CHAPTER XVII
THE CIPHER
"And how would the dime help, if we had it?" Iris pursued the subject.
"I'm not at all sure that it would," Stone replied, "but there must besome hint on it as to the keyword. I tried an ordinary dime, thinkingthe word we need might be 'Liberty' or 'United' or 'America,' But noneof those would work. I tried to think out a way where the date on thedime would help----"
"But you don't know the date!"
"No; but I tried to find a way where a date would apply, but I can'tthink figures are needed, it's a _word_ we must have."
"Words on dimes are all alike," suggested Lucille.
"Yes, but suppose a word had been engraved on this particular dime asthese letters are engraved on the pin."
"Aunt Ursula would have been quite capable of such a scheme," Irisaverred, "for she had most ingenious notions about puzzles and ciphers.Sometimes she would offer me a bill of large denomination, or a checkfor a goodly sum, if I could guess from the data she gave me what thefigures were."
"And did you?"
"Never! I have no head for that sort of thing. It made my brain swimwhen she finally explained it to me."
"And yet I can't think the dime is necessary for the solution of thiscryptogram," Stone went on, "or Young would have tried to get that also.However, now we have the man himself, he must be _made_ to give upwhatever knowledge he possesses."
"He won't," Iris said, positively.
Fibsy was poring over the string of letters, which he had copied fromStone's paper.
"That's so, F. S." he said, blinking thoughtfully, "there aren't enoughduplicates of any letter to mean E. This is a square alphabet with a keyword, sure."
"Good for you, Terence!" and Stone smiled approvingly. "You're a realgenius for ciphers! Now, where's the key word to be looked for?"
"On that paper Mrs. Pell left to Mr. Bannard," and Fibsy's eyes sparkledat the idea that suddenly sprang to his brain. "Why, of course, Mr.Stone! I didn't know I was going to say that, till it just came ofitself. But, don't you see? She left the pin to Miss Clyde, and thereceipt to Mr. Bannard and it takes them both to solve the cipher!"
"And that receipt was stolen by the man who murdered Ursula Pell!" saidMiss Darrel; "he must have known its value!"
"It may be you've had an inspiration, Fibsy," conceded Stone, "and itmay be the word is not on that receipt after all. But we must use everyeffort to get the paper and, also, to find that dime. It may well be aword is engraved on the coin, in the same microscopic letters as theseon the pinhead. We must try both means of solution. Will you hunt thedime, Fibs?"
"Sure, but I'll bet the word is on the paper. Else why'd the old ladysay that Mr. Bannard would find that receipt of interest to him? And,too, as she left the jewels to two heirs, fifty-fifty, it stands toreason part of the means of finding them should be given to each party."
"That's mere conjecture," Stone said, "but we'll look up both. I'veworked hours over the cipher, and I've proved to my own satisfactionthat it cannot be solved without the knowledge of the one word needed.It's like the combination of a safe, you have to know the word or youcan never open the door."
"Tell me a little about it, just what you mean by key word," beggedLucille, "I know nothing of ciphers."
"I make it out that this cryptogram is built on what we call theConfederacy Cipher," Stone informed her. "It is a well known plan and ismuch used by our own government and by others. It is the safest sort ofa cipher if the key word is carefully guarded. To make it clear to you,I will put on this paper the alphabet block."
Stone took a large sheet of paper, and wrote the alphabet straightacross its top. He then wrote the alphabet straight down the left handside. He then filled in the letters in their correct rotation until hehad this result
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
"The way to use this," he explained, "is to take a keyword--let us say,Darrel. Then let us suppose this message reads, 'The jewels are hiddenin ----.' Of course, I'm only supposing this to show you ourdifficulties. I write the message and place the code word, or keywordabove it, thus:
"Dar relDar rel Darrel Da The jewels are hidden in
"we repeat the keyword over and over as may be necessary. Then we takethe first letter, D, and find it in the line across the top of ouralphabet square, and the letter under D, which is T we find in the lefthand perpendicular line. Now trace the D line down, and the T lineacross, until the two meet, which gives us W. This would be the firstletter of the cipher message if the key word were Darrel, and themessage like our suggested one. But the first letter of the cipher wehave to solve is O, and no possible amount of guessing can go anyfurther unless we have the key word Mrs. Pell used to guide us. See?"
"Yes, I see," and Miss Darrel nodded her head. "It's most interesting.But, as the first letter of the cipher is O, why can't you find O inyour alphabet and go ahead?"
"Because there are twenty-six O's in the square, and it needs the keyword to tell which of the twenty-six we want."
"It's perplexing, but I see the plan," and Lucille studied the paper,"however, I doubt if I could make it out, even if I had the word."
"Oh, yes, you could, and if we get the dime and the receipt that was inthe pocket-book we can try every word on them both, and I feel surewe'll get the answer. Now, since Pollock, or Young, rather, was sodesirous of getting the pin, I argue that he had the necessary key word.Therefore we must get it from him, if we can't get it ourselves, and Idoubt if he'll give it up willingly."
"Of course he has the key word," Iris said, "for he told me he couldfind the jewels and no one else could, if I'd hand over the pin. And heoffered to go halves with me! The idea!"
"And yet, if he has the key word, and won't give it up, you can neverfind the jewels," observed Stone.
"You don't advise me to accept his offer, do you?"
"No; Miss Clyde, I certainly do not. But there is another phase of thismatter, you know. If Charlie Young stole that paper from the pocket-bookhe was the one who attacked your aunt----"
"And Winston Bannard is in jail in his place! Oh, Mr. Stone, let thejewels be a secondary consideration, get Win freed and Charles Youngaccused of the murder--he must be the guilty man!"
"It looks that way," Stone mused; "and yet, Bannard admits he was herethat Sunday morning, and had an interview with his aunt. May he not haveobtained possession of the receipt--oh, don't look like that! Perhapshis aunt gave it to him willingly, perhaps she told him of itsvalue----"
"Oh, no," cried Iris, "if all that had happened, Win would have told me.No; when he discovered that the receipt was left to him and wasespecially referred to in the will, he was amazed and disappointed tofind that old pocket-book empty."
"He see
med to be," said Stone, but his manner gave no hint of accusationof Bannard's insincerity.
"Mr. Bannard, he ain't the murderer," declared Fibsy; "and that Young,he ain't neither. Because--how'd they get out?"
"How did the murderer get out, whoever he was?" countered Stone.
"He didn't," said the boy, simply.
It was soon after that, that Hughes came to Pellbrook to reportprogress.
"That Charlie Young," he said, "he's a queer dick."
"Will he talk?" asked Stone.
"Talk? Nothing but! He tells the most astonishing things. He vows he'sin cahoots with Winston Bannard."
"That isn't true!" Iris cried out "Win isn't guilty himself, of course,but he isn't mixed up with a man like Charlie Young, either!"
"Young says," Hughes went on, "that the note asking for the pin is inBannard's disguised writing. He says that Bannard put him up tokidnapping Miss Clyde and getting the pin from her so they two could getthe jewels and----"
"What utter rubbish!" Iris said, disdainfully. "Do you mean that Mr.Bannard wanted to get the jewels away from me? And have both his shareand my own? Ridiculous!"
"It seems, Miss Clyde," Hughes stated, "that Young has part of somedirections or something like that, as to where to find the jewels; andhe made it up with Bannard to get the pin, which he claims is a key totheir hiding-place, and the two men were to share the loot."
"I never heard such absurdity!" Iris' eyes blazed with anger. "Mr.Stone, won't you go and interview this Young, and tell him he lies?"
"I'll assuredly interview him, Miss Clyde, but suppose Mr. Bannard didhave that paper--that receipt----"
"He didn't! Why, if he had, why would he confer with that bad man? Whynot by means of his paper, which is, you know, lawfully his, and my pin,which was bequeathed to me, why not, those two things are all that isnecessary, find the jewels by their aid?"
"That's the point," Stone said. "It does seem as if Young possesses someinformation of importance."
"Well," Iris went on, angrily, "now they've got the two of them there,why can't you confront Winston with Young and let them tell the truth?"
"Perhaps they won't," Hughes put in, "you know, Miss Clyde, we didn'tarrest Mr. Bannard without thinking there was enough evidence againsthim to warrant it."
"You did! That's just what you did! There wasn't any evidence--that is,none of importance! Mr. Stone, you don't think Win guilty, do you?"
Here Iris broke down, and shaking with convulsive sobs she let Lucillelead her from the room.
"Of course she's upset," Hughes said, with sympathy in his hard voice."But she's got trouble ahead. I think she's in love with WinstonBannard----"
"Oh, _do_ you!" chirped Fibsy, unable to control his sarcasm. "Why, whatperspicaciousness you have got! And you are quite right, Mr. Hughes,Miss Clyde is so much in love with that suspect of yours that she can'tthink straight. Now, looky here, Mr. Bannard didn't kill his aunt."
"Is that so, Bub? Well, as Mr. Dooley says, your opinion is interestin'but not convincin'."
"All right, go ahead in your own blunderin' way! But how did Mr. Bannardget out of the locked room?"
"Always fall back on that, son! It's a fine climax where you don't knowwhat to say next! I'll answer, as I always do, how did any othermurderer get out of the room?"
"He didn't," said Fibsy.
"Oho! And is he in there yet?"
"Nope. But I can't waste any more time on you, friend Hughes, I'vesumpthing to attend to. Mr. Stone, I'll go and get that dime now, shallI?"
"Go ahead, Fibs," Stone returned, absently, "and I'll go along with you,Hughes, and see if I can make anything out of your new prisoner."
Fibsy went first in search of Sam, and having found thatdefective-minded but sturdy-bodied lad, undertook to inform him as totheir immediate occupation.
"See," and Fibsy showed Sam a dime, "you find me one like that in thegrass, and I'll give you two of 'em!"
"Two--two for Sam!"
"Yes, three if you find one quick! Now, get busy."
Fibsy showed him how to search in the short grass of the well-kept lawn,and he himself went to work also, diligently seeking the dime Iris hadflung out of the window in her irritation.
While Sam lacked intellect, he had a dogged perseverance, and he kept ongrubbing about after Fibsy had become so weary and cramped that he wasalmost ready to postpone further search until afternoon.
They had pretty well scoured the area in which the flung coin would belikely to fall, and just as Fibsy sang out, "Give it up, Samivel, untilthis afternoon," the lad found it.
"Here's dime!" he cried, picking it from the grass. "Sammy find it allaloney!"
"Good for you, old chap! You're a trump! Hooray!"
"But give Sammy dimes--two--three dimes."
"You bet I will! Here--here are five dimes for Sammy!"
Eagerly the innocent received the coins, and scampered away, having nofurther interest in the one he had found.
Fibsy examined the dime, but could see no engraving on it, nor anyletters other than those the United States Mint had put there.
The date was 1892, if that meant anything.
Carefully wrapping it in a bit of paper, Fibsy stowed it in his pocketand went into the house to await Fleming Stone's return.
And when Stone did return, it required no great discernment to see thathe was dejected and discouraged.
He received the dime with a smile of hearty approval, but it was quicklyfollowed by a reappearance of the distressed frown that betokenednon-success.
"What's up, Mr. Stone?" Fibsy inquired.
"Not my luck," was the reply; "Fibs, we're up against it."
"Let her go! What's the answer?"
"Well, that Young is a hard nut to crack."
"Not for you, F. S."
"Yes, for me, or for anybody. He's got a perfect alibi."
"Always distrust the 'perfect alibi.' That's one of the first things youtaught me, Mr. Stone."
"I know it, Fibs, but this alibi is unimpeachable."
"A peach of an alibi, hey?"
"That, indeed! You remember Joe Young, over at East Fallville?"
"Yes, sir, I do."
"Well, he says that his brother, Charlie Young, was at his house todinner on that Sunday that Mrs. Pell was killed. He says Charlie arrivedabout half-past twelve, and he staid there until after four o'clock.Says they were together all that time. Now, that man Joe Young, is, I amsure, an honest man. Besides, his story is verified by his wife. Ofcourse, Charlie Young declares he was at his brother's during thosehours, and in the face of all the corroboration I can't disbelieve it.But, granting that alibi, who is left to suspect but Winston Bannard?"
"How'd Young catch onto all the pin and dime and receipt business,anyway?" asked Fibsy, with seeming irrelevance.
"I don't know, I'm sure."
"There's something back of that," and Fibsy wagged a sagacious nod.
"Maybe. But whatever's back of it may incriminate Young to the extent oftrying to get the pin from Miss Clyde, perhaps even having stolen thereceipt from Bannard, but it positively lets him out of any implicationin the murder."
"Oh--I don't know."
"Why, child, if he was really at Joe Young's house from noon till fouro'clock, how could he have been here at the time Mrs. Pell was killed?"
"He couldn't." Fibsy was taciturn, but his knitted brow told of deepthought.
"I got a hunch, Mr. Stone, that's all I can say for the minute--itmayn't be right, and then again it may, but--I got a hunch!"
"All right, Fibs, work it out your own way. But remember, that alibistands. I can see a leak in a story as quickly as the next man, but thatJoe Young is honest as the day, and his wife is too. And when theyassert--we telephoned them, you know--when they assert that CharlieYoung was there at that time, I believe he was."
"I believe it, too, Mr. Stone. Now, what about that dime?"
Fleming Stone took his strong magnifying-glass and studied the coin.
/> "Nothing on it, Fibs, except what belongs there. It might have been, asI hoped, that the keyword was one of these words that are stamped on,but I tried them all, any dime was all right for that. This particularten-cent piece has no distinguishing characteristics that I can see.The date is of no help, I think, for unless I'm altogether wrong as tothe type of cipher, figures are not usable. But I'll keep it safe untilI'm sure it's no good."
"All right, Mr. Stone. Now, I guess I'll work on my hunch! Wanta help?"
"Yes, if it isn't beyond my power."
"Oh, come now," and Fibsy blushed scarlet at the realization that he hadseemed to plume himself on his own cleverness, "but here's the way I'mgoin' about it. Say I'm the murderer. Say that door's locked on thisside." They were alone in Mrs. Pell's sitting room.
"Let's lock it, to help along the local color," suggested Stone, and hedid so.
"Yes, sir. Now--but say, Mr. Stone, wait a minute. What became of thoseropes?"
"Ropes?"
"Yes, that the murderer bound her ankles with and her wrists. Weren't wetold that there were marks on her wrists and ankles where she'd beenbound with ropes?"
"Yes, well, the murderer took those away with him."
"Did he 'bring 'em with him?"
"Probably."
"Then it wasn't Mr. Bannard. If he killed his aunt, which he didn't, henever came up here with a load of ropes and things! But never mind that,now. Say I'm the murderer. I've attacked the old lady and I've got thepaper I wanted, and all that. Now, how do I get out!"
Fleming Stone watched the boy, fascinated. Absorbed in the spirit of hisimagined predicament, Fibsy stood, his bright eyes darting about theroom, as if really in search of a means of exit.
CHAPTER XVIII
SOLUTION AT LAST
"I am here," he muttered, "I have killed her, or, at least, she isdying--lying there on the floor, dying--I have to get out before theservants break in--I can't get out, there's no way I can get out. Mr.Stone, he _didn't_ get out, because----"
"Because he wasn't in!" interrupted Fleming Stone, excitedly. "Oh, Fibs,do _you_ see it that way too?"
"Sure I do! Fancy anybody untyin' a lot o' ropes, and freein' the ladyand makin' a getaway, ropes and all, in two or three minutes, andbesides, he _couldn't_ get out!"
Fibsy stated this as triumphantly as if it were a new proposition. "Theupset table," he went on, "the smashed lamp, with its long, green cord,the poor lady's dress open at the throat----"
"Yes," Stone nodded, eagerly, "yes,--and I daresay she had lace frillsat her wrists and neck----"
"Of course she did! Oh, the plucky one!"
And then the two investigators put their heads together andreconstructed to their own satisfaction the whole scene of Mrs. Pell'stragic death.
"I'll go right over to see Young again," Stone said, at last, "and youskip around to see Mrs. Bowen; she'll tell you more than Miss Clydecan."
"Of course she will, and the dominie, too."
After a long argument, Fleming Stone persuaded Young that it wouldreally be better for him to tell the truth, as to his movements on thatfatal Sunday, than to persist in his falsehoods.
Stone did not tell the prisoner of his brother's confirmation of hisunimpeachable alibi, but he told him that he was sure he did not murderMrs. Pell.
"However," Stone said, "unless you tell the truth about her death, youwill not only be suspected but convicted." And, finally, seeing it washis best hope, Young told his story.
"I went to the house about half-past eleven Sunday morning," he stated,"everybody had gone to church, and the old lady was there alone."
"What did you go for?"
"To get that receipt and the pin."
"Why those two things?"
"I had reason to think that they meant the discovery of her great hoardof jewels. I'm telling you all, for I want to prove that I not only didnot kill the lady, but had no thought or intention of doing so."
"You took ropes along to tie her with?"
"Hardly that. I had some strong twine, as I thought she might provefractious, and I was determined to get the pin and paper."
"How did you ever know about those things?"
"My uncle made the pin--engraved it, I mean. He was a marvelously expertengraver in the firm of Craig, Marsden & Co. After his death I cameacross a memorandum that gave away the secret. Not the solution of thecipher, exactly, he didn't know that himself. But a statement that hehad engraved the pin for Mrs. Pell, and that, with the receipt for thework itself, it formed a direction as to where the jewels were hidden."
"And you demanded these things of her?"
"Yes, I told her the jewels belonged partly to my uncle."
"Did they?"
"No; not exactly, though Mrs. Pell had promised him some small stones,and I'm not sure she gave them to him."
"Go on, tell it all."
"I'm willing to, for my game is up, and I want to get away from amurder charge! My heavens, I'd never think of _killing_ anybody!"
"Wait a minute, you say you reached the house about eleven-thirty. Howdid you come?"
"I was in my little car. I left that in the woodland road."
"And that's when Sam saw you."
"I suppose so. I didn't see him."
"Did you see Bannard?"
"I did. He was coming away from the house as I started toward it."
"He didn't see you?"
"No, I took good care of that."
"Then he did go away at nearly noon, and he was on his way down to NewYork when he stopped at the Red Fox Inn."
"Yes, his story is all true. I fixed up the Inn people to put it theother way, because I feared for my own skin."
"You _are_ a fine specimen! Well, go on."
"Well, I was bound to get that pin. I asked Mrs. Pell for it, and shelaughed. She wasn't a bit afraid of me. Plucky old thing! I _had_ to tieher while I hunted around! She was ready to scratch my eyes out!"
"And you beat her--bruised her!"
"No more than I had to. She struggled like a wildcat."
"And you upset the table in your scrap?"
"We did not! Nor smash the lamp. Nor did I dash her to the floor. I'mtelling you the exact truth, because there's so much seeming evidenceagainst me that I'm playing safe. I searched all the room, and I foundthe paper, but I couldn't find the pin."
"You cut out her pocket?"
"I did, but I didn't tear open her gown at the throat, nor did I flingher to the floor to kill her on the fender. I finally untied her andwent away, leaving her practically unharmed, save for a few bruises.Why, man, she was at dinner after that, with guests present."
"And where were you?"
"I went right over to my brother's--I suppose you won't believe this,you'll think he's standing by me to save my life--but it's true. Ireached Joe's by half-past twelve, and I staid there till four or so.There was nobody more surprised than I to hear of Mrs. Pell's murder! Ileft that woman alive and well. The slight bruises were nothing, as isproved by her presence at the dinner table."
"I can't see why she didn't tell of your visit."
"She was a very peculiar woman. And she had it in for me! I think shefelt that she could get me and punish me with more surety by biding hertime till she could see her lawyer, or somebody like that. It seems tome in keeping with her peculiar disposition that she kept my attack onher a secret, until she chose to reveal it!"
"Mr. Young, I wouldn't believe this strange story of yours, but for yourbrother's statements and my absolute conviction of your brother'shonesty. Both he and his wife tell a staightforward tale of your arrivaland departure on that Sunday, which exactly coincides with your own. Andthere is other corroboration. Now, you are held here, as you know, forother reasons; kidnapping is a crime, and not a slight one, either."
"I know it, Mr. Stone, and I'll take my punishment for that, but I'm notguilty of murder. I was possessed to get hold of that pin. I plannedclever schemes to get it, but they all went awry, and I becamedesperate. So
, when I found a chance, I took it. I did Miss Clyde noreal harm, and I was willing to go halves with her. The day I had twofriends take her to my brother's house, he being away for the day, shewas in no danger, and at but slight inconvenience. Flossie, as MissClyde will tell you herself, was neither rude nor ungracious."
"Never mind all that, now, give me the receipt."
Young hesitated, but a warning scowl from Stone persuaded him, and witha sigh he handed over what was without doubt the receipt in question.
"This is Winston Bannard's property," said the detective, "and you dowell to give it up."
There was much to be done, but Fleming Stone was unable to resist thetemptation to go home at once and work out the cryptogram, if possible,by the aid of the receipt.
The paper itself was merely a bill for the engraving on the pin. Theprice charged was five hundred dollars, and the bill was receipted byJ. S. Ferrall, who, Young had said, was the man who did the engraving.
There were various words on the bill, both printed and written. Workingwith feverish intensity, Stone tried them one by one, and when he usedthe word Ferrall as a keyword, he found he had at last succeeded in hisundertaking.
Beginning thus:
FERRALLFERRALLFERRALL OINVLDLQPSVTHPJRCRNOX
he pursued his course by finding F in his top alphabet line. Runningdownward until he struck O, he noted that was in the cross linebeginning with J. J, therefore was the first letter of the message. Nexthe found E at the top, and traced that line down to I, which gave him Efor his second letter. Going on thus, he soon had the full message,which read:
"Jewels all between L and M. Seek and ye shall find."
This solved the cipher, but was far from being definite information.
In a conclave, all agreed that the message was as bewildering as thecipher itself.
Mr. Chapin could give no hint as to what was meant. Neither Iris norLucille Darrel could imagine what L and M stood for.
"Seems like a filing cabinet or card catalogue," suggested Stone, butIris said her aunt had not owned such a thing.
"Well, we'll find them," Stone promised, "having this information, we'llsomehow puzzle out the rest."
"Look in the dictionary or encyclopedia," put in Fibsy, who was scowlingdarkly in his efforts to think it out.
"You can't hide a lot of jewels in a book!" exclaimed Lucille.
"No; but there might be a paper there telling more."
However, no amount of search brought forth anything of the sort, andthey all thought again.
"When were these old things hidden?" Fibsy asked suddenly.
"The receipt is dated ten years ago," said Stone, "of course thatdoesn't prove----"
"Where'd she live then?"
"Here," replied Iris. "But I've sometimes imagined that she took herjewels back to her old home in Maine to hide them. Hints she dropped nowand then gave me that impression."
"Whereabouts in Maine?"
"In a village called Greendale."
"Her folks all live there?"
"I think her parents did----"
"What are their names? Did they begin with L or M?"
"No; both with E. They were Elmer and Emily, I think."
"Whoop! Whoop!" Fibsy sprang up in his excitement, and waved his armstriumphantly. "That's it! L and M means El and Em! Elmer and Emily!"
"Absurd!" scoffed Lucille, but Iris said, "You're right! Terence, youare right! That would be exactly like Aunt Ursula! And the jewels areburied between their two graves in the old Greendale cemetery! I dimlyremember some things Auntie said, or sort of hinted at, that would justprove that very thing!"
"It sounds probable," Stone agreed, and Mr. Chapin said it was in hismind, too, that Mrs. Pell had hinted at Maine as her hoarding place,though he had partially forgotten it.
"But this is merely surmise," Stone reminded them, "and while it may bethe truth, yet is it not possible that investigation will only give usfurther directions or more puzzles to work out?"
"It is not only possible but very probable," said Mr. Chapin. "I know mylate client's character well enough to think that she made the discoveryof her hoard just as difficult as she could. It was a queer twist in herbrain that impelled her to play these fantastic tricks. Moreover, Ican't think she would trust that fortune in gems to the lonely andunprotected earth of a cemetery."
"That's just what she would do," Iris insisted. "And really, what couldbe a safer hiding-place? Who would dream of digging between two oldgraves unless instructed to do so? And who could know of these secretand hidden instructions?"
"That's all so, Miss Clyde," Stone agreed with her. "I think it amarvellously well chosen place of concealment, and I am inclined tothink the jewels themselves are there. But it may not be so. It may bewe have further to look, more ciphers to solve. But, at least we aremaking progress. Now, who will make a trip to Maine?"
"Not I!" and Iris shook her head. "I care for the fortune, of course,but it is nothing to me beside the freedom of Mr. Bannard. I hope, Mr.Stone, that Charlie Young's confession of how he bruised and hurt poorAunt Ursula proves Win's innocence and----"
"Not entirely, Miss Clyde. You see, we have his proof that Mr. Bannardleft this house at half-past eleven, or just before Young arrived, butthat won't satisfy the police that Mr. Bannard did not return at threeo'clock or thereabouts."
"But he was on his way to New York then."
"So he says; but the courts insist on proof or testimony of adisinterested witness."
"But surely someone can be found who saw Win between the time he lunchedat the inn, and the time he reached his rooms in New York."
"That's what we're hoping, but we haven't found that witness yet."
"Well, anyway," Iris pursued, "the people who saw him at the inn--atwhat time?"
"At about half-past twelve or so, I think."
"Well, their word proves that Win wasn't hidden here while we were atdinner, as some have suspected!"
"That's a good point, Miss Clyde! Now, if we can find a laterwitness----"
"But who did commit the murder?" asked Lucille. "You've put that Youngout of the question, now, Lord knows I don't suspect Win Bannard, butwho did do it?"
"And how did he get out?" added Fibsy, with the grim smile that oftenaccompanied that unanswerable question.
"He must be found!" Iris exclaimed. "I told you at the outset, Mr.Stone, that I want to avenge Aunt Ursula's death as well as find thefortune she left."
"Even if suspicion clings to Mr. Bannard?"
"He didn't do it! All the suspicion in the world can't hurt him, becauseit isn't true! I shall free him, if necessary, by my own efforts! Truthmust prevail. But more than that I want the murderer found. I want themystery of his exit solved. I want to know the whole truth, and afterthat, we'll go to dig for the treasure. If no one knows of the meaningof the cipher message but just us few, no one else can get ahead of us,and dig before we get there. Please, please, Mr. Stone, let the jewelswait, and put all your energies toward solving the greater mystery ofAunt Ursula's death."
"A strong point in favor of Mr. Bannard," Stone said, thoughtfully, "isthe fact of the clues that seemed to incriminate him. If he had been amurderer, would he have left the half-smoked cigarette, so easily tracedto him? Would he have gone off with a check, drawn that very day, in hispocket?"
"And the paper! He left that!" exclaimed Lucille.
"No," said Stone, "he didn't leave that. Young left that."
"How do you know?"
"Because Young was staying at a boarding-house up in Harlem, and the NewYork paper, still unfolded, had in it a circular of a Harlem laundry.That's why I remarked to Terence that the man who left that came fromnear Bob Grady's place, which is a saloon near the laundry in question.That paper never came from the locality where Bannard lives."
"And that proved Mr. Young's presence," Fibsy said. "Just as thecigarette proved Mr. Bannard's. Now neither of those men would have leftthose clues if they had murdered the lady."
; "I've always heard that a murderer does do just some such thoughtlessthing," remarked Chapin.
"This murderer didn't," and Fibsy shook his head. "When you goin' totell 'em, Mr. Stone?"
"Is Mrs. Bowen coming over?"
"Yes, sir, and here she comes now."
The minister's wife came hurrying into the room, and stared at thedetective.
"You sent for me, Mr. Stone? I don't know anything--about----"
"Nothing that seems to you important, perhaps. But, please, answer a fewsimple questions. Did Mrs. Pell wear lace frills at her wrists andthroat at dinner that Sunday you were here? I've asked Miss Clyde, andshe can't remember."
"Yes, sir, she did. I recollect I had never seen her wearing such fulland elaborate ones before."
"Did you notice anything else peculiar about her attire?"
"Only a spot of blood on the instep of her white stocking."
"Did you make any mention of it?"
"No; I thought at the time a mosquito had bitten her. But afterward Iheard it remarked at the inquest that her ankles had been tied and cutby cords until they bled a little. I can't see how that could havehappened before dinner."
"That's just when it did happen. I think, my friends, that I will nowtell you what I am positive is the truth of this matter, though it willat first seem to you incredible. Will you let me reconstruct the wholeday, as far as I can. Mrs. Pell was on her verandah, when her niece andher servants went to church. Soon after Winston Bannard came. They wentinto Mrs. Pell's sitting room, and she willingly gave her nephew a checkfor a large amount. Bannard went away, leaving behind a half-burnedcigarette, but nothing else that we know of. Immediately came CharlieYoung. He entered Mrs. Pell's sitting room, and found her there alone.The house doors were all open. He demanded the pin, and, he threatenedher and finally he used rough treatment. He cut out her pocket in hisdesperate determination to secure the pin and the receipt, which laterhe found in the old pocket-book.
"He tied her in a chair, that he might better make undisturbed search,and finally went away, taking with him the cords with which he had boundher, the receipt and such moneys as he had found about the room, andleaving behind his New York paper. Then, left bruised and hurt, Mrs.Pell, instead of following the procedure of the usual woman, pulledherself together, and, angry and indignant, told no one of her awfulexperience, but attended the dinner table and entertained her guests asif nothing untoward had occurred. She did not change her gown but sheadded wrist frills to conceal her bruises, and she doubtless failed tonotice the stain on her stocking.
"Then, after dinner, after the guests departed and Miss Clyde had goneto her own room, Mrs. Pell went into her sitting room, to rest andperhaps to plan vengeance on her assailant. But weak from shock, perhapsill and dizzied, she stumbled over that long cord that is attached tothe table lamp, upset lamp and table, and herself fell and hit her headon the fender. Doubtless she herself pulled open the neck of her gown asshe gasped her last. She called out for help, and cried 'Thieves!' in adazed remembrance of the attack that had been made on her by the thief.She locked the door, of course, when she first entered the room. I'mtold that was her invariable custom of a Sunday afternoon. Then, afterthe poor lady screamed out with her dying breath, the servants came andwere forced to break in the door to effect an entrance."
"That's it, all right, and it all checks up," said Fibsy, solemnly."Cause why? Cause there ain't any other explanation that'll fit all thecircumstances."
Nor was there. It did all check up. Further evidence was sought andfound. Witnesses proved the truth of Bannard's declarations. Samidentified Young as the man he had seen prowling round in the woods thatmorning, and everything fitted in like the pieces of a picture puzzle.
There was no way for a murderer to escape from that locked room, becausethere was no murderer and had been no murder. Young's was not amurderous assault, though it was enough to earn him his well-deservedpunishment, and the fact that the servants heard the crash of theoverset table and lamp proved that it had not happened at the time ofYoung's visit.
No one had chanced to enter Mrs. Pell's sitting-room between the call ofYoung and the breaking in of the door, so the ransacked desk and theopened safe were not discovered.
What had been taken from the safe they never knew, for Young declaredthere was nothing in it, and they partially believed him.
But the jewels which were found buried between the graves of UrsulaPell's parents, Elmer and Emily Pell, were of sufficient value to makeit a matter of little moment what was stolen from the safe.
And Winston Bannard was set free and came home in triumph to the smilinggirl awaiting him.
Only Fleming Stone knew that Win Bannard had been so evasive andtaciturn regarding himself because he feared that if he were freed Irismight be suspected.
He gave Iris the glory of bringing about his release, and though shedisclaimed it, she whispered to him, "I said I would win for Win! Theonly thing that bothered me was that note seemingly in your writing,though disguised."
"I know," said Bannard, "and I knew somebody did that to make it seemlike me, but I couldn't think who the villain could be."
"It was all a mighty close squeak," Fibsy said, thoughtfully. "I believethe keynote was struck when Sam told me he had dropped the 'pinny-pin inthe colole! If he hadn't we never would have got anywhere!"
"We wouldn't have then," said Stone, generously, "if Fibsy hadn'tgrubbed in the 'colole' for the pinny-pin."
"And found it!" chimed in Bannard. "In recognition of which one TerenceMaguire, Esquire, shall receive, shortly, one diamond pin!"
"Aw, shucks!" said Fibsy, greatly embarrassed at the praise heaped uponhim; "but," he added, "I'd like it a heap!"
And he did.
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