"No, no, not yet," she whispered.
But Alicia brushed her aside and, thrusting the letter into the hand of the astonished police captain, she said:
"Yes, now! Read that, captain!"
Captain Clinton slowly unfolded the letter. Alicia collapsed in a chair.
Annie stood by helpless, but trying to collect her wits. The judge watched the scene with amazement, not understanding. The captain read from the letter:
""Dear Mrs. Jeffries" He stopped, and glancing at the signature, exclaimed, "Robert Underwood!" Looking significantly at Annie, he exclaimed: ""Dear Mrs. Jeffries!" Is that conclusive enough? What did I tell you?" Continuing to peruse the letter, he read on: ""Shall be found dead to-morrow--suicide----"" He stopped short and frowned. "What"s this? Why, this is a barefaced forgery!"
Judge Brewster quickly s.n.a.t.c.hed the letter from his hand and, glancing over it quickly, said:
"Permit me. This belongs to my client."
Captain Clinton"s prognathous jaw snapped to with a click, and he squared his ma.s.sive shoulders, as he usually did when preparing for hostilities:
"Now, Mrs. Jeffries," he said sharply, "I"ll trouble you to go with me to headquarters."
Annie and Alicia both stood up. Judge Brewster quickly objected.
"Mrs. Jeffries will not go with you," he said quietly. "She has made no attempt to leave the State."
"She"s wanted at police headquarters," said the captain doggedly.
"She"ll be there to-morrow morning."
"She"ll be there to-night."
He looked steadily at the judge, and the latter calmly returned his stare. There followed an awkward pause, and then the captain turned on his heel to depart.
"The moment she attempts to leave the house," he growled, "I shall arrest her. Good night, judge."
"Good night, captain!" cried Annie mockingly.
"I"ll see you later," he muttered. "Come on, Maloney."
The door banged to. They were alone.
"What a sweet disposition!" laughed Annie.
Judge Brewster looked sternly at her. Holding up the letter, he said:
"What is the meaning of this? You are not the woman to whom this letter is addressed?"
"No," stammered Annie, "that is----"
The judge interrupted her. Sternly he asked:
"Is it your intention to go on the witness stand and commit perjury?"
"I don"t know. I never thought of that," she faltered.
The judge turned to Alicia.
"Are you going to allow her to do so, Mrs. Jeffries?"
"No, no," cried Alicia quickly, "I never thought of such a thing."
"Then I repeat--is it your intention to perjure yourself?" Annie was silent, and he went on: "I a.s.sume it is, but let me ask you: Do you expect me, as your counsel, to become _participes criminis_ to this tissue of lies? Am I expected to build up a false structure for you to swear to? Am I?"
"I don"t know; I haven"t thought of it," replied Annie. "If it can be done, why not? I"m glad you suggested it."
"_I_ suggest it?" exclaimed the lawyer, scandalized.
"Yes," cried Annie with growing exaltation; "it never occurred to me till you spoke. Everybody says I"m the woman who called on Robert Underwood that night. Well, that"s all right. Let them continue to think so. What difference does it make so long as Howard is set free?" Going toward the door, she said: "Good night, Mrs. Jeffries!"
The judge tried to bar her way.
"Don"t go," he said; "Captain Clinton"s men are waiting outside."
"That doesn"t matter!" she cried.
"But you must not go!" exclaimed the lawyer in a tone of command. "I won"t allow it. They"ll arrest you! Mrs. Jeffries, you"ll please remain here."
But Annie was already at the door.
"I wouldn"t keep Captain Clinton waiting for the world," she cried.
"Good night, Judge Brewster, and G.o.d bless you!"
The door slammed, and she was gone.
CHAPTER XIX.
The Jeffries case suddenly entered into an entirely new phase, and once more was deemed of sufficient public interest to warrant column after column of spicy comment in the newspapers. The town awoke one morning to learn that the long-sought-for witness, the mysterious woman on whose testimony everything hinged, had not only been found, but proved to be the prisoner"s own wife, who had been so active in his defense. This announcement was stupefying enough to over-shadow all other news of the day, and satisfied the most jaded palate for sensationalism.
The first question asked on all sides was: Why had not the wife come forward before? The reason, as glibly explained by an evening journal of somewhat yellow proclivities, was logical enough. The telling of her midnight visit to a single man"s rooms involved a shameful admission which any woman might well hesitate to make unless forced to it as a last extremity. Confronted, however, with the alternative of either seeing her husband suffer for a crime of which he was innocent or making public acknowledgment of her own frailty, she had chosen the latter course. Naturally, it meant divorce from the banker"s son, and undoubtedly this was the solution most wished for by the family. The whole unsavory affair conveyed a good lesson to reckless young men of wealth to avoid entangling themselves in undesirable matrimonial adventures. But it was no less certain, went on this journalistic mentor, that this wife, unfaithful as she had proved herself to be, had really rendered her husband a signal service in his present sc.r.a.pe. The letter she had produced, written to her by Underwood the day before his death, in which he stated his determination to kill himself, was, of course, a complete vindication for the man awaiting trial. His liberation now depended only on how quickly the ponderous machinery of the law could take cognizance of this new and most important evidence.
The new turn of affairs was naturally most distasteful to the police. If there was one thing more than another which angered Captain Clinton it was to take the trouble to build up a case only to have it suddenly demolished. He scoffed at the "suicide letter," safely committed to Judge Brewster"s custody, and openly branded it as a forgery concocted by an immoral woman for the purpose of defeating the ends of justice. He kept Annie a prisoner and defied the counsel for the defence to do their worst. Judge Brewster, who loved the fray, accepted the challenge. He acted promptly. He secured Annie"s release on _habeas corpus_ proceedings and, his civil suit against the city having already begun in the courts, he suddenly called Captain Clinton to the stand and gave him a grilling which more than atoned for any which the police tyrant had previously made his victims suffer. In the limelight of a sensational trial, in which public servants were charged with abusing positions of trust, he showed Captain Clinton up as a bully and a grafter, a bribe-taker, working hand and glove with dishonest politicians, not hesitating even to divide loot with thieves and dive-keepers in his greed for wealth. He proved him to be a consummate liar, a man who would stop at nothing to gain his own ends. What jury would take the word of such a man as this? Yet this was the man who still insisted that Howard Jeffries was guilty of the shooting of Robert Underwood!
But public opinion was too intelligent to be hoodwinked for any length of time by a brutal and ignorant policeman. There was a clamor for the prisoner"s release. The evidence was such that further delay was inexcusable. The district attorney, thus urged, took an active interest in the case, and after going over the new evidence with Judge Brewster, went before the court and made formal application for the dismissal of the complaint. A few days later Howard Jeffries left the Tombs amid the cheers of a crowd a.s.sembled outside. At his side walked his wife, now smiling through tears of joy.
It was a glad home-coming to the little flat in Harlem. To Howard, after spending so long a time in the narrow prison quarters, it seemed like paradise, and Annie walked on air, so delighted was she to have him with her again. Yet there were still anxieties to cloud their happiness. The close confinement, with its attendant worry, had seriously undermined Howard"s health. He was pale and attenuated, and so weak that he had several fainting spells. Much alarmed, Annie summoned Dr. Bernstein, who administered a tonic. There was nothing to cause anxiety, he said rea.s.suringly. It was a natural reaction after what her husband had undergone. But it was worry as much as anything else. Howard worried about his father, with whom he was only partially reconciled; he worried about his future, which was as precarious as ever, and most of all he worried about his wife. He was not ignorant of the circ.u.mstances which had brought about his release, and while liberty was sweet to him, it had been a terrible shock when he first heard that she was the woman who had visited Underwood"s rooms. He refused to believe her sworn evidence.
How was it possible? Why should she go to Underwood"s rooms knowing he was there? It was preposterous. Still the small voice rang in his ears--perhaps she"s untrue! It haunted him till one day he asked point-blank for an explanation. Then she told that she had perjured herself. She was not the woman. Who she really was she could not say. He must be satisfied for the present with the a.s.surance that it was not his wife. With that he was content. What did he care for the opinion of others? He knew--that was enough! In their conversation on the subject Annie did not even mention Alicia"s name. Why should she?
Weeks pa.s.sed, and Howard"s health did not improve. He had tried to find a position, but without success, yet every day brought its obligations which had to be met. One morning Annie was bustling about their tiny dining room preparing the table for their frugal luncheon. She had just placed the rolls and b.u.t.ter on the table, and arranged the chairs, when there came a ring at the front doorbell. Early visitors were not so unfrequent as to cause surprise, so, without waiting to remove her ap.r.o.n, she went to the door and opened it. Dr. Bernstein entered.