SUSAN HAD HYSTERICS
Dead silence greeted this unenlightening statement. Brent’s face was
a battleground of doubt and annoyance. Landis decided from the look
in the elderly lawyer’s eye that he had gone far enough. He turned to
Graham.
“Now that we’ve gone over the ground a bit,” he said, “I wish you’d
give me a list of the people in the house, will you?”
“Let’s see,” Graham began quickly, “the two girls, Isabelle and Anita--”
“Were they both at home this evening when their father was murdered?”
interrupted Bernard.
“Oh, yes. We were all here. It was just at dinner time, you see.”
“All here, eh? All right. Go ahead.”
“Then there’s Mr. Joel Harrison, the brother. At least, I suppose he
was in the house at the time. I didn’t see him. Miss Mount was here, of
course. So were Mrs. Graham and I, Russell and Allen whom you saw in
the billiard-room and Mr. Harrison himself. That covers the family and
the guests staying here but not the servants, of course.”
“Is there a Mrs. Harrison?” asked Landis.
“She died many years ago, soon after Anita was born,” Brent volunteered
shortly. To observe his junior holding the center of the stage seemed
to irk him.
“Thank you,” said Landis. “What about the servants, Mr. Graham?”
The young lawyer was palpably uncomfortable beneath the leaden,
red-rimmed stare of his senior. “Why--er--Stimson, the butler, was
here, of course. Miss Mount and Susan, one of the housemaids, were
in the reception-room. Helen, the other housemaid, was helping my
wife. The cook must have been in the kitchen. I don’t know about the
chauffeur. Probably he was somewhere about.”
“Is that all the servants?” rumbled Bernard.
“So far as I know. I’ve never seen the cook, though there must be
one--and a good one!”
“How much can you tell us,” queried Bernard, “as to the exact location
in the house of all these people at the moment Harrison was shot?”
“Very little, I’m afraid. I was in the bathtub. Miss Mount tells me
that she and Susan were in the reception-room when Harrison fell almost
at their feet. Mrs. Graham was in her own room because she heard the
scream and--”
“What scream?” Landis interrupted.
“Susan screamed when Mr. Harrison fell.”
“I see. Go ahead.”
“Mrs. Graham banged on the bathroom door to tell me that she and Helen
had both heard a scream. Helen was with her then.”
“Did you hear the scream?”
“No, I didn’t. I was splashing about and the bathrooms don’t open
directly into the hall, so there were two closed doors between.”
“That disposes of five people at least,” said Landis. He turned to
Bernard. “Now, if you agree, I’d like to ask Mr. Graham to go back
a bit and tell us, so far as he knows of his own observation, what
happened this afternoon and evening up to, during, and after the
murder.”
Getting a nod from Bernard he eyed Graham inquiringly.
Graham cast one glance at his restive senior and took the plunge.
“Well,” he began, “Mr. Harrison went into town this morning and didn’t
get back for lunch. Joel Harrison vanished somewhere and didn’t turn up
either. The rest of us had lunch here--seven of us.
“After lunch we hung about for a little while and then the six of us--”
“Six?” interrupted Bernard.
“Yes. Mrs. Graham and I, the two girls, Russell and Allen. Miss Mount
had disappeared. The six of us went down to the yacht club for a tea
dance. We stayed at the club until after six and got back here about
six-thirty or a little later.”
“Where did you all enter the house?” asked Bernard.
“Through that door you found locked.”
“How did you get to your rooms?”
“Along the lower hall of the wing, through the billiard-room and the
back hall and through the library to--”
“Through the library?” Landis interrupted.
“Yes. If Mr. Harrison had been there we would have gone round through
the swing door into the front hall. But we glanced in, saw that he
wasn’t there and--”
“If you glanced in,” said Bernard, “the door from the rear hall into
the library must have been open!”
“Yes. It was open.”
“Open at six-thirty,” nodded Bernard. “Was there anybody in the library
when you went through?”
“I didn’t see anyone.”
“Did you happen to notice the bow at that time?”
Graham shook his head: “Afraid I didn’t.”
“All right. How did you get to your rooms?”
“We went up the main stairs and through the right angle of hall into
the wing.”
“Was there anybody about at that time?” asked Landis.
“I don’t think so. To tell you the truth, I didn’t notice. Mrs. Graham
and I were having a bit of a scuffle--”
Here Brent delivered himself of a faint snort.
“Go on,” Landis encouraged with a smile. “How did it happen that with
an hour to dress, you were in the tub at seven-thirty?”
Graham hesitated and flushed a little. “The fact is, Ethel and I--Mrs.
Graham--got started on a scuffle coming upstairs and we kept it up in
her room. Anyhow, when we got tired we talked for a while and then it
was a quarter past seven. So I rang for Helen to help Mrs. Graham and
raced in to get a bath and change. I had to put the studs in a clean
shirt and it was nearly seven-thirty when I got started on my bath. But
I had time, because they don’t sit down to dinner here until a quarter
to eight. They have cocktails first in the reception-room, so the gong
sounds at seven-thirty.”
Landis nodded. “And about seven-thirty Mrs. Graham pounded on the
bathroom door?”
“Yes. I was in the tub with the water running. I turned it off and
she called to me that she and Helen had both heard a loud scream. I
thought it was some lark the girls were having and told her, if she was
dressed, to go and see what was going on. She went downstairs. Helen
went with her. A few minutes later my wife burst into the bathroom and
told me that Mr. Harrison had been shot and Miss Mount wanted me to
come down at once and take charge. So I hustled into my clothes and
went down.”
Bernard leaned forward in his chair. “Now tell us exactly what you
found when you got there!”
“That’s rather difficult,” said Graham. “Almost everyone in the house
was either in the reception-room or milling around in the doorway.
Susan was whooping and crying, Isabelle had fainted and one of the men,
Russell, I think, had picked her up and was trying to get out into the
hall with her. I pushed my way into the room and saw Mr. Harrison lying
on his back. Miss Mount grabbed my arm, told me that he was dead, she
thought, and urged me to tell her what to do. So I--”
“Who was there when you got there, and who wasn’t?” Landis interrupted.
“Well, Miss Mount was there, of course. Russell came out into the
hall with Isabelle just before I went in. Allen was there with Anita.
The butler was trying to quiet Susan. Helen, the other housemaid, was
there, too. Mrs. Graham followed me down. I think that’s all.”
“Which leaves the cook, the chauffeur and Joel Harrison. You didn’t see
them there?”
“No, I didn’t. But I didn’t notice particularly. I saw Mr. Harrison’s
face and decided Miss Mount was right. I advised her to tell the butler
to get Susan out of that and Helen, too. Then I went into the library
to look around and my wife came with me. There was no one in here so
I sat down at Mr. Harrison’s desk and called the doctor and then the
police. I got Stanford’s name from Miss Mount. While I was at the
telephone things quieted down a bit and Russell and Allen drifted in.
“As I hung up Miss Mount came in and called my attention to the strung
bow and the closed door. She said the two girls had gone to their rooms
and the butler had taken the maids to the kitchen. Then Russell and
Allen said they’d better go, and I asked them not to leave the house
until the police came.”
“They didn’t want to stay,” nodded Bernard.
“They both realized that it was better for no one to leave the house
until after the police had been here.”
“Very sensible. Then what happened?”
“Well, Russell and Allen went across the hall to get some dinner and I
sent Mrs. Graham with them. Miss Mount stayed and told me that she and
Susan had actually seen Mr. Harrison shot. Susan had hysterics, and
that delayed Miss Mount, but she ran into the library and switched on
the top lights very soon after Mr. Harrison fell. She saw nothing but
the strung bow and the closed door. She is sure there was no one there.”
“Did Miss Mount stay there with you?”
“No, I think she went up to look after the two girls. But I sat at the
desk until the police came, keeping an eye on the Japanese bow and Mr.
Harrison’s body.”
“You’re sure no one touched the body?” asked Landis.
“Practically sure. The room was too full of people for anyone to touch
it before I got downstairs. And after I got down I’m quite sure no one
touched it until Doctor Stanford arrived. He examined it, of course,
but left it as he found it. Then Sergeant Forbes arrived and took
charge.”
“What did you do after that, Mr. Graham?”
“I told the sergeant what had happened so far as I knew and showed him
the body and the bow. He had telephoned the coroner and said he would
be here shortly. I left him talking to Doctor Stanford and went through
the main hall to the other hall back of the library and through to the
billiard-room. I didn’t want to touch the closed door. There was no
sign of anything out of the way. The business was a complete mystery
and I decided then to speak to the coroner about telephoning the city
for a first-class detective.
“Finally, I crossed the hall and got something to eat. While I was at
the table the coroner arrived. I saw him and suggested sending for a
Central Office detective. He went over the ground, decided the idea was
justified and promised to arrange matters with the local authorities.
So I telephoned Mr. Brent’s house and then city headquarters--and here
you are!”
“Did the coroner touch the body?” asked Bernard.
“Oh, yes. He talked to the doctor and looked at the body himself. It
was he who suggested that the doctor stay until you arrived. But they
disturbed the body very little, I believe. You saw Mr. Harrison just as
I saw him when I came down before dinner.”
Bernard leaned back in his chair.
“Excellent!” he rumbled. “They say lawyers make poor witnesses. But
you’re to be congratulated on a good memory and a clear head!”
Graham smiled mirthlessly.
“The whole thing was so dramatic and terrible that the details are
still vivid.”
“But most people would get the details fatally twisted, like Pat!”
Bernard chuckled. “By the way, what can you tell us about the
appearance of the various persons gathered near the corpse when you
came down? Begin with the two young men, Russell and Allen. Were they
fully dressed?”
“I think so. Yes, they were. Naturally they were impressed!”
“What about Miss Mount and the other daughter?”
“Both dressed. They were pale, of course, but seemed composed. Miss
Mount was as steady as a veteran.”
“What about the butler--Stimson?” asked Landis.
“Don’t think I--yes, I did notice him trying to quiet Susan. He was a
bit white but otherwise quite his capable, dignified self.”
“Did you notice anything that struck you as peculiar? Take plenty of
time to think, please.”
The long library was silent for a few minutes except for the rustle of
the fire.
“Afraid I didn’t,” admitted Graham at last.
“Were any of these library windows open from the bottom when you first
came in here?”
“No. I’m sure they weren’t. I looked.”
“Aren’t the shades usually lowered by this time of night?” inquired
Bernard.
“Yes. Stimson lowers them and closes the windows while we are at
dinner. But tonight the sergeant chased him out and told him not to
touch anything. He went in while I was at dinner and came back and told
me with some stiffness!”
Landis smiled.
“Weren’t you a bit surprised that Mr. Harrison’s own brother never
turned up?” he asked.
“Surprised? Not a bit of it!” chuckled Graham. “When you know him you
won’t be surprised at anything he does!”
“By the way,” Bernard interjected, “can you tell us where the various
people in the house are lodged--where their rooms are?”
“Some of them. I showed you where Russell and Allen are, at the end
of the ground-floor wing. My wife has the end room in the wing on the
second floor. She is at the rear, over Allen’s room. My room is the
near one at the rear and we share the bathroom between. Miss Mount’s
room is opposite mine in the wing. Joel Harrison has the room over the
billiard-room on the second floor. The lateral hall at the head of the
main staircase makes an “L” around his room to communicate with the
hall of the wing. Afraid I haven’t noticed where the girls are, nor Mr.
Harrison. The servants’ quarters, I believe, are on the third floor,
two flights above us.”
“Miss Mount can tell us the rest. Suppose we send for her?” Landis
suggested.
“Good idea,” nodded Bernard. “Would you care to remain during the
interview?” he added, to Brent.
“I should, indeed!” Brent’s manner indicated that he fully intended to
remain.
“Humph!” said Bernard. Graham rose rather hastily and departed in
search of Miss Mount.
Brent glared at Bernard. The glare was returned. So the elderly lawyer
lowered his head quickly and began to polish his glasses with vigor.
Bernard leaned back in his chair and took out his pipe.