brown.
“You’re a damned liar!” he cried. “The knife belongs to Fernando—”
“Who loaned it to you.” Curtis’ voice cut the air like a whiplash. “It was you, Armstrong, who knew that John Meredith had drawn out one hundred thousand dollars in cash to invest in certain securities; it was you who took advantage of another’s misfortune; you, contemptible hound that you are, made a woman your cat’s-paw—” He wheeled around. “Mitchell, bring Gretchen here.” ”

“ Curtis, also, had hitched his chair around close to the table and sat forward resting his weight upon his cane.
“Then in your opinion, Doctor Mayo,” Penfield spoke with distinctness, “John Meredith was murdered?”
“Yes, sir; the autopsy proves that,” Mayo hesitated. “If you wish further evidence to that end, the absence of a weapon furnishes it.”
“That is all, doctor.” The deputy coroner had started back to his seat when Penfield stopped him. “Please tell Miss Anne Meredith that we require her presence here at once.” ”

“ Little John startled the field by coming in first at a canter.
"Men have committed suicide for less than this" said Algernon within his lips, and a modest expression of submission to fate settled on his countenance. He stuck to the Ring till he was haggard with fatigue. His whole nature cried out for Champagne, and now he burst away from that devilish circle, looking about for Lord Suckling and a hamper. Food and a frothing drink were all that he asked from Fortune. ”

“ I respect you too much to suspect any foolish notions of love in a cottage.”
Jack Meredith made no reply. He was entirely dependent upon his father.
“Of course,” said Sir John, “when I die you will be a baronet, and there will be enough to live on like a gentleman. You had better tell Miss Chyne that. She may not know it. Girls are so innocent. But I am not dead yet, and I shall take especial care to live some time.”
“In order to prevent my marriage?” suggested Jack. He was still smiling, and somehow Sir John felt a little uneasy. He did not understand that smile. ”

“ He learned nothing from the Sergeant’s stolid expression and again focused his attention on the latter’s superior officer.
“Sit down, Mr. Armstrong,” directed Mitchell. Taking a chair he planted himself in front of Armstrong, while Sergeant Brown braced his burly figure against a convenient sofa and remained a silent onlooker. “Now, sir, will you kindly tell us why you avoided the inquest on John Meredith?” ”

“ A woman of the world, entirely worldly, she had seen to it that Anne, her only child, had been provided with the best of education in a convent in Canada. Upon Anne’s graduation a year before, she had prevailed upon her brother-in-law, John Meredith, to give her a trip abroad before she made her debut.
John Meredith’s pride in his pretty niece had intensified with her success in society, and once again Ten Acres had become the center of social life. Diplomats, high government officials, and residential society sought eagerly for invitations to the banker’s lavish entertainments, and Mrs. ”

“ McLane nodded. “Her uncle, John Meredith, gave a marmosette to Anne for Christmas. It is a wonderfully intelligent little beast. Anne called it her thinking machine.”
“I never heard of it—”
“How many days have you been here?” quickly. “I came last Friday,” stopping to count; “this is Wednesday morning, four days in all.”
“And John Meredith was killed on Sunday night,” put in McLane. “It is hardly surprising that you are not familiar with everything about Ten Acres and its inmates.”
“I’ve found it a house of mystery,” groaned Curtis. “Where does Anne keep her monkey?” ”

“ Nothing could be more suave and apparently tranquil than Mrs. Meredith’s voice and manner. It had just occurred to her astute mind that the blind surgeon might be a person to propitiate. She saw Anne’s face of distress, Curtis’ slight, cynical smile, and met Leonard McLane’s questioning glance with supreme audacity. “I saw Doctor Curtis and Sam leave John’s bedroom and rush down the corridor. ”

“ Anthony went on nodding like an automaton set in motion. "There's two sides to that. I'm a long-lived man. Long-lived men don't insure; that is, unless they're fools. That's how the Offices thrive."
"Case of accident?" the farmer suggested.
"Oh! nothing happens to me," replied Anthony.
The farmer jumped on his legs, and yawned.
"Shall we take a turn in the garden, brother Tony?"
"With all my heart, brother William John."
The farmer had conscience to be ashamed of the fit of irritable vexation which had seized on him ”

“ A man in a temper might give out valuable information. “And it has been very apparent that you have also avoided an interview with us since then.”
“Well, what of it?” Armstrong assumed a more comfortable position. “Come, Inspector, why worry about the past? Now that I am at leisure I shall be very happy to answer any questions you put to me, provided always,” with a smile meant to be ingratiating, “that it is within my power to answer them.”
“Of course,” dryly. “Why did you leave Ten Acres so precipitately after John Meredith signed those papers on Sunday night?” ”