The Curved Blades Read online

  VII THE INQUEST

  Next morning the inquest was proceeding. The great living-room at GardenSteps was crowded with listeners, drawn hither by sympathy, interest orcuriosity. And each class found ample to satisfy its motive. The merefact of being within that exclusive home, within those heretoforeinaccessible doors, was enough to thrill and delight many, andobservation and scrutiny were as well repaid as was the listening to theastounding revelations that were poured into their ears.

  Coroner Scofield's jury was composed of intelligent men, who were eagerlyreceptive to the appalling facts narrated to them and the curiouslybizarre bits of evidence that became known as the witnesses werequestioned.

  Dr. Stanton told of his being called to the house, and his discoveriesand conclusions. He admitted that he assumed death was caused by the blowon the head, but claimed that it was a pardonable error in view of thefact that such a blow had been given. He affirmed, and Dr. Moorecorroborated it, that the autopsy showed that death was caused byaconitine poison, administered, either by the deceased or another, at anhour not earlier than one o'clock, and probably soon thereafter. Theterrible blow that had fractured the skull had been given after life hadbeen for some time extinct.

  Dr. Stanton asserted emphatically his late patient's detestation of drugsor medicines of any sort, adducing thereby the extreme improbability ofthe poison having been self-administered. Moreover, the temperament anddisposition of the late Miss Carrington entirely evinced a love of lifeand desire to prolong it by means of any device or assistance the doctormight give.

  Pauline was called next, and a little flutter of excitement in theaudience greeted her appearance.

  Exceedingly dignified, but of a sweet, gracious mien, she at oncereceived the silent approval of the crowd. Her black gown, its collar ofsheer white organdy slightly open at the throat, well suited her pale,beautiful face and her dark hair and eyes. To-day, her eyes seemedfathomless. At times, gazing intently at the Coroner until they almostdisconcerted him; and then, hidden by veiling lids, whose long lashesfell suddenly, as if to conceal further disclosures.

  On the whole, Pauline was not a satisfactory witness. She told, in moststraightforward way, of leaving the breakfast table to go to her aunt'sroom and of finding there the dead body. She told clearly all thecircumstances of the upset tray, the spilled powder and the eccentricgarb of Miss Carrington herself. But questions as to her opinion of thesefacts brought little response.

  "You left Miss Carrington at half-past twelve?" asked Coroner Scofield.

  "Not so late, I think," returned Pauline; "probably at quarter or twentyminutes past twelve,--I am not sure."

  "How was she then dressed?"

  "In the gown she had worn during the evening."

  "And her jewels?"

  "When I left my aunt, she was wearing her pearls and the other jewelryshe had worn with her evening dress. Some brooches and rings andbracelets."

  "But not so much as she had on when you discovered her in the morning?"

  "Not nearly so much."

  "How do you account for this?"

  "I don't account for it. To me it is exceedingly mysterious."

  "And the paper snake round her neck?"

  "I have no idea by whom such a thing could have been brought to my aunt.But I am positive she never put it on herself. Nor can I think she wouldallow it to come near her if she were alive,--or conscious,--or, hadpower to scream for help. Any one knowing my aunt's fear and horror ofanything reptilian will agree to this."

  "It seems evident," said the Coroner, thoughtfully, "that some intruderentered Miss Carrington's room, at or near one o'clock. That thisintruder in some manner induced Miss Carrington to swallow the poison,whether conscious of her act or not. That the intruder subsequently, andfor some reason, placed the snake round the neck of the victim, and,later still, brutally gave her a stunning blow with the black-jack whichwas found, and thereby fractured her skull. Granting these assumptions,can you, Miss Stuart, give us any information that would lead todiscovery of the hand that wrought this havoc?"

  "Not any," and Pauline raised her great eyes a moment to Scofield's faceand slowly dropped them again.

  "Then can you not express an opinion or suggest a theory that mightaccount for such strange happenings, at least, in part?"

  "No," said Pauline, slowly; "I have no idea, nor can I imagine why myaunt should be so elaborately arrayed and seated in an easy chair infront of her mirror. It is contrary to all her customs or habits."

  "Could she have been killed first and could the jewels and adornmentshave been added afterward?" asked the Coroner of the doctors.

  "No," replied Dr. Moore; "the whole condition of the body and clothingmake such a theory practically impossible."

  "Quite impossible," added Dr. Stanton; "and, too, what would be the senseof such a proceeding?"

  "We are establishing the facts of the proceedings, not the sense ofthem," returned the Coroner, a little testily, for he was at his wits'end even to make a beginning in this strange case.

  "At least," he went on, "we have the facts and the approximate time ofthe crime; have you, Miss Stuart, any suspicion of who the murderer canbe?"

  The question was shot out suddenly. If its intent was to startle thewitness, it certainly succeeded. Pauline Stuart turned even whiter thanshe had been, and she caught her breath quickly and audibly as sheflashed a frightened glance at Gray Haviland. It was by no means anaccusing glance, though many who saw it, eager for a direction in whichto cast their suspicions, took it for such.

  But Pauline controlled herself immediately. "Certainly not," she saidcoldly. "That is, I can have no suspicion of the murderer's identity. Itwas, of course, a midnight intruder, of the criminal class. I have noindividual acquaintances who use or possess the weapon that was employedin this crime."

  "The black-jack is an auxiliary only. The poison may have beenadministered by one not versed in the ways of professional criminals. Youadmit that, I suppose?"

  "It is no doubt true," said Pauline, icily, "that poison may be given bya person not belonging to the criminal classes. I fail to see, however,how that fact affects the matter in hand."

  "It may well affect it. Since Miss Carrington was killed by a deadlypoison, we must conclude that the black-jack assault was made with theintention of concealing the poisoning and making it appear that the blowcaused the death. There seems to me no other way to account for theconditions that confront us."

  A silence followed this. Its truth was patent to everybody. Clearly, thepoisoner had delivered the blow, for no one else would attack a victimalready dead. And a plausible reason would be the hope that the poisoningwould pass unnoticed in view of the other apparent cause of death.

  "And it points to the work of an amateur," went on Scofield; "aprofessional criminal would know that the autopsy would disclose theearlier crime."

  Pauline lost her nerve. "I don't know anything about it!" she cried, andsank back into her seat, her face buried in her hands.

  Coroner Scofield was a man of tact. "It is entirely natural, MissStuart," he said, "that this thought should overcome you. But we mustrealize the fact that the theory of a professional burglar is practicallyuntenable, because nothing was stolen. A burglar's motive could be onlyrobbery, and this did not take place. Nor can we think that a burglar wasfrightened away, before he could appropriate the jewels. For, aftergiving the poison, and before the blow was given, sufficient time elapsedfor a successful getaway to be made. Nor would the burglar have been atpains to cover up his poisoning work, for having achieved his end, hewould have secured his booty and made escape. So, it is evident that themotive, not being robbery, is as yet unknown, and may be obscure andcomplicated."

  "What could it have been?" asked Pauline, her composure regained, hervoice low and even.

  Scofield looked at her. "It is said, Miss Stuart, that the only motivesfor murder are love, revenge or gain. Can you imagine any one of th
esedirected toward your aunt?"

  Pauline replied tranquilly. Evidently she had fully recovered her poise."I can think of no one who could have killed my aunt for love; it isimprobable that she has ever done any one such wrong as to call for sucha deed in revenge; as to gain, if you mean pecuniary gain, all thelegatees mentioned in her will may be said to have that motive."

  Pauline's manner and tones were so impersonal, so scathingly ironic as toamount to a disclaimer for all the legatees. Her way of suggesting itmade it seem so far removed from possibility that it was far moreemphatic than any denial could have been.

  But Coroner Scofield was as unmoved as his witness.

  "Quite so," he said coolly; "and therefore inquiries must be made. Didyou, Miss Stuart, after leaving your aunt soon after midnight see or hearanything unusual or suspicious?"

  "What do you mean by unusual or suspicious?"

  "I mean did you see or hear anything, anything at all, that you could notexplain to yourself as being in any way connected with the tragedy we areinvestigating?"

  Before answering, Pauline looked in turn at all the members of thehousehold. Haviland slowly turned his head as if to look at somethingacross the room, and as slowly brought it back to its previous position.

  "I did not," said Pauline, looking straight at the Coroner.

  "That is all," said Scofield, briefly, and the next witness was called.

  This was the maid, Estelle. Her eyes were red with weeping, but she wasnot hysterical now, or incoherent. She answered tersely questions as toMiss Carrington's habits and as to her words and actions during themaid's last interview with her.

  "I left her at about quarter of one," the witness deposed; "I had givenher the Oriental negligee, of which she is fond. I offered to take downher hair and put away her jewels, but she declined those services, andbade me leave her."

  "She was wearing, when you left her, only the jewels she had worn duringthe evening?"

  "Only those, sir. When I changed her evening gown for the boudoir robe,she bade me replace such jewels as I had already taken off her. She kepton her rings, bracelets and her long rope of pearls while I changed hercostume."

  "And then she dismissed you for the night?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Where was she then? Sitting before the mirror?"

  "No, sir. She stood in the middle of the floor."

  "Was she in an amiable mood?"

  "She was not. Because I offered to assist her further, she ordered mefrom the room in anger."

  "Ah, in anger! Was Miss Carrington often angry with you?"

  "Indeed, yes; as she was with everybody."

  "Confine your answers to your own experience. You prepared a nightluncheon for your mistress?"

  "Yes, sir," and now Estelle's voice trembled and her eyes rolledapprehensively.

  "What was it?"

  "Two small sandwiches and a glass of milk."

  "What sort of sandwiches?"

  "Caviare, sir."

  "Ah, yes. And why did you put a large dose of bromide in the glass ofmilk?"

  "Did it kill her?" and Estelle screamed out her query. Pauline and Anitalooked at one another. It was the same question Estelle had asked ofthem.

  "An overdose of bromide may be fatal," parried the Coroner, not answeringthe question directly. "Why did you do it?"

  "I didn't do it," and the French girl shrugged her shoulders; "why shouldI poison my mistress? She was quick-tempered, but I was used to that."

  "Don't be stupid," said the Coroner; "the bromide didn't poison MissCarrington, for, in the first place, she didn't take it. The glass ofmilk was found next morning untouched, though the sandwiches were gone.Therefore, the bromide in the milk was found. Why did you put it in?"

  "_I_ didn't do it," reiterated the maid. "Look higher up for that!"

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mention no names, but somebody must have done it, if bromide was foundin that milk."

  "But you tried to get the glass away next morning, without being seen."

  "Who says I did?"

  "Never mind that; you were seen. Why?"

  "Well, sir, if I thought anybody was going to get into trouble because ofit, I was only too glad to help, if I could, by removing it before it wasnoticed." Estelle spoke slowly, as if weighing her words, and her furtiveglances at Pauline bore only one significance. It was palpably apparentthat she suspected Miss Stuart of the deed, and out of kindness had triedto remove the incriminating evidence.

  Pauline stared at her with a glance that went through her or over her oraround her, but gave not the slightest attention to the speaker.

  "Did you put bromide in your aunt's glass of milk, Miss Stuart?" askedthe Coroner, and Pauline said, calmly, "Certainly not."

  Mr. Scofield sighed. It was a difficult matter to get at the truth whenthe witnesses were clever women, in whose veracity he had not completeconfidence.

  He gave up Estelle for the moment, and called Gray Haviland.

  The young man's appearance gave every promise of frankness and sincerity.He detailed the circumstances precisely as Pauline had told them. Hedenied having heard or seen anything suspicious during the night. Hereferred to the Coroner's list of motives for crime, and added that heagreed with Miss Stuart that the present case could scarcely be ascribedto love or revenge. If the murder was committed for gain, it was, ofcourse, a formal necessity to question all the beneficiaries of MissCarrington's will, but he was sure that all such inheritors were quitewilling to be questioned. For his part, he believed that the criminal wassome enemy of Miss Carrington, unknown to her immediate household, and hesuggested that such a one be searched for.

  "You've got that glove," he reminded, "that was found clasped in the handof the murdered woman. Why not trace that; or endeavor to learn in someway the reason for the many peculiar circumstances; or discover, atleast, a way to look for further evidence; rather than to vaguely suspectthose who lived under Miss Carrington's roof?"

  "I am not asking your assistance in conducting this inquiry, Mr.Haviland," and the Coroner spoke shortly; "but pursuing my own plan ofobtaining evidence in my own way. Will you kindly answer questionswithout comment on them?"

  "Oh, all right; fire away. Only remember, that we relatives and friendsare just as much interested in clearing up this mystery as you are, andwe want to help, if we can be allowed to do so intelligently."

  Asked again if he saw or heard anything unusual in the night, Havilandreplied, "You said 'suspicious' the other time. I did see something_unusual_. I saw Estelle go stealthily downstairs at three A.M. That'sunusual, but I don't go so far as to call it suspicious."