THE JURY'S VERDICT
My first glance about the room the next morning, showed me only too
plainly what direction the inquiry was going to take. In the farther
corner half hidden by Mattison's broad back sat Clancy, the Washington
detective. I recognized him with an angry feeling of discouragement. If
we were to have his version of the stolen bonds, Radnor's last hope of
gaining public sympathy was gone.
Radnor was the first person to be called to the stand. He had not
noticed the detective, and I did not have a chance to inform him of his
presence. The coroner plunged immediately into the question of the
robbery and the ha'nt, and it was only too evident from Radnor's
troubled eyes that it was a subject he did not wish to talk about.
"You have recently had a robbery at your house, Mr. Gaylord?"
"Yes."
"Please describe just what was stolen."
"Five bonds--Government four per cents--a bag of coin--about twenty
dollars in all--and two deeds and an insurance policy."
"You have not been able to trace the thief?"
"No."
"In spite of every effort?"
"Well, we naturally looked into the matter."
"But you have been able to form no theory as to how the bonds were
stolen?"
"No, I have no theory whatever."
"You employed a detective I believe?"
"Yes."
"And he arrived at no theory?"
Radnor hesitated visibly while he framed an answer.
"He arrived at no theory which successfully covered the facts."
"But he did have a theory as to the whereabouts of the bonds, did he
not?"
"Yes--but it was without any foundation and I prefer not to go into it."
The coroner abandoned the point. "Mr. Gaylord, there has lately been a
rumor among the negroes working at your place, in regard to the
appearance of a ghost, has there not?"
"Yes."
"Can you offer any light on the subject?"
"The negroes are superstitious and easily frightened, when the rumor of
a ghost gets started it grows. The most of the stories existed only in
their own imaginations."
"You believe then that there was no foundation whatever to any of the
stories?"
"I should rather not go into that."
"Mr. Gaylord, do you believe that the ghost had any connection with the
robbery?"
"No, I do not."
"Do you think that the ghost had any connection with the murder of your
father?"
"No!" said Radnor.
"That is all, Mr. Gaylord.--James Clancy."
At the name Radnor suddenly raised his head and half turned back as if
to speak, but thinking better of it, he resumed his chair and watched
the approach of the detective with an angry frown. Clancy did not glance
at Radnor, but gave his evidence in a quick incisive way which forced
the breathless attention of every one in the room. He told without
interruption the story of his arrival at Four-Pools and his conclusions
in regard to the ha'nt and the theft; he omitted, however, all mention
of the letter.
"Am I to understand that you never made your conclusions known to
Colonel Gaylord?" the coroner asked.
"No, I had been employed by him, but I thought under the circumstances
it was kinder to leave him in ignorance."
"That was a generous stand to take. I suppose you lost something in the
way of a fee?"
The detective looked slightly uncomfortable over the question.
"Well, no, as it happened I didn't. There was a sort of cousin--Mr.
Crosby"--he nodded toward me--"visiting in the house and he footed the
bill. He seemed to think the young man hadn't intended to steal, and
that it would be pleasanter all around if I left it for them to settle
between themselves."
"I protest!" I cried. "I distinctly stated my conviction that Radnor
Gaylord knew nothing of the bonds, and I paid him to get rid of him
because I did not wish him troubling Colonel Gaylord with any such
made-up story."
"Mr. Clancy is testifying," observed the coroner. "Now, Mr. Clancy, as I
understand it, you discovered as you supposed the guilty man, and
instead of going to your employer with the story and receiving your pay
from him, you accepted it from the person you had accused--or at least
from his friend?"
"I've explained the circumstances; it was a mere matter of
accommodation."
"I suppose you know what such accommodation is called?"
"If you mean it was blackmail--that's false! At least," he added,
quickly relapsing into good nature, "it was a mighty generous kind of
blackmail. I could have got my pay fast enough from the Colonel but I
didn't want to stir up trouble. We all know that it isn't the innocent
who pay blackmail," he added parenthetically.
"Do you mean to insinuate that Mr. Crosby is implicated?"
"Lord no! He's as innocent as a lamb. Young Gaylord was too smart for
him; he hoodwinked him as well as the Colonel into believing the bonds
were stolen while he was out of the house."
A smile ran around the room and the detective was excused. I sprang to
my feet.
"One moment!" I said. "I should like to ask Mr. Clancy some questions."
The young man was turned over to me, plainly against his wishes.
"What proof have you, Mr. Clancy, that the bonds were not stolen while
Mr. Gaylord was out of the house?"
"Well, my investigations led me to the belief that he stole them, and
that being the case, it must have been done before he left the house."
"I see! And your investigations concerned themselves largely with a
letter which you filched from Mr. Gaylord's coat pocket in the night,
did they not?"
"Not entirely--the letter merely struck me as corroborative evidence,
though I have since learned--"
"Mr. Clancy," I interrupted sternly, "did you not tell me at the time,
that that letter was absolute proof of his guilt--yes or no?"
"I may have said so but--"
"Mr. Clancy, will you kindly repeat what was in that letter."
"It referred to some bonds; I don't know that I can recall the exact
words."
"Then I must request you to read it," I returned, picking it out from a
bundle of papers on the table and handing it to him. "I am sorry to take
up so much time with a matter that has nothing to do with the murder," I
added to the coroner, "but you yourself brought up the subject and it is
only fair to hear the whole story."
He nodded permission, and ordered Clancy to read the letter. The
detective did so amidst an astonished hush. It struck everyone as a
proof of guilt, and no one could understand why I had forced it to the
front.
"Now Mr. Clancy," said I, "please tell the jury Mr. Gaylord's
explanation of this letter."
Clancy with a somewhat sheepish air gave the gist of what Radnor had
said.
"Did you believe that story when you first heard it?" I asked.
"No," said he, "I did not, because--"
"Very well! But you later went to the office of Jacoby, Haight & Co.,
and looked over the files of their correspondence with Radnor Gaylord
and verified his statement in every particular, did you not?"
"Yes, I did, but still--"
"That is all I wish to ask, Mr. Clancy. I think the reason is evident,"
I added, turning to the jury, "why I was willing to pay in order to get
rid of him. Nobody's character, nobody's correspondence, was safe while
he was in the house."
The detective retired amidst general laughter and I could see that
feeling had veered again in Radnor's favor. The total effect of the
evidence respecting the ha'nt and the robbery was good rather than bad,
and I more than fancied that I was indebted to the sheriff for it.
Radnor was not called again and that was the end of the testimony in
regard to him. The rest of the time was taken up with a consideration of
Cat-Eye Mose and some further questioning of the negroes in regard to
the ha'nt. Old Nancy created considerable diversion with her account of
the spirited roast chicken. It had changed materially since I heard it
last. She was emphatic in her statement that "Marse Rad didn't have
nuffen to do wif him. He was a sho' nuff ha'nt an' his gahments smelt o'
de graveyard."
The evidence respecting Mose brought out nothing of any consequence, and
with that the hearing was brought to a close. The coroner instructed the
jury on two or three points of law and ended with the brief formula:
"You have heard the testimony given by these witnesses. It remains for
you to do your duty."
After an interminable half hour the jury-men filed back to their seats
and the clerk read the verdict:
"We find that the said Richard Gaylord came to his death in Luray Cavern
on the 19th day of May, by cerebral hemorrhage, the result of a wound
inflicted by some blunt weapon in the hands of a person or persons
unknown. We recommend that Radnor Fanshaw Gaylord be held for trial
before the Grand Jury."
Rad appeared dazed at the verdict; though in the face of the evidence
and his own stubborn refusal to explain it, I don't see how he could
have expected any other outcome. As for myself, it was better than I had
feared.