CHAPTER XVIII.
SLEUTH’S ASTONISHING THEORY.
Curiosity is one of the most powerful traits in human nature, and inyouth, being to some extent unrestrained, it often reaches its highestdevelopment. It was chiefly curiosity that had led Hooker to listen thusfar to the words of Piper; but now, as if suddenly realizing the fullsignificance of Sleuth’s self-confessed and shameless prying into theaffairs of others, and remembering at the same time his familiar andfriendly relations with Fred Sage, Roy suddenly seared his companionwith the red-hot iron of contempt and wrath.
“You miserable, sneaking puppy!” he cried. “Under pretence of making afriendly call, you play a miserable trick like that, do you? I’ve a mindto give you the finest drubbing you ever had.”
Indeed, so savage and threatening was his attitude that Piper fell backprecipitately, lifting his hands as if to ward off a blow.
“Now you hold on!” he cried. “You hold on, Hooker! You hadn’t better hitme. Perhaps you think that would be a good way to make me keep stillabout what I know concerning the Sages. I’m not going to blow this thinground to everybody. I chose you because you’re Fred’s chum.”
“Oh, is that so?” scoffed Roy incredulously. “You’ve begun blabbing withme, and it isn’t likely you’ll stop there. I don’t know what you’vefound out, but I do know that the way you’ve gone about it to obtainyour information was dirty—just plain dirty.”
“It was thoroughly legitimate,” asserted Sleuth in self-defence. “Thesepeople are living here in our town and associating with our citizens. Ifthey’re the right sort, there can be no harm in finding out about theirpast history. But perhaps you’ve misunderstood me, Hooker. I’m notmaking the claim that there’s anything wrong with the Sages we know.”
“Oh, aren’t you?” said Roy in surprise. “I thought you were. If youhaven’t found out that there’s something wrong about them, what thedickens _have_ you found out that was so wonderful? What is thissensational thing that’s going to make my hair curl?”
“If you’ll give me a chance and not get fighting mad over it, I’ll tellyou. You know it’s often the case that there’s a black sheep in the mostrespectable family.”
“Huh! There are only three persons in this particular family. Where’sthe black sheep?”
“Only three of the family are known at the present time to the people ofOakdale,” Piper said hastily. “Have you never thought that there mightbe at least one other member of this family?”
“Can’t say such a thought ever occurred to me.”
“Listen,” urged Sleuth, “and keep your temper under check until I’mthrough. The information I’ve obtained does not reflect upon AndrewSage, his wife or his son Fred.”
“Well,” breathed Roy in relief, “there’s considerable satisfaction to bederived from that statement.”
“The postmaster of Rutledge states that Mr. and Mrs. Sage and theiryounger son, Fred, are most estimable people.”
“Whew!” whistled Hooker. “Their younger son, eh? Oh, do you mean thatthere’s another—another son we don’t know anything about?”
“There’s another son, of whom we’ve known nothing whatever up to thepresent date. I know something about him now, and he’s the black sheep.It was the criminal act of this elder son, Clarence Sage, that doubtlessadded many gray hairs to his mother’s head and led the family, weightedby the shame of it, to leave Rutledge and seek another home, where noone would know of their disgrace. Now if you don’t care to hear any moreabout the matter,” said Sleuth craftily, “I’ll close up.”
Roy’s aversion to hearing the information Piper had secured wascompletely swept away.
“Oh, go on,” he invited, once more leaning against the bridge rail.“What did this Clarence Sage do?”
“Robbed a bank.”
“In Rutledge?”
“Yes. He was employed in a bank there, and he pilfered fourteen thousanddollars from the institution.”
“Jove!” muttered Hooker. “I don’t wonder Fred never has mentioned hisbrother.”
“The crime was discovered, as such things always are, and Clarence Sagewas arrested, tried, convicted and sent to Sing Sing for a term ofyears.”
“My hair curls!” exclaimed Roy. “So Fred has a brother in prison. That’sa shame!”
“He _had_ a brother in prison. Clarence Sage isn’t there now.”
“Oh, his term has expired?”
“No.”
“Was he pardoned?”
“No.”
“Cæsar’s ghost! What happened then? Is he dead?”
“Well,” answered Sleuth, “in my mind, at least, there is a doubt at thispoint. He is supposed to be dead. With two other prisoners, he broke outof Sing Sing in midwinter and tried to escape by crossing the Hudson onthe ice. The other two convicts were both recaptured. The trio hadseparated immediately after getting out of the prison, and neither ofthe recaptured rascals knew what had become of Clarence Sage. For morethan two months detectives sought everywhere for Sage, whose apparentsuccess in avoiding them was both astonishing and perplexing. Eventuallythe body of a man was recovered from the river, but in such a conditionthat identification was difficult. There were reasons, however, tobelieve that the body was that of Clarence Sage. Andrew Sage viewed theremains and decided that it was his recreant son. The body was buried inRutledge, and the grave is marked by a stone bearing the name ofClarence Sage.”
“Well, then, why do you doubt that he’s dead?”
Piper tapped his forehead. “I believe I’ve got a little gray matter uphere,” he said boastfully. “After reading this letter, it took aboutthirty seconds for me to form a theory in which I have the utmostconfidence. My conviction is that Clarence Sage is still alive. I thinkhe did make good his escape and succeeded handsomely in baffling theofficers who tried to follow him. The body that was taken from the riverand buried under the name of Clarence Sage was that of some other man,as yet unknown. Perhaps it will continue to be unknown. When thisidentification and burial had taken place, danger for the escaped manwas reduced to a minimum. Mind you, I’m not making the assertion thatAndrew Sage knew the body was not that of his son, but what would bemore natural than for him to identify it as such in order to giveClarence a better chance for freedom? Perhaps, at the time, he reallybelieved it to be the unfortunate young man. Possibly, through somemeans, he has since learned that his son is alive.”
“If you hadn’t read so much detective stuff, such an improbable ideacould not have found lodgment in your crazy garret,” said Hooker. “Iunderstand you’ve even tried to write stories yourself lately. Say,Sleuth, if this matter wasn’t so serious, it would be laughable.”
“Your words,” returned Piper, “betray the narrow limits of yourreasoning faculties. I’m not basing my suspicions on mere guesswork,Hooker.”
“Then, for the love of Mike, what do you base them on?”
“One week ago you met a stranger who behaved in a most peculiar manner.Apparently of some education and refinement, this man seemed to besomewhere near the age of Clarence Sage, if Sage still lives. He madeinquiries of you concerning the Sages in Oakdale, and when he learnedthat Fred Sage was approaching he took to his heels and got away. Hedidn’t dare remain to face Fred in your presence. Why, Hooker—why?Simply because he knew that in his amazement Fred would call him by nameand give the whole thing away. What do you think about that?”
For a moment or two Roy shook his head. “I don’t believe it. It can’t betrue, Piper. If that’s all you have to base your belief on——”
“Did there seem to be anything especially wrong with Fred last night?”
“No, not that I observed.”
“Well, there surely was something the matter with him to-day. Somethinghad happened to upset him completely.”
“What do you think it was?”
“It was something tremendous, or it never would have led him to bungleand blunder the way he did
in that game. It was such a tremendous thingthat he could not get it out of his mind so that he might concentrate onthe game. Whenever he dismissed thoughts of it, he played in somethinglike his usual form for a few minutes, but it kept coming back at himand putting him on the blink. He denied that he was sick. He denied thatanything had happened to upset him. All this is precisely what wouldhave happened had he made the amazing discovery to-day that his brotherClarence was alive.”
“Gee whiz!” breathed Hooker. “I’ll own up that you’ve got me staggered.If you’re right, Piper, you certainly have got a head on yourshoulders.”
The darkness masked the smile of satisfaction that Sleuth could notrepress.
“You can’t dodge the force of my deductions,” he declared. “Let me giveyou a further illustration of my reasoning ability. As an escapedconvict, is it likely that Clarence Sage would lead an honest life? Iadmit that he might, but the germ of dishonesty must have been virulentin his blood, or he, the apparently promising son of highly respectableparents, would never have committed his first crime. Once a man hastaken a crooked step, he’s almost sure to take others. Supposed to bedead, Sage surely traveled under a fictitious name. A certain crook,called James Wilson and known among his pals as Gentleman Jim, bears astrong resemblance to the young bank-looter who was sent to Sing Sing.This crook was arrested in the town of Harpersville a short time ago,but made his escape from the jail, nearly killing the guard as he didso. A big reward has been offered for Wilson’s capture. The last peg inmy argument is that this Gentleman Jim is none other than Clarence Sagehimself.”
“If that should prove to be right,” said Hooker, “I’ll admit that you’vegot all the detectives of real life or fiction beaten to a froth.”