"You"ve no idea as to the ident.i.ty of the woman in the taxicab, have you, Gresham?"
"No. Have you?"
"None whatever; though I fancy something ought to develop in the near future. The city is discussing it pretty freely?"
"The town"s wild about it. They don"t understand anything. It"s tough on my sister. Hazel is only a kid, and I think she was in love with Warren.
Well, good day, Carroll." He extended a firm hand. "Any time I can be of any help--"
"Thanks, Gresham."
Five minutes after Gresham"s departure, Carroll was in his car, headed for the police-station. He turned the case over and over in a keen, a.n.a.lytic mind which had been refreshed by a night of untroubled sleep.
There were a good many features about it which puzzled him considerably.
While he had not expected that the trail of the mysterious midnight woman would lead to the fiancee of the dead man, the sudden dissipation of that as a clue rather threw him off his balance. He had reached the end of a trail almost before setting foot upon it.
Thus far he had refused to allow himself to be worried by the strangest feature of the case--the appearance of the dead body in a taxicab which, according to its driver"s story, could not have been other than empty. It was always easy to explain the disappearance of a person from an automobile; but, he figured, it was patently impossible to enter one without the driver"s knowledge.
He reached headquarters and closeted himself with Leverage. They plunged at once into a discussion of that phase of the case.
"There are only two things which could have happened," said the chief of police slowly. "One is that some one croaked that bird Warren and shoved him into the cab while the woman was ridin" in it. The other is that he slipped into the cab and she killed him. While I ain"t jumpin" on no set ideas, I have a hunch that the last one is right."
"Why?"
"Because the other--that idea of puttin" a dead body into a cab without the driver knowing it--it just naturally ain"t possible."
"Then you are quite convinced, Leverage, that Walters did _not_ know anything about it?"
"Now, say, Carroll, that"s putting it up to me rather strong; but since you"re asking, I"m here to say that I believe the kid. Of course it"s possible that he was in on the deal--but I"m betting Liberty bonds against Russian rubles that he"d have slipped somewhere if that had been the case. n.o.body that"s in on a murder deal is going to frame a lie that sticks his bean as close to a noose as Walter"s would be if he"s not tellin" the truth!"
"Sounds reasonable; and yet--"
"I"m surprised at you suspectin" the kid."
"I don"t suspect him."
"But you said--"
"We can"t overlook anything--that"s what I said. It"s what I was driving at, anyway. So far, Walters is the only tangible clue we"ve had to work with. As I told you, the Hazel Gresham trail died a-borning.
The kid who came to see me this morning cleared her; and then her brother came along right afterward, red-hot over the insinuations against his sister in the papers. As matters stand now, there"s nothing to tie to but Spike Walters."
"I"m glad you"re handling it," said Leverage fervently. "And as you are, I"m making so bold as to ask what you"re going to do next?"
"A little general inquiring. You can help me on that. For one thing, I want to get hold of every bit of dope I can regarding Warren--who he was, where he came from, what he did, the size of his bank deposits, his business connections, his social life, and especially every morsel of gossip that"s ever been circulated about him in connection with women."
"H-m! You think this dame was a society sort?"
"Probably. He was undoubtedly going away with her; and a man of his stamp doesn"t often elope with a woman of the other type."
"True enough! Well, I"ll get you what dope I can."
"I want it all. I"m afraid this is going to resolve itself into a contest of elimination. The city is buzzing about the case to-day, and it ought to be pretty easy to get hold of a world of gossip concerning Warren"s love-affairs--provided he had any. Everybody"s concerned over the ident.i.ty of that woman, and every woman Warren has ever been mixed up with, even in the most innocuous way, is going to be dragged into the case."
Carroll made his way from headquarters direct to the consolidated railroad ticket office. He introduced himself to the chief clerk and stated his business. The other showed keen interest.
"The tickets were sold to him in this office, Mr. Carroll. This young man here sold them."
Carroll smiled genially at the skinny young chap who bustled forward importantly, proud of his temporary spotlight position.
"You sold some tickets to Roland Warren?"
"Yes, sir."
"When?"
"Day before yesterday."
"You are sure it was Mr. Warren?"
"Yes, sir. I have known him by sight for a longtime."
"About the tickets--what did he buy?"
"Two tickets and a drawing-room on No. 29 for New York--due to leave at 11.55 last night."
"You"re sure he bought _two_ tickets and a drawing-room? Or was it one ticket?"
"It had to be two. We can"t sell a drawing-room unless the purchaser has double transportation."
"You delivered both tickets to him personally?"
"Yes, sir--gave them both to him."
From the ticket office Carroll went back to headquarters, and from there to the coroner"s office, and, accompanied by that dignitary, to the undertaking establishment where the body was being kept under police guard. Nothing had yet been touched. The inquest had resulted in a verdict of "death by violence, inflicted by a revolver in the hands of a person unknown."
Carroll again ran through the man"s pockets. In a vest pocket he discovered what he sought. He took the trunk check to the Union Station, and through his police badge secured access to the baggage-room. The trunk was not there. He compared checks with the baggage-master, and learned that the trunk had duly gone to New York. He left orders for it to be returned to the city.
From there he went to the office of the division superintendent, and left a half-hour later, after an exchange of telegrams between the superintendent and the conductor of the train for New York, which informed him that the drawing-room engaged by Warren had been unoccupied, nor had there been an attempt on the part of any one to secure possession of it. Also that the only berth purchased on the train had been at a small-town stop about four o"clock in the morning.
Obviously, then, the person who was to share the drawing-room with Warren, and for whom the second ticket had been bought, had never boarded the train. The trail had doubled back again to the woman in the taxicab.
It was not until two o"clock in the afternoon that Carroll returned to headquarters. He found Leverage ready with his report.
"For one thing," said the chief, "there isn"t a doubt that Warren was getting ready to leave town--and for good."
"How so?"
Leverage checked over his list.