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

In My Chain Of

Protection Of The Hotel Against Crooks. He Was There To Listen And

To Tip Me Off,  Which He Did Between Orders.

 

"There Wasn't Much That He Overheard,  But What There Was Of It Was

So Suspicious That I Did Not Hesitate To Conclude That The Fellow

Was An Undesirable Guest. It Was Something About The Panama Canal,

And A Coaling Station Of A Steamship And Fruit Concern On The

Shore Of One Of The Latin American Countries. It Was,  He Said,  In

Reality To Be The Coaling Station Of A Certain European Power

Which He Did Not Name But Which The Younger Man Seemed To

Understand. They Talked Of Wharves And Tracts Of Land,  Of

Sovereignty And Blue Prints,  The Monroe Doctrine,  Value In Case Of

War,  And A Lot Of Other Things. Then They Talked Of Money,  And

Though Charley Was Most Assiduous At The Time All He Overheard Was

Something About 'Ten Thousand Francs' And 'Buying Her Off,' And

Finally A Whispered Confidence Of Which He Caught The Words,  'Just

A Blind To Get Her Over Here,  Away From Paris.' Finally The Dark

Man In An Apparent Burst Of Confidence Said Something About 'The

Other Plans Being The Real Thing After All,' And That The Whole

Affair Would Bring Him In Fifty Thousand Francs,  With Which He

Could Afford To Be Liberal. Charley Could Get No Inkling About

What That Other Thing Was.

Part 3 Chapter 9 (The Unofficial Spy) Pg 102

"But I Felt Sure That He Had Heard Enough To Warrant The Belief

That Some Kind Of Confidence Game Was Being Discussed. To Tell The

Truth I Didn't Care Much What It Was,  At The Time. It Might Have

Been An Attempt Of The Dark-Visaged Fellow To Sell The Canal To A

Come-On. What I Wanted Was To Have It Known That The Vanderveer

Was Not To Be A Resort Of Such Gentry As This. But I'm Afraid It

Was Much More Serious Than I Thought At The Time.

 

"Well,  The Dark Man Finally Excused Himself And Sauntered Into The

Lobby And Up To The Desk,  With Me After Him Around The Opposite

Way. He Was Looking Over The Day's Arrivals On The Register When I

Concluded That It Was About Time To Do Something. I Was Standing

Directly Beside Him Lighting A Cigar. I Turned Quickly On Him And

Deliberately Trod On The Man's Patent Leather Shoe. He Faced Me

Furiously At Not Getting Any Apology. 'Sacre,' He Exclaimed,  'What

The--' But Before He Could Finish I Moved Still Closer And Pinched

His Elbow. A Dull Red Glow Of Suppressed Anger Spread Over His

Face,  But He Cut His Words Short. He Knew And I Knew He Knew. That

Is The Sign In The Continental Hotels When They Find A Crook And

Quietly Ask Him To Move On. The Man Turned On His Heel And Stalked

Out Of The Hotel. By And By The Young Man In The Cafe,

Considerably Annoyed At The Sudden Inattention Of The Waiter Who

Acted As If He Wasn't Satisfied With His Tip,  Strolled Through The

Lobby And Not Seeing His Dark-Skinned Friend,  Also Disappeared. I

Wish To Heaven I Had Had Them Shadowed. The Young Fellow Wasn't A

Come-On At All. There Was Something Afoot Between These Two,  Mark

My Words."

 

"But Why Do You Connect That Incident With This Case Of Madame De

Nevers?" Asked Kennedy,  A Little Puzzled.

 

"Because The Next Day,  And The Day That Madame's Maid Disappeared,

I Happened To See A Man Bidding Good-Bye To A Woman At The Rear

Carriage Entrance Of The Hotel. The Woman Was Madame's Maid And

The Man Was The Dark Man Who Had Been Seated In The Cafe."

 

"You Said A Moment Ago That You Had A Good Description Of The Maid

Or Could Write One. Do You Think You Could Locate Her?"

 

The Hotel Detective Thought A Minute Or Two. "If She Has Gone To

Any Of The Other Hotels In This City,  I Could," He Answered

Slowly. "You Know We Have Recently Formed A Sort Of Clearing

House,  We Hotel Detectives,  And We Are Working Together Now Very

Well,  Though Secretly. It Is Barely Possible That She Has Gone To

Another Hotel. The Very Brazenness Of That Would Be Its Safeguard,

She Might Think."

 

"Then I Can Leave That Part Of It To You,  Mcbride?" Asked Kennedy

Thoughtfully As If Laying Out A Programme Of Action In His Mind.

"You Will Set The Hotel Detectives On The Trail As Well As The

Police Of The City,  And Of Other Cities,  Will Make The Inquiries

At The Steamships And Railroads,  And All That Sort Of Thing? Try

To Find Some Trace Of The Two Men Whom You Saw In The Cafe At The

Same Time. But For The Present I Should Say Spare No Effort To

Locate That Girl."

 

"Trust It To Me," Agreed Mcbride Confidently.

 

A Heavy Tap Sounded At The Door And Mcbride Opened It. It Was The

Coroner.

 

I Shall Not Go Into The Lengthy Investigation Which The Coroner

Conducted,  Questioning One Servant And Employee After Another

Without Eliciting Any More Real Information Than We Had Already

Obtained So Concisely From The House Man. The Coroner Was,  Of

Course,  Angry At The Removal Of The Body From The Closet To The

Bed Because He Wanted To View It In The Position In Which It Had

Been Found,  But As That Had Been Done By The Servants Before

Mcbride Could Stop Them,  There Was Nothing To Do About It But

Accept The Facts.

Part 3 Chapter 9 (The Unofficial Spy) Pg 103

"A Very Peculiar Case," Remarked The Coroner At The Conclusion Of

His Examination,  With The Air Of A Man Who Could Shed Much Light

On It From His Wide Experience If He Chose. "There Is Just One

Point That We Shall Have To Clear Up,  However. What Was The Cause

Of The Death Of The Deceased? There Is No Gas In The Room. It

Couldn't Have Been Illuminating Gas,  Then. No,  It Must Have Been A

Poison Of Some Kind. Then As To The Motive," He Added,  Trying To

Look Confident But Really Shooting A Tentative Remark At Craig And

The House Detective,  Who Said Nothing. "It Looks A Good Deal Like

That Other Suicide--At Least A Suicide Which Some One Has

Endeavoured To Conceal," He Added,  Hastily Recollecting The Manner

In Which The Body Had Been Found And His Criticisms Of The Removal

From The Closet. "Didn't I Tell You?" Rejoined Mcbride Dolefully

After We Had Left The Coroner Downstairs A Few Minutes Later. "I

Knew He Would Think The Hotel Was Hiding Something From Him."

 

"We Can't Help What He Thinks--Yet," Remarked Craig. "All We Can

Do Is To Run Down The Clues Which We Have. I Will Leave The Maid

To Be Found By Your Organisation,  Mcbride. Let Me See,  The

Theatres And Roof Gardens Must Be Letting Out By This Time. I Will

See If I Can Get Any Information From Miss Lovelace. Find Her

Address,  Walter,  And Call A Cab."

 

The Southern Heiress,  Who Had Attracted More Attention By Her

Beauty Than By Her Fortune Which Was Only Moderate As American

Fortunes Go Nowadays,  Lived In An Apartment Facing The Park,  With

Her Mother,  A Woman Whose Social Ambitions It Was Commonly Known

Had No Bounds And Were Often Sadly Imposed Upon.

 

Fortunately We Arrived At The Apartment Not Very Many Minutes

After The Mother And Daughter,  And Although It Was Late,  Kennedy

Sent Up His Card With An Urgent Message To See Them. They Received

Us In A Large Drawing-Room And Were Plainly Annoyed By Our Visit,

Though That Of Course Was Susceptible Of A Natural Interpretation.

 

"What Is It That You Wished To See Me About?" Began Mrs. Lovelace

In A Tone Which Was Intended To Close The Interview Almost Before

It Was Begun.

 

Kennedy Had Not Wished To See Her About Anything,  But Of Course He

Did Not Even Hint As Much In His Reply Which Was Made To Her But

Directed At Miss Lovelace.

 

"Could You Tell Me Anything About A Madame De Nevers Who Was

Staying At The Vanderveer?" Asked Craig,  Turning Quickly To The

Daughter So As To Catch The Full Effect Of His Question,  And Then

Waiting As If Expecting The Answer From Her.

 

The Young Lady's Face Blanched Slightly And She Seemed To Catch

Her Breath For An Instant,  But She Kept Her Composure Admirably In

Spite Of The Evident Shock Of Craig's Purposely Abrupt Question.

 

"I Have Heard Of Her," Miss Lovelace Replied With Forced Calmness

As He Continued To Look To Her For An Answer. "Why Do You Ask?"

 

"Because A Woman Who Is Supposed To Be Madame De Nevers Has

Committed Suicide At The Vanderveer And It Was Thought That

Perhaps You Could Identify Her."

 

By This Time She Had Become Perfect Mistress Of Herself Again,

From Which I Argued That Whatever Knowledge She Had Of Madame Was

Limited To The Time Before The Tragedy.

 

"I,  Identify Her? Why,  I Never Saw Her. I Simply Know That Such A

Creature Exists."

 

She Said It Defiantly And With An Iciness Which Showed More

Plainly Than In Mere Words That She Scorned Even An Acquaintance

With A Demi-Mondaine.

Part 3 Chapter 9 (The Unofficial Spy) Pg 104

 

"Do You Suppose The Duc De Chateaurouge Would Be Able To Identify

Her? "Asked Kennedy Mercilessly. "One Moment,  Please," He Added,

Anticipating The Blank Look Of Amazement On Her Face. "I Have

Reason To Believe That The Duke Is In This Country Incognito--Is

He Not?"

 

Instead Of Speaking She Merely Raised Her Shoulders A Fraction Of

An Inch.

 

"Either In New York Or In Washington," Pursued Kennedy.

 

"Why Do You Ask Me?" She Said At Length. "Isn't It Enough That

Some Of The Newspapers Have Said So? If You See It In The

Newspapers,  It's So--Perhaps--Isn't It?"

 

We Were Getting Nowhere In This Interview,  At Least So I Thought.

Kennedy Cut It Short,  Especially As He Noted The Evident

Restlessness Of Mrs. Lovelace. However,  He Had Gained His Point.

Whether Or Not The Duke Was In New York Or Washington Or

Spitzbergen,  He Now Felt Sure That Miss Lovelace Knew Of,  And

Perhaps Something About,  Madame De Nevers. In Some Way The Dead

Woman Had Communicated With Her And Miss Lovelace Had Been The

Woman Whom The Hotel Clerk Had Seen At The Vanderveer. We Withdrew

As Gracefully As Our Awkward Position Permitted.

 

As There Was Nothing Else To Be Done At That Late Hour,  Craig

Decided To Sleep Soundly Over The Case,  His Infallible Method Of

Taking A Fresh Start After He Had Run Up A Cul-De-Sac.

 

Imagine