"And who the h.e.l.l are you--a pal?" the fellow sneered. "Now, see here, both of you. I"ve met plenty of your kind before, and it is my business not to forget a face. This man is under arrest," and he laid a hand heavily on Cavendish"s shoulder.
"Under the name of Burke? On what charge?"
"Robbery, at Poughkeepsie, New York; wanted also for burglary and a.s.sault in Denver. My name is Roberts," he added, stiffly, "a.s.sistant superintendent of the Pinkerton agency; the man with me is an operative from the New York office."
Cavendish glanced past Roberts toward Colgate, who stood with one hand thrust in his side pocket.
"You know this man Burke?" he asked.
"I saw him once; that"s why I was put on the case. You certainly gave me some hot chase, Tom."
"Some chase? What do you mean?"
"Well, I"ve been on your trail ever since that Poughkeepsie job--let"s see, that was two months ago. You jumped first to New York City, and I didn"t really get track of you until the night of April 16. Then a copper in the Pennsylvania depot, to whom I showed your picture, gave me a tip that you"d taken a late train West. After that I trailed you through Chicago, down into Mexico, and back as far as Denver. It wasn"t hard because you always signed the same name."
"Of course; it"s my own. You say you had a photograph of me?"
"A police picture; here it is if you want to look at it--taken in Joliet."
Westcott grasped the sheet, and spread it open. It was Cavendish"s face clearly enough, even to the closely trimmed beard and the peculiar twinkle in the eyes. Below was printed a brief description, and this also fitted Cavendish almost exactly.
"Well," said Roberts, none too pleasantly, "what have you got to say now?"
"Only this," and the miner squared his shoulders, looking the other straight in the eyes. "This man is not Tom Burke, but I can tell you where Tom Burke is."
"Yes, you can?"
"Yes, I can. I cannot only tell you, but I can prove it," he went on earnestly. "This description says that Burke had a small piece clipped out of one ear, and that he had a gold-crowned tooth in front, rather prominent. This man"s ears are unmarked, and his teeth are of the ordinary kind."
The two detectives exchanged glances and Roberts grinned sarcastically.
"You"ll have to do better than that," he said gruffly. "All right. Is there any mention in that description of a peculiar and vivid scar on the chest of this man Burke? It would be spoken about, if he had any, wouldn"t it?"
"Sure; they never overlook them things."
"Good; unb.u.t.ton the front of your shirt, Fred."
The two stared at the scar thus revealed, still incredulous, yet unable to refute the evidence of its existence. Roberts touched it with his fingers to better a.s.sure himself of its reality.
"Darn it all," he confessed. "This beats h.e.l.l."
"It does," coincided Westcott. "This whole affair has been of that kind. Now I"ll tell you where Tom Burke is--he lies buried in the Cavendish family lot in Brooklyn."
He turned to Colgate, who stood with mouth half open.
"You"re from New York; ever hear of the Cavendish murder?"
"Only saw a paragraph in the Chicago papers. It wasn"t my case, and the only thing that interested me was that the name happened to be the same as a.s.sumed by the man I was following--why?"
"Because this gentleman here is Frederick Cavendish, who was reported as killed--struck down in his apartments on the night of April 16.
Instead he took the midnight flier West and you followed him. The dead man was Tom Burke; wait a minute and I"ll tell you the story--all I know of it, at least."
He told it rapidly, yet omitting no detail of any interest. The two detectives, already half convinced of their mistake, listened fascinated to the strange narrative; it was a tale of crime peculiarly attractive to their minds; they could picture each scene in all its colours of reality. As the speaker ended, Roberts drew in his breath sharply.
"But who slugged Burke?" he asked. "The fellow went in there after swag; but who got him?"
"That is the one question I can"t answer," replied Westcott gravely, "and neither can Fred. It doesn"t seem to accord with the rest of our theories. Enright told Lacy he didn"t know who the dead man was, or who killed him."
Miss Donovan pushed her way in front of Cavendish, and faced the others, her cheeks flushed with excitement, a paper clasped in one hand.
"Perhaps I can help clear that up," she said clearly. "This is the letter found under Miss La Rue"s bed. I have read part of it. It was written by Jack Cavendish just as he was taking a boat for South America. It is not a confession," she explained, her eyes searching their faces, "just a frightened boy"s letter. I wouldn"t understand it at all if I didn"t know so much about the case. What it seems to make clear is this: The La Rue girl and Patrick Enright schemed to get possession of the Cavendish property through her marriage to John; this part of the programme worked out fairly well, but John could not get hold of enough money to satisfy them.
"Enright and the girl decided to put Frederick out of the way, but lacked the nerve to commit murder--at least in New York. Their scheme seems to have been to inveigle their victim away from the city, and then help him to get killed through an accident. In that case the law would award the entire estate to John. They never told John this plan, but their constant demands for money fairly drove the young man to desperation.
"The making of the will, and the sudden proposed departure of Frederick for the West, compelled immediate action, yet even then John was kept largely in the dark as to what they proposed doing. All he knew was that Frederick had made a will disinheriting him; that he left the College Club with this doc.u.ment in his pocket, and intended later to take a night train."
She paused, turning the letter over in her hands, and the men seemed to draw closer in the intensity of their interest.
"Some of what I say I learned from this letter," she went on quietly, "and some I merely deduce from the circ.u.mstances. I believe the boy went home half mad, his only thought being to destroy that will. In this state of mind, and fortified by drink, he stole later into Frederick"s apartments. I don"t believe the boy actually intended to murder his cousin, but he did intend to stun him with a blow from behind, seize the paper, and escape unseen. It was a wild, hare-brained project, but he was only a boy, half drunk, worked into frenzy by Celeste La Rue. He got into the room--probably through the bath-room window--un.o.bserved, but after Frederick had departed. This other man--Burke--was then at the table, running through the papers he had taken from the safe, to see if any were of value. John, convinced the man was his cousin, stole up behind him and struck him down. He had no idea of the force of the blow delivered, and may even have left the apartment without realising that the blow had been a fatal one.
Afterward there was nothing to do but keep still, and let matters take their own course."
"And what happened then?"
"Naturally this: the La Rue woman wormed the truth out of him, and told Enright. From that moment the boy was entirely in their hands. While they remained in New York they helped him keep his nerve, but as soon as he was left alone, he went entirely to pieces. He was no criminal, merely a victim of circ.u.mstances. At last something happened to frighten him into flight."
The four men straightened up as her voice ceased speaking. Then Roberts laughed, as though ashamed of the breathless interest he had exhibited.
"I guess she"s got that doped out about right, Colgate," he said, almost regretfully. "And it"s clear enough that we are on the wrong trail. Anyhow this man here isn"t Tom Burke, although he would deceive the very devil. What is it, landlord? Am I ready to eat? Just lead the way, and I"ll show you." He glanced about at the others. "Any of you missed your supper? If so, we"d be glad to have your company."
"I"ll accept the invitation," returned Cavendish. "I was asleep up-stairs, and failed to hear the bell. Perhaps you gentlemen can tell me what steps I"d better take in a case like mine."
The three pa.s.sed out together, following the guidance of Timmons, and as the sound of their voices subsided into a confused murmur, Westcott glanced into the face beside him.
"You must be very tired, dear."
"I am tired, Jim," she said, "but I mustn"t allow it. I have a big job on hand. Farriss will want three thousand words of this and he"ll want it to-night so that he can scoop the town."
"Scoop the town?" Westcott repeated.
"Yes, that means my paper gets a story that no other paper gets. And this Cavendish case is going to be my scoop. Will you walk with me down to the station?"
Big Jim Westcott nodded silently and took her arm in his and together they went out into the night.
Each stone, shrub, each dark frowning cliff reminded them of their meeting, and silently, with their hearts full, they walked along until a dilapidated box car hove into view, with one oil-lamp still burning, twinkling evidence that Carson had not retired for the night; and as they came abreast the door they found him dozing.
"Wake up, Carson," cried Jim, tapping him on the shoulder, "wake up and get ready to do a big job on the keys. And keep your ears open, too, old timer, for it"s interesting, every word of it--Miss Donovan is going to tell a story."
Carson rubbed his eyes, sat up, gave ample greeting, got up, lit another lamp, and tested his wire.