The Darrow Enigma Part 19

Q. M. Latour obtained some books from the Public Library for hall use, giving his name as--as--

A. Weltz. Yes, they did a.s.sist me. There were some also taken under the name of Rizzi.

Q. Exactly. Those are the names, I think. How was your attention called to these books?

A. I met Latour at the library by accident, and he at once struck me as a man anxious to avoid observation. This made it my business to watch him. I saw that he signed his name as "Weltz" on the slips.

The next day I saw him there again, and this time he signed the slips "Rizzi." This was long before the murder, and I was not at work upon any case into which I could fit this "Weltz" or "Rizzi."

I was convinced in my own mind, however, that he was guilty of some crime, and so put him down in my memory for future reference. During my work upon this present case this incident recurred to me, and I followed up the suggestion as one which might possibly throw some light upon the subject.

Q. Did you peruse the books M. Latour borrowed under the names of Weltz and Rizzi?

A. I did not.

Q. Did you not look at any of them?

A. No. It did not occur to me to examine their names.

Q. You probably noticed that there were several of them. Among the pile was one by Alexander Wynter Blyth ent.i.tled, "Poisons, Their Effects and Detection." Did you notice that?

A. No. I did not notice any of them.

Q. But after you became suspicious of M. Latour, did you not then look up the slips, find this work, and read it?

A. No. I have never seen the book in my life and did not even know such a work existed.

Q. Oh! Then the perusal of the books had no part in the tracking of M. Latour.

A. None whatever.

Q. Do you ever play cards?

A. Yes, sometimes, to pa.s.s the time.

Q. Do you play for money?

A. Sometimes for a small stake--just enough to make it interesting.

Q. Are you familiar with the house in which Mr. Darrow was murdered?

A. I have only such knowledge of it as I acquired at the examination immediately after the murder. You will remember I entered but the one room.

Q. And the grounds about the house? Surely you examined them?

A. On the contrary, I did not.

Q. Did you not even examine the eastern side of the house?

A. I did not. I have never been within the gate save on the night in question, and then only to traverse the front walk to and from the house in company with Messieurs...o...b..rne and Allen. I was convinced that the solution of the problem was to be found within the room in which the murder was committed, and that my notes taken the night of the tragedy contained all the data I could hope to get.

Q. Was not this rather a singular a.s.sumption?

A. For many doubtless it would be; but I have my own methods, and I think I may say they have been measurably successful in most cases.

[This last was said with a good-natured smile and a modest dignity that completely won the audience.]

At this point Maitland dismissed M. G.o.din and the court adjourned for the day. That night M. G.o.din made his first call upon Gwen.

Their interview was private, and Gwen had nothing to say about it further than that her caller had not hesitated to inform her that he was aware a reward had been offered and that he considered he had earned it. Maitland questioned her as to what he had claimed as his due, but Gwen, with her face alternately flushed and ashen, begged to be permitted to keep silence.

This att.i.tude was, of course, not without its significance to Maitland, and it was easy to see that M. G.o.din's visit had much displeased him. But he was not the only one who was displeased that night. I regret that my promise of utter candour compels me to bear witness to my own foolishness; for when Maitland found it necessary to take Jeannette into the back parlour and to remain there alone with her in earnest conversation one hour and twelve minutes--I happened to notice the exact time--it seemed to me he was getting unpleasantly confidential, and it nettled me. You may fancy that I was jealous, but it was, most likely, only pique, or, at the worst, envy. I was provoked at the nonchalant ease with which this fellow did offhand a thing I had been trying to work myself up to for several days, and had finally abandoned from sheer lack of courage. Why couldn't I carelessly say to her, "Miss Jeannette, a word with you if you please," and then take her into the parlour and talk a "whole history." Oh, it was envy, that's what it was! And then the change in Jeannette! If he had not been making love to her--well, I have often wondered since if it were all envy, after all.

The next morning M. Latour's trial was resumed, and Maitland again put M. G.o.din upon the stand. The object of this did not appear at the time, though I think the Judge fully understood it. Maitland's first act was to show the Judge and Jury a gla.s.s negative and a letter, which he asked them to examine carefully as he held the articles before them. He then pa.s.sed the negative to M. G.o.din, saying:

"Please take this by the lower corner, between your thumb and forefinger, so that you may be sure not to touch the sight of the picture; hold it to the light, and tell me if you recognise the face." M. G.o.din did as directed and replied without hesitancy: "It is a picture of M. Latour." "Good," rejoined Maitland, taking back the negative and pa.s.sing him the letter; "now tell me if you recognise that signature." M. G.o.din looked sharply at the letter, holding it open between the thumb and forefinger of each hand, and read the signature, "'Carl Cazenove.' I should say that was M.

Latour's hand."

"Good again," replied Maitland, reaching for the paper and appearing somewhat disconcerted as he glanced at it. "You have s.m.u.tched the signature;--however, it doesn't matter," and he exhibited the paper to the Judge and Jury. "The negative must have been oily--yes, that's where it came from," and he quietly examined it with a magnifying gla.s.s, to the wonderment of us all. "That is all, M.

G.o.din; thank you."

As the celebrated detective left the stand we were all doing our best to fathom what possible bearing all this could have upon Latour's confession. M. G.o.din for once seemed equally at a loss to comprehend the trend of affairs, if I may judge by the deep furrows which gathered between his eyes.

Maitland then proceeded to address the Court and to sum up his case, the gist of which I shall give you as nearly as possible in his own words, omitting only such portions as were purely formal, uninteresting, or unnecessarily verbose.

"Your Honour and Gentlemen of the Jury: John Darrow was murdered and the prisoner, M. Gustave Latour, has confessed that he did the deed.

When a man denies the commission of a crime we do not feel bound to consider his testimony of any particular value; but when, on the other hand, a prisoner accused of so heinous a crime as murder responds to the indictment, 'I am guilty,' we instinctively feel impelled to believe his testimony. Why is this? Why do we doubt his word when he a.s.serts his innocence and accept it when he acknowledges his guilt? I will tell you. It is all a question of motive. Could we see as cogent a motive for a.s.severating his guilt as we find for his insisting upon his innocence, we should lend as much credence to the one as to the other. I propose to show that M.

Latour has what seems to him the strongest of motives for confessing to the murder of John Darrow. If I am able to do this to your satisfaction, I shall practically have thrown M. Latour's entire testimony out of court, and nothing of importance will then remain but the evidence of the government's witness, M. G.o.din."

A great wave of excitement swept over the room at these remarks.

"What!" each said to himself, "is it possible that this lawyer will try to prove that Latour, despite his circ.u.mstantial confession, did not commit the murder after all?" We did not dare let such a thought take hold of us, yet could not see what else could explain Maitland's remarks. Is it any wonder, therefore, that we all waited breathlessly for him to continue? M. G.o.din's face was dark and lowering. It was evident he did not propose to have his skill as a detective,--and with it the Darrow reward,--set aside without a struggle--at least so it seemed to me. The room was as quiet as the grave when Maitland continued.

"I shall show you that M. G.o.din's testimony is utterly unreliable, and, moreover, that it is intentionally so."

This was a direct accusation, and at it M. G.o.din's face became of ashen pallor. I felt that he was striving to control his anger and saw the effort that it cost him as he fastened Maitland with a stiletto-like look that was anything but rea.s.suring. George did not appear to notice it and continued easily:

"I shall prove to you beyond a doubt that, in the actual murder of John Darrow, only one person was concerned,--by which I mean, that only one person was outside the east window when he met his death.

I shall also show that M. Latour was not, and could not by any possibility have been, that person. [At this juncture Browne arose and walked toward the door. He was very pale and looked anything but well. I thought he was going to leave, but he reseated himself at the back of the room near the door.] I shall convince you that M. Latour's description of the way the murder was committed is false."

All eyes were turned toward Latour, but he made no sign either of affirmation or dissent. With his eyes closed and his hands falling listlessly in front of him, he sat in a half-collapsed condition, like one in a stupor. M. G.o.din shifted uneasily in his chair, as if he could not remain silent much longer. Maitland proceeded with calm deliberation:

"Mr. Clinton Browne--"

But he did not finish the sentence. At the name "Mr. Clinton Browne"

he was interrupted by a sudden commotion at the rear of the room, followed by a heavy fall which shook the whole apartment. We all turned and looked toward the door. Several men had gathered about someone lying upon the floor, and one of them was throwing water in the face of the prostrate man. Presently he revived a little, and they bore him out into the cooler air of the corridor. It was Clinton Browne. The great tension of the trial, his own strong emotions, and the closeness of the room had doubtless been too much for him. I could not but marvel at it, however. Here were delicate women with apparently little or no staying power, and yet this athlete, with the form of a Mars and the fibre of a Hercules, must be the first to succ.u.mb. Verily, even physicians are subject to surprises!

When quiet had been fully restored Maitland continued:

"I was about to say when the interruption occurred that Mr. Clinton Browne and Mr. Charles Herne would both testify to the fact that a very sensible time elapsed between the delivery of the blow and the death of the victim. You will see, therefore, that I shall prove to your satisfaction that Mr. Darrow's death did not result from prussic acid, as stated by the prisoner. I shall show you that a chemical a.n.a.lysis of the wound made in my laboratory shortly after the murder gave none of the well-known prussic-acid reactions. I shall prove to you that John Darrow sprang to his feet after receiving the blow which caused his death. That he clutched at his throat, and that, after an effort consuming several seconds, he spoke disjointedly.

I shall convince you that if he had been poisoned in the manner described he would have been dead before he could have so much as raised his hand to his throat. We have been very particular to make sure the exact nature of the poison which it is claimed was used, so there can be no possible doubt upon this point. I shall show you further that the little Capucin monkey which M. Latour says he killed is still alive, and I will produce him, if necessary, and will challenge M. Latour, or anyone else for that matter, to put him through the drill which it is claimed he has been taught. I shall inform you that, since I claim the monkey had no part in Mr. Darrow's death, I could not, during my examination of the prisoner, have been stating anything from knowledge when I spoke of the manner in which he had trained the animal, and gave details which M. Latour accepted as those of the murder. My sole effort was to state a plausible way, in order to see if the prisoner would not adopt it as the actual course pursued. I also coupled with this the killing of the monkey (though I knew the animal was still alive), that I might see if M.

Latour would follow my lead in this also. You have seen that he did so; that he indorsed my guesses where they were purely guesses, and that he also accepted the one statement I knew to be false. I shall therefore ask you to consider about what the chances are that a series of guesses like those which I made would represent the exact facts as M. Latour has claimed, while at the same time you do not lose sight of the undeniable fact that upon the only detail regarding which I had positive information, M. Latour bore false testimony."