V. The Seismograph Adventure
"Dr. James Hanson, Coroner's Physician, Criminal Courts Building," readCraig Kennedy, as he held a visitor's card in his hand. Then to thevisitor he added, "Take a chair, Doctor."
The physician thanked him and sat down. "Professor Kennedy," he began,"I have been referred to you by Inspector O'Connor of the DetectiveBureau. It may seem an impertinence for a city official to call on youfor assistance, but--well, you see, I'm completely floored. I think,too, that the case will interest you. It's the Vandam case."
If Dr. Hanson had suddenly turned on the current of an induction coiland I had been holding the handles I don't think the thrill I receivedcould have been any more sudden. The Vandam case was the sensation ofthe moment, a triple puzzle, as both Kennedy and myself had agreed. Wasit suicide, murder, or sudden death? Every theory, so far, had provedunsatisfactory.
"I have read only what the newspapers have published," replied Craig tothe doctor's look of inquiry. "You see, my friend Jameson here is on thestaff of the Star, and we are in the habit of discussing these cases."
"Very glad to meet you, Mr. Jameson," exclaimed Dr. Hanson at theimplied introduction. "The relations between my office and your paperhave always been very satisfactory, I can assure you."
"Thank you, Doctor. Depend on me to keep them so," I replied, shakinghis proffered hand.
"Now, as to the case," continued the doctor slowly. "Here is a beautifulwoman in the prime of life, the wife of a very wealthy retired bankerconsiderably older than herself--perhaps nearly seventy--of very finefamily. Of course you have read it all, but let me sketch it so you willlook at it from my point of view. This woman, apparently in good health,with every luxury money can buy, is certain within a very few years,from her dower rights, to be numbered among the richest women inAmerica. Yet she is discovered in the middle of the night by her maid,seated at the table in the library of her home, unconscious. She neverregains consciousness, but dies the following morning.
"The coroner is called in, and, as his physician, I must advise him.The family physician has pronounced it due to natural causes, the uremiccoma of latent kidney trouble. Some of the newspapers, I think the Staramong them, have hinted at suicide. And then there are others, who haveflatly asserted it was murder."
The coroner's physician paused to see if we were following him. Needlessto say Kennedy was ahead of him.
"Have you any facts in your possession which have not been given to thepublic yet?" asked Craig.
"I'm coming to that in a moment," replied Dr. Hanson. "Let me sketchthe case first. Henry Vandam had become--well, very eccentric in his oldage, we will say. Among his eccentricities none seems to have impressedthe newspapers more than his devotion to a medium and her manager, Mrs.May Popper and Mr. Howard Farrington. Now, of course, the case does notgo into the truth or falsity of spiritualism, you understand. You haveyour opinion, and I have mine. What this aspect of the case involves ismerely the character of the medium and her manager. You know, of course,that Henry Vandam is completely under their control."
He paused again, to emphasise the point.
"You asked me if I was in possession of any facts which have not beengiven to the press. Yes, I am. And just there lies the trouble. They areso very conflicting as to be almost worse than useless, as far as I cansee. We found near the unfortunate woman a small pill-box with threecapsules still in it. It was labelled 'One before retiring' and borethe name of a certain druggist and the initials 'Dr. C. W. H.' Now, I amconvinced that the initials are merely a blind and do not give anyclue. The druggist says that a maid from the Vandam house brought inthe prescription, which of course he filled. It is a harmless enoughprescription--contains, among other things, four and a half grains ofquinine and one-sixth of a grain of morphine. Six capsules were preparedaltogether.
"Now, of course my first thought was that she might have takenseveral capsules at once and that it was a case of accidental morphinepoisoning, or it might even be suicide. But it cannot be either, to mymind, for only three of the six capsules are gone. No doubt, also, youare acquainted with the fact that the one invariable symptom ofmorphine poisoning is the contraction of the pupils of the eyes to apin-point--often so that they are unrecognisable. Moreover, the pupilsare symmetrically contracted, and this symptom is the one invariablypresent in coma from morphine poisoning and distinguishes it from allother forms of death.
"On the other hand, in the coma of kidney disease one pupil is dilatedand the other contracted--they are unsymmetrical. But in this caseboth the pupils are normal, or only a very little dilated, and they aresymmetrical. So far we have been able to find no other poison than theslight traces of morphine remaining in the stomach after so many hours.I think you are enough of a chemist to know that no doctor would dare goon the stand and swear to death from morphine poisoning in the face ofsuch evidence against him. The veriest tyro of an expert toxicologistcould too easily confute him."
Kennedy nodded. "Have you the pill-box and the prescription?"
"I have," replied Dr. Hanson, placing them on the table.
Kennedy scrutinised them sharply. "I shall need these," he said. "Ofcourse you understand I will take very good care of them. Is thereanything else of importance?"
"Really, I don't know," said the physician dubiously. "It's rather outof my province, but perhaps you would think it important. It's mightyuncanny anyhow. Henry Vandam, as you doubtless know, was much moredeeply interested in the work of this medium than was his wife. PerhapsMrs. Vandam was a bit jealous--I don't know. But she, too, had aninterest in spiritualism, though he was much more deeply influenced byMrs. Popper than she.
"Here's the strange part of it. The old man believes so thoroughly inrappings and materialisations that he constantly keeps a notebook in hispocket in which he records all the materialisations he thinks he seesand the rappings he hears, along with the time and place. Now it sohappened that on the night Mrs. Vandam was taken ill, he hadretired--I believe in another part of the house, where he has a regularseance-room. According to his story, he was awakened from a profoundsleep by a series of rappings. As was his custom, he noted the timeat which they occurred. Something made him uneasy, and he said to his'control'--at least this is his story:
"'John, is it about Mary?'
"Three raps answered 'yes,' the usual code.
"'What is the matter? Is she ill?'
"The three answering raps were so vigorous that he sprang out of bed andcalled for his wife's maid. The maid replied that Mrs. Vandam had notgone to bed yet, but that there was a light in the library and she wouldgo to her mistress immediately. The next moment the house was awakenedby the screams of the maid calling for help, that Mrs. Vandam was dying.
"That was three nights ago. On each of the two succeeding nightsHenry Vandam says he has been awakened at precisely the same hour by arapping, and on each night his 'control' has given him a message fromhis dead wife. As a man of science, I attribute the whole thing to anoverwrought imagination. The original rappings may have been a merecoincidence with the fact of the condition of Mrs. Vandam. However, Igive this to you for what it is worth."
Craig said nothing, but, as was his habit, shaded his eyes with thetips of his fingers, resting his elbows on the arms of his chair: "Isuppose," he said, "you can give me the necessary authority to enter theVandam house and look at the scene of these happenings?"
"Certainly," assented the physician, "but you will find it a queerplace. There are spirit paintings and spirit photographs in every room,and Vandam's own part of the house--well, it's creepy, that's all I cansay."
"And also I suppose you have performed an autopsy on the body and willallow me to drop into your laboratory to-morrow morning and satisfymyself on this morphine point?"
"Certainly," replied the coroner's physician, "at any time you say."
"At ten sharp, then, to-morrow I shall be there," said Craig. "It is noweight-thirty. Do you think I can see Vandam to-night? What time do theserappings occur?"<
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"Why, yes, you surely will be able to see him to-night. He hasn'tstirred from the house since his wife died. He told me he momentarilyexpected messages from her direct when she had got strong enough in hernew world. I believe they had some kind of a compact to that effect. Therappings come at twelve-thirty."
"Ah, then I shall have plenty of time to run over to my laboratorybefore seeing Mr. Vandam and get some apparatus I have in mind. No,Doctor, you needn't bother to go with me. Just give me a card ofintroduction. I'll see you to-morrow at ten. Good-night--oh, by the way,don't give out any of the facts you have told me."
"Jameson," said Craig, when we were walking rapidly over toward theuniversity, "this promises to be an uncommonly difficult case."
"As I view it now," I said, "I have suspicions of everybody concernedin it. Even the view of the Star, that it is a case of suicide due tooverwrought nerves, may explain it."
"It might even be a natural death," Craig added. "And that would makeit a greater mystery than ever--a case for psychical research. One thingthat I am going to do to-night will tell me much, however."
At the laboratory he unlocked a glass case and took out a littleinstrument which looked like two horizontal pendulums suspended by finewires. There was a large magnet near each pendulum, and the end ofeach pendulum bore a needle which touched a circular drum driven byclock-work. Craig fussed with and adjusted the apparatus, while I saidnothing, for I had long ago learned that in applying a new apparatusto doing old things Craig was as dumb as an oyster, until his work wascrowned with success.
We had no trouble in getting in to see Mr. Vandam in his seance-room.His face was familiar to me, for I had seen him in public a number oftimes, but it looked strangely altered. He was nervous, and showed hisage very perceptibly.
It was as the coroner's physician had said. The house was litteredwith reminders of the cult, books, papers, curious daubs of paintingshandsomely framed, and photographs; hazy overexposures, I should havecalled them, but Mr. Vandam took great pride in them, and Kennedy quitewon him over by his admiration for them.
They talked about the rappings, and the old man explained where and whenthey occurred. They proceeded from a little cabinet or closet at one endof the room. It was evident that he was a thorough believer in them andin the messages they conveyed.
Craig carefully noted everything about the room and then fell toadmiring the spirit photographs, if such they might be called.
"The best of all I do not display, they are too precious," said the oldman. "Would you like to see them?"
Craig assented eagerly, and Vandam left us for a moment to get them. Inan instant Craig had entered the cabinet, and in a dark corner on thefloor he deposited the mechanism he had brought from the laboratory.Then he resumed his seat, shutting the box in which he had brought themechanism, so that it would not appear that he had left anything aboutthe room.
Artfully he led the conversation along lines that interested the oldman until he seemed to forget the hour. Not so, Craig. He knew it wasnearing half-past twelve. The more they talked the more uncanny did thishouse and room of spirits seem to me. In fact, I was rapidly reachingthe point where I could have sworn that once or twice somethingincorporeal brushed by me. I know now that it was purely imagination,but it shows what tricks the imagination can play on us.
Rap! rap! rap! rap! rap!
Five times came a curiously hollow noise from the cabinet. If ithad been possible I should certainly have fled, it was so sudden andunexpected. The hall clock downstairs struck the half-hour in thosechimes written by Handel for St. Paul's.
Craig leaned over to me and whispered hoarsely, "Keep perfectlystill--don't move a hand or foot."
The old man seemed utterly to have forgotten us. "Is that you, John?" heasked expectantly.
Rap! rap! rap! came the reply.
"Is Mary strong enough to speak to me to-night?"
Rap! rap!
"Is she happy?"
Rap! rap!
"What makes her unhappy? What does she want? Will you spell it out?"
Rap! rap! rap!
Then, after a pause, the rapping started slowly, and distinctly to spellout words. It was so weird and uncanny that I scarcely breathed. Letterafter letter the message came, nineteen raps for "s," eight for "h,"five for "e," according to the place in the alphabet, numerically, ofthe required letter. At last it was complete.
"She thinks you are not well. She asks you to have that prescriptionfilled again."
"Tell her I will do it to-morrow morning. Is there anything else?"
Rap! rap! came back faintly:
"John, John, don't go yet," pleaded the old man earnestly. It was easyto see how thoroughly he believed in "John," as perhaps well he mightafter the warning of his wife's death three nights before. "Won't youanswer one other question?"
Fainter, almost imperceptibly, came a rap! rap!
For several minutes the old man sat absorbed in thought, trance-like.Then, gradually, he seemed to realise that we were in the room withhim. With difficulty he took up the thread of the conversation where therappings had broken it.
"We were talking about the photographs," he said slowly. "I hope soonto get one of my wife as she is now that she is transfigured. John haspromised me one soon."
He was gathering up his treasures preparatory to putting them back intheir places of safekeeping. The moment he was out of the room Craigdarted into the cabinet and replaced his mechanism in the box. Then hebegan softly to tap the walls. At last he found the side that gave anoise similar to that which we had heard, and he seemed pleased to havefound it, for he hastily sketched on an old envelope a plan of that partof the house, noting on it the location of the side of the cabinet.
Kennedy almost dragged me back to our apartment, he was in such a hurryto examine the apparatus at his leisure. He turned on all the lights,took the thing out of its case, and stripped off the two sheets of ruledpaper wound around the two revolving drums. He laid them flat onthe table and studied them for some minutes with evidently growingsatisfaction.
At last he turned to me and said, "Walter, here is a ghost caught in theact."
I looked dubiously at the irregular up-and-down scrawl on the paper,while he rang up the Homicide Bureau of the Central Office and left wordfor O'Connor to call him up the first thing in the morning.
Still eyeing with satisfaction the record traced on the sheets of paper,he lighted a cigarette in a matter-of-fact way and added: "It proves tobe a very much flesh-and-blood ghost, this 'John.' It walked up to thewall back of that cabinet, rapped, listened to old Vandam, rappedsome more, got the answer it wanted, and walked deliberately away. Thecabinet, as you may have noticed, is in a corner of the room with oneside along the hallway. The ghost must have been in the hall."
"But who was it?"
"Not so fast, Walter," laughed Craig. "Isn't it enough for one nightthat we have found out that much?"
Fortunately I was tired, or I certainly should have dreamed of rappingsand of "John" that night. I was awakened early by Kennedy talking withsomeone over the telephone. It was Inspector O'Connor.
Of course I heard only one side of the conversation, but as near as Icould gather Kennedy was asking the inspector to obtain several samplesof ink for him. I had not heard the first part of the conversation, andwas considerably surprised when Kennedy hung up the receiver and said:
"Vandam had the prescription filled again early this morning, and itwill soon be in the hands of O'Connor. I hope I haven't spoiled thingsby acting too soon, but I don't want to run the risk of a doubletragedy."
"Well," I said, "it is incomprehensible to me. First I suspectedsuicide. Then I suspected murder. Now I almost suspect a murder and asuicide. The fact is, I don't know just what I suspect. I'm like Dr.Hanson--floored. I wonder if Vandam would voluntarily take all thecapsules at once in order to be with his wife?"
"One of them alone would be quite sufficient if the 'ghost' should takea notion, as I think it will, to walk in the
daytime," replied Craigenigmatically. "I don't want to run any chances, as I have said. I maybe wrong in my theory of the case, Walter, so let us not discuss thisphase of it until I have gone a step farther and am sure of my ground.O'Connor's man will get the capsules before Vandam has a chance to takethe first one, anyhow. The 'ghost' had a purpose in that message, forO'Connor tells me that Vandam's lawyer visited him yesterday and in allprobability a new will is being made, perhaps has already been made."
We breakfasted in silence and later rode down to the office of Dr.Hanson, who greeted us enthusiastically.
"I've solved it at last," he cried, "and it's easy."
Kennedy looked gravely over the analysis which Dr. Hanson shoved intohis hand, and seemed very much interested in the probable quantityof morphine that must have been taken to yield such an analysis. Thephysician had a text-book open on his desk.
"Our old ideas of the infallible test of morphine poisoning are allexploded," he said, excitedly beginning to read a passage he had markedin the book.
"'I have thought that inequality of the pupils, that is to say, wherethey are not symmetrically contracted, is proof that a case is not oneof narcotism, or morphine poisoning. But Professor Taylor has recordeda case of morphine poisoning in which the unsymmetrical contractionoccurred.'
"There, now, until I happened to run across that in one of theauthorities I had supposed the symmetrical contraction of the pupilsof the eyes to be the distinguishing symptom of morphine poisoningProfessor Kennedy, in my opinion we can, after all, make out our case asone of morphine poisoning."
"Is that case in the book all you base your opinion on?" asked Craigwith excessive politeness.
"Yes, sir," replied the doctor reluctantly.
"Well," said Kennedy quietly, "if you will investigate that case quotedfrom Professor Taylor, you will find that it has been proved that thepatient had one glass eye."
"Then my contention collapses and she was not poisoned?"
"No, I do not say that. All I say is that expert testimony would refuteus as far as we have gone. But if you will let me make a few tests of myown I can readily clear up that end of the case, I now feel sure. Let metake these samples to my laboratory."
I was surprised when we ran into Inspector O'Connor waiting for us inthe corridor of the Criminal Courts Building as we left the office ofthe coroner's physician. He rushed up to Kennedy and shoved intohis hand a pill-box in which six capsules rattled. Kennedy narrowlyinspected the box, opened it, and looked thoughtfully at the six whitecapsules lying so innocently within.
"One of these capsules would have been worth hundreds of thousands ofdollars to 'John,'" said Craig contemplatively, as he shut the box anddeposited it carefully in his inside vest pocket. "I don't believeI even said good morning to you, O'Connor," he continued. "I hope Ihaven't kept you waiting here long. Have you obtained the samples ofink?"
"Yes, Professor. Here they are. As soon as you telephoned this morningI sent my men out separately to get them. There's the ink from thedruggist, this is from the Vandam library, this is from Farrington'sroom, and this is from Mrs. Popper's apartment."
"Thank you, Inspector. I don't know what I'd do without your help,"said Kennedy, eagerly taking four small vials from him. "Science is allright, but organisation enables science to work quickly. And quicknessis the essence of this case."
During the afternoon Kennedy was very busy in his laboratory, where Ifound him that night after my hurried dinner, from which he was absent.
"What, is it after dinner-time?" he exclaimed, holding up a glassbeaker and watching the reaction of something he poured into it from atest-tube.
"Craig, I believe that when you are absorbed in a case, you would ratherwork than eat. Did you have any lunch after I left you?"
"I don't think so," he replied, regarding the beaker and not his answer."Now, Walter, old fellow, I don't want you to be offended with me,but really I can work better if you don't constantly remind me of suchthings as eating and sleeping. Say, do you want to help me--really?"
"Certainly. I am as interested in the case as you are, but I can't makeheads or tails of it," I replied.
"Then, I wish you would look up Mrs. Popper to-night and have a privateseance with her. What I want you to do particularly is to get a goodidea of the looks of the room in which she is accustomed to work. I'mgoing to duplicate it here in my laboratory as nearly as possible. ThenI want you to arrange with her for a private 'circle' here to-morrownight. Tell her it is with a few professors at the university who areinterested in psychical research and that Mr. Vandam will be present.I'd rather have her come willingly than to force her to come.Incidentally watch that manager of hers, Farrington. By all means hemust accompany her."
That evening I dropped casually in on Mrs. Popper. She was a womanof great brilliance and delicacy, both in her physical and mentalperceptions, of exceptional vivacity and cleverness. She must havestudied me more closely than I was aware of, for I believe she relied ondiverting my attention whenever she desired to produce one of her reallywonderful results. Needless to say, I was completely mystified by herperformance. She did spirit writing that would have done credit to theimmortal Slade, told me a lot of things that were true, and many morethat were unverifiable or hopelessly vague. It was really worth muchmore than the price, and I did not need to feign the interest necessaryto get her terms for a circle in the laboratory.
Of course I had to make the terms with Farrington. The first glancearoused my suspicions of him. He was shifty-eyed, and his face had ahard and mercenary look. In spite of, perhaps rather because of, myrepugnance we quickly came to an agreement, and as I left the apartmentI mentally resolved to keep my eye on him.
Craig came in late, having been engaged in his chemical analyses all theevening. From his manner I inferred that they had been satisfactory,and he seemed much gratified when I told him that I had arrangedsuccessfully for the seance and that Farrington would accompany themedium.
As we were talking over the case a messenger arrived with a note fromO'Connor. It was written with his usual brevity: "Have just found fromservants that Farrington and Mrs. P. have key to Vandam house. WishI had known it before. House shadowed. No one has entered or left itto-night."
Craig looked at his watch. It was a quarter after one. "The ghostwon't walk to-night, Walter," he said as he entered his bedroom for amuch-needed rest. "I guess I was right after all in getting the capsulesas soon as possible. The ghost must have flitted unobserved in therethis morning directly after the maid brought them back from thedruggist."
Again, the next morning, he had me out of bed bright and early. As wedescended from the Sixth Avenue "L," he led me into a peculiar littleshop in the shadow of the "L" structure. He entered as though he knewthe place well; but, then, that air of assurance was Kennedy's stock intrade and sat very well on him.
Few people, I suppose, have ever had a glimpse of this workshop of magicand deception. This little shop of Marina's was the headquarters of themagicians of the country. Levitation and ghostly disappearing hands wereon every side. The shelves in the back of the shop were full of nickel,brass, wire, wood, and papier-mache contrivances, new and strange to theeye of the uninitiated. Yet it was all as systematic as a hardware shop.
"Is Signor Marina in?" asked Craig of a girl in the first room, givenup to picture post-cards. The room was as deceptive as the trade, forit was only an anteroom to the storeroom I have described above. Thisstoreroom was also a factory, and half a dozen artisans were hard atwork in it.
Yes, the signor was in, the girl replied, leading us back into theworkshop. He proved to be a short man with a bland, open face and frankeyes, the very antithesis of his trade.
"I have arranged for a circle with Mrs. May Popper," began Kennedy,handing the man his card. "I suppose you know her?"
"Indeed yes," he answered. "I furnished her seance room."
"Well, I want to hire for to-night just the same sort of tables,cabinets, carpets, everything that she has--o
nly hire, you understand,but I am willing to pay you well for them. It is the best way to get agood sitting, I believe. Can you do it?"
The little man thought a moment, then replied: "Si, signor yes--verynearly, near enough. I would do anything for Mrs. Popper. She is a goodcustomer. But her manager--"
"My friend here, Mr. Jameson, has had seances with her in her ownapartment," interposed Craig. "Perhaps he can help you to recollect justwhat is necessary."
"I know very well, signor. I have the duplicate bill, the bill which waspaid by that Farrington with a check from the banker Vandam. Leave it tome."
"Then you will get the stuff together this morning and have it up to myplace this afternoon."
"Yes, Professor, yes. It is a bargain. I would do anything for Mrs.Popper--she is a fine woman."
Late that afternoon I rejoined Craig at his laboratory. Signor Marinahad already arrived with a truck and was disposing the paraphernaliaabout the laboratory. He had first laid a thick black rug. Mrs. Poppervery much affected black carpets, and I had noticed that Vandam's roomwas carpeted in black, too. I suppose black conceals everything that oneoughtn't to see at a seance.
A cabinet with a black curtain, several chairs, a light deal table,several banjos, horns, and other instruments were disposed about theroom. With a few suggestions from me we made a fair duplication of thehangings on the walls. Kennedy was manifestly anxious to finish, and atlast it was done.
After Marina had gone, Kennedy stretched a curtain over the end ofthe room farthest from the cabinet. Behind it he placed on a shelfthe apparatus composed of the pendulums and magnets. The beakers andtest-tubes were also on this shelf.
He had also arranged that the cabinet should be so situated that it wasnext a hallway that ran past his laboratory.
"To-night, Jameson," he said, indicating a spot on the hall wall justback of the cabinet, "I shall want you to bring my guests out here anddo a little spirit rapping--I'll tell you just what to do when the timecomes."
That night, when we gathered in the transformed laboratory, there wereHenry Vandam, Dr. Hanson, Inspector O'Connor, Kennedy, and myself.At last the sound of wheels was heard, and Mrs. Popper drove up in ahansom, accompanied by Farrington. They both inspected the room narrowlyand seemed satisfied. I had, as I have said, taken a serious disliketo the man, and watched him closely. I did not like his air of calmassurance.
The lights were switched off, all except one sixteen-candle-power lampin the farthest corner, shaded by a deep-red globe. It was just lightenough to see to read very, large print with difficulty.
Mrs. Popper began immediately with the table. Kennedy and I sat on herright and left respectively, in the circle, and held her hands and feet.I confess to a real thrill when I felt the light table rise first on twolegs, then on one, and finally remain suspended in the air, whence itdropped with a thud, as if someone had suddenly withdrawn his support.
The medium sat with her back to the curtain of the cabinet, and severaltimes I could have sworn that a hand reached out and passed close to myhead. At least it seemed so. The curtain bulged at times, and a breezeseemed to sweep out from the cabinet.
After some time of this sort of work Craig led gradually up to a requestfor a materialisation of the control of Vandam, but Mrs. Popper refused.She said she did not feel strong enough, and Farrington put in a hastyword that he, too, could feel that "there was something working againstthem." But Kennedy was importunate and at last she consented to see if"John" would do some rapping, even if he could not materialise.
Kennedy asked to be permitted to put the questions.
"Are you the 'John' who appears to Mr. Vandam every night attwelve-thirty?"
Rap! rap! rap! came the faint reply from the cabinet. Or rather itseemed to me to come from the floor near the cabinet, and perhaps to bea trifle muffled by the black carpet.
"Are you in communication with Mrs. Vandam?"
Rap! rap! rap!
"Can she be made to rap for us?"
Rap! rap!
"Will you ask her a question and spell out her answer?"
Rap! rap! rap!
Craig paused a moment to frame the question, then shot it outpoint-blank: "Does Mrs. Vandam know now in the other world whetheranyone in this room substituted a morphine capsule for one of thoseordered by her three days before she died? Does she know whether thesame person has done the same thing with those later ordered by Mr.Vandam?"
"John" seemed considerably perturbed at the mention of capsules. Itwas a long time before any answer was forthcoming. Kennedy was about torepeat the question when a faint sound was heard.
Rap!----
Suddenly came a wild scream. It was such a scream as I had neverheard before in my life. It came as though a dagger had been thrust intothe heart of Mrs. Popper. The lights flashed up as Kennedy turned theswitch.
A man was lying flat on the floor--it was Inspector O'Connor. He hadsucceeded in slipping noiselessly, like a snake, below the curtaininto the cabinet. Craig had told him to look out for wires or threadsstretched from Mrs. Popper's clothing to the bulging curtain of thecabinet. Imagine his surprise when he saw that she had simply freedher foot from the shoe, which I was carefully holding down, and with abackward movement of the leg was reaching out into the cabinet behindher chair and was doing the rapping with her toes.
Lying on the floor he had grasped her foot and caught her heel with afirm hand. She had responded with a wild yell that showed she knew shewas trapped. Her secret was out.
Hysterically Mrs. Popper began to upbraid the inspector as he rose tohis feet, but Farrington quickly interposed.
"Something was working against us to-night, gentlemen. Yet you demandedresults. And when the spirits will not come, what is she to do? Sheforgets herself in her trance; she produces, herself, the things thatyou all could see supernaturally if you were in sympathy."
The mere sound of Farrington's voice seemed to rouse in me all theanimosity of my nature. I felt that a man who could trump up an excuselike that when a person was caught with the goods was capable of almostanything.
"Enough of this fake seance," exclaimed Craig. "I have let it goon merely for the purpose of opening the eyes of a certain deludedgentleman in this room. Now, if you will all be seated I shall havesomething to say that will finally establish whether Mary Vandam was thevictim of accident, suicide, or murder."
With hearts beating rapidly we sat in silence.
Craig took the beakers and test-tubes from the shelf behind the curtainand placed them on the little deal table that had been so merrilydancing about the room.
"The increasing frequency with which tales of murder by poison appearin the newspapers," he began formally, "is proof of how rapidly this newcivilisation of ours is taking on the aspects of the older civilisationsacross the seas. Human life is cheap in this country; but the waysin which human life has been taken among us have usually been direct,simple, aboveboard, in keeping with our democratic and pioneertraditions. The pistol and the bowie-knife for the individual, the ropeand the torch for the mob, have been the usual instruments of suddendeath. But when we begin to use poisons most artfully compoundedin order to hasten an expected bequest and remove obstacles in itsway--well, we are practising an art that calls up all the memories ofsixteenth century Italy.
"In this beaker," he continued, "I have some of the contents of thestomach of the unfortunate woman. The coroner's physician has found thatthey show traces of morphine. Was the morphine in such quantities as tobe fatal? Without doubt. But equally without doubt analysis could notdiscover and prove it in the face of one inconsistency. The usual testwhich shows morphine poisoning failed in this case. The pupils of hereyes were not symmetrically contracted. In fact they were normal.
"Now, the murderer must have known of this test. This clever criminalalso knew that to be successful in the use of this drug where others hadfailed, the drug must be skilfully mixed with something else. In thatfirst box of capsules there were six. The druggist compounded themcorr
ectly according to the prescription. But between the time when theycame into the house from the druggist's and the time when she took thefirst capsule, that night, someone who had access to the house emptiedone capsule of its harmless contents and refilled it with a deadly doseof morphine--a white powder which looks just like the powder already inthe capsules.
"Why, then, the normal pupils of the eyes? Simply because the criminalput a little atropine, or belladonna, with the morphine. My tests showabsolutely the presence of atropine, Dr. Hanson," said Craig, bowing tothe physician.
"The best evidence, however, is yet to come. A second box of sixcapsules, all intact, was discovered yesterday in the possession ofHenry Vandam. I have analysed the capsules. One contains no quinine atall--it is all morphine and atropine. It is, without doubt, preciselysimilar to the capsule which killed Mrs. Vandam. Another night or so,and Henry Vandam would have died the same death."
The old man groaned. Two such exposures had shaken him. He looked fromone of us to another as if not knowing in whom he could trust. ButKennedy hurried on to his next point.
"Who was it that gave the prescription to Mrs. Vandam originally? She isdead and cannot tell. The others won't tell, for the person who gave herthat prescription was the person who later substituted the fatal capsulein place of the harmless. The original prescription is here. I have beenable to discover from it nothing at all by examining the handwriting.Nor does the texture of the paper indicate anything to me. But theink--ah, the ink.
"Most inks seem very similar, I suppose, but to a person who has made astudy of the chemical composition of ink they are very different. Inkis composed of iron tannate, which on exposure to air gives the black ofwriting. The original pigment--say blue or blue-black ink--is placedin the ink, to make the writing visible at first, and gradually fades,giving place to the black of the tannate which is formed. The dyestuffsemployed in the commercial inks of to-day vary in colour from palegreenish blue to indigo and deep violet. No two give identicalreactions--at all events not when mixed with the iron tannate to formthe pigment in writing.
"It is owing to the difference in these provisional colouring mattersthat it is possible to distinguish between writing written withdifferent kinds of ink. I was able easily to obtain samples of theinks used by the Vandams, by Mrs. Popper, by Mr. Farrington, and by thedruggist. I have compared the writing of the original prescription witha colour scale of my own construction, and I have made chemicaltests. The druggist's ink conforms exactly to the writing on the twopill-boxes, but not to the prescription. One of the other three inksconforms by test absolutely to the ink in that prescription signed 'Dr.C. W. H.' as a blind. In a moment my chain of evidence against the ownerof that bottle of ink will be complete."
I could not help but think of the two pendulums on the shelf behindthe curtain, but Craig said nothing for a moment to indicate that hereferred to that apparatus. We sat dazed. Farrington seemed nervousand ill at ease. Mrs. Popper, who had not recovered from the hystericalcondition of her exposure, with difficulty controlled her emotion.Vandam was crushed.
"I have not only arranged this laboratory so as to reproduce Mrs.Popper's seance-room," began Craig afresh, "but I have had the cabinetplaced in relatively the same position a similar cabinet occupies in Mr.Vandam's private seance-room in the Vandam mansion.
"One night, Mr. Jameson and myself were visiting Mr. Vandam. Atprecisely twelve-thirty we heard most unaccountable rappings from thatcabinet. I particularly noted the position of the cabinet. Back ofit ran a hallway. That is duplicated here. Back of this cabinet is ahallway. I had heard of these rappings before we went, but was afraidthat it would be impossible for me to catch the ghost red handed. Thereis a limit to what you can do the first time you enter a man's house,and, besides, that was no time to arouse suspicion in the mind ofanyone. But science has a way out of every dilemma. I determined tolearn something of these rappings."
Craig paused and glanced first at Farrington, then at Mrs. Popper, andthen at Mr. Vandam.
"Mr. Jameson," he resumed, "will escort the doctor, the inspector, Mr.Farrington, Mrs. Popper, and Mr. Vandam into my imitation hall of theVandam mansion. I want each of you in turn to tiptoe up that hall to aspot indicated on the wall, back of the cabinet, and strike that spotseveral sharp blows with your knuckles."
I did as Craig instructed tiptoeing up myself first so that they couldnot mistake his meaning. The rest followed separately, and after amoment we returned silently in suppressed excitement to the room.
Craig was still standing by the table, but now the pendulums with themagnets and needles and the drums worked by clockwork were before him.
"Another person outside the Vandam family had a key to the Vandammansion," he began gravely. "That person, by the way, was the one whowaited, night by night, until Mrs. Vandam took the fatal capsule,and then when she had taken it apprised the old man of the fact andstrengthened an already blind faith in the shadow world."
You could have heard a pin drop. In fact you could almost have felt itdrop.
"That other person who, unobserved, had free access to the house," hecontinued in the breathless stillness, "is in this room now."
He was looking at O'Connor as if for corroboration. O'Connor nodded."Information derived from the butler," he muttered.
"I did not know this until yesterday," Kennedy continued, "but Isuspected that something of the sort existed when I was first told byDr. Hanson of the rappings. I determined to hear those rappings, andmake a record of them. So, the night Mr. Jameson and I visited Mr.Vandam, I carried this little instrument with me."
Almost lovingly he touched the pendulums on the table. They were nowat rest and kept so by means of a lever that prevented all vibrationwhatever.
"See, I release this lever--now, let no one in the room move. Watchthe needles on the paper as the clockwork revolves the drums. I take astep--ever so lightly. The pendulums vibrate, and the needles trace abroken line on the paper on each drum. I stop; the lines are practicallystraight. I take another step and another, ever so lightly. See thedelicate pendulums vibrate? See, the lines they trace are jagged lines."
He stripped the paper off the drums and laid it flat on the table beforehim, with two other similar pieces of paper.
"Just before the time of the rapping I placed this instrument in thecorner of the Vandam cabinet, just as I placed it in this cabinet afterMr. Jameson conducted you from the room. In neither case were suspicionsaroused. Everything in both cases was perfectly normal--I mean the'ghost' was in ignorance of the presence, if not the very existence, ofthis instrument.
"This is an improved seismograph," he explained, "one after a veryrecent model by Prince Galitzin of the Imperial Academy of St.Petersburg. The seismograph, as you know, was devised to registerearthquakes at a distance. This one not only measures the size ofa distant earthquake, but the actual direction from which theearth-tremors come. That is why there are two pendulums and two drums.
"The magnetic arrangement is to cut short the vibrations set up in thependulums, to prevent them from continuing to vibrate after the firstshock. Thus they are ready in an instant to record another tremor. Otherseismographs continue to vibrate for a long time as a result of onetremor only. Besides, they give little indication of the direction fromwhich the tremors come.
"I think you must all appreciate that your tiptoeing up the hall mustcause a far greater disturbance in this delicate seismograph than evena very severe earthquake thousands of miles away, which it was built torecord."
He paused and examined the papers sharply.
"This is the record made by the 'ghost's' walk the other night," hesaid, holding up two of them in his left hand. "Here on the table, ontwo other longer sheets, I have records of the vibrations set up bythose in this room walking to-night.
"Here is Mr. Jameson's--his is not a bit like the ghost's. Nor is Mr.Vandam's. Least of all are Dr. Hanson's and Inspector O'Connor's, forthey are heavy men.
"Now here is Mr. Farrington's"--he bent
down closely, "he is a lightman, and the ghost was light."
Craig was playing with his victim like a cat with a mouse.
Suddenly I felt something brush by me, and with a swish of air and ofgarments I saw Mrs. Popper fling herself wildly at the table that borethe incriminating records. In another instant Farrington was on his feetand had made a wild leap in the same direction.
It was done so quickly that I must have acted first and thoughtafterward. I found myself in the midst of a melee with my hand athis throat and his at mine. O'Connor with a jiu-jitsu movement bentFarrington's other arm until he released me with a cry of pain.
In front of me I saw Craig grasping Mrs. Popper's wrists as in a vise.She was glaring at him like a tigress.
"Do you suppose for a moment that that toy is going to convince theworld that Henry Vandam has been deceived and that the spirit whichvisited him was a fraud? Is that why you have lured me here under falsepretences, to play on my feelings, to insult me, to take advantage of alone, defenceless woman, surrounded by hostile men? Shame on you," sheadded contemptuously. "You call yourself a gentleman, but I call you acoward."
Kennedy, always calm and collected, ignored the tirade. His voice wasas cold as steel as he said: "It would do little good, Mrs. Popper, todestroy this one link in the chain I have forged. The other links aretoo heavy for you. Don't forget the evidence of the ink. It was yourink. Don't forget that Henry Vandam will not any longer conceal that hehas altered his will in favour of you. To-night he goes from here to hislawyer's to draw up a new will altogether. Don't forget that you havecaused the Vandams separately to have the prescription filled, and thatyou are now caught in the act of a double murder. Don't forget that youhad access to the Vandam mansion, that you substituted the deadly forthe harmless capsules. Don't forget that your rappings announced thedeath of one of your victims and urged the other, a cruelly wronged andcredulous old man, to leave millions to you who had deceived and wouldhave killed him.
"No, the record of the ghost on the seismograph was not Mr.Farrington's, as I implied at the moment when you so kindly furnishedthis additional proof of your guilt by trying to destroy the evidence.The ghost was you, Mrs. Popper, and you are at liberty to examine themarkings as minutely as you please, but you must not destroy them. Youare an astute criminal, Mrs. Popper, but to-night you are under arrestfor the murder of Mary Vandam and the attempted murder of Henry Vandam."