"One minute, Mr. Kent," interrupted the Inspector, greatly excited, "I don"t quite get it."
"The depth of the dint proves the lift of his foot," said Kent impatiently, "and the lift of the foot indicates at once the man"s height. Edwards, find me the man who wore these boots and the mystery is solved!"
At that very moment a heavy step, unmistakably to the trained ear that of a man in hob-nailed boots, was heard upon the stair. The door opened and a man stood hesitating in the doorway.
Both Kent and Edwards gave a start, two starts, of surprise.
The man was exactly five feet nine and a half inches high. He was dressed in coachman"s dress. His face was saturnine and evil.
It was Dennis, the coachman of the murdered man.
"If you"re Mr. Kent," he said, "there"s a lady here asking for you."
CHAPTER VII
OH, MR. KENT, SAVE ME!
In another moment an absolutely noiseless step was heard upon the stair.
A young girl entered, a girl, tall, willowy and beautiful, in the first burst, or just about the first burst, of womanhood.
It was Alice Delary.
She was dressed with extreme taste, but Kent"s quick eye noted at once that she wore no hat.
"Mr. Kent," she cried, "you are Mr. Kent, are you not? They told me that you were here. Oh, Mr. Kent, help me, save me!"
She seemed to shudder into herself a moment. Her breath came and went quickly.
She reached out her two hands.
"Calm yourself, my dear young lady," said Kent, taking them. "Don"t let your breath come and go so much. Trust me. Tell me all."
"Mr. Kent," said Delary, regaining her control, but still trembling, "I want my hat."
Kent let go the beautiful girl"s hands. "Sit down," he said. Then he went across the room and fetched the hat, the light gossamer hat, with flowers in it, that still hung on a peg.
"Oh, I am so glad to get it back," cried the girl. "I can never thank you enough. I was afraid to come for it."
"It is all right," said the Inspector. "The police theory was that it was the housekeeper"s hat. You are welcome to it."
Kent had been looking closely at the girl before him.
"You have more to say than that," he said. "Tell me all."
"Oh, I will, I will, Mr. Kent. That dreadful night! I was here. I saw, at least I heard it all."
She shuddered.
"Oh, Mr. Kent, it was dreadful! I had come back that evening to the library to finish some work. I knew that Mr. Kelly was to dine out and that I would be alone. I had been working quietly for some time when I became aware of voices in the billiard-room. I tried not to listen, but they seemed to be quarrelling, and I couldn"t help hearing. Oh, Mr.
Kent, was I wrong?"
"No," said Kent, taking her hand a moment, "you were not."
"I heard one say, "Get your foot off the table, you"ve no right to put your foot on the table." Then the other said, "Well, you keep your stomach off the cushion then."" The girl shivered. "Then presently one said, quite fiercely, "Get back into balk there, get back fifteen inches," and the other voice said, "By G.o.d! I"ll shoot from here." Then there was a dead stillness, and then a voice almost screamed, "You"ve potted me. You"ve potted me. That ends it." And then I heard the other say in a low tone, "Forgive me, I didn"t mean it. I never meant it to end that way."
"I was so frightened, Mr. Kent, I couldn"t stay any longer. I rushed downstairs and ran all the way home. Then next day I read what had happened, and I knew that I had left my hat there, and was afraid. Oh, Mr. Kent, save me!"
"Miss Delary," said the Investigator, taking again the girl"s hands and looking into her eyes, "you are safe. Tell me only one thing. The man who played against Kivas Kelly--did you see him?"
"Only for one moment"--the girl paused--"through the keyhole."
"What was he like?" asked Kent. "Had he an impenetrable face?"
"He had."
"Was there anything ma.s.sive about his face?"
"Oh, yes, yes, it was all ma.s.sive."
"Miss Delary," said Kent, "this mystery is now on the brink of solution.
When I have joined the last links of the chain, may I come and tell you all?"
She looked full in his face.
"At any hour of the day or night," she said, "you may come."
Then she was gone.
CHAPTER VIII
YOU ARE PETER KELLY
Within a few moments Kent was at the phone.
"I want four, four, four, four. Is that four, four, four, four? Mr.
Throgton"s house? I want Mr. Throgton. Mr. Throgton speaking? Mr.
Throgton, Kent speaking. The Riverside mystery is solved."
Kent waited in silence a moment. Then he heard Throgton"s voice--not a note in it disturbed: