 Chapter 14 The Dury's Verdict My first glance about the room the next morning showed me only too plainly what direction the inquiry was going to take. In the farther corner, half hidden, by Madison's broad back, sat Clancy, the Washington detective. I recognized him with an angry feeling of discouragement. If we were to have his version of the stolen bonds, Radner's last hope of gaining public sympathy was gone. Radner was the first person to be called to the stand. He had not noticed the detective, and I did not have a chance to inform him of his presence. The coroner plunged immediately into the question of the robbery and the hint, and it was only too evident from Radner's troubled eyes that it was a subject he did not wish to talk about. You have recently had a robbery at your house, Mr Gaylord? Yes. Please describe just what was stolen. Five bonds, government four percents, a bag of coin, about twenty dollars in all, and two deeds and an insurance policy. You have not been able to trace the thief? No. In spite of every effort. Well, we naturally looked into the matter. But you have been able to form no theory as to how the bonds were stolen. No, I have no theory, whatever. You employed a detective, I believe. Yes. And he arrived at no theory. Radner hesitated visibly while he framed an answer. He arrived at no theory which successfully covered the facts. But he did have a theory as to the whereabouts of the bonds. Did he not? Yes, but it was without any foundation, and I prefer not to go into it. The coroner abandoned the point. Mr Gaylord, there has lately been a rumour among the Negroes working at your place, in regard to the appearance of a ghost. Has there not? Yes. Can you offer any light on the subject? The Negroes are superstitious and easily frightened. When the rumour of a ghost gets started, it grows. The most of the stories existed only in their own imaginations. You believe then that there was no foundation, whatever, to any of the stories? I should rather not go into that. Mr Gaylord, do you believe that the ghost had any connection with the robbery? No, I do not. Do you think that the ghost had any connection with the murder of your father? No, said Radner. That is all, Mr Gaylord. James Clancy, as the name Radner suddenly raised his head, and half turned back as if to speak. But thinking better of it, he resumed his chair and watched the approach of the detective with an angry frown. Clancy did not glance at Radner, but gave his evidence in a quick, incisive way which forced the breathless attention of everyone in the room. He told without interruption the story of his arrival at four pools, and his conclusions in regard to the hand and the theft. He admitted, however, all mention of the letter. Am I to understand that you never made your conclusions known to Coon or Gaylord? The coroner asked. No, I had been employed by him, but I thought under the circumstances it was kinder to leave him in ignorance. That was a generous stand to take. I suppose you lost something in the way of the thief. The detective looked slightly uncomfortable over the question. Well, no, as it happened I didn't. There was a sort of cousin, Mr Crosby, he nodded toward me, visiting in the house, and he footed the bill. He seemed to think the young man hadn't intended to steal, and that it would be pleasanter all round if I left it for them to settle between themselves. I protested, I cried. I distinctly stated my conviction that Radnor Gaylord knew nothing of the bonds, and I paid him to get rid of him because I did not wish him troubling Coon or Gaylord with any such made-up story. Mr Clancy is testifying. Observe the coroner. Now, Mr Clancy, as I understand it, you discovered as you supposed the guilty man, and instead of going to your employer with the story and receiving your pay from him, you accepted it from the person you had accused, or at least from his friend. I've explained the circumstances. It was a mere matter of accommodation. I suppose you know what such accommodation is called. If you mean it was blackmail, that's false. At least, he added quickly, relapsing into good nature. It was a mighty generous kind of blackmail. I could have got my pay fast enough from the colonel, but I didn't want to stir up trouble. We all know that it isn't the innocent who paid blackmail. He added parenthetically. Do you mean to insinuate that Mr Crosby is implicated? Lord know, he's as innocent as a lamb. Young Gaylord was too smart for him. He hoodwinked him, as well as the colonel, into believing the bonds were stolen while he was out of the house. A smile ran across the room, and the detective was excused. I sprung to my feet. One moment, I said, I should like to ask Mr Clancy some questions. The young man was turned over to me. Plainly against his wishes. What proof have you, Mr Clancy, that the bonds were not stolen while Mr Gaylord was out of the house? Well, my investigations led me to the belief that he stole them, and that, being the case, it must have been done before he left the house. I see. And your investigations concerned themselves largely with the letter that you felt from Mr Gaylord's coat pocket in the night. Did they not? Not entirely. The letter merely struck me as corroborative evidence, though I have since learned. Mr Clancy, I interrupted sternly. Did you not tell me, at the time, that the letter was absolute proof of his guilt? Yes or no? I may have said so, but— Mr Clancy, will you kindly repeat what was in that letter? It referred to some bonds. I don't know that I can recall the exact words. Then I must request you to read it. I returned, picking it out from a bundle of papers on the table and handing it to him. I am sorry to take up so much time with a matter that has nothing to do with the murder. I added to the coroner that you yourself brought up the subject, and it is only fair to hear the whole story. He nodded permission and ordered Clancy to read the letter. The detective did so admit an astonished hush. It struck everyone as a proof of guilt, and no one could understand why I had forced it to the front. Now, Mr Clancy, said I, please tell the jury Mr Gaylord's explanation of this letter. Clancy, with a somewhat sheepish air, gave the gist of what Radnor had said. Did you believe that story when you first heard it? I asked. No, said he. I did not, because— Very well. But you later went to the office of Jacob the Hate and company and looked over the files of their correspondence with Radnor Gaylord and verified his statement in every particular. Did you not? Yes, I did, but still. That is all I wish to ask, Mr Clancy. I think the reason is evident. I added, turning to the jury, why I was willing to pay in order to get rid of him. Nobody's character, nobody's correspondence was safe while he was in the house. The detective retired amidst general laughter, and I could see that feeling had veered again in Radnor's favour. The total effect of the evidence respecting the hand and the robbery was good rather than bad, and I'm more than fancy that I was indebted to the sheriff for it. Radnor was not called again, and that was the end of the testimony in regard to him. The rest of the time was taken up with the consideration of Kant Imose and some other further questioning of the Negroes in regard to the Hate. Old Nancy created considerable diversion with her account of the spirited roast chicken. It had changed materially since I heard at last. She was emphatic in her statement that Mass Rad didn't have nothing to do with him. He was a show-nuff hunt, and his garment smelled of the graveyard. The evidence respecting Mass brought out nothing of any consequence, and with that the hearing was brought to a close. The coroner instructed the jury on two or three points of the law and ended with the brief formula. You have heard the testimony given by these witnesses. It remains for you to do your duty. After an interminimal half-hour, the jury men fill back to their seats, and the clerk read the verdict. We find that the said Richard Gaylord came to his death in Luray Cabin on the nineteenth day of May by cerebral hemorrhage. The result of a wound inflicted by some blunt weapon in the hands of a person or persons unknown. We recommend that Radna Fanshawe Gaylord be held for trial before the grand jury. Rad appeared dazed at the verdict, though in the face of the evidence and his own stubborn refusal to explain it. I don't see how he could have expected any other outcome. As for myself, it was better than I had feared. End of Chapter 14 Chapter 15. At the Four Pills Mystery This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Four Pills Mystery by Jean Webster. Chapter 15. False Clues The fight had now fairly begun. The District Attorney was working up the side of the prosecution, aided I was sure by the overzealous sheriff. It remained for me to map out some definite plan of action and organise for defence. As I rode back to Four Pills in the early evening after the inquest, I continued to dwell upon the evidence, searching blindly for some clue. The question which returned most persistently to my mind was what has become of Cat Imo's. It was clear that upon the answer to this question hinged the ultimate solution of the mystery. I still clung to the belief that he was guilty and in hiding, but five days had elapsed since the murder, and no trace of him had been discovered. It seemed incredible that a man, however well he might know his ground, could, with a whole county on his track, elude detection so effectually. Supposing after all that he were not guilty, but the sheriff's theory that he had been killed and the body concealed were true, then who besides Redner could have had any motive for committing the crime? There was nothing from the past that afforded even the suggestion of a clue. The old man seemed to have had no enemies but his sons. His sons? The thought of Jeff suddenly sprung into my mind. If anyone on earth owed the colonel a grudge, it was his elder son. And Jeff had more than he share at the Gaylord's spirit, which could not lightly forgive an injury. Could he have returned secretly to the neighbourhood, and following his father into the cave, have quarrelled with him? Heaven knows he had cause enough. He may, in his anger, have struck the old man without knowing what he was doing, and overcome with horror at the result have left him and fled. I was almost as reluctant to believe him guilty of the crime as to believe it on Redner, but the thought having once come would not be dismissed. I knew that he had sunk pretty low in the nine years since his disappearance, but I could never think of him otherwise than as I myself remembered him. He had been the hero of my boyhood, and I revolted from the thought of deliberately setting out to prove him guilty of his father's murder. I spurred my horse into a gallop, miserably trying to escape from my suspicion, but the more I put it from me as impossible, the sureer I became that at last I had stumbled on a clue. Automatically I began adjusting the evidence to fit this new theory, and reluctant as I was to see it, every circumstance from the beginning fitted it perfectly. Jeff had returned secretly to the neighborhood, had taken up his abode in the old Negro cabins, and made his presence known only to Moes. Moes had stolen the chicken for him, and the various other missing articles. They had resurrected the hand to frighten the Negroes away from the laurel walk, and the night of the party, Red, in his masquerade, had accidentally discovered his brother. Jeff demanded money, and Red undertook to supply it in order to get him away without his father's knowing. That was why he had borrowed the hundred dollars from me, and had written to his brokers to sell the bonds. It was Jeff who was sitting beside Radner the night they drove across the lawn, but unknown to Rad, Jeff had found his way back, and had robbed the safe, and Rad, suspecting it, had refused to make an investigation. During the eleven days that intervened between the robbery and the murder, Jeff had still been hiding in the vicinity, possibly in the neighborhood of Luray, certainly no longer in the cabins, for he had no desire to meet his brother. But on the day of the picnic they had met and quarrelled, Rad had charged him with the robbery, and they had parted in a high state of anger. This would explain Rad's actions in the hotel, his white face later when I found him in the summer house. And Jeff, still quivering from the boy's accusation, had gone back into the cave and met his father, as the old man was coming from the little gallery of the broken column, with Polly Mater's coat. What had happened there I did not like to consider. They both had uncontrolled tempers, and in the past there had been wrongs on both sides. Probably Jeff's blow had been harder than he meant. In the evening when Madison and I brought the news of the murder, Rad must have known instantly who was the real culprit. That was why he had kept silent. That was why he so vehemently insisted on Moses' innocence. I had found the light at last, though the darkness had been almost better. What must I do? I asked myself. Was it my duty to search out Jefferson and convict him of this crime? No one could tell what provocation he may have had. Why not let matters take their course? There was nothing but circumstantial evidence against Radner. Surely no jury would convict him on that. I could work up a sufficient case against Moses to assure his acquittal. He would be released with a blot on his name. He would be regarded for the rest of his life with suspicion. But in any event there seemed to be no outcome which would not involve the family in endless trouble and disgrace. And besides, if he himself elected to be silent, had I any right to speak, then I pulled myself together. Yes, it was not only right for me to speak. It was my duty. Rad should not be allowed to sacrifice himself. The truth at whatever cost must be brought out. My first move must be to discover Jeff's whereabouts on the day of his father's murder. It ought not to be difficult to trace a man who had come more than once under the surveillance of the police. Having made up my mind as to the necessary cause, I lost no time in putting it into action. I barely waited to snatch a hasty supper before riding back to the village. From there I sent a 50-word telegram to the Chief of Police in Seattle, asking for any information as to the whereabouts of Jefferson Gaylord on the 19th of May. It was ten o'clock the next morning before an answer came, so sure was I of what it was going to contain, that I read the words twice before comprehending them. Jefferson Gaylord spent May 19th in Lumber Camp, 30 miles from Seattle. Well-known character, mistaken identity, impossible. Henry Waterson, police commissioner. I had become so obsessed with the horror of my new theory, so sure that Jeff was the murderer of his father that I could not readjust my thoughts to the idea that he had been, at the time of the crime, 3,000 miles away. The case then still stood exactly where it had stood from the beginning. Six days had passed since the murder, and I was not one inch nearer the truth. Six days. I realised it with a dull feeling of hopelessness. Every day now that was allowed to pass, only lessened the chance of our ever-finding moes and solving the mystery. I still stood with the telegram in my hand, staring at the words. I was vaguely aware that a boy from Miller's Place had ridden up to the house on a bicycle, but not until Solomon approached, with a second yellow envelope in his hand, was I jostled back into a state of comprehension. Near telegram, Marce Arnold. I snatched it from him and ripped it open, hoping against hope that at last a clue had turned up. New York, May 25, post-dispatch once correspondent on spot. If you have any facts to give out, save them for me. Arrived Lambert Junction, 350. Terrence K. Patton. Under the terrible strain of the past six days, I had completely forgotten Terry's existence, and now the memory of his cool impertence came back to me with a rush. For the first moment I felt too angry to think. I had not credited even his presumption with anything like this. His interference in the Patterson practice business was bad enough, that he might have realised that this was a personal matter. He was calmly proposing to turn this horrible tragedy into a story for the Sunday papers, and that to a member of the murdered man's own family. Hot within indignation, I tore the telegram into shreds and stalked into the house. I paced up and down the hall for fifteen minutes, planning what I should say to him when he arrived, and then, as I calmed down, I commenced to see the thing in its crude light. The whole account of the crime to the minutest detail had already appeared in every newspaper in the country, together with the most outrageous stories of Radner's past career. At least nothing could be worse than what had already been said, and, after all, was not the truth, any truth, better than these vague suspicions. This terrible suspense, Terry could find the truth if any man on earth could do it. He had, I knew, unraveled other tangles as mysterious as this. He was used to this sort of work, and bringing to the matter a fresh mind would see light where it was only darkness to me. I had been under such a terrific strain for so long, and had borne so much responsibility that the very thought of having someone with whom I could share it gave me new strength. My feeling toward him veered suddenly from indignation to gratitude. His irrepressible confidence in himself inspired with the light confidence, and I wondered what I had been thinking of that I had not sent for him at once. To my jaded mind his promised arrival appeared better than a clue. It was almost equal to a solution. End of Chapter 15 Chapter 16 At the Four Pills Mystery This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Four Pills Mystery by Jean Webster Chapter 16 Terry Comes The moment I caught sight of Terry as he swung off the train, I felt involuntarily that my troubles were near their end. His sharp, eager face with its firm jaw and quick eye inspired one with the feeling that he could find the bottom of any mystery. It was with a deep breath of relief that I held out my hand. Hello, old man, how are you? He exclaimed with a smile of cordiality as he grasped it. And then recalling the gravity at the situation, he, with some difficulty, pulled a sober face. I'm sorry that we meet again under such sad circumstances," he added perfunctorily. I suppose you think I've meddled enough in your affairs already, and on my word I intended to stay out of this. But, of course, I've been watching it in the papers, partly because it was interesting and partly because I knew you. It struck me yesterday afternoon, as I was thinking things over, that you weren't making much headway and might like a little help. So I induced the post-dispatch to send down their best man. I hope I shall get at the truth. He paused a moment and looked at me sharply. Do you want me to stay? I will go back if you'd rather have me. I was instantly ashamed of my distrust of the afternoon. Whatever might be Terry's failings, I could not doubt, as I looked into his face, that his Irish heart was in the right place. I am not afraid of the truth. I return steadily. If you can discover it, for heaven's sake, do so. That's what I'm paid for," said Terry. The post-dispatch doesn't deal in fiction any more than it can help. As we climbed into the carriage, he added briskly, it's a horrible affair. The details as I had them from the papers are not full enough, but you can tell them to me as we drive along. I should have laughed had I been feeling less anxious. His greeting was so entirely characteristic, in the way he shuffled through the necessary condolences and jumped with such evident relish to the gruesome details. As I gathered up the reins and backed away from the hitching post, Terry broke out with, Here, hold on a minute, where are you going? Back to four pills, I said in some surprise. I thought you want to unpack your things and get settled. I haven't much time to get settled, he laughed. I have an engagement in New York the day after tomorrow. How about the cave? Is it too late to visit it now? Well, I said dubiously, it's ten miles across the mountains and pretty heavy roads, it would be dark before we got there. As far as that goes, we could visit the cave at night as well as in the daytime, but I want to examine the neighbourhood and interview some of the people, so I suppose he added with an impatient sigh, we'll have to wait till morning. And now, where's this young gay lord? He's in the Kennersburg jail. And where's that? About three miles from here and six miles from the plantation. Ah, suppose we pay him a visit first. There are one or two points concerning his whereabouts on the night of the robbery and his actions on the day of the murder that I should like to have him clear up. I smiled slightly as I turned the horses, heads toward Kennersburg. Bradner, in his present uncommunicative frame of mind, was not likely to afford Terry much satisfaction. There isn't any time to waste, he added, as we drove along. Just let me have your account of everything that happened, beginning with the first appearance of the ghost. I briefly sketched the situation at four pills as I had found it on my arrival and the events preceding the robbery and the murder. Terry interrupted me once or twice with questions. He was particularly interested in the three-cornered situation concerning Radner, Polly Mathers and Jim Madison, and I was as brief as possible in my replies. I did not care to make Polly the heroine of a Sunday feature article. He was also persistent in regard to Jefferson's past. I told him all I knew, added the story of my own suspicions, and ended by producing the telegram proving his alibi. Hum, said Terry, folding it thoughtfully and putting it in his pocket. It had occurred to me, too, that Jeff might be our man. This puts an end to the theory that he personally committed the murder. There are some very peculiar points about this case, he added. As a matter of fact, I don't believe that Radner Gaylord is any more guilty of the crime than I am, or I shouldn't have come. But it won't do for me to jump at conclusions until I get more data. I suppose you realize what it is, the peculiarly significant point about the murder. You mean Moses' disappearance? Well, no, I didn't have that in mind. That's significant enough to be sure. But nothing that what you would naturally expect. The crime was committed, if your data is straight, either by him or in his presence. And, of course, he disappears. You could scarcely have expected to find him sitting there waiting for you in either case. You mean Radner's behaviour on the day of the murder and his refusal to explain it. I asked uneasily. No, Terry laughed. That may be significant, and it may not. I strongly suspect that it is not. What I mean is the peculiar place in which the crime was committed. No person on earth could have foreseen that Colonel Gaylord would go alone into that cave. There is an accidental element about the murder. It must have been committed on the spur of the moment by someone who had not premeditated it. At least at that time. This is the point we must keep in mind. He sat for a few moments staring at the dashboard with a puzzled frown. Broadly speaking, he said slowly, I have found that you can place the motive of every willful murder under one of three heads, avarance, fear or revenge. Suppose we consider the first. Could avarance have been the motive for Colonel Gaylord's murder? The body had not been robbed. You tell me. No, we found a gold watch and considerable money in the pockets. Then, you see, if the motives were avarance, it could not have been immediate gain. That throws out the possibility that the murderer was some unknown thief who merely took advantage of a chance opportunity. If we are to conceive of avarance as the motive, the crime must have been committed by some person who would benefit more remotely by the Colonel's death. Did anyone owe him money that you know of? There is no record of anything of the sort, and he was a careful businessman. I do not think he would have loaned money without making some memorandum of it. He held several mortgages, but they, of course, revert to his heirs. I understand that Radner was the only heir. He is, practically. There are a few minor bequests to the servants and to some old friends. Did the servants know that anything was to go to them? No, I don't think they did. And this cat I mose. Did he receive a share? Yes, larger than any of the others. It seems that Colonel Gaylord, at least, had confidence in him. And how about the other son? Did he know that he was to be disinherited? I think that the Colonel made it plain at the time they parted. Terry shook his head and frowned. This disinheriting business is bad. I don't like it, and I never shall. It stirs up more ill-feeling than anything I know of. Jeff seems to have proved an alibi, however, and we will dismiss him for the present. Rad has always sympathised with Jeff, I said. Then continued Terry. If the servants did not know the contents of the will, and we have all of the data, Radner is the only one who could knowingly have benefited by the Colonel's death. Suppose we take a glance at motives of fear. Do you know of anyone who had reason to stand in fear of the Colonel? He wasn't oppressing anybody. No damaging evidence against any person in his possession. Not living, blackmail, was he? Not that I know of, and I smiled slightly. It's not likely, muse Terry, but you never can tell what is going to come out when a respectable man is dead. And now, as to revenge. With the man of Colonel Gaylord's character, there were likely to be a good many people who owed him a bad turn. He seems to have been a peppery old gentleman. It's quite on the cars that he had some enemies among his neighbours. No, so far as I can discover, he was very popular in the neighbourhood. The indignation over his death was something tremendous. When it first got out that Rad was accused of the crime, there was even talk of lynching him. So, servants all appeared to be fond of him. The old family servants were brokenhearted at the news of his death. They had been, for the most part, born and bred on the place. And in spite of his occasional harshness, they loved the Colonel with the old-fashioned devotion of the slave toward his master. He was in his way, exceedingly kind to them. When old Uncle Evan died, my uncle watched all night by his bed. It's a queer situation, Terry muttered, and relapsed into silence till we reached the jail. It was an ivy-covered brick building set back from the street and shaded by trees. Rather more home-like than the tombs, Terry commented. Shouldn't mind taking a rest in it myself. We found Radner pacing up and down the small room in which he was confined like a caged animal. The anxiety and seclusion were beginning to tell on his nerves. He faced about quickly as the door opened, and at sight of me his face lightened. He was growing pathetically pleased at having anyone with whom he could talk. Rad, I said, with an air of cheerfulness, which was not entirely assumed. I hope we're nearing the end of our trouble at last. This is Mr. Patton, Terry Patton of New York, who has come to help me unravel the mystery. It was an unfortunate beginning. I had told him before of Terry's connection with the Patterson Pratt affair. He had half-hailed out his hand as I commenced to speak, but he dropped it now with a slight frown. I don't think I care to be interviewed, he remarked curtly. I have nothing to say for the benefit of the post-dispatch. You'd better, said Terry impertably. The post-dispatch prints the truth you know, and some of the other papers don't. The truths always the best in the end. I merely want to find out what information you can give me in regard to the ghost. I will tell you nothing, Radner growled. I am not giving statements to the press. Mr. Gaylord said, Terry, with an assumption of gentle patience, if you will excuse my referring to what I know must be a painful subject, would you mind telling me if the suspicion has ever crossed your mind that your brother Jefferson may have returned secretly, have obstructed the bonds from the safe, and two weeks later, quite accidentally, have met Colonel Gaylord alone in the cave. Radner turned upon him in a sudden fury. I thought for a moment he was going to strike him, and I sprung forward and called his arm. The Gaylords may be a bad lot that they are not liars, and they are not cowards. They do not run away. They stand by the consequences of their acts. Terry bowed gravely. Just one more question, and I am through. What happened to you that day in the cave? It's none of your damn business. I glanced apprehensively at Terry, uncertain as to how he would take this, but he did not appear to resent it. He looked Radner over with an air of interested approval, and he smiled slowly broadened. I'm glad to see your game, he remarked. I tell you, I don't know who killed my father any more than you do. Radner cried. You needn't come here asking me questions. Go and find the murderer if you can, and if you can't, hang me and be done with it. I don't know that we need to take up any more of Mr Gaylord's time, said Terry to me. I've found out about all I wish to know. He'll drop in again, he added reassuringly to Radner. Good afternoon. As we went out of the door, he turned back a moment and added with a slightly sharp undertone in his voice. And the next time I come, Gaylord, he'll shake hands, fumbling in his pocket. He drew out my telegram from the police commissioner and tossed it onto the cot. In the meantime, there's something for you to think about. Goodbye. Do you mean, I asked, as we climbed back into the carriage that Radner did believe Jeff guilty? Well, not exactly. I fancy he will be relieved, though, to find that Jeff was 3,000 miles away when the murder was committed. Only once during the drive home did Terry exhibit any interest in his surroundings, and that was when we passed through the village of Lambert Corners. He made me slow down to a walk and explain the purpose of every one of the dozen or so buildings along the square. At Miller's place, he suddenly decided that he needed some stamps, and I waited outside while he obtained them together with a drink in the private back room. Nothing like getting the lay of the land, he remarked as he climbed back into the carriage that Miller is a picturesque old party. He thinks it's all Tommy Rott that Radner Gaylord had anything to do with the crime. Rad's a customer of his, and it's a downright imposition to lock the boy up where he can't spend money. For the rest of the drive, Terry kept silence, and I did not venture to interrupt it. I had come to have a superstitious feeling that his silences were pretentious. It was not until I stopped to open the gate into our own home lane that he suddenly burst out with the question, where did the Mathers people live? A couple of miles farther down the pike, they have no connection whatever with the business and don't know a thing about it. Ah, perhaps not. Would it be too late to drive over tonight? Yes, said I. It would. Oh, very well, said he, good humorably. There'll be time enough in the morning. I let this pass without comment, but on one thing I was resolved, and that was that Poly Mathers should never fall into Terry's clutches. There are a lot of questions I want to ask about your ghost, but I'll wait till I get my bearings and my dinner. He added with a laugh. There wasn't any dining car on that train, and I had breakfasted early and admitted lunch. Here we are, I said, as we came inside of the house. The cook is expecting us. So that is the Gaylord House, is it? A fine old place. When was it built? About 1830, I imagine. Let me see. Sheridan rode up the Shenandoah Valley and burned everything inside. How did this place happen to escape? I don't know just how it did. You see, it's a mile back from the main road and well hidden by the trees. I suppose they were in a hurry and it escaped their attention. And that row of shanties down there are the haunted Negro Cabins. Ah, Terry rows in his seat and scan them eagerly. We'll have a look at them as soon as I get something to eat. Really, a farm isn't so bad. He remarked as he stepped out upon the portico. And is this Solomon? He inquired as the old Negro came forward to take his bag. Well, Solomon, I've been reading about you in the papers. You and I are going to have a talk by and by. End of Chapter 16 Chapter 17 We search the abandoned cabins. Now, said Terry, as Solomon and the suitcase disappeared upstairs. Let's you and I have a look at those haunted cabins. I thought you were hungry. Starving, but I still have strength enough to get that far. Solomon says, supper won't be ready for half an hour and we haven't half an hour to waste. I'm due in the city the day after tomorrow, remember? You won't find anything, I said. I've searched every one of those cabins myself and the hand didn't leave a trace behind him. I think I'll just glance about with my own eyes. Love, Terry. Reporters sometimes see things, you know, where corporation lawyers don't. Just as you please, I replied, four pills is at your disposal. I led the way across the lawn and into the laurel grove. Terry followed with eyes eagerly alert. The gruesome possibilities of the place appealed to him. He pushed through the briars that surrounded the first cabin and came out on the slope behind, where he stood gazing down delightedly at the dark waters of the port pool. My word, this is great. We'll run a half-page picture and call it the Haunted Tarn. Didn't know such places really existed. Thought writers made him up. Come on, he called, plunging back to the laurel walk. We must catch our ghost. I don't want this scenery to go to waste. We commenced at the first cabin and went down the road thoroughly and systematically. At Terry's insistence, one of the stable men brought a ladder and we climbed into every loft, finding nothing but spiders and dust. The last on the left, being more weatherproof than the others, was used as a granary. A space six feet square was left inside the door, but for the rest of the room was filled nearly to the ceiling with sacks of Indian meal. How about this? Did you examine this cabin? Well, really Terry, there isn't much room for a ghost here. Ghosts don't require much room. How about the loft? I didn't go up. You can't get at the track moving all the meal. I see Terry was examining the three walls of sacks before us. Now, here is a sack rather dirtier than the rest and squash it. It looks to me as if had had a good deal of rough handling. He pulled it to the floor as he spoke and another with it. A space some three feet high was visible. By crawling one could make his way along without hitting the ceiling. Come on, said Terry, scrambling to the top of the pile and pulling me after him. We've struck the trail of our ghostly friend, unless I'm very much mistaken. Look at that. He pointed to a muddy footmark plainly outlined on one of the sacks. Don't disturb it. We may want to compare it with the marks in the cave. Hello, what's this? The print of a bare foot. My friend Mose. He took out a pocket reel and made careful measurements of both prints. The result he set down in a notebook. I was quite as excited now as Terry. We crawled along on all fours until we reached the open trap. There was no trace here of either spider webs or dust. We scrambled into the loft without much difficulty and found a large room with roping beams overhead and two small windows innocent of glass at either end. The room was empty but clean. It had been thoroughly swept and recently. Terry poked about but found nothing. Hum. He grunted. Mose cleaned well. Ah, here we are. He paused before a horizontal beam along the side wall of a pile of ashes and a cigar stub. He smoked cigars and good strong ones, at least he isn't a lady. Did you ever see a cigar like that before? Yes, I said. That's the kind of colon always smoked. A fresh box was stolen from the dining room cupboard a day or so after I got here. Solomon said it was the hat but we suspected it was Solomon. Was the cupboard unlocked? Oh, yes. Any of the house servants could have got at it. Well, said Terry, poking his head from the windows for a view at the ground beneath. That's all there seems to be here. We might as well go down. We boosted up the two meal bags again and started back toward the house. Terry's eyes studied his surroundings keenly. Whether for the sake of the story he was planning to write or the mystery he was trying to solve, I could only conjecture. His glands presently fixed on the stables where old Jake was visible sitting on an upturned pale in the doorway. You go on, he ordered and have him put dinner or supper or whatever you call it on the table and I'll be back in three minutes. I want to see what that old fellow over there has to say in regard to the ghost. It was 15 minutes later that Terry reappeared. Well, I inquired as I led the way to the dining room. Did you get any news of the ghost? Did I? The Society for Psychical Research ought to invest this neighbourhood. They'd find more spirits in half an hour than they've found in their whole past history. Terry's attention during supper was chiefly directed toward Nancy's fried chicken and beet biscuits. When he did make any remarks he addressed them to Solomon rather than to me. Solomon was loquacious enough in general that he had his own ideas of table decorum and it was evident that the friendly advances of the guest considerably scandalised him. When the coffee and cigars were brought on Terry appeared to be on the point of inviting Solomon to sit down and have a cigar with us but he thought better of it and contented himself with talking to the old man across my shoulder. He confined his questions to matters concerning the household and the farm and Solomon in vain endeavoured to confine his replies to guest sir, no sir just so sir. In five minutes he was well started and it would have required a floodgate to stop him. In the midst of it Terry rose and dismissing me with a brief, I'll join you in the library later. I want to talk to Solomon a few minutes. He bowed me out and shut the door. I was amused rather than annoyed by this summary dismissal. Terry had been in the house not quite two hours and I am sure that a third person would have picked me out for the stranger. Terry's way of being at home in any surroundings was absolutely inimitable. Had he ever had occasion to visit Windsor Castle I am sure that he would have said about immediately making King Edward feel at home. He appeared in the library in the course of half an hour with the apology. I hope you didn't mind being turned out sometimes embarrassed, you know about telling the truth before any of the family. You didn't get much truth out of Solomon I retorted. I don't know that I did Terry admitted with a laugh. There are the elements of a good reporter in Solomon. He has an imagination which I respect. The gay lords appear to be an interesting family with hereditary tempers. The ghosts I hear are slaved to death and to pay for it is doomed to pace the laurel walk till the day of judgment. That's the story I nodded and the beating is at least authentic. Hmm, Terry crowned. And Solomon tells me tales of the Colonel himself whipping the negroes. There can't be any truth in that. But there is I said he didn't hesitate to strike them when he was angry. I myself saw him beat a nigger a few days ago and I recounted the story of the chicken thief. So, a man of that sort is likely to have enemies he doesn't suspect. How about Cat I Mose? Was Colonel Gaylord in the habit of whipping him? Often I nodded. But the more the Colonel abused Mose the fonder Mose appeared to grow with the Colonel. The following situation said Terry pacing up and down the room with the thoughtful frown. Well, he exclaimed with the sudden access of energy. I suppose we might as well sit down and tackle it. He took off his coat and rolled up his shirt slaves then shoving everything back from one end of the big library table he settled himself in a chair and motioned me to one opposite. For a morning, he said as he took out from his pockets a roll of newspaper clippings and a yellow copy pad. We will drive over and have a look at that cave. It ought to tell its own story. But in the meantime he looked up with a laugh. Suppose we use our brains a little. I did not resent the inferrence. Terry was his old impudent self and I was so relieved assuming the responsibility that he might have wiped the floor with me and welcome. Our object, he commenced is not to prove your cousin innocent of the murder but to find out who is guilty. The most logical method would be to study the scene of the crime first. But as that does not appear feasible until morning we will examine such data as we have. On the face of it the only two who appear to be implicated are Radna and this cat Imo's who is a most picturesque character Terry added the reporter for the moment getting ahead of the detective. He paused and examined the end of his fountain pen speculatively and then ran through the pile of clippings before him. Well now as for Radna suppose we look into his case a little. He glanced over one of the newspaper slips and tossed it across to me. There is a clipping from the Baltimore censor, a tolerable conservative journal. What have you say in regard to it? I picked it up and glanced it over. It was dated May 23 four days after the murder and was the same in substance as many other articles I had read in the past. No new evidence has come to light in regard to the sensational murder of Colonel Gaylord whose body was discovered in Luray Cave, Virginia a few days ago. The authorities now concur in the belief that the crime was committed by the son of the murdered man. They accused his waiting trial in the Kennersburg jail. It seems impossible that any man, however depraved, could in cold blood commit so brutal and unnatural a crime as that with which Radna Gaylord is accused. It is only in the light of his past history that the action can be understood. Coming from one of the oldest families in Virginia, an heir to wealth and an honoured name he is but another example of the many who have sold their birthright for a mess of courage. A drunken and a spendthrift, he wasted his youth in gambling and betting on the races while honest men were toiling for their daily bread. Several times has Radna Gaylord been disinherited and turned adrift. The Colonel Gaylord weak in his love for his younger son, invariably received him back again into the house he had dishonoured. Finally, pressed beyond the need of endurance, the old man took a firm stand and refused to meet his son's inordinate demands for money. Young Gaylord, rendered desperate by debts, took the most obvious method of gaining his inheritance. His part in the tragedy of Colonel Gaylord's death is as good as proved, though he persistently and defiantly denies all knowledge of the crime. No sympathy can be felt for him. The wish of every right-minded man in the country must be that the law will take its course, and that as speedily as possible. Well, said Terry, as I finished, it's a lie I pride hotly. All of it, every word of it. Oh, see here, said Terry. There's no use in you trying to hide things. That account is an exaggeration of course, but it must have some foundation. You told me you weren't afraid of the truth. Just be so kind as to tell it to me, then. Exactly what thought of a fellow is Radner. I want to know for several reasons. Well, he did drink a good deal for a youngster, I admitted, though never to such an extent as had been reported. Of late he had stopped entailing. As for gambling, the young men around here have got into a bad way at playing for high stakes, but during the past month or so Rad had pulled up in that too. He sometimes backed one of their own horses from Gaylord Stables, but so did the Colonel. It's a regular thing in Virginia. As for his ever having been disinherited, that is a newspaper story, pure and simple. I never heard anything of the sort, and the neighborhood has told me pretty much all there is to know within the last few days. His father never turned him out of the house, then. Never that I heard of. He did leave home once because his father insulted him, but he came back again. That was forgetting. Comment to Terry. In general, though, I understand that the relations between the two were rather different. At times they were, I admitted, but things had been going rather better for the last few days. Until the night before the murder they quarreled then, and over a matter of money. Yes, Radner makes no secret of it. He wanted his father to settle something on him, and upon his father's refusal some words passed between them. And a French clock suggested Terry. I acknowledged the clock and Terry pondered the question with one eye closely meditatively. Had Radner ever asked for anything of the sort before? Not that I know of. Why did he ask then? Well, it's rather galling for a man of his age to be dependent on his father for every cent he gets. The Colonel always gave him plenty, but he did not want to take it in that way. In just what way did he want to take it? Terry inquired. Since he was so infernally independent, why did he get to work and earn something? Earned something. I returned sharply. Rad has managed the whole plantation for the last three years. His father was getting too old for business, and if Rad hadn't taken hold, things would have gone to the juice long ago. All he got as a regular salary was $50 a month. I think it was time he was paid for his services. Oh, very well. Terry laughed. I was merely asking the question, and if you will allow me to go a step further, why did Colonel Gaylord object to settling something on the boy? He wanted to keep him under his thumb. The Colonel liked to rule, and he wished everyone around him to be dependent on his will. I see. Said Terry. Radner had a real grievance in. After all, just one thing more on this point. Why did he choose that particular time to make his request? You say he has had practical charge of affairs for the past three years. Why did he not wish to be independent last year? Or why did he not postpone the desire until next year? I think he was a little more concerned about my shoulders. You'll have to ask Radner that. I had my suspicions that I did not wish to drag Poli Mather's name into the discussion. Terry watched me a moment without saying anything, and then he too shrugged his shoulders as he turned back to the newspaper clippings. On the day of the murder I have here a report of the testimony taken at the inquest, but it is not so full as I could wish in some particulars. I should like to have you give me the details. First, you say that Radner and his father did not speak at the breakfast table. How was it when you started? They both appeared to be in pretty good spirits, but I noticed that they avoided each other. Very well, tell me exactly what you did after you arrived at Lorraine. We left our horses at the hotel and walked about a mile across the fields to the mouth of the cave. We had lunch in the woods, and at about one o'clock we started through the cave. We came out at a little up to three, and I should say started to drive back to Lorraine. Did you notice Radner through the day? Not particularly. Did you see either him or the Colonel in the cave? Yes, I was with the Colonel most of the time. And how about Radner? Didn't you see him at all? Oh yes, I remember talking to him once about some clearly shaped stalagmites. He didn't hang around me, and when you talked to him about the stalagmites, was there anyone else with him at the time? I believe Miss Mathers was there. And he was carrying her coat. I didn't notice. At least he left it later in what you call the gallery at the Broken Colon. Yes, I see, said Terry, glancing over the printed report of the inquest that the Colonel asked if Radner were in the habit of forgetting young ladies' coats. That's more pertinent than many of the questions he asked. How about it? Was he in the habit of forgetting young ladies' coats? I really don't know, Terry. I said somewhat testily. It's a pity you're not more observing he returned for it's important on the whole. But never mind. I'll find that out for myself. Did you notice when he left the rest of the party? No, there was such a crowd of us that I didn't miss him. Very well. We'll have a look at his testimony. He left the rest of you in the same gallery at the Broken Colon, went straight out, strolled about the woods for half an hour or so, and then returned to the hotel. I fancy, strolled, is not precisely the right word. It's the word he uses. Now, that half hour in the woods is an unfortunate circumstance. Had he gone directly to the hotel from the cave, we would have proved an alibi without any difficulty. As it is, he had plenty of time after the others came out to remember that he had forgotten the coat, returned for it, renewed the quarrel with his father, and the fatal result made his way to the hotel while the rest of the party were still laughtering in the woods. Terry, I begun. He waved his hand in a gesture of dissent. Oh, I'm not saying that's what did happen. I'm just showing you that the district attorney's theory is a physical possibility. Let's glance at the landlord's testimony a moment. When he returned for his horse, he appeared angry, excited and in a hurry. Those are the landlord's words and they are corroborated by the stable boy and several lounges about the hotel. He was in a hurry. Why? Because he wished to get away before the others came back. He had suddenly decided while he was in the woods probably when he heard them laughing and talking as they came out the cave that he did not wish to see anyone. He was angry, marked that all of the witnesses agree there and I think that his actions carry out their evidence. He drunk two glasses of brandy. By the way I understood you to say he had stopped drinking. He ordered the stable boy about sharply. He swore at him for being slow. He lashed his horse quite unnecessarily as he galloped off. He rode home at an outrageous rate and he was not. Solomon gives me to understand in the habit of maltreating horses. Now what do you make of all this? Here is a young man with an unexpended lot of temper on his hands. Bent on being reckless. Bent on being just as bad as he can be. It's as clear as daylight. That boy never committed any crime. A man who had just murdered his father would not be filled with anger, no matter what the provocation had been. He might be overcome with horror, fear, remorse, a dozen different emotions but anger would not be among them. And further a man who had committed a crime and intended to deny it later, would not proclaim his feelings like that blatant manner. Young gay lord had not injured anyone. He himself had been injured. He was mad through and through and he didn't care who knew it. He expended, you will remember, the most of his bill of currency on his horse on the way home and you found him in the summer house undergoing the natural reaction. By evening he had got himself hanged again and was probably considerably ashamed of his conduct. He doesn't care to talk about the matter for several reasons. Fortunately Solomon is not so scrupulous. I don't know what you're driving at Terry, said I. Don't you? He inquired. Well really, it's about time that I came down. He paused while he scrolled one or two sentences on his selfie pad. Then he glanced up with a laugh. I don't know myself, but I think I can make a pretty good guess. We'll call on Miss Polymaters in the morning and see if she can't help us out. Terry, I expostulated. That girl knows no more about the matter than I do. She has already given her testimony and I positively will not have her name mentioned in connection with the affair. I don't see how you can help it, was his cool reply. If she's in, she's in and I'm not to blame. However, we won't quarrel about it now. We'll pay her a call in the morning. He ran his eyes over the clippings again, then added. There are just two more points connecting Radnor Gaylord with the murder that need explaining. The footprints in the cave and the matchbox. The gold prints I will dismiss for the present because I have not seen them myself and I can't make any deductions from the hearsay evidence. But the question of the matchbox may repay a little investigation. I want you to tell me precisely what happened in the woods before you went into the cave. In the first place, how many older people were there in the party? Mr. and Mrs. a lady who was visiting them and Colonel Gaylord. There were two servants I understand beside this moes to help out the lunch. What did they do? Well, I don't know exactly. I wasn't paying much attention. I believe they carried things over from the hotel, collected wood for the fire and then went to a farmhouse for water. But Mrs. Mathers, it seems, attended to lighting the fire. Yes, she and the Colonel made the fire and started the coffee. Ah, said Terry with a note of satisfaction in his voice. The matter begins to clear. Was Colonel Gaylord in the habit of smoking? He smoked one cigar after every meal. Never any more than that. No, the doctor had limited him. The Colonel grumbled about it regularly and always smoked the biggest blacker cigar he could find. And where did he get his matches? Solomon passed the brass matchbox from the dining room mantelpiece, just as he passed it to us tonight. Colonel Gaylord was not in the habit of carrying matches in his pockets then. No, I think not. We may safely assume, said Terry, that in this matter of making the fire if the two were working together the Colonel was on his knees arranging the sticks while Mrs. Mathers was standing by giving directions. That, I believe, is the usual division of labour. Well then, they get to the point of needing a light. The Colonel feels through his pockets, finds that he hasn't a match. And what happens? What did happen? I broke in. Was that Mrs. Mathers turned to a group of us who were standing talking at one side and asked if any of us had a match and red-handed her his box. That is the last anyone remembers about it. Exactly, said Terry. And I think I can tell you the rest. You can see for yourself what took place. Mrs. Mathers went back to the spot where they were building the fire and the Colonel took the box from her. No man is ever going to stand by and watch a woman strike a match. He can do it so much better himself. At this point Mrs. Mathers by her own testimony was called away and she doesn't remember anything further about the box. She thinks that she returned it. Why? For no reason on earth except that she usually returns things. As a matter of fact however she didn't do it this time. She was called away and the Colonel was left to light the fire alone. He recognised the box as his sons and he dropped it into his pocket. At another time perhaps he would have walked over and handed it back but not then. The two was not speaking to each other. Later at the time of the struggle in the grave the box fell from the old man's pocket and formed a most damaging piece of circumstantial evidence against his son. On the whole Terry finished I do not think we shall have a very difficult time in clearing Radna. I had arrived at my own conclusions concerning him from reading the papers. What extra data I needed I managed to glean from Solomon's lies and as for you he added gazing across at me with an impertable grin I think you were wise in deciding to be a corporation lawyer. End of Chapter 17 Chapter 18 of the Four Pills Mystery This is a LibraVox recording. All LibraVox recordings are in the public domain. More information or to volunteer please visit LibraVox.org The Four Pills Mystery by Jean Webster Chapter 18 Terry arrives at a conclusion and now said Terry lighting a fresh cigar and after a few preliminary puffs settling down to work again we will consider the case of Cat Imo's a beautiful name by the way apparently a beautiful character it won't be my fault if we don't make a beautiful story out of him. You yourself I believe hold the opinion that he committed the murder I am sure of it I cried. In that case love Terry I should be inclined to think him innocent. I shrugged my shoulders there was nothing to be gained by getting angry if Terry chose to regard the solving of a murder mystery in the light of a joke I had nothing to say though I did think he might have realised that to me at least it was a serious matter and you base your suspicions do you not upon the fact that he has queer eyes not entirely upon what then upon the fact that he took part in the struggle which ended in my uncle's death certainly that does seem rather conclusive there is no mistake about the footprints none whatever the mates as niggers both wore shoes and anyway they didn't go into the cave in that case I suppose it's fair to assume that most took part in the struggle whether he was the only man or whether there was still a third the cave itself ought to tell a pretty clear story. Terry rose and paced up and down the room once or twice and then came back and picked up one of the newspaper clippings it says here that the boot marks of two different men are visible that's the sheriff's opinion I replied though I myself can't make out anything but the marks of mose and the colonel I examined everything carefully but it's awfully mixed up you know one really can't tell much about it Terry impatiently flung himself into the chair again I ought to have come down last week if I had supposed you people could muddle matters up so thoroughly I should I dare say you've trampled the whole place over till there isn't one of the original marks left look here Terry I said you act as if Virginia belonged to you we've all been working our heads this business and you come in at the last moment and quarrel with our data you can go over tomorrow morning and collect your own evidence if you think it's so far superior to anyone else's the marks are just as they were boards have been laid over them and nothing's been disturbed you're rather done up old man Terry remarked smiling across at me good humorously of course right on the cards that cat Imo's committed the crime but there are a number of objections as I understand it he has the reputation of being a harmless peaceable fellow not very bright but always good natured he never resented an injury was never known to quarrel with anyone took what was given him and said thank you he loved Colonel Gaylord and watched over his interests as jealously as a dog well now is a man who has had this reputation all his life a man whom everybody trusts very likely go off the hook as suddenly as that and with no conceivable motive brutally kill the master he has served so faithfully a man's future is in a large measure determined by his past that may be true enough I said but it is very possible that people were deceived in Moes I have been suspicious of him from the moment I laid eyes on him you may think it unfair to judge a man from his physical appearance but I wish you could once see cat Imo's yourself and you would know what I mean the people around here are used to him and don't notice it so much but his eyes are yellow positively yellow and they narrow in the light just like a cat one night he drove Radna and me home from a party and I could actually see his eyes shining in the dark it's the most gruesome thing I ever saw and take that on top of his habits he carries snakes around in the front of his shirt really once suspects him of anything I hope he isn't dead I'd like a personal interview he sat sunk down in his chair for several minutes intently examining the end of his fountain pen well he said rousing himself it's time we had a shy at the ghost we must find out what way Radna and Moes were connected with him and in what way he was connected with the robbery Radna could help us considerable if he could only talk the fact that he won't talk is very suggestive we'll get at the truth without him though suppose you begin and tell me everything from the first appearance of the hent I should like to get him tabulated the first definite thing that reached the house I replied was the night of my arrival when the roast chicken was stolen I've told you that in detail and it was that same night whatever her name is saw the ghost in the laurel walk I nodded did she say what it looked like it was white and when you searched the cabins did you go into the one where the grain is stored no, Moes dropped his torch at the entrance and anyway Rad said there was no use in searching it it was already full to the brim with sacks of cornmeal that Radner was trying to divert you from the scene no, I am sure he hadn't a suspicion himself and what did the thing look like that you saw Moes carrying to the cabins in the night it seemed to me a large black bundle I have thought since that it might have been closed or blankets or something of that sort so much for the first night said Terry now how soon did the ghost appear again various things were stolen after that and the servants attributed to the hint but the first direct knowledge I had was the night of the party when Radner acted so strangely I told you with his going back in the night he was carrying something too yes he had a black bundle it might have been closed and after that he and Moes were in constant consultation yes they both encouraged the belief in the hint among the Negroes and did their best to keep everyone away from the laurel walk I overheard Moes several times telling stories to the other Negroes about the terrible things the hint would do ever caught them and he himself didn't show any fear over the stories not the slightest appeared rather to enjoy them how did he take the matter he was moody and irritable I could see that something was preying on his mind how did you explain the matter to yourself I was afraid he had fallen into the clutches of someone who was threatening him possibly living blackmail but you didn't make any attempt to discover the truth well it was Rad's own affair and I didn't want the appearance to be spying I did keep my eyes open as much as I could and the Colonel how did he take all this excitement about the hint it bothered him considerably but Rad kept him from hearing it as much as he could when did the hint appear again after the party oh by that time all sorts of rumors were running about among the Negroes the whole place was haunted and the emotion hands had leaked but the next thing that we heard directly was in the early evening before the robbery when Moe's appearing terribly frightened said he had seen the hint rising in a cloud of blue smoke out of the spring hole and how did the Colonel and Radna take this the Colonel was angry because he had been bragging about Moe's and what to think he hustled Moe's out of the way before we could ask any questions and what did you think well I fancied at the time that he had really seen something but as I thought it over in the light of later events I came to the conclusion that he was shaming both then and in the middle of the night when he roused the house that is you wished to think him shaming in order to prove his complicity in the robbery and the murder and so you twisted the facts to suit your theory I don't think you can say that I returned somewhat hotly it's merely a question of interpreting the facts he didn't gain much by raising all that hullabaloo in the middle of the night why yes that was done in order to throw suspicion on the hint of the robbery well now let's get to the end of this matter was any more seen at the hand after that night no at least not directly for five or six days everyone was so taken up with the robbery that the hand excitement rather died down then I believe there were some rumours among the negroes but nothing much reached the house and since the murder was seen at the hand I shook my head just give me a list of the things that were stolen well the roast chicken a box of cigars some shirts off the line a suit of rads pajamas a french novel some brandy quite a lot of things to eat fresh loaves of bread preserves a boiled ham sugar, coffee they themselves and laid it to the hand one of the carriages was left out one night and in the morning the cushions were gone and two lap robes at the same time a water pail was taken and a pair of jakes overalls and then to end up came the robbery of the safe the hand had Catholic tastes any of the things turned up since yes a number of things such as blankets and clothes dishes have gradually drifted back the carriage cushions and lap robes ever find them never a trace and why anyone should want them I don't know what colour were the lap robes plain black broadcloth Terry got up and paced about a few moments and then came back and sat down one thing is clear he said there are two hands two hands what do you mean just what I say suppose for convenience we call them hand number one and hand number two number one occupied apartments over the grain bin and haunted the Laurel Walk he was white I don't wonder at that if he spent much time crawling over those flower sacks he smoked cigars and read French novels Moe's waited on him he didn't get much enjoyment out of the knowledge it took money to get rid of him $100 down and the promise of more to come Radner himself drove him off in the carriage the night he left and Moe's obliterated all traces of his presence so much for number one as for number two he appeared three or four days before the robbery and haunted pretty much the whole place especially the region of the spring hole in appearance he was nine feet tall transparent and black smoke came from his mouth and blue flames from his eyes there was sulfurous odor about him he was first seen rising out of the spring hole and there is a passage in the bottom of the spring hole that leads straight down to hell Solomon is my authority I asked him how he explained the apparition and he reckoned it was the ghost of the slave who was beaten to death and that since his old master had come back to haunt the laurel wall he had come back to haunt his old master that sounds to me like a plausible explanation as soon as it's light I'll have a look at the spring hole Terry, I said disgustedly picturesque newspaper story but it doesn't help much in unraveling the mystery it helps a good deal I would not like to swear to the flames or sulfur or the passage down to hell but the fact that he was tall and black and comes from the spring hole is significant he was black, mark that so were the stolen robes now you see how the matter stands on the night of the robbery while ghost number one was out driving with Radner ghost number two entered the house through the open library window found the safe a jar and helped himself let's consider what he took $5,000 in government bonds two deeds an insurance policy and a court of small change a very suggestive lot of loot if you think about it after the robbery he disappeared nothing seen of him for five or six days then he returned up again for a day or so and finally disappeared forever so much for hint number two here's the party were after he pretty certainly robbed the safe and he possibly committed the murder as to that I won't have any proof until I see the cape he stretched his arms with a laugh oh this isn't so bad all we've got to do now is to identify those two ghosts I'm glad if you think it's so easy I said somewhat solemnly but I will tell you one thing if you go basing and deductions on Solomon's stories you'll find yourself bumping against a stone wall we'll have Rad over to dinner with us tomorrow night Terry declared he rose and pulled out his watch it's a quarter before 10 I think it's time you went to bed you look about played out you haven't been sleeping much of late no I can't say that I have I ought to have come down at once said Terry but I'm always so blamed afraid of hurting people's feelings I stared slightly I had never considered that one of Terry's weak points but as he seemed to be quite in earnest I let the remark pass do you think I could knock up one of the stable men to drive me to the village I know it's pretty late but I've got to send a couple of telegrams telegrams I demanded where to Terry laughed well I must send a word to the post dispatch to the effect that the Lou Road mystery grows more mysterious every hour that the police had been wasting their energies on the wrong scent but that the post dispatcher's special correspondent has arrived on the scene and that we may accordingly look for a speedy solution what is the second one I asked to your friend the police commissioner of Seattle you don't think that Jeff my dear fella I don't think unless I have facts to think about don't look so nervous using him of anything I merely want more details than you got I'm a newspaper man remember and I like local colour even in telegrams and now go to bed and for heaven's sake go to sleep the case is in the hands of the post dispatcher's young man and you needn't worry anymore End of Chapter 18 Chapter 19 The Four Pools Mystery This is a Libra Box recording All Libra Box recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibraBox.org The Four Pools Mystery by Jean Webster Chapter 19 Terry Finds The Bonds I was awakened the next morning by Terry clumping into my room dressed in riding britches and boots freshly spattered with mud They were Radner's clothes Terry had taken me at my word and was thoroughly at home Hello old man he said sitting down on the edge of the bed been asleep haven't you sorry to wake you but we've got a day's work ahead hope you don't mind my burying Radner's talks are prepared for riding Solomon gave them to me seemed to think that Radner wouldn't need them anymore Oh Solomon and I are great friends he added with a laugh as he suddenly appeared to remember the object of his visit and commenced a search through his pockets I sat up in bed and watched him impatiently it was evident that he had some news and equally evident that he was going to be as leisurely as possible about imparting it This is a pretty country he remarked as he finished with his coat pockets and commenced on the waistcoat it would be almost worth living in if many little affairs like this occurred to keep things going Really Terry I said when you referred to my uncle's murder as a little affair I think you're going too far I beg your pardon he returned goodnaturally I guess I am incorrigible I didn't know Colonel Gaylord personally you see and I'm so used to murders that I've come to think it's the only natural way of dying anyhow he added as he finally produced a yellow envelope I've got something here that will interest you it explains why our young friend Radner didn't want to talk he tossed the envelope on the bed and I eagerly tore out the telegram it was from the police commissioner in Seattle and it ran Jefferson Gaylord returned Seattle made fifth after absence six weeks said to have visited old home Virginia had been wanted by police suspected implication in case obtaining money false pretenses they can charge case dismissed what does it mean I asked it means said Terry that we've spotted ghost number one it was clear from the first that Radner was trying to shield someone even at the expense of his own reputation leaving women out of the case that pointed pretty straight toward his elder brother part of your theory was correct the only trouble being that you carried it too far you made Jeff commit both the robbery and the murder while as a matter of fact he did neither then when you found a part of your theory was untenable you rejected the whole of it this is how the matter stood Jeff Gaylord was pretty desperately in need of money I suspect that the charge against him whatever it was was true he had taken had to be returned and somebody's silence bought before the thing could be hushed up anyway Seattle was too hot to hold him and he lit out and came east he applied to Radner that Radner was in a tight place himself and couldn't lay his hands on anything except what his father had given him for a birthday present that was tied up in another investment and if he converted it into cash it would be at a sacrifice so it ran along for a week or so while Rad for casting about for a means of getting his brother out of the way without any fresh scandal but Moses suddenly taking to see enhanced precipitated matters realizing that his father's patience had reached its limit and that he couldn't keep you off the scent much longer he determined to borrow the money for Jeff's journey back to Seattle and to close up his own investment that same night he drove Jeff to the station at Kennersburg the Washington Express does not stop at Lambert Junction and anyway Kennersburg is a bigger station and travelers excite less comment this isn't deduction it's fact I rode to Kennersburg this morning and proved it he then remembers selling Rad and a Gaylord a ticket to Washington in the middle of the night about three weeks ago some man who waited outside a new space the agent did not see boarded the train and Rad drove off alone the ticket seller does not know Rad personally but he knows him by sight so much for that Rad came home and went to bed when he came downstairs in the morning he was met by the information that the hint had robbed the safe you can see what instantly jumped into his mind some way somehow Jeff had taken those bonds and yet figure on it as he might he could not see how it was possible the robberies seemed to have occurred while he was away could Jeff merely had pretended to leave might he have slipped off the train again and come back those are the questions that were bothering Radner he was honest in saying that he could not imagine how the bonds had been stolen and yet he was also honest in not wanting to know the truth he might have confided in me I said it would have been a good deal better if he had but in order to understand Rad's point of view you must take into account Rad's character he appears to have been a reckless dashing headstrong but exceedingly attractive fellow his father put up with his excesses for six years before the final quarrel cat I mose so old Jake tells me moped for months after his disappearance Rad as a little fellow worshipped his bad but charming brother there you have it Jeff turns up again with a hard like story and mose and Radner both go back to their old allegiance Jeff is in a bad hole a fugitive from justice with the penitentiary waiting for him he confesses the whole thing to Radner extenuating circumstances plausible to the poor he has been honest but unintentionally so he wishes to straighten up and lead a respectable life if he had say fifteen hundred dollars he could quash the indictment against him he is Radner's brother and the kernel son but Rad is to receive a fortune while he is to be disinherited the money he asks now is only his right if he receives it he will disappear and trouble Rad no more that I fancy our return protocol used anyway he won Rad over Radner was thinking of getting married had plenty of use for all the money he could lay his hands on but he seems to be a generous chap and he sacrificed himself for obvious reasons Jeff wished his presence kept a secret and Rad and Mose respected his wishes after the robbery Radner was too sick at thought that his brother may have betrayed him to want to do anything but hush the matter up at the news of the murder he did not know what to think he would not believe Jeff guilty and yet he did not see any other way out Terry paused the moment and leaned forward with an excited gleam in his eye that he said is the whole truth about ghost number one our business now is to track down number two and here as a starter are the missing bonds he tossed a pile of mildewed papers on the bed and met my astonishment with a triumphant chuckle it was true all five of the missing bonds were there the May 1st coupons still uncut also the deeds and insurance policy exactly as they had left the safe except that they were dead and mud-stained I stared for a moment too amazed to speak finally where did you find them I've asked Terry regarded me with a tantalising laugh exactly where I thought I'd find them oh I've been out early this morning I saw the sunrise and breakfasted in Kennersburg at 6.45 I'm ready for another breakfast though hurry up and rest we've got a day's work before us I'm off to the stables to talk horses with Uncle Jake when you're ready for breakfast send Solomon after me Terry I implored where on the face of the earth did you find those bonds at the mouth of the passage to hell said Terry gravely but I'm not quite sure myself who put them there I queried eagerly it might have been and it might not he waved his hand eerily and withdrew end of chapter 19 chapter 20 of the four pools mystery this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the four pools mystery by Jean Webster chapter 20 Polly makes a confession at breakfast Terry drunk two cups of coffee and subsided into thought I could get no more from him on the subject of the bonds he was not sure himself was all the satisfaction he would give when the meal was half over to Solomon's dismay he suddenly rose without noticing a new dish of chicken livers that had just appeared at his elbow come on he said impatiently you've had enough to eat I've got to see those marks while they're still there I'm desperately afraid an earthquake will swallow that cave before I get a chance at them 15 minutes later we were bowling down the lane behind the fastest pair of horses by Lord Stables and through the prettiest country in the state of Virginia Terry sat with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the dashboard as we came to the four corners at the valley pike I reigned in would you rather go the short way over the mountains by a very rough road or the long way through Kennesburg I inquired what it means but first I want to call at the Mathers it would be simply that a waste of time it won't take long and since Radna won't talk I've got to get at the facts from the other end besides I want to see Polly myself Miss Mathers knows nothing about the matter said I as strictly as possible doesn't she said Terry it's about time she told them at any rate you must admit that she's the owner of the unfortunate coat that caused the trouble I want to ask her some questions about that why can't girls learn to carry their own coats it would save a lot of trouble it ended by my driving with a very bad grace to Mathers Hall you wait here until I come out said Terry Cooley and I drew up by the stepping stone and commenced fumbling for a hitching strike not much said I if you interview Polly Mathers I shall be present at the interview oh very well he returned resignedly if you let me go about it my own way though I'd get twice as much out of her the family were at breakfast the servant informed me I left Terry in the parlor while I went on to the dining room to explain the object of our visit there is a friend of mine here from New York to help us about the trial I thought it best to suppress his real profession and he wants to interview Miss Polly in regard to the coat I am very sorry certainly said Mrs Mathers Polly is only too glad to help in any way possible and to my chagrin excused herself and withdrew to the parlor while her father kept me listening to a new and not very valuable theory of his in regard to the disappearance of Moe's it was fifteen minutes before I made my escape and knocked on the parlor door I turned the knob and went in without waiting for a summons the Mathers parlor is a long cool dim room with old fashioned mahogany furniture and jars of roses scattered about it was so dark after the bright sunshine of the rest of the house that for a moment I didn't discover the occupants until the sound of Polly sobbing proclaimed their whereabouts I was somewhat taken aback to find her sitting in a corner of the big horse hair sofa her head buried in the cushions while Terry nonchalantly leaning back in his chair regarded her with much the expression that he might have worn at a first night at the theatre it might also be noted that Polly wore a white dress with a big bunch of roses in her belt that her hair was becomingly rumpled by the cushion and that she was not crying hard enough to make her eyes red hello old man said Terry and I fancied that his tone was not entirely cordial just sit down and listen to this we've been having some interesting disclosures Polly raised her head and cast him a reproach for wands while with a limp wave of the hand she indicated a chair I settled myself and inquired reassuringly well Polly what's the trouble you tell him said Polly to Terry as she settled herself to cry again I'll tell you said Terry glancing wearily at me but it's a secret remember you mustn't let any of those horrid newspaper men get hold of it Miss Mathers would hate awfully to have anything like this get into the papers oh go on Terry said I crossly if you've got anything to tell the heavens say tell it well as far as we've got when you interrupted was that that afternoon in the cave she and Radna had somehow got separated from the rest of the party and gone on ahead they sat down to wait for the others on the fallen column and while they were waiting Radna asked her to marry him for the seventh or was it the eighth time the seventh I think said Polly often that she sort of lost track but anyway she replied by asking him if he knew the truth about the ghost he said yes he did but he couldn't tell her it was somebody else's secret on his word of honour though there was nothing that he was to blame for she said she wouldn't marry a man who had secrets he said that unless she took him now the chance again it was the last time he was going to ask her is that straight miss Mephas yes sub Polly from the depths of her cushion Terry proceeded with a fast broadening smile it was evident that he enjoyed the recital and then being naturally angry that any man could presume to propose for the last time she proceeded to be perfectly worried to him go on miss Mephas that's as far as you've got I told him you won't tell anyone no I told him I decided to marry Jim Madison ah said Terry now we're getting at it if you don't mind my asking miss Mephas was that just a bluff on your part or had Mr Madison really asked you Polly set up with a sparkle of resentment certainly he'd asked me a dozen times I beg pardon so now you're engaged to Mr Madison oh no cried Polly Jim doesn't know I said it I didn't mean it I just wanted to make Redna mad I see so it was a bluff after all were you successful in making him mad not at dismalie what did he say he was awfully angry he said that if he never amounted to anything it would be my fault and then what we heard the others coming and he started off I called after him and asked him where he was going and he said he was going to the devil Polly began to cry again and Terry chuckled slightly as a good many other young men have said under similar circumstances but where did he go was to the hotel and there it appears he drunk two glasses of brandy and swore at the stable boy is that all Miss Mathers yes it's the last time I ever saw him and he thinks I'm engaged to Jim Madison see here Polly said I with some excusable heat now why in thunder didn't you tell me all this before you didn't ask me she was afraid that it would get into the papers said Terry soothingly it would be a terrible scandal to have anything like that get out the fact that Radnor Gaylord was likely to be hanged for a murder he never committed was in comparison a minor affair Polly turned upon him with a flash of gray eyes I was going to tell him before the trial I didn't know the inquest made any difference I would have told the coroner the morning he came to take my testimony only he brought Jim Madison with him as a witness and I couldn't explain before Jim that would have been awkward Terry agreed Polly said I severely this is inexcusable if you had explained to me in the first place the jury would never have demanded Radnor for trial but I thought you would find the real murderer and then Radnor would be set free it would be awful to tell that story before a whole room full of people and have Jim Madison hear it I detest Jim Madison be careful what you say said Terry you may have to take Jim Madison after all Radnor Gaylord will never ask you again then I'll ask him he said Polly Terry laughed and rose he's in a bad hole but I'm not sure but that I envy him after all Polly dimpled through her tears this was the language she understood goodbye she said you'll remember your promise never a syllable will I breathe said Terry and he put a hand on my shoulder and marched me off fascinating young person he observed as we turned into the road you are not the first to discover that said I I fancy I'm not he retorted with a sideways glance at me Terry gazed at the landscape a few moments with a pensive light in his eyes then he threw back his head and laughed thank heaven women don't go in forming any theory about him their motives and their actions don't match he paused to light a cigar and as soon as he got it well started took up the conversation again it's just as I suspected in regard to Rad though I will say the papers furnished mighty few clues it was the coat that put me on the track coupled with his behaviour at the hotel you see his emotions when he came out of that cave were mixed there was probably a good deal of disappointment and grief down below his anger but that for the moment was decidedly in the lead he had been badly treated and he knew it what's more he didn't care who else knew it he was in a thoroughly vicious mood and ready to wreck his anger on the first thing that came to hand that happened to be his horse by the time he got home he had expended the most of his temper and his disappointment had come to the top you found him wrestling with that by evening he had brought his philosophy into play and had probably decided to brace up and try again and that he finished is the whole story of our young gentlemen's erratic behaviour I wonder I didn't think of it myself I said Terry smiled and said nothing Redner is naturally not loquacious about the matter he resumed presently for one thing because he does not wish to drag Polly's name into it for another I suppose he feels that if anyone is to do the explaining she ought to be the one he's supposed that she would be present at the inquest and that her testimony would bring out sufficient facts to clear him when he found that she was not there and that her testimony did not touch on any important phase of the matter he simply shut his mouth and said very well if she won't tell I won't also the coroner's manner was unfortunate he showed that his sympathy on the side and Redner stubbornly determined not to say one word more than was dragged out of him by main force it is much the attitude of the little boy who has been unfairly punished and who derives an immense amount of satisfaction from the thought of how sorry his friends will be when he is dead and now I think we have Red's case well in hand the fact that he seems bound to be hung we shall not have much difficulty in getting him off but what I can't understand I grumble is why that little wretch didn't tell me a word of all this she came and informed me of hand that he was innocent and asked me to clear him we've never a hint that she could explain the most suspicious circumstance against him you've got me Terry Laft but when it comes to finding out why women do things if you had asked her you know she would have told you but you never said a word about it how could I ask her when I didn't know anything about it I managed to ask her said Terry and what's more he added gloomily I promised it shouldn't go any further that is then is necessary to get Red off and don't you call that pretty tough luck after coming way down here just to find out the truth not to be allowed to print it when I've got it how in the juice am I to account for Red's behavior without mentioning her you needn't have promised I suggested oh well Terry grinned I'm human I let this pass and he added hastily we've disposed of Jeff we've disposed of Bradner but the real murderer is still to be found and that I declared is cat Imo's it's possible I grieved Terry with a shrug but I have just the tiniest little entering wedge of a suspicion that the real murderer is not cat Imo's end of chapter 20