"There!" said Speed to Brenton, triumphantly, "what do you think of
_that_? Didn't I say George Stratton was the brightest newspaper man in
Chicago? I tell you, his getting that letter from old Brown was one of
the cleverest bits of diplomacy I ever saw. There you had quickness of
perception, and nerve. All the time he was talking to old Brown he was
just taking that man's measure. See how coolly he acted while he was
drawing on his gloves and buttoning his coat as if ready to leave. Flung
that at Brown all of a sudden as quiet as if he was saying nothing at
all unusual, and all the time watching Brown out of the tail of his eye.
Well, sir, I must admit, that although I have known George Stratton for
years, I thought he was dished by that Cincinnati lawyer. I thought that
George was just gracefully covering up his defeat, and there he upset
old Brown's apple-cart in the twinkling of an eye. Now, you see the
effect of all this. Brown has practically admitted to him what the line
of defence is. Stratton won't publish it, of course; he has promised not
to, but you see he can hold that over Brown's head, and get everything
he wants unless they change their defence."
"Yes," remarked Brenton, slowly, "he seems to be a very sharp newspaper
man indeed; but I don't like the idea of his going to interview my
wife."
"Why, what is there wrong about that?"
"Well, there is this wrong about it--that she in her depression may say
something that will tell against her."
"Even if she does, what of it? Isn't the lawyer going to see the letter
before it is sent to the paper?"
"I am not so sure about that. Do you think Stratton will show the
article to Brown if he gets what you call a scoop or a beat?"
"Why, of course he will," answered Speed, indignantly; "hasn't he given
him his word that he will?"
"Yes, I know he has," said Brenton, dubiously; "but he is a newspaper
man."
"Certainly he is," answered Speed, with strong emphasis; "that is the
reason he will keep his word."
"I hope so, I hope so; but I must admit that the more I know you
newspaper men, the more I see the great temptation you are under to
preserve if possible the sensational features of an article."
"I'll bet you a drink--no, we can't do that," corrected Speed; "but you
shall see that, if Brown acts square with Stratton, he will keep his
word to the very letter with Brown. There is no use in our talking about
the matter here. Let us follow Stratton, and see what comes of the
interview."
"I think I prefer to go alone," said Brenton, coldly.
"Oh, as you like, as you like," answered the other, shortly. "I thought
you wanted my help in this affair; but if you don't, I am sure I shan't
intrude."
"That's all right," said Brenton; "come along. By the way, Speed, what
do you think of that line of defence?"
"Well, I don't know enough of the circumstances of the case to know what
to think of it. It seems to me rather a good line."
"It can't be a good line when it is not true. It is certain to break
down."
"That's so," said Speed; "but I'll bet you four dollars and a half that
they'll prove you a raving maniac before they are through with you.
They'll show very likely that you tried to poison yourself two or three
times; bring on a dozen of your friends to prove that they knew all your
life you were insane."
"Do you think they will?" asked Brenton, uneasily.
"Think it? Why, I am sure of it. You'll go down to posterity as one of
the most complete lunatics that ever, lived in Cincinnati. Oh, there
won't be anything left of you when _they_ get through with you."
Meanwhile, Stratton was making his way to the residence of the sheriff.
"Ah," said that official, when they met, "you got your letter, did you?
Well, I thought you would."
"If you had heard the conversation between my estimable friend Mr. Brown
and myself, up to the very last moment, you wouldn't have thought it."
"Well, Brown is generally very courteous towards newspaper men, and
that's one reason you see his name in the papers a great deal."
"If I were a Cincinnati newspaper man, I can assure you that his name
wouldn't appear very much in the columns of my paper."
"I am sorry to hear you say that. I thought Brown was very popular with
the newspaper men. You got the letter, though, did you?"
"Yes; I got it. Here it is. Read it."
The sheriff scanned the brief note over, and put it in his pocket.
"Just take a chair for a moment, will you, and I will see if Mrs.
Brenton is ready to receive you."
[Illustration: Jane.]
Stratton seated himself, and, pulling a paper from his pocket, was
busily reading when the sheriff again entered.
"I am sorry to say," he began, "after you have had all this trouble,
that Mrs. Brenton positively refuses to see you. You know I cannot
_compel_ a prisoner to meet any one. You understand that, of course."
"Perfectly," said Stratton, thinking for a moment. "See here, sheriff,
I have simply _got_ to have a talk with that woman. Now, can't you tell
her I knew her husband, or something of that sort? I'll make it all
right when I see her."
* * * * *
"The scoundrel!" said Brenton to Speed, as Stratton made this remark.
"My dear sir," said Speed, "don't you see he is just the man we want?
This is not the time to be particular."
"Yes, but think of the treachery and meanness of telling a poor
unfortunate woman that he was acquainted with her husband, who is only a
few days dead."
"Now, see here," said Speed, "if you are going to look on matters in
this way you will be a hindrance and not a help in the affair. Don't you
appreciate the situation? Why, Mrs. Brenton's own lawyers, as you have
said, think her guilty. What, then, can they learn by talking with her,
or what good can they do her with their minds already prejudiced against
her? Don't you see that?"
Brenton made no answer to this, but it was evident he was very ill at
ease.
* * * * *
"Did you know her husband?" asked the sheriff.
"No, to tell you the truth, I never heard of him before. But I must see
this lady, both for my good and hers, and I am not going to let a little
thing like that stand between us. Won't you tell her that I have come
with a letter from her own lawyers? Just show her the letter, and say
that I will take up but very little of her time. I am sorry to ask this
much of you, but you see how I am placed."
"Oh, that's all right," said the sheriff, good-naturedly; "I shall be
very glad to do what you wish," and with that he once more disappeared.
The sheriff stayed away longer this time, and Stratton paced the room
impatiently. Finally, the official returned, and said--
"Mrs. Brenton has consented to see you. Come this way, please. You
will excuse me, I know," continued the sheriff, as they walked along
together, "but it is part of my duty to remain in the room while you
are talking with Mrs. Brenton."
"Certainly, certainly," said Stratton; "I understand that."
"Very well; then, if I may make a suggestion, I would say this: you
should be prepared to ask just what you want to know, and do it all as
speedily as possible, for really Mrs. Brenton is in a condition of
nervous exhaustion that renders it almost cruel to put her through any
rigid cross-examination."
"I understand that also," said Stratton; "but you must remember
that she has a very much harder trial to undergo in the future. I am
exceedingly anxious to get at the truth of this thing, and so, if it
seems to you that I am asking a lot of very unnecessary questions, I
hope you will not interfere with me as long as Mrs. Brenton consents to
answer."
"I shall not interfere at all," said the sheriff; "I only wanted to
caution you, for the lady may break down at any moment. If you can
marshal your questions so that the most important ones come first, I
think it will be wise. I presume you have them pretty well arranged in
your own mind?"
"Well, I can't say that I have; you see, I am entirely in the dark. I
got no help whatever from the lawyers, and from what I know of their
defence I am thoroughly convinced that they are on the wrong track."
"What! did Brown say anything about the defence? That is not like his
usual caution."
"He didn't intend to," answered Stratton; "but I found out all I wanted
to know, nevertheless. You see, I shall have to ask what appears to be a
lot of rambling, inconsequential questions because you can never tell in
a case like this when you may get the key to the whole mystery."
"Well, here we are," said the sheriff, as he knocked at a door, and then
pushed it open.
From the moment George Stratton saw Mrs. Brenton his interest in the
case ceased to be purely journalistic.
Mrs. Brenton was standing near the window, and she appeared to be very
calm and collected, but her fingers twitched nervously, clasping and
unclasping each other. Her modest dress of black was certainly a very
becoming one.
George thought he had never seen a woman so beautiful.
As she was standing up, she evidently intended the interview to be a
short one.
"Madam," said Stratton, "I am very sorry indeed to trouble you; but I
have taken a great interest in the solution of this mystery, and I have
your lawyers' permission to visit you. I assure you, anything you say
will be submitted to them, so that there will be no danger of your case
being prejudiced by any statements made."
"I am not afraid," said Mrs. Brenton, "that the truth will injure or
prejudice my case."
"I am sure of that," answered the newspaper man; and then, knowing that
she would not sit down if he asked her to, he continued diplomatically,
"Madam, will you permit me to sit down? I wish to write out my notes as
carefully as possible. Accuracy is my strong point."
"Certainly," said Mrs. Brenton; and, seeing that it was not probable the
interview would be a short one, she seated herself by the window, while
the sheriff took a chair in the corner, and drew a newspaper from his
pocket.
"Now, madam," said the special, "a great number of the questions I ask
you may seem trivial, but as I said to the sheriff a moment ago, some
word of yours that appears to you entirely unconnected with the case may
give me a clue which will be exceedingly valuable. You will, therefore,
I am sure, pardon me if some of the questions I ask you appear
irrelevant."
Mrs. Brenton bowed her head, but said nothing.
"Were your husband's business affairs in good condition at the time of
his death?"
"As far as I know they were."
"Did you ever see anything in your husband's actions that would lead you
to think him a man who might have contemplated suicide?"
Mrs. Brenton looked up with wide-open eyes.
"Certainly not," she said.
"Had he ever spoken to you on the subject of suicide?"
"I do not remember that he ever did."
"Was he ever queer in his actions? In short, did you ever notice
anything about him that would lead you to doubt his sanity? I am sorry
if questions I ask you seem painful, but I have reasons for wishing to
be certain on this point."
"No," said Mrs. Brenton; "he was perfectly sane. No man could have been
more so. I am certain that he never thought of committing suicide."
"Why are you so certain on that point?"
"I do not know why. I only know I am positive of it."
"Do you know if he had any enemy who might wish his death?"
"I doubt if he had an enemy in the world. I do not know of any."
"Have you ever heard him speak of anybody in a spirit of enmity?"
"Never. He was not a man who bore enmity against people. Persons whom he
did not like he avoided."
"The poison, it is said, was put into his cup of coffee. Do you happen
to know," said Stratton, turning to the sheriff, "how they came to that
conclusion?"
"No, I do not," answered the sheriff. "In fact, I don't see any reason
why they should think so."
"Was morphia found in the coffee cup afterwards?"
"No; at the time of the inquest all the things had been cleared away. I
think it was merely presumed that the morphine was put into his coffee."
"Who poured out the coffee he drank that night?"
"I did," answered his wife.
"You were at one end of the table and he at the other, I suppose?"
"Yes."
"How did the coffee cup reach him?"
"I gave it to the servant, and she placed it before him."
"It passed through no other hands, then?"
"No."
"Who was the servant?"
Mrs. Brenton pondered for a moment.
"I really know very little about her. She had been in our house for a
couple of weeks only."
"What was her name?"
"Jane Morton, I think."
"Where is she now, do you know?"
"I do not know."
"She appeared at the inquest, of course?" said Stratton, turning to the
sheriff.
"I think she did," was the answer. "I am not sure."
He marked her name down in the note-book.
"How many people were there at the dinner?"
"Including my husband and myself, there were twenty-six."
"Could you give me the name of each of them?"
"Yes, I think so."
She repeated the names, which he took down, with certain notes and
comments on each.
"Who sat next your husband at the head of the table?"
"Miss Walker was at his right hand, Mr. Roland at his left."
"Now, forgive me if I ask you if you have ever had any trouble with your
husband?"
"Never."
"Never had any quarrel?"
Mrs. Brenton hesitated for a moment.
"No, I don't think we ever had what could be called a quarrel."
"You had no disagreement shortly before the dinner?"
Again Mrs. Brenton hesitated.
"I can hardly call it a disagreement," she said. "We had a little
discussion about some of the guests who were to be invited."
"Did he object to any that were there?"
"There was a gentleman there whom he did not particularly like, I think,
but he made no objection to his coming; in fact, he seemed to feel that
I might imagine he had an objection from a little discussion we had
about inviting him; and afterwards, as if to make up for that, he placed
this guest at his left hand."
Stratton quickly glanced up the page of his notebook, and marked a
little cross before the name of Stephen Roland.
"You had another disagreement with him before, if I might term it so,
had you not?"
Mrs. Brenton looked at him surprised.
"What makes you think so?" she said.
"Because you hesitated when I spoke of it."
"Well, we had what you might call a disagreement once at Lucerne,
Switzerland."
"Will you tell me what it was about?"
"I would rather not."
"Will you tell me this--was it about a gentleman?"
"Yes," said Mrs. Brenton.
"Was your husband of a jealous disposition?"
"Ordinarily I do not think he was. It seemed to me at the time that he
was a little unjust--that's all."
"Was the gentleman in Lucerne?"
"Oh no!"
"In Cincinnati?"
"Yes."
"Was his name Stephen Roland?"
Mrs. Brenton again glanced quickly at the newspaper man, and seemed
about to say something, but, checking herself, she simply answered--
"Yes."
Then she leaned back in the armchair and sighed.
"I am very tired," she said. "If it is not absolutely necessary, I
prefer not to continue this conversation."
Stratton immediately rose.
"Madam," he said, "I am very much obliged to you for the trouble you
have taken to answer my questions, which I am afraid must have seemed
impertinent to you, but I assure you that I did not intend them to be
so. Now, madam, I would like very much to get a promise from you. I wish
that you would promise to see me if I call again, and I, on my part,
assure you that unless I have something particularly important to tell
you, or to ask, I shall not intrude upon you."
"I shall be pleased to see you at any time, sir."
When the sheriff and the newspaper man reached the other room, the
former said--
"Well, what do you think?"
"I think it is an interesting case," was the answer.
"Or, to put it in other words, you think Mrs. Brenton a very interesting
lady."
"Officially, sir, you have exactly stated my opinion."
"And I suppose, poor woman, she will furnish an interesting article for
the paper?"
"Hang the paper!" said Stratton, with more than his usual vim.
The sheriff laughed. Then he said--
"I confess that to me it seems a very perplexing affair all through.
Have you got any light on the subject?"
"My dear sir, I will tell you three important things. First, Mrs.
Brenton is innocent. Second, her lawyers are taking the wrong line of
defence. Third," tapping his breast-pocket, "I have the name of the
murderer in my note-book."