CHAPTER VI
Strange emotions all tangled up with turbulent, night-marish impressionsscrambled through Dollie Meredith's pretty head in garish disorder. Shedidn't know whether to laugh or cry. Finally she compromised by blushingradiantly at the memory of certain lingering kisses she had bestowedupon--upon--Dick Herbert? No, it wasn't Dick Herbert. Oh, dear!
Detective Mallory pounced upon the bullet as a hound upon a hare, andturned and twisted it in his hands. Cunningham leaned over his shoulder,then drew a cartridge from the revolver and compared it, as to size,with the bullet. Hatch and Mr. Randolph, looking on, saw him shake hishead. The ball was too small for the revolver.
The Supreme Intelligence turned suddenly, fiercely, upon Dollie andthrust an accusing finger into her startled face.
"Mr. Herbert confessed to you that he was with you in the automobile,didn't he?"
"Y-yes," she faltered.
"You _know_ he was with you?"
"I thought I knew it."
"You wouldn't have gone with any other man?"
"Certainly not!" A blaze of indignation suffused her cheeks.
"Your casket of jewels was found among the stolen goods in hispossession?"
"Yes, but----"
With a wave of his hand the Supreme Intelligence stopped explanationsand turned to glare at The Thinking Machine. That imperturbablegentleman did not alter his position in the slightest, nor did he changethe steady, upward squint of his eyes.
"If you have quite finished, Mr. Mallory," he said after a moment, "Iwill explain how and in what circumstances the stolen plate and jewelscame into Mr. Herbert's possession."
"Go on," urged Mr. Randolph and Hatch in a breath.
"Explain all you please; I've got him with the goods on," declared theSupreme Intelligence doggedly.
"When the simplest rules of logic establish a fact it becomesincontrovertible," resumed the scientist. "I have shown that Mr. Herbertwas _not_ the man in the automobile--the Burglar. Now, what _did_ happento Mr. Herbert? Twice since his arrest he has stated that it would beuseless for him to explain because no one would believe it, and no one_would_ have believed it unsupported, least of all you, Mr. Mallory.
"It's an admitted fact that Miss Meredith and Mr. Herbert had planned toelope from Seven Oaks the night of the ball. I daresay that Mr. Herbertdid not deem it wise for Miss Meredith to know his costume, although hemust, of necessity, have known hers. Therefore, the plan was for him torecognise her, but as it developed she recognised him--or thought shedid--and that was the real cause of this remarkable muddle." He glancedat Dollie. "Is that correct?"
Dollie nodded blushingly.
"Now, Mr. Herbert did not go to the ball--why not I will explain later.Therefore, Miss Meredith recognised the real Burglar as Mr. Herbert, andwe know how they ran away together after the Burglar had stolen theplate and various articles of jewelry. We must credit the Burglar withremarkable intelligence, so that when a young and attractive woman--Imay say a beautiful woman--spoke to him as someone else he immediatelysaw an advantage in it. For instance, when there came discovery of thetheft the girl might unwittingly throw the police off the track byrevealing to them what she believed to be the identity of the thief.Further, he was a daring, audacious sort of person; the pure love ofsuch an adventure might have appealed to him. Still, again, it ispossible that he believed Miss Meredith a thief who was in peril ofdiscovery or capture, and a natural gallantry for one of his own craftprompted him to act as he did. There is always, too, the possibilitythat he knew he was mistaken for Mr. Herbert."
Dollie was beginning to see, too.
"We know the method of escape, the pursuit, and all that," continuedthe Professor, "therefore we jump to the return of the gold plate. Logicmakes it instantly apparent that that was the work of Miss Meredithhere. Not having the plate, Mr. Herbert did not send it back, of course;and the Burglar _would_ not have sent it back. Realising, too late, thatthe man she was with was really a thief--and still believing him,perhaps, to be Mr. Herbert--she must have taken the plate and escapedunder cover of darkness?"
The tone carried a question and The Thinking Machine turned squintinglyupon Dollie. Again she nodded. She was enthralled, fascinated, by therecital.
"It was a simple matter for her to return the gold plate by express,taking advantage of an unoccupied house and the willingness of astranger to telephone for an express wagon. Thus, we have the plateagain at Seven Oaks, and we have it there by the only method it couldhave been returned there when we account for, and consider, every knownfact."
The Thinking Machine paused and sat silently staring upward. Hislisteners readjusted themselves in their chairs and waited impatiently.
"Now, why did Mr. Herbert confess to Miss Meredith that he stole theplate?" asked the scientist, as if of himself. "Perhaps she forced himto it. Mr. Herbert is a young man of strong loyalty and a grim sense ofhumour, this latter being a quality the police are not acquainted with.However, Mr. Herbert _did_ confess to Miss Meredith that he was theBurglar, but he made this confession, obviously, because she wouldbelieve nothing else, and when a seeming necessity of protecting thereal Burglar was still uppermost in his mind. What he wanted was theGirl. If the facts never came out he was all right; if they did come outthey would implicate one whom he was protecting, but through no fault ofhis--therefore, he was still all right."
"Bah!" exclaimed the Supreme Intelligence. "My experience has shownthat a man doesn't confess to a theft unless----"
"So we may safely assume," The Thinking Machine continued almostpleasantly, "that Mr. Herbert, by confessing the theft as a prank,perhaps, won back Miss Meredith's confidence; that they planned anelopement for the second time. A conversation Mr. Hatch had with Mr.Herbert immediately after Mr. Herbert saw Miss Meredith practicallyconfirms it. Then, with matters in this shape, the real Burglar, to whomI have accredited unusual powers, stole the plate the second time--weknow how."
"Herbert stole it, you mean!" blazed Detective Mallory.
"This theft came immediately on top of the reconciliation of MissMeredith and Mr. Herbert," The Thinking Machine went on steadily,without heeding the remark by the slightest sign. "Therefore, it wasonly natural that he should be the person most vitally interested inseeing that the plate was again returned. He undertook to do thishimself. The result was that, where the police had failed, he found theplate and a lot of jewels, took them from the Burglar, and was about toreturn Mr. Randolph's property when the detectives walked in on him.That is why he laughed."
Detective Mallory arose from his seat and started to say somethingimpolite. The presence of Dollie Meredith choked the words back and heswallowed hard.
"Who then," he demanded after a couple of gulps--"who do you say is thethief if Herbert is not?"
The Thinking Machine glanced up into his face, then turned to Hatch.
"Mr. Hatch, what is that name I asked you to get?"
"George Francis Hayden," was the stammering reply, "but--but----"
"Then George Francis Hayden is the thief," declared The Thinking Machineemphatically.
"But I--I started to say," Hatch blurted--"I started to say that GeorgeFrancis Hayden has been dead for two years."
The Thinking Machine rose suddenly and glared at the reporter. There wasa tense silence, broken at last by a chuckle from Detective Mallory.
"Dead?" repeated the scientist incredulously. "Do you _know_ that?"
"Yes, I--I know it."
The Thinking Machine stood for another moment squinting at him, then,turning, left the room.