ALM06 Who Killed the Husband? (6 page)

"Was it the custom of your master to let himself in without ringing?"

"No, sir. I had never known him to do such a thing. He might open the door with his key, but he always rang outside to summon a servant to take his hat and coat."

"You were the first on the scene. Who next appeared?"

"Mrs. Gartrey and the maid, Eliza Young, sir. Eliza came out of the bedroom corridor and Mrs. Gar-trey from the music room."

"The music room?"

"Yes, sir. There is a door between boudoir and music room." Hawkins pointed to it on his plan. "It was really shorter for her because there are two doors to open the other way."

"But why did she allow several minutes to elapse before she appeared at all?"

"How can I answer that, sir?"

"Well, go on."

"There was great confusion, Mr. Mappin. I'm afraid I cannot give you a very clear account. The cook, the kitchen maid and the two housemaids came. They were hysterical. I was the only man in the house..."

"And you had your hands full," put in Lee.

"Yes, sir. We employ a second man, John Denman by name, but he had gone to the watchmaker's to have his watch repaired."

"What time did Denman go out?"

"Shortly after three, sir."

"After Mr. Yohe had come?"

"Yes, sir."

"What time did he return?"

"About four-thirty. The police had been in the apartment for some time."

"Hawkins, what is your opinion of this man Denman?"

"Personally, I never cared for the young fellow, sir. Always watching and listening; too sly for my taste. But he did his work all right."

"How did your mistress bear herself, Hawkins?"

"She was shocked, sir. She looked awful."

"Hysterical?"

"Not her, sir. She kept quiet. She had her wits about her."

"Did she approach the body?"

"No, sir. She told me to call a doctor. I said: 'Mr. Gartrey is dead, Madam.' She said: 'Call a doctor anyhow.' I did so. I then asked her if I should notify the police. She said: 'This is not a case for the police; he killed himself.' She indicated the gun. I pointed out to her that he still had the key in his right hand. There is a doctor's office in the building and he came immediately; Mrs. Gartrey's own physician a couple of minutes later."

"Was there any other telephoning done?"

"No, sir, not at that time. News of the shooting had spread through the house and all kinds of people were trying to get into the apartment. I had all I could do to keep them out. A policeman came in off the street and it was him who telephoned to his captain and the captain notified Headquarters. The confusion got worse and worse until Mr. Coler came. He straightened us out."

Lee thought this over, stroking his chin. "Hawkins," he said finally, "I suppose there are many possible hiding places in that big apartment."

"Oh, yes, sir. There is the coat closet in the foyer and there is the powder room, opening off. The rear hall is lined with cupboards which I have not indicated on the plan."

"Was the apartment searched for a possible skulker?"

"No, sir. We couldn't conceive how anybody could have got in without being seen."

Lee said: "According to my recollection the entrance foyer is sparsely furnished. Is there any piece of furniture behind which an assassin could have concealed himself until Mr. Gartrey was well inside the door?"

"No, sir. There is no furniture at all on that side of the foyer."

"Hm!" said Lee. "This is a hard nut that you have given me to crack, Hawkins."

"Yes, sir."

"Is the entrance door a self-closing one?"

"Yes, sir."

Lee's further questioning elicited nothing material from the old man. When Lee finally got up to leave, Hawkins said:

"What is your opinion, Mr. Mappin?"

As Hawkins asked the question, Lee became aware that there was another, a sharper personality peeping from behind the benignant facade. But he could not be sure that it was evil.

"I am completely at sea," he said.

"If Mr. Yohe would only come back and clear himself !" sighed the old man.

"So say we all of us!" agreed Lee.

As Lee came down the stairs on his way out, the courteous landlady appeared below to open the door for him. Lee's eyes twinkled behind the polished glasses.

"Mrs. Quimby, do you ever cash checks?" he asked. Naturally, she was astonished. "Why...why...why for my lodgers, sir, not for strangers."

"Where does Mr. Hawkins bank?"

She was so flustered that she answered without thinking. "At the Girard National, sir."

"Thank you so much," said Lee. "Don't mention to anybody that I asked you."

Out on the sidewalk he glanced at his watch. Being Saturday, the bank would be closed, but there might be somebody on the premises.

He taxied into the city and found a vice president at the Girard National. Lee, introducing himself, stated his errand and the vice president sent for a bookkeeper with his ledger. This man said:

"The account of Robert Hawkins was opened two days ago with a deposit of $2,500. This was a cashier's check from a New York bank. This morning Mr. Hawkins is credited with cash, $5,000, deposited here in the banking house."

Lee's face was like a mask. "Is the teller who took the money available?"

He was presently produced, a slender, pale young man with an expression of anxiety, wondering why he had been sent for from the front office.

"This deposit in cash to the credit of Robert Hawkins," said the vice president, "do you remember who made it?"

"Yes, sir, the circumstances being a little unusual. It was a young gentleman, sir; good-looking, extremely well dressed. I took him for a junior partner in a prominent law firm, or a stockbroker."

"In what form was the money?"

"Tens and twenties, sir."

"Were the numbers taken?" Lee put in.

"No, sir. They were mixed old bills. Just put in with our cash, sir."

"Would you be able to recognize the man who deposited them?"

"Yes, sir. A very handsome young fellow, sir."

"Please say nothing about this for the present."

On his return to New York, Lee reported the result of his mission to Inspector Loasby, and convinced him of the necessity of keeping the discovery to themselves until they could trace the source of Hawkins' bonus.

Chapter 5

On Sunday mornings Mr. Mappin permitted himself an extra half hour in bed, no more. If he had been up late on Saturday night, he found it refreshing to take a cat nap or a couple of cat naps later in the day. Having finished his breakfast by the fire, he was leaning back thoughtfully smoking a cigarette. Today the dressing gown was orange faced with black; the scarf and slippers scarlet. There was a line between his brows and he was not thinking serenely of his big book. What he termed to himself "that infernal Gartrey case" had driven it out of his head. He admitted, however, that l'affaire Gar-trey was not as obvious and common as it had seemed at first. It had become a puzzle.

He heard the distant sound of the doorbell without concern. He kept his home address a secret so far as was possible and it, of course, did not appear in the telephone book. All sorts of nuisances occasionally came to the door, but he could depend on the efficient Jermyn to protect him. He was therefore surprised to see Jermyn enter, wearing an odd expression which suggested that something had turned up which was too much for him.

"What is it?" asked Lee a little sharply.

"If you please, Mr. Mappin, there's...there's a young lady calling."

"Good gracious, Jermyn! At nine o'clock on Sunday morning! What's her excuse?"

"She didn't say what she wanted, sir, but she wrote her name on a piece of paper." Jermyn extended the paper.

Taking it, Lee read: "Mrs. Alastair Yohe."

"Jehu, Kingdom come!" he exclaimed. "This is impossible!...This is a practical joker, Jermyn, or a newspaper woman in disguise!"

Jermyn shook his head. "No, sir! A very personable young lady, sir, and appears to be in great trouble."

Lee noted that he had twice spoken of her as a lady. Jermyn was never the one to apply the term lightly. Lee was divided in his mind; curiosity was working powerfully; on the other hand, "great trouble" promised the kind of emotional scene that he detested. He said: "You'd better go into the kitchen where you can't be overheard, and call up Inspector Loasby. You'll find him at his home. Tell him who our caller is, and let him take what action seems best."

Jermyn's generally inexpressive face betrayed the keenest distress. "Oh, no, Mr. Mappin! If you please, sir! Oh, Mr. Mappin, you can't go for to do that!"

"Why can't I?"

"She has a baby, sir!"

Lee stared, openmouthed. "A baby, did you say?"

"Yes, sir, a fine, pretty child."

"What's a baby got to do with it?"

"You wouldn't have the heart to turn them over to the police, sir."

"Well...well..." said Lee pettishly, "you needn't telephone to Loasby...But I won't see her! The baby is just an excuse for sob stuff. No sensible woman would bring a baby! Send them away!"

As Jermyn turned, Lee heard a gentle voice from the door saying: "
Please
, Mr. Mappin, I won't make a nuisance of myself. I won't stay but five minutes!"

Lee jumped up in great perturbation, drawing his dressing gown around him like a woman caught in her wrapper, and saying: "Really, young lady! Really! This is too much!" He looked around for Jermyn, but Jermyn had slipped incontinently through the dining-room door, leaving him to face the monster alone. Finding himself trapped, Lee looked the intruder straight in the eye.

"I know this is dreadful of me," she was saying imploringly, "but I felt desperate!"

She was a pretty thing, small and young. Lee had not realized that girls so young had babies. The baby looked enormous; he didn't see how such a little woman could possibly have produced it. "Well, as long as you're here you may as well come in," he said gracelessly.

She glided in and, dropping on a chair behind the settee, started nervously to unfasten the baby's jacket and cap. "I'm not preparing to make a stay," she said deprecatingly, "but I'm afraid he might catch cold when we go out again."

Lee, inexperienced with babies, was very ill at ease in the presence of the unfamiliar. He had no idea how old the child might be; he was able to sit up but had clearly not reached the walking or talking stage. She took his cap off and smoothed down the fuzz on his head.

"Hasn't got much more hair than I have," said Lee grimly.

"He will have," she said quickly. "See how thickly it's coming in."

Lee declined to approach. "How old is he?"

"Going on nine months...Weighs eighteen pounds," she added proudly.

"Good Lord, how did you do it!" said Lee.

She blushed. "That's what everybody asks me. I guess the size of the mother doesn't make much difference."

The baby looked around the room with a bland expression. Lee, he ignored in the most insulting fashion, but that pleased Lee; at least, the baby was not going to try to get around him. When she had taken off his outer things, his mother planted him on the rug in front of the fire. It was a rare Bokhara.

"Hadn't you better put something under him?" suggested Lee.

"He has his rubber pants on," his mother said, a little hurt.

Lee blushed. There was a silence. The baby evidently enjoyed the fire for he crowed and bounced two or three times on his fundament. Lee felt softer feelings stealing over him. "What's his name?" he asked.

"Alastair," she said with a lift in her voice, "but we call him Lester."

That name chilled Lee. Spawn of the devil! he thought.

"My name is Charlotte," she added naïvely.

"Have you breakfasted?" Lee asked, with stiff politeness.

"Oh, yes, thank you." Such a pretty little brown-haired girl, sensitive, prone to blush, her face revealing quick changes of expression.

Lee jerked his head toward the little Buddha on the rug. "Isn't there something I can get for him?"

"A soda cracker, perhaps, if you would be so good. He's always hungry."

Lee rang for Jermyn and ordered soda crackers, looking very stern. Jermyn's face was like wood. When he brought the crackers the young mother offered one to her child. He knew what to do with it. Calmly accepting it, he conveyed it to his mouth and returned his gaze to the fire.

After an awkward period Lee and Mrs. Yohe found themselves talking together naturally enough.

"You know why I am here," she said simply. "It is to beg you to receive my husband. Our happiness, our very lives depend upon it." She nodded toward the child. "And his. He has such a long time to live!"

"I'm afraid it is impossible," said Lee.