The swift boat bearing two police officers picked up Professor
Brierly and Matthews. McCall and Jimmy left immediately. The avid
horde of newspaper men had swooped down on the Higginbotham camp.
Only the fact that they had two red-coated men in the boat
enabled the old scientist and his assistant to get near the house.
A path was cleared and the four men went into the living-room
where the eight survivors, Jimmy Hale, McCall and as many
newspaper men and women as could find standing room were crowded.
The two officers with the help of two others who had arrived
cleared the room after considerable difficulty. The porch had been
shorn off the building as though it were done with tools. The huge
rock was nestling at the edge of the water.
Jimmy was surprised at the demeanor of the eight survivors. The
reaction had set in. Now that the worst had come, come right
before their eyes they took it with a sang-froid that was
surprising under the circumstances. Pride of race, the knowledge
that a great many persons had their eyes upon them, the knowledge
that the entire world had their eyes on them through their
representatives of the press had its influence.
Samuel Goldberg and Lorenzo Tonti, the man who had influenced the
framing of the Tontine insurance agreement, were killed outright
by the falling of the rock. Two of the others suffered minor
injuries. While they were calm the eight survivors were grim. They
looked toward Professor Brierly.
"How did it happen?" he asked quietly.
Mr. Marshall answered.
"Six or seven of us were on the porch, the rest of us were inside,
finishing breakfast. McGuire was just coming up from the lake, he
had been out. The rock, without any warning, came down. Poor Sam.
He always sat where he could see the rock. It had a fascination
for him. He always alluded to the possibility of its coming down."
Charles Rochambeau leaned forward in his chair tensely.
"Well, Professor, you could not save us from this could you?" He
sprang up and threw his hands up with true Gallic violence. "My
God, when will this end?"
There was pain, grief in the deep-set eyes that looked at the
excitable old man. Professor Brierly said slowly:
"It will end right now, Mr. Rochambeau. It has ended." He turned
to the two officers who had come with him, saying:
"A man by the name of Amos Brown, who lives about six miles up the
lake was shot to death this morning."
Bruce Thomas started forward, crying hoarsely:
"No, no. Amos Brown died thirty years ago."
Professor Brierly, ignoring the interruption, pointed at former
Police Commissioner McGuire. "This man, officer, probably is
armed. You will find that the bullet that killed Amos Brown came
from his weapon."
One of the officers took a step toward the ruddy octogenarian.
Jimmy stared, startled. Something was coming off that he did not
understand. Three of the men sprang to their feet glaring at the
principal actors to this strange scene. McGuire stood up, the
blood gradually draining from his face. One of the police officers
asked quietly, holding out his hand:
"Are you armed, sir?" As McGuire's hand slowly went toward his
side pocket, the officer said:
"Give me the weapon, please."
McGuire stared a long time at Professor Brierly, at his comrades,
at the officers. He said:
"Yes, I killed Brown. I killed him in self-defense." He drew out
the weapon, slowly.
Professor Brierly's voice, in the strained silence that had fallen
on the group, sounded like a death knell.
"You did not kill Goldberg and Tonti in self-defense. You did not
engineer the killing of Schurman, Miller and Flynn in self-defense.
You--_John!_" Professor Brierly's voice suddenly rose to a
hoarse shout. The weapon in the hand of the stout, erect, pale man
was slowly turning. Matthews sprang forward, but the officer
reached McGuire first. There was a brief struggle for the weapon.
Two officers led the man away.
There was pain in Professor Brierly's eyes, and not the
exhilaration to be found at the successful conclusion of an
experiment in science; or the completed solution of a crime. He
sat down and appeared reluctant to furnish the explanation that
was expected of him. Suddenly Justice Higginbotham burst out:
"But this is unthinkable, Professor. He was a comrade of ours. He
was here with us all the time. He--you must be mistaken." He
stopped and then continued more slowly, gravely:
"Professor Brierly, you will have to give a very good reason for
your astounding charge. You will have to remove every reasonable
doubt. I am not talking in the legal sense now. This man was our
comrade. I should as soon believe that I did this impossible, this
terrible thing myself."
A swift glance about the circle of faces showed Jimmy that they
were all of the same mind. Professor Brierly said:
"I understand. That is why I was reluctant to make the charge
sooner, when we discussed it the other day. Some of you urged me,
remember, to make a guess, which I could have done then. This
terrible thing that happened this morning is something I could
hardly foresee." He paused and went on.
"Your number '14' Amos Brown died twenty-eight years ago, being
survived by a son and grandson. The son died a short time later.
Amos Brown the third, had no kin. But he was a self-sufficient
youngster who managed pretty well. He entered the flying service
in the World War and returned a bitter, disillusioned man.
"He became a hatter and worked in Danbury, Connecticut, for a
time, in a department called the 'pouncing' department. In such a
department, they shave off the rough fur of felt hats after they
have been dyed. In a 'pouncing' room, although there are blowers
to take up the fine fur, there is nevertheless a good deal of it
flying about in the air. I am thus dwelling on this seemingly
trivial point because it formed an important clue in my
investigation.
"Several years ago, young Amos Brown was approached by a man who
was alleged to have been a comrade of his grandfather in the Civil
War. Amos Brown was persuaded that your Tontine group had treated
his grandfather very badly. He was shown that by working with this
old veteran he could not only revenge his grandfather's wrongs,
but also obtain a false justice for himself.
"This kind benefactor, as an evidence of goodwill, bought Amos
Brown a farm in Canada; he bought him a plane. He then convinced
him that by helping kill off the Tontine group the two of them
would share their huge fund.
"Preparations were carefully made. Amos Brown was a strong, active
man. The veteran had access to files where the peculiarities of a
great many criminals, in and out of prison, were carefully
recorded. It was recorded for example that one man had the habit
of getting into places by using climbing irons. Another had a
different method but he had a weakness for large quantities of
food when he committed a robbery, his special weakness being for
eggs. It was comparatively easy for a former police commissioner
to get all this information you see, a police commissioner who
kept in touch with his old department.
"But first of all the murders had to be so committed that they
would look like suicide. The former man hunter knew enough to make
them look like suicides to the casual examiner. But suppose a
careful examination were made of a particular death, and it was
discovered to be murder. Then what?
"Then you see, the peculiarities of a certain criminal would
appear so prominently that the police would pick this man up and
pin the crime on him. But suppose again this innocent criminal
happened to have an unshakable alibi? That could be arranged for
too. The alibi could be made to look 'fishy', as my friend Hale
would put it.
"Former Police Commissioner McGuire knew that 'Chicago' Boyle,
alias 'Lefty' Harris was in this neighborhood. 'Lefty' had been
convicted of entering a house with rope, climbing irons, and so
forth. So first of all, Miller was killed in a manner that would
look to the casual examiner like suicide. When I pointed out that
it was not suicide and further pointed out how the murderer
entered, it was a foregone conclusion that Boyle would be picked
up.
"Boyle had a story, but what policeman or jury would believe it?
The stranger who met him in a speakeasy and drugged his drink took
good care that he would not have a convincing one to tell.
"The one flaw in the reckoning of the murderer was that the rope,
with which entry was made, was found. It showed me as definitely
as though I had seen it, the farmyard where Amos Brown lived. The
twine also showed me that it had been in a 'pouncing' room in a
hat factory for a long time.
"Boyle's watch which had not been cleaned for a long time and
which we placed was in his possession about three years ago did
not show that it had ever been in a 'pouncing' room. And you can
depend on it, that one could not keep a watch for a single day in
such a room without the fur getting inside the case, to say
nothing of keeping it there for months or years.
"In the Schurman case, in New York, there was the fortuitous
incident of the apple. Amos Brown was not a trained criminal, you
see. He did not think, when he bit into the apple that he was
leaving what the police call a 'calling card'. It will be found on
investigation that Amos Brown's teeth fit into the 'moulage' of
the apple.
"In addition to that, unfortunately for the murderer, 'Fingy' had
a splendid alibi, an alibi that the killer could not foresee."
"The Flynn murder was easy. The man who made the telephone call
need not have known what he was doing. But it is safe to say that
it was Brown. Mr. McGuire would trust as few persons as possible
in this. The call that killed Flynn might just as well have been
made from Canada."
"But, Professor, you accused him of murdering Goldberg and Tonti,"
protested Judge Fletcher.
"Yes. Justice Higginbotham was going to make a spectacle of his
mastery of a hobby. He had everything arranged. He was going to--"
"I had the wires disconnected, Professor, interrupted Judge
Higginbotham."
"Connecting the wires would be just about a minute's work."
"But McGuire was down near the water. How could he throw a beam of
light at that tube in the daylight."
"That's right, Judge. McGuire was facing the east. The sun was
just right to reflect a powerful beam of sunlight into the door to
the photo-electric cell with a piece of mirror. If you will look,
Judge, you will find that door open.
"The act before that was the kidnapping of Matthews' nephew.
Brown, inherently a decent chap, balked at that but he was too
involved by then. When they could not make me go to New York,
Brown was told to send us a tooth as evidence of what they were
prepared to do to the little boy. Brown balked at that too. He
obtained some older boy's tooth, probably from a dentist."
He was now speaking more slowly.
"Obviously an octogenarian could not commit these murders himself,
but being a former police commissioner, he could easily hire
someone to do it for him; he knew the ropes. He could not trust
the ordinary killer; he would have placed himself in such a man's
power.
"What better instrument than Amos Brown? Amos Brown could be made
to believe that he was performing an act of justice by killing the
men who had mistreated his grandfather. Such a man is much more
dangerous than the professional killer. He was a flyer and a good
one. He had a powerful, fast plane, small enough not to attract
too much attention. He could kill Schurman in the evening and
Miller, four hundred miles away early the following morning.
"Without Brown's knowledge 'Fingy' was watched. If he had not
found it necessary to rob the delicatessen store, he might have
met a stranger, as did Boyle, who would provide him with an alibi
that no one would believe. The work of providing a bad alibi might
have been done and probably was done by a person who knew nothing
and had no interest in the members of the Tontine group. Such a
man as McGuire could easily have arranged that.
"A police commissioner who was wiped out in the stock market
crash; a man who was accustomed to the good things in life in a
material sense. A man' who was forced to consort with criminals
professionally. He was cleaned out in the crash, and never
recovered.
"There is a record of a case similar to that of the Miller case.
Schurman was killed in the way that Emmeline Reynolds was killed
in 1898. In her case a bludgeon was used. In Schurman's case Brown
probably used his fist. The similarity in particular originality
displayed, the details were masterpieces of subtlety.
"We can picture what happened at Brown's farm this morning. Brown
refused to go any further with the plan. We have an indication of
Brown's character by the fact that he refused to extract a boy's
tooth. Oh, no. It is not at all inconsistent. A man like Brown
might commit murder to satisfy his false sense of justice, and yet
be tenderhearted enough to refuse to inflict pain on a little boy.
"But the old police commissioner had gone too far. There were
words. Brown would be of no further use to him. McGuire had the
small mirror in his pocket. He calculated that he would find
everyone on the pond. If I did not have a complete case against
him, what a perfect case the police commissioner would have had,
assuming that he was caught coming from Brown's farm. He could
have said that he had revenged the death of his comrades.
"He made two grave errors. The sun's rays which he used with such
murderous effect were in his eyes facing the east. The porch being
in semi-gloom, he thought perhaps that you were all there. His
second error was in overestimating the strength with which the
porch was fastened to the main building.
"The documentary proof of what I say is all there, gentlemen,
every step of it. The living proof is present, to say nothing of
the dead proof. Small things in themselves; powder marks; fresh
putty; the absence of hat fur in a watch case; an apple which was
too green, or too sour or too bitter. Small things but what an
unbreakable chain."
Epilogue
The world was good to James Hale three days later. He stayed in
bed until the sun was high in the sky. Nothing to do for nearly a
week.
As he went to the bathroom his whistling and vocal efforts vied
with the feathered songsters outside the window. As he passed
through the living-room on his way to the dining room he picked up
a letter addressed to him. The upper left hand corner of the
letter told him that it was from the Eagle. He stuffed it
carelessly into his pocket. It was probably from one or more
members of the gang at the office asking him to smuggle in some
Scotch when he came back. It could not be from Hite. Hite never
wrote letters. He spoke to his men and women verbally, by
telephone or by wire. He even did his firing that way.
He ate his breakfast alone. Matthews and Professor Brierly had
gone off somewhere. Norah was in the kitchen singing. Tommy, in
the costume with which he had been born, was outside fishing.
Jimmy pushed out the canoe onto the lake and sat there watching
Tommy. Tommy never caught anything fishing, but that never
disturbs a devotee of the Waltonian art. Tommy had his own methods
for the sport. He fished without line, hook or bait. He used
neither guile, nor any of the lures employed by fishermen. Tommy
stood there in two feet of water staring intently at the denizens
of the water darting back and forth. They could plainly be seen,
the water was clear. When one of the finny tribe hesitated near
the surface of the water Tommy would grab--a fist full of water.
Jimmy tried his blandishments and charm on Tommy without success.
Tommy had his own ideas about Jimmy.
Now Pop was a superior sort of person. Pop paid one the compliment
of serious consideration. Also, Professor Brierly having taken a
course in tricks of magic in his youth, Pop could do the most
wonderful things with his hands and with things. He could and did
explain everything. But Jimmy was another, but quite different
friend.
Uncle Jack could also do fascinating things with his hands.
Besides, Uncle Jack was quite the strongest and swiftest person in
the world. Tommy like Jack, that was a little to much to expect.
Mummie had a place all her own. She was only a woman, of course,
but she was the most beautiful woman in the world, one loved her a
lot. She could and did make the most delicious things to eat, she
tucked one in bed and other things.
Jimmy now, it was hard to classify Jimmy. In the first place he
was so frivolous. He received one's most serious statements with a
grin. And it was remarkable that Pop and Uncle Jack would often
join Jimmy in discussing the most frivolous topics, topics that
one could not understand. Maybe they were doing it to be polite.
He had been told about that--about being polite and listening
respectfully to strangers. Decidedly Jimmy did not make a hit with
Tommy. He was tolerated, but that's all. Right now he was grinning
at Tommy's serious efforts to catch fish.
Jimmy's attention wandered. This was swell. A perfect day, nothing
to do for nearly a week. He would not even look at his portable
during this time. His hand went to his pocket for cigarettes and
encountered the letter. He lazily tore open the flap.
He sat up and glowed with pleasure. It was from the publisher of
his paper. The publisher wrote of "loyalty to the newspaper
ideal," "unstinting, unremitting effort." The letter spoke
effusively about Jimmy's recent achievement on the murder story.
The letter concluded with the statement that in view of the fact
that that splendid story encroached on his vacation, his vacation
would be extended with pay for one week.
Now that was something like it. That was appreciation for you.
Hite would never--Martha's voice broke in on his rumination. There
was a telephone call. He lazily got out of his canoe.
The first voice was Ann's, the second Hite's.
"Say, Jimmy, I got an idea. You know there's bootlegging in
Canada. Fact is where sale of liquor is permitted up to certain
hours, there are birds who sell it after hours and are subject to
fine and imprisonment mebbe. In view of the to do about
prohibition and bootlegging in this country, it would be swell to
have a feature story about bootlegging in Canada. Run up to Quebec
and Montreal and stop at places between and give us a story will
you. That Tontine story was a nice story, Jimmy, g'by."
Hite had talked fast in jerky sentences. All Jimmy had said was,
"Hello." The wire was dead. Jimmy, with a stony face got out the
map of Canada. It showed him what a trip to Quebec and Montreal
with stops between would involve. He mumbled: "Quebec-Montreal-stops
between-feature story-extend my vacation."