I was watching Alison. Her hands were tightly clasped in her lap, and she was staring out of the window at the cheerless roof below. She had set her lips a little, but that was all.
"You understand, of course, that I"m not defending myself," went on the sullen voice. "The day came when old Harrington put us both out of the house at the point of a revolver, and I threatened - I suppose you know that, too - I threatened to kill him. "My sister and I had hard times after that. We lived on the continent for a while. I was at Monte Carlo and she was in Italy. She met a young lady there, the granddaughter of a steel manufacturer and an heiress, and she sent for me. When I got to Rome the girl was gone. Last winter I was all in - social secretary to an Englishman, a wholesale grocer with a new t.i.tle, but we had a row, and I came home. I went out to the Heaton boys" ranch in Wyoming, and met Bronson there. He lent me money, and I"ve been doing his dirty work ever since."
Sullivan got up then and walked slowly forward and back as he talked, his eyes on the faded pattern of the office rug.
"If you want to live in h.e.l.l," he said savagely, "put yourself in another man"s power. Bronson got into trouble, forging John Gilmore"s name to those notes, and in some way he learned that a man was bringing the papers back to Washington on the Flier. He even learned the number of his berth, and the night before the wreck, just as I was boarding the train, I got a telegram."
Hotchkiss stepped forward once more importantly. "Which read, I think: "Man with papers in lower ten, car seven. Get them.""
Sullivan looked at the little man with sulky blue eyes.
"It was something like that, anyhow. But it was a nasty business, and it made matters worse that he didn"t care that a telegram which must pa.s.s through a half dozen hands was more or less incriminating to me.
"Then, to add to the unpleasantness of my position, just after we boarded the train - I was accompanying my sister and this young lady, Miss West - a woman touched me on the sleeve, and I turned to face - my wife!
"That took away my last bit of nerve. I told my sister, and you can understand she was in a bad way, too. We knew what it meant. Ida had heard that I was going - "
He stopped and glanced uneasily at Alison.
"Go on," she said coldly. "It is too late to shield me. The time to have done that was when I was your guest."
"Well," he went on, his eyes turned carefully away from my face, which must have presented certainly anything but a pleasant sight. "Miss West was going to do me the honor to marry me, and - "
"You scoundrel!" I burst forth, thrusting past Alison West"s chair. "You - you infernal cur!"
One of the detectives got up and stood between us. "You must remember, Mr. Blakeley, that you are forcing this story from this man. These details are unpleasant, but important. You were going to marry this young lady," he said, turning to Sullivan, "although you already had a wife living?"
"It was my sister"s plan, and I was in a bad way for money. If I could marry, secretly, a wealthy girl and go to Europe, it was unlikely that Ida - that is, Mrs. Sullivan - would hear of it.
"So it was more than a shock to see my wife on the train, and to realize from her face that she knew what was going on. I don"t know yet, unless some of the servants - well, never mind that.
"It meant that the whole thing had gone up. Old Harrington had carried a gun for me for years, and the same train wouldn"t hold both of us. Of course, I thought that he was in the coach just behind ours."
Hotchkiss was leaning forward now, his eyes narrowed, his thin lips drawn to a line.
"Are you left-handed, Mr. Sullivan?" he asked.
Sullivan stopped in surprise.
"No," he said gruffly. "Can"t do anything with my left hand." Hotchkiss subsided, crestfallen but alert.
"I tore up that cursed telegram, but I was afraid to throw the sc.r.a.ps away. Then I looked around for lower ten. It was almost exactly across - my berth was lower seven, and it was, of course, a bit of exceptional luck for me that the car was number seven."
"Did you tell your sister of the telegram from Bronson?" I asked.
"No. It would do no good, and she was in a bad way without that to make her worse."
"Your sister was killed, think." The shorter detective took a small package from his pocket and held it in his hand, snapping the rubber band which held it.
"Yes, she was killed," Sullivan said soberly. "What I say now can do her no harm."
He stopped to push back the heavy hair which dropped over his forehead, and went on moreconnectedly.
"It was late, after midnight, and we went at once to our berths. I undressed, and then I lay there for an hour, wondering how I was going to get the notes. Some one in lower nine was restless and wide awake, but finally became quiet.
"The man in ten was sleeping heavily. I could hear his breathing, and it seemed to be only a question of getting across and behind the curtains of his berth without being seen. After that, it was a mere matter of quiet searching.
"The car became very still. I was about to try for the other berth, when some one brushed softly past, and I lay back again.
"Finally, however, when things had been quiet for a time, I got up, and after looking along the aisle, I slipped behind the curtains of lower ten. You understand, Mr. Blakeley, that I thought you were in lower ten, with the notes."
I nodded curtly.
"I"m not trying to defend myself," he went on. "I was ready to steal the notes - I had to. But murder!"
He wiped his forehead with his handkerchief.
"Well, I slipped across and behind the curtains. It was very still. The man in ten didn"t move, although my heart was thumping until I thought he would hear it.
"I felt around cautiously. It was perfectly dark, and I came across a bit of chain, about as long as my finger. It seemed a queer thing to find there, and it was sticky, too."
He shuddered, and I could see Alison"s hands clenching and unclenching with the strain.
"All at once it struck me that the man was strangely silent, and I think I lost my nerve. Anyhow, I drew the curtains open a little, and let the light fall on my hands. They were red, blood-red."
He leaned one hand on the back of the chair, and was silent for a moment, as though he lived over again the awful events of that more than awful night.
The stout detective had let his cigar go out; he was still drawing at it nervously. Richey had picked up a paper-weight and was tossing it from hand to hand; when it slipped and fell to the floor, a startled shudder pa.s.sed through the room.
"There was something glittering in there," Sullivan resumed, "and on impulse I picked it up. Then I dropped the curtains and stumbled back to my own berth."
"Where you wiped your hands on the bed-clothing and stuck the dirk into the pillow." Hotchkiss was seeing his carefully built structure crumbling to pieces, and he looked chagrined.
"I suppose I did - I"m not very clear about what happened then. But when I rallied a little I saw a Russia leather wallet lying in the aisle almost at my feet, and, like a fool, I stuck it, with the bit of chain, into my bag.
"I sat there, shivering, for what seemed hours. It was still perfectly quiet, except for some one snoring. I thought that would drive me crazy.
"The more I thought of it the worse things looked. The telegram was the first thing against me - it would put the police on my track at once, when it was discovered that the man in lower ten had been killed.
"Then I remembered the notes, and I took out the wallet and opened it."
He stopped for a minute, as if the recalling of the next occurrence was almost beyond him.
"I took out the wallet," he said simply, "and opening it, held it to the light. In gilt letters was the name, Simon Harrington."
The detectives were leaning forward now, their eyes on his face.
"Things seemed to whirl around for a while. I sat there almost paralyzed, wondering what this new development meant for me.
"My wife, I knew, would swear I had killed her father; n.o.body would be likely to believe the truth.
"Do you believe me now?" He rooked around at us defiantly. "I am telling the absolute truth, and not one of you believes me!
"After a bit the man in lower nine got up and walked along the aisle toward the smoking compartment. I heard him go, and, leaning from my berth, watched him out of sight. "It was then I got the idea of changing berths with him, getting into his clothes, and leaving the train. I give you my word I had no idea of throwing suspicion on him."
Alison looked scornfully incredulous, but I felt that the man was telling the truth.
"I changed the numbers of the berths, and it worked well. I got into the other man"s berth, and he came back to mine. The rest was easy. I dressed in his clothes - luckily, they fitted - and jumped the train not far from Baltimore, just before the wreck."
"There is something else you must clear up," I said. "Why did you try to telephone me from M-, and why did you change your mind about the message?"
He looked astounded.
"You knew I was at M-?" he stammered.
"Yes, we traced you. What about the message?"
"Well, it was this way: of course, I did not know your name, Mr. Blakeley. The telegram said, "Man with papers in lower ten, car seven," and after I had made what I considered my escape, I began to think I had left the man in my berth in a bad way.
"He would probably be accused of the crime. So, although when the wreck occurred I supposed every one connected with the affair had been killed, there was a chance that you had survived. I"ve not been of much account, but I didn"t want a man to swing because I"d left him in my place. Besides, I began to have a theory of my own.
"As we entered the car a tall, dark woman pa.s.sed us, with a gla.s.s of water in her hand, and I vaguely remembered her. She was amazingly like Blanche Conway.
"If she, too, thought the man with the notes was in lower ten, it explained a lot, including that piece of a woman"s necklace. She was a fury, Blanche Conway, capable of anything."
"Then why did you countermand that message?" I asked curiously.
"When I got to the Carter house, and got to bed - I had sprained my ankle in the jump - I went through the alligator bag I had taken from lower nine. When I found your name, I sent the first message.
Then, soon after, I came across the notes. It seemed too good to be true, and I was crazy for fear the message had gone.
"At first I was going to send them to Bronson; then I began to see what the possession of the notes meant to me. It meant power over Bronson, money, influence, everything. He was a devil, that man."
"Well, he"s at home now," said McKnight, and we were glad to laugh and relieve the tension.
Alison put her hand over her eyes, as if to shut out the sight of the man she had so nearly married, and I furtively touched one of the soft little curls that nestled at the back of her neck.
"When I was able to walk," went on the sullen voice, "I came at once to Washington. I tried to sell the notes to Bronson, but he was almost at the end of his rope. Not even my threat to send them back to you, Mr. Blakeley, could make him meet my figure. He didn"t have the money.
McKnight was triumphant.
"I think you gentlemen will see reason in my theory now," he said. "Mrs. Conway wanted the notes to force a legal marriage, I suppose?"
"Yes."
The detective with the small package carefully rolled off the rubber band, and unwrapped it. I held my breath as he took out, first, the Russia leather wallet.
"These things, Mr. Blakeley, we found in the seal-skin bag Mr. Sullivan says he left you. This wallet, Mr. Sullivan - is this the one you found on the floor of the car?"
Sullivan opened it, and, glancing at the name inside, "Simon Harrington," nodded affirmatively.
"And this," went on the detective - "this is a piece of gold chain?"
"It seems to be," said Sullivan, recoiling at the blood-stained end.
"This, I believe, is the dagger." He held it up, and Alison gave a faint cry of astonishment and dismay.
Sullivan"s face grew ghastly, and he sat down weakly on the nearest chair.
The detective looked at him shrewdly, then at Alison"s agitated face.
"Where have you seen this dagger before, young lady?" he asked, kindly enough.
"Oh, don"t ask me!" she gasped breathlessly, her eyes turned on Sullivan. "It"s - it"s too terrible!" "Tell him," I advised, leaning over to her. "It will be found out later, anyhow."
"Ask him," she said, nodding toward Sullivan. The detective unwrapped the small box Alison had brought, disclosing the trampled necklace and broken chain. With clumsy fingers he spread it on the table and fitted into place the bit of chain. There could be no doubt that it belonged there.
"Where did you find that chain?" Sullivan asked hoa.r.s.ely, looking for the first time at Alison.
"On the floor, near the murdered man"s berth."
"Now, Mr. Sullivan," said the detective civilly, "I believe you can tell us, in the light of these two exhibits, who really did murder Simon Harrington."
Sullivan looked again at the dagger, a sharp little bit of steel with a Florentine handle. Then he picked up the locket and pressed a hidden spring under one of the cameos. Inside, very neatly engraved, was the name and a date.
"Gentlemen," he said, his face ghastly, "it is of no use for me to attempt a denial. The dagger and necklace belonged to my sister, Alice Curtis!"
CHAPTER x.x.xI AND ONLY ONE ARM
Hotchkiss was the first to break the tension.
"Mr. Sullivan," he asked suddenly, "was your sister left-handed?"
"Yes."
Hotchkiss put away his note-book and looked around with an air of triumphant vindication. It gave us a chance to smile and look relieved. After all, Mrs. Curtis was dead. It was the happiest solution of the unhappy affair. McKnight brought Sullivan some whisky, and he braced up a little.
"I learned through the papers that my wife was in a Baltimore hospital, and yesterday I ventured there to see her. I felt if she would help me to keep straight, that now, with her father and my sister both dead, we might be happy together.
"I understand now what puzzled me then. It seemed that my sister went into the next car and tried to make my wife promise not to interfere. But Ida - Mrs. Sullivan - was firm, of course. She said her father had papers, certificates and so on, that would stop the marriage at once.