"And then, when Vail came in, and Moore took him up, the coast was clear, and just then Binney happened in----"
"Strange that he should happen in just then!"
"Well, but he _did_, didn"t he? He _had_ to, didn"t he, to get there at all? You don"t think he was hiding there _waiting_ to be killed, do you?
Well, then Binney came in, and the lady,--or her maid, Kate,--stepped out and stabbed him, and then ran up the stairs,--and in the halls Miss Everett was watching to see that there was no one looking on. She need not have known what her mother was up to,--but--she was seen in the halls that night by two separate witnesses."
"Are you sure it was Miss Everett they saw?" asked Bates in a tone of anxiety rather than surprise.
"Positive; they described her dress and ornaments exactly."
"But she might have been in the halls for any purpose----"
"At two o"clock in the morning?"
"She might have missed her mother from the apartment and stepped out to look for her."
"But then she would have been in negligee or with a wrap over her nightclothes. She was seen fully dressed, as she had been in the evening."
"Well," and Bates spoke defiantly, "what does it prove? You haven"t fastened the crime on Mrs Everett yet. You haven"t even any real evidence against her."
"Oh, yes we have,--but look here, Mr Bates. It won"t do for you to take that antagonistic att.i.tude toward me and my work. As you know, I told you I must follow wherever the trail leads, and this indicative direction must be followed up. It may be that the Everetts are not the "women," and if so, I"ll find that out. But I may say, that so far, there are, to my mind, no women suspects but the Everetts or--your aunt."
"I"d rather you"d suspect my aunt! I"d rather the criminal should be my aunt----"
"But, Mr Bates, I can"t consult your preferences as to the ident.i.ty of the criminal!"
"Now, don"t you worry, Mr Bates," Zizi said, gently, "I don"t believe your sweetheart or her mother are mixed up in this thing at all."
"Why, Ziz?" and Wise turned a mild, questioning glance her way. He had great faith in the opinions of his little helper, and was always ready to revise his own judgment if hers contradicted it. For Zizi never spoke thoughtlessly or without reason. And this last remark of hers indicated some knowledge or indication that might turn the trend of suspicion.
"Because that little fluff of a Mrs Everett is too good-natured to kill or to direct the killing of anybody."
"She isn"t so awfully good-natured!" exclaimed Bates, involuntarily.
"You should hear her talk to my aunt!"
"Oh, yes, I know about that feud thing," and Zizi smiled tolerantly; "but that"s a sort of obsession or idiosyncrasy of the two women.
Really, Mrs Everett is a good-natured lady, and you needn"t have any fights with your mother-in-law, unless you make them yourself."
"Don"t be flippant, Zizi," warned Wise. "This isn"t the time for banter."
"It"s the time for action," said Zizi, springing from her seat. "I"m going straight to Miss Prall with the whole story, and I think we"ll learn a lot. Are you men coming with me?"
Like sheep, Bates and Wise followed her.
Pennington Wise was really more at a loss than he had ever before found himself. The indisputable evidence of the dying man"s message was all he really had to work on, and his work on that was not productive, so far, of success. The women accused _must_ be found. But Wise, while he realized there were no other suspects, couldn"t think the two ladies of Feud fame were the ones.
True enough, they could both be said to have had motive, and, in the house, anybody could be said to have had opportunity, yet both motive and opportunity were slight ones, and the latter largely dependent on a convenient chance.
It seemed absurd to think of Mrs Everett,--or Kate Holland,--waiting behind a pillar, and then seeing the victim walk in! And yet he had walked in; somebody had met him and stabbed him, so the other suppositions were, at least, plausible.
The three went to the Prall apartment, and, strange to say, found Miss Let.i.tia in a quiet, placid mood.
She looked at them with a sort of wondering interest, and bade them be seated.
"You"ve been here several days, now, Mr Wise," she said; "have you made any real progress?"
"It"s hard to say, Miss Prall," the detective replied; "but if you"ll give me the benefit of your opinions I may derive help from them."
"Opinions on what?" and the sharp old face began to show its more usual expression of asperity.
"On whether the murder of Sir Herbert was the work of Mrs Everett or not."
"Of course it was! I don"t say Adeline Everett held the knife, but she was the instigator and commander-in-chief."
"What makes you think so?"
"Because I know her. I know her soft, purring ways, and I know of the tiger"s claws that are inside her velvet grasp."
"Well, it seems strange, does it not, that she says pretty much the same about you?"
"Me! Adeline Everett accuses me?"
"Yes; she says that perhaps you didn"t actually strike the blow, but that you were aided and abetted by your companion----"
"That Eliza! She wouldn"t kill a fly, and Adeline knows it!"
"She suggested that your nephew might have helped you in the actual crime----"
"Look here, Mr Wise, you"re talking mighty queer talk. I suppose murders and killings are so much a part of your life that you think little of one more or less; but it isn"t so with quiet, law-abiding citizens. And if you think I"m going to take this accusation of another woman calmly, you"re very much mistaken. I"m going at once to see Adeline Everett, and if she did say that to you,--if you haven"t misrepresented or exaggerated----"
"But wait a minute, Miss Prall. You are angry,--and perhaps justly so,--at her accusation of you. Remember that you"ve also accused her of the same crime!"
Let.i.tia Prall looked at him. "That"s true," she said; "now, as a detective, you can judge between us. I"ll go to her rooms or you may bring her here, and let us accuse each other. We can"t both be guilty, and I can judge from her manner whether she is or not, even if you can"t do that."
"It would be a good test," agreed Wise. "But I"m pretty sure that if either of you really is the guilty person that you will be able to pretend you are not, so plausibly as to deceive Sherlock Holmes himself!"
"I could easily fool you if I wished to," said Miss Prall, with dignity, "but in this instance I"ve no occasion to do so."
Zizi looked up at this, and said, "You could fool a man, Miss Prall, but you couldn"t fool me."
"Why not, child?" and the older lady looked at her curiously.
"Because one woman understands another. And I know that if you planned to or wanted to kill a man, you would choose to do it in some less conspicuous place than the onyx lobby."
"Nonsense, Zizi," Wise said, "no one would choose their own apartment----"
"No; but Miss Prall would have waited for a chance on some of these upper floors,--she never would have arranged the scene downstairs."