CHAPTER VII.
"There!" said Speed to Brenton, triumphantly, "what do you think of_that_? Didn't I say George Stratton was the brightest newspaper man inChicago? I tell you, his getting that letter from old Brown was one ofthe cleverest bits of diplomacy I ever saw. There you had quickness ofperception, and nerve. All the time he was talking to old Brown he wasjust taking that man's measure. See how coolly he acted while he wasdrawing on his gloves and buttoning his coat as if ready to leave. Flungthat at Brown all of a sudden as quiet as if he was saying nothing atall unusual, and all the time watching Brown out of the tail of his eye.Well, sir, I must admit, that although I have known George Stratton foryears, I thought he was dished by that Cincinnati lawyer. I thought thatGeorge was just gracefully covering up his defeat, and there he upsetold Brown's apple-cart in the twinkling of an eye. Now, you see theeffect of all this. Brown has practically admitted to him what the lineof defence is. Stratton won't publish it, of course; he has promised notto, but you see he can hold that over Brown's head, and get everythinghe wants unless they change their defence."
"Yes," remarked Brenton, slowly, "he seems to be a very sharp newspaperman indeed; but I don't like the idea of his going to interview mywife."
"Why, what is there wrong about that?"
"Well, there is this wrong about it--that she in her depression may saysomething that will tell against her."
"Even if she does, what of it? Isn't the lawyer going to see the letterbefore it is sent to the paper?"
"I am not so sure about that. Do you think Stratton will show thearticle to Brown if he gets what you call a scoop or a beat?"
"Why, of course he will," answered Speed, indignantly; "hasn't he givenhim his word that he will?"
"Yes, I know he has," said Brenton, dubiously; "but he is a newspaperman."
"Certainly he is," answered Speed, with strong emphasis; "that is thereason he will keep his word."
"I hope so, I hope so; but I must admit that the more I know younewspaper men, the more I see the great temptation you are under topreserve if possible the sensational features of an article."
"I'll bet you a drink--no, we can't do that," corrected Speed; "but youshall see that, if Brown acts square with Stratton, he will keep hisword to the very letter with Brown. There is no use in our talking aboutthe matter here. Let us follow Stratton, and see what comes of theinterview."
"I think I prefer to go alone," said Brenton, coldly.
"Oh, as you like, as you like," answered the other, shortly. "I thoughtyou wanted my help in this affair; but if you don't, I am sure I shan'tintrude."
"That's all right," said Brenton; "come along. By the way, Speed, whatdo you think of that line of defence?"
"Well, I don't know enough of the circumstances of the case to know whatto think of it. It seems to me rather a good line."
"It can't be a good line when it is not true. It is certain to breakdown."
"That's so," said Speed; "but I'll bet you four dollars and a half thatthey'll prove you a raving maniac before they are through with you.They'll show very likely that you tried to poison yourself two or threetimes; bring on a dozen of your friends to prove that they knew all yourlife you were insane."
"Do you think they will?" asked Brenton, uneasily.
"Think it? Why, I am sure of it. You'll go down to posterity as one ofthe most complete lunatics that ever, lived in Cincinnati. Oh, therewon't be anything left of you when _they_ get through with you."
Meanwhile, Stratton was making his way to the residence of the sheriff.
"Ah," said that official, when they met, "you got your letter, did you?Well, I thought you would."
"If you had heard the conversation between my estimable friend Mr. Brownand myself, up to the very last moment, you wouldn't have thought it."
"Well, Brown is generally very courteous towards newspaper men, andthat's one reason you see his name in the papers a great deal."
"If I were a Cincinnati newspaper man, I can assure you that his namewouldn't appear very much in the columns of my paper."
"I am sorry to hear you say that. I thought Brown was very popular withthe newspaper men. You got the letter, though, did you?"
"Yes; I got it. Here it is. Read it."
The sheriff scanned the brief note over, and put it in his pocket.
"Just take a chair for a moment, will you, and I will see if Mrs.Brenton is ready to receive you."
Jane.]
Stratton seated himself, and, pulling a paper from his pocket, wasbusily reading when the sheriff again entered.
"I am sorry to say," he began, "after you have had all this trouble,that Mrs. Brenton positively refuses to see you. You know I cannot_compel_ a prisoner to meet any one. You understand that, of course."
"Perfectly," said Stratton, thinking for a moment. "See here, sheriff,I have simply _got_ to have a talk with that woman. Now, can't you tellher I knew her husband, or something of that sort? I'll make it allright when I see her."
* * * * *
"The scoundrel!" said Brenton to Speed, as Stratton made this remark.
"My dear sir," said Speed, "don't you see he is just the man we want?This is not the time to be particular."
"Yes, but think of the treachery and meanness of telling a poorunfortunate woman that he was acquainted with her husband, who is only afew days dead."
"Now, see here," said Speed, "if you are going to look on matters inthis way you will be a hindrance and not a help in the affair. Don't youappreciate the situation? Why, Mrs. Brenton's own lawyers, as you havesaid, think her guilty. What, then, can they learn by talking with her,or what good can they do her with their minds already prejudiced againsther? Don't you see that?"
Brenton made no answer to this, but it was evident he was very ill atease.
* * * * *
"Did you know her husband?" asked the sheriff.
"No, to tell you the truth, I never heard of him before. But I must seethis lady, both for my good and hers, and I am not going to let a littlething like that stand between us. Won't you tell her that I have comewith a letter from her own lawyers? Just show her the letter, and saythat I will take up but very little of her time. I am sorry to ask thismuch of you, but you see how I am placed."
"Oh, that's all right," said the sheriff, good-naturedly; "I shall bevery glad to do what you wish," and with that he once more disappeared.
The sheriff stayed away longer this time, and Stratton paced the roomimpatiently. Finally, the official returned, and said--
"Mrs. Brenton has consented to see you. Come this way, please. Youwill excuse me, I know," continued the sheriff, as they walked alongtogether, "but it is part of my duty to remain in the room while youare talking with Mrs. Brenton."
"Certainly, certainly," said Stratton; "I understand that."
"Very well; then, if I may make a suggestion, I would say this: youshould be prepared to ask just what you want to know, and do it all asspeedily as possible, for really Mrs. Brenton is in a condition ofnervous exhaustion that renders it almost cruel to put her through anyrigid cross-examination."
"I understand that also," said Stratton; "but you must rememberthat she has a very much harder trial to undergo in the future. I amexceedingly anxious to get at the truth of this thing, and so, if itseems to you that I am asking a lot of very unnecessary questions, Ihope you will not interfere with me as long as Mrs. Brenton consents toanswer."
"I shall not interfere at all," said the sheriff; "I only wanted tocaution you, for the lady may break down at any moment. If you canmarshal your questions so that the most important ones come first, Ithink it will be wise. I presume you have them pretty well arranged inyour own mind?"
"Well, I can't say that I have; you see, I am entirely in the dark. Igot no help whatever from the lawyers, and from what I know of theirdefence I am thoroughly convinced that they are on the wrong track."
"What! did Brown say anything about
the defence? That is not like hisusual caution."
"He didn't intend to," answered Stratton; "but I found out all I wantedto know, nevertheless. You see, I shall have to ask what appears to be alot of rambling, inconsequential questions because you can never tell ina case like this when you may get the key to the whole mystery."
"Well, here we are," said the sheriff, as he knocked at a door, and thenpushed it open.
From the moment George Stratton saw Mrs. Brenton his interest in thecase ceased to be purely journalistic.
Mrs. Brenton was standing near the window, and she appeared to be verycalm and collected, but her fingers twitched nervously, clasping andunclasping each other. Her modest dress of black was certainly a verybecoming one.
George thought he had never seen a woman so beautiful.
As she was standing up, she evidently intended the interview to be ashort one.
"Madam," said Stratton, "I am very sorry indeed to trouble you; but Ihave taken a great interest in the solution of this mystery, and I haveyour lawyers' permission to visit you. I assure you, anything you saywill be submitted to them, so that there will be no danger of your casebeing prejudiced by any statements made."
"I am not afraid," said Mrs. Brenton, "that the truth will injure orprejudice my case."
"I am sure of that," answered the newspaper man; and then, knowing thatshe would not sit down if he asked her to, he continued diplomatically,"Madam, will you permit me to sit down? I wish to write out my notes ascarefully as possible. Accuracy is my strong point."
"Certainly," said Mrs. Brenton; and, seeing that it was not probable theinterview would be a short one, she seated herself by the window, whilethe sheriff took a chair in the corner, and drew a newspaper from hispocket.
"Now, madam," said the special, "a great number of the questions I askyou may seem trivial, but as I said to the sheriff a moment ago, someword of yours that appears to you entirely unconnected with the case maygive me a clue which will be exceedingly valuable. You will, therefore,I am sure, pardon me if some of the questions I ask you appearirrelevant."
Mrs. Brenton bowed her head, but said nothing.
"Were your husband's business affairs in good condition at the time ofhis death?"
"As far as I know they were."
"Did you ever see anything in your husband's actions that would lead youto think him a man who might have contemplated suicide?"
Mrs. Brenton looked up with wide-open eyes.
"Certainly not," she said.
"Had he ever spoken to you on the subject of suicide?"
"I do not remember that he ever did."
"Was he ever queer in his actions? In short, did you ever noticeanything about him that would lead you to doubt his sanity? I am sorryif questions I ask you seem painful, but I have reasons for wishing tobe certain on this point."
"No," said Mrs. Brenton; "he was perfectly sane. No man could have beenmore so. I am certain that he never thought of committing suicide."
"Why are you so certain on that point?"
"I do not know why. I only know I am positive of it."
"Do you know if he had any enemy who might wish his death?"
"I doubt if he had an enemy in the world. I do not know of any."
"Have you ever heard him speak of anybody in a spirit of enmity?"
"Never. He was not a man who bore enmity against people. Persons whom hedid not like he avoided."
"The poison, it is said, was put into his cup of coffee. Do you happento know," said Stratton, turning to the sheriff, "how they came to thatconclusion?"
"No, I do not," answered the sheriff. "In fact, I don't see any reasonwhy they should think so."
"Was morphia found in the coffee cup afterwards?"
"No; at the time of the inquest all the things had been cleared away. Ithink it was merely presumed that the morphine was put into his coffee."
"Who poured out the coffee he drank that night?"
"I did," answered his wife.
"You were at one end of the table and he at the other, I suppose?"
"Yes."
"How did the coffee cup reach him?"
"I gave it to the servant, and she placed it before him."
"It passed through no other hands, then?"
"No."
"Who was the servant?"
Mrs. Brenton pondered for a moment.
"I really know very little about her. She had been in our house for acouple of weeks only."
"What was her name?"
"Jane Morton, I think."
"Where is she now, do you know?"
"I do not know."
"She appeared at the inquest, of course?" said Stratton, turning to thesheriff.
"I think she did," was the answer. "I am not sure."
He marked her name down in the note-book.
"How many people were there at the dinner?"
"Including my husband and myself, there were twenty-six."
"Could you give me the name of each of them?"
"Yes, I think so."
She repeated the names, which he took down, with certain notes andcomments on each.
"Who sat next your husband at the head of the table?"
"Miss Walker was at his right hand, Mr. Roland at his left."
"Now, forgive me if I ask you if you have ever had any trouble with yourhusband?"
"Never."
"Never had any quarrel?"
Mrs. Brenton hesitated for a moment.
"No, I don't think we ever had what could be called a quarrel."
"You had no disagreement shortly before the dinner?"
Again Mrs. Brenton hesitated.
"I can hardly call it a disagreement," she said. "We had a littlediscussion about some of the guests who were to be invited."
"Did he object to any that were there?"
"There was a gentleman there whom he did not particularly like, I think,but he made no objection to his coming; in fact, he seemed to feel thatI might imagine he had an objection from a little discussion we hadabout inviting him; and afterwards, as if to make up for that, he placedthis guest at his left hand."
Stratton quickly glanced up the page of his notebook, and marked alittle cross before the name of Stephen Roland.
"You had another disagreement with him before, if I might term it so,had you not?"
Mrs. Brenton looked at him surprised.
"What makes you think so?" she said.
"Because you hesitated when I spoke of it."
"Well, we had what you might call a disagreement once at Lucerne,Switzerland."
"Will you tell me what it was about?"
"I would rather not."
"Will you tell me this--was it about a gentleman?"
"Yes," said Mrs. Brenton.
"Was your husband of a jealous disposition?"
"Ordinarily I do not think he was. It seemed to me at the time that hewas a little unjust--that's all."
"Was the gentleman in Lucerne?"
"Oh no!"
"In Cincinnati?"
"Yes."
"Was his name Stephen Roland?"
Mrs. Brenton again glanced quickly at the newspaper man, and seemedabout to say something, but, checking herself, she simply answered--
"Yes."
Then she leaned back in the armchair and sighed.
"I am very tired," she said. "If it is not absolutely necessary, Iprefer not to continue this conversation."
Stratton immediately rose.
"Madam," he said, "I am very much obliged to you for the trouble youhave taken to answer my questions, which I am afraid must have seemedimpertinent to you, but I assure you that I did not intend them to beso. Now, madam, I would like very much to get a promise from you. I wishthat you would promise to see me if I call again, and I, on my part,assure you that unless I have something particularly important to tellyou, or to ask, I shall not intrude upon you."
"I shall be pleased to see you at any time, sir."
When the sheri
ff and the newspaper man reached the other room, theformer said--
"Well, what do you think?"
"I think it is an interesting case," was the answer.
"Or, to put it in other words, you think Mrs. Brenton a very interestinglady."
"Officially, sir, you have exactly stated my opinion."
"And I suppose, poor woman, she will furnish an interesting article forthe paper?"
"Hang the paper!" said Stratton, with more than his usual vim.
The sheriff laughed. Then he said--
"I confess that to me it seems a very perplexing affair all through.Have you got any light on the subject?"
"My dear sir, I will tell you three important things. First, Mrs.Brenton is innocent. Second, her lawyers are taking the wrong line ofdefence. Third," tapping his breast-pocket, "I have the name of themurderer in my note-book."