The Poisoned Pen(Fiscle Part-3) - Arthur B. Reeve (best detective novels of all time TXT) 📗

F.' Engraved On It. His Hands And

Arms And Head Must Have Been Right Under The Locomotive When It

Struck Him,  I Judge."

 

"I Guess That Winds The Case Up,  Eh?" Exclaimed O'connor With

Evident Chagrin. "Where's The Woman?"

 

Part 3 Chapter 5 (The Confidence King) Pg 48

They Said She Was In The Little Local Hospital,  But Not Much

Hurt. Just The Shock And A Few Bruises."

 

O'connor's Question Seemed To Suggest An Idea To Burke,  And He

Reached For The Telephone Again. "Riverwood 297," He Ordered; Then

To Us As He Waited He Said: "We Must Hold The Woman. Hello,  297?

The Hospital? This Is Burke Of The Secret Service. Will You Tell

My Man,  Who Must Be Somewhere About,  That I Would Like To Have Him

Hold That Woman Who Was In The Auto Smash Until I Can--What? Gone?

The Deuce!"

 

He Hung Up The Receiver Angrily. "She Left With A Man Who Called

For Her About Half An Hour Ago," He Said. "There Must Be A Gang Of

Them. Forbes Is Dead,  But We Must Get The Rest. Mr. Kennedy,  I'm

Sorry To Have Bothered You,  But I Guess We Can Handle This Alone,

After All. It Was The Finger-Prints That Fooled Us,  But Now That

Forbes Is Out Of The Way It's Just A Straight Case Of Detective

Work Of The Old Style Which Won't Interest You."

 

"On The Contrary," Answered Kennedy,  "I'm Just Beginning To Be

Interested. Does It Occur To You That,  After All,  Forbes May Not

Be Dead?"

 

"Not Dead?" Echoed Burke And O'connor Together.

 

"Exactly; That's Just What I Said--Not Dead. Now Stop And Think A

Moment. Would The Great Forbes Be So Foolish As To Go About With A

Watch Marked 'W. F.' If He Knew,  As He Must Have Known,  That You

Would Communicate With London And By Means Of The Prints Find Out

All About Him?"

 

"Yes," Agreed Burke,  "All We Have To Go By Is His Watch Found On

Williams. I Suppose There Is Some Possibility That Forbes May

Still Be Alive."

 

"Who Is This Third Man Who Comes In And With Whom Harriet

Wollstone Goes Away So Willingly?" Put In O'connor. "You Said The

House Had Been Closed--Absolutely Closed?"

 

Burke Nodded. "Been Closed Ever Since The Last Arrest. There's A

Servant Who Goes In Now And Then,  But The Car Hasn't Been There

Before To-Night,  Wherever It Has Been."

 

"I Should Like To Watch That House Myself For A While," Mused

Kennedy. "I Suppose You Have No Objections To My Doing So?"

 

"Of Course Not. Go Ahead," Said Burke. "I Will Go Along With You

If You Wish,  Or My Man Can Go With You."

 

"No," Said Kennedy,  "Too Many Of Us Might Spoil The Broth. I'll

Watch Alone To-Night And Will See You In The Morning. You Needn't

Even Say Anything To Your Man There About Us."

 

"Walter,  What's On For To-Night?" He Asked When They Had Gone.

"How Are You Fixed For A Little Trip Out To Riverwood?"

 

"To Tell The Truth,  I Had An Engagement At The College Club With

Some Of The Fellows."

 

"Oh,  Cut It."

 

"That's What I Intend To Do," I Replied.

 

It Was A Raw Night,  And We Bundled Ourselves Up In Old Football

Sweaters Under Our Overcoats. Half An Hour Later We Were On Our

Way Up To Riverwood.

 

"By The Way,  Craig," I Asked,  "I Didn't Like To Say Anything

Before Those Fellows. They'd Think I Was A Dub. But I Don't Mind

Asking You. What Is This 'Portrait Parle' They Talk About,

Anyway?"

Part 3 Chapter 5 (The Confidence King) Pg 49

 

"Why,  It's A Word-Picture--A 'Spoken Picture,' To Be Literal. I

Took Some Lessons In It At Bertillon's School When I Was In Paris.

It's A Method Of Scientific Apprehension Of Criminals,  A Sort Of

Necessary Addition And Completion To The Methods Of Scientific

Identification Of Them After They Are Arrested. For Instance,  In

Trying To Pick Out A Given Criminal From His Mere Description You

Begin With The Nose. Now,  Noses Are All Concave,  Straight,  Or

Convex. This Forbes Had A Nose That Was Concave,  Burke Says.

Suppose You Were Sent Out To Find Him. Of All The People You Met,

We'll Say,  Roughly,  Two-Thirds Wouldn't Interest You. You'd Pass

Up All With Straight Or Convex Noses. Now The Next Point To

Observe Is The Ear. There Are Four General Kinds Of Ears-

Triangular,  Square,  Oval,  And Round,  Besides A Number Of Other

Differences Which Are Clear Enough After You Study Ears. This

Fellow Is A Pale Man With Square Ears And A Peculiar Lobe To His

Ear. So You Wouldn't Give A Second Glance To,  Say,  Three-Fourths

Of The Square-Eared People. So By A Process Of Elimination Of

Various Features,  The Eyes,  The Mouth,  The Hair,  Wrinkles,  And So

Forth,  You Would Be Able To Pick Your Man Out Of A Thousand--That

Is,  If You Were Trained."

 

"And It Works?" I Asked Rather Doubtfully.

 

"Oh,  Yes. That's Why I'm Taking Up This Case. I Believe Science

Can Really Be Used To Detect Crime,  Any Crime,  And In The Present

Instance I've Just Pride Enough To Stick To This Thing Until--

Until They Begin To Cut Ice On The Styx. Whew,  But It Will Be Cold

Out In The Country To-Night,  Walter--Speaking About Ice."

 

It Was Quite Late When We Reached Riverwood,  And Kennedy Hurried

Along The Dimly Lighted Streets,  Avoiding The Main Street Lest

Some One Might Be Watching Or Following Us. He Pushed On,

Following The Directions Burke Had Given Him. The House In

Question Was A Large,  Newly Built Affair Of Concrete,  Surrounded

By Trees And A Hedge,  Directly Overlooking The River. A Bitter

Wind Swept In From The West,  But In The Shadow Of An Evergreen

Tree And Of The Hedge Kennedy Established Our Watch.

 

Of All Fruitless Errands This Seemed To Me To Be The Acme. The

House Was Deserted; That Was Apparent,  I Thought,  And I Said So.

Hardly Had I Said It When I Heard The Baying Of A Dog. It Did Not

Come From The House,  However,  And I Concluded That It Must Have

Come From The Next Estate.

 

"It's In The Garage," Whispered Kennedy. "I Can Hardly Think They

Would Go Away And Leave A Dog Locked Up In It. They Would At Least

Turn Him Loose."

 

Hour After Hour We Waited. Midnight Passed,  And Still Nothing

Happened. At Last When The Moon Had Disappeared Under The Clouds,

Kennedy Pulled Me Along. We Had Seen Not A Sign Of Life In The

House,  Yet He Observed All The Caution He Would Have If It Had

Been Well Guarded. Quickly We Advanced Over The Open Space To The

House,  Approaching In The Shadow As Much As Possible,  On The Side

Farthest From The River.

 

Tiptoeing Over The Porch,  Kennedy Tried A Window. It Was Fastened.

Without Hesitation He Pulled Out Some Instruments. One Of Them Was

A Rubber Suction-Cup,  Which He Fastened To The Window-Pane. Then

With A Very Fine Diamond-Cutter He Proceeded To Cut Out A Large

Section. It Soon Fell And Was Prevented From Smashing On The Floor

By The String And The Suction-Cup. Kennedy Put His Hand In And

Unlatched The Window,  And We Stepped In.

 

All Was Silent. Apparently The House Was Deserted.

 

Cautiously Kennedy Pressed The Button Of His Pocket Storage-

Battery Lamp And Flashed It Slowly About The Room. It Was A Sort

Of Library,  Handsomely Furnished. At Last The Beam Of Light Rested

On A Huge Desk At The Opposite End. It Seemed To Interest Kennedy,

Part 3 Chapter 5 (The Confidence King) Pg 50

And We Tiptoed Over To It. One After Another He Opened The

Drawers. One Was Locked,  And He Saved That Until The Last.

 

Quietly As He Could,  He Jimmied It Open,  Muffling The Jimmy In A

Felt Cloth That Was On A Table. Most People Do Not Realise The

Disruptive Force That There Is In A Simple Jimmy. I Didn't Until I

Saw The Solid Drawer With Its Heavy Lock Yield With Just The Trace

Of A Noise. Kennedy Waited An Instant And Listened. Nothing

Happened.

 

Inside The Drawer Was A Most Nondescript Collection Of Useless

Articles. There Were A Number Of Pieces Of Fine Sponge,  Some Of

Them Very Thin And Cut In A Flat Oval Shape,  Smelling Of Lysol

Strongly; Several Bottles,  A Set Of Sharp Little Knives,  Some

Paraffin,  Bandages,  Antiseptic Gauze,  Cotton--In Fact,  It Looked

Like A First-Aid Kit. As Soon As He Saw It Kennedy Seemed

Astonished But Not At A Loss To Account For It.

 

"I Thought He Left That Sort Of Thing To The Doctors,  But I Guess

He Took A Hand In It Himself," He Muttered,  Continuing To Fumble

With The Knives In The Drawer. It Was No Time To Ask Questions,

And I Did Not. Kennedy Rapidly Stowed Away The Things In His

Pockets. One Bottle He Opened And Held To His Nose. I Could

Distinguish Immediately The Volatile Smell Of Ether. He Closed It

Quickly,  And It,  Too,  Went Into His Pocket With The Remark,

"Somebody Must Have Known How To Administer An Anaesthetic--

Probably The Wollstone Woman."

 

A Suppressed Exclamation From Kennedy Caused Me To Look. The

Drawer Had A False Back. Safely Tucked Away In It Reposed A Tin

Box,  One Of Those So-Called Strong-Boxes Which Are So Handy In

That They Save A Burglar Much Time And Trouble In Hunting All Over

For The Valuables He Has Come After. Kennedy Drew It Forth And

Laid It On The Desk. It Was Locked.

 

Even That Did Not Seem To Satisfy Kennedy,  Who Continued To

Scrutinise The Walls And Corners Of The Room As If Looking For A

Safe Or Something Of That Sort.

 

"Let's Look In The Room Across The Hall," He Whispered.

 

Suddenly A Piercing Scream Of A Woman Rang Out Upstairs. "Help!

Help! There's Some One In The House! Billy,  Help!"

 

I Felt An Arm Grasp Me Tightly,  And For A Moment A Chill Ran Over

Me At Being Caught In The Nefarious Work Of Breaking And Entering

A Dwelling-House At Night. But It Was Only Kennedy,  Who Had

Already Tucked The Precious Little Tin Box Under His Arm.

 

With A Leap He Dragged Me To The Open Window,  Cleared It,  Vaulted

Over The Porch,  And We Were Running For The Clump Of Woods That

Adjoined The Estate On One Side. Lights Flashed In All The Windows

Of The House At Once. There Must Have Been Some Sort Of Electric-

Light System That Could Be Lighted Instantly As A "Burglar-

Expeller." Anyhow,  We Had Made Good Our Escape.

 

As We Lost Ourselves In The Woods I Gave A Last Glance Back And

Saw A Lantern