THE MURDERER
(_Saturday, July 14; 10.40 p.m._)
As we entered the drawing-room Brush rose. He was pale and palpably
frightened.
“Why are you worried?” Vance asked.
“Suppose, sir, I should be blamed!” the man blurted. “It was I who
left the front door open yesterday morning--I wanted to get some fresh
air. And then you came and said something had happened to Mr. Kyle. I
know I shouldn’t have unlatched the door.” (I realized then why he had
acted in so terrified a manner.)
“You may cheer up,” Vance told him. “We know who killed Mr. Kyle, and
I can assure you, Brush, that the murderer didn’t come in the front
door.”
“Thank you, sir.” The words were like a sigh of relief.
“And now tell Hani to come here. Then you may go to your room.”
Brush had scarcely left us when there was the sound of a key being
inserted in the front door. A moment later Doctor Bliss appeared at
the entrance to the drawing-room.
“Good-evening, doctor,” Vance greeted him. “I hope we’re not
intrudin’. But there are several questions we wish to ask Hani during
Mr. Salveter’s absence.”
“I understand,” Bliss returned, with a sad nod. “You know, then, of
Salveter’s excursion to Boston.”
“He phoned me and asked if he might go.”
Bliss looked at Vance with heavy, inquisitive eyes.
“His wanting to go north at this time was most unusual,” he said; “but
I did not raise any objection. The atmosphere here is very depressing,
and I sympathized with his desire to escape from it.”
“What time did he leave the house?” Vance put the question carelessly.
“About nine. I offered to drive him to the station.…”
“At nine, what? And where was he between eight and nine?”
Bliss looked unhappy.
“He was with me in the study. We were going over details regarding the
reproductions of Hotepheres’ tomb furniture.”
“Was he with you when Mr. Scarlett arrived?”
“Yes.” Bliss frowned. “Very peculiar, Scarlett’s visit. He evidently
wanted to talk to Salveter alone. He acted most mysteriously--treated
Salveter with a sort of resentful coldness. But I continued to discuss
the object of Salveter’s trip north----”
“Mr. Scarlett waited?”
“Yes. He watched Salveter like a hawk. Then, when Salveter went out,
Scarlett went with him.”
“Ah! And you, doctor?” Vance was apparently absorbed in selecting a
cigarette from his case.
“I stayed in the study.”
“And that’s the last you saw of either Scarlett or Salveter?”
“Yes.… I went for a walk about half past nine. I looked in the museum
on my way out, thinking possibly Scarlett had remained and would join
me; but the room was dark. So I strolled down the avenue to Washington
Square.…”
“Thank you, doctor.” Vance had lighted his cigarette and was smoking
moodily. “We sha’n’t trouble you any more to-night.”
Hani entered the room.
“You wish to see me?” His manner was detached and, I thought, a trifle
bored.
“Yes.” Vance indicated a chair facing the table. Then he turned
quickly to Bliss who was on the point of going out.
“On second thought, doctor, it may be advisable for us to question you
again regarding Mr. Salveter.--Would you mind waiting in the study?”
“Not at all.” Bliss shot him a comprehending glance, and went down the
hall. A few moments later we heard the study door close.
Vance gave Hani a curious look, which I did not understand.
“I have something I wish to tell to Mr. Markham,” he said. “Will you
be good enough to stand in the hall and see that no one disturbs us?”
Hani rose.
“With pleasure, _effendi_.” And he took his post outside.
Vance closed the folding doors, and coming back to the centre-table,
settled himself comfortably.
“You, Markham--and you, Sergeant--were both right yesterday morning
when you concluded that Doctor Bliss was guilty of murdering Kyle----”
“Say, listen!” Heath leapt to his feet. “What the hell----!”
“Oh, quite, Sergeant. Please sit down and control yourself.”
“I said he killed him! And you said----”
“My word! Can’t you be tranquil? You’re so upsettin’, Sergeant.” Vance
made an exasperated gesture. “I’m aware you remarked inelegantly that
Bliss had ‘croaked’ Mr. Kyle. And I trust you have not forgotten that
I said to you last night that we often arrive at the same destination
at the same time--but from opposite directions.”
“That was what you meant, was it?” Heath resumed his seat surlily.
“Then why didn’t you let me arrest him?”
“Because that’s what he wanted you to do.”
“I’m floundering,” Heath wailed. “The world has gone nuts.”
“Just a moment, Sergeant.” Markham spoke peremptorily. “I’m beginning
to understand this affair. It’s not insane in the least.--Let Mr.
Vance continue.”
Heath started to expostulate, but instead made a grimace of
resignation, and began chewing on his cigar.
Vance regarded him sympathetically.
“I knew, Sergeant--or at least I strongly suspected--within five
minutes after entering the museum yesterday morning, that Bliss was
guilty. Scarlett’s story about the appointment gave me the first clew.
Bliss’s telephone call in the presence of every one and his remarks
about the new shipment struck me as fitting in perfectly with a
preconceived plan. Then, when I saw the various clews, I felt positive
they had been planted by Bliss himself. With him it was not only a
matter of pointing suspicion to himself, but--on second view--of
throwing suspicion on another. Fortunately he overstepped the grounds
of plausibility; for had some one else committed the crime, the
planted clews would have been less numerous and less obvious.
Consequently, I leapt to the conclusion that Bliss had murdered Kyle
and had, at the same time, striven to lead us to think that he was the
victim of a plot----”
“But, Mr. Vance,” interrupted Heath, “you said----”
“_I did not say one word to give you the definite impression that I
exonerated Bliss. Not once did I say he was innocent_.… Think back.
You’ll remember I said only that the clews did not ring true--that
things were not what they seemed. I knew the clews were traps, set by
Bliss to deceive us. And I also knew--as Mr. Markham knew--that if we
arrested Bliss on the outward evidence, it would be impossible to
convict him.”
Markham nodded thoughtfully.
“Yes, Sergeant. Mr. Vance is quite correct. I can’t recall a single
remark of his inconsistent with his belief in Bliss’s guilt.”
“Although I knew Bliss was guilty,” Vance continued, “I didn’t know
what his ultimate object was or whom he was trying to involve. I
suspected it was Salveter--though it might have been either Scarlett
or Hani or Mrs. Bliss. I at once saw the necessity of determining the
real victim of his plot. So I pretended to fall in with the obvious
situation. I couldn’t let Bliss think that I suspected him,--my only
hope lay in pretending that I believed some one else was guilty. But I
did avoid the traps set for us. I wanted Bliss to plant other clews
against his victim and perhaps give us some workable evidence. That
was why I begged you to play a waiting game with me.”
“But what was Bliss’s idea in having himself arrested?” Markham asked.
“There was danger in that.”
“Very little. He probably believed that even before an indictment he
or his lawyer could persuade you of his innocence and of Salveter’s
guilt. Or, if he had been held for trial, he was almost sure of an
acquittal, and would then be entirely safe on the caressin’ principle
of double jeopardy, or _autrefois acquit_.… No, he was running no
great risk. And remember, too, he was playing a big game. Once he had
been arrested, he would have felt justified in pointing openly to
Salveter as the murderer and plotter. Hence I fought against your
arresting him, for _it was the very thing he wanted_. As long as he
thought he was free from suspicion, there was no point in his
defending himself at Salveter’s expense. And, in order to involve
Salveter, he was forced to plant more evidence, to concoct other
schemes. And it was on these schemes that I counted for evidence.”
“I’m sunk!” The ashes of Heath’s cigar toppled off and fell over his
waistcoat, but he didn’t notice them.
“But, Sergeant, I gave you many warnings. And there was the motive.
I’m convinced that Bliss knew there was no more financial help coming
from Kyle; and there’s nothing he wouldn’t have done to insure a
continuation of his researches. Furthermore, he was intensely jealous
of Salveter: he knew Mrs. Bliss loved the young cub.”
“But why,” put in Markham, “did he not merely kill Salveter?”
“Oh, I say! The money was a cardinal factor,--he wanted Meryt-Amen to
inherit Kyle’s wealth. His second’ry object was to eliminate Salveter
from Meryt-Amen’s heart: he had no reason for killing him. Therefore
he planned subtly to disqualify him by making it appear that Salveter
not only had murdered his uncle but had tried to send another to the
chair for it.”
Vance slowly lighted a fresh cigarette.
“Bliss was killing three birds with one stone. He was making himself a
martyr in Meryt-Amen’s eyes; he was eliminating Salveter; he was
insuring his wife a fortune with which he could continue his
excavations. Few murders have had so powerful a triple motive.… And
one of the tragic things is that Mrs. Bliss more than half believed in
Salveter’s guilt. She suffered abominably. You recall how she took the
attitude that she wanted the murderer brought to justice. And she
feared all the time that it was Salveter.…”
“Still and all,” said Heath, “Bliss didn’t seem very anxious to get
Salveter mixed up in the affair.”
“Ah, but he was, Sergeant. He was constantly involving Salveter while
pretending not to. A feigned reluctance, as it were. He couldn’t be
too obvious about it--that would have given his game away.… You
remember my question of who had charge of the medical supplies. Bliss
stuttered, as if trying to shield some one. Very clever, don’t y’
know.”
“But if you knew this----” Heath began.
“I didn’t know _all_ of it, Sergeant. I knew only that Bliss was
guilty. I was not sure that Salveter was the object of his plot.
Therefore I had to investigate and learn the truth.”
“Anyhow, I was right in the first place when I said Bliss was guilty,”
Heath declared doggedly.
“Of course you were, Sergeant.” Vance spoke almost affectionately.
“And I felt deuced bad to have to appear to contradict you.” He rose
and, going to Heath, held out his hand. “Will you forgive me?”
“Well… maybe.” Heath’s eyes belied his gruff tone as he grasped
Vance’s hand. “Anyhow, I was right!”
Vance grinned and sat down.
“The plot itself was simple,” he continued after a moment. “Bliss
phoned Kyle in the presence of every one and made the appointment for
eleven. He specifically mentioned the new shipment, and suggested that
Kyle should come early. You see, he had decided on the murder--and on
the whole plot, in fact--when he made the fatal rendezvous. And he
deliberately left the scarab pin on the study desk. After killing Kyle
he placed the pin and the financial report near the body. And note,
Markham, that Salveter had access to both objects. Moreover, Bliss
knew that Salveter was in the habit of going to the museum after
breakfast; and he timed Kyle’s appointment so that Salveter and his
uncle would probably meet. He sent Salveter to the Metropolitan to get
him out of the house while he himself killed Kyle. And he also fixed
the statue of Sakhmet so that it would look like a trap. The murderer
could easily have come back at any time before we arrived and planted
the pin and the report and made the footprints--provided of course
Bliss had been asleep with the opium.…”
Heath sat upright and squinted at Vance.
“That trap was only a stall?” he asked indignantly.
“Nothing else, Sergeant. It was set up after the murder, so that even
if Salveter had had an alibi, he still could have been guilty.
Furthermore, the possibility of Kyle’s having been killed by an absent
person was another point in favor of Bliss. Why should Bliss have made
a death-trap when he had every opportunity to kill Kyle by direct
contact? The trap was merely another counter-clew.”
“But the pencil used in the trap,” interposed Markham. “It was not the
kind Salveter used.”
“My dear Markham! Bliss used one of his own pencils for the ‘upright’
in order to create another clew against himself. A man actually
planning a death-trap is not going to use his own pencil,--he would
use the pencil of the man he was trying to involve. The doctor
therefore used his own pencil--_in order to throw suspicion
elsewhere_. But the trap did not fool me. It was too fortuitous. A
murderer would not have taken such a chance. The falling statue might
not have fallen exactly on Kyle’s head. And another thing: a man
struck in that fashion is not likely to fall in the position we found
Kyle, with his head just beneath the place where the statue struck
him, and with his arms stretched out. When I made my experiment, and
the statue fell exactly where Kyle’s head had been, I realized how
unlikely it was that he had actually been killed by the statue
falling.” Vance’s eyes twinkled. “I did not raise the point at the
time, for I wanted you to believe in the death-trap.”
“Right again!” Heath slapped his forehead dramatically with his palm.
“And I never thought of it!… Sure, I’ll forgive you, Mr. Vance!”
“The truth is, Sergeant, I did everything I could to make you overlook
the inconsistency of it. And Mr. Markham didn’t see it either.[*32] As
a matter of fact, Kyle was killed while he was looking into the
cabinet, by a blow from some one behind him. I have an idea, too, that
one of those heavy flint or porphyry maces was used. His body was
arranged in the position we found it, and the statue of Sakhmet was
then dropped on his skull, obliterating the evidence of the first
blow.”
“But suppose,” objected Markham, “you hadn’t seen the loose ring on
the curtain?”
“The trap was arranged so that we would discover it. If we had
overlooked it, Bliss would have called our attention to it.”
“But the finger-prints----” began Heath, in a kind of daze.
“They were purposely left on the statue. More evidence, d’ ye see,
against Bliss. But he had an alibi in reserve. His first explanation
was so simple and so specious:--he had moved Sakhmet because it wasn’t
quite straight. But the second explanation why there were no other
finger-prints on Sakhmet was to come later, after his arrest--to wit,
no one had actually wielded the statue: it was a death-trap set by
Salveter!”
Vance made an open-handed gesture.
“Bliss covered every clew against himself with a stronger clew
pointing to Salveter.… Regard, for instance, the evidence of the
footprints. Superficially these pointed to Bliss. But there was the
omnipresent counter-clew--namely: he was wearing bedroom slippers
yesterday morning, and only one tennis shoe was to be found in the
study. The other tennis shoe was in his room, _exactly where he said
he had left it the night before_. Bliss simply brought one shoe
down-stairs, made the footprints in the blood, and placed the shoe in
the waste-basket. He wanted us to find the prints and to discover the
shoe. And we did--that is, the Sergeant did. His answer to the
footprints, after his arrest, would merely have been that some one who
had access to his room had taken one tennis shoe down-stairs and made
the tracks to involve him.”
Markham nodded.
“Yes,” he said; “I’d have been inclined to exonerate him, especially
after the discovery of opium in his coffee cup.”
“Ah, that opium! The perfect alibi! What jury would have convicted him
after the evidence of the opium in his coffee? They would have
regarded him as the victim of a plot. And the District Attorney’s
office would have come in for much severe criticism.… And how simple
the opium episode was! Bliss took the can from the cabinet, extracted
what he needed for the ruse, and placed the powder in the bottom of
his coffee cup.”
“You didn’t think he had been narcotized?”
“No. I knew he hadn’t. A narcotic contracts the pupils; and Bliss’s
were distended with excitement. I knew he was pretending, and that
made me suspect I’d find a drug in his coffee.”
“But what about the can?” Heath put the question. “I never did get
that can business straight. You sent Hani----”
“Now, Sergeant!” Vance spoke good-naturedly. “I knew where the can
was, and I merely wanted to ascertain how much Hani knew.”
“But I see the Sergeant’s point,” Markham put in. “We don’t know that
the opium can was in Salveter’s room.”
“Oh, don’t we, now?” Vance turned toward the hall. “Hani!”
The Egyptian opened the sliding door.
“I say;”--Vance looked straight into the man’s eyes--“I’m dashed
admirin’ of your deceptive attitude, but we could bear some facts for
a change.--Where did you find the opium tin?”
“_Effendi_, there is no longer any need for dissimulation. You are a
man of profound wisdom, and I trust you. The tin was hidden in Mr.
Salveter’s room.”
“Thanks awfully.” Vance was almost brusque. “And now return to the
hall.”
Hani went out and softly closed the door.
“And by not going down to breakfast yesterday morning,” Vance
continued, “Bliss knew that his wife and Salveter would be in the
breakfast-room alone, and that Salveter might easily have put the
opium in the coffee.…”
“But,” asked Markham, “if you knew Bliss put the opium in his own
coffee, why all the interest in the samovar?”
“I had to be sure who it was Bliss’s plot was aimed at. He was trying
to make it appear that _he_ was the victim of the plot; and since his
object was to involve some one else, I knew the real victim would have
had to have access to the coffee yesterday morning.”
Heath nodded ponderously.
“That’s easy enough. The old boy was pretending some one had fed him
knock-out drops, but if the bird he was aiming at couldn’t have fed
him the drops, his plot would have gone blooey.… But look here, Mr.
Vance;”--he suddenly remembered something--“what was the idea of the
doc’s trying to escape?”
“It was a perfectly logical result of what had gone before,” Vance
explained. “After we had refused to arrest him, he began to worry. Y’
see, he yearned to be arrested; and we disappointed him frightfully.
Sittin’ in his room, he got to planning. How could he make us re-order
his arrest and thus give him the chance to point out all the evidences
of Salveter’s heinous plot against him? He decided to attempt an
escape. That gesture, he figured, would surely revive suspicion
against him. So he simply went out, drew his money openly from the
bank, taxied to the Grand Central Station, asked loudly about trains
to Montreal, and then stood conspicuously by the gate waiting for the
train.… He knew that Guilfoyle was following him; for, had he really
intended making his escape, you may rest assured Guilfoyle would never
have traced him. You, Sergeant, accepted Bliss’s action at its face
value; and I was afraid that his silly disappearance would produce the
very result he intended--namely, his re-arrest. That was why I argued
against it so passionately.”
Vance leaned back but did not relax. There was a rigid alertness in
his attitude.
“And because you did not manacle him, Sergeant,” he continued, “he was
forced to take a further step. He had to build up a case against
Salveter. So he staged the drama with the dagger. He deliberately sent
Salveter to the study to get a memorandum-book in the desk--where the
dagger was kept.…”
“And the sheath!” exclaimed Markham.
“Oh, quite. That was the real clew against Salveter. Having put the
sheath in Salveter’s room, Bliss suggested to us that we might find
the would-be assassin by locating the sheath. I knew where it was the
moment he so helpfully mentioned it; so I gave Hani a chance to lie
about it.…”
“You mean Hani didn’t find the sheath in the hall?”
“Of course not.”
Vance again called Hani from the hall.
“Where did you find the sheath of the royal dagger?” he asked.
Hani answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“In Mr. Salveter’s room, _effendi_--as you well know.”
Vance nodded.
“And by the by, Hani, has any one approached this door to-night?”
“No, _effendi_. The doctor is still in his study.”
Vance dismissed him with a gesture, and went on:
“Y’ see, Markham, Bliss put the sheath in Salveter’s room, and then
threw the dagger into the headboard of his bed. He phoned me and, when
we arrived, told an elaborate but plausible tale of having been
assaulted by an _inconnu_.”
“He was a damn good actor,” Heath commented.
“Yes--in the main. But there was one psychological point he
overlooked. If he had actually been the victim of a murderous attack
he would not have gone down-stairs alone in the dark to phone me. He
would have first roused the house.”[*33]
“That’s reasonable.” Markham had become impatient. “But you said
something about the picture not being complete----”
“The letter!” Vance sat up and threw away his cigarette. “That was the
missing factor. I couldn’t understand why the forged hieroglyphic
letter didn’t show up last night,--it was the perfect opportunity. But
it was nowhere in evidence; and that’s what troubled me.… However,
when I found Scarlett working in the museum, I understood. The doctor,
I’m convinced, intended to plant the forged letter--which he had
placed temporarily in the desk-table drawer--in Meryt-Amen’s room or
some place where we’d find it. But when he looked into the museum
through the study door he saw Scarlett at work at the desk-table. So
he let the letter go, reserving it for future use--in case we didn’t
arrest Salveter after the dagger episode. And when I deliberately
avoided the clews he had prepared against Salveter, I knew the letter
would appear very soon. I was afraid Scarlett might in some way block
Bliss’s scheme, so I warned him to keep away from the house. I don’t
know what more I could have done.”
“Nor I.” Markham’s tone was consoling. “Scarlett should have followed
your advice.”
“But he didn’t.” Vance sighed regretfully.
“You think, then, that Scarlett suspected the truth?”
“Undoubtedly. And he suspected it early in the game. But he wasn’t
sure enough to speak out. He was afraid he might be doing the doctor
an injustice; and, being an English gentleman, he kept silent. My
belief is, he got to worrying about the situation and finally went to
Bliss----”
“But something must have convinced him.”
“The dagger, Markham. Bliss made a grave error in that regard.
Scarlett and Bliss were the only two persons who knew about that
smuggled weapon. And when I showed it to Scarlett and informed him it
had been used in an attempt on Bliss’s life, he knew pretty
conclusively that Bliss had concocted the whole tale.”
“And he came here to-night to confront Bliss…?”
“Exactly. He realized that Bliss was trying to involve Salveter; and
he wanted to let Bliss know that his monstrous scheme was seen
through. He came here to protect an innocent man--despite the fact
that Salveter was his rival, as it were, for the affections of
Meryt-Amen. That would be like Scarlett.…” Vance looked sad. “When I
sent Salveter to Boston I believed I had eliminated every possibility
of danger. But Scarlett felt he had to take matters in his own hands.
His action was fine, but ill-advised. The whole trouble was, it gave
Bliss the opportunity he’d been waiting for. When he couldn’t get the
forged letter from the museum last night, and when we declined his
invitation to find the sheath in Salveter’s room, it was necessary for
him to play his ace--the forged letter.”
“Yes, yes. I see that. But just where did Scarlett fit?”
“When Scarlett came here to-night Bliss no doubt listened to his
accusation diplomatically, and then on some pretext or other got him
into the museum. When Scarlett was off guard Bliss struck him on the
head--probably with one of those maces in the end cabinet--and put him
in the sarcophagus. It was a simple matter for him to get the jack
from his car, which he keeps parked in the street outside,--you recall
that he offered to drive Salveter to the station.…”
“But the letter?”
“Can’t you see how everything fitted? The attack on Scarlett took
place between eight and eight-thirty. Salveter was probably up-stairs
bidding adieu to Mrs. Bliss. At any rate, he was in the house, and
therefore could have been Scarlett’s murderer. In order to make it
appear that Salveter _was actually the murderer of Scarlett_ Bliss
crumpled up the forged telltale letter and stuck it in Scarlett’s
pocket. He wanted to make it appear that Scarlett had come to the
house to-night to confront Salveter, had mentioned the letter he’d
found in the desk-table drawer, and had been killed by Salveter.”
“But why wouldn’t Salveter have taken the letter?”
“The assumption would have been that Salveter didn’t know that
Scarlett had the letter in his pocket.”
“What I want to know,” put in Heath, “is how Bliss found out about
Salveter’s original letter.”
“That point is easily explained, Sergeant.” Vance drew out his
cigarette-case. “Salveter undoubtedly returned to the museum yesterday
morning, as he told us, and was working on his letter when Kyle
entered. He then put the letter in the table-drawer, and went to the
Metropolitan Museum on his errand. Bliss, who was probably watching
him through a crack in the study door, saw him put the paper away, and
later took it out to see what it was. Being an indiscreet letter to
Meryt-Amen, it gave Bliss an idea. He took it to his study and rewrote
it, making it directly incriminating; and then tore up the original.
When I learned that the letter had disappeared I was worried, for I
suspected that Bliss had taken it. And when I saw it had been
destroyed and thrown away, I was convinced we would find another
letter. But since I had the original, I believed that the forged
letter would, when it appeared, give us evidence against Bliss.”
“So that’s why you were so interested in those three words?”
“Yes, Sergeant. I hardly thought Bliss would use _tem_ and _was_ and
_ankh_ in rewriting the letter, for he couldn’t have known that
Salveter had told us about the letter and specifically mentioned these
three words. And not one of the three words was in the forgery.”
“But a handwriting expert----”
“Oh, I say, Sergeant! Don’t be so _naïf_. A handwriting expert is a
romantic scientist even when the writing is English script and
familiar to him. And all his rules are based on chirographic
idiosyncrasies. No art expert can tell with surety who drew a
picture--and Egyptian writing is mostly pictures. Forged Michelangelo
drawings, for instance, are being sold by clever dealers constantly.
The only approach in such matters is an æsthetic one--and there is no
æsthetics in Egyptian hieroglyphs.”
Heath made a wry face.
“Well, if the forged letter couldn’t be admitted as evidence, what was
the doctor’s idea?”
“Don’t you see, Sergeant, that even if the letter couldn’t be
absolutely identified with Salveter, it would have made every one
believe that Salveter was guilty and had escaped a conviction on a
legal technicality. Certainly Meryt-Amen would have believed that
Salveter wrote the letter; and that was what Bliss wanted.”
Vance turned to Markham.
“It’s a legal point which really doesn’t matter. Salveter might not
have been convicted; but Bliss’s plot would none the less have
succeeded. With Kyle dead, Bliss would have had access to one-half of
Kyle’s fortune--in his wife’s name, to be sure--and Meryt-Amen would
have repudiated Salveter. Thus Bliss would have won every trick. And
even legally Salveter might have been convicted had it not been for
Hani’s removal of two direct clews from Salveter’s room--the opium can
and the sheath. Furthermore, there was the letter in Scarlett’s
pocket.”
“But, Vance, how would the letter have been found?” Markham asked. “If
you had not suspected the plot and looked for Scarlett’s body, it
might have remained in the sarcophagus almost indefinitely.”
“No.” Vance shook his head. “Scarlett was to have remained in the
sarcophagus only for a couple of days. When it was discovered
to-morrow that he was missing Bliss would probably have found the body
for us, along with the letter.”
He looked questioningly at Markham.
“How are we going to connect Bliss with the crime, since Salveter was
in the house at the time of the attack?”
“If Scarlett should get well----”
“If!… Just so. But suppose he shouldn’t--and the chances are against
him. Then what? Scarlett at most could only testify that Bliss had
made an abortive and unsuccessful attack on him. True, you might
convict him for felonious assault, but it would leave Kyle’s murder
still unsolved. And if Bliss said that Scarlett attacked him and that
he struck Scarlett in self-defense, you’d have a difficult time
convicting him even for assault.”
Markham rose and walked up and down the room. Then Heath asked a
question.
“How does this Ali Baba fit into the picture, Mr. Vance?”
“Hani knew from the first what had happened; and he was shrewd enough
to see the plot that Bliss had built up about Salveter. He loved
Salveter and Meryt-Amen, and he wanted them to be happy. What could he
do except lend his every energy to protecting them? And he has
certainly done this, Sergeant. Egyptians are not like Occidentals. It
was against his nature to come out frankly and tell us what he
suspected. Hani played a clever game--the only game he could have
played. He never believed in the vengeance of Sakhmet. He used his
superstitious logomachy to cover up the truth. He fought with words
for Salveter’s safety.”
Markham halted in front of Vance.
“The thing is incredible! I have never known a murderer like Bliss.”
“Oh, don’t give him too much credit.” Vance lighted the cigarette he
had been holding for the past five minutes. “He frightfully overdid
the clews: he made them too glaring. Therein lay his weakness.”
“Still,” said Markham, “if you hadn’t come into the case I’d have
brought a murder charge against him.”
“And you would have played into his hands. Because I didn’t want you
to, I appeared to argue against his guilt.”
“A palimpsest!” Markham commented after a pause.
Vance took a deep draw on his cigarette.
“Exactly. _Palimpsestos_--‘again rub smooth.’ First came the true
story of the crime, carefully indicated. Then it was erased, and the
story of the murder, with Salveter as the villain, was written over
it. This, too, was erased, and the original story--in grotesque
outline and filled with inconsistencies and loopholes--was again
written. We were supposed to read the third version, become sceptical
about it, and find the evidences of Salveter’s guilt between the
lines. My task was to push through to the first and original
version--the twice written-over truth.”
“And you did it, Mr. Vance!” Heath had risen and gone toward the door.
“The doc is in the study, Chief. I’ll take him to Headquarters
myself.”