CHAPTER XII A NEW THEORY
Alvin Duane had to report to Avice and to Judge Hoyt the result of hisinterview with Lindsay.
The detective had an idea that Avice would be far from pleased at thepossible incrimination of Kane Landon. Duane knew that Miss Trowbridgewas reported engaged to Judge Hoyt, but he had seen and heard her inconversation with the judge, and to his astute observation she did notseem desperately in love with him. This, to be sure, was none of hisbusiness, but he greatly desired to find out just where the affections ofhis young employer lay. Moreover, he had a slight suspicion that the girlwas a little jealous of the beautiful widow's attractions, but whetherthis jealousy was directed toward Landon or the judge he did not know.And he chose his own method of discovering.
Avice came to his office by appointment to learn his news. Duane greetedher, looking admiringly at the slender figure, so pathetic in its dullblack draperies. But there was a vivid color in the girl's cheeks, and asparkle of excitement in her eyes, as she sat down, eager to learn thelatest developments.
"Mr. Duane," she said, "I see by your very manner that you learnedsomething from my unknown friend, Mr. Lindsay."
"I did," and Duane looked mysterious and important.
"Well, tell me! I am all impatience!"
Pursuing the plan he had formulated to himself, he said, impressively,"I've a new theory."
"Yes," said the girl, breathlessly.
"I think Mrs. Black is the criminal," he declared, bluntly.
Avice almost laughed. "How absurd!" she said. "Why, Mrs. Black was withme all that afternoon."
"That's just it! She stayed and kept you at home on purpose. I don't meanshe actually committed the murder, but she instigated it."
"And who was her accomplice?"
"Stryker, the house man, of course."
Avice began to be a little interested. She had never really likedStryker. He seemed to her shifty and deceitful. "But how?" she asked.
"Easy enough. The man simply took a knife from the kitchen, followed hismaster to the woods, and waylaid him."
"How did he know Uncle Rowly was going to the woods?"
"He telephoned him at his office to go to Van Cortlandt Park. Youremember the stenographer said the man who telephoned called Mr.Trowbridge 'Uncle'."
"And Stryker did that?"
"Yes; to be misleading."
"But Stryker didn't know Kane Landon had come on from the West."
"Yes, he did. Landon telephoned the night before. You were all out andStryker took the message."
"How do you know?"
"I have ferreted it all out from the other servants. The facts, Imean,--not my deductions from them."
"Have you spoken to them about Stryker?"
"No; I wanted to speak to you about it first."
"Mr. Duane, I will be frank with you. I don't want Kane Landon suspectedof this crime. I know he is innocent. I know, too, that some evidenceseems to be against him. But that is only seeming. He is entirelyinnocent. Now, if Stryker is innocent, also, I don't want to directsuspicion to him. And it doesn't seem to me you have any real evidenceagainst him."
"But, my theory is that he was only a tool in the hands of the principalcriminal."
"Mrs. Black?"
"Yes."
"Preposterous! Incredible!"
"Not at all. Mrs. Black was engaged to your uncle, but she did not lovehim. She was marrying for a fortune. Then she heard that Landon, whom shehas known for years, was coming East, and she connived with Stryker toput the old gentleman out of the way."
"Uncle Rowly was only in the fifties, that is not old."
"Old compared with Kane Landon. And as I told you, Miss Trowbridge, thisis largely theory. But many facts support it, and it ought to be lookedinto."
"Then the thing to do, is to lay it before Judge Hoyt. He will know whatis the best way to sift the theory to a conclusion."
But when the three were together in Hoyt's office, and Duane told thewhole story of his interview with Jim Lindsay, the detective laid asidehis pretence of still suspecting Stryker and enumerated his reasons forlooking in the direction of Landon.
"That must be a true bill about his meeting that adventuress in thelibrary," he argued; "it couldn't have been anybody else but Mrs. Black."
"Why couldn't it?" Avice spoke fiercely, and her brown eyes were full ofindignant amazement at the tale Duane had told.
"Lindsay saw her picture in the papers, and anyway, it all fits in. Yousee, those two were pals in Denver, and they kept it quiet. That's enoughto rouse suspicion in itself. The old butler is no sort of a suspect. Tobe sure he wanted the money to get his insurance before the time was up,but he wouldn't commit murder for that----"
"Why wouldn't he?" demanded Avice, "as likely as that a man's own nephewwould do it?"
"He isn't an own nephew," said Judge Hoyt, slowly. "I don't want tosubscribe to your theory, Duane, but I'm startled at this library story.Of course, Landon had a right to meet anybody he chose and wherever hechose, but why keep secret his previous acquaintance with the widow?"
"He might have lots of good reasons for that," and Avice lookedpleadingly at the judge. "Don't _you_ turn against him, Leslie; you knowhim too well to think him capable of crime."
"Of the two I would rather it had been Stryker," said the judge, "but wecan't ignore definite evidence like this. Did Mrs. Black go out thatafternoon, Avice?"
"Yes," replied the girl, unwillingly. "She went out soon after luncheonand stayed about an hour."
"Time to go to the library and back. Duane, you're drawing a long bow, tojump at the conclusion that the housekeeper took a handkerchief ofStryker's, to be used as a false clue that would incriminate the butler!It's almost _too_ much of a prearranged performance."
"Of course it is!" cried Avice. "Kane is a firebrand and impulsive andhotheaded, but he's not a deliberate criminal! If he killed UncleRowly,--which he never did, never!--he did it in the heat of a quarrel,or under some desperate provocation. I wish you had never come to us, Mr.Duane! I don't want Stryker found guilty, but I'd a thousand times ratherhe did it than Kane. I dismiss you, Mr. Duane. You may give up the case,and tell no one of these wrong and misleading circumstances you'vediscovered."
"Wait, wait, Avice," and Judge Hoyt spoke very gently; "we can't layaside evidence in that way. These things must be looked into. They mustbe told to the district attorney, and investigated, then if Landon isinnocent, as he doubtless is, he can explain all that now looks darkagainst him."
"Don't accuse _him_!" flared Avice, "go to Eleanor Black, and ask herwhat was in the parcel she took to Kane. She is the wrongdoer, if eitherof them is. She telephoned him that night of Uncle's death, and shesaid----"
"What did she say?" asked Hoyt, as Avice stopped short.
Compelled by the insistent glances of the two men, Avice went on: "Shesaid she'd meet him the next day at the same time and place. That provesthere was nothing wrong about it."
It didn't prove this conclusively to her two listeners, and they quizzedher further until she admitted that she had reason to think that Landonand Mrs. Black had known each other before Avice had introduced them.
"How do you explain that," asked Duane, "unless they were concealingsomething,--some plan or a secret of some sort?"
"And suppose they were! It needn't have been anything connected withUncle Rowly's death. If they knew each other in Denver, all the morelikely they had business of some sort that they didn't care to haveknown."
The girl was arguing against her own suspicions as much as againsttheirs. A terrible fear clutched at her heart, and surging emotionschoked her speech. For, as she pictured Kane as a suspected criminal,came the even more heartrending thought that he was in love with EleanorBlack! Quickly to Avice's sensitive intuitions came the conviction thatLandon would not be holding secret conferences and having secrets withEleanor unless they were or had been lovers. And yet, he had told Avicehe loved
her. But, granting all this she was hearing today, what faithcould she put in his speech or actions?
"I can only repeat what I said, Mr. Duane," she asserted, with dignity,"I hereby release you from your engagement on this case, and I willwillingly pay you for the time you have wasted,--worse than wasted! And Ihope never to see you again!" Here Avice was unable longer to control hertears.
Greatly distressed, Judge Hoyt attempted to soothe her, but met only withrebuff.
"You're just as bad," she sobbed. "You, too, want to prove Kane mixed upin this, when you know he isn't--he couldn't be!----"
"There, Avice, there, dear, dry your eyes and go home now. I will talkthis over with Mr. Duane, and if there is any way of disproving ordiscrediting this evidence, rest assured----"
"Oh, can you do that, Leslie?" and the girl looked up hopefully; "isn'tthere a thing called 'striking out' anything you don't want to useagainst a person?"
"That's a broad view of it," and Judge Hoyt smiled a little, "but you runalong, dear, and after a confab with Mr. Duane, I'll come up and tell youall about it."
The confab wound up by a trip to the office of the district attorney. Thesituation was too grave to allow of what Avice called "striking out"! IfLandon and Mrs. Black were implicated in suspicious collusion, the mattermust be sifted to the bottom.
District Attorney Whiting eagerly absorbed the new facts recounted tohim, and fitted them into some he had of his own knowledge.
Landon had sent fifty thousand dollars to the mining company of Denver inwhich he was interested. He had not yet realized on his inheritance, forthe estate had not been settled, but he had doubtless borrowed on hisprospective legacy. This proved nothing, except that he had been mostanxious for the large sum of money, and had utilized his acquisition ofit as soon as possible.
"We must get at this thing adroitly," counseled Judge Hoyt. "Landon is apeculiar chap, and difficult to bait. If he thinks we suspect him, he'squite capable of bolting, I think. Better try to trip up the housekeeper.She's a vain woman, amenable to flattery. Perhaps if Mr. Groot went toher, ostensibly suspecting,--say, Stryker,--he could learn somethingabout her relations with Landon. And by the way, how are you going tofind Stryker?"
"Through his daughter," Whiting replied. "That butler is no more themurderer than I am; and he is hiding, because he's afraid of thathandkerchief clue."
"It is certainly an incriminating piece of evidence," observed Hoyt.
"It is. But not against the butler. That handkerchief is a plant. On theface of it, it is certainly too plain an indication to be the real thing.No, sir, the murderer, whoever he was, stole the butler's handkerchief tothrow suspicion on the butler. And who could do this so easily as thehousekeeper, or some member of the household, who had access to Stryker'sroom? Landon wasn't at the house, that we know of, before the murder,therefore, the theory of the housekeeper bringing the handkerchief to himat their library interview, just fits in and makes it all plausible."
"It may be," said Judge Hoyt, looking doubtful; "it may possibly be,Whiting; but go slowly. Don't jump at this, to me, rather fantasticsolution. Track it down pretty closely, before you spring it on thepublic."
"All of that, Judge Hoyt! I've no idea of spiking my own guns by tellingall this too soon. But there's work to be done, and first of all we mustfind that butler. If he can be made to think we don't accuse him, he'llcome round, and we may learn a lot from him. We missed our chances in notquestioning him more closely at first."
Meantime Avice had gone home, and on the way, her mood had changed fromsorrow to anger. She was angry at herself for having insisted on theemploying of Alvin Duane. She remembered how Kane had opposed it, but shewas so zealous in her hunt for justice that she ignored all objections.She was angry at Kane for hobnobbing with Eleanor Black, and also fordeceiving her about their previous acquaintance. She was angry at Eleanorfor knowing Kane and pretending that they were strangers. She was angryat Judge Hoyt for not dismissing Duane and obliterating even from his ownmemory all that stuff the detective had discovered. She was furiouslyangry at Duane, but that was a helpless, blind sort of rage that reactedupon herself for engaging him.
And so, her tears had dried and her quivering nerves had tautenedthemselves when she reached the house, and she went in, determined toattack Eleanor Black herself, and learn the truth of her acquaintancewith Kane.
But as soon as she entered, she came upon Landon and Mrs. Black in thelittle reception room, in close confab.
"Come in," said the widow, "come in and talk to us."
"We won't have time for much conversation," said Landon, looking at hiswatch, "I want Mrs. Black to go out with me on an errand. May I order thecar?"
"Certainly," said Mrs. Black, smiling. "I want all my guests to feel atliberty to give any orders they choose." Her smile included Avice andgave the girl that uncomfortable feeling that always manifested itselfwhen the ex-housekeeper asserted herself as mistress of the place.
"Please, Avice, don't look like that," said Eleanor, with an injured air."I want you to look on this house as home just as long as you choose todo so. And, indeed, you may continue in charge of it, if that is what youwant."
"Car's here," sang out Landon. "Come on, Eleanor."
"Eleanor!" thought Avice, as the two went away. She had never heard himcall her that before, and it struck her like a chill. And yet she feltsure there was a strong friendship, if not something deeper between them,and she must be prepared for even endearing terms.
But Avice, despite her quick anger, was of a nature born to makesacrifices. She could do anything to help those she loved, and she hadsuddenly realized that she did love Landon. So without thought of reward,she began to plan how she could help him.
She turned from the window without even wondering where they were going;only conscious of a vague, dull longing, that she felt now, would neverbe gratified.
And then, Harry Pinckney came, for one of his rather frequent calls.Avice was glad Eleanor was out as she so objected to the sight of adetective, and the young reporter had added that line of work to his own.
"I know where Stryker is," were his first words, after they had exchangedgreetings.
"You do! Where?"
"At his daughter's. Been there all the time. That Mrs. Adler is asplendid actress, but she was a little too unconcerned about her father'sdisappearance to fool me. I pinned her down, and I'm practically surehe's in her house, or she knows where he is. But I've told the police andthey'll rout him out. I'm to have the scoop. I hope they find him soon."
"And," Avice held herself together, "who will be the next suspect?"
"Dunno. Old Groot has his eye on Kane Landon, but he's got no evidence tospeak of. I don't care two cents for that 'Cain' remark. I mean I don'tfor a minute think it implicates Kane Landon."
"Bless you for that!" Avice said, but not aloud.
"However," Pinckney went on, "they've got something new up their sleeves.They wouldn't tell me what,--I've just come from headquarters,--butthey're excited over some recent evidence or clue."
"Have you any reason to think it refers to Mr. Landon?"
Pinckney looked at her narrowly. "I hate to reply to that," he said, "forI know it would hurt you if I said yes."
"And you'd have to say yes, if you were truthful?"
"I'm afraid I should, Miss Trowbridge. Honest, now, isn't there a chancethat he is the one?"
"Oh, no, no! But, Mr. Pinckney, tell me something. Supposing, justsupposing for a minute, that it might be Kane,--you know he's been outWest for five years, and out there they don't look on killing as we dohere, do they?"
"What have you in mind? A sheriff rounding up a posse of bad men, or adesperado fighting his captor, or just a friendly shooting over a cardgame--have you been reading dime novels?"
"No. It's just a vague impression. I thought they didn't call killingpeople murder----"
"Yes, they do, if it's murder in cold blood. Westerners only kill inavenging justice or in righteous indignation."
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"Really? I'm glad you told me that. Do you know, Mr. Pinckney, I'm notgoing to sit quietly down and let Kane be accused of this thing. I don'tknow whether he did it or not, but he's going to have his chance. I knowhim pretty well, and he's so stubborn that he won't take pains to appearinnocent even when he is. That sounds queer, I know, but you see, I knowKane. He is queer. If that boy is innocent, and I believe he is, he wouldbe so sure of it himself that he'd make no effort to convince others; andhe'd let himself be misjudged, perhaps, even arrested through sheercarelessness."
"It is, indeed, a careless nature that will go as far as that!"
"It isn't only carelessness; it's a kind of pig-headed stubbornness. He'salways been like that."
"And if he should be guilty?"
"Then,--" and Avice hesitated, "then, I think he'd act just exactly thesame."
"H'm, a difficult nature to understand."
"Yes, it is. But I'm going to see that he is understood, and,--Mr.Pinckney, you're going to help me, aren't you?"
"To the last ditch!" and Harry Pinckney then and there, silently, butnone the less earnestly, devoted his time, talent and energies toupholding the opinions of Avice Trowbridge, whatever they might be, andto helping her convince the world of their truth.