WHERE CLEWS MAY POINT
Startled, thus to discover that, after all, a crime of the most
insidious and diabolical nature had been committed, Garrison wandered
along the street, after quitting the drug-store, with his brain aglow
with excitement and the need for steady thought.
The case that had seemed but a simple affair of a man's very natural
demise had suddenly assumed an aspect black as night.
He felt the need for light--all the light procurable in Hickwood.
Aware of the misleading possibilities of a theory preconceived, he was
not prepared even now to decide that inventor Scott was necessarily
guilty. He found himself obliged to admit that the indications pointed
to the half-crazed man, to whom a machine had become a god, but nothing
as yet had been proved.
To return to Scott this morning would, he felt, be indiscreet. The one
person now to be seen and interviewed was Mrs. Wilson, at whose home
the man Hardy had been lodged. He started at once to the place, his
mind reverting by natural process to the box of cigars he had seen an
hour before, and from which, without a doubt, this poisoned weed had
been taken by Hardy to smoke. He realized that one extremely important
point must be determined by the box itself.
If among the cigars still remaining untouched there were others
similarly poisoned, the case might involve a set of facts quite
different from those which reason would adduce if the one cigar only
had been loaded. It was vital also to the matter in hand to ascertain
the identity of the person who had presented the smokes as a birthday
remembrance to the victim.
He arrived at Mrs. Wilson's home, was met at the door by the lady
herself, and was then obliged to wait interminably while she fled to
some private boudoir at the rear to make herself presentable for
"company."
For the second time, when she at length appeared, Garrison found
himself obliged to invent a plausible excuse for his visit and
curiosity.
"I dropped in to ascertain a few little facts about the late Mr. Hardy,
whose death occurred last week in Branchville," he said. "The
insurance company that I represent goes through this trifling formality
before paying a claim."
"He certainly was the nicest man," said Mrs. Wilson. "And just as I
was countin' on the money, he has to up and die. I didn't think he was
that kind."
"Did he have many visitors?" Garrison asked, hastening at once to the
items he felt to be important. "I mean, from among the neighbors,
or--anyone else?"
"Well, Charlie Scott come over, that second night and actin' that queer
I didn't know what was the matter. He went off just about nine
o'clock, and I went to bed, and then I heard him come back in half an
hour, while Mr. Hardy was out, and he went again before Mr. Hardy come
in and started off to Branchville to die."
Her method of narrative was puzzling.
"You mean," said Garrison, "that after Mr. Scott had called and gone,
Mr. Hardy went out temporarily, and in his absence Mr. Scott returned
and remained for a time in his room?"
"I didn't git up to see what he wanted, or how long he stayed," said
Mrs. Wilson. "I hate gittin' up when once I'm abed."
"And he went before Mr. Hardy's return?"
"Yes, I stayed awake for that; for although Charlie Scott may be honest
enough, he's inventin' some crazy fiddlede-dee, which has been the
crown of thorns of that dear woman all these----"
"Did they seem to be friends, Mr. Scott and Mr. Hardy?" Garrison
interrupted mildly. "A clever woman, you know, can always tell."
"Ain't you New York men the quick ones to see!" said Mrs. Wilson. "Of
course they was friends. The day he come Mr. Hardy was over to
Charlie's all the livelong afternoon."
"Did Mr. Hardy get very many letters, or anything, through the mail?"
"Well, of course, I offered to go to the post-office, and bring him
everything," said Mrs. Wilson, "but he went himself. So I don't know
what he got, or who it come from. Not that I read anything but the
postals and----"
"Did he get any packages sent by express?"
"Not that come to my house, for little Jimmie Vane would have brought
'em straight to me."
Garrison went directly to the mark around which he had been playing.
"Who delivered his birthday present--the box of cigars?"
"Oh, that was his niece, the very first evenin' he was here--and she
the prettiest girl I ever seen."
"His niece?" echoed Garrison. "Some young lady--who brought them here
herself?"
"Well, I should say so! My, but she was that lovely! He took her up
to Branchville to the train--and how I did hate to see her go!"
"Of course, yes, I remember he had a niece," said Garrison, his mind
reverting to the "statement" in his pocket. "But, upon my word, I
believe I've forgotten her name."
"He called her Dot," said Mrs. Wilson.
"But her real name?" said Garrison.
"Her real name was Dorothy Booth before she was married," replied Mrs.
Wilson, "but now, of course, it's changed."
Garrison had suddenly turned ashen. He managed to control himself by
making a very great effort.
"Perhaps you know her married name?" he said.
"I never forget a thing like that," said Mrs. Wilson. "Her married
name is Mrs. Fairfax."
It seemed to Garrison he was fighting in the toils of some astounding
maze, where sickening mists arose to clog his brain. He could scarcely
believe his senses. A tidal wave of facts and deductions, centering
about the personality of Dorothy Booth-Fairfax, surged upon him
relentlessly, bearing down and engulfing the faith which he strove to
maintain in her honesty.
He had felt from the first there was something deep and dark with
mystery behind the girl who had come to his office with her most
amazing employment. He had entertained vague doubts upon hearing of
wills and money inheritance at the house where she lived in New York.
He recalled the start she had given, while playing at the piano, upon
learning he was leaving for Hickwood. Her reticence and the
strangeness of the final affair of the necklaces, in connection with
this present development, left him almost in despair.
Despite it all, as it overwhelmed him thus abruptly, he felt himself
struggling against it. He could not even now accept a belief in her
complicity in such a deed while he thought of the beauty of her nature.
That potent something she had stirred in his heart was a fierce,
fighting champion to defend her.
He had not dared confess to himself he was certainly, fatefully falling
in love with this girl he scarcely knew, but his heart refused to hear
her accused and his mind was engaged in her defence.
Above all else, he felt the need for calmness. Perhaps the sky would
clear itself, and the sun again gild her beauty.
"Mrs. Fairfax," he repeated to his garrulous informant. "She brought
the cigars, you say, the day of Mr. Hardy's arrival?"
"And went away on the six-forty-three," said Mrs. Wilson. "I remember
it was six minutes late, and I did think my dinner would be dry as a
bone, for she said she couldn't stay----"
"And that was his birthday," Garrison interrupted.
"Oh, no. His birthday was the day he died. I remember, 'cause he
wouldn't even open the box of cigars till after his dinner that day."
Garrison felt his remaining ray of hope faintly flicker and expire.
"You are sure the box wasn't opened?" he insisted.
"I guess I am! He borrowed my screwdriver out of the sewin'-machine
drawer, where I always keep it, to pry up the cover."
Garrison tacked to other items.
"Why did she have to go so soon?" he inquired. "Couldn't she have
stayed here with you?"
"What, a young thing like her, only just married?" demanded Mrs.
Wilson, faintly blushing. "I guess you don't know us women when we're
in love." And she blushed again.
"Of course," answered Garrison, at a loss for a better reply. "Did her
uncle seem pleased with her marriage?"
"Why, he sat where you're now settin' for one solid hour, tellin' me
how tickled he felt," imparted the housewife. "He said she'd git
everything he had in the world, now that she was married happy to a
decent man, for he'd fixed it all up in his will."
"Mr. Hardy said his niece would inherit his money?"
"Settin' right in that chair, and smilin' fit to kill."
"Did the niece seem very fond of her uncle?"
"Well, at first I thought she acted queer and nervous," answered Mrs.
Wilson, "but I made up my mind that was the natural way for any young
bride to feel, especial away from her husband."
Garrison's hopes were slipping from him, one by one, and putting on
their shrouds.
"Did Mr. Hardy seem to be pleased with his niece's selection--with Mr.
Fairfax?" he inquired. "Or don't you know?"
"Why, he never even _seen_ the man," replied Mrs. Wilson. "It seems
Mr. Fairfax was mixin' up business with his honeymoon, and him and his
bride was goin' off again, or was on their way, and she had a chance to
run up and see her uncle for an hour, and none of us so much as got a
look at Mr. Fairfax."
The mystery darkened rather than otherwise. There was nothing yet to
establish whether or not a real Mr. Fairfax existed. It appeared to
Garrison that Dorothy had purposely arranged the scheme of her alleged
marriage and honeymoon in such a way that her uncle should not meet her
husband.
He tried another query:
"Did Mr. Hardy say that he had never seen Mr. Fairfax?"
"Never laid eyes on the man in his life, but expected to meet him in a
month."
Garrison thought of the nephew who had come to claim the body. His
name had been given as Durgin. At the most, he could be no more than
Dorothy's cousin, and not the one he had recently met at her house.
"I don't suppose you saw Mr. Durgin, the nephew of Mr. Hardy?" he
inquired. "The man who claimed the body?"
"No, sir. I heard about Mr. Durgin, but I didn't see him."
Garrison once more changed the topic.
"Which was the room that Mr. Hardy occupied? Perhaps you'll let me see
it."
"It ain't been swept or dusted recent," Mrs. Wilson informed him,
rising to lead him from the room, "but you're welcome to see it, if you
don't mind how it looks."
The apartment was a good-sized room, at the rear of the house. It was
situated on a corner, with windows at the side and rear. Against the
front partition an old-fashioned fireplace had been closed with a
decorated cover. The neat bed, the hair-cloth chairs, and a table that
stood on three of its four legs only, supplied the furnishings. The
coroner had taken every scrap he could find of the few things possessed
by Mr. Hardy.
"Nice, cheerful room," commented Garrison. "Did he keep the windows
closed and locked?"
"Oh, no! He was a wonderful hand to want the air," said the landlady.
"And he loved the view."
The view of the shed and hen-coops at the rear was duly exhibited.
Garrison did his best to formulate a theory to exonerate Dorothy from
knowledge of the crime; but his mind had received a blow at these new
disclosures, and nothing seemed to aid him in the least. He could only
feel that some dark deed lay either at the door of the girl who had
paid him to masquerade as her husband, or the half-crazed inventor down
the street.
And the toils lay closer to Dorothy, he felt, than they did to Scott.
"You have been very helpful, I am sure," he said to Mrs. Wilson.
He bade her good-by and left the house, feeling thoroughly depressed in
all his being.