HIDE AND SEEK
Charles Miller was generally an early riser, but the head waiter at the
Metropole was surreptitiously scanning his watch before giving the signal
to close the dining-room doors, when the Captain walked in and took his
accustomed seat at a distant table. Miller had but time to glance at the
headline, "Stormy Cabinet Meeting Predicted at White House Today," in his
morning newspaper, when eggs and toast were placed before him. His
attentive waiter poured the hot coffee and placed cream and sugar in his
cup without waiting for instructions.
"Eggs all right, sir?" he asked anxiously, a trace of accent in his
pleasant voice.
"Yes, thanks." Miller looked at him casually. "I haven't seen you before;
where's Jenkins?"
"Transferred to the café, sir," smoothing a wrinkle out of the tablecloth
as he spoke. "I'll try to give satisfaction, sir."
Miller nodded absently. "Oh, it's all right," he said, stifling a yawn,
and propping his newspaper against his coffee pot, ate his breakfast
leisurely, so leisurely that the other habitués of the hotel had finished
their breakfast and departed before he pushed back his chair. Turning, he
signed to his waiter to bring his check, and not appearing to do so,
watched his approach with keen interest.
"Been a steward, haven't you?" he inquired.
"Yes, sir." The waiter pocketed the tip with alacrity. "Hamburg-American
Line, sir."
"Thought so." Miller signed his name with careful attention to each
stroke of the pencil. "How many of you are employed here?"
"Eight, sir. The lines are tied up; we must have work, and it's hard to
get good berths, sir, with so many ships interned."
"Quite so," Miller rose. "Your name--?"
"Lewis. Just a moment, sir," as Miller started to cross the deserted
dining-room, "Shall I reserve the table for you for luncheon, sir?"
"Luncheon?" Miller reflected. "I rather think not."
"Thank you, sir." The waiter's manner was apologetic. "I asked, sir,
because, sir, today the Cabinet officers lunch here, and...."
"They require your undivided attention?" mildly. "I quite
understand--Ludwig." Their eyes met, then Miller turned on his heel.
_"Auf wiedersehen"_ he exclaimed under his breath, and the waiter's
stolid expression changed to one of relief.
Miller, who had checked his overcoat and hat before entering the
dining-room, wasted no time but entered a public telephone booth. When he
emerged he was whistling cheerily, and the doorkeeper watched him hail a
street car with curious eyes.
"Always running in and out," he muttered. "It beats me when he sleeps."
First stopping at a florist's and then a jeweler's establishment, Miller
bent his footsteps toward the Portland, and to his satisfaction found
Senator Foster enjoying a belated breakfast in his apartment.
"I'm glad to discover a man keeping later hours than I," he remarked,
accepting the chair Foster pulled forward. "You must have an easy
conscience to sleep so late in the morning."
"Or enjoyed the devil of a night--er--mare." The Senator's face was
flushed and his strong voice husky. "You mistake; this is luncheon, not
breakfast. Keep me company? No?" Foster pecked viciously at his lamb chop.
"I've no appetite at all. Caught a beastly cold at the Sisters in Unity
meeting last night. Cough all the time--beastly climate, Washington."
"Why stay here?"
"Oh, Congress...."
"But that adjourned three weeks ago."
Foster frowned, then smiled. "A woman's whim--we are not always
independent, Miller"--a shrug completed the sentence. "Change your mind
and have some Scotch?"
"No, thanks." Miller drew his chair closer to his companion, and lowered
his voice. "I called this morning, Senator, to ask some questions about
Winslow Whitney."
Foster's smile vanished, and the glance he shot at Miller was sharp.
"It depends on the questions," he began stiffly, "whether they are
answered or not."
"Quite right," with unruffled composure. "I shall ask nothing which
cannot be answered with propriety." Miller ceased speaking to light a
cigarette. "All Washington knows Whitney is a man of wealth"--his keen
eyes detected the sudden alteration in Foster's expression--"of standing
in the social and business world, but has he achieved success as an
inventor?"
"Yes," was the instant and unqualified response, and Miller's eyes
lighted, but it was some seconds before he put another question.
"Are you familiar with his latest invention?"
"You mean his camera for use in aeroplanes?"
"Yes. Do you think it has any hope of success?"
"I believe so; Whitney declares the experiments are entirely
satisfactory."
"Have you seen results of the tests?"
"Whitney showed me views of New York City and its environs taken from an
aeroplane. They were--wonderful--" the Senator puffed nervously at his
cigar--"perfect maps."
"Indeed?" Miller made no effort to conceal his eager curiosity. "At what
height were they taken?"
"Ah, that I do not feel at liberty to disclose. How, when, and where this
new camera can be utilized is of interest to all military men; but as
Whitney's friend, I could not divulge details he may desire kept secret,
even if I knew them."
"Pardon me, I thought you his most intimate friend...."
"I am, but not his confidant. And as his friend, I cannot discuss his
private affairs with you."
"I don't agree with you there." Miller tossed his cigarette stub into the
iron grate. "Would it not be a friendly act to place Whitney in a
position to coin money?"
"Ah, so that is why you take an interest in his invention?" Foster
laid down his cigar and contemplated his companion closely. "You wish
to buy ..."
"Exactly."
"Is the purchaser to be the same for whom you are collecting horses and
ammunition?"
"Yes."
Foster did not answer at once, and Miller, without seeming to do so, took
silent note of the handsome appointments of the dining-room. The silver
service on the sideboard, the cut-glass decanters and liqueurs seemed
somewhat out of place in a bachelor apartment. Somewhat puzzled, Miller
looked more fully at his host, hoping to find an answer to his unspoken
doubts. Careful of his dress, deportment, and democracy, Foster had early
gained the sobriquet "Dandy," but there was nothing effeminate in his
spare though muscular form, and his long under jaw indicated bull-dog
obstinacy. Confessing to fifty, Foster did not look his age by ten years.
"I shall have to ponder your question, Miller." As he spoke Foster rose.
"Frankly, I've been striving to interest our Government in Whitney's
invention, and that is one of the things which has kept me in Washington.
Suppose we go and see Whitney now. I know that he is anxious to dispose
of his invention--he is hard pressed for money,''
"Indeed!" The pupils of Miller's eyes contracted suddenly. "Possibly
Whitney will give me a hearing, and I need not offer"--he stopped,
looked at his cigarette case, returned it to his pocket, and followed
Foster out of the room--"a large sum," he finished, helping the Senator
into his overcoat.
Foster laughed shortly. "You will get no bargain. Whitney's politeness is
on the surface; underneath he is as hard as nails, and suspicious--" The
Senator's cough cut short his speech and echoed down the corridor as he
closed the door to his apartment. "Won't even let me look at the camera,
much less let me examine the lens, specifications, drawings, plate, et
cetera. In fact, refused to give me any details, although he knows I must
have the information so as to interest others in his invention."
"But surely he has had the camera tested thoroughly?"
"Oh, yes. It has leaked out that the lens is so powerful and the
mechanical parts of the camera so perfect that maps of the country taken
at a remarkable height depict fortifications to the minutest detail. No
one knows the method employed to bring about such a result. That is the
secret locked inside Whitney's studio and his brain. Whitney is a genius,
and unlike others of his ilk, is extremely modest about his own
achievements. He covers his real nature under a mantle of eccentricity. I
doubt if his wife and daughter really gauge his capabilities." A violent
fit of coughing interrupted him, and he did not speak again for some
minutes. As the elevator reached the ground floor, Foster saw his
chauffeur standing near the office. "My car at the door?" he asked, as
the man approached.
"Yes, sir," touching his cap. "Will you drive, sir?"
"Not today, too much cold, don't want pneumonia. Jump in, Miller." Foster
signed to him to enter first. "Take us to the Whitneys', Mason," he
directed, and sprang into the tonneau.
Five minutes later they stopped in front of the Whitney house, and
directing his chauffeur to wait, Foster accompanied Miller up the steps,
but before either could touch the bell, the door was opened by Vincent
whose white face brightened at the sight of the Senator.
"Step right in, sir," he begged. "The master was just telephoning for
you, sir." Vincent paused and looked doubtfully at Miller. "Did you wish
to see Miss Kathleen, sir?"
"Yes," taking out his visiting card.
"Miss Kathleen is sick in bed." Vincent appeared still more confused, but
Foster, standing somewhat in shadow, caught Miller's look of alarm which
the butler missed.
"What is the matter with Miss Kathleen?" demanded Miller, and there was
no mistaking the feeling in his voice and manner.
"She had a shock, sir, a most awful shock." While speaking Vincent
tiptoed toward the library; he felt that he could never make a loud noise
in that house again. "An awful shock," he repeated. "We all felt it."
"What do you mean?" Foster laid an impatient hand on the old
servant's shoulder.
"Why, sir, he's dead...."
"Whitney?" The question sprang simultaneously from Foster and Miller.
"No, no, sir. Mr. Sinclair Spencer, sir. He was murdered"--Vincent
shuddered as the last word crossed his lips.
His hearers stared stupidly at each other, and then at the butler. "Who
murdered him?" asked Miller, the first to recover speech.
"We don't know--they say Julie; leastways we only know for positive that
Miss Kathleen was with him ..."
Miller turned first white then red, and an angry gleam lit his eye as he
stepped nearer the agitated servant.
"That will do. Go tell Mr. Whitney we are here," and his tone caused
Vincent to hurry away in deep resentment.
Foster gazed dazedly at Miller. "What can have happened?" he asked. "Was
Spencer so foolish as to bait Winslow ..."
"Careful," cautioned Miller, his quick ear detecting a footstep in the
adjoining drawing-room. An instant later Miss Kiametia Grey stepped into
the library.
"Thank goodness you have come," she exclaimed, darting toward Foster.
"I've wanted you so much ..."
"My darling"--Foster, forgetful of Miller's presence, clasped her hand in
both of his.
"There--there--this isn't any time for sentiment," and Miss Kiametia's
chilly tone recalled the Senator to the fact that they were not alone.
Looking a trifle foolish, he dropped her hand and stepped back.
"What can I do for you?" he asked, coldly. "You said you needed me."
"Well, so I do, as legal adviser," with unflattering emphasis. "Good
morning, Captain Miller; I did not recognize you at first. I suppose you
have both heard of Sinclair Spencer's tragic death."
"Yes, but none of the particulars," answered Miller. "And also that
Kathleen is ill. Do tell me how she is," and though he strove to conceal
his anxiety, his manner betrayed his emotion to the sharp-eyed spinster.
"The doctor gave her an opiate," she said quickly. "She will be herself
again when she awakes. Her condition does not worry me." She hesitated,
shot a quick furtive look at Miller's intent face, and added: "But I am
alarmed by the mystery surrounding Sinclair Spencer's death."
"Tell us the details," urged Foster.
"Details," echoed the spinster. "There are none. We were awakened this
morning by Kathleen's screams, rushed into the hall and found her in the
elevator with Sinclair Spencer's dead body. She appeared completely
unstrung, could make no coherent statement, and when the doctor came, was
given an opiate." She paused and looked hopelessly at the two men. "We
know no more of the murder than that."
"We must wait until Kathleen awakens," said Whitney, and Miss Kiametia
started violently at the sound of his voice; so absorbed had the others
been in her remarks that his quiet entrance a few minutes before had
passed unnoticed. "I trust that she will then be more composed."
"Did she say nothing to you and Minna when you were with her before the
doctor arrived?" questioned Miss Kiametia, smothering her eagerness with
difficulty.
"Nothing that made sense." Whitney ran his fingers through his gray hair
until it stood upright. "She babbled Spencer's name, alternating with the
moaning cry, '_Kaiser blumen_.'"
"'_Kaiser blumen_!' What in the world--" The spinster checked her hasty
speech on catching sight of Detective Mitchell loitering just inside the
library door. "Do you want to see Mr. Whitney?" she asked, raising her
voice a trifle, and all turned to face the detective as he advanced
toward them. Bowing gravely to Senator Foster and Captain Miller,
Mitchell stopped opposite the spinster, but his first remark was directed
to Whitney.
"Your wife tells me, sir, that the French maid, Julie, has been in your
employ over four years."
"She has," acknowledged Whitney, making no effort to conceal his
impatience. "Will you kindly postpone your questions, Mitchell, until
later; I desire to converse with my friends now."
"I will intrude but a moment longer." Mitchell slipped one hand inside
his coat pocket. "When will it be convenient, sir, for you to take me
into your studio?"
Whitney looked at the detective as if he did not believe his ears.
"Why the devil should I take you through my studio?" he thundered, his
anger rising. "I take no one there--you understand, no one."
"Pardon me, these are exceptional circumstances. As an officer of the law
it is my duty to examine the entire premises where a crime has been
committed. On reaching your attic, I found the door leading to your
studio locked, and I have come downstairs, sir, to ask you to take me
into that room."
"And I absolutely refuse."
"In that case, sir," there was a steely glint in Mitchell's eyes
which betokened trouble, "I shall send for a locksmith and have the
bolt forced."
"Wait," Foster laid a restraining hand on Whitney's shoulder as the
latter made a hasty step in the detective's direction. "I assure you,
Mitchell, that the so-called studio is Mr. Whitney's workshop; he is, as
you no doubt know, an inventor." Whitney opened his mouth to speak, then
closed his jaws with a snap. "Mr. Whitney is now engaged upon a most
important invention. It is quite natural that he does not wish...."
"It is hardly a matter of wishes, Mr. Senator," broke in Mitchell. "A
murder has been committed here, and it is imperative that everything be
done to apprehend and convict the criminal."
"Ha!" Whitney's snort was almost a triumphant challenge. His altered
demeanor did not escape the shrewd eyes watching him so keenly. "So you
think I murdered Spencer?"
"I have not said what I think," retorted the detective brusquely. "Come,
sir, we are wasting time; take me over your studio at once."
Whitney's haggard face reddened with anger; twice he opened and shut his
mouth, then thinking better of his first impulse, he turned on his heel.
"Follow me," he directed ungraciously. As he stepped toward the doorway
he looked back and encountered Miller's intent gaze. The Captain's gray
eyes, their devil-may-care sparkle dampened by anxiety for Kathleen,
broad forehead, and firm mouth inspired confidence. He looked a man whose
word could be relied on. Whitney, harassed by conflicting doubts, and
agonizing apprehensions, acted on impulse. "Come with us, Captain. We'll
be right back, Kiametia; you and Foster wait for us here."
By common consent the three men avoided the elevator and walked up
stairs. On reaching the attic, Whitney made at once for his studio and
inserting keys in the double lock turned the wards, and opened the door.
"Go in," he said, and waited until the two men had preceded him in the
room, then entered and closed the door, shooting the inner bolt. The
detective looked around as the faint click of the metal caught his ear.
"Force of habit," explained Whitney. "Hurry and make your examination,
Mitchell; I wish to rejoin my friends downstairs as quickly as possible.
Have a seat, Captain?"
But Miller declined, and stood watching Mitchell as he made a thorough
search of the apartment. Nothing escaped his attention, and such
furniture as the room boasted was minutely scrutinized, even the Cooper
Hewitt lights and cylinder arc lights being switched on to assist in the
examination. Models, large sink, darkroom, cabinets, tool chest, drawing
tables, and small chemical laboratory were subjected to a thorough
search. Miller's silent wonder grew; nowhere did he perceive a model
resembling a camera, or the camera itself.
Whitney, sitting astride an ordinary wooden chair, followed the
detective's movements with sardonic amusement, which now and then found
vent in a grim smile. Whitney's expression was not lost upon Miller, who,
finding him a more interesting study than Mitchell, watched him intently
while appearing to be deeply engaged in examining an elevator model.
"Isn't this the design copied in building your elevator, Mr.
Whitney?" he asked.
"Yes; that is the model I made when the elevator was built. It was one of
the first installed in a private residence in Washington."
"It is somewhat different from others that I have seen," commented the
detective, replacing a bottle carefully on a shelf. "The cage is so very
shallow in depth and so long in width."
"I had to cut my coat according to my cloth," curtly. "This house is very
old and the outer walls are of unusual thickness, also the inner ones,
which accounts for the peculiar shape of the elevator. The brick shaft
had to be built to conform to the walls and staircase. I also invented
that safety air brake catch," he added, as Miller ran the elevator to the
top of the shaft and released the cage with a sudden jerk. The elevator
slipped down a flight, then automatically adjusted itself and stopped.
"A clever idea," said Miller admiringly. "When I first used your
elevator, Mr. Whitney, I was struck by its unexpected capacity to hold
six people. Its shallowness is deceptive."
"That's so." Whitney stared at the clock suggestively. "Kathleen, as a
child, used to slip in unseen, and as the majority of the people enter
the elevator facing the floor button plate with their backs to where she
stood, she gave her governesses many scares."
The detective stopped to examine the elevator model carefully, and
pressed the button marked "Attic." "Persons entering the elevator
instinctively pull to the inner door with their left hand and push the
floor button with the right, and they would be standing with their backs
to where Spencer lay," he said.
"And anyone could have started the elevator without knowing of his
presence," put in Miller softly, and the detective nodded assent.
"You have no floor indicator connected with the elevator, Mr. Whitney,"
commented Mitchell thoughtfully.
"No." Whitney rose abruptly. "Finished your search?" Not waiting for a
reply he prepared to leave, and a covert sneer crossed his lips as he
asked, "Found anything criminal?"
"Only these bottles," indicating the shelves near the laboratory.
"There's enough poison here to kill a regiment."
"And only for use in photography," Whitney busied himself in adjusting
shades which the detective had raised or lowered the better to see the
room. "Rather a commentary on the laws governing the sale of poisons,
Mitchell; can't buy them at a druggist's, but any man, woman, or child
can go into a photographic supply store and buy any quantity of deadly
poison and no questions asked."
"Perhaps," was Mitchell's sole comment, as he removed a stopper from a
blue glass bottle and sniffed at its contents.
"Hm! You are of an inquiring turn of mind." Whitney's eyes contracted
suddenly. "May I remind you that Spencer, whose death you are
investigating, was stabbed."
"With a dull knife," answered Mitchell, setting down the bottle. "And it
must have taken muscular force to drive the knife home."
Whitney was suddenly conscious of both men's full regard, and his thin,
wiry figure stiffened. His eyes snapped with pent-up feeling.
"Is a man to be convicted of crime because it is physically possible for
him to commit murder?" he demanded harshly, and not waiting for an answer
unbolted the door. "I fear, Mitchell, you have wasted both my time and
yours. Remember this, sir." He stepped directly in front of the
detective. "Those making a charge must prove it. Now go."