 CHAPTERS XIII and XIV of the Curved Blades by Caroline Wells. Brought before the magistrate, Bates told a coherent, though amazing, story. It seems he was Estelle's lover and had long ago persuaded her to let him know when Miss Carrington had a quantity of jewelry in the house that he might assay a robbery. The plan was simple. Estelle had promised to slip downstairs at three o'clock and raise a window for his entrance, and, later, but before anyone else was about, she was to slip down and lock it again. In the meantime they assumed the burglary would be quietly accomplished, their supposition being that Miss Carrington would be asleep in her bedroom and the boudoir easy of access. You entered by the window then at what time? Asked Stone, who was doing most of the questioning. At quarter-a-four in the morning, replied Bates, and all noted that this was shortly before the hour when Mrs. Frothingham saw through her field-glass a man leaving by the same window. You went directly up the stairs. Yes, Estelle had often told me the lay of the rooms and I went straight to the lady's boudoir. You carried with you a blackjack. Did you have murder in your heart? That I did not. I took that, thinking if the lady woke up and screamed I just give her a tap that would put her to sleep without hurting her at all, at all. I'm no murderer, sir, and I'm confessing my attempt at burglary and, and assault, so I won't be accused of a greater crime. Let's write, Bates. It'll be better for you to be perfectly truthful. Now what did you see when you entered the room? I had stepped inside and shut the door before I saw anything, and then I turned to see the lady's face, but in the mirror. I was behind her and in the glass I saw her smile and face, and of course I thought she was alive and that she saw me. I knew she'd scream in a minute and the sight of all the jewels gleaming on her neck drove me fair crazy with greed, I suppose, and I up with my sandbag and hit her head, not meanin' to hit hard enough to kill her, but only to knock her unconscious like. And then the blow smashed the big comb she was wearin' but she didn't move nor fall over. She was leanin' back in her big chair and she just sat there and kept on smilein'. My knees shook like the egg you, for I thought it was magic or that my eyes was deceivin' me. There was no sound anywhere and I stood starein' at that smile and face and she starein' back at me. I nearly screamed out myself, but I bucked up and thinkin' that she was struck unconscious so quick her face didn't change I made to take off some jewels I was after. I touched her neck and it was cold. The lady was dead. Had been dead some time I was sure, cause she was so cold and stiff. I trembled all over, but my only thought then was to get out. Not for a million daughters would I touch them sparklers? There ain't often a burglar who is ghoul enough to rob a corpse. Least ways I'm not. I wouldn't. I wouldn't. I'm a tough and a bad egg generally, but I wouldn't steal from no corpse, not I. So you left the house at once. That I did as fast as my trembling legs could get me downstairs. I was cleaned aft. I couldn't make it out and I didn't try. I thought it was the devil's own work somehow, but how I didn't know? My mind was full makin' my escape. I ran like the old boy was after me and reachin' home I hid under the bedclothes and groaned all night. Full a week went by and I begun to breathe easy, thinkin' I'd never be suspected of a hand in it when up comes this gentleman and says I done it. Well, I've told the truth now and I'm relieved to get it off my chest. Bates heaved a deep sigh as of a man eased of a great burden. His whole story bore the stamp of truth and his manner of telling was straightforward and earnest, nor was there reason for doubt. Though a startling tale it entirely explained many of the strange conditions that had seemed so bewildering. It would never have occurred to Bates nor to anyone to make up such a yarn, and what else could have deterred him from the contemplated robbery but the superstition that makes even the most hardened criminals refuse to steal from a dead person. Therefore the narrative was accepted as probably true and Bates was taken to the tombs to await further proceedings against him. You're a wonder, said Gray Haviland, as that same afternoon he discussed the matter with Fleming Stone. Would you mind telling me how you went straight to the criminal and walked him off to jail? That was practically a bit of luck and Stone smiled. It was the blackjack that gave me the clue. If the fellow hadn't dropped that in his fright we might never have traced him. Though we would perhaps have found him eventually through the maid Estelle. She is not good at keeping things secret. However he did drop the weapon and it led straight to him. But how? Well, the thing smelled strongly of creosote. Now it was made from a bit of old cloth that looked like a piece of some discarded garment, a man's coat, say. If the odor had been camphor or moth-balls I should have assumed a garment laid away in storage, but creosote is not used for that purpose. So I deduced a house recently remodeled by use of a certain kind of shingles. I know that the odor of those shingles clings to everything in the house for months. It is almost inner-radicable, so I looked about for a house slightly reshingled. Why not a new house? asked Hardy who was present. A point well taken, said Stone nodding approval, but in a new house the odor often is dispelled before the people move in. In a remodeled house the furnishings stay there during the work and so are deeply impregnated with that unmistakable smell of creosote. At any rate I worked on that and when I found that a new shingled old house was a boarding house of the type Bates would be likely to live in I went there to see and found him. Yes, but how did you know there was such a person as Bates? Where did you get his name? From your cook. Returned Stone simply. I concluded there was no doubt that Estelle had let the man in and relocked the window afterward, so I deduced a friend of the girl so dear to her that she would do this for him. I asked the cook Mrs. Haskins as to Estelle's admirers and learned that there were two, Bates and Higgins. Mrs. Haskins couldn't say which one Estelle more favored so I decided to try both. Bates, the cook told me, lived in a boarding house near here and Higgins over in New York. So when I asked Estelle a few leading questions I pretended to greater knowledge than I really had. I spoke of a name beginning with either B, H, or S. She fell into the trap and said quickly that she knew no one initial S. Then I said, But beginning with, and waited, she said no name, but involuntarily her lips form a silent B, and I knew she had Bates in mind. The rest was easy. Bates, the boarding house and the shingles formed a combination too indicative to be merely coincidence, and so we found him. And I, for one, believe his story. I know the strong superstition that imbues those people concerning a corpse and the unexpected discovery that he had attacked one was enough to make that man beside himself. Indeed, it's a wonder that he didn't himself make an outcry in his terror and fright. I have heard of your prowess in these matters, said Haviland, but I didn't look for such quick work as this. Why, you hadn't even interviewed Estelle when you came to your conclusions about Bates. No, but to remember, I have seen a full account of all the evidence, not only at the inquest, but all that has been gathered by the police and by Mr. Hardy here. Last night I read all this carefully and it was enlightening on these points that led up to today's work. But now I don't mind telling you, Mr. Haviland, that a much more difficult and complicated problem faces us, to discover who gave to Miss Carrington the poison that killed her. Have you any suspicions? And Gray looked the detective straight in the eyes. I have not as yet. And Fleming Stone returned the steady gaze. Have you? Gray Haviland hesitated. Then he said, I would rather not answer that question, Mr. Stone. If I should have suspicions and they should be unjust or ill-founded, is it not better to leave them unmentioned even to you? You are here to discover the criminal. I cannot think my suspicions, if I have any, could help you, but they might easily hinder you by wrong suggestion. Very well, Mr. Haviland, just as you please. But I assume you will tell me, frankly, anything you may know or learn in the way of direct evidence bearing on the matter. That, certainly. But though Haviland's words were a definite promise, his tone and manner seemed hesitant and a trifle vague. Am I to have the privilege of working with you, Mr. Stone? Inquired Hardy, his heart beating tumultuously lest he receive a negative answer. If you care to, and if you are willing to work in my way, I am somewhat impatient of interference or questioning. But if you want to assist in investigating under my absolute orders, I shall be glad to have you do so. Nothing was further from Hardy's mind than to interfere or to show any undue curiosity concerning the work or methods of the detective. He was more than content to watch silently, to run errands, and to make himself useful in any way desired by his superior. He said this and Stone nodded indulgently. I shall begin with this matter of the arrest of Count Chalier, said Stone as he looked over his notebook. Either that man is the guilty party or he is not. If not, he must be released. If so, it must be proven. What do you know of his history, Mr. Haviland? Very little, Mr. Stone. In the first place I doubt his right to the title he assumes. You do, and why? Haviland looked a little embarrassed. I'm not sure I know why, but he doesn't act like a real Count. Yes, and how do real Counts act? I mean in ways that differ from this man's habits. You're having fun with me, Mr. Stone, and gray blushed like a schoolboy. But I mean it. It's this way. I'm not a Count, but if I wanted to pretend I was, I'd act just as Count Chalier does. There. Good. That's definite, at least. Now make it a little more so by describing some of these actions. Well, and Haviland's brow wrinkled. Well, to begin with, his manners are too slick and polished. A traditional trait of Frenchman. Yes, if real, but his seam artificially, purposely, oh, vaguely polished. Have you seen him, Mr. Stone? No, not yet. When you do, you'll see what I mean. He has shifty eyes, and he rubs his hands together, and if he's standing, he have bows with every sentence he utters, and he smirks instead of smiling, and his whole attitude is a fifty-fifty of apology and bumptiousness. Bravo! You've given a graphic picture of him at all events. I'll reserve further consideration of his personality until I have seen him. You believe implicitly all that story of Bates, do you, Mr. Stone? And Haviland looked dubiously at the detective. Yes, I do, at present. If anything turns up to disprove any part of it, I may have to revise my ideas. But just now, it seems to me that Bates told the simple truth. To be sure he only told it because he feared an accusation of murder, and he knew that to confess to the lesser crime would go far to help him deny the greater. You may be right, but might there not be collusion between friend count and Bates? Collusion? Just that. And Gray shook his head doggedly. I've a vague idea that Frenchie is mixed up in this thing somehow. Now he couldn't possibly have administered the poison himself personally, nor could he have struck the blow personally, but couldn't he have hired the man Bates to do it for him? On the face of things, Mr. Haviland, does that look plausible? Is the count, as you describe him, a man who would engage a burglar of the Bates type to commit a brutal crime? Again, if Bates were merely the count still, would he not, when caught, pass the blame on to his employer? He sure would. You are right, Mr. Stone, those two never hooked up together. It's out of the question. But as Estelle and Bates are in cahoots, why didn't she give Miss Carrington the poison herself? Well, she did fix the bromide hoping to make her mistress sleep soundly, but the lady never took it. Now, if the maid had given or expected to give the poison, why the bromide at all? But look here, broken hearty, mightn't it be that Estelle did do the poisoning and arrange the bromide as a blind to put us off the track exactly as it has done? There's small use in speculating about that poison, said Stone thoughtfully. We must go at that systematically. We must find out where it was bought and by whom. People can't go around buying deadly poison without a record being made of the sale. We must inquire of drugists until we find out these facts. There's no drugist about here who would sell a carnitin, said Hardy, it doubtless was bought in New York. That, of course, adds to the difficulty of tracing the sale, but it must be done. Mr. Hardy, I will ask you to do all you can to find out about that. You want to look up a French apothecary, advised Haveland. That count is at the bottom of this, as sure as shootin', and he's full clever enough to hide his tracks mighty closely. Why, that man is a fortune-hunter and an adventurer, and he wanted that ten thousand dollars and he poisoned Miss Lucy to get it. That's what he did. And he was on deck that night after the jewels. That's where he was. It was he in that room talking. It was he who left his glove there. Of course he didn't know it, and now you've got him under lock and key. I hope you'll keep him there and not let this bait's discovery get him the slip. If the two were not working together, then surely they are incriminated separately, and you want to look into the case of little old Mr. Count. You may be right, Mr. Haveland, and Flemingstone smiled at him, but I think you are assuming a lot because of your prejudice against the Frenchman. Was he very attentive to Miss Carrington? Had he proposed marriage to her? That we don't know. Of course we all had been afraid he would. Why afraid? Oh, we didn't want my cousin to marry an adventurer. Of course he only wanted her fortune and as her business manager I had a right to interfere, or at least to look after her interests enough to prevent that. But was she not a capable woman who could be supposed to know her own mind? Ordinarily yes, but there's no use mincing matters. Miss Carrington greatly desired to marry. However she paid no attention to men whom she did not consider interesting. There were several such and she sent them packing. The Count, though, she took to it once, partly because of his title and partly because, well, he has a way with him. He flattered her and she took the bait like a hungry fish. Fourteen. Who gave the poison? Though Flemingstone's acumen and quick perception had led to a swift apprehension of baits, his next steps were not taken so rapidly. He spent much time in the Boudoir of Miss Carrington as if striving to make the walls tell what their traditional ears had heard. The upset breakfast tray had been removed but nothing else disturbed. Estelle had owned up after Bates' arrest that she did drop the tray in her fright at the sight of the dead lady and that she afterwards denied it lest she be suspected of wrongdoing. The plate that had contained sandwiches was still on the bedside table but the glass of milk with bromide in had been carried away. Stone looked at the empty plate and wondered, had the poison been placed in the sandwiches? By Estelle? By anybody else? Who had had the opportunity? Estelle had brought the sandwiches and milk to the bedroom according to her usual custom when she prepared the bed for the night. A tiny serviette had been over the sandwiches and was still there beside the plate. Stone looked at it. A mere wisp of fine linen with a monogrammed corner. The few wrinkles in it showed clearly to stone sharp eyes the dainty touch of fingers that had held the caviar sandwich. It undoubtedly denoted that Miss Carrington had eaten the sandwich. Had anyone merely removed it the napkin would have been increased. He had been told that she rarely ate this night luncheon though it was always placed for her. Why had she partaken of it on that particular night? Had someone advised her to go? Or urged it? Had the count really visited her in the boudoir and having previously arranged the poisoned sandwich made sure that it would perform its deadly mission? Could he have entered the room unknown to the rest of the household? Stone went to the window. Yes, that matter was easy enough. A balcony outside the long French window was connected with a lower veranda by a spiral staircase. Anyone could run up the steps and be admitted to the boudoir in perfect secrecy. Stone wondered for a moment why Bates hadn't entered that way and quickly realized that for a marauder to appear at the window would have frightened Miss Carrington and caused an outcry. The entrance of the count, however, whether expected or not would be easily affected. If the count were really guilty the circumstances were all explicable. Suppose Miss Carrington had made the appointment. Would she not in her vanity have donned the beautiful boudoir gown and the jewels to appear attractive in his eyes? And supposing she had playfully caught his love as he removed it and had half unconsciously continued to hold it, then the conversation alleged to have been overheard by Miss Frane would have been addressed to him and the remarks would be at least intelligible. The snake. Ah, yes, the snake. As to that there was no hint, no clue of any sort. But then the thing was so inexplicable that the explanation must be easy. A clue so strange, so bizarre, must lead somewhere. That could be left to the future. Now he must decide on his first steps. The decision took him to call on Dr. Stanton and the physician welcomed him warmly. Glad to see you, Mr. Stone, he said. Sit down, sir, sit down. I've been wanting a talk with you ever since I heard of your arrival. So you ferreted out the burglar already. Great work, great work indeed! And now for the real murderer. You see, sir, I'm up to the minute in my information regarding this case. Glad to know it, returned Stone. Now, Dr. Stanton, I hope you can help me. I don't mind admitting the thing has its baffling aspects. The burglar was easily traced and easily disposed of. The real work, as you say, is just beginning. Will you, sir, tell me all you know of the poison that killed Miss Carrington? Surely, Mr. Stone? The autopsy showed a fatal dose of Aconitin. Aconite, as you know, of course, is the herb Wolfspain of the Hellebore tribe, all the species of which are poisonous. Aconitin is an intensely poisonous alkaloid obtained from Aconite. Taken in a moderate quantity it acts as a powerful sedative, but the dose absorbed by Miss Carrington was undoubtedly fatal within half or three-quarters of an hour. And she had what time? About two o'clock. Proving she took the poison at about quarter or half after one. Yes, thereabouts. It is not possible to fix these hours precisely, but the poison was administered positively between one and two. Administered. You do not think, then, that she took it herself? Most certainly not. Miss Carrington had been in my care professionally for many years. I knew her very well, and I know nobody more opposed to medicine in any form or drugs of any sort. It was a most difficult task to persuade her to take even the simplest remedy, and then she had to be assured over and over again that it was harmless. No, Mr. Stone, nothing could have made her take that dose of her own accord, nor could anyone have persuaded her to take it consciously. It was, without doubt, given to her secretly by the clever ruse of the murderer. Of course it could not have been an accident. The marvellous part is, to my mind, how anyone secured the poison. It is not an easy matter to buy a conitin. Then that ought to make it easier to trace. If the public could easily procure it at will there would be greater difficulty in running down the purchaser. That is so, and yet I think your search will be a hard one. How shall you go about it? By canvassing the drug shops of the city and of the small towns as well. It may be you can trace the sale, but if it was bought under the promise of secrecy and if that secrecy were well paid for. True, there is the difficulty, but what's a detective for if not to find out secrets? Quite right, may your quest succeed? And now a little more about the action of this poison. What are the immediate effects of a fatal dose? In a few moments there occurs a tingling numbness of lip and tongue and pharynx. The numbness increases and affects all the muscles and death ensues inside of an hour. This paralyzing effect renders it impossible for the victim to cry out and there are no convulsions. The body remains calm and undisturbed and the eyes open. A dilatation of the pupil takes place, but the expression on the face remains as in life. This is why Miss Carrington continued to look happy and smiling. And proves that when she took the poison she was happy and smiling and therefore in no way terrorized or frightened into it. Exactly so. And that indicates that she didn't know she was taking it. Or that it was administered by someone she knew and loved and had all confidence in. It would seem so, and Dr. Stanton's fine old face showed a sad apprehension. How was it taken, in what medium? That we can't tell to a certainty. There were traces of the sandwich as discovered at the autopsy, but though the poison could have been given her concealed in a sandwich filling it is improbable. Why? Because the white granules or powder which are soluble in water would be more easily discerned in solid food. But on the other hand it could be unustentatiously placed in a sandwich with little fear of detection, but to prevail on her to swallow a solution it is bitter, is it not? Yes, slightly so. I admit I cannot imagine anyone inducing Miss Carrington to swallow such a draft. Therefore it may well be it was placed in a sandwich. The filling they tell me was caviar, which would disguise the bitterness. And does not all this, if true, point to someone exceedingly familiar with all the details of Miss Carrington's affairs? Someone who knew of her nightly sandwich. And also does it not imply the presence of someone who could and did ensure her consumption of that sandwich? It would indeed seem so, Mr. Stone, but when it comes to discussing such a question as that I must ask to be allowed to retire from the field. It is my duty to tell all I know from my medical experience, but further than that I am not obliged to express any opinions or voice any suspicions. You know, however, that Count Chalier is held pending investigation. Yes, I know it. I have no opinion to express. Fleming Stone rather admired this gentleman of the old school whose courtesy was evident, but equally so his determination to say only what justice demanded of his profession. And then, like a flash, the reason came to him. Dr. Stanton suspected or at least feared to suspect some member of the Carrington household. Of course, this was not a new idea to Fleming Stone. He had mentally gone over the possibility of everyone in the family and all of the servants at Garden Steps, but so far he had held his mind open for impressions rather than to formulate theories himself. Then to sum up, doctor, he said as he rose to go, you assure me that you consider it out of the question that Miss Carrington took the aconitin herself say as a headache cure or something intending only a small curative Absolutely impossible, sir, exclaimed the old gentleman almost angrily. To begin with, Miss Carrington never had headaches, and if she had she would have borne any amount of suffering from them before she would have touched a drug or medical remedy of any sort. And aside from all that, how could she get aconitin? It is not to be bought for the asking at any drugists. No, sir, my conscience makes me insist on that point, Miss Carrington never took that poison knowingly, either by accident or design. It was given to her without her knowledge by a very, very clever villain. Again, then, it could have been given her innocently by a mistake. I mean, if someone, her maid or any friend had wanted to give her a sedative and meant only a light dose, but by error and quantity, no, sir, not a chance. The amount given was too great to be an error, and everyone in that house knows better than ever to have attempted to give medicine in any form or degree or for any purpose to Miss Lucy Carrington. It was crime, then, said Flemingstone, black crime. And as such it must be discovered and punished. Yes, agreed Dr. Stanton, but he spoke with deep sadness as one who feared where and toward whom such discoveries might lead. From the doctor's house Stone went to see the count. The elegant gentleman was highly irated, being detained against his will in such playing quarters as the tombs furnished, but he was not as belligerent or vindictive as Stone expected to find him. Hastey work on the part of the detectives from the district attorney's office had resulted in his imprisonment, but the later development of Bates' share in the matter made it extremely probable that the count might soon be released from custody. Pleasantly enough, the two men have helped from an outside source. It is such an absurdity, he declared, to think that I would in any way wish to harm the lady. Why, I admired her above all, and it was my hope that she would do me the honour to accept my hand. Honestly, Count Charlier, and Stone looked at him with a man-to-man glance that caused the count to hesitate in his protestations. Well, I was considering the matter in my own mind. You know, Mr. Stone, it is a great responsibility, this seeking a wife. And Miss Carrington was not in her first youth. Of a fact, her years outnumbered my own. So I asked myself, was it wise? Was it all together just to the lady to... Never mind all that, Count, said Stone a little impatiently. Just give me a few details of that evening so far as your actions were concerned. You were at the house till midnight. Yes, Mr. Isley and I left together. We had spent the evening there at cards and music. You had had any private conversation with Miss Carrington during the evening. Yes, we walked alone in the conservatory for a time. You proposed marriage. Not exactly that, but I may have hindered at such an event. And the lady seemed agreeable. Entirely so. If I may say it, she met my advances halfway, and I could not misunderstand her feeling toward my unworthy self. She spoke to you of money matters, of her will. Yes, to my surprise she told me she had bequeathed to me ten thousand dollars. Was not this a strange bequest to a casual acquaintance? Oh, we were more than casual acquaintances. I have known Miss Carrington for two or three months. Which, two or three? Perhaps nearer to, and the count showed a slight embarrassment. Do your friends often leave you large sums of money on such short acquaintance? It has never happened before, and now the count's dignity was touched and he spoke shortly and coolly. Then, of course, it struck you as peculiar, and Stone's smile assumed an acquiescence. But the count returned. Not at all. Miss Carrington was an unusual woman, and I never expected her behavior to be entirely conventional. When she told me of this I was simply and honestly grateful as I should have been to anyone who showed me such a kindness. He were glad to get the money then. Yes, indeed, the count exclaimed with sparkling eyes then realizing his slip he hastily added. That is, I was glad of the knowledge that it would come to me some day. Surely I did not want the lady to die that I might receive it, but I was pleased to know she thought enough of me to make the direction. What did she mean by saying tomorrow all will be different? That I do not know. Could she have meant? She did say it then. You admit she said it to you. Breathlessly, Flaming Stone waited the answer. Miss Carrington had said this to the person who was with her behind her closed door at one o'clock. Not to me only. She said it to all who were present. It was while we were playing bridge. She said it again to the man who killed her. Of that I know nothing, said Count Charlier politely. Bother, said Flaming Stone inaudibly. End of CHAPTERS XIII AND XIV CHAPTERS XV AND XVI OF THE CURVED BLADES BY CAROLIN WELLS This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. XV. Pauline's Purchase Alone Flaming Stone wrestled with the problem of the giving of that poison. The library at Garden Steps had been turned over to him for a study and no one entered the room unless summoned. Stone sat at the mahogany table desk, but his eyes rested unseeingly on the beautiful fittings of polished silver and glass. On a memorandum block he wrote down the names of possible and probable suspects. To be sure he thought everyone in the house might be deemed possible, as well as some who were not in the house, but each one must be taken into consideration. To begin with the most important, Miss Stewart. It was possible that she poisoned her ant, but so improbable as to make it exceedingly unlikely. True, she was heir to half the fortune, but well-bred, well-nurtured young women do not commit crime to inherit their money sooner. Except for that conversation reported by Anita Frayne, there was not a shred of evidence against Miss Stewart. And Stone did not place implicit confidence in that story of the talk behind closed doors. He had discovered that the two girls were not friendly, and he knew Anita capable of making up or colouring a tale to suit herself. Pauline had told him that she was in the hall window-seated when o'clock that night and had seen Anita coming from Miss Carrington's room. Or to put it more clearly, she had seen Anita coming from Miss Carrington's room. Or to put it more clearly, she had seen Anita coming from Miss Carrington's room. Or to put it more carefully, she had seen her with her hand on the door-knob in the act of closing the door after her. This Pauline had told a stone with an air of such verity and truthfulness that he was feigned to believe her. However, in all honesty, he had to admit to himself that Miss Stewart could have given the poison in some secret way had she so desired. The same was true, though, of Miss Frayne, of Haveland, and of the various house servants. But where could any of them get it? Again, there were the count and Mrs. Frothingham to be considered. In fact, there were too many suspects to decide among without further evidence. Any luck, Stone asked of Hardy who came in to report. No, Mr. Stone, I break the drug shops thoroughly and there's no trace of a sale of a conitin. It's practically impossible to buy such a substance. I mean for the ordinary customer. Yet some-bother, I have no idea where. Yet somebody did. I suppose so. But it doesn't limit the field of search to realize that it couldn't have been a servant or either of the young ladies. Why neither of the young ladies? But how could they get it? Why not as well as anyone else? And somebody did. Then somebody stole it. Nobody bought it. I'm positive of that. Now I've learned how impossible it is and how could those girls steal it? I don't know Hardy but my point is why couldn't they steal it if anybody could? You're denying their ability to steal the poison because you don't want to suspect them. And neither do I. But we must look this thing squarely in the face. Somebody managed to get that a conitin and administer it to Miss Garrington secretly and it is for us to find out who did it, who could do it in the face of all obstacles. But it is futile to say this one or that one could or couldn't do it. Now, since you found no trace of the poison sale, let's start from some other point. Surely this case with its unique circumstances offers many ways to look for evidence. What strikes me most forcibly is the costume of the lady. Not so much the gown. I believe she was fond of elaborate boudoir robes but the array of jewelry, the scarf, and the snake. Most of all, the snake. That of itself ought to point directly to the true solution and I believe it does, only we're too blind to see it. I'm going to work on that snake clue and to help I wish you'd go at once to all the possible shops where it might have been bought. It may not be traceable and then again it may. And the strange fact of her sitting idly before the mirror when she died. I believe the poison was there on the spot. Must have been. For it's sure enough that she didn't take it herself according to the doctor's statements. Well, if the murderer was right there with her and she not only made no outcry but continued to look smiling and happy, it was surely someone she knew and in whom she had all confidence. Perhaps this person urged her to eat the sandwich. Oh, Shah, that's all plausible enough. But the snake? That's the bizarre clue that must lead somewhere. And it shall. I'll ferret out the mystery of that paper snake or my name's not stone. Go to it, Hardy. Rake the Japanese shops and department stores but find out who bought it. It isn't old. I observed it was fresh and new. Those flimsy paper things show handling mighty quickly. Find out who bought the thing and we've started the right direction. Hardy went off on his errand and Stone went over to have a talk with Mrs. Frovingham. The widow was amiable but non-committal. She was highly incensed at the arrest of the Count but felt confident he would be liberated in a few days. She replied warily to Stone's questions but admitted her presence in the house on the fatal evening. You see, she said in a confidential way, I was lonely. The Count had gone so often of late to garden steps and I was never invited that I think I was a little jealous. Of Miss Carrington? Ask Stone quickly. Yes, said Mrs. Frovingham frankly and of Miss Stewart and of the Count's intimacy over there. I had never even been in the house. So I went over there and looked in the windows. I saw them playing cards and later strolling about the rooms. The great door stood a little ajar and I cautiously stepped inside. It was vulgarly curious but it was no crime. As I stood in the hall I saw someone approaching and stepped up a few steps of the staircase. It was all so beautiful that I looked at the tapestries and decorations. I remember thinking that if anyone challenged me I should tell the truth and say that I came in to look as a neighbor ought to have a right to do. Never mind the ethics of the case Mrs. Frovingham, stick to facts. Did you go upstairs? No, indeed. Only up four or five steps just to the turn of the staircase. But mysteriously saw you coming down. Only those few steps. He couldn't have seen me coming from the top of the stair for I didn't go up so far. You spoke of being jealous of Miss Stewart. Why? Because Count Chalier is in love with her. With Miss Stewart? Yes. He was making up to Miss Carrington for her money but he is really in love with Miss Stewart. Mrs. Frovingham shook her head doggedly as if determined to tell this even though it should read down to the Count's discredit and it did. Then said Flaming Stone that adds motive to the theory of the Count's guilt. If he is in love with Miss Stewart might he not have been tempted to put Miss Carrington out of the way that Miss Stewart should inherit the fortune and be the bride of his choice? Indeed, yes, that is a possibility and Flaming Stone saw at last that this woman either suspected the Count's guilt or wished to make it appear so. Again the sudden thoughts struck him suppose she was so jealous of the Count's attentions to Miss Carrington that she went to garden steps with the intent of killing the lady. Suppose she did go upstairs although she denied it and put the poison in the sandwich. Surely she had opportunity. She would now deny it. Flaming Stone sighed. He hated a case where the principal witnesses were women. One could never tell when they were lying. A man now was much more transparent and his evidence more easily weighed. However, if this woman desired to turn suspicion toward Count Chellier it was either because she suspected him or was implicated herself. In either case her word was not worth much and Stone soon took his leave to hunt a more promising field. Returning to garden steps he found that Pauline had received a letter from her cousin in Egypt. I am afraid, she said as she handed Stone the letter to read that my cousin Carr will think we are not accomplishing much. Read the letter, Mr. Stone, and if you say so I will ask Mr. Loria to come home. Glad to read the letter from this half heir to the Carrington fortune Stone took the sheet. Dear Polly The awful shock of Aunt Lucy's death leaves me without words to tell you what I feel for you in your dark hours. What can I say in the face of such a horror? I wish I were there with you to help you bear it all for on you comes the brunt of the publicity and all the harrowing details that must be attended to. If you say so I will return to America at once. But unless I can be of definite assistance or real comfort to you personally I will not go over just now. I'm just starting on a wonderful piece of work here. No less than excavating but I won't take time to tell of it now. I'll write you about it later if I don't go to you. This is a short note to catch the mail and reach you as soon as possible. Remember as I write I have only your first two capels and know nothing of details. I eagerly await your letters. Why don't you follow out your plan of coming over here in February? Leave all business matters in Haviland's hands and get away from the scene of the tragedy. Of course as I cable to Grey get the best possible detective experts on the case. Spare no expense and charge all to me. Surely we want to find and punish the slayer of Aunt Lucy and I repeat if you for any reason want me to I will come over at once. Cable and I will take the next steamer. If you don't do this do write me long letters and tell me everything that is happening. Poor Aunt Lucy I know your life wither wasn't all a bit of roses but I know how saddened you are now and my heart goes out to you. Dear Polly command me in any way. I am entirely at your service here or there. If you come over here I advise Haviland to stay there and look after things. I know the bulk of Aunt Lucy's fortune is divided between you and me and I want Grey to see to all matters connected with my share. He can send me some money to further this work I am engaged on here but let me know if you want me to come to you with all loving sympathy and affection car. Fleming Stone pondered over this letter he had felt a certain curiosity concerning this absent cousin who was heir to half the great fortune and so would have had a possible motive for a crime that would secure his inheritance to him at once. But there was no possible way of connecting a man in Egypt with a deed committed in the victim's boudoir. Vague thoughts of Lloria's employing somebody to do the deed for him formed themselves in Stone's mind but were soon dismissed as untenable. The man baits could not be a tool of anybody and beside he didn't kill the lady. The poison did that. The count couldn't be a tool of anyone. He was too evidently his own master and whether guilty or not was entirely on his own initiative. Oh, the whole idea was absurd. The letter itself was sufficient exoneration for Lloria. He was absorbed in his research work and though thoughtful enough of Pauline's wishes he was apparently not anxious to have his plans over there interrupted. He wrote like a good all-around chap and Fleming Stone could find an opaque on which to hang a suspicion in his case. A good letter he commented returning it to Pauline. What's your cousin like? In looks a little like me but bigger and darker. He's a fine-looking man and a kind-hearted one. I shall advise him not to come home for I know how interested he is in his work and he can do no good here. Can he, Mr. Stone? Frankly, Miss Steward, I don't see how he can. I may as well admit to you the case seems to me a most baffling one. The assault with the blackjack is, of course, accounted for but we have made no progress in the matter of discovering the poisoner. I feel that the solution of the mystery is closely connected with that paper snake. Can you give me any idea where the thing could have come from? Do you think Miss Garrington bought it herself? I am sure she did not, returned Pauline, but her voice and intonation were such that Stone turned quickly to look at her. She had gone pale and her eyes looked frightened. Oh, no! She went on hurriedly. Aunt Lucy would never buy such a thing. She hated snakes. I know that, but she must have gotten it somewhere. It is easier to think she put it round her throat herself than to think she let someone else do it. Why do you say that? And now Pauline looked angry. It is incredible that she should have put that thing round her own neck. What could have induced her to do it? There seems to be no theory to fit the facts, said Stone, wearily. So we must try to get some facts that may suggest a theory. You think, Miss Stewart, that you saw Miss Frane leaving Miss Garrington's room late that night. I know I saw her with her hand on the doorknob, returned Pauline steadily, and just then Anita herself burst into the room. That is a falsehood, she cried, and her big blue eyes flashed angrily. How could you see me when you were yourself in Miss Garrington's room? This was what Stone had wanted to get these two girls at variance. And he helped along by saying, were you Miss Stewart? Certainly not, cried Pauline. You were, Anita flung back. Miss Garrington was talking to you. She said she wished her face was as beautiful as yours. To whom else could she have said that? Surely not to the count. One doesn't call a man beautiful. And we all know that Miss Garrington admired your looks and lamented her own lack of beauty. All that applies equally well to yourself. And Pauline gazed steadily at the blonde beauty of Anita. Why wasn't all that speech addressed to your own attractive face and you repeated to incriminate me? Here was an idea. Stone wondered if it could be that Anita was in the boudoir and to turn suspicion from herself tried to pretend she had heard Pauline in there. And she said you were fond of pearls, went on Pauline. Your admiration for my aunt's pearls is an open secret. It was. Often had Anita said how much she preferred the soft luster of pearls to the dazzling sparkle of other gems. And she left you ten thousand dollars in her will, continued Pauline, more as if thinking these things over aloud than as if accusing Anita of crime. Wait, Miss Stewart! Cried Stone, what are you doing? Implying that Miss Frayne had anything to do with the tragedy. I am implying nothing. I am trying to see how far the accusations she makes against me will fit her own case. You remember she said my aunt proposed to leave my share of the fortune to someone else, but car share must remain untouched. Well, to whom else could she think of giving my share but to this scheming girl who tried her best to get my portion but did not succeed? Anita struggled to reply but words would not come. So furious was she that she could not articulate, she gurgled hysterically when into the room came Haviland and Hardy. Both looked exceedingly grave and Gray went at once to Pauline and put his hand kindly on her shoulder. Then he suddenly caught sight of Anita in her evident distress and leaving Pauline he went over to the other and put his arms gently round her. What is it, Anita? He said. What has upset you so? Pauline was all Anita could say when she was interrupted by Hardy. Let me speak first, he said, for he saw there was dissension between the two girls. I have made a discovery. At Mr. Stone's directions I have been investigating shops where the paper snake might have been bought and I have learned that one was bought at Bantines recently by Miss Stewart. Ah! said Fleming Stone gravely. Did you buy one, Miss Stewart? Pauline hesitated. She was white as chalk and her lips quivered. Of course she did! Screamed Anita greatly excited. She did and she was in there talking to Miss Garrington just as I said. And she put that thing round her neck to frighten her. And then she gave her the poison and then she came away and left her to die, all alone by herself. The fiend! There, there, Anita, hush! And Haviland tried to soothe the frantic exclamation of the girl. Pauline stood waiting in silence. At last she said, when you remove that ranting woman I will answer your question, Mr. Stone. You'll answer it now, cried Anita, in my presence and at once. I think you must answer, Miss Stewart, said Stone gently. Did you buy a paper snake? I did, said Pauline and added in a low tone. A long time ago, this can't be the same one. The date of the sale is about a week before the death of Miss Garrington went on hardy merciless in his statements. For what purpose did you purchase it? asked Stone a little sternly. Pauline now drew herself up proudly. I bought it, she said, in clear distinct tones, because my aunt instructed me to get it for her. There was a silence and then, oh, come now, Pauline, you can't expect us to swallow that, Gray Haviland said with a tolerant smile at her. Try again. That's the truth, said Pauline, but her voice trembled and with a half stifled exclamation of despair she ran out of the room. Stop, Pauline, where are you going? cried Haviland as he ran after her. Don't touch me, she cried. I'm going to cable car to come home. He's the only one who can help me. He is so wrapped up in a kneta that you can't tell truth from falsehood. Car will know what to do and I shall send for him. Wait, Miss Stewart, said Flemingstone gravely. You may cable Mr. Laurier if you choose, but for a few moments I must claim your attention. It is to my mind of the greatest importance to learn the details of the purchase of that paper snake and I must ask you to tell us the circumstances of your aunt's request for it. There is little to tell, said Pauline in a hesitant way. It was one day when I was going over to New York that Aunt Lucy just said casually to get her one of those Japanese paper snakes from Vantines and I did. That's enough, cried Anita, Miss Carrington never sent for a snake, never in the world. You'll be saying next she told you to get her some aconitin to poison herself with. 16. The Two Girls Miss Stewart and Flemingstone's voice though gentle had a ring of decision if I am to go on with this case I must insist on your entire confidence and absolute he hesitated over the word truthfulness. The two were alone. After the altercation between Pauline and Anita Stone had requested the others to leave them and he determined to get at the truth of this marvelous statement about the purchase of the snake. I understand and you are quite right, murmured Pauline, her manner quiet, her tone even but in the dark eyes raised to his Flemingstone saw fear, definite unmistakable fear. Then explain for I am sure you can why you suppressed the fact of your own purchase of that paper snake until forced to admit it. I was afraid the beautiful face was of a creamy pallor and the scarlet lips quivered but this evident agitation on Miss Stewart's part did not deter Stone from his probing queries. Why were you afraid? Afraid of what? Afraid that if you knew I bought the snake you would think I was in some way connected with the crime but don't you see that to attempt to conceal the fact of your purchase makes any suspicion more imminent? You don't think I would, would I don't want to think anything about it Miss Stewart I want to know and I want you tell me all about your Aunt Strange request for you to buy a thing she so feared and appored I don't understand it myself but Aunt Lucy was full of vagaries and would often ask me to buy strange or outlandish things for her but not of a reptilian nature No, she had never done such a thing before No, she had never done such a thing before Did she give you any reason for the request? Make no apology or explanation No, I was just leaving her and she called me back and said won't you stop in at some Japanese shop and get me a paper snake and I exclaimed and surprised at the request then she lost her temper and said she suppose she knew what she wanted and for me to get it without further to do so I did and when you brought it to her she merely took it and laid it in a desk drawer without even unwrapping the parcel I never saw it again till I saw it round her neck and you do not think she placed it there herself I am sure she did not the only reason I can ascribe for her wanting it is that she might have thought her dread of them a foolish whim and determined to accustom herself to the sight of them by means of the harmless toy that's all I know about that snake Mr. Stone that's all I know about that snake Mr. Stone but the truth as I have told it to you is so strange so almost unbelievable that I knew it would only serve to attract suspicion to me so I denied it you know Miss Frane and is only waiting to pounce on it as complete evidence of my guilt you and she are not good friends we have never been really friendly though always polite on the surface of things but she is jealous of me and tried in every possible way to undermine my aunt's faith and trust in me and even plotted to have me disinherited and my fortune bequeathed to herself an ambitious plan she is ambitious she intends to marry Mr. Haveland and she intended to have my half of the Carrington money you don't suspect her of the crime and Fleming Stone looked up quickly suspect is too strong a word but to me there seems room for grave inquiries I was in the hall at the time she declares I was in my aunt's room wait a moment Miss Stewart isn't this a sort of deadlock you say you were in the hall Miss Frane says you were in the Boudoir why should I believe one in preference to the other there was infinite sadness in Pauline's eyes as she looked at her questioner that is so she said slowly why should you I have only my unsupported word nor has Anita any witness but Mr. Stone I thought a detective always looked first of all for the motive what reason could I have for killing my aunt you put it plainly Miss Stewart and I will reply in an equally straightforward vein the first thing we detectives think of is who will benefit from the crime naturally money benefit is first thought of the greatest money benefit comes to you and your cousin in Egypt the nature of the crime makes it impossible that he could have committed it there is however a possibility of your own connection with it so we must question you but there are others who benefit in a unyary way by the death of Miss Garrington so they too must be questioned you surely see the justice and the necessity of all this investigation oh yes and it seems to me also justice that you investigate the story of Miss Frane she too has only her own unsupported word as to that conversation she relates may she not have made it all up she has a witness Miss Stewart a credible witness Mr. Haviland has told me that he saw Miss Frane at the door of the Boudoir at about quarter past one Gray saw her he didn't tell me this Mr. Stone I hate to speak ill of another woman but Miss Frane can really wind Gray Haviland round her finger and I have no doubt she has persuaded him to give this evidence whether whether it is true or not yes that is what I meant though I hated to say it Miss Stewart it is often hard to tell when a man speaks the truth but I have no reason to disbelieve Mr. Haviland's statement he told quite circumstantially of being up and down all night he was restless and wandered about in several rooms during the small hours you know he told of seeing the maid on the stairs and he gives me the impression of a truthful witness who would not lie outright even at the behest of a woman in whom he is interested then they are going to suspect me Pauline's voice was so full of despair that Fleming Stone caught his breath as he looked at her her great eyes were wide with fear her hands were clenched and her whole body tense with horrified suspense give me some good reasons why you cannot be suspected he cried eagerly leaning forward in his chair give me some proof that you were in the hall at that moment or that you were in your own room or that proves Mr. Stone that you do suspect me the notion that I could have been in my own room shows that you do not believe I was in the hall as I was then why didn't Miss Frayne see you there how do you know she didn't why do you accept her words as truth yet disbelieve mine Pauline had risen now and stood before him her tall slimness her wonderful grace and her beautiful angry countenance made an alluring picture I was not in favor of your taking this case Mr. Stone and I am even less so now that you refuse to believe what I say I shall cable it once for my cousin to return I do not wish Grey Haviland and Anita Frayne to arrange all this to suit themselves I am mistress here in Mr. Lauria's absence and if my authority is doubted I want him here to stand up for me just a moment Miss Stewart you are not entirely just to me it is necessary for me to question you but you must see that your innocence, of which I have no doubt will be more easily established by a policy of frankness on your part than by futile anger toward Miss Frayne or Mr. Haviland the incident of the paper snake as explained by you is not necessarily incriminating and if you will wait a few days before calling your cousin home I think very likely you will prefer not to do so I understand that you do not wish him to come home unless he can be of assistance to you yes that is his desire to stay over there unless I want him but Mr. Stone and now the lovely face was almost smiling if you mean what you said that you do not doubt my innocence then I will not send for Mr. Lauria I am content to let it all rest in your hands the girl's beauty now was dazzling colour showed in her cheeks her eyes shown and the curve of her exquisite red lips was almost a smile Stone looked at her in amazement he had spoken truly he had not doubted her innocence but this sudden elation on her part puzzled him what did it mean only as she meant it to seem that if he believed in her innocence it could be easily proved well he would accept that diagnosis of her attitude but he would move warily this case was unlike any other he had ever engaged in so he must attack it in a different way and first of all he must decide that these two women was speaking the truth yet how could he decide if Pauline had been in that room when Anita listened at the door she would of course try to prove that she was elsewhere but in such a case why not say she was in her own room it wasn't possible that she should confess to being in the hall if she were really in the boudoir that then was in Pauline's favour but the conversation detailed by Anita that must be further analysed these thoughts flew through stone's quick moving brain as he stood looking at his beautiful hostess puzzling it out Mr. Stone and Pauline's smile was a full fledged one now perhaps I can help you if you'll accept my assistance without doubting my word I'm sure we can do wonders in a detective way this was not in Pauline's favour it was too much like bargaining with him to believe her innocent then too though all unconscious of it stone was influenced by the wonderful charm of the girl though her lips were smiling a little her great dark eyes still held that look of fear that hunger for protection that desire for someone on whom to lean and I won't send for my cousin just yet she went on it's too bad to call him home when he's so busy over there you know Mr. Stone that Mr. Lauria is a wonderful man his achievements and excavation have brought him fame and glory and you mustn't think he's heartless because he doesn't return at once you know it was all arranged for us to go over there next month and he had made all sorts of plans for us and for himself he can't leave his work at a moment's notice unless as he says I have need of him was he fond of his aunt inquired stone casually he was her idol to Aunt Lucy the son rose and set in she was perfectly crazy to go on this trip to Egypt in order to be with him he was fond of her yes more so than I was because she was always kind and good nature to him while she was always unpleasant to me why was she I don't know well I suppose I may as well tell you one reason was because she was always envious of anyone whom she considered better looking than she was herself this may sound strange to you Mr. Stone but it was the key note of my aunt's existence she adored beauty in every way pictures, clothes, everything but she was so sensitive about her own plainness that a younger prettier face made her at times irritable and even cruel she would never engage a servant with any pretensions to good looks therefore as she chose to consider Miss Frane and myself of comely personal appearance she was unkind to us both and Mr. Lauria, is he not handsome? oh yes very but Aunt Lucy liked handsome men car Lauria is like a picture his father was of Italian descent and car has the clear olive skin and dark beauty of that race gray haveland is good looking too but it was only feminine prettiness that stirred up Aunt Lucy's ire why did she ever engage such an angel face as Miss Frane Fleming Stone watched closely for a sign of irritation at this speech and saw it Pauline's smile faded and she said abruptly do you think her so beautiful? she has the perfect blonde fairness usually typified by the celestial white-robed creatures on the old canvases yes, Anita is a perfect example of a blonde why she is the daughter of an old schoolmate of my aunts and so that's why Aunt Lucy took her and then gave her such an efficient secretary and such a patient meek thing to scold that she kept her position Miss Frane doesn't seem so extraordinarily meek to me no indeed she's not meek at all but she always was to Miss Garrington that of course to keep the position which was both easy and lucrative easy that is except for my aunt's temper that was vented on poor Anita morning noon and night that then might give us a motive for Miss Frane's desire to be rid of her cruel mistress and to get the inheritance that she knew would come to her at Miss Garrington's death Pauline shuddered I can't think of such a thing Mr. Stone but if anybody in this house is to be suspected of the awful thing it can be no one but Anita she tried I know to supplant me in my aunt's affection and to have my inheritance or part of it transferred to herself you know this yes for some time she has been making insinuations and telling my aunt tales about me untrue ones that would make Aunt Lucy angry at me I tell you this Mr. Stone because I want you to know Anita Frane as she really is there was the ring of sincerity in the tone there was a look of truth in the big dark eyes and there was a most appealing expression on the lovely face that gazed into his own but Fleming Stone turned from the speaker with a polite but decided gesture of dismissal saying please ask Miss Frane to come here a few moments end of chapters 15 and 16 chapters 17 and 18 of the curved blades by Carolyn Wells this LibriVox recording is in the public domain 17 the overheard conversation awaiting the arrival of Anita Frane Stone thought rapidly forming his judgments as always more by impressions than by words he found himself believing in Pauline Stewart she had bought the paper snake she had lied about it but many women would have done the same knowing that the purchase of the toy meant definite suspicion wouldn't any innocent girl have feared and dreaded that exposure if she had been guilty she would scarcely have dared deny the facts of buying it lest it be proved against her and make matters worse again it was impossible to connect that magnificent woman with crime if she were connected with it it could only be as the criminal herself there was no theory that admitted of her being an accomplice or a tool stay there was that Loria man Stone couldn't rid himself of a vague idea of implicating the distant nephew by means of an accomplice on the spot but the notion was not logical if Pauline had killed her aunt under her cousin's instructions she was just as much a murder as if she had done it entirely of her own initiative and if the two cousins had conspired or worked in collusion it was Stone's duty to fasten the deed on Pauline as the available one of the pair Stone ran over in his mind the letter from Loria it gave no hint of greed or cupidity in his nature he was engrossed in the pursuit of his hobby archaeology and was only willing to leave his work if that would definitely please his cousin on whom he fully appreciated the responsibilities of the occasion would fall he fully trusted Grey Haviland to look after all business affairs so he was not a suspicious or over-careful nature he asked no immediate money and only desired some in the course of time to further his work whatever might be the truth there was no reason to cast a glance of suspicion toward Carrington Loria his opinion of Pauline's possible stone held in abeyance and Miss Frane entering he greeted her with punctilious politeness and a confidential air tending to put her at ease Miss Frane he began the situation is a grave one I am forced to the conclusion tentatively at least that Miss Carrington was deliberately poisoned by someone in her own household it may have been a servant but it is difficult to imagine how or why a servant could accomplish the deed at any rate I must first consider the members of the family and in so doing I must request absolute truth and sincerity from all I'm sure I've no reason to equivocate Mr. Stone and Anita's voice was almost flippant all I've told you about what I heard at Miss Carrington's door is absolutely true and I can repeat it word for word it seems strange to have it so accurately at your tongue's end not at all I went to my room and wrote it down as soon as I heard it I often make such memoranda they are frequently useful later Fleming Stone mused this seemed a strange thing to do at least in view of the later events but then if Miss Frane had been the guilty one and had made up all this story of overheard conversation surely she would not have done anything so peculiar as to make that detailed memorandum or if she did would not have told of it a copy of that memorandum continued stone what I want is for you to tell me again why you think it could not have been entirely a soliloquy on the part of Miss Carrington for two reasons first I have lived with the lady for four years and never have I known her to talk to herself or soliloquies allowed of course this does not prove that she never did so but I know it was not her habit second nobody in soliloquy would ever use that definite intonation which is always used in speaking to a person you know yourself Mr. Stone that a soliloquy is voiced slowly mumblingly and usually in disjointed or partially incoherent sentences the talk I heard was in clear concise speeches unmistakably addressed to somebody present she could not in a soliloquy use that direct form of address even if talking to someone in her imagination she would not keep it up but would go off in a reverie or drop into personal thought I wish I could make this more clear to you you do make it clear miss frame I know just what you mean I quite agree that one could easily tell the difference between a spoken soliloquy and remarks addressed to a here but you heard no replies none at all but I hold that is not peculiar for while Miss Carrington's voice was especially high and carrying an ordinarily low voice would not be audible through that closed door you can prove that by simple experiment I have said Fleming Stone I have tried it and as you say an ordinary voice in a low tone is not audible but Miss Carrington's must have been raised unnecessarily to allow of its being heard Stone washed Anita's face as she listened to this but she only replied with a shrug of indifference I can't say as to that I heard every word clearly that's all I can tell suppose she had been talking to a picture of someone say a photograph of Miss Stewart or of Mr. Lauria or of Count Chalier would her tone of voice then be explicable perhaps but she would have had to imagine vividly the person there before her and again Miss Carrington had no such photographs in her rooms all her family photographs are in this library in frames or cases she was methodical in such matters she has copies of pictures of Miss Stewart and of Mr. Lauria from their childhood to now but they are all in order in the cases over there Anita made a slight motion of her hand toward a mahogany cabinet no Mr. Stone, whomever or whatever Miss Carrington was talking to it was not a photograph of any of her relatives or friends as you know there was none discovered in her room so what could she have done with it that's true Miss Frane is the person in there also inexplicable points if somebody was there it was of course someone well known and whose presence in the house was unquestionably correct but her remarks as I read them from your notes imply different auditors granting for a moment that Miss Stewart was there why would Miss Carrington say Henri, Henri, you are the mark I aim at I admit that must have been a soliloquy or an apostrophe to the man present you have no thought then that Count Chalier was present certainly not the idea is absurd Miss Stewart was in there with her aunt and I'm sure it was some remark of Pauline's which I of course did not hear that made Miss Carrington speak of the count as if to him how then do you account for the presence of Count Chalier's glove Miss Stewart put it there as a blind and how did Miss Stewart get it clearly the count had been spending the evening here he may have left his glove by mistake or or or Pauline may have abstracted it purposely from his coat pocket during the evening with a prearranged plan to do all just as she did do Miss Frayne you can't mean to assert your belief that Miss Stewart so far planned the crime as to intend to cast suspicion on Count Chalier by means of that glove why not if Pauline Stewart is responsible for her aunt's death I assure you Mr. Stone she is quite clever enough to prearrange all details and to plan so adroitly that suspicion should fall on someone else Miss Stewart is far more crafty and deep than you can have any idea of I have known her for four years and I can tell you she is far from ingenuous suppose we leave the question of Miss Stewart out of the discussion and continue our first line of thought had Miss Carrington ever spoken to you of changing her will as was his frequent experience Fleming Stone's quick question caught his witness unaware and she stumbled a little in her speech as she replied no why should she only because her frequent quarrels with Miss Stewart might have made her wish to leave less of her fortune to her niece and in the conversation you overheard Miss Carrington touched on this subject yes she did but except for that reference spoken to her unknown companion I have never heard anything of such an intention on her part you're fond of pearls Miss Frane oh I know what you're getting at now that speech Miss Lucy made about fondness for pearls of course I am, who isn't I often told Miss Carrington that I admired her pearls far more than all her diamonds or other glittering stones but I wouldn't commit a crime for all the pearls in the world and if I had why didn't I steal the pearls and each his voice rang out triumphantly as she put this question but Fleming Stone said quietly I haven't accused you of crime Miss Frane but since you asked that let me remind you that if the crime were done with intent of robbery the reason that the robbery was never accomplished is the same that kept the man baits from stealing few people can bring themselves to take valuables from a dead body however I cannot think the poisoning was done with any idea of direct robbery but for the gain that would come by the bequests of the will then your search is limited by the list of inheritors it is Miss Frane then Mr. Stone how can you overlook or undervalue the weight of evidence against Pauline Stewart remember she bought that snake herself Miss Lucy never told her to buy it never in this world Pauline feared her aunt would disinherit her how do you know that the question was shot at her and Anita fairly jumped as she heard it why why you know I heard reference made to it that night when when you overheard that conversation yes go on Fleming Stone had gained his point which was to prove that Anita did know of the proposed change in the will before that time and to his own belief he had proved it yes I cannot doubt now that Pauline knew her aunt intended to change her will and so she was so desperate at the idea of losing her fortune she I cannot bear to put it in words she poisoned the lady said Fleming Stone very gravely yes Anita's voice choked but she annunciated the word Mr. Stone you must think me dreadful to hold these suspicions but you asked me to be frank and I wish you to be so I am here miss Frank to discover the poisoner of Miss Carrington it is my duty to get all possible light on the matter from anyone I can it is the duty of those who my question to tell all they know truthfully and straightforwardly if these truths implicate or seem to implicate a member of the household nonetheless must the investigation be carried on and the case be pushed to its inevitable conclusion the great danger lies in mistaking opinions or imaginations for facts now you are telling facts as to the words you overheard but you are giving only opinions as to whom those words were addressed that is so and Anita's gaze was a wondering one but Mr. Stone since the fact of that person in the room is undiscoverable one can't help forming an opinion haven't you one I have okay what is it I think those words were spoken to some inanimate object not a person suppose the remark thought to be said to Count Chalier was addressed to his glove which she was undoubtedly holding at the time I never thought of that because I have assumed that Pauline put that glove in her hand after after it was all over to implicate the count and anyway that's only that one remark or two to what inanimate object was she talking when she said tomorrow all these jewels may be yours that I cannot answer the whole conversation is most mysterious indeed it is Mr. Stone under any other hypothesis than that of the presence of Pauline Stewart in her aunt's room at the time may I come in and Grey Haviland's good-natured face appeared as he knocked and opened the door almost simultaneously yes said Stone and I will ask you Miss Frane to leave us I am getting to work in earnest now and I want to push things a little Stone watched the effect of this speech on Anita and was not surprised to see her look at him with startled eyes as she unwillingly went through the door he held open for her what's doing as Haviland in his breezy way and Stone replied frankly lots those two girls are sworn foes aren't they of late they have seemed to be the break came a month or more before Miss Carrington died two beauties never can remain friends they are both beautiful women agreed Stone which do you think had a hand in the tragedy good lord neither of them what are you talking about the Count man is responsible for the whole thing Bates and all I know you think so Mr. Haviland but I can't agree with you now look here we've got to face things squarely take the story Miss Frane tells about that mysterious conversation if it were all a figment of her brain what man you're crazy Anita Frane make that all up out of the solid never in a thousand years if she said that talk was talked it was talked and that's all there is about that why or by whom it was talked is another matter and as I understand it that's what you're here to find out and between you and me and the arclight I don't believe you ever will find out no no and this is no aspersion on your powers I believe that full count was in there and as you'll never admit it and you'll never believe it how can it be proved never mind that now prepare yourself Mr. Haviland for some unwelcome questions you don't want to but I must insist on your answering them which do you consider the more truthful and honest of the two young women I've just been talking to Nixie you can't get an answer to that question out of me why I'd be a cad to say anything but that they are both impeccably truthful and honest so you would in ordinary circumstances but you must realize Mr. Haviland that I am here for the definite purpose of solving the mystery of a terrible crime and I can only do it by inquiry and investigation if you really refuse to help me I must learn what I want to know in other ways but hang it man and Haviland impressed by Stone's manner considered the question I do think they're both truthful that is one of them oh I can't say it I can't talk against a woman you'll be obliged to tell all you know sooner or later if you tell me now I truly believe it will be better all round well then now wait I've got to think this thing out why I believe why blessed if I don't believe either of them would lie if she was in a tight place there you've made me say a nice honorable thing haven't you and Haviland looked utterly disgusted with Stone and with himself too 18 Fled the days went by leaving the mystery unsolved Count Chalier was released from custody there not being sufficient evidence to hold him Bates was in jail awaiting the action of the grand jury but it was recognized that he was not the murderer of Miss Garrington Search for the Poisoner had so far been fruitless and the newspapers were clamoring for the arrest of somebody but the police detectives were at their wits end and even Fleming Stone was baffled four hours Stone sat thinking over the many peculiar features of the case it was not an embarrassment that he felt himself unable as yet to trace the criminal it was rather with a sensation of curiosity that he wondered what point he had overlooked there must be some clue some definite indication of what way to look but so far he had not perceived it so interested was he in the search that he took no note of the passing of time or the growing impatience of those who watched him it's this way Hardy he would say to the younger detective the mystery centers about that paper snake when we find out the reason for Miss Garrington's sending for that thing we've the whole story you believe then that she did sent for it of course why not we've only missed two words word for that and it doesn't seem as if Miss Garrington would nonsense it doesn't seem you mean as if Miss Stewart would why man what possible sense could there be in Miss Stewart's buying that snake on her own account if she set out to poison her at which she didn't she could have managed it in a dozen ways without lugging in that paper reptile in fact it never would have occurred to her to do so why would she do it in an attempt to frighten the lady to death rubbish the first effect of such a fright would be a fearful outcry on Miss Garrington's part and immediate discovery of the plot moreover if Miss Stewart bought that snake for any such purpose she would have bought it secretly at some little obscure shop not at a well-known Emporium no sir the snake is the key to the puzzle but how that is the question you see the doctors are pretty sure that the thing was put round the lady's neck before she died therefore she was either unconscious at the time or she was willing never everybody says her fear of the things would never let her have it put on her willingly I know they say so but they may be mistaken I'm beginning to evolve a theory that will fit the facts queer as they are but my theory needs a whole lot of other facts to back it up and those facts I can't seem to find does your theory implicate Miss Stewart it does not I thought not you thought quite right it does not implicate Miss Stewart because she is in no way responsible for her aunt's death but she may have knowledge or she may think she has that is leading her to shield somebody else whom? I don't know she is rather a puzzling creature is she is she in love with that cousin of hers Haveland no the one in Egypt oh Loria I don't know I'm sure you read his letter to her it wasn't in any sense a love letter no but it was evidently a letter written with the idea of other people reading it because of the circumstances of course he wouldn't put any intimate talk in it and it was type written so I couldn't judge anything of the man from his choreography does handwriting mean much to you? yes indeed it is a wonderful expression of character but I don't suppose it would declare his adoration of a lady unless he put it in words also you don't connect Loria with the crime in any way do you? I don't see how I can unless in collusion or through the assistance of Miss Stewart and I'm not ready to do that I'm working now on that conversation overheard by Miss Frane you accept that whole then? yes for the simple reason that she would not have invented all that talk even if she were in the room herself and the remarks were addressed to her she might be trying to lay the blame elsewhere to create that conversation out of her own brain is too preposterous you see Hardy these things must be weighed in the balance of probability if Miss Frane had set out to invent a lot of stuff which she merely pretended to over here she would have had two sides to the conversation it is that unusual effect of one voice only that gives her story the stamp of truth but there must have been another voice even though inaudible to her that's just the point there may have been probably was but if the story was her own invention she never would have thought of representing that second voice as inaudible now either she did hear Miss Carrington say those things or she didn't I believe she did because if she hadn't she must have invented the tale and if she had invented it it would have been different likewise Miss Stewart's snake story if it were not true that her aunt asked her to buy that snake Miss Stewart must have made up that yarn and if she had made it up it would have been different that's always my test for the truth of an amazing statement if the teller was falsifying would he tell it that way if so then it is probably a lie if not then probably it is a true bill now they say Miss Carrington had a high shrill voice did you ever hear it Hardy no I never knew the lady but I've heard a record of it on the phonograph and it is high and rather thin on the phonograph how does that happen Gray Haviland is a dapster at that sort of thing and he has people sing for him and make records frequently and once I heard that they had a record of the dead woman singing and I asked to hear it merely out of curiosity or general interest and it contains some spoken words too and her speaking voice is high and shrill just such as would carry through a closed door you can of course hear the record if you care to I do care to I'll make a note of that now here's another thing Miss Stewart has declared that she obliterated a footprint which was noticeable in that powder scattered by the dressing table yes I know it and Haviland states that it was he who wiped out that print what do you make of that that Haviland did do it and Miss Stewart fibbed about it to shield Haviland oh so it's Haviland you think Miss Pauline is shielding I think it may be at any rate she suspects someone dear to her and you're way off Mr. Stone if you'll excuse my saying so Miss Stewart has pulled the wool over your eyes until you don't know where you're at Fleming Stone gasped pulled wool over his eyes over the eyes the gimlet eyes the all-seeing eyes of Fleming Stone what could the man mean and this so-called wool pulled by a woman what unheard of absurdity Mr. Hardy he began yes yes I know nothing of the sort and all that but it's true Mr. Stone Miss Stewart is a siren from sirenville she can make any man think black is white if she chooses and she has been bullied and cowed by that old ant of hers for years and for my part I don't blame her for getting to the end of her rope if she stop Mr. Hardy I know you think you're right but you are not do you hear you are not and I'll prove it to you and that soon I'll ferret out this thing and I'll do it on this new theory of mine whether you believe it or not Hardy looked at the man in amazement he had expected a different mode of procedure from this talented sleuth he had looked for a quiet even icy demeanor and a magical and instantaneous solution of all mystery and here was the great man clearly baffled at the clearly tangled web of evidence and moreover caught in the toils of a woman whom Hardy fully believed to be the criminal herself but he only said quietly what way does your theory point Mr. Stone I may be able to help you you can't Hardy because you're so determined to find Miss Stewart guilty that you couldn't see it as I do you consider the strange features of this case and Lord knows they are strange separately whereas they must be looked at as a whole the gown the quantity of jewelry the smiling face the glove the overheard conversation all these points are to be considered as of one import as leading to one conclusion and you think of them as implicating separately mind you Miss Stewart, Miss Frane and the Noble Count now all those queer points are not only connected but identical in their significance but never mind that here's the place to begin Miss Carrington was poisoned she didn't poison herself who did Mr. Stone you have put it tersely I entirely agree that all we are seeking is the answer to that last question of yours I will yet give it to you and Fleming Stone spoke solemnly rather than boastingly the poison, the Econeton, was taken by Miss Carrington as she sat there at her own dressing table she took it willingly, smilingly yes because she didn't know she was taking it when she ate the sandwich the poison wasn't in the sandwich she took that poison in water the tumbler and the spoon that were used are even now on the glass shelf in her bathroom you know this I know that in the glass that now stands there a chemist has found a slight trace of aconite I took the glass myself to be tested with that result this is not a great discovery it merely proves that the poison was administered in water not in a sandwich but it also means that it was given to her by someone who could persuade her to take the solution unquestioningly not under compulsion it would seem so and that points to Miss Stewart not necessarily Hardy, I refuse to discuss these things with you if you avow everything to condemn her why does what I have just told you point to Miss Stewart any more than anyone else in the house why not Miss Brain or Haviland Shah, nobody suspects Grey Haviland but why not if you're merely suspecting here and there without definite reason why not include him on your list and here's another thing whoever mixed that poison in the glass of water afterward rinsed the glass and returned it to its place in the bathroom this was either done at the time that is before the lady died or later on after death had ensued in either case it opens up a field of conjecture it doesn't with me, said Hardy bloodly there's no room for conjecture it simply piles up the proof against Miss Stewart and all your skill and even your will can't get her off a low moan was heard and a sound as of a falling body stone sprang to the door and flinging it open disclosed Pauline lying on the floor where she had just fallen with a low exclamation stone picked her up and carried her to a couch in a moment she sat up and cried what do you mean Mr. Hardy do you think I killed Aunt Lucy there there Miss Stewart don't ask foolish questions and Hardy deeply embarrassed stood at bay it was one thing to assert his suspicions to Fleming Stone and quite another to have them overheard by this beautiful and indignant girl how dare you Pauline went on I was at the door and I heard all you said no I am not ashamed of listening I'm glad I did now I know what I have to fight against and you Mr. Stone do you think me a murderer Pauline cringed not at all she looked more like an avenging goddess as she confronted the two men and her blazing eyes and frowning face challenged their replies I do not Miss Stewart said Stone quietly but Pauline responded how do I know if you did you'd say you didn't I have no friend no one to stand up for me I shall send for car he will defend me with a disdainful glance round she left the room the two men looked at one another guilty said Hardy never said Stone and then the two went their different ways Hardy's way led to the police headquarters and his report there which included Stone's story of the tested glass was heard with interest he demanded Miss Stewart's immediate arrest claiming that only she could have persuaded her aunt to swallow the poisoned draft Inspector Brunt was not quite willing to order a rest but he set machinery at work which he hoped would bring decisive results of some sort it did that same evening Pauline went to Fleming Stone the two were alone standing before him in all her somewhat tragic beauty Pauline asked you don't think me guilty Mr. Stone he looked deep in the great dark eyes that seemed to challenge his very soul and after a moment's steady glance he replied I know you are not Miss Stewart can you prove it I hope to that means nothing are you sure you can Fleming Stone looked troubled never before in his career had he been unable to declare his surety of success but with those compelling eyes upon him he couldn't deny a present doubt shaking himself as if to be freed from a spell he said at last Miss Stewart I am not sure I am convinced of your innocence but the only theory of guilt that I can conceive of is so difficult so almost impossible of proof and so lacking in plausibility that it seems hopeless if determination and desperate effort can do it you shall be exonerated but there are many circumstances not in your favor these I shall overcome eventually but to be honest until I can get a clue or a link of some sort to join my purely imaginative theory to some tangible fact I can do little I am working day and night in my efforts to find this connection I seek but it may take a long time meanwhile meanwhile I may be arrested Pauline's voice was a mere whisper her face was drawn and white with fear to Stone she did not look like a guilty woman but like an innocent girl frightened at thought of unjust suspicion and terrorized by imagination of the unknown horrors that might come to her oh help me she moaned Mr. Stone can't you help me Pauline he exclaimed taking her hands in his Pauline go he cried tersely I will save you but until I do keep away from me you unnerve me I cannot think I understand and Pauline slowly drew her hands from his I will keep away from you Stone let her go he closed the door after her locked it and threw himself into a chair what had he done full well he knew what he had done Hardy was right he had fallen in love with Pauline Stewart he realized it quietly honestly as he would have realized any incontrovertible fact his subconsciousness was that of a deep still gladness but strangely enough his surface thought was that since he had fallen in love with her so undeniably so irrevocably she must be innocent then on the heels of this thought came another equally logical if he deemed her innocent was it not only because he loved her it was only after an hour of deep thought that Flemingstone pulled himself together and realized with a conquering assurance that he could go on with the case and do his duty if as he was confident he could prove his vague theory to be fact then his love for Pauline would help him to good work in triumphant conclusions if instead his further investigation showed his theory to be false then he must push on and if it couldn't be but if well he could always drop the case but and of this he was certain his heart should not only be kept from interfering with the work of his head but it should help and encourage such desperately clever work that success must come Pauline did not appear at dinner that night and on inquiry Stone was told she had gone over to New York for a day or two this then was what she had meant when she said I will keep away from you the next day came District Attorney Matthews to interview Miss Stewart her absence from home annoyed him and he asked for her New York address this no one knew as she had not informed any of them where she was staying in the city and Mr. Matthews went off in a state of angry excitement but the household at garden steps was even more excited for this was the first sign of a definite action against Pauline what it meant or how far it would go no one could say and then that afternoon came a letter from Pauline herself it had been mailed in New York that morning and contain the surprising news that Pauline had sailed at noon that day for Alexandria get her back roared havaland as he read the letter wireless the steamer and maker get picked up by some incoming ship don't think of the expense she mustn't run off like that it's equivalent to confession of the crime hush demanded Flemingstone how dare you say that it's true cried Anita why else would Pauline run away she knew she was on the verge of arrest and she fled to Carloria he will hide her from her pursuers he can said havaland thoughtfully maybe it's as well she's gone there of course she did it of course she didn't and Flemingstone's voice trembled in its very intensity and I shall prove to a lot of dunderheaded police that she didn't but it will make my work much harder for you to insist on Miss Stewart's guilt why do you want a railroad her into conviction of a crime she never dreamed of then who did it demanded Anita to whom was miss Lucy speaking when she said those things I heard if you harp on that string much longer said stone looking at her one might also be justified in thinking she said them to you no said Anita in a low odd voice and looking straight at Flemingstone no she did not say them to me and stone knew she spoke the solemn truth but she had not spoken the truth when she said she saw Pauline Stewart coming from the Boudoir of her aunt End of Chapter 17 and 18