A Master Hand Part 2

I remembered it, also, but its disappearance seemed unaccountable upon any theory, and I concluded it would be found somewhere in the room or hall and dismissed it from my mind for the time. I asked Davis if he had seen either Littell or Van Bult, but he said no; that he had been aroused about seven o'clock by a maid servant of the house who was almost hysterical, and only managed to tell him to go down and "see what was there." He had dressed hastily and come down to find things as I saw them, only that there was no one present at that time but a policeman and the landlady, the former standing guard over the door, which was open, and the latter sitting in a half-dazed state on a chair in the hall. That shortly afterwards another officer had appeared with the man to whom I had been talking, he presumed a detective, and he had then been admitted to the room, but not questioned in any way or permitted to touch anything. He said Benton had also appeared at the door with the detective and officer, but had rushed off again somewhere, and that he had seen no one else, except a few of the inmates of the house, and Dr.

Lincoln, who had come in, p.r.o.nounced White dead and left again, saying that he would return at once.

I then turned from Davis, who had resumed his seat, and rejoined the detective, but the latter knew less even than we, for to my question--what did he make of it?--he answered "Nothing yet. The man has been murdered, I think, that is all."

I had seen more or less of this man, Miles, and knew him to be cleverer than the average detective, intelligent, and experienced in his business, and disinclined to hazard opinions prematurely or unofficially, and though I might by insistence have gleaned further expression from him on account of my more or less authoritative position, I did not think it advisable at the time, and allowed the matter to pa.s.s to give my attention to Benton, who had just returned.

He told me he had sent a message to Littell at his hotel, and that he would be down at once; also that he had been to Van Bult's rooms, but that the latter had left the city by an early train, and his servant did not know when he would return.

I asked him if he had summoned the officers and he said, "Yes"; that he had found the officer on the beat, nearby, immediately after discovering the crime, and brought him to the house, and then, by his direction, had notified the police station, after which he had come to me. By this time the doctor had returned, and a number of other people, official and otherwise, were in and about the room.

After a while, I saw Littell, who had come in without my observation, standing near the body. He turned away just then, and seeing me, came over and joined me, but further than a mutual expression of grief and horror, we had neither of us anything to say, and stood silently observing the scene.

He recognized and spoke to Davis, and asked where Van Bult was. I told him Benton's report, and he said nothing further. After a while the Inspector of Police directed every one but the officials to leave the room, and Littell and Davis were excluded with the others. I, by virtue of my office, remained and joined the Inspector.

He said the Coroner's jury were about to view the body and the premises, and that after they were gone the police would make a thorough investigation and I decided to remain till it was completed. Very shortly the Coroner and his jury entered, and the latter, after their usual fashion, stood huddled together and stared about them.

Most of them seemed to take chief interest in a morbid way in the body and one or two were inclined to handle it, but this was stopped by the Coroner, who promptly proceeded to herd them and march them through the rooms.

After they had made a tour of the sitting-room, they followed in wake of the Coroner, through the pa.s.sageway and bedroom and back into the sitting-room again. How much they really did observe that was worth while, I don't know, but I think very little. This formal ceremony over, they were indulged in another look at poor White and then taken away to meet later to "hear evidence and find a verdict."

Once they were gone, I drew a sigh of relief and in company with the Inspector and detective entered upon what was the real search of the premises. With the sitting-room and its contents I was very familiar, and nothing new was developed to interest me until the detective, leaning over the divan and White's body, reached down between it and the wall, where there was a s.p.a.ce of a few inches, and brought out a small plaid cap that I recognized as being a match to the plaid ulster that was missing.

The cap had been lying on the floor directly under White's head, where it partially hung over the divan, and had apparently fallen there when he lay down. On seeing it I could not suppress an exclamation of surprise which drew the attention of the officers; so I explained to them that I had not seen the cap since the night before, when it had been lying on a chair with the ulster, and that from its present place I concluded White must have worn it, whereas I had not supposed he had gone out after I had left him.

"But he did go out," said the Inspector, "and not very long after you left."

"But if he wore that cap," I inquired, "how about the ulster that was here last night. Where is it gone?"

"We don't know yet," he replied, "what he wore when he went out; we only know that he did go out." This ended the discussion of the subject for the time.

From the sitting-room we went through the pa.s.sageway, which contained nothing but some coats and hats hanging from hooks, the plaid ulster not being among them, and then into the bedroom. I saw nothing of interest here; the room was comfortably furnished, but not unusual in any way.

The bed had not been disturbed, and everything was in perfect order. Two windows in the rear opened into a yard about six feet below, and one was down from the top, about six inches; otherwise they were closed and the blinds drawn.

A door leading into the rear of the hall was also closed, and locked on the inside. Here, too, there was no sign of the plaid ulster which now seemed to me to bear some relation to the mystery.

Finding nothing further to especially interest me I left the officers to continue their search, and after looking through the adjoining bathroom, that disclosed nothing new, returned to the bedroom and thence, pa.s.sing the policeman standing guard at the door, went out of the house.

It was now past eleven o'clock, and I had eaten nothing that day. Still I was not hungry, but a feeling of faintness admonished me I must breakfast and at once, if only to fit myself for the difficulties of the case, for I had by this time determined to make it my special duty, if I could secure the consent of the District Attorney thereto.

After breakfasting at a neighboring restaurant, I took the "L" road to my office, studying on the way over the facts surrounding White's death as far as I knew them, but only two things seemed to promise any clue to the mystery,--the missing money and ulster.

CHAPTER IV

THE SUSPECT

On reaching the offices, I at once sought an interview with the District Attorney and found him expecting me. He had, of course, learned of the tragedy from police headquarters, and of my presence on the scene.

There was little I could tell him that he did not already know. The information he had received, however, was but a meagre statement of facts and supplied no clue to the criminal.

"I suppose," he said, "it will prove an ordinary case of burglary and incidental murder, and I have no doubt the police will soon run down their man."

With this expectation I could not so readily agree, and told him so. I explained to him that while the disappearance of the money I knew to have been on the table seemed to bear out his view, the absence of the ulster showed something in the case that would have to be explained.

"Well, Dallas," he said, "I confess I don't see why the ulster should not have been stolen as well as the money, and I doubt if we find the case in any way unusual, but perhaps you are right. Suppose you take charge of it for the office and follow it up!"

I could see he thought my connection with the matter, and friendship with White, was influencing my judgment, but as I was mainly anxious to obtain the commission he had voluntarily given me, I only replied that very likely it would prove so, and withdrew to my own office. Here leaving other matters neglected, I sat down, and thought the case over.

Could it be that the District Attorney was right and that I was trying to make a mystery out of a commonplace crime; certainly his prompt suggestion that the ulster had also been stolen along with the money was entirely likely and yet I could not satisfy myself that it was correct.

As I look back now I realize that it was the intuition of youth rather than the keen reasoning of an experienced lawyer that directed my judgment at that stage. The facts as they were apparent at the time furnished no sufficient ground for my conclusion and I was forced to admit to myself that I must reserve my judgment, at least from public expression, till I had more light on the case.

My interest and impatience, however, would not allow me to await in idleness the Coroner's hearing the next day, and I determined, therefore, to go at once to Inspector Dalton's office, and learn from that department all that was known. On entering the Inspector's office, I found him in consultation with Detective Miles.

I knew both men well, having worked with them before, and recognized in them conscientious officers of experience. The Inspector was a man of about sixty and somewhat pompous and dictatorial with the consciousness of power, which he owed, nevertheless, mainly to "political pull."

Miles, on the contrary, was a much younger man, and had attained to his position through good work. He was naturally keen and reticent, and well fitted for his vocation, and he possessed besides a better education than the average man of his calling.

The Inspector, however, was little more than a machine, without much originality, and he worked on the lines dictated by experience and with the means and methods tried and available. In the latter respect our police and detective departments are well equipped; also, they are well disciplined, and systematized; but what both departments should have and rarely possess, are men of exceptional ability, training, and broad education at their heads to plan and direct the work of their subordinates.

The consultation in which they were engaged was interrupted upon my entrance and they waited for what I might have to say.

In response to my request for any additional information they might have, Miles reported fully on his investigations of the morning and there were some newly disclosed facts of which I had not before been aware.

I had been told, as I have said, that White had gone out after we had left him, but it now developed from the night-officer's story that White had left the house a little after one o'clock wearing the plaid ulster and cap and had gone rapidly west on the north side of the street. He had returned the salute of the officer who was on the opposite side of the street. What further direction White took the officer could not say, as he had not watched him. He did not see White return, but about half an hour later when he was again approaching the house on his rounds he had observed a man peering in at one of White's windows, where the shade was slightly up, who, on finding himself observed, had walked away. The officer's suspicions were aroused, however, and he had returned to the scene again in a few minutes, and had then seen what appeared to be the same man come out of the vestibule of White's house and hurry west, turning up Sixth Avenue.

He had followed him to this point, though no further, but had gotten a fair view of him, and thought he could identify him by his clothing and walk.

"And how about the plaid ulster," I asked; "did the man have it or any large bundle with him that might contain it?"

"No," the Inspector answered, "he was dressed in a light overcoat and a brown derby hat, and carried no bundle of any kind."

"Then, where is the ulster," I repeated.

"I don't know," he replied, I thought, somewhat testily.

"We have got to find that coat, nevertheless," I persisted.

"We will find it, sir; I'll promise that," said Miles; "that is, if it has not been destroyed."

"Have you any idea," I asked, after a moment's reflection, "who was the man the night-officer saw?"

"Yes," said the Inspector, "we have an idea it may have been White's cousin, Winters."

"Henry Winters, do you mean?" I asked, startled.

"Yes," he said, "do you know him?"