UNWILLING WITNESSES
Not waiting for the elevator, we walked up the intervening flight and
rang a bell on our right. The door was opened by a neat-looking maid,
who showed some surprise at our early call.
"Is Mr. Atkins at home?" inquired the detective.
"Yes, sir; but he is having his breakfast."
"Ah, indeed; I am sorry to disturb him," replied Mr. Merritt. "However,
it can't be helped. Will you please tell your master that two gentlemen
must see him for a few moments on important business."
"Yes, sir," and showing us into a gaudily furnished room on our left,
the girl vanished. I saw at once that this was not the scene of last
night's drama, but a smaller room adjoining the other. My observations
were almost immediately interrupted by the entrance of a young man,
whose handsome face was at that moment disfigured by a scowl.
"Mr. Atkins, I believe," said Mr. Merritt, advancing towards him with
his most conciliatory smile. Mr. Atkins nodded curtly. "It is my painful
duty," continued the detective, "to inform you that a very serious
accident has occurred in the building."
The frown slowly faded from the young man's forehead, giving place to a
look of concern. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed, in the most natural
manner; "what has happened? Can I do anything?"
"Well, Mr. Atkins," replied Mr. Merritt, slowly, "to tell you the truth,
a man has been killed, and as we haven't been able to find any one so
far who can identify him we are going through the formality of asking
every one in the building to take a look at the corpse, hoping to
discover somebody who knew the dead man, or at any rate can give us some
clue to his identity. Will you and Mrs. Atkins and your two servants,
therefore, kindly step down-stairs? The body is lying in the unoccupied
apartment on the next floor."
"Killed!" exclaimed young Atkins. "How dreadful! how did it happen?"
But without waiting for an answer he pulled out his watch, which he
consulted anxiously. "Pardon me, gentlemen, but I have a most important
engagement down town which it is impossible for me to postpone. My wife
is not up yet, and I really can't wait for her to get ready; but I can
go with you now, and take a look at the poor fellow on my way out. In
the meantime, Mrs. Atkins will dress as quickly as possible, and follow
with the two girls as soon as she is ready."
"All right," said Mr. Merritt; "that will do nicely. Dr. Fortescue,"
with a wave of his hand in my direction, "will stay here, and escort
Mrs. Atkins down-stairs. Ladies sometimes are overcome by the sight of
death."
"Yes, yes; and my wife is very excitable," rejoined the young man. "I am
glad Dr. Fortescue will wait and go down with her--if it isn't troubling
you too much," he added, turning towards me.
"Not at all," I replied, politely but firmly, with my eyes on Mr.
Merritt. "I shall be delighted to _return_ for Mrs. Atkins in a quarter
of an hour and escort her down-stairs."
I watched the detective keenly to see how he would take this
disregarding of his orders, but he only smiled amiably, almost
triumphantly, I thought. Mr. Atkins now left us, and I could hear him
dashing up-stairs several steps at a time. How I longed to pierce the
ceiling, and hear how he broke the news to his wife, and above all to
observe how she took it. He returned in a few minutes, and, snatching
his hat from the hall-table, prepared to follow us. On the way down he
inquired with great interest about the accident, but Merritt put him off
with evasive replies. When confronted with the dead body, he gazed at
it calmly, but with a good deal of curiosity.
"Did you know the deceased?" the Coroner asked him.
The young man shook his head. "Never saw him before." Then, looking at
the corpse more closely he exclaimed: "Why, he is a gentleman; can't you
find out who he is?"
"We haven't been able to, so far," replied the Coroner.
"How did the accident occur?"
"He was murdered."
The young man started back in horror.--"Murdered, and in this
house--How, when?"
"Presumably the night before last."
Was it my imagination, or did Mr. Atkins turn slightly pale? "Tuesday
night," he muttered. After a brief silence he turned to us, and
withdrawing his eyes from the corpse with obvious difficulty, said, in a
hearty, matter-of-fact voice: "Gentlemen, I regret that I have to leave
you. I should like to hear some more of this affair, but I suppose if
you do discover anything you will keep it pretty close?"
"You bet we'll try to," the Coroner assured him. After shaking us all
most cordially by the hand, Mr. Atkins departed, and was escorted
down-stairs by the detective, whose excessive politeness seemed to
me very suspicious. "Was he going to put a sleuth on the young man's
tracks?" I wondered.
The air in the room was heavy with the odour of death, so I stepped out
on the landing. The workmen were all talking in low tones. "I know that
Frenchman did it; I know it," I overheard one of them say. Much excited
by these words, I was just going to ask who the Frenchman was, and why
he should be suspected, when Mr. Merritt stepped out of the elevator and
rang the bell of the opposite apartment. Miss Derwent had evidently not
been far off, for the door was opened almost immediately, and a tall,
slight young figure stood on the threshold. She was dressed in a quiet
travelling suit, and a thick brown veil pulled down over her face
rendered her features, in the dim light of the landing, completely
invisible.
"Miss Derwent?" inquired Mr. Merritt. She bowed. "You have no doubt been
told," he continued, "that a very serious accident has occurred in the
building." She inclined her head slowly. "As we have been unable to
identify the corpse"--here the detective paused, but she gave no sign
and he went on--"we are asking every one in the house to take a look at
it."
Instead of answering, the girl went back into the apartment, but
returned in a minute, carrying a handbag. Stepping out on to the landing
she shut and locked the door behind her with apparent composure. As she
turned to follow the detective she asked, in a low but distinct voice:
"How did this accident occur?"
"That, we have not yet been able to ascertain," he replied, leading her
to the room where the dead lay. I hastily stepped back and resumed my
former position at the foot of the corpse. As the girl crossed the
threshold she hesitated a moment, then walked steadily in.
"Miss May Derwent, I believe?" the Coroner inquired, in his suavest
tones. Again she bowed assent.
"Please look at this man and tell me if you have ever seen him before."
Before replying, the girl slowly lifted her veil and revealed to my
astonished eyes, not only a face of very unusual beauty, but--and this
is what I found inexplicable--coils of golden hair! Where were the raven
locks I had seen only a few hours before? Had I dreamed them? But no, my
memory was too clear on this point. My surprise was so great that I am
afraid I showed it, for I caught Mr. Merritt looking at me with one of
his enigmatical smiles. Miss Derwent was excessively pale, with heavy
black rings under her eyes, but otherwise she seemed perfectly composed.
She looked at the corpse a moment, then turning towards the Coroner,
said, in a clear, steady voice: "I do not know the man."
"Have you ever seen him before?"
"No," she answered, quietly.
"Miss Derwent, pardon my questioning you still further, but I have been
told that a gentleman closely resembling the deceased called on you on
Tuesday evening. Now, do you see any resemblance between the two?"
A burning blush overspread the girl's face, and then she grew so ghastly
pale that I moved to her side, fearing she would fall.
"Mr. Coroner, can't the rest of the questions you have to ask Miss
Derwent be put to her somewhere else?" I suggested. "The atmosphere here
is intolerable."
"Certainly," he replied, with unexpected mildness.
I drew the young lady's unresisting hand through my arm and supported
her into the next room. She was trembling so violently that she would
have fallen if I had not done so, and I could see that it was only by
the greatest self-control that she kept any semblance of composure.
"Now," resumed the Coroner, "if you feel well enough, will you kindly
answer my last question?"
"The gentleman who called on me on Tuesday does not resemble the dead
man, except in so far that they both have black, pointed beards."
"At what time did your friend leave you on Tuesday evening?" was the
next question asked.
"I cannot see why the private affairs of my visitors or myself should
be pried into," she replied, haughtily. "I decline to answer."
"My dear young lady," here interposed Mr. Merritt, "you have, of
course, every right not to answer any question that you think likely to
incriminate you, but," he continued with a smile, "it is hardly possible
that anything could do that. On the other hand, it is our duty to try
and sift this matter to the bottom. You certainly will agree with the
necessity of it when I tell you that this man has been murdered!"
"Murdered!" the girl repeated, as if dazed. "Oh, no!"
"I regret to say that there is absolutely no doubt of it. Now, one of
the elevator boys has identified the corpse as that of the gentleman
who called on you the day before yesterday. I do not doubt that he was
mistaken,--in fact, I am sure of it; but as no one saw your friend leave
the building, it becomes incumbent on us to make sure that he did so. It
will save a great deal of trouble to us, and perhaps to yourself, if you
will tell us the gentleman's name and at what hour he left here."
She had covered her face with her hands, but now dropped them, and
lifting her head, faced us with an air of sudden resolution.
"Gentlemen," she began, then hesitated and looked at us each in turn,
"you can readily imagine that it will be a terrible thing for me if
my name should in any way, however indirectly, be connected with
this tragedy. But I see that it is useless to refuse to answer your
questions. It will only make you believe that I have something to
conceal. I can but ask you, you on whom I have no claim, to shield from
publicity a girl who has put herself in a terribly false position."
"Miss Derwent, I think I can assure you that we will do everything in
our power to help you. Nothing you say here shall be heard beyond these
walls unless the cause of justice demands it." The Coroner spoke with
considerable warmth. Evidently, Miss May's charms had not been without
their effect on him.
"Very well, then," said the girl, "I will answer your questions. What do
you want to know?"
"In the first place, please tell us how you came to spend two nights in
an unoccupied apartment?"
"I suppose you already know," she answered, a trifle bitterly, "that
I arrived here unexpectedly on Tuesday afternoon?" The Coroner made a
motion of assent.
"I had reached the city earlier in the day, and had meant to catch the
five o'clock train to Bar Harbor. As I had several errands to do, I
sent my maid ahead to the Grand Central Depot with orders to engage a
stateroom and check my luggage. I forgot to notice how the time was
passing till I caught sight of a clock in Madison Square pointing to
eight minutes to five. I jumped into a hansom, but got to the station
just in time to see the train steam away, with my maid hanging
distractedly out of a window." She paused a moment. "A gentleman
happened to be with me," she continued with downcast eyes, "so we
consulted together as to what I had better do. On looking up the trains
I found that I could not get back to my mother's country place till nine
o'clock that evening, and then should have to leave home again at a
frightfully early hour so as to catch the morning train to Bar Harbor.
Otherwise I should be obliged to wait over till the following afternoon
and take a long night journey by myself, which I knew my mother would
not wish me to do. Altogether, it seemed so much simpler to remain in
town if I could only find a place to go to. Suddenly, our apartment
occurred to me. Of course, I knew that the world would not approve of my
staying here alone; nevertheless, I decided to do so."
"You went out again very soon after your arrival, did you not?" asked
the Coroner.
"Yes," she answered, "as there was no way of getting any food here,
my friend" (she hesitated slightly over the last word) "had little
difficulty in persuading me to dine with him at a quiet restaurant in
the neighbourhood."
"Did the gentleman return to the Rosemere after dinner?"
"Yes."
"And did he leave you then?"
Miss Derwent hesitated a moment, then, throwing her head back she
answered proudly: "No!" But a deep crimson again suffused her cheek, and
she added almost apologetically: "It was all so unconventional that I
did not see why I should draw the line at his spending the evening with
me. He was a very intimate friend."
"Why do you use the past tense?" asked Mr. Merritt. She cast a little
frightened glance in his direction, evidently startled at being caught
up so quickly: "We--we had a very serious disagreement," she murmured.
"Was the disagreement so serious as to put an end to your friendship?"
inquired the detective.
"Yes," she replied curtly, while an angry light came into her eyes.
"At what time did the gentleman leave you?" resumed the Coroner.
"It was very late;--after eleven, I think."
"And you have not seen him again since then?"
"Certainly not," she replied.
"Why did you not carry out your first intention of leaving the city on
the following morning?"
The girl appeared slightly embarrassed as she answered: "I did not feel
like paying visits just at the moment, and besides I had not enough
money to carry me as far as Bar Harbor. My maid had most of my money,
and I was no longer willing to borrow from my visitor, as I had intended
doing."
"Excuse my questioning you still further," said the Coroner, with a
glance of admiration at the beautiful girl, who was fretting under the
examination, "but, why, then, didn't you return to your home?"
"I did not wish to do so." Then, catching Mr. Merritt's eye, she added:
"I had been a good deal upset by--by what had occurred the night before
and felt the need of a day to myself. Besides, I had some shopping to
do, and thought this a good opportunity to do it. I am going home this
morning."
"Thank you, Miss Derwent," exclaimed the Coroner, heartily; "your
explanations are perfectly satisfactory. Only you have forgotten to tell
us the gentleman's name."
"Why need you know his name?" she demanded, passionately, "you will soon
find out who this unknown man is. There must be hundreds of people in
this city who knew him. Why should I tell you the name of my visitor? I
refuse to do so."
"Miss Derwent is quite right," interposed the detective, with unexpected
decision; "once convinced that the dead man and her friend are not
identical, and the latter's name ceases to be of any importance to us."
"Quite so, quite so," the Coroner rather grudgingly assented.
"Can I go now?" she inquired.
"Certainly," said the Coroner, cordially. "Good-day, Miss."
I was just going to offer myself as an escort when Mr. Merritt stepped
quietly forward, and possessed himself of the young lady's bag. With a
distant bow, that included impartially the Coroner and myself, Miss
Derwent left the room.
"Remember Mrs. Atkins," the detective murmured as he prepared to follow
her. I nodded a curt assent. My brain was in a whirl. What was I to
believe? This beautiful, queenlike creature seemed incapable of deceit,
and yet--who were the two people I had so lately seen in her apartment?
Why had no mention been made of them? No matter; I felt my belief in the
young girl's innocence and goodness rise superior to mere facts, and
then and there vowed to become her champion should she ever need one,
which I very much feared she might. I was vaguely annoyed that the
detective should have insisted on escorting her. Had he a motive for
this, I wondered, or had he simply succumbed to her fascination, like
the rest of us? At any rate, I didn't like it, and I rang Mrs. Atkins's
bell in considerable ill humour.