VII
"YOU THINK THAT OF ME!"
"We're certainly up against it this time," were the words with which Dr.Price led the detective down the gallery. "What sort of an opinion can aman form of a fellow like that? Is he fool or knave?"
Mr. Gryce showed no great alacrity in answering. When he did speak it wasto say:
"We shall have to go into the matter a little more deeply before we cantrust our judgment as to his complete sincerity. But if you want to knowwhether I believe him to have loosed the arrow which killed that innocentchild, I am ready from present appearances to say yes. Who else was thereto do it? He and he only was on the spot. But it was a chance action,without intention or wish to murder. No man, even if he were a fool,would choose such a place or such a means for murder."
"That's true; but how does it help to call it accident? Accident callsfor a bow in hand, an arrow within reach, an impulse to try one's skillat a fancied target. Now the arrow--whatever may be said of the bow--wasnot within the reach of anyone standing in this gallery. The arrow camefrom the wall at the base of which this young woman died. It had to bebrought from there here. That does not look like accident, but crime."
Yet as the Coroner uttered this acknowledgment, he realized as plainly asMr. Gryce how many incongruous elements lay in the way of any suchsolution of the mystery. If they accepted the foreigner's account ofhimself,--which for some reason neither seemed ready to dispute,--intowhat a maze of improbabilities it at once led them! A stranger justoff ship! The victim a mere schoolgirl! The weapon such an unusual one asto be _outre_ beyond belief. Only a madman--But there! Travis had lessthe appearance of a lunatic than Mrs. Taylor. It must have been anaccident as Gryce said; and yet--
If there is much virtue in an _if_, there is certainly a modicumof the same in a _yet_, and the Coroner, in full recognition of thisstumbling-block, remarked with unusual dryness:
"I agree with you that some half-dozen questions are necessary before wewade deeper into this quagmire. Where shall we go to have it out?"
"The Curator will allow us to use his office. I will see that Mr. Travisjoins us there."
"See that he comes before he has a chance to fall into one of hisreveries."
But quickly as Mr. Gryce worked, he was not speedy enough to prevent theresult mentioned. The man upon whose testimony so much hinged did noteven lift his eyes when brought again into their presence.
The Coroner, in his determination to be satisfied on this point, madeshort work of rousing him from his abstraction. With a few leadingquestions he secured his attention and then without preamble or apologyasked him with what purpose he had come to America and why he had been soanxious to visit the museum that he hastened directly to it from thesteamer without making an effort to locate himself in some hotel.
The ease with which this apparently ingenuous stranger had managed tomeet the opening queries of this rough-and-ready official was suddenlybroken. He stammered and turned red and made so many abortive attempts toreply that the latter grew impatient and finally remarked:
"If the truth will incriminate you, you are quite justified in holding itback!"
"Incriminate me!" With the repetition of this alarming word, a change ofthe most marked character took place in young Travis' manner. "What doesthat mean?" he asked. "I am not sure that I understand your use of thatword _incriminate_."
Dr. Price explained himself, to the seeming horror of the startledEnglishman.
"You think that of me!" he cried, "of me, who----"
But here indignation made him speechless, till some feeling strongerthan the one subduing him to silence forced him again into speech, andhe supplemented in broken tones: "I am only a stranger to you andconsequently am willing to pardon your misconception of my character andthe principles by which I regulate my life. I have a horror of crime andall violence; besides, the young lady--she awakened my deepest admirationand reverence. I,"--again he stopped; again he burst forth,--"I wouldsooner have died myself than seen such angel graces laid low. Let myemotion be proof of what I say. It was a man of the hardest heart whokilled her."
"It would seem so."
It was the Coroner who spoke. He was nonplussed; and Mr. Gryce no lessso. Never had either of them been confronted by a blinder or morebewildering case. An incomprehensible crime and a suspect it wasimpossible to associate with a deed of blood! There must be some otherexplanation of the mournful circumstance they were considering. There hadbeen twenty or more people in the building, but--and here was the rub--ifthe chart which they had drawn up was correct and the calculations whichthey had drawn from it were to be depended upon, this man was the onlyperson who had been in this gallery when the arrow was shot.
With a side glance at Mr. Gryce, who seemed content to remain silent inthe background, Dr. Price turned again to Mr. Travis.
"Your admiration of the young lady must have been as sudden as it wasstrong. Or possibly you had seen her before you hid behind the pedestal.Had you, Mr. Travis? She was a charming child; perhaps you had beenattracted by her beauty before you even entered the galleries."
Instantly the man was another being.
"You are right," he acquiesced with undue alacrity. "I had seen hercrossing the court. Her beauty was heavenly. I am a gentleman, but Ifollowed her. When she moved, I moved; and when she went upstairs, Ifollowed her. But I would not offend. I kept behind,--far behindher,--and when she entered the gallery on one side, I took pains to enterit on the other. This is how I came to be looking in her direction whenshe was struck down. You see, I speak with candor; I open my wholeheart."
Dr. Price, stroking his long beard, eyed the man with a thoughtful airwhich changed to one of renewed inquiry. Instead of being convinced bythis outburst, he was conscious of a new and deepening distrust. Thetransition from a low state of feeling to one so feverishly eager hadbeen too sudden. The avidity with which this man just off ship had madea grasp at the offered explanation had been too marked; it lackedsincerity and could impose on no one. Of this he seemed himself aware,for again the ready flush ran from forehead to neck, and with adeprecatory glance which included the silent detective he vehementlyexclaimed:
"I am poor at a lie. I see that you will have the whole truth. It was onher account I crossed the ocean. It was by dogging her innocent stepsthat I came to the museum this morning. I am a man of means, and I can doas I please. When I said that I had never exchanged a word with her, Ispoke the truth. I never have; yet my interest in her was profound. Ihave never seen any other girl or woman whom I was anxious to make mywife. I hoped to meet and woo her in this country. I had no opportunityfor doing so in my own. I did not see her till a night or so before shesailed, and then it was at the theater, where she sat with some friendsin an adjoining box. She talked, and I heard what she said. She wasleaving England. She was going to America to live; and she mentioned thesteamer on which she expected to sail. It may strike you as impetuous,unnatural in an Englishman, and all that, but next morning I secured mypassage on that same ship. As I have just said, I am my own master andcan do as I please, and I pleased to do that. But for all the opportunitywhich a voyage sometimes gives, I did not succeed in making heracquaintance on shipboard, much as I desired it. I was ill for the firstthree days and timorous the rest. I could only watch her moving about thedecks and wait for the happy moment in which I might be able to do hersome service. But that moment never came, and now it never will come."
The mournfulness with which this was uttered seemed genuine. The Coronerwas silenced by it, and it was left to Mr. Gryce to take up theconversation. This he did with the same show of respect evinced by Dr.Price.
"We are obliged to you for your confidence," said he. "Of course you cantell us this young girl's name."
"Angeline--Angeline Willetts. I saw it in the list of passengers."
"What ship?"
"The _Castania_, from Southampton."
"We are greatly obliged to you for this information. It gives us themuch-wanted clue to her identi
ty. Angeline Willetts! Whom was she with?"
"A Madame Duclos, a French lady. I once spoke to _her_."
"You did? And what did you say?"
"I bade her good morning as we were passing on the main-deck stairs. Butshe did not answer, and I was not guilty of the impertinence again."
"I see. Such, then, was the situation up to this morning. But since? Howdid it happen that a young girl, six hours after landing in this country,should come to a place like this without a chaperon?"
"I don't know what brought her here; I can only tell you why I came. Whenshe left the dock, I was standing near enough to hear the orders MadameDuclos gave on entering a cab. Naturally, mine were the same. I have beenin New York before, and I knew the hotel. If you will consult theUniversal's register for the day, you will find my name in it under hers.You will understand why I shrank from confessing to this fact before. Iheld her in such honor--I was and am so anxious that no shadow shouldfall upon her innocence from my poor story of secret and unrecognizeddevotion. She knew nothing of what led me to follow every step she took.I was a witness of her fate, but that is all the connection between us.I hope you believe me."
It would be difficult not to, in face of his direct gaze, from which allfaltering had now vanished. Yet the matter not being completely thrashedout, Mr. Gryce felt himself obliged to say in answer to this last:
"We see no reason to doubt your word or your story, Mr. Travis. All thatyou have said is possible. But how about your following the young girlhere? How did that come about?"
"That was occasioned by my anxiety for her--an anxiety which seems tohave been only too well-founded."
"How? What?" Both of the officials showed a greatly increased interest."Please explain yourself, Mr. Travis. What reason had you for any suchfeeling in regard to a person with whom you had held no conversation?Anything which you saw or heard at the hotel?"
"Yes. I was sitting in the foyer. I knew that the ladies were in thehouse, but I had not seen them. I was anxious to do so (see, I am tellingall) and was watching the door of the lift from behind my journal, whenthey both stepped out. Miss Willetts was dressed for the street, butMadame Duclos was not, which seemed very strange to me. But I felt noconcern till I caught some fragments of what Madame said in passing me.She spoke in French, a language I understand, and she was exclaimingover her misfortune at not being allowed to accompany her young charge towhatever place she was going. It was bad, bad, she cried, and she wouldnot have a moment's peace till her dear Angeline got back. Anxiety ofthis kind was natural in a Frenchwoman not accustomed to see a young ladyenter the streets alone; but the force with which she expressed itbetrayed a real alarm--an alarm which communicated itself to me. Wherecould this unprotected girl be going, alone and in a hotel cab?
"I could not imagine, and when I saw Madame stop in the middle of hertalk to buy some fresh flowers and pin them to Miss Willetts' corsage, Igot a queer feeling, and flinging my newspaper aside, I strolled to thedoor and so out in time to hear Madame's orders to the chauffeur. Theyoung lady was to be taken to a museum. To a museum, at this early hour!and alone, alone! Such a proceeding is not at all in accord with Frenchideas, and I feared a plot. Though it was far from being my affair, Idetermined to make it so; and as soon as I dared, I followed her just asI had followed her from the dock. But fruitlessly! Not knowing thedanger, how could I avert it? I was in one gallery, she in the other. Itwas my evil fate to see her fall, but by whose hand I am as ignorant asyourselves. _Now_ I have told it all. Will you let me go?"
"Not yet," interposed the Coroner. "There are one or two questions morewhich you will undoubtedly answer with the same frankness. Were youstanding in front of the pedestal or behind it when you saw Miss Willettsfall?"
"I was standing just where I said, somewhere near it in the opengallery."
This seemed so open to question that the Coroner paused a moment torecall the exact situation and see if it were possible for a man asconspicuous in figure as Mr. Travis to have stood thus in full view ofgallery and court, without attracting the attention of anyone in eitherplace. He found, after a moment's consideration, that it was possible.Mr. Gryce, for all his efforts and systematic inquiry into the positionwhich each person had held at or near this time, had been able to findbut one who chanced to be looking in the direction of this gallery, andhe with a limited view which took in only the upper part of the tapestry.
A probe in a fresh direction might reach a more vulnerable spot.
"But you had been behind the pedestal?" Dr. Price suggested.
"Yes"--the quick flush coming again. "My old timidity led me to concealmyself where I could watch undetected her bright young figure pass fromarch to arch along the opposite gallery. Not till she had got past myline of view did I step out, and then--then it was to see what I havealready told you--her rush toward the front--the start she gave--thefall--that cruel arrow! I own that I shrank back into my narrowhiding-place when I realized that all was at an end--that she was dead."
"Why? You had been witness to a deed of blood--a deed which must haverecalled to you the anxiety expressed by the woman whom you regardedas the young girl's guardian; and yet you shrank back--out of sight--awayfrom those who had the right to make inquiries! How do you explain that,Mr. Travis?"
"I cannot, except that I was so dazed, so stricken, that I was hardlyconscious of what I did. And, sirs, believe me or not, had it not beenfor the refuge afforded by that narrow space behind the pedestal, I thinkI should have fallen headlong to the floor. When I came again to myself,which was after some of the confusion had abated, I had only one thoughtin mind: to suppress myself and my story lest some shadow should fallacross her sweet purity. Waiting till the attention of the man you hadplaced on guard over her body was attracted another way, I slid out andhastened to the front, where I managed to find a quiet room in which tosit down and brood again over my misfortune. Forewarned, as you havesaid, and on the spot, with every wish to protect her, I had failed to doso. I fear it will make me mad some day."
Had it made him insane already? Was his story to be trusted? It was fullof incongruities; were they those of a disordered mind? Such had been theexcuse made for Mrs. Taylor when she had been thought guilty of thisattack; why should it not be applied to this man who certainly had givenevidences of not being of the usual type of young Englishman? With asidelong look at Mr. Gryce, which that individual perfectly understood,Dr. Price thanked Mr. Travis for his candor and asked if he could pointout the room in which he had sat while their young man had gone throughthe building checking off the position of everybody in it.
To his surprise, the Englishman answered quite simply, "I will try," androse when they rose.
The glances exchanged between the other two men were eloquent. Where washe about to take them? Sweetwater was no fool; how had this man ofmarked appearance and generous proportions managed to elude him?
As has happened before, it proved to be easily explainable when once theconditions were known. The room to which he led them was that on theupper story marked H on Chart Two. It was devoted, like one or two othersnear it, to a line of famous paintings at once the hope and despair ofyoung girl copyists. The one most favored for this purpose hung justbehind the door "X," which, half-open as they found it, made with theeasel, the canvas upon it and an apron hanging carelessly over all, animpromptu screen behind which a man crouched in misery on the copyist'sstool might easily remain unnoticed by anyone passing hurriedly by him.
And thus vanished one hindrance to a full belief in young Travis' story.
But a greater one remained. The bow! the bow found behind the tapestry atthe edge of which he had stood in timorous hiding! In the hope that ashock might startle him into some admission which would give a differentaspect to the case, they now led him back to this place of firstconcealment. He was showing strain by this time, and no delay was made topress their point. Giving the tapestry a pull, the Coroner bade him tellwhat he saw behind it.
The answer came with much emo
tion.
"The bow! The bow which sped the arrow which killed Miss Willetts. I donot want to see it. It hurts me--hurts me physically. Let me go, Ientreat."
"Mr. Travis," urged the Coroner as they again emerged upon the opengallery, "you have said that there was no one with you in the sectionwhere you stood. If that was so, how came this bow to be where you havejust seen it?"
A bewildered look, a slow shake of the head and nothing more.
"Did you know it was there? Did you see it thrown there?"
"No, I saw nothing. I am an honest man. You may believe me."
The Coroner scrutinized him closely but not unkindly.
"We shall know before night who handled that bow, Mr. Travis. It carriesits own clue with it."
A gleam of unmistakable joy lighted up the Englishman's features.
"I am glad," he cried. "I am glad."
Coroner Price was a man of experience. He recognized the ring of truth inthe Englishman's tones, and saying no more, led the way from the gallery.
A few minutes later he was on the lower floor. He had a shortconversation with the two doormen; then he proceeded to the telephone andcalled up the Universal.
The result was startling.
Asked if the name of Rupert Henry Travis, Hertfordshire, England, was ontheir register, the answer was yes.
"The date of his arrival?"
"Early this morning."
"Any other arrivals to-day from the other side?"
"Yes, a Madame Duclos and a Miss Willetts."
The Coroner's tone altered. So much of the stranger's story was true,then.
"Will you connect me with Madame Duclos. I have important news to giveher. Some woman had better be with her when she receives it."
"I am sorry, but I cannot do this. Madame Duclos has left."
"Left? Gone out, you mean?"
"No, left the hotel. She's been gone about half an hour. The young ladywho came with her has gone out too, but we expect her back."
"You do. And what took the older woman away? What excuse did she give,and where has she gone?"
"I cannot tell you where she has gone. She left after receiving atelephone message from some one in town. Came down to the desk lookingextremely distressed, said that she had had bad news and must go at once.I made out her bill and, at her request, that of the young lady, whom shesaid would be called for by a friend on her return to the hotel. Thesebills she paid; after that she left the hotel on foot, carrying her ownbag. The young lady has not returned----"
"Enough. The young lady is dead, killed by chance here at the museum. Aplain-clothes man will be with you shortly from Headquarters. Meanwhilekeep your eyes and ears open. If a message comes for either Madame Duclosor Miss Willetts, notify me here; and if anyone calls, detain the partyat all hazards. That's all; no time to talk."
And now Gryce entered the room. He was accompanied by an inspector. Thiswas a welcome addition to their force. Coroner Price greeted him withcordiality:
"You've come in good time, Inspector. The death of this young girlstruck down by an arrow shot by an unknown hand from the opposite sideof the building bids fair to make a greater call on your resources thanon mine. The woman who appears to have acted as companion to MissWilletts has fled the hotel where they both took rooms immediately uponleaving the steamer. Either she has heard of the accident which hasoccurred here--and if so, how?--or she's but carrying out some deep-laidplan which it is highly important for us to know. It looks now like apremeditated crime."
"With this Englishman involved?"
"I doubt that; I seriously doubt that--don't you, Gryce? A more subtlehead than his planned this strange crime."
"Yes; there can be little doubt about that. Shall I set the boys to work,Inspector? This Frenchwoman must be found."
"At once--a general alarm. You can get a description of her from theclerk at the Universal. She must not be allowed to leave town."
Mr. Gryce sat down before the telephone. Coroner Price proceeded toacquaint the Inspector with such details of the affair as were now known.The Curator moved restlessly about. Gloom had settled upon the museum. Ononly one face was there a smile to be seen, but that was a heavenly one,irradiating the countenance of her who had passed from the lesser to thelarger world with the joy of earth still warm in her innocent heart.
BOOK II
MR. X