"No; we won"t tell," promised Bates. "Unless, of course, we find you haven"t told the truth, or the whole truth,--in that case, you"ll be shown up! I never suspected any connection of yours with the whole matter, but if you"ve told the truth just now, it will go no further. I know you"re not given to frisking about, and I think myself it"s just as well Moore shouldn"t know of this one occasion. By the way, did you study to be a nurse?"
"I began the course of training, but the work was too hard for me and I gave it up the first year and took up telephoning."
"Did you," asked Gibbs, suddenly, "did you know any one else in the hospital, or wherever you were, who studied nursing, and who is in any way connected with the people interested in this murder?"
Julie hesitated and her face flushed a little.
"I don"t think I ought to mention it,----" she began, and Gibbs cried:
"Of course you ought to mention it! If you"re innocent it can do you no harm, and if the one you tell us of is innocent it can do her no harm."
"But it may stir up suspicion quite wrongly," objected the girl.
"Then the suspicion will fall to the ground. Don"t be afraid; you are only helping justice along. If it"s a real help you must give it, and if not, it won"t be followed up."
But Richard Bates looked grave.
"Oh, I don"t know, Gibbs," he said; "somebody must have started this trend toward my aunt, and it"s made me pretty miserable already. Now, need we take up a new trail with only a sort of surmise on this girl"s part. For, surely, she is by no means ready to make a positive accusation."
"Out with it, Julie," commanded the detective with no apparent notice of Bates" demurrer.
"Well, it"s only this," and Julie looked relieved at the thought of unburdening herself; "when I was in training, the girls used to talk of Kate Holland, who was there many years before, but who seemed to be a sort of a star pupil. I don"t remember much that they said, only she was renowned for her surgical skill, and when I heard Bob tell how the murderer of Sir Binney was a knowing one, I couldn"t help thinking about her. You know she"s Mrs Everett"s maid."
"Oh, Lord!" Bates groaned, "don"t drag the Everetts into this thing!
It"s bad enough to have my people spoken of without attacking the Everetts too!"
"n.o.body has attacked them yet," said Gibbs, dryly; "don"t go too fast."
"But you will! You"ll suspect Kate because of what Julie has said, and then you"ll go on to Mrs Everett and----"
"H"m,--you seem to inherit your aunt"s trait of hasty speaking. Better stop where you are, Bates. Don"t put ideas into my head!"
"I don"t have to! You"re all primed to take up this new outlook. I knew Julie"s tales would upset things! Just because Mrs Everett"s maid has had training, doesn"t argue her a murderess!"
"n.o.body said it did!" exclaimed Gibbs, angered at the young man"s words, partly because they were so in line with his own thoughts.
"In fact," and Bates looked very sober, "in fact, Gibbs, I"d rather you"d suspect my aunt than the Everett crowd!"
"But n.o.body has voiced any suspicion of the Everett crowd----"
"You don"t have to voice it, for me to know what you have in your mind----"
"And that Kate Holland is a terrible woman----" began Julie.
Richard silenced her with a look.
"Julie," he said, sternly, "don"t you dare mention one word of Kate Holland in connection with this matter! If you do, I"ll tell both Moore and the house management of your Chinatown trip."
"That"s right," agreed Gibbs. "You"re not to mix into this thing in any way, Julie. You run along now, and remember, it"s just as Mr Bates said; if you breathe a word of anything you"ve heard or said in here with us, we"ll show you up good and plenty, and we may do a little exaggerating, too! Is it a bargain?"
"Yes, sir, it is!" and Julie Baxter went out of the room, glad to be a.s.sured of the safety of her own secret.
"Now, Bates, you may as well face the music," Gibbs began. "You must know that in the back of everybody"s head has been an unspoken thought of higher up people than chorus girls or elevator attendants. Those youngsters don"t commit murder,--such a thing is unknown. But older women with deeper motives must be considered. You say you want to find the murderess in order to relieve your aunt from any hint of suspicion.
Do you want to do so if the trail leads toward the Everett household?"
Richard Bates seemed suddenly to have grown years older. His good-looking young face turned to an ashen hue, and his eyes were wild and staring.
His voice shook as he replied, "I say, Gibbs, I don"t know what I want!
I"m knocked galley-west. I don"t believe for the thousandth part of a second that either Miss Prall or Mrs Everett have one speck of knowledge of the deed, but you know the very mention of their names would be like fire to tow in the newspaper reports."
"Of course it would. Yet what can we do? However much I keep my investigations quiet, there"s a gang of reporters nosing about everywhere. They"ve likely got hold of Julie already----"
"She won"t tell anything."
"She won"t mean to,--but they"ll frighten or trap her into it. There"s nothing so dangerous as a woman with a secret of her own to guard.
She"ll babble of everything else."
"What do you advise?" Bates was clearly at the end of his rope. He was beseeching of manner and despairing of tone.
"Straightforwardness, first of all. I"m going at once, either to Miss Prall or to Mrs Everett, and make them come across with something definite. If they don"t know anything,--I"ll find that out, at least."
"Go first to my aunt, then. I"ll go with you,--come along. Get all you can out of her, I"m not in the least afraid!"
The two men went up to the Prall apartment and Bates opened the door with his own key.
"Here"s Mr Detective, Aunt Letty," he said, trying to speak lightly; "he wants a little chatter with you."
Miss Prall looked up from her book.
"Be seated, Mr Gibbs," she said, with quiet dignity. "How do you do?"
"How do you do?" the detective returned, not quite at ease, in the presence of her forbidding manner. "I"m sorry to intrude----"
"Then don"t," interrupted Let.i.tia, her large, strong face frowning at him. "Why make us both sorry?"
"Because it must be done." Gibbs gathered firmness from her own att.i.tude. "This matter of the murder of Sir Herbert Binney is of sufficient importance not to wait on convenience or pleasure."
"Quite right. And what have you done? Nothing, as usual? When one remembers that the crime occurred nearly a week ago, and no steps have yet been taken to apprehend the criminal----"
"Pardon me, Miss Prall, many steps have been taken, and they have led in a definite direction."
"Good gracious, where!" The spinster was startled out of her calm and a look of concern spread over her face.
"First, tell me if you have any suspicions?"
"I have not, but if I had I"d never tell you, so long as they were merely suspicions. If I could prove them, I"d tell quick enough!"
"But I may help you to prove them--or disprove them."