Rex Burns & Mary Rose Sullivan (ed) - Crime Classics- The Mystery Story from Poe to the Pr

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CIDSSIC8 Everybody loves a good

and mystery in American fiction today. In this volume, Rex Burns and Mary Rose Sullivan have chosen seventeen classics of crime from the masters of the genre Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jacques Futrelle, G. K. Chesterton, Susan Glaspell, Dashiell Hammett, Dorothy L Sayers, Agatha Christie, Cornell Woolrich, William writing

is

story,

the largest-selling genre

—

Faulkner, Jorge Luis Borges, Ellery

Queen,

Flannery O'Connor, Ross MacDonald, and Ed McBain. Burns and Sullivan have also written an extensive introduction to the book and to the

mystery genre

itself,

giving readers a histprical

perspective on mystery writing and an appreciation for the craft involved in stories such

as those included here. There

is

also a brief

biographical sketch of each of the collected authors, and a at

list

of suggested further reading

the end of the book.

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ALSO BY REX BURNS The Alvarez Journal

The Farnsworth Score Speak for

the

Dead

Angle of Attack

The Avenging Angel Strip Search

Ground Money The

Killing

Zone

Suicide Season

Parts

Unknown

ALSO BY MARY ROSE SULLIVAN

A The to

Brownings Voices in "The Ring and the Book": Study of Method and Meaning Browning 1836-1854,

Letters of Elizabeth Barrett

Mary

Russell Mitford

3 vols. (Co-edited)

Women

of Letters: Selected Letters of

Elizabeth Barrett

Mary

Browning and

Russell Mitford (Co-edited)

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Story from

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VIKING

VIKING Published by the Penguin Group

USA

Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books

New

Inc.,

375 Hudson Street,

New

York,

York 10014, U.S.A.

W8

Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London

5TZ, England

Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia

Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 2801 John

Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 1B4

Street,

Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland Penguin Books Ltd, Registered

10,

New

Zealand

Ofifices:

Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England First

published in 1990 by Viking Penguin,

a division of Penguin Books

USA

Inc.

Printed in the United States of America

Designed by Steven N. Stathakis

Copyright

©

Rex Burns and Mary Rose

Sullivan, 1990

All rights reserved

Quality Printing and Binding by: Berryville Graphics

P.O. Berryville,

Without limiting the

rights

Box 272

VA

22611 U.S.A.

under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in or transmitted, in any form or by any

means

(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording

or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright

owner and the above publisher

of this book. Grateful acknowledgment

"A

is

made

Her Peers" by Susan Curtis Brown Ltd.

Jury of

"The House

for permission to reprint the following copyrighted works:

Glaspell. Copyright 1946 by Susan Glaspell. Reprinted by permission of

Turk Street" from The Continental

in

Op

by Dashiell Hammett. Copyright

©

Hellman, Executrix of the Estate of Dashiell Hammett. Reprinted by permission of

1974 by

Random

Lillian

House,

Inc.

"The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba" by Dorothy

L. Sayers.

Copyright 1933 by Dorothy

Leigh Sayers. Reprinted by permission of Harper Collins Publishers.

"The Blue Geranium" from The Tuesday Club Murders by Agatha Christie. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated. Copyright 1930 by Agatha Christie. "Murder at the Automat" by Cornell Woolrich. Reprinted by permission of the author's estate and the agents for the estate, Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc.

"Death and the Compass" from a division of

Spanish

"Hand Upon

©

Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. Reprinted by permission of

Wheatland Corporation. Copyright

Grove

Press, Inc. Translated

Press,

from the

1956 by Emece Editores, S.A., Buenos Aires.

Random House,

Inc.

Copyright 1939 by The Curtis Publishing Company.

and the agents

for the estate, Scott

"The Comforts of Home" from

©

1962 by Grove

the Waters" reprinted from The Knight's Gambit by William Faulkner by permission of

"The Adventure of Abraham Lincoln's Clue" by estate

©

Everything That Rises

1960, 1965 by the Estate of

and Giroux,

Ellery

Queen. Reprinted by permission of the author's

Meredith Literary Agency,

Inc.

Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor. Copyright

Mary Flannery O'Connor. Reprinted by permission of

Farrar, Straus

Inc.

"The Sleeping Dog" by Ross MacDonald. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated. Copyright "Sadie

When

©

1965 by Ross MacDonald.

She Died" by Ed McBain. Copyright

Farquharson Ltd.

©

1972 by Evan Hunter. Used by permission of John

ACKN0W1[D6M[N1S

Our thanks go

to all those

who helped

in the production of this

anthology, particularly to Lori Lipsky for her

skillful editing; to

Beaird and Chris Benight, proprietors of Murder by the ver, for their expert advice fiction;

and

to

Book

Shirley in

Den-

about texts for our course in detective

Jeanne Lavelle and Sharon McGee,

for their

knowl-

edgeable suggestions about contemporary mystery writing trends. nally,

we would

like to

detective fiction; to

thank our students

them

this

volume

is

for sharing

dedicated.

Fi-

our interest in

GONHNIS

Introduction

ix

"THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE" by EDGAR ALLAN POE

"THE PURLOINED LETTER" by EDGAR ALLAN POE

"A

SCANDAL

by

IN

(1841)

3

(1844)

35

BOHEMIA"

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

(1892)

55

"THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND" by

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

"THE PROBLEM OF CELL "THE INVISIBLE MAN"

13" (1905) by jacques futrelle

139

(1917) by susan glaspell

157

"THE HOUSE IN TURK STREET" by dashiell

hammett

k.

(1923)

181

"THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF ALI BABA" (1928) by dorothy l. sayers "THE BLUE GERANIUM"

(1932) by

"MURDER AT THE AUTOMAT" by CORNELL WOOLRICH

103

chesterton

(1911) by g.

"A JURY OF HER PEERS"

(1892)

77

247

agatha

(1937)

201

Christie

231

CONTENTS

"HAND UPON THE WATERS" by WILLIAM FAULKNER

(1939)

269

"DEATH AND THE COMPASS" by JORGE LUIS BORGES

"THE ADVENTURE OF by ELLERY QUEEN

ABRAHAM

by FLANNERY o'cONNOR

"THE SLEEPING DOG"

WHEN SHE

LINCOLN'S CLUE"

299

"THE COMFORTS OF HOME"

"SADIE

(1942)

285

(1965)

317 (1965) by ross

macdonald

DIED" (1972) by ed mcbain

Suggestions for Further Reading

389

339 357

(1965)

THE CASE FOR DETECTIVE FICTION

The immense

popularity of mystery fiction, today the single largest-

selling genre in the

fathom. Everyone

United States and Western Europe,

likes a

good

story, especially

and an uncertain outcome, and detective bill. Its is

fiction

—the solving of some

subject matter

intrinsically interesting

and

its

by

its

nature

fills

the

format engages us directly by offering

a sense, in solving the crime. But

might wonder whether a genre so

—

not hard to

puzzling aspect of a crime

an opportunity to match wits with the detective and so

getically entertaining

is

one with high stakes

participate, in

even an avid reader of mysteries

—and

rigidly formulaic

as detective fiction constitutes

so unapolo-

an appropriate

subject for formal study.

The

stories in this

that detective fiction atively recent tury), it

it

volume were selected

makes a worthwhile

phenomenon

to support the proposition

topic of study.

can be studied from a

(originating in the mid-nineteenth cen-

historical

and comparative perspective.

shifting public attitudes towards crime tell

us

much

its

— including those

It

changing emphases

and criminals. And,

about other times and cultures,

much about ourselves as

compar-

has flourished long enough and in such a variety of styles that

serves as a mirror of social values, reflecting in

can

A

it

just as

can also

tell

it

us

things that do not change, such

our need to separate good from evil and truth from falsehood. Finally,

because of its formal structure, detective fiction demands craftsmanship of the writer

the reader.

and thus

Many

assures, at

its

best, a challenging

experience for

of the stories in this present collection can be read

INTRODUCTION

on more than one

The

and

level

stand up well to the test of re-reading.

all

understanding between writer and reader of traditional

tacit

detective fiction, that

all

the significant evidence needed to solve the

case will be provided before the

end of the

imposes stringent

story,

requirements on the writer: of clarity, economy, and attention to detail.

As Raymond Chandler conventional form,

noted, "the detective story, even in

its

most

difficult to write well."

Christianna Brand, in

the preface to her Fog of Doubt, explained why:

"An enormous amount

of sleight-of-hand its

importance,

is

is

its

required to produce each necessary fact, disguising

meaning

real

—and

not by mixing

it

up with a

lot

no two lines could be removed from any work of mine, whose removal would not leave somewhere else in the book, a gap, which those lines referred

of facts not otherwise necessary to the story:

like to say that

I

to." Ingenuity counts but so does plausibility; the premises

may be

farfetched but the story's internal logic has to be airtight.

Writers have to consider not only their readers but also other writers

—

their rivals

and predecessors. As Chandler noted, the good

detective-story writer "competes not only with

but with

all

the hosts of the living as well."

enough

a detective figure different

one that

is

He

the unburied dead

or she has to create

to stand out in a

crowded

calls, in fact, for

slyly

having Sherlock Holmes

Lecoq "a miserable bungler" and Poe's Dupin "a very or indirectly, as in Ross Macdonald's

Sam

Spade's murdered partner.

)

but

some acknowledgment that the

working in a time-honored tradition, either

Arthur Conan Doyle's

field

(A minor con-

into the literary-detective tradition.

still fits

vention of the genre writer

all

naming

directly, as in call

Gaboriau's

inferior fellow,"

his detective

Archer

after

Writers have responded to the com-

on their style, by such means as the telling or colorful metaphor a mark of Hammett and Chandler or the witty literary allusion favored by Christie and Sayers. But more important to the detective writer's success than either petition by working to put an individual stamp

—

—

characterization or style

on

is

a sense of structure: to paraphrase Coleridge

poetry, the right words

Even

readers

who

—

and

in the right order.

use detective fiction for "escape" will concede

that their half of the writer-reader covenant

demands engagement

We

overlook at our peril

with the details of the narrative design. anything that locality

of "the bark),

is

said or done,

we must keep

track of chronology

and

Conan Doyle's clue and even of what does not happen curious incident of the dog in the nighttime" who failed to

and remember

(as in

details for

comparison with alternative versions

INTRODUCTION of an incident. In an article defending the study of the mystery genre,

the historian Robin

Winks makes

takes some of the same

skills as

the case that reading detective fiction

reading history, in that every fact must

be counted equally at the outset and none taken at face value: we learn that "to decide too early

which

facts are the

most important

to

is

introduce bias into one's study and (usually) to deflect one from a

We

potentially valuable line of apparently peripheral investigation." also

have

to pay close attention to narrative strategies like tone

point of view, noting

who

is

which

telling us

facts

and

and why, and

to

the precise meaning of words in context: what, actually, does the writer

mean when he

room

says that a

is

murderer "invisible"? Meeting the tective fiction

revelation

—

—

i.e.,

calls for

"locked," a letter "hidden," or a

writer's challenge in traditional de-

coming up with the solution before the final a reader who is both skeptical and eternally

vigilant.

POE

AND

Historically, detective fiction first

THE PROTOTYPE

emerged almost simultaneously with the

appearance of a professional detective force. "The Murders in the

Rue Morgue," Edgar Allan

Poe's earliest story featuring the private

detective Dupin, appeared in 1841, a year before the fledgling

Metropolitan Police established

its

Detective Department.

London

Among

the

intellectual currents that contributed to the creation of Chevalier

C.

Auguste Dupin were the eighteenth century's Enlightenment with

its

worship of Reason and the nineteenth century's Romanticism with

its

worship of Imagination. But equally influential were the same sociological

changes that produced his

in public

and

real-life

sympathy away from the outlaw

detective counterpart: a shift

—

earlier often treated in

story as a victim of injustice or as a picaresque hero

song

— and toward

the police. Readers in the 1840s had developed what Ian Ousby, in his study of early literary detectives, describes as "a mildly salacious

and a more serious interest in problems of public combination prepared them to look on professional

interest in crime

order";

the

criminal-catchers

less as

"bloodhounds"

(as they

were known when,

before the establishment of the police, they were drawn mainly from

the ranks of criminals turned informers) and more as useful members of the burgeoning class of civil servants. In

making

his protagonist

an expert investigator

—

albeit not a

INTRODUCTION police official

— Poe was ahead

of his time and, although his eccentric-

genius sleuth set the pattern for

all fictional

great detectives,

it

was a

half-century before another writer dared portray a detective so magisterial

and

Throughout the

so nearly infallible.

the century,

rest of

somewhat ambiguous

professional detectives in fiction were

figures,

portrayed as either carrying some taint of the paid informer about

— once ciency— or

them

the police force gained a reputation for honesty and

as

working

at their job conscientiously but

without

effi-

much style.

After the appearance of Sherlock Holmes, style again became as im-

portant as substance for the literary detective. But even as Holmes's

—the Lord Peter Wimseys, of the — dominated the

descendants

Queens

different breed of investigator

Hercule Poirots, and Ellery

early twentieth century, a very

fiction

was coming on the scene: hardened,

unillusioned, guided by a private rather than a public sense of duty.

The

shifting persona of the detective thus reflects the

changing em-

phases over the years in society's attitudes toward the detective's double role as punisher of the guilty

and defender of the innocent,

as well as

the detective's relationship to society. Poe's conception of the detective recognized the psychological

bonding that can take place between pursuer and pursued, a phenom-

enon

especially noticeable in the "doubling" relationship

pin and his opponent, the Minister

Poe may have been influenced in

D

in

this

between Du-

"The Purloined

Letter."

by William Godwin's Caleb

Williams (1794) in which the relentless pursuit of a murderer by his

servant turns into an equally relentless pursuit of the servant by the master. as

The

between

line

guilt

and innocence

finally

becomes blurred

the detective and criminal each project themselves into the mind

The idea that the detective must learn to think like more complex version of the old idea that "it takes a

of their adversary.

the criminal

—

a

thief to catch a thief"

—reappears

later in

many

fictional detectives

such as Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret, who,

like

Dupin, rely

more on psychology than on science to get their man. Although the detective's persona might change along of course with his methods, which became increasingly technological what did

—

not change was the format for telling his

Dorothy Sayers

says,

short stories that

of

all,

Poe struck

make up

off at

story, a

—

format which, as

almost a single blow in the

his detective fiction corpus.

There

is,

five first

the device of having the detective's exploits narrated by an

admiring, less-acute companion reader; there

is

who

thus serves as a stand-in for the

the challenge to the reader to find the significant clue

INTRODUCTION buried amid a welter of false clues ("red herrings"); and there

is

the

and diversions aimed at trapping the criminal that include even a rudimentary form of disguise, as in Dupin's

detective's bag of ruses tricks

donning spectacles to hide as the besting of the

his gaze.

There are subsidiary themes, such

plodding policeman by the detective. Each of the

"The Mystery of Marie Roget" who solves the mystery solely on the "The Gold Bug" the twist is the decoding

stories features a particular plot twist: in it

the "armchair detective,"

is

basis of

newspaper

reports; in

"Thou Art the Man" it is the most-unlikely-suspect-as"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Purloined

of a cipher; in

murderer. In

Letter," the selections included in this volume, Poe illustrates in vary-

ing ways his most crucial "principle of investigation"; that successful

detecting depends

what

actually

is

on learning

there.

The

what appears

to see not

an object or idea can blind

familiarity with, or preconceptions about,

one

to

fiction

its

real significance. Just as

cannot be found,

to be there but

reader, like the detective, has to learn that

at least in

few elements of today's detective

embryo, in Poe's

stories, so his

key

"principle of investigation" continues as a staple of the genre.

OTHER EARLY DETECTIVES Although Poe's invention of the detective-fiction format owed much to his intellectual and social milieu, and to his own fascination with psychology, it also owed something to literary models, especially the early work of Charles Dickens. As Edmund Wilson noted, Poe was very much "akin to his European contemporaries" and he followed developments in English

with keen

fiction

"The Tell-Tale Heart," is a story, "A Confession Found in tale,

brilliant

interest.

His classic horror

re-working of Dickens's short

a Prison in the

Time

of Charles the

Second," and his solution to Dickens's Bamahy Rudge (1841), published before the final chapters

had appeared, was so on-target that

it

annoyed Dickens (and may have contributed to his obsessive secrecy about the outcome of The Mystery of Edwin Drood thirty years later). While Drood (which has been called the "perfect murder mystery" because Dickens's death at the midpoint of composition insoluble)

is

detective fiction, the stories

and

left it

forever

the only Dickensian work that can be labeled purely

theme of detection

reflects his typically

surfaces repeatedly in other

Victorian ambivalence toward profes-

sional detectives. His portrait of Police Inspector Bucket in Bleak

House

INTRODUCTION (1853) shows admiration for the efficiency and dedication of this practiced criminal-catcher but also suggests a faintly sinister element in

Bucket's watchfulness and almost magical appearances (an observer

becomes aware of the detective

as "a third

was not there when he himself came

in,

the door or by either of the windows.

.

and intimidation

bribery reliance

on

surveillance gives

him with the

.").

as well as careful

fact that

if

"who

Bucket's methods include

checking of

him overtones of the

the murderer he has cornered asks taunts

.

person" in the room

and has not since entered by

he

is

facts,

and

spy-informer.

his

When

"an angel or a devil" and

though he can run a murderer to earth

he cannot restore the murder victim to

we

life,

sense that Dickens

regarded detectives as better able to punish crimes than prevent their occurrence.

Among

Dickens's contemporaries, his friend Wilkie Collins

major contributions to the

Woman in White

literature of detection in

made

two novels. The

(1860) pits two amateur detectives, Marian Halcombe

and Walter Hartright, against a sophisticated

villain

who

is

a profes-

sional spy. Collins's multi-perspective structure, with chapters narrated

by principals and peripheral characters in turn, dramatizes the importance of detection in the struggle of good and

evil;

"knowledge

is

if A and B both know X, A's awareness A the advantage. The balance of power constantly

power," indeed, and, even that

B knows

shifts,

as the

it

gives

two friends share the detecting

task, using

everything

from Halcombe's feminine intuition to Hartright's dogged examination of witnesses and records to outwit a formidable opponent. In The

Moonstone (1868) Collins introduced a professional detective. Sergeant Cuff, who is almost as efficient but more sympathetic than Dickens's Bucket. Cuff's style of well-disguised alertness became popular with later writers:

his respectable

appearance (he always wears "decent

black") and domesticated hobby (he grows roses) are disarming ("he

—or anything

might have been a parson, or an undertaker like,

except what he really

else

was") and mask a shrewd, though not

you all-

knowing, observer.

The American

writer

Anna

Katherine Greene used a similarly

unpretentious but proficient police investigator in The Leavenworth

Case (1878), a novel important

for introducing

some

variations

on

detection that later writers, mainly of the English country house-

murder school, found extremely household in which everyone

is

to establish the time of death,

useful: a "closed society" (a single

equally suspect), the use of ballistics

and reproduction of a diagram of the

INTRODUCTION murder scene. Greene, the daughter of a criminal lawyer, also used realistic courtroom cross-examination to further plot revelation. She used her professional detective Ebenezer Gryce as protagonist in a series of novels, supplying him with an assistant named Amelia Butterworth

who complemented his logical deductions with feminine perceptiveness (noting, for instance, that an apparently worn hat is really new because it

has only one hatpin puncture). Butterworth became the prototype

for sharp-eyed spinster sleuths like

Agatha

Christie's Miss Marple.

women as professional detectives England when women were still a rarity in the

Surprisingly, stories featuring

began to emerge in

business and, unlike their male counterparts in Victorian fiction, they are portrayed in

an entirely favorable

W.

Lady Detective (1884)

S.

light.

In The Experiences of a

Hayward introduced

competent police investigator named Mrs.

—who had used an armchair Lady Molly Comer (1910) —

a genteel but briskly

detective for The Old

Orczy

featured in

attractive aristocrat

who

name and who heads

Emmuska

Pascal. Baroness

Man

in the

of Scotland Yard (1910) an

goes into police work to clear her husband's

"the Female Department of the Yard," a position

involving undercover work and a variety of risky adventures. Her exploits are narrated by her maid,

who

Like their nonprofessional predecessor,

Woman

in White,

assists in

solving the cases.

Marian Halcombe

The

in

these distaff detectives are intrepid, resourceful, and

perceptive (Lady Molly, for example, deduces a disguised woman's actual appearance from the size of her hat); they rely

more on

logic

than intuition and win the grudging respect of male colleagues and adversaries. Gender-consciousness in these stories seems to

have

re-

placed the class-consciousness evident in portrayals of male detectives, as seen in the satisfaction

with which Lady Molly's maid relates Her

Ladyship's shrewd deduction about the discrepant hat

size:

"Our fellows

did not think of that," she notes, "because they are men."

One

female contemporary of Dickens

trustful of professional detectives, less

created a private investigator

with readers and

who

Mary

who was even more

dis-

Elizabeth Braddon, neverthe-

who proved

to be

has several characteristics in

immensely popular

common

greatest of detectives, Sherlock Holmes. In Lady Andley's

with the

Secret (1862),

which mixes bigamy, imposture, and murder in the manner of many sensational novels of the period, an elegant young idler named Robert Audley, trained as a lawyer but unwilling to practice such an unsavory profession,

is

drawn

into a mystery surrounding his uncle's

Like Collins's Walter Hartright, he

is

new

wife.

motivated in his detection

INTRODUCTION

xvi

which includes exhaustive examination of records and interviewing of witnesses only by a threat to the family honor, so that he emerges

—

hero rather than a pursuer of criminals. His

as a chivalrous

something new: languid and

and French novels), he can he combs

his hair,

the villain

is

is

Bohemian (he favors stray dogs what a man is thinking by the way for details and,

when

unmasked, he has no compunction about taking

own hands

the law into his

is

slightly tell

he has a prodigious memory

finally

style

What he

to decide her fate.

will

not do

lower himself to such unseemly tactics as wearing disguises or quizzing

a youthful witness (tactics Inspector Bucket

had adopted);

"I

am

not

a detective officer," he announces, "and

1

accomplished detective would

information from a child."

Detecting was, until the

it

like to get his

do not think the most

seems, an unsuitable job for a gentleman

—

at least

advent of Sherlock Holmes.

THE GREAT DETECTIVES

Although Arthur Conan Doyle seems

to

have been unaware of Brad-

don's detective, he readily acknowledged a debt not only to Poe but to the

Frenchman Emile Gaboriau whose detective Lecoq

Lerouge (1866)

and given his art.

is

a master of disguise,

to instructing his slower-witted

Conan

in

an expert reader of

companion

U Affaire

footprints,

in the secrets of

Doyle's achievement was to paint in vivid color the

pen-and-ink sketch of detective-and-assistant handed on by both Gaboriau and Poe; he did "instant folklore." realized in

it

so well that he created

Holmes and Watson have

an evocative setting of

gaslights

what has been

called

distinct personalities,

and hansom

cabs, their

adventures are told swiftly and with memorable turns of phrase ("the

game's afoot"), and they involve highly inventive and even bizarre circumstances (such as a league of red-headed men). Holmesian detection relies

on deduction from observation of everything from tobacco

ash to ciphers and on diversions and disguises (he can even make himself shorter than his actual height), but what has captured the

popular imagination in Holmes as in no other literary detective largely his inimitable style

The

—

succinct, decisive,

is

and unflappable.

other "great detectives" that followed soon on Sherlock

Holmes have

his

omniscience without his humanizing touches (brought

out mainly in his relationship with Watson). Jacques Futrelle's professor

known

as

"The Thinking Machine"

caricatures the bloodless intellec-

INTRODUCTION tual

who can

think himself out of a locked room, and R. Austin

Thomdyke

Freeman's Dr.

who

XVII

is

relies for his detective

super-sleuth with a

more human

Brown, an unprepossessing brown-paper parcels

a forensic scientist, similarly emotionless,

prowess on his green box of equipment.

—who,

priest

face

is

—always fumbling with umbrella and

in the style of Sergeant Cuff

and others,

looks as "unlike a detective as you can imagine"; what sets

more

motivation, which

Chesterton it

is

is

be cured only by confession and reparation, and the

him is the reader Poe and Conan Doyle

—he considered

tale,

of

human

in giving his stories the quality of a

that detective fiction should be a kind of fairy

detective story

who

several writers

is

even more

follow

advantages to be exploited in the

nunnery"

innermost

—

him lie

for

in using a "clerical" detective, the

mainly in the shock value

— of "murder

GOLDEN AGE

British mystery fiction

writers

or village,

—but

lives.

By the 1920s "cozy," in

reality

basically a morality tale. For the

or in the opportunities afforded for access to others'

THE

women

God. He

hearts, a spy for

evoking a magical world beneath the everyday

him the

his

to save souls rather than to uphold the law.

detective for

tale

apart is

interested in the religious implications of crime, viewing

as a sickness to

follows

him

from other supremely successful detectives

significantly

A

G. K. Chesterton's Father

had become

a

minor

industry;

were particularly prominent in the form known

as the

which members of a closed group, often in a country house became suspects in a generally bloodless and neat murder

solved by a great-detective kind of private investigator. aspect predominated and plots relied

The

"puzzle"

on precise chronology and setting,

with the text often accompanied by railroad schedules, maps, and diagrams of the murder scene. So

many

writers used the format that

Club was set up under the leadership of Dorothy Sayers and members swore to abide by the "Rules of Fair Play" (not to conceal a Detection

a "Vital

Clue" from the reader, or use "Mysterious Poisons unknown

to science," or let their detective rely Intuition,

Mumbo Jumbo"

on "Divine Revelation, Feminine

or the like). Although the "Rules" were

tongue-in-cheek, writers took their obligation to play

fair seriously

over Agatha Christie's 1926

enough that a

lively controversy erupted

tour de force,

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, which carried the

"least-

INTRODUCTION likely as guilty"

convention to an extreme that some claimed was unfair

(The argument continued at such length that critic Edmund Wilson wrote in exasperation an essay entitled "Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?") to the reader.

Agatha Christie went on Golden Age fiction in a career her detectives

—the

little

to

become the undisputed queen of

English amateur Jane Marple

—remain,

television adaptations of Christie stories, fictional investigators. Christie

is

supreme

than eighty novels and scores of short Sayers,

who

the best-known of

manipulator of

as a

plots,

more

a lifetime output of

stories. Less prolific

all

was Dorothy

wrote a handful of novels and several short stories

Wimsey, whose debonair

featuring Lord Peter intelligence

of

thanks in part to film and

among

and maintained her inventiveness through L.

Two

that spanned half a century.

Belgian professional Hercule Poirot and the

and much learning, allowing

literary allusions

and

style

conceals a keen

for dialogue full of witty

puzzles of the crossword variety.

At

the height

of her success with Wimsey, Sayers departed from her formula, and

from the theory she had espoused that any love interest introduced into detective fiction could only dilute the proper effect, to write

Gaudy

Night (1935). Here, Lord Peter takes second place as detective to

woman he had

Harriet Vane, a

saved from the gallows and then fallen

in love with. In the course of this attempt to

and the "serious" novel, Sayers explores the the entrance of

women

real-life

and

fiction

from

into higher education as well as those germane

to the genre (differences in

between

meld detective

conflicts that arise

male and female

styles of detection

fictional detecting). Harriet

and

Vane's attempt to

resolve her personal problems through the process of unraveling a

mystery

is

a

more sophisticated version of Mary Roberts Rinehart's

popular detective story. The Circular Staircase (1908), a work in the

much-derided Had- 1 -But-Known vein (so called because the heroine acknowledges in retrospect the

risks

involved in amateur detecting).

Rinehart's timid spinster finds that, in venturing into forbidden places to uncover a murderer, she also opens doors to

while Sayers's working out of a similar identity

achievement by

far,

and

crisis is

for herself and,

a

more complex

the similarity of theme in works so far removed

from each other points to the persistence of feminist concerns in detective fiction by

women. The same tendency,

personalize the detection process, can in such novels as P. D. James's

in

Amanda

An

still

of female detectives to

be seen a generation

Unsuitable Job for a

Woman

Cross's Death in a Tenured Position (1981),

and

later,

(1972), in

Sue

INTRODUCTION Grafton's is

"D"

motivated

for Deadbeat (1987); in each, the

Is

woman

investigator

by professionalism than by a feeling of kinship to the

less

victim.

The term "Golden Age" years its

is no longer used strictly to mean the between the world wars when the British *'cozy" mystery was in

now

heyday, but

is

"Golden Age" crimes tone

writer's

ymous

light

is

known

pair

Age format

to the

used to characterize a style of mystery writing.

some

their solutions; the

and sophisticated. Writers such

as "Ellery

American

Queen"

pseudon-

as the

successfully adapted the

Golden

scene, emphasizing the aspect of detection

as puzzle-solving, or intellectual

in

and so are

are ingenious

stories to issue a formal

game, by interrupting the narrative "Challenge" to the reader to come

up with a solution before reading the ending.

THE BLACK MASK SCHOOL

The Black Mask

or "hard-boiled" school of writing was born in the

1920s and has been credited with changing the detective story radically

from the tradition established by Edgar Allan Poe. Founded magazine by Henry

Mask (1920-1951) under a

initially

series of editors

The

appearance in

first

May

Black

published any kind of adventure story. But

such as George

the magazine soon focused characters.

pulp

as a

Mencken and George Jean Nathan, The

L.

W.

Sutton and Philip C. Cody,

on crime and detection

as well as

hard-boiled private eye, Terry Mack,

1923, in "Three

who would quickly become one of The same year saw the publication

Gun Terry,"

on series made his

by Carroll John Daly,

the period's most popular writers.

of the

"Arson Plus," by Dashiell Hammett,

first

Continental

as well as early

Op

story,

work by

Erie

Stanley Gardner.

But

it

was under the editorship of Joseph Thompson Shaw (1926-

1936) that the magazine became the major proving

site for

detective fiction. Symbolically, one of "Cap" Shaw's

shorten the

title

ingless

and

unless

hard-boiled acts

to Black Mask. This compression reflected the

aim of the new editor plausibility,

first

it

to achieve "simplicity for the sake of clarity,

belief."

Moreover, he saw mere action to be "mean-

involves recognizable

dimensional form." In

was to

stylistic

effect,

Shaw was

human

character in three-

bringing to the mystery genre

the literary theories of American Realism as practiced by William

Howells and others.

He saw

his

magazine

Dean

as providing training for

INTRODUCTION

XX

American

writers as well as establishing a revolutionary direction for

the detective story.

The

who who preyed never bumped

"hard-boiled" protagonist tended to be a tough guy

nonetheless brought justice to the weak and death to those

on them. As popular

said, "I

who

guy

off a

Race Williams

private eye

didn't need it." The world of the hard-boiled hero America of the 1920s and 1930s: gangsters, political

reflected the

corruption, economic depression, the uneasy awareness of impending

cataclysm

beyond the control of the

far

was an isolated protagonist ethics

who managed

and achieve a limited and

The result own code of

single individual.

to obey his

local justice in a less

than perfect

world.

Dashiell Hammett's

Sam

Spade, for instance, remains true to his

limited principle of conduct in The Maltese Falcon (1930): that a detective has to "do something" about the

Himes (A Rage

in

murder of his partner. Chester

Harlem, 1957) adapted the hard-boiled style and

character to portray the kind of justice available to citizens of the black ghetto. less

Many

writers

who came

Hammett made their detectives Raymond Chandler's Philip honour" and Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer is after

—

rough-edged and more chivalrous

Marlowe

is

a

"man

of

something of a father confessor to troubled souls

mous statement about the modem rowing of expectations

must go who

is

—but Chandler's

fa-

detective's task conveys the nar-

"Down these mean streets a man who is neither tarnished nor afraid."

for the hero:

not himself mean,

In their problematic status, the

modem

hard-boiled private investi-

gators are closer to the morally ambiguous detectives of Victorian literature

than to the Great Detectives of the Golden Age.

Stylistically, the

emphasis in hard-boiled fiction was on compres-

sion and rapidity, achieved by the use of active verbs and concrete

nouns and a diction drawn from the everyday, slangy language of alleyway and pool room. One of the finest stylists of the school was

Raymond Chandler who made use of compressed, evocative description and pithy, sardonic metaphor and simile (a man has "a face like a collapsed lung," death is "the big sleep"). At his best, in novels such The Long Goodbye (1953), Chandler succeeded at what he conceded was a difficult task: reworking a familiar commercial formula "to make as

something into

like literature

out of

it."

Because his work was mainly in

published —some not represented novels— Chandler

the novel

short stories were later incorporated

of his

is

in the selections in this

INTRODUCTION volume, but he exerted immense influence, cally,

on

stylistically

and themati-

later writers of detective fiction.

The work

of Black

Mask

writers exhibited characteristics shared

community. Their grim attitude toward work of Eugene O'Neill and Maxwell Anderson, Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner. Like them, the Black by others in the larger

literary

life is

also reflected in the

Mask

writers inherited the attitudes of literary naturalism as defined

by Stephen Crane and Theodore Dreiser, and looked forward to the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre.

THE POLICE PROCEDURAL

The

general requirements of a central mystery and effective storytelling

are as important for the police procedural as for other forms of detective fiction.

reliance

However, procedural

on

an author may,

teamwork

is

from previous forms in their heavy

for narrative purposes, focus

on

another requirement of the form: in

do not work alone, and the tinction between the is

differ

a realistic presentation of actual police methods.

more

police agents

life,

However, the

dis-

and the police procedural

often tested and grows increasingly blurred.

stories feature

real

fiction reflects this.

traditional forms

Though

a single protagonist,

A number of detective

policemen solving crimes by themselves through use of

—

and intuition techniques familiar since Inspector Dupin and Sherlock Holmes. Such stories tend to be less police procedural than traditional detective novels using the police environment close observation

as a

background. Nonetheless, that background often

tective in impact

on the

The foremost

rivals the de-

reader.

scholar o{ the police procedural, George N. Dove,

dates the form's beginnings with

V

as in Victim (1945),

by Lawrence

Other claimants are Hillary Waugh (Last Seen Wearing, 1952) and John Creasey (Gideon's Day, 1955). Reasons for the development

Treat.

of the form vary from the post- World

War II distrust of existing formula

writing to the wide popularity of television's "Dragnet," which began in

1949 and ran

The most whose long

for

seven years.

popular and prolific writer of procedural

series of

is

Ed McBain,

novels and short stories set in the "87th Precinct"

of a big-city police force features a team of detectives working together, often

on more than one

case at a time.

Among

the featured investi-

— INTRODUCTION whose happy home

gators are Steve Carella,

empathy

for all kinds of people,

seems to give him

life

and Meyer Meyer, whose

role as a

Jew in a largely gentile environment gives him a balancing detachment. By adopting a structure that allows him to bring to the fore first one, then another, of his detective

figures,

McBain

the

skillfully exploits

human interest and variety in sleuthing styles inherent police-team approach. He can also thus mix dramatic and comic

opportunities for in the

tones within a single plot, a device adapted by the critically acclaimed television series about

Hillary

an urban police

his police force in a small

such

as

town rather than

Pure Poison (1966), putting

chief, Fred

force, "Hill Street Blues."

Waugh worked a variation on the detective team by setting it

a big city and, in novels

under the direction of a folksy

C. Fellows. The trend in police procedurals, however,

to de-emphasize the

team aspect

—what

Julian

Symons

of sectarian comradeship inside the police force"

view of relationships within the

idealized

Bums's Denver detective Gabe Wager, of a "considerable

number of

force.

—

in favor of a less-

George Dove

—

suffering that, in

a predominantly

suffering"

(1984), cratic

Wager's case,

Anglo

Wager doggedly does

and

social biases facing

done

—

if

results

who own

Rex

are able

internal

from his status

force. In novels

his job, unillusioned

such

as a

as Strip Search

about the bureau-

him, but practical-minded enough to see

that the compromising and jockeying for his getting the job

sees

for instance, as representative

fictional police detectives

to maintain their professional integrity in spite of their

Chicano on

is

"the vision

calls

power around him threaten

only because, as George Dove puts

it,

"the erosion of trust in the police force will hurt relationships with

no department can function." detective such as Wager is more akin

informants, without whose confidence

In important ways, then, a to loners like

Sam Spade and the Continental Op than to Many writers of procedurals give

the closely

knit 87th Precinct team.

investigators a similar kind of

system's politics

semi-autonomous stature

and tendency

their series

—

free of the

—by having them work

to corruption

with, but not in, the police department: as a retired sergeant

now

freelancing, for example, or a university forensic expert called in as

consultant, or

(1987)

—

culture.

—

in the case of

Jonathan Kellerman's Over

a psychologist helping a former patient

enmeshed

the

Edge

in the drug

The flexibility that such an approach affords writers for working

the police scene, coupled with the current popularity of "fact crime" as reflected in television

documentaries about crime and the public's

INTRODUCTION

new developments

interest in

poUce procedural

will

xxiii

in forensic science

—

suggest that the

continue to have wide appeal.

OTHER VARIATIONS

The kind

of metafiction practiced by writers such as Jorge Luis Borges,

challenging the conventions of realism and carrying the deconstructing of puzzles to their logical extreme, would seem to forecast the end of detective fiction as a genre; Borges' "Death and the

ends with the death of the detective

who

Compass"

logically

has become obsessed with

solving the puzzle. Instead, however, recent practitioners of postmod-

The Name of the Rose (1980) and Foucault's Pendulum (1989), have found the detection formula particernism, such as

Umberto Eco

in

ularly suitable to their ends. Eco, for example, has said that as a writer

searching for ways to capture "the pattern of the Zeitgeist" and "to reveal the reader to himself," he

model

plots in existence, "the

had only

to choose, out of all the

most metaphysical and philosophical:

the detective novel."

Other

writers of serious fiction

have used detective

fiction

on

occasion for the purpose of exploring the social or philosophical questions

Eco

refers to.

Faulkner's

Susan Glaspell's

"Hand Upon

"A Jury

the Waters" both

of Her Peers" and William show characters discovering,

and then concealing, damning evidence of a murder because they grasp dimensions of the crime

comprehension of the

official

"The Comforts of Home" process that relies too

—motives

—beyond

and circumstances

justice system.

Flannery O'Connor's

also suggests the limitations of the detecting

much on

objective reality and misses the psy-

chological element in the crime. For O'Connor, the is

the

human

condition

not a challenging problem to be solved but an unfathomable mystery

to be accepted.

Georges Simenon, one of the most

and

influential of

official

police organi-

prolific

detective writers, holds that even as part of an

zation a detective can transcend the limitations of the legal system

and maintain

his

humanity. His Inspector Jules Maigret solves cases

by combining modern

scientific police procedures

with an intuitive

understanding of the criminal mind. Like Poe's Dupin, he not only analyzes

what he has seen but he broods,

not seen.

In Maigret and the

Madwoman

creatively, over

what he has

(1970), his absent-minded

INTRODUCTION doodles turn out to be a sketch of the old

woman he

failed to help;

on a park bench, imagining her there feeding the birds, he feels way to the elusive truth about her murder. A final clue about how to dispose of the case and the criminal comes to him not from a colleague but from his wife evidence that Simenon belongs among those writers concerned more with the psychology than with the pro-

sitting

his

—

cedures of detection.

Many

of the best of contemporary detective -fiction writers bring

together several different strands in their work: the inventive plot and

and with characters of some depth, so

solution, in a realistic setting,

that their works closely resemble serious or "mainstream" fiction. P.

D. James

is

one who uses

house but a hospital

for her "closed society"

for the terminally

ill

not a country

or a forensic laboratory;

Ruth

Rendell's subjects are middle-class, suburban, often families torn by

psychological stresses. This kind of writing out, because

and

still

it

is

in

no danger of dying

and universal human mysteries

presents the satisfaction of a solution, "not by supernatural

means or good

human

deals with never-ending

luck," as P. D. James says, "but by

courage and

human

human

intelligence,

perseverance." Even writers

who have

stayed with the more conventional formulas of the genre have found

ways to keep the material

fresh,

by emphasizing humor rather than

violence in the hard-boiled vein of detection, as does Loren Estleman,

on a particular sub-culture (as Amanda Cross has done with academe and Dick Francis with sports) or region (as James McClure has in South Africa) or ethnic group (as Tony Hillerman has with Navajo Indians). All these signs suggest that the mine of detective fiction is far from being worked out and that writers will continue to strike gold, or by focusing

often artistically as well as commercially. Somerset

Maugham may

prove correct in his prediction that historians of twentieth-century literature "will pass

novelists

ment

somewhat

lightly

and turn their attention

to

over the compositions of

'serious'

the immense and varied achieve-

of the detective writers."

REX BURNS

MARY ROSE SULLIVAN

^PWTTliE

mm n{mm bom

Edgar Allan Poe was

England and,

briefly, at

editor. His influence

on

in

Boston and educated in Virginia and

West Point

before becoming a journalist and

detective fiction cannot be divorced from his

contribution to the development of the short story as a form. Through

example and theory, he demonstrated the importance and effectiveness of

economy

in construction

and unity of effect. Especially

detective story was his emphasis logical inference

on

tight plotting

through careful observation

vital for the

and "ratiocination"

—

in the unravelling of

the mystery. His technique offered a highly entertaining alternative to the loosely-structured tale of mystery

and

terror,

and made use of

characteristics of plotting, such as the significant clue buried

herrings,

still

amid red

expected in today's crime puzzles. Additionally, and

stemming from

his interest in the psychology of terror,

he moved the

mystery story from a focus on the superficial trappings of eerie setting

and shocking event to a study of the criminal's mind, either

directly

or as recreated by a detective. This latter development, and details of

Inspector Dupin's style and methods,

owed something

to Poe's reading

of the Memoirs (1828-29) of Eugene -Franco is Vidocq, a one-time thief

and prison- informer who rose to become head of the Surete, the French detective force.

"The Murders

in the

Rue Morgue"

is

among

the earliest and by

all

odds the most famous of "locked-room" mysteries, a form in which a

murder victim

is

found inside an apparently sealed enclosure and the

detective's challenge

only does

it

is

to discover the murderer's

introduce the great detective

who

modus operandi Not

solves cases through a

EDGAR ALLAN POE

—sometimes studying the

combination of deduction and imagination

scene of the crime and sometimes meditating on his

room

—but

it

makes ingenious use of a whole

it

in the darkness of

series of motifs,

(the ape and his master, the houses of victim and

as "doublings"

detective), that

would be adapted by

"The Purloined

Letter"

tective stories, in that

is

it

later writers of mysteries.

considered the most prototypical of

makes the most unlikely solution

all

most obvious one. Dupin's solution of a mystery that

the police drives

Morgue" that found."

It

home

"There

made is

in

"The Murders

such a thing

as

is

in

baffles

in the

Rue

being too pro-

also illustrates the great detective's ability to put himself

imaginatively into the is

Poe's point

in detection

de-

to the crime

the correct one and then shows that the most unlikely solution fact the

such

mind of his

echoed throughout the

double meanings of words

story,

adversary, a form of "doubling" that

from the two "purloinings" to the

like "letter,"

"hidden," and "see."

[

What song

the

he hid himself

not beyond

Syrens sang, or what

among women,

name

Achilles

all conjecture.

THOMAS BROWNE

SIR

The mental but

features discoursed of as the analytical, are, in themselves,

susceptible of analysis.

little

We

effects.

know

to their possessor,

of them,

when

such exercises

in that

We

appreciate

among other

them only

in their

things, that they are always

inordinately possessed, a source of the liveliest

enjoyment. As the strong in

assumed when

although puzzling questions, are

man

as call his

moral activity which

exults in his physical ability, delighting

muscles into action, so glories the analyst disentangles.

He derives pleasure from even He is fond

the most trivial occupations bringing his talent into play.

of enigmas, of conundrums, hieroglyphics; exhibiting in his solutions

of each a degree of acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension praeternatural. His results, brought about by the very soul and

essence of method, have, in truth, the whole

The

faculty of re-solution

is

possibly

air

much

of intuition.

invigorated by math-

ematical study, and especially by that highest branch of

and merely on account of

unjustly, called, as

analyze.

if

A

its

it

which,

retrograde operations, has been

par excellence, analysis. Yet to calculate

is

not in

itself to

chess player, for example, does the one, without effort at

game

the other.

It

follows that the

character,

is

greatly misunderstood.

of chess, in I

am

not

its

effects

now

upon mental

writing a treatise,

but simply prefacing a somewhat peculiar narrative by observations very

much

at

random;

I

will, therefore,

take occasion to assert that

EDGAR ALLAN POE the higher powers of the reflective intellect are more decidedly and

more

usefully tasked by the unostentatious

the elaborate frivolity of chess. In this

all

and

different is

bizarre

only complex,

The

attention

an oversight

is

game of draughts than by

latter,

where the pieces have

motions, with various and variable values, what

mistaken (a not unusual error)

is

here called powerfully into play.

is

committed, resulting

what

for

little

where the moves

contrary,

it is

the more

who

conquers. In

are unique

and have but

concentrative rather than the more acute player

on the

possible

involute, the chances of such

oversights are multiplied, and in nine cases out of ten,

draughts,

an instant,

The

in injury or defeat.

moves being not only manifold, but

profound.

is

If it flag for

and

variation, the probabilities of inadvertence are diminished,

the mere attention being

comparatively unemployed, what advan-

left

tages are obtained by either party are obtained by superior acumen.

be

less abstract,

let us

suppose a game of draughts where the pieces

are reduced to four kings,

expected.

being at

It is

all

To

and where, of course, no oversight

is

to be

obvious that here the victory can be decided (the players

equal) only by

some strong exertion of the

some

recherche

intellect.

movement, the

result of

Deprived of ordinary resources,

the analyst throws himself into the spirit of his opponent, identifies

himself therewith and not unfrequently sees thus, at a glance, the sole

methods (sometimes indeed absurdly simple ones) by which he may seduce into error or hurry into miscalculation.

Whist has long been noted the calculating power; and

men

for

its

influence

upon what

been known to take an apparently unaccountable delight eschewing chess

as frivolous.

Beyond doubt there

nature so greatly tasking the faculty of analysis. in

Christendom may be

little

more than the

is

mean

that perfection in the

in

it,

while

best chess-player

best player of chess; but all

important undertakings where mind struggles with mind. I

termed

nothing of a similar

The

proficiency in whist implies capacity for success in

proficiency,

is

of the highest order of intellect have

those more

When

game which

I

say

includes a

comprehension of all the sources whence legitimate advantage may be derived.

among

These

derstanding. far,

are not only manifold, but multiform,

and

lie

frequently

recesses of thought altogether inaccessible to the ordinary un-

To

observe attentively

is

to

remember

distinctly; and, so

the concentrative chess-player will do very well at whist; while

the rules of Hoyle (themselves based upon the mere mechanism of the

game)

and generally comprehensible. Thus to have a memory, and proceed by "the book" are points commonly

are sufficiently

retentive

MORGUE

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE regarded as the

sum

total of

good playing. But

the limits of mere rule that the

it is

in matters

of the analyst

skill

is

beyond

evinced.

He

makes, in silence, a host of observations and inferences. So, perhaps,

do

his

companions; and the difference in the extent of the information

obtained,

much in the validity of the inference as in the observation. The necessary knowledge is that of what to not so

lies

quality of the

Our

observe. is

player confines himself not at

all;

nor, because the

game

the object, does he reject deductions from things external to the

game.

He examines

the countenance of his partner, comparing

carefully with that of

each of

his opponents.

He

considers the

it

mode

of assorting the cards in each hand; often counting trump by trump,

and honor by honor, through the glances bestowed by

upon each. He notes every variation of

their holders

face as the play progresses,

gathering a fund of thought from the differences in the expression of certainty, of surprise, of triumph, or chagrin.

From the manner of it, can make

gathering up a trick

he judges whether the person taking

another in the

He

air

with which

suit. it

is

recognizes

what

thrown upon the

is

played through feint, by the

table.

A

casual or inadvertent

word; the accidental dropping or turning of a card, with the accom-

panying anxiety or carelessness in regard to

its

concealment; the count-

ing of the tricks, with the order of their arrangement; embarrassment, hesitation, eagerness, or trepidation

—

all afford,

to his apparently in-

tuitive perception, indications of the true state of affairs.

or three rounds having been played, he

is

purpose as

if

first

two

in full possession of the

contents of each hand, and thenceforward puts as absolute a precision of

The

down

his cards

with

the rest of the party had turned

outward the faces of their own.

The

analytical

power should not be confounded with simple

genuity; for while the analyst

man

is

is

often remarkably incapable of analysis.

combining power, by which ingenuity

which the phrenologists organ, supposing

it

(1

in-

necessarily ingenious, the ingenious

The

constructive or

usually manifested,

is

and to

believe erroneously) have assigned a separate

a primitive faculty, has

been so frequently seen

in

those whose intellect bordered otherwise

upon idiocy, as to have attracted general observation among writers on morals. Between ingenuity and the analytic ability there exists a difference far greater, indeed, than that between the fancy and the imagination, but of a character very strictly analogous.

It will

ingenious are always fanciful, and the

than analytic.

truly

be found, in

fact,

that the

imaginative never otherwise

EDGAR ALLAN POE

The

which follows will appear to the reader somewhat commentary upon the propositions just advanced. Residing in Paris during the spring and part of the summer of 18 I there became acquainted with a Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin. This young gentleman was of an excellent, indeed of an illustrious family, but, by a variety of untoward events, had been reduced to such poverty that the energy of his character succumbed beneath it, and narrative

in the light of a

—

,

he ceased to

bestir himself in the world, or to care for the retrieval of

his fortunes.

By courtesy of

his creditors, there

from

his

upon the income

possession a small remnant of his patrimony; and, arising

remained in

still

he managed, by means of a rigorous economy, to

this,

procure the necessaries of

without troubling himself about

life,

its

Books, indeed, were his sole luxuries, and in Paris these

superfluities.

are easily obtained.

Our first meeting was at an obscure

Rue Montmartre,

library in the

same very communion.

where the accident of our both being

in search of the

rare

and very remarkable volume, brought

us into closer

We

saw each other again and again.

was deeply interested in the

I

family history which he detailed to

me

whenever mere

self

Frenchman

indulges

with is

me

above

this feeling

we should

1

I

little

which

a

was astonished,

all,

I

my

felt

soul

by the wild fervor, and the vivid freshness of his

imagination. Seeking in Paris the objects society of such a

that candor

theme.

his

too, at the vast extent of his reading; and,

enkindled within

all

man would

be to

me

frankly confided to him.

live together

during

circumstances were somewhat

my less

then sought,

I

a treasure

was

It

felt

I

beyond

that the

price;

and

at length arranged that

stay in the city;

and

as

my

worldly

embarrassed than his own,

I

was

permitted to be at the expense of renting, and furnishing in a style

which

suited the rather fantastic

gloom of our common temper,

a time-

eaten and grotesque mansion, long deserted through superstitions into

which we did not

inquire,

and tottering

to

its fall

in a retired

and

desolate portion of the Faubourg St. Germain.

Had

the routine of our

life

at this place

been known to the world,

—

perhaps, as mad-

we should have been regarded as madmen although, men of a harmless nature. Our seclusion was perfect.

We admitted

no

visitors.

Indeed the locality of our retirement had been carefully kept

a secret

from

since

my own

former associates; and

Dupin had ceased

to

know

or be

it

known

had been many years in Paris.

We

existed

within ourselves alone. It

was a freak of fancy

in

my

friend (for

what

else shall

I

call it?)

MORGUE

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE to be

enamored of the night

as into all his others,

for her

quietly

I

fell;

own

sake;

and into

this bizarreriey

giving myself up to his wild

whims

with a perfect abandon. The sable divinity would not herself dwell with us always; but

the morning

we could counterfeit her we closed all the massy

presence.

At

the

first

dawn

of

shutters of our old building;

lighting a couple of tapers which, strongly perfumed, threw out only

we then

the ghastliest and feeblest of rays. By the aid of these

our souls in dreams

—

reading, writing, or conversing, until

the clock of the advent of the true Darkness.

arm

into the streets,

roaming

far

and wide

until a late hour, seeking,

which quiet observation can

At such

times

from his rich

exercise

—

ideality

if

city,

their bosoms,

had been prepared

I

He

not exactly in

most men,

and was wont

to expect

moments was

its

—and

display

a peculiar

He

did not hesitate to

boasted to me, with a low chuck-

in respect to himself,

to follow

frigid

it)

seemed, too, to take an eager delight in

and

wore windows

in

up such assertions by direct and

very startling proofs of his intimate knowledge of at these

lights

that infinity of mental excitement

afford.

confess the pleasure thus derived. ling laugh, that

amid the wild

or

could not help remarking and admiring (although

analytic ability in Dupin. its

sallied forth

in arm, continuing the topics of the day,

and shadows of the populous

I

Then we

busied

warned by

my own.

abstract; his eyes

His manner

were vacant in

expression; while his voice, usually a rich tenor, rose into a treble

which would have sounded petulantly but

for the deliberateness

and

him in these moods, upon the old philosophy of the Bi-Part Soul,

entire distinctness of the enunciation. Observing I

often dwelt meditatively

and amused myself with the fancy of a double Dupin

— the

creative

and the resolvent. Let

it

not be supposed, from what

detailing any mystery, or in the

Frenchman was merely the

a diseased,

have

I

penning any romance. result of

that

just said,

What have 1

1

am

described

an excited, or perhaps of

intelligence, but of the character of his remarks at the

periods in question an example will best convey the idea.

We

were strolling one night down a long dirty

in the

street,

vicinity of the Palais Royal. Being both, apparently, occupied with

thought, neither of us had spoken a syllable for fifteen minutes at

least.

All at once Dupin broke forth with these words:

"He

is

a very

little

Theatre des Varietes.

fellow, that's true,

and would do better

for the

"

"There can be no doubt of that,"

1

replied, unwittingly,

and not

EDGAR ALLAN POE

much had

at first observing (so

extraordinary

manner

I

been absorbed

in reflection) the

which the speaker had chimed

in

meditations. In an instant afterward

my

in with

my

and

recollected myself,

I

as-

tonishment was profound. "Dupin," said

I,

gravely, "this

not hesitate to say that

How

was

it

I

is

beyond

my

comprehension.

do

am amazed, and can scarcely credit my senses.

possible you should

know

I

—

was thinking of

paused, to ascertain beyond a doubt whether he really I

I

knew

?"

Here

of

I

whom

thought. "

— of Chantilly,"

"why do you pause? You were remarking him for tragedy." This was precisely what had formed the subject of my reflections. Chantilly was a quondam cobbler of the Rue St. Dennis, who, becoming said he,

to yourself that his diminutive figure unfitted

stage-mad, had attempted the role of Xerxes, Crebillon's tragedy so

and been notoriously Pasquinaded

called,

"Tell me, for Heaven's sake,"

method

there

is

I

for his pains.

exclaimed, "the method

—by which you have been enabled

in this matter." In fact,

I

was even more

startled

to fathom

than

I

my

—

if

soul

would have

been willing to express. "It

was the

fruiterer," replied

my

friend,

"who brought you

to the

conclusion that the mender of soles was not of sufficient height for

Xerxes

et id

genus omne.''*

—

—

"The fruiterer you astonish me I know no fruiterer whomsoever." "The man who ran up against you as we entered the street it may have been fifteen minutes ago." in fact, a fruiterer, carrying upon his I now remembered that, head a large basket of apples, had nearly thrown me down, by accident, into the thoroughfare where we as we passed from the Rue C stood; but what this had to do with Chantilly I could not possibly

—

understand.

There was not a

particle of charlatanerie about Dupin.

explain," he said, "and that you first I

may comprehend

retrace the course of your meditations, from the

spoke to you until that of the rencontre with the

The

all clearly,

larger links of the

chain run thus

moment

and

all

that sort.

in

will

which

fruiterer in question.

—Chantilly, Orion,

Epicurus, Stereotomy, the street stones, the fruiterer."

*

"I will

we

Dr. Nichols,

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE

MORGUE

There are few persons who have not, at some period of their lives, amused themselves in retracing their steps by which particular conclusions of their own minds have been attained. The occupation is often

full

of interest; and he

who

attempts

it

for the first

time

is

astonished by the apparently illimitable distance and incoherence be-

tween the starting-point and the

my amazement, when spoken, and truth.

He

1

I

goal.

What, then, must have been

heard the Frenchman speak what he had

just

could not help acknowledging that he had spoken the

continued:

"We had

remember aright, just before we discussed. As we crossed into this street, a fruiterer, with a large basket upon his head, brushing quickly past us, thrust you upon a pile of paving-stones collected at a spot where the causeway is undergoing repair. You stepped upon one of the loose fragments, slipped, slightly strained your ankle, leaving the

been talking of horses,

Rue

C

.

This was the

if

I

last subject

appeared vexed or sulky, muttered a few words, turned to look at the pile,

to

and then proceeded

what you

in silence.

did; but observation has

I

was not particularly attentive

become with me, of late,

a species

of necessity.

—

"You kept your eyes upon the ground glancing, with a petulant and ruts in the pavement, (so that 1 saw you were still thinking of the stones,) until we reached the little alley called Lamartine, which has been paved, by way of experiment, with the overlapping and riveted blocks. Here your countenance brightened up, and, perceiving your lips move, I could not doubt that you murmured the word 'stereotomy,' a term very affectedly applied to this species of expression, at the holes

pavement.

1

knew

that you could not say to yourself 'stereotomy'

without being brought to think of atomies, and thus of the theories of Epicurus; ago,

1

and

when we discussed this subject not very long you how singularly, yet with how little notice,

since,

mentioned

to

the vague guesses of that noble Greek had met with confirmation in the late nebular cosmogony,

I

felt

that you could not avoid casting

your eyes upward to the great nebula in Orion, and that you would do so.

You

had correctly followed your

did look up; and

1

was

I

certainly expected

now

assured that

I

upon Chantilly, which appeared in yesterday's 'Musee, the satirist, making some disgraceful allusions to the cobbler's change of name upon assuming the buskin, quoted a Latin line about which we have often conversed. steps.

But in that '

I

mean

the line

bitter tirade

EDGAR ALLAN POE

10

antiquum

Perdidit

I

had

litera

prima sonum.

*

told you that this was in reference to Orion, formerly written

Urion; and, from certain pungencies connected with this explanation, I

was aware that you could not have forgotten

it. It

was

clear, therefore,

fail to combine the two ideas of Orion and ChanThat you did combine them I saw by the character of the smile which passed over your lips. You thought of the poor cobbler's immolation. So far, you had been stooping in your gait; but now I saw you draw yourself up to your full height. I was then sure that you

that you would not

tilly.

upon the diminutive

reflected

figure of Chantilly.

interrupted your meditations to remark that fellow

little

Varietes.

—

that Chantilly

—he would do

At

as, in fact,

this point

better at the Theatre des

"

Not long

after this,

we were looking over an evening edition of when the following paragraphs arrested our

the Gazette des Tribunaux, attention.

"extraordinary murders.

—This

morning,

o'clock, the inhabitants of the Quartier St.

from sleep by a succession of ently,

about three

Roch were roused

terrific shrieks, issuing,

appar-

from the fourth story of a house in the Rue Morgue,

known

to be in the sole

occupancy of one

Madame

L'Es-

panaye, and her daughter. Mademoiselle Camille L'Espanaye. After

some

delay, occasioned by a fruitless attempt to

procure admission in the usual manner, the gateway was

broken in with a crowbar, and eight or ten of the neighbors entered, accompanied by two gendarmes. By this time the cries

of

had ceased;

stairs,

but, as the party rushed

two or more rough

up the

first flight

voices, in angry contention,

were distinguished, and seemed to proceed from the upper part of the house.

As

the second landing was reached, these

sounds, also, had ceased, and every thing remained perfectly quiet.

The

to room.

inside,

first

party spread themselves, and hurried from

Upon

story, (the

The

I

he was a very

arriving at a large back

chamber

room

in the fourth

door of which, being found locked, with the key

was forced open,) a spectacle presented

letter destroys the

antique sound.

itself

which

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE

one present not

struck every

U

MORGUE

with horror than with

less

astonishment.

"The apartment was niture broken

in the wildest disorder

and thrown about

—the

fur-

There was

in all directions.

only one bedstead; and from this the bed had been removed,

and thrown into the middle of the razor,

On

besmeared with blood.

three long and thick tresses of gray

On

floor.

a chair lay a

the hearth were two or

human

hair, also

dabbled

with blood, and seeming to have been pulled out by the roots.

On

the floor were found four Napoleons, an ear-ring

of topaz, three large silver spoons, three smaller of metal d' Alger,

and two

in gold.

The

bags, containing nearly four thousand francs

drawers of a bureau, which stood in one comer,

were open, and had been, apparently, articles still

remained in them.

A

rifled,

although

covered under the bed (not under the bedstead).

with the key

few old

still

letters,

in the door.

It

was open,

had no contents beyond a

and other papers of

Madame

''0{

It

consequence.

little

L'Espanaye no traces were here seen; but

an unusual quantity of soot being observed in the a search

many

small iron safe was dis-

fireplace,

was made in the chimney, and (horrible to

relate!)

the corpse of the daughter, head downward, was dragged

therefrom;

it

having been thus forced up the narrow aperture

for a considerable distance.

examining

it,

many

The body was

occasioned by the violence with which

Upon

up and disengaged. scratches, and,

upon the

the

face

it

if

no doubt

had been

thrust

were many severe

throat, dark bruises,

dentations of finger nails, as

Upon

quite warm.

excoriations were perceived,

and deep

in-

the deceased had been throt-

tled to death.

"After a thorough investigation of every portion of the

house without farther discovery, the party made a small

paved yard

in the rear of the building,

its

way

where

into

lay the

corpse of the old lady, with her throat so entirely cut that,

upon an attempt

to raise her, the

as well as the head,

much

was

head

fell off.

fearfully mutilated

The

body,

— the former

so

so as scarcely to retain any semblance of humanity.

"To

this horrible

the slightest clew."

mystery there

is

not

as yet,

we

believe,

2

EDGAR ALLAN POE

1

The next

day's paper

"The Tragedy

had these additional Rue Morgue.

in the

been examined in relation frightful affair," [the

word

that levity of import

which

—Many

to this

individuals have

most extraordinary and has not yet, in France,

'affaire'

conveys with

it

whatever has transpired to throw all

particulars:

light

upon

us]

"but nothing

We give below

it.

the material testimony elicited. ''Pauline

both

Dubourg, laundress, deposes that she has

during that period.

The

—very

on good terms

known

having washed for them

the deceased for three years,

old lady and her daughter seemed

affectionate toward each other.

They

were excellent pay. Could not speak in regard to their mode or

means of

for a living.

living.

Was

Madame

Believed that

reputed to have

any person in the house when she called took them home.

Was

L. told fortunes

money put

sure that they

by.

Never met

for the clothes or

had no servant

in

employ. There appeared to be no furniture in any part of the building except in the fourth story. "Pierre

Moreau, tobacconist, deposes that he has been

in the habit of selling small quantities of tobacco

to

Madame

L'Espanaye for nearly four years.

and

snuff

Was bom The

the neighborhood, and has always resided there.

in

de-

ceased and her daughter had occupied the house in which the corpses were found, for more than six years.

merly occupied by a jeweller, to various persons.

who

It

was

for-

under-let the upper rooms

The house was

the property of

Madame

She became dissatisfied with the abuse of the premises by her tenant, and moved into them herself, refusing to let any portion. The old lady was childish. Witness had seen the L.

daughter some

five or six

times during the six years.

lived an exceedingly retired

money. Had heard L.

it

said

among

— did not

told fortunes

life

—were

the neighbors that

believe

it.

The two

reputed to have

Had never

Madame seen any

person enter the door except the old lady and her daughter, a porter

once or twice, and a physician some eight or ten

times.

"Many same It

effect.

other persons, neighbors, gave evidence to the

No

one was spoken of as frequenting the house.

was not known whether there were any

living connections

THE MURDERS of

Madame

IN

MORGUE

THE RUE

and her daughter. The shutters of the front

L.

windows were seldom opened. Those

in the rear

closed, with the exception of the large

The house was

story.

''Isidore

13

a

good house

were always

back room, fourth

—not very

old.

Muset, gendarme, deposes that he was called to

the house about three o'clock in the morning, and found

some twenty or onet

—not with

endeavoring

thirty persons at the gateway,

to gain admittance. Forced

a crowbar.

it

open, at length, with a bay-

Had

but

little difficulty

in getting

open on account of its being a double or folding gate, and bolted neither at bottom nor top. The shrieks were continued it

until the gate

seemed agony

was forced

to be screams of

—and then suddenly some person

—were loud and drawn

ness led the

way up

stairs.

and quick. Wit-

reaching the

first

heard two voices in loud and angry contention

much

gruff voice, the other

—

shriller

They

(or persons) in great

out, not short

Upon

ceased.

landing,

—the one

a

a very strange voice.

Could distinguish some words of the former, which was that of a Frenchman. Was positive that it was not a woman's voice. Could distinguish the words 'sacre' and 'diahle.' The shrill it

voice was that of a foreigner. Could not be sure whether

was the voice of a

man

or of a

woman. Could not make

out what was said, but believed the language to be Spanish.

The

room and of the bodies was described by we described them yesterday.

state of the

this witness as

''Henri Duval, a neighbor,

and by trade a silver-smith,

deposes that he was one of the party

who

first

entered the

house. Corroborates the testimony of Muset in general.

soon

as

As

they forced an entrance, they reclosed the door, to

keep out the crowd, which collected very ing the lateness of the hour. thinks, was that of

an

Italian.

The

Was

fast,

notwithstand-

shrill voice, this

certain

it

witness

was not French.

Could not be sure that it was a man's voice. It might have been a woman's. Was not acquainted with the Italian language.

Could not distinguish the words, but was convinced

by the intonation that the speaker was an

Madame

L.

frequently.

Italian.

Knew

and her daughter. Had conversed with both

Was

sure that the shrill voice was not that of

either of the deceased. "

Odenheimer,

restaurateur.

—This

witness volun-

— EDGAR ALLAN POE

14

Not speaking French, was examined

teered his testimony.

through an interpreter.

Is

Amsterdam. Was

a native of

They

ing the house at the time of the shrieks. several minutes

—probably

They were long and loud

ten.

Was one

very awful and distressing.

pass-

lasted for

of those

who

entered

the building. Corroborated the previous evidence in every

Was

respect but one.

— of

man

tered.

a

sure that the shrill voice

Frenchman. Could not distinguish the words

They were loud and quick

ently in fear as well as in anger. so

much

was that of a

shrill as

harsh.

Could not

gruff voice said repeatedly,

ut-

—unequal—spoken apparThe voice was harsh—not call

it

a shrill voice.

The

and once 'mon

'sacre,' 'diable/

Dieu.' '']ules Mignaud, banker, of the firm of Mignaud et Fils, Rue Deloraine. Is the elder Mignaud. Madame L'Espanaye had some property. Had opened an account with his banking

house in the spring of the year

Made

(eight years previously).

Had checked for nothdeath, when she took out

frequent deposits in small sums.

ing until the third day before her

sum

in person the

of 4000 francs. This

sum was paid

in gold,

and a clerk sent home with the money. ''Adolphe Le Bon, clerk to

Mignaud

et Fils, deposes that

on the day in question, about noon, he accompanied Madame L'Espanaye to her residence with the 4000 francs, put two

Upon

the door being opened, Mademoiselle

up

in

L.

appeared and took from

bags.

the old lady relieved

his

hands one of the bags, while

him of the

other.

He

then bowed and

departed. Did not see any person in the street at the time. It is

a by-street

—very

''William Bird,

party

who

in Paris

lonely.

tailor,

deposes that he was one of the

entered the house.

two

years.

Was one

Is

an Englishman. Has lived

of the

first

to ascend the stairs.

Heard the voices in contention. The gruff voice was that of a Frenchman. Could make out several words, but cannot now remember all. Heard distinctly 'sacre' and 'mon Dieu.' There was a sound

—

struggling

at the

a scraping

and

moment

— louder than the

was very loud

as

if

of several persons

scuffling sound.

gruff one.

The

Is

shrill

sure that

voice it

was

not the voice of an Englishman. Appeared to be that of a

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE

German. Might have been

a

MORGUE

woman's

15

Does not un-

voice.

derstand German.

"Four of the above-named witnesses being recalled, de-

posed that the door of the chamber in which was found the

body of Mademoiselle party reached

it.

was locked on the inside when the

L.

Every thing was perfectly silent

Upon

or noises of any kind.

The windows, both

seen.

down and

firmly fastened

forcing the door

—no groans

no person was

of the back and front room, were

from within.

A

door between the

two rooms was closed but not locked. The door leading from

room

the front

A

the inside.

on on the

into the passage was locked, with the key

room

small

in the front of the house,

fourth story, at the head of the passage, was open, the door

being

This room was crowded with old beds, boxes, and

ajar.

These were

so forth.

carefully

removed and searched. There

was not an inch of any portion of the house which was not carefully searched.

neys.

Sweeps were sent up and down the chim-

The house was

A

sardes).

securely

—

a four-story one, with garrets (man-

on the roof was nailed down very did not appear to have been opened for years. The trap-door

time elapsing between the hearing of the voices in contention

and the breaking open of the room door was variously stated by the witnesses.

some

Some made it as short as three minutes The door was opened with difficulty.

as long as five.

''Alfonzo Garcio, undertaker, deposes that

the

Rue Morgue.

who entered

Is

a native of Spain.

he

Was one

the house. Did not proceed up

stairs. Is

and was apprehensive of the consequences of

Heard the voices a

in contention.

The

gruff voice

—

is

nervous,

agitation.

was that of

said.

The shrill

sure of this.

Does not

Frenchman. Could not distinguish what was

voice was that of an Englishman

resides in

of the party

understand the English language, but judges by the

in-

tonation. ''Alberto

among

the

question.

Montani,

first

The

confectioner, deposes that he was

to ascend the stairs.

gruff voice

guished several words.

Heard the voices

in

was that of a Frenchman. Distin-

The

speaker appeared to be expos-

Could not make out the words of the shrill voice. Spoke quick and unevenly. Thinks it the voice of a Russian. tulating.

EDGAR ALLAN POE

16

Corroborates the general testimony.

Is

an

Italian.

Never con-

versed with a native of Russia.

"Several witnesses,

here testified that the

recalled,

chimneys of all the rooms on the fourth story were too narrow to admit the passage of a

meant those

human

By

being.

'sweeps'

cylindrical sweeping-brushes, such as are

who

were

employed by

clean chimneys. These brushes were passed up

and down every

There

flue in the house.

no back passage

is

by which any one could have descended while the party

proceeded up

stairs.

The body

of Mademoiselle L'Espanaye

was so firmly wedged in the chimney that got

down

could not be

it

until four or five of the party united their strength.

'Taul Dumas, physician, deposes that he was called to

view the bodies about daybreak. They were both then lying

on the sacking of the bedstead

in the

chamber where Ma-

The corpse of the young lady was much bruised and excoriated. The fact that it had been thrust

demoiselle L. was found.

up the chimney would ances.

The

sufficiently

account

for these appear-

throat was greatly chafed. There were several

deep scratches

just

below the chin, together with a

series of

which were evidently the impression of fingers. was fearfully discolored, and the eyeballs protruded.

livid spots

The face The tongue had been

partially bitten through.

was discovered upon the

A large bruise

stomach, produced, ap-

pit of the

parently, by the pressure of a knee. In the opinion of

M.

Dumas, Mademoiselle L'Espanaye had been throttled to death by some person or persons unknown. The corpse of the mother was horribly mutilated. All the bones of the right leg

and arm were more or

less shattered.

The

dreadfully bruised

how

and

discolored.

It

the injuries had been inflicted.

or a broad bar of iron

—

—any

a chair

weapon would have produced such hands of a very powerful man. the blows with any weapon.

much Whole body

left tibia

splintered, as well as all the ribs of the left side.

was not possible to say

A

heavy club of wood,

large,

heavy, and obtuse

results, if

wielded by the

No woman could have inflicted

The head

of the deceased,

when

seen by witness, was entirely separated from the body, and

was also greatly shattered. The throat had evidently been probably with a razor. cut with some very sharp instrument

—

''Alexandre Etienne, surgeon, was called with

M. Dumas

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE

MORGUE

to view the bodies. Corroborated the testimony

ions of

several other persons were examined.

and so perplexing

committed at

all.

and the opin-

M. Dumas.

"Nothing further of importance was ous,

]7_

The

in Paris

—

in all

if

A

elicited,

murder so mysteriwas never before

particulars,

its

although

indeed a murder has been committed

police are entirely at fault

in affairs of this nature.

There

is

—an unusual occurrence

not, however, the

shadow

of a clew apparent.

The evening edition of the paper stated that the greatest excitement still continued in the Quartier St. Roch that the premises in

—

question had been carefully re-searched, and fresh examinations of witnesses instituted, but

all

to

no purpose.

A

however,

postscript,

mentioned that Adolphe Le Bon had been arrested and imprisoned although nothing appeared to criminate him beyond the facts already detailed.

Dupin seemed at least so

was only

I

judged from his manner, for he made no comments.

after the

that he asked I

singularly interested in the progress of this affair

announcement

me my

I

Bon had been

It

imprisoned,

opinion respecting the murders.

could merely agree with

mystery.

that Le

all

Paris in considering

saw no means by which

it

them an

insoluble

would be possible to trace the

murderer.

"We

must not judge of the means,"

said

Dupin, "by

an examination. The Parisian police, so much extolled

this shell of

acumen,

for

no more. There is no method in their proceedings, beyond the method of the moment. They make a vast parade of measare cunning, but

ures; but,

not unfrequently, these are so ill-adapted to the objects

proposed, as to put us in rohe-de-chambre

mind

of Monsieur Jourdain's calling for his

—pour mieux entendre

la

musique.

*

The

results attained

by them are not unfrequently surprising, but, for the most brought about by simple diligence and activity. are unavailing, their guesser,

schemes

fail.

When

part, are

these qualities

Vidocq, for example, was a good

and a persevering man. But, without educated thought, he

erred continually by the very intensity of his investigations.

paired his vision by holding the object too close.

Moliere's character calls for his "dressing-gown better.

—

He might see,

He

im-

perhaps,

in order to hear the

music

—

a

EDGAR ALLAN POE one or two points with unusual sarily, lost sight

as

clearness, but in so doing he, neces-

of the matter as a whole.

being too profound. Truth

the more important knowledge,

The depth

superficial.

such a thing

is

fact, as regards

do believe that she

I

in the valleys

lies

Thus there

not always in a well. In

is

upon the mountain-tops where she

is

found.

invariably

is

where we seek

and not

her,

The modes and

sources

of this kind of error are well typified in the contemplation of the

heavenly bodies.

To

look at a star by glances

long way, by turning toward

it

—

to

view

it

susceptible of feeble impressions of light than the interior),

the star distinctly

—

is

to

which grows dim

in a side-

the exterior portions of the retina (more

have the best appreciation of

is

its

to behold lustre

—

we turn our vision fully upon it. A greater number of rays actually fall upon the eye in the latter case, but in the former, there is the more refined capacity for comprehension. By undue profundity we perplex and enfeeble thought; and it is possible to make even Venus herself vanish from the firmament lustre

just in proportion as

by a scrutiny too sustained, too concentrated, or too direct.

"As

for these murders, let us enter into

ourselves, before will afford us

we make up an opinion

amusement,"

II

thought

but said nothing] "and besides, Le

which

own

I

am

eyes.

not ungrateful.

I

know

G

,

We

some examinations

respecting them.

this

for

inquiry

an odd term, so applied,

Bon once rendered me

will

An

a service for

go and see the premises with our

the Prefect of Police, and shall have no

difficulty in obtaining the necessary permission."

The

permission was obtained, and

Rue Morgue. This

is

we proceeded

at

once to the

one of those miserable thoroughfares which

in-

Rue Richelieu and the Rue St. Roch. It was late in the afternoon when we reached it, as this quarter is at a great distance from that in which we resided. The house was readily found; for there were still many persons gazing up at the closed shutters, with tervene between the

an objectless

curiosity,

from the opposite side of the way.

ordinary Parisian house, with a gateway,

on one

side of

It

was an

which was

a

glazed watch-box, with a sliding panel in the window, indicating a loge de concierge.

an

alley,

Before going in

we walked up the

and then, again turning, passed

street,

turned

down

in the rear of the building

Dupin, meanwhile, examining the whole neighborhood, house, with a minuteness of attention for which

I

as well as the

could see no possible

object.

Retracing our steps rang,

we came

and having shown our

again to the front of the dwelling,

credentials, were admitted by the agents

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE in charge.

We

went up

stairs

—

into the

MORGUE

chamber where the body of

Mademoiselle L'Espanaye had been found, and where both the deceased

The

still lay.

to exist.

1

disorders of the

room had,

as usual,

been

suffered

saw nothing beyond what had been stated in the Gazette

Dupin

des Tribunaux.

of the victims.

We

—not excepting the bodies

scrutinized every thing

then went into the other rooms, and into the yard;

us throughout. The examination occupied when we took our departure. On our way home my companion stepped in for a moment at the office of one of the daily a gendarme

accompanying

us until dark,

papers. 1

have said that the whims of *

]e

les

menagais:

—

humor, now,

his

my

to decline all

friend were manifold, is

murder, until about noon the next day. if

had observed any thing

I

There was something "peculiar,"

He

then asked me, suddenly,

peculiar at the scene of the atrocity.

manner of emphasizing the word knowing why. said; "nothing more, at least, than we

in his

which caused me

"No, nothing

and that

no English equivalent. It was conversation on the subject of the

for this phrase there

peculiar, "

to shudder, without I

both saw stated in the paper."

"The

Gazette,''

he

replied,

"has not entered,

I

fear,

into the

unusual horror of the thing. But dismiss the idle opinions of this print. It

appears to

me

that this mystery

reason which should cause

it

for the outre character of

its

sibility

considered insoluble, for the very

features.

the seeming absence of motive atrocity of the murder.

is

to be regarded as easy of solution

They

—not

The

for the

—

I

mean

police are confounded by

murder

itself

—but

for the

are puzzled, too, by the seeming impos-

of reconciling the voices heard in contention, with the facts

no one was discovered upstairs but the assassinated Mademoiselle L'Espanaye, and that there were no means of egress without the notice that

of the party ascending. thrust,

tilation of the just

The

wild disorder of the room; the corpse

with the head downward, up the chimney; the

body of the old

frightful

lady; these considerations,

mentioned, and others which

I

mu-

with those

need not mention, have

sufficed

to paralyze the powers, by putting completely at fault the boasted

acumen, of the government agents. They have fallen into the gross but is

it

common

confounding the unusual with the abstruse. But

by these deviations from the plane of the ordinary, that reason

feels its

I

error of

way,

if

at all, in its search for the true. In investigations

humored them.

such

EDGAR ALLAN POE

20 as

we

now

are

pursuing,

should not be so

it

much

asked 'what has

occurred,' as 'what has occurred that has never occurred before.' In

the facility with which

fact,

solution of this mystery,

have arrived,

shall arrive, or

I

in the direct ratio of

is

at the

apparent insolubility

its

in the eyes of the police." I

mute astonishment.

stared at the speaker in

"I

am now

continued —awaiting," am now awaiting

our apartment

he, looking toward the door of

a person

"I

who, although perhaps

not the perpetrator of these butcheries, must have been in some measure implicated in their perpetration.

Of the worst portion of the crimes

committed,

innocent.

it is

probable that he

in this supposition; for

entire riddle.

I

true that

It is

he may not it

will

it I

man

look for the

Should he come, tols;

upon

is

build

here

my

—

1

hope that

I

am

right

expectation of reading the

in this

room

—every moment.

arrive; but the probability

that he will.

is

be necessary to detain him. Here are

and we both know how

to use

pis-

them when occasion demands

their use." pistols, scarcely knowing what I did, or believing what Dupin went on, very much as if in a soliloquy. I have already spoken of his abstract manner at such times. His discourse was addressed to myself; but his voice, although by no means loud, had that intonation which is commonly employed in speaking to some one I

I

took the

heard, while

at a great distance.

His eyes, vacant in expression, regarded only the

wall.

"That the voices heard

upon the fully

stairs,

in contention,"

were not the voices of the

said,

proved by the evidence. This relieves us of

question whether the old lady could have

and afterward have committed

suicide.

I

utterly

up the chimney

own

first

doubt upon the

destroyed the daughter,

Madame

L'Espanaye would

unequal to the task of thrusting her daughter's corpse

as

it

was found; and the nature of the wounds upon

person entirely precludes the idea of self-destruction. Murder,

then, has been committed by

some

and the voices of

third party;

third party were those heard in contention. Let to the

all

"by the party

themselves, was

speak of this point chiefly for

the sake of method; for the strength of

have been her

he

women

me now

—

this

—not

advert

whole testimony respecting these voices but to what was peDid you observe any thing peculiar about it?"

culiar in that testimony. I

remarked

that, while all the witnesses agreed in supposing the

gruff voice to be that of a

Frenchman, there was much disagreement

in regard to the shrill, or, as

one individual termed

it,

the harsh voice.

MORGUE

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE

"That was the evidence

itself," said

2]_

Dupin, "but

it

was not the

You have observed nothing distinctive. be observed. The witnesses, as you remark,

peculiarity of the evidence.

Yet there was something to

agreed about the gruff voice; they were here unanimous. But in regard

—but

—not

to the shrill voice, the peculiarity

that they disagreed

is

an Englishman,

and Frenchman attempted to describe it, each one spoke of it as that of a foreigner. Each is sure that it was not the voice of one of his own countrymen. Each likens it not to the voice of an individual of any nation with whose language he is conversant but the converse. The Frenchman supposes it the voice of a Spaniard, and 'might have distinguished some words had he been acquainted with the Spanish.' The that, while

an

Italian,

a Spaniard, a Hollander,

a

—

Dutchman maintains it

to

it

—

have been that of a Frenchman; but we find

stated that 'not understanding French

an

'does not

'

The

Italian believes

that

German, and was that of

it

first,

and

is

'

A

second Frenchman

positive that the voice was that

of an Italian; but, not being cognizant of that tongue,

Now, how

'convinced by the intonation.'

no

the voice of a Russian,

it

never conversed with a native of Russia.

moreover, with the

differs,

of a

'judges by the intonation' altogether, 'as he has

knowledge of the English. 'has

was examined through

witness

'

an Englishman, but but

this

The Englishman thinks it the voice understand German.' The Spaniard 'is sure'

interpreter.

is,

like the Spaniard,

strangely unusual must that

voice have really been, about which such testimony as this could have

been elicited!

—

in

whose

tones,

even, denizens of the five great divisions

of Europe could recognize nothing familiar!

have been the voice of an Asiatic nor Africans abound in will

now

merely

call

Paris; but,

No

—were by any witness mentioned

made, so

far,

mony

—the portion

all

might

voice

is

I

termed

—no sounds resembling

as distinguishable.

upon your own understanding; but

selves sufficient to

to

The

not," continued Dupin, "what impression

say that legitimate deductions

it

represented by two others

words

words

know

will say that

without denying the inference,

shrill.' It is

have been 'quick and unequal'

"I

You

African. Neither Asiatics

your attention to three points.

by one witness 'harsh rather than to

— of an

even from

I

I

do not

may have hesitate to

this portion of the testi-

respecting the gruff and shrill voices

—

are in

them-

engender a suspicion which should give direction

farther progress in the investigation of the mystery.

gitimate deductions'; but

my meaning

is

not thus

designed to imply that the deductions are the that the suspicion arises inevitably from

them

sole

I

said

'le-

fully expressed.

I

proper ones, and

as the single result.

What

EDGAR ALLAN POE

22 the suspicion

bear in

mind

definite

form

It is

that,

—

I

will

not say

with myself,

was

it

—

a certain tendency

now

"Let us shall

however,

is,

to

just yet.

I

merely wish you to

sufficiently forcible to give a

my

inquiries in the

chamber.

transport ourselves, in fancy, to this chamber.

What

we first seek here? The means of egress employed by the murderers. not too much to say that neither of us believe in praetematural

Madame and Mademoiselle

events.

The

spirits.

Then how? point,

L'Espanaye were not destroyed by

doers of the deed were material and escaped materially.

Fortunately there

but one

is

and that mode must lead us

mode

of reasoning

upon the

to a definite decision. Let us examine,

each by each, the possible means of egress.

It is

clear that the assassins

were in the room where Mademoiselle L'Espanaye was found, or

room

least in the

adjoining,

when

the party ascended the

then, only from these two apartments that

we have

police have laid bare the floors, the ceiling, walls,

in every direction.

No

secret issues.

to seek issues.

at is,

The

and the masonry of the

could have escaped their

secret issues

vigilance. But, not trusting to their eyes,

There were, then, no

stairs. It

I

examined with my own.

Both doors leading from the rooms

into the passage were securely locked, with the keys inside. Let us turn to the chimneys. These, although of ordinary width for

some eight or

ten feet above the hearths, will not admit, throughout their extent, the body of a large cat.

The

stated, being thus absolute,

impossibility of egress, by

we

means already Through

are reduced to the windows.

room no one could have escaped without notice street. The murderers must have passed, then, through those of the back room. Now, brought to this conclusion in so unequivocal a manner as we are, it is not our part, as reasoners, to reject it on account of apparent impossibilities. It is only left for us to those of the front

from the crowd in the

prove that these apparent 'impossibilities'

are, in reality,

not such.

One

is

"There are two windows in the chamber. structed by furniture,

other is

is

from within.

and

it.

A

up against

It

it.

resisted the

large gimlet-hole

a very stout nail

Upon examining fitted in

is

wholly

visible.

The lower

them

unob-

portion of the

hidden from view by the head of the unwieldy bedstead which

thrust close

raise

and

of

it;

police were

The former was found securely fastened who endeavored to

utmost force of those

had been pierced

was found

fitted therein,

its

frame to the

left,

nearly to the head.

the other window, a similar nail was seen similarly

and a vigorous attempt

now

in

to raise this sash failed also.

entirely satisfied that egress

had not been

The

in these

MORGUE

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE directions.

to

And,

therefore,

withdraw the

nails

was thought a matter of supererogation

it

and open the windows.

"My own examination was somewhat more for the reason

I

have

23

given

just

—because here

was,

it

I

knew, that

apparent impossibilities must be proved to be not such in

proceeded to think thus

"I

a

they could not have re-

so,

fastened the sashes from the inside, as they were found fastened

consideration which put a stop, through

its

all

reality.

The murderers did escape

posteriori.

from one of these windows. This being

and was so

particular,

—the

obviousness, to the scrutiny

They

of the police in this quarter. Yet the sashes were fastened.

must,

then, have the power of fastening themselves. There was no escape

from

this conclusion.

I

stepped to the unobstructed casement, withdrew

the nail with some difficulty, and attempted to raise the sash. all

my

knew,

efforts, as

exist;

and

this corroboration of

premises, at least, were correct,

circumstances attending the light the

A

had anticipated.

I

hidden spring.

I

pressed

A

it,

resisted

now convinced me that my

my

idea

however mysterious

nails.

It

concealed spring must,

appeared the

still

careful search

I

soon brought to

and, satisfied with the discovery,

forbore to upraise the sash. "I

now

replaced the nail and regarded

passing out through this

would have caught

window might have

—but the

nail could not

it

attentively.

reclosed

The

assassins

A

person

and the spring

have been replaced. The

conclusion was plain, and again narrowed in the gations.

it,

field

of

my

investi-

must have escaped through the other window.

Supposing, then, the springs upon each sash to be the same, as was probable, there must be found a difference between the nails, or at least

between the modes of

the bedstead,

casement. Passing

and pressed the character with as the other,

their fixture. Getting

upon the sacking of

looked over the head-board minutely at the second

I

my hand down behind the board, which was,

spring,

its

neighbor.

I

and apparently

now

as

I

readily discovered

had supposed,

looked at the

fitted in

I

the same

identical in

nail. It

was

manner

— driven

as stout

in

nearly up to the head.

"You

will say that

I

was puzzled; but,

if

you think

so,

you must

have misunderstood the nature of the inductions. To use a sporting phrase, I had not been once 'at fault.' The scent had never for an instant

been

lost.

There was no flaw

traced the secret to It

had,

I

say, in

its

in

ultimate result,

any link of the chain.

—and

I

had

that result was the nail

every respect, the appearance of

its

fellow in the other

— EDGAR ALLAN POE

24

window; but

seem

this fact

was an absolute nullity (conclusive

point,

'about the nail.'

I

touched

it

an inch of the shank came was an old one

my

off in

(for its edges

it

fingers.

The

at this said,

1

rest of the

had been broken

were incrusted with

The

off.

rust),

shank

fracture

and had ap-

hammer, which had

parently been accomplished by the blow of a

imbedded, in the top of the bottom sash, the head portion

partially

of the nail.

whence

1

complete

1

now carefully replaced this head portion in the indentation

had taken

— the

and the resemblance

it,

fissure

was

to a perfect nail

invisible. Pressing the spring,

the sash for a few inches; the head went up with bed.

might

and the head, with about a quarter of

it;

was in the gimlet-hole, where

its

as

when compared with the consideration that here, terminated the clew. There must be something wrong,'

to be)

1

it,

I

was

gently raised

remaining firm in

closed the window, and the semblance of the whole nail was

again perfect.

"This riddle, so

far,

was now unriddled. The assassin had escaped

through the window which looked upon the bed. Dropping of accord upon his exit (or perhaps purposely closed), fastened by the spring; and

it

was the retention of

had been mistaken by the police

it

its

this spring

for that of the nail,

own

had become which

—

farther inquiry

being thus considered unnecessary.

"The next question is that of the mode of descent. Upon this 1 had been satisfied in my walk with you around the building. About five feet and a half from the casement in question there runs a lightning-rod. From this rod it would have been impossible for any one to reach the window itself, to say nothing of entering it. I observed, point

however, that the shutters of the fourth story were of the peculiar kind called by Parisian carpenters ferrades

present day, but frequently seen

—

a kind rarely

employed

upon very old mansions

Bourdeaux. They are in the form of an ordinary door (a folding door)

—

trellis

,

except that the upper half

is

latticed or

at

at the

Lyons and

single,

worked

in

not a

open

thus affording an excellent hold for the hands. In the present

instance these shutters are fully three feet and a half broad.

When we

saw them from the rear of the house, they were both about half open that is to say, they stood off at right angles from the wall. It is probable that the police, as well as myself, but,

if

so, in

examined the back of the tenement;

looking at these ferrades in the line of their breadth (as

they must have done), they did not perceive this great breadth or, at all events, failed to take

once

satisfied

it

itself,

into due consideration. In fact, having

themselves that no egress could have been made in this

MORGUE

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE quarter, they It

would naturally bestow here

25

a very cursory examination.

was clear to me, however, that the shutter belonging to the window

head of the bed, would,

at the

two

to within

if

swung

fully

back to the wall, reach

was also evident

feet of the lightning-rod. It

by

that,

exertion of a very unusual degree of activity and courage, an entrance into the

window, from the

rod,

might have been thus

now

reaching to the distance of two feet and a half (we shutter

grasp

open

to

upon the

By

effected.

suppose the

whole extent) a robber might have taken a firm

its

trellis-work. Letting go, then, his

hold upon the rod,

placing his feet securely against the wall, and springing boldly from

he might have swung the shutter so the

window open

at the time,

as to close

it,

and,

it,

we imagine

if

might even have swung himself into

the room. "I

wish you to bear especially in mind that

have spoken of a

1

very unusual degree of activity as requisite to success in so hazardous

and so

difficult a feat. It

is

my

design to

might possibly have been accomplished:

show you

—

first,

that the thing

but, secondly

and

chieflyy

wish to impress upon your understanding the very extraordinary

I

—the

almost praeternatural character of that agility which could have ac-

complished

"You

it.

no doubt, using the language of the

will say,

make out my

case,'

I

should rather undervalue, than

insist

estimation of the activity required in this matter. This practice in law, but is

only the truth.

it is

My

not the usage of reason.

immediate purpose

juxtaposition, that very unusual activity of

with that very peculiar

shrill (or

is

My

to lead

which

I

law, that 'to

upon

a full

may be

the

ultimate object

you to place in

have

just

spoken,

harsh) and unequal voice, about whose

no two persons could be found to agree, and in whose utterance no syllabification could be detected." At these words a vague and half-formed conception of the meaning of Dupin flitted over my mind. I seemed to be upon the verge of comprehension, without power to comprehend as men, at times, find themselves upon the brink of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to remember. My friend went on with his discourse. "You will see," he said, "that I have shifted the question from nationality

—

the

mode

of egress to that of ingress.

idea that both were effected in the

Let us

now

was

my

design to suggest the

revert to the interior of the room.

appearances here.

although

It

same manner,

many

The

drawers of the bureau,

articles of apparel still

it is

at the

same point.

Let us survey the

said,

had been

rifled,

remained within them. The

— EDGAR ALLAN POE

26 conclusion here

no more.

How

were not

all

absurd.

is

are

we

to

It is

know

a

mere guess

—

—and

that the articles found in the drawers

these drawers had originally contained?

Madame

panaye and her daughter lived an exceedingly retired

company

one

a very silly

—seldom went out—had

little

use for

life

L'Es-

—saw no

numerous changes of

habiliment. Those found were at least of as good quality as any likely

had taken any, why did he

to be possessed by these ladies. If a thief

—why did he not

not take the best

abandon four thousand francs

take

all?

In a word,

why

did he

encumber himself with a bundle of linen? The gold was abandoned. Nearly the whole sum mentioned by Monsieur Mignaud, the banker, was discovered, in bags,

upon the

floor.

I

in gold to

wish you therefore, to discard from your thoughts the

blundering idea of motive, engendered in the brains of the police by that portion of the evidence

which speaks of money delivered

door of the house. Coincidences ten times delivery of the

as

at the

remarkable as this (the

money, and murder committed within three days upon

the party receiving

it),

happen

to all of us every

hour of our

lives,

without attracting even momentary notice. Coincidences, in general, are great stumbling-blocks in the

way of

that class of thinkers

have been educated to know nothing of the theory of that theory to

which the most

glorious objects of

who

probabilities

human

research are

indebted for the most glorious of illustration. In the present instance,

had the gold been gone, the fact of its delivery three days before would have formed something more than a coincidence. It would have been corroborative of this idea of motive. But, under the real circumstances of the case,

must

if

we

are to suppose gold the motive of this outrage,

also imagine the perpetrator so vacillating

abandoned

his gold

"Keeping your attention startling let us

now

—

and

his

an

idiot as to

we

have

motive together.

steadily in

mind the

points to

which

I

have drawn

that peculiar voice, that unusual agility,

and that

absence of motive in a murder so singularly atrocious as this

glance at the butchery

itself.

Here

is

a

woman

strangled to death

by manual strength, and thrust up a chimney head downward. Ordinary assassins

employ no such mode of murder

as this. Least of all,

do they

thus dispose of the murdered. In this manner of thrusting the corpse

up the chimney, you outre

will

admit that there was something

—something altogether

irreconcilable with our

excessively

common

notions

even when we suppose the actors the most depraved of men. Think, too, how great must have been that strength which of

human

action,

could have thrust the body up such an aperture so forcibly that the

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE

MORGUE

27

united vigor of several persons was found barely sufficient to drag

it

down! "Turn, now, to other indications of the employment of a vigor

most marvellous. tresses

You

—

of gray

On

—very

thick

These had been torn out by the

roots.

hearth were

the

human

hair.

thick

tresses

are aware of the great force necessary in tearing thus from the

head even twenty or as well as myself.

thirty hairs together.

—

which had been exerted

The

locks in question

Their roots (a hideous sight!) were clotted with

fragments of the flesh of the scalp

at a time.

You saw the

sure token of the prodigious

power

in uprooting perhaps half a million of hairs

throat of the old lady was not merely cut, but the head

absolutely severed from the body; the instrument was a

mere

wish you also to look at the brutal ferocity of these deeds.

Of the

razor.

I

bruises

upon the body of Madame L'Espanaye I do not speak. Monsieur Dumas, and

his

worthy co-adjutor Monsieur Etienne, have pronounced that

they were inflicted by some obtuse instrument; and so far these gentle-

men

are very correct.

The

obtuse instrument was clearly the stone

upon which the victim had fallen from the window which looked in upon the bed. This idea, however simple it may now seem, escaped the police for the same reason that the breadth of the shutters escaped them because, by the affair of the nails, their perceptions had been hermetically sealed against the possibility of the windows having ever been opened at all. "If now, in addition to all these things, you have properly reflected upon the odd disorder of the chamber, we have gone so far as to combine the ideas of an agility astounding, a strength superhuman, a pavement

in the yard,

ferocity brutal, a butchery without motive, a grotesquerie in horror

and a voice foreign

absolutely alien from humanity,

of

men

many

of

syllabification. I

nations, and devoid of

What

result, then,

in tone to the ears

all distinct

has ensued?

What

or intelligible

impression have

made upon your fancy?" I

felt a

madman,"

1

creeping of the flesh as Dupin asked said,

"has done

this

—

deed

from a neighboring Maison de Sante.

found to are of

tally

madmen, even

the question.

is

not irrelevant. But

in their wildest paroxysms, are never

with that peculiar voice heard upon the

some nation, and

"A

"

"In some respects," he replied, "your idea the voices of

me

some raving maniac, escaping

their language,

stairs.

Madmen

however incoherent

in

its

words, has always the coherence of syllabification. Besides, the hair of a

madman

is

not such as

I

now

hold in

my

hand.

I

disentangled

EDGAR ALLAN POE

28 this little tuft

Tell

from the

rigidly

me what you can make "Dupin!"

this

—

"

'

I

said,

no human

is

clutched fingers of

of

I

L'Espanaye.

completely unnerved; "this hair

is

most unusual

hair."

have not asserted that

"I

this point,

Madame

it."

it is,"

said he; "but, before

wish you to glance at the

sketch

little

1

we decide

have here traced

upon this paper. It is a faC'Simile drawing of what has been described in one portion of the testimony as 'dark bruises and deep indentations

upon the

of finger nails'

throat of Mademoiselle L'Espanaye, and in

another (by Messrs. Dumas and Etienne)

as a 'series of livid spots,

evidently the impressions of fingers.

"You will perceive," continued my friend, spreading out the paper upon the table before us, "that this drawing gives the idea of a firm and fixed hold. There is no slipping apparent. Each finger has retained possibly until the death of the victim originally

imbedded

itself.

— the

fearful grasp

Attempt, now, to place

all

by which

your

it

fingers, at

the same time, in the respective impressions as you see them."

made

I

"We paper

is

the attempt in vain.

are possibly not giving this matter a fair trial,"

cylindrical.

Here

is

he

said.

"The

human

throat

is

a billet of wood, the circumference of

which

is

spread out upon a plane surface; but the

about that of the throat.

Wrap

the drawing around

it,

and

try the

experiment again." did so; but the difficulty was even more obvious than before.

I

I said, "is the mark of no human hand." "Read now," replied Dupin, "this passage from Cuvier." It was a minute anatomical and generally descriptive account of

"This,"

the large fulvous Ourang-Outang of the East Indian islands.

The

gi-

gantic stature, the prodigious strength and activity, the wild ferocity,

and the imitative propensities of these mammalia

known

to

all.

I

understood the

"The description of the "is in

full

are sufficiently well

horrors of the murder at once.

digits," said

I,

exact accordance with this drawing.

made an end of reading, see that no animal but an

as I

I

Ourang'Outang, of the species here mentioned, could have impressed the indentations as you have traced them. This tuft of tawny hair, too,

is

identical in character with that of the beast of Cuvier. But

cannot possibly comprehend the particulars of

I

this frightful mystery.

Besides, there were two voices heard in contention,

and one of them

was unquestionably the voice of a Frenchman. "True; and you will remember an expression attributed almost

THE MURDERS

THE RUE

IN

MORGUE

29

—the

expression, 'mon

unanimously, by the evidence, to this voice,

been

Dieul' This, under the circumstances, has

justly characterized

one of the witnesses (Montani, the confectioner)

Upon

remonstrance or expostulation.

have mainly built probable

—

It is

— indeed

possible

that he was innocent of

He may have

all

1

A Frenchman far

it is

more than

participation in the bloody

The Ourang-Outang may have escaped

transaction which took place.

from him.

an expression of

as

these two words, therefore,

my hopes of a full solution of the riddle.

was cognizant of the murder.

by

traced

it

to the

chamber; but, under the

agitating circumstances which ensued, he could never have recaptured for I have no it. It is still at large. I will not pursue these guesses right to call

them more

—

—

upon which

since the shades of reflection

they are based are scarcely of sufficient depth to be appreciable by

own

intellect,

and since

could not pretend to make them intelligible

I

We will call them guesses,

to the understanding of another.

speak of them as such.

If

the

Frenchman

in question

then, and

indeed, as

is

suppose, innocent of this atrocity, this advertisement, which

night upon our return home, at the office of Le to the shipping interest,

my

and much sought by

Monde

I

I

left last

paper devoted

(a

sailors), will

bring

him

to our residence."

He handed me CAUGHT

a paper,

and

I

read thus:

In the Bois de Boulogney early in the morning of the

morning of the murder), a very large, tawny Ourang-Outang of the Bornese species. The owner (who is asinst.

(the

may have

certained to he a sailor, belonging to a Maltese vessel) the

animal again, upon identifying

few charges

arising

Rue

"How was a sailor, "I

it

,

Faubourg

possible,"

and belonging

do not know

from

I

its

St.

it

satisfactorily,

and paying a

capture and keeping. Call at No.

—au troisieme."

Germain

asked, "that you should

know

the

man

to be

to a Maltese vessel?"

it," said

Dupin.

"I

am not sure of it.

Here, however,

which from its form, and from its greasy appearance, has evidently been used in tying the hair in one of those long queues of which sailors are so fond. Moreover, this knot is one which few besides sailors can tie, and it is peculiar to the Maltese. 1 is

a small piece of ribbon,

picked the ribbon up at the foot of the lightning-rod.

have belonged to either of the deceased. in

my

Now

if,

It

after all,

1

could not

am wrong

induction from this ribbon, that the Frenchman was a sailor

"

EDGAR ALLAN POE

30

belonging to a Maltese vessel,

what

I

still

did in the advertisement.

can have done no harm in saying

1

If

am

I

point

right, a great

is

Cognizant although innocent of the murder, the Frenchman urally hesitate

about replying to the advertisement

He

the Ourang'Outang.

my Ourang'Outang fortune of

itself

danger? Here

Boulogne can

it

The

—

is

will reason thus:

of great value

—why should

it

it

through

grasp.

It

one

innocent;

my

in

am

I

poor;

circumstances a

apprehensions of

idle

was found in the Bois de

from the scene of that butchery.

at a vast distance

police are at fault

—they have

How

failed to procure the slightest clew. it

would be impossible

cognizant of the murder, or to implicate

Above

am

all, I

as the possessor of the beast.

knowledge may extend. Should value,

—about demanding

ever be suspected that a brute beast should have done the deed?

of that cognizance.

me

am

to

Should they even trace the animal,

me

'I

—

lose

I

my

within

is,

—

gained.

will nat-

which

it

is

known

that

this

I

animal

will render the

answer the advertisement, get the

upon the

a step

at a signal

blown

over.

ringing,

" '

stairs.

them

from myself.

front door of the house

had entered, without

at

policy to attract attention either

said Dupin, "with your pistols, but neither use

nor show them until

The

my

close until this matter has

moment we heard

"Be ready,"

not sure to what limit his

possess,

will

At

on account

I

to myself or to the beast.

it

in guilt

advertiser designates

avoid claiming a property of so great

not

Ourang'Outang, and keep

am

I

me

The

I

least, liable to suspicion. It is I

known.

to prove

had been

left

open, and the visitor

and advanced several

Now, however, he seemed

upon the

steps

we heard him descending. Dupin was moving quickly to the door, when we again heard him coming up. He did not turn back a second time, but staircase.

to hesitate. Presently

stepped up with decision, and rapped at the door of our chamber.

"Come A man

in," said

entered.

Dupin, in a cheerful and hearty tone.

He was

a sailor, evidently, a

tall,

and

stout,

muscular- looking person, with a certain daredevil expression of countenance, not altogether unprepossessing. His face, greatly sunburnt,

was more than half hidden by whisker and mustachio.

him bowed awkwardly, and bade us "good evening," which, although somewhat Neufchatelish, were

He had

with

a huge oaken cudgel, but appeared to be otherwise unarmed. in

He

French accents,

still

sufficiently in-

dicative of a Parisian origin. "Sit

down, my friend,"

about the Ourang-Outang.

said Dupin. "I suppose

Upon my

word,

I

you have called

almost envy you the

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE

MORGUE

possession of him; a remarkably fine, and

How

animal.

The some

old do you suppose

sailor

have no way of

years old.

to be?"

Have you

and then

telling

—but he

Of

can't be

this.

am,

I

mean

don't

You can

get

him

He

is

in the

sir."

that you should be at

the man. "Couldn't expect

animal

my

You

shall give

these murders in the

Am very willing to pay a reward

is

to say, anything in reason."

have? Oh!

me

all

trouble for nothing,

it.

that

is all I

very

to be sure. Let

fair,

will tell you.

My

reward shall

the information in your power about

words in a very low tone, and very quietly.

he walked toward the door, locked

He then drew

key in his pocket.

without the

I

all this

Rue Morgue."

said the last

Just as quietly, too,

—

friend, "that

—what should

Dupin

four or five

keeping him here.

be sorry to part with him," said Dupin.

"Well," replied

it,

for

just by.

sure

think!

relieved of

course you are prepared to identify the property?"

for the finding of the

be

Rue Dubourg,

"I shall

sir," said

man

more than

"To be "I

me

of a

an assured tone:

him here?"

got

at a livery stable in the

air

replied, in

"Oh, no; we had no conveniences morning.

no doubt a very valuable

drew a long breath, with the

intolerable burden, "I

him

31

least flurry,

a pistol from his

upon the

it,

and put the

bosom and placed

table.

The sailor's face flushed up as if he were struggling with suffocation. He started to his feet and grasped his cudgel; but the next moment he fell back into his seat, trembling violently, and with the countenance of death itself. He spoke not a word. I pitied him from the bottom of

my

heart.

"My friend," said Dupin, unnecessarily

—-you

in a kind tone, "you are alarming yourself

are indeed.

We

mean you no harm whatever. I we well know that you are innocent of

pledge you the honor of a gentleman, and of a Frenchman, that

intend you no injury.

I

perfectly

Rue Morgue. It will not do, however, to deny some measure implicated in them. From what I have already said, you must know that I have had means of information about this matter means of which you could never have dreamed. Now the thing stands thus. You have done nothing which you could the atrocities in the that you are in

—

have avoided are not

—nothing,

even

which renders you culpable. You when you might have robbed with

certainly,

guilty of robbery,

impunity.

You have nothing

cealment.

On

to conceal.

the other hand, you are

You have no reason for conbound by every principle of

"

EDGAR ALLAN POE

32

honor

to confess all

An

you know.

man

innocent

now

is

imprisoned,

charged with that crime of which you can point out the perpetrator."

The

sailor

had recovered

his presence of mind, in a great measure,

while Dupin uttered these words; but his original boldness of bearing

was

gone.

all

"So help

me God!"

I

know about

this affair;

1

say

—

will

would be a

I

make

said he, after a brief pause, "I will tell

—but if

1

if I

die for

did. Still,

I

to believe

am

you

all

one half

innocent, and

I

it.

He had

stated was, in substance, this.

age to the Indian Archipelago. at

do not expect you

fool indeed

a clean breast

What he

I

lately

made

a voy-

A party, of which he formed one, landed

Borneo, and passed into the interior on an excursion of pleasure.

Himself and a companion had captured the Ourang-Outang. This com-

panion dying, the animal

fell

into his

own exclusive possession.

After a

great trouble, occasioned by the intractable ferocity of his captive dur-

home

ing the

own

voyage, he at length succeeded in lodging

it

safely at his

residence in Paris, where, not to attract toward himself the un-

pleasant curiosity of his neighbors, he kept

it

carefully secluded, until

as it should recover from a wound in the foot, received from a on board ship. His ultimate design was to sell it. Returning home from some sailor's frolic on the night, or rather

such time splinter

in the

bedroom, into which

had been, lathered,

as it

it

had broken from a

was

sitting before a looking-glass, it

to use

it,

where

its

closet. Terrified at the sight of so

in the possession of

an animal so

ferocious,

master

dangerous

and so well able

the man, for some moments, was at a loss what to do.

had been accustomed, however, to quiet the creature, even in fiercest

Upon

moods, by the use of

sight of

it,

of the chamber,

a whip,

and

it

fully

attempting the operation

had no doubt previously watched

through the keyhole of the

weapon

closet adjoining,

was thought, securely confined. Razor in hand, and

of shaving, in which

a

own

morning, of the murder, he found the beast occupying his

to this

he now

He its

resorted.

the Ourang-Outang sprang at once through the door

down

the

stairs,

a

window,

still

in hand,

and thence, through

unfortunately open, into the street.

The Frenchman

followed in despair; the ape, razor

occasionally stopping to look back and gesticulate at his pursuer, until

the latter had nearly

come up with

manner the chase continued foundly quiet, as

it

it.

It

then again made

for a long time.

was nearly three o'clock

down an alley in the rear of the Rue Morgue,

The

in the

streets

off.

In this

were pro-

morning. In passing

the fugitive's attention was

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE arrested by a light gleaming from the aye's it

MORGUE

33

open window of Madame L'Espan-

chamber, in the fourth story of her house. Rushing to the building,

perceived the lightning-rod, clambered up with inconceivable

agility,

grasped the shutter, which was thrown fully back against the wall, and,

by

means, swung

its

whole

itself directly

by the Ourang-Outang as

The

He had

sailor,

in the

strong hopes of

it

entered the room.

meantime, was both rejoiced and perplexed.

now

recapturing the brute, as

escape from the trap into which

where

it

might be intercepted

there was

This

upon the headboard of the bed. The The shutter was kicked open again

not occupy a minute.

feat did

much

as

it

cause for anxiety as

ascended without

lightning-rod

is

when he had

arrived as high as the

his career

could scarcely rod,

came down. On the other hand, to what it might do in the house.

man

urged the

latter reflection

it

had ventured, except by the

it

still

to follow the fugitive.

difficulty, especially

window, which

by a

A

sailor; but,

lay far to his left,

was stopped; the most that he could accomplish was to reach

over so as to obtain a glimpse of the interior of the room.

At

glimpse he nearly

Now

from his hold through excess of horror.

fell

this it

upon the night, which had startled from slumber the inmates of the Rue Morgue. Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter, habited in their night clothes, had apparently been occupied in arranging some papers in the iron chest already mentioned, which had been wheeled into the middle of the room. It was open, and its contents lay beside it on the floor. The victims must have been sitting with their backs toward the window; and, from the time elapsing between the ingress of the beast and the screams, it seems probable was that those hideous shrieks arose

that

it

was not immediately perceived. The flapping to of the shutter

would naturally have been attributed to the wind.

As the

sailor

looked

in,

the gigantic animal had seized

Madame

L'Espanaye by the hair (which was loose, as she had been combing it),

and was flourishing the razor about her

face, in imitation of the

motions of a barber. The daughter lay prostrate and motionless; she

had swooned. The screams and

struggles of the old lady (during

which

the hair was torn from her head) had the effect of changing the probably pacific purposes of the

determined sweep of

Ourang-Outang into those of wrath. With one muscular arm it nearly severed her head from

its

her body.

The

sight of blood inflamed

teeth,

and

flashing

its

girl

and embedded

its

until she expired. Its

fire

from

its

its

eyes,

anger into phrenzy. Gnashing it

flew

upon the body of the

fearful talons in her throat, retaining its grasp

wandering and wild glances

fell at this

moment

— EDGAR ALLAN POE

34

upon the head of the bed, over which the horror, was just discernible.

face of

its

master, rigid with

who no doubt

bore

instantly converted into fear.

Conscious of having deserved punishment, cealing

its

fury of the beast,

mind the dreaded whip, was

in

still

The

it

seemed desirous of con-

bloody deeds, and skipped about the chamber in an agony

down and breaking the furniture as it moved, and dragging the bed from the bedstead. In conclusion, it seized first the corpse of the daughter, and thrust it up the chimney, of nervous agitation; throwing

as

it

was found; then that of the old

lady,

which,

it

immediately hurled

through the window headlong.

As

the ape approached the casement with

its

mutilated burden,

the sailor shrank aghast to the rod, and, rather gliding than clambering

down

hurried at once

it,

— dreading the consequences of the

home

butchery, and gladly abandoning, in his terror,

the fate of the Ourang-Outang.

solicitude about

all

The words heard by

the party

upon

the staircase were the Frenchman's exclamations of horror and affright,

commingled with the

fiendish jabberings of the brute.

have scarcely any thing to add. The Ourang-Outang must have

I

escaped from the chamber, by the rod, door.

It

must have closed the window

just before the

as

subsequently caught by the owner himself, large

sum

at the Jardin des Plantes.

it

breaking of the

passed through

who

it.

obtained for

it

It

was

a very

Le Bon was instantly released, upon

our narration of the circumstances (with some comments from Dupin) at the bureau of the Prefect of Police.

disposed to

my

turn which

affairs

friend, could

This functionary, however, well

not altogether conceal his chagrin at the

had taken, and was

fain to indulge in a sarcasm or

two about the propriety of every person minding his

own

business.

him talk," said Dupin, who had not thought it necessary to him discourse; it will ease his conscience. I am satisfied with having defeated him in his own castle. Nevertheless, that he failed in the solution of this mystery, is by no means that matter for wonder which he supposes it; for, in truth, our friend the prefect is somewhat too cunning to be profound. In his wisdom is no stamen. It is all head and no body, like the pictures of the Goddess Laverna "Let

reply. "Let

or, at best, all

creature after

head and shoulders,

all.

I

like

him

But he is a good one master stroke of cant,

like a codfish.

especially for

by which he has attained his reputation for ingenuity,

he has *

'de nier ce qui est, et d'expliquer ce qui

"Of ignoring whatever

is,

nest pas.'

and of explaining what does not

Rousseau's La Nouvelle Heloise.

I

mean

the

way

"*

exist"

—

a phrase from

1

PURIDINID

m

Nil sapientiae odiosius acumine nimio.

SENECA.

At

Paris, just after

*

—

dark one gusty evening in the autumn of 18

,

I

was enjoying the twofold luxury of meditation and a meerschaum, in

company with my

friend C. Auguste Dupin, in his

little

or book-closet, au troisieme, No. 33, Rue Dunot, Faubourg

we had maintained

For one hour at least

back St.

library,

Germain.

a profound silence; while

each, to any casual observer, might have seemed intently and exclusively

occupied with the curling eddies of smoke that oppressed the

atmosphere of the chamber. For myself, however, cussing certain topics

tween us

at

an

which had formed matter

earlier period of the evening;

I

I

was mentally

dis-

for conversation be-

mean

the

affair

of the

Rue Morgue, and the mystery attending the murder of Marie Roget. 1 looked upon it, therefore, as something of a coincidence, when the door of our apartment was thrown open and admitted our old acquaintance, Monsieur

G

,

the Prefect of the Parisian police.

We gave him a hearty welcome; for there was nearly half as much of the entertaining as of the contemptible about the man, and

not seen him for several years.

Dupin now

us, or rather to ask

we had

sitting in the dark,

upon G.'s saying

more odious

official

a great deal of trouble.

to

and

down

that he had called to consult

the opinion of my friend, about some

which had occasioned is

had been

arose for the purpose of lighting a lamp, but sat

again, without doing so,

"Nothing

We

good sense than too great subtlety."

business

EDGAR ALLAN POE

36 "If

it

any point requiring reflection," observed Dupin,

is

forbore to enkindle the wick,

"we

examine

shall

as

he

to better purpose

it

in the dark."

"That

another of your odd notions," said the Prefect,

is

a fashion of calling every thing "odd" that

who had

was beyond his compre-

hension, and thus lived amid an absolute legion of "oddities."

"Very true,"

and

"And what

him

asked.

I

"Nothing more

in the

The fact is, the business is very make no doubt that we can manage it sufficiently but then I thought Dupin would like to hear the details

no; nothing of that nature.

well ourselves; it,

with a pipe,

hope?"

I

simple indeed, and

of

visitor

a comfortable chair.

the difficulty now?"

is

assassination way,

"Oh

Dupin, as he supplied his

said

rolled towards

because

I

so excessively odd.

it is

"

"Simple and odd," said Dupin.

"Why,

yes;

and not exactly

that, either.

been a good deal puzzled because the

affair

is

The

fact

so simple,

we have

is,

and yet

all

baffles

us altogether."

"Perhaps

it is

my

fault," said

the very simplicity of the thing which puts you at

friend.

"What nonsense you

do talk!" replied the Prefect,

laughing

heartily.

"Perhaps the mystery

is

a

plain," said Dupin.

little too

"Oh, good heavens! who ever heard of such an idea?"

"A

little too

self-evident."

"Ha! ha! ha!

—

ha! ha! ha!

—ho!

ho! ho!"

—roared our

profoundly amused, "oh, Dupin, you will be the death of

"And

what, after

"Why, steady,

I

all, is

that this

and

is

an

it

he gave a long,

settled himself in his chair. "I

you in a few words; but, before affair

most probably confided

puff,

demanding the

lose the position

I

yet!"

asked.

I

will tell you," replied the Prefect, as

and contemplative

will tell

the matter on hand?"

visitor,

me

I

begin, let

greatest secrecy,

now

hold, were

me

caution you

and that it

I

known

should that

I

to any one."

"Proceed," said

"Or not,"

I.

said Dupin.

"Well, then;

I

have received personal information, from a very last importance, has been

high quarter, that a certain document of the purloined from the royal apartments.

The

individual

who

purloined

it

THE PURLOINED LETTER

is

known;

it still

"How "It

beyond

this

also, that

is

he was seen to take

a doubt;

It is

it.

known,

remains in his possession."

this

is

37

known?" asked Dupin. "from the nature of

clearly inferred," replied the Prefect,

the document, and from the non-appearance of certain results which

would that

at

once

to say,

is

employ

from

arise

its

passing out of the robber's possession;

from his employing

as

it

he must design in the end to

it."

"Be a a certain

more

little

"Well,

I

power

valuable." "Still

The I

explicit,"

may venture

I

said.

so far as to say that the paper gives

where such power

in a certain quarter

its

holder

immensely

is

Prefect was fond of the cant of diplomacy.

do not quite understand,"

said Dupin.

"No? Well; the disclosure of the document to a third person, who shall be nameless, would bring in question the honor of a personage of most exalted station; and this fact gives the holder of the document an ascendancy over the illustrious personage whose honor and peace are so jeopardized."

"But robber's

dare

—

this

ascendancy,"

knowledge of the

I

knowledge of the robber.

"The thief," said G. "is the Minister D those unbecoming as well as those becoming ,

the theft was not

less

a letter, to be frank

depend upon the

interposed, "would

loser's

ingenious than bold.

Who would

who dares all things, man. The method of ,

a

The document in question

—had been received by the personage robbed while

alone in the royal boudoir. During

its

perusal she was suddenly inter-

rupted by the entrance of the other exalted personage from especially

it

was her wish to conceal

endeavor to thrust it

was,

upon

it

a table.

in a drawer, she

The

it.

was forced to place

address, however,

D

.

it,

open

as

was uppermost, and, the

contents thus unexposed, the letter escaped notice. enters the Minister

whom

After a hurried and vain

At

this juncture

His lynx eye immediately perceives the

paper, recognizes the handwriting of the address, observes the confusion of the personage addressed,

and fathoms her

secret. After

some

business transactions, hurried through in his ordinary manner, he pro-

duces a letter somewhat similar to the one in question, opens pretends to read other. affairs.

it,

and then places

Again he converses,

At

for

some

it

it,

in close juxtaposition to the

fifteen minutes,

upon the public

length, in taking leave, he takes also from the table the

"

EDGAR ALLAN POE

38 letter to

which he had no claim.

dared not

call attention to the act, in the

who

sonage

Its rightful

The

stood at her elbow.

owner saw,

Minister decamped; leaving his

— one of no importance—upon the "Here, then," Dupin me, "you have demand make the ascendancy complete—the own

table."

letter

said

to

to

the

but, of course,

presence of the third per-

precisely

what you

knowledge of

robber's

knowledge of the robber.

loser's

"Yes," replied the Prefect; "and the power thus attained has, for

some months

been wielded,

past,

for political purposes,

The personage robbed

dangerous extent.

is

to a very

more thoroughly con-

vinced, every day, of the necessity of reclaiming her

letter.

But

this,

of course, cannot be done openly. In fine, driven to despair, she has

committed the matter

me."

to

"Than whom," said Dupin, amid a perfect whirlwind of smoke, "no more sagacious agent could, I suppose, be desired, or even imagined."

"You

flatter

me," replied the

Prefect; "but

it is

possible that

some

such opinion may have been entertained." "It

is

clear," said

I,

"as

you observe, that the

letter

is

still

in

it is this possession, and not any employment of the letter, which bestows the power. With the employment the power departs." "True," said G "and upon this conviction I proceeded. My first care was to make thorough search of the Minister's hotel; and

possession of the Minister; since

;

here his

my

chief embarrassment lay in the necessity of searching without

knowledge. Beyond

which would

result

"But," said

I,

yes;

and

I

have been warned of the danger

"you are quite aufait* in these investigations. The

Parisian police have

"Oh

things,

all

from giving him reason to suspect our design."

done

this thing often before."

for this reason

I

did not despair.

minister gave me, too, a great advantage.

home

all

night. His servants are by

at a distance

He

is

The

habits of the

frequently absent from

no means numerous. They

sleep

from their master's apartment, and, being chiefly Nea-

made drunk. 1 have keys, as you know, with which can open any chamber or cabinet in Paris. For three months a night

politans, are readily I

has not passed, during the greater part of which

engaged, personally, in ransacking the interested, and, to

expert

mention

D

I

have not been

Hotel.

a great secret, the reward

is

My

honor

is

enormous. So

THE PURLOINED LETTER

39

did not abandon the search until

I

I had become fully satisfied that more astute man than myself. 1 fancy that 1 have invesevery nook and comer of the premises in which it is possible

the thief tigated

a

is

that the paper can be concealed.

"But

is it

not possible,"

1

have concealed "This

is

it

D

barely possible," said Dupin.

known

is

of the

notice

document

—

and

"The present

"That

produced

its

of being produced?" said

to say, of being

is I

peculiar con-

would render the instant

susceptibility of being

its

is,

premises?"

a point of nearly equal importance with

"True," for

own

especially of those intrigues in

to be involved,

—

"Its susceptibility

As

unquestionably

it

elsewhere than upon his

dition of affairs at court,

may he may

suggested, "that although the letter

be in the possession of the Minister, as

destroyed, " said

observed: "the paper

is

clearly

which

availability

at a

moment's

possession."

its

I.

Dupin.

then upon the premises.

being upon the person of the minister, we

may

consider that

as out of the question.

"He has been

"Entirely," said the Prefect.

footpads,

and his person

"You might have spared

"D

presume,

I

,

my own

trouble,"

yourself this

not altogether a

is

twice waylaid, as

rigorously searched under

fool, and,

if

if

by

inspection." said

Dupin

not, must have

anticipated these waylayings, as a matter of course."

"Not

altogether a fool," said

G., "but then he's a poet, which

I

take to be only one remove from a fool."

"True," said Dupin, after a long and thoughtful whiff from his

meerschaum, "although

I

have been

"Suppose you detail," said

"Why I

the fact

is,

we took our

have had long experience

first,

possible drawer;

guilty of certain doggerel myself."

"the particulars of your search." time,

and we searched every where.

in these affairs.

room by room: devoting the examined,

I,

I

the furniture of each apartment.

and

I

presume you know

who permits a 'secret' drawer kind. The thing is so plain. There

a dolt

this

of space

—

to be

accounted

for in

week

We

to each.

We

opened every

that, to a properly trained

police agent, such a thing as a secret drawer is

took the entire building,

nights of a whole

is

impossible.

Any man

him in a search of is a certain amount of bulk every cabinet. Then we have accurate to escape

rules. The fiftieth part of a line could not escape us. After the cabinets we took the chairs. The cushions we probed with the fine long needles you have seen me employ. From the tables we removed the tops."

"Why

so?"

EDGAR ALLAN POE

40

"Sometimes the top of a of furniture,

then the leg

is

table, or other similarly arranged piece

removed by the person wishing

is

an

to conceal

article;

excavated, the article deposited within the cavity, and

the top replaced.

The bottoms and

tops of bed-posts are employed in

the same way."

"But could not the cavity be detected by sounding?"

"By no means,

if,

when

the article

ding of cotton be placed around

it.

I

asked.

deposited, a sufficient wad-

is

Besides, in our case,

we were

obliged to proceed without noise."

"But you could not have removed pieces

make

all articles

roll,

much

not differing

knitting-needle, and in this form

it

to

would have been possible to

it

A letter may be compressed

manner you mention.

a deposit in the

into a thin spiral

—you could not have taken

of furniture in which

in shape or bulk

from a large

might be inserted into the rung of

You did not take to pieces all the chairs?" but we did better we examined the rungs of every

a chair, for example.

"Certainly not;

—

chair in the hotel, and, indeed, the jointings of every description of furniture, by the aid of a

most powerful microscope. Had there been

any traces of recent disturbance we should not have instantly. as

A single grain of gimlet-dust,

obvious as an apple.

it

example, would have been

And disorder in the glueing

—would have

in the joints "I

for

failed to detect

—any unusual gaping

sufficed to insure detection."

presume you looked to the mirrors, between the boards and

the plates, and you probed the beds and the bed-clothes, as well as the curtains and carpets."

"That of course; and when we had absolutely completed every then we examined the house

particle of the furniture in this way,

We divided its entire surface into compartments, so that

none might be missed; then we

itself.

which we numbered,

scrutinized each individual

square inch throughout the premises, including the two houses im-

mediately adjoining, with the microscope, as before."

"The two houses adjoining!"

I

exclaimed; "you must have had a

great deal of trouble."

"We

had; but the reward offered

is

prodigious."

"You include the grounds about the houses?" "All the grounds are paved with brick. They gave us comparatively little trouble. We examined the moss between the bricks, and found it

undisturbed."

"You looked among of the library?"

D

's

papers, of course,

and into the books

THE PURLOINED LETTER "Certainly;

41

we opened every package and

we not only

parcel;

opened every book, but we turned over every leaf in each volume, not contenting ourselves with a mere shake, according to the fashion of

some of our police

We

officers.

also

measured the thickness of every

book-cover, with the most accurate admeasurement, and applied to

each the most jealous scrutiny of the microscope. Had any of the bindings been recently meddled with,

six

would have been

it

utterly im-

have escaped observation. Some

possible that the fact should

five or

volumes, just from the hands of the binder, we carefully probed,

longitudinally, with the needles."

"You explored the floors beneath the carpets?" "Beyond doubt. We removed every carpet, and examined the boards with the microscope."

"And

the paper on the walls?"

"Yes."

"You looked into the

"We

did."

"Then," letter

is

cellars?"

said,

I

"you have been making a miscalculation, and the

upon the premises,

not

what would you advise me

"To make "That that

I

is

"I

Prefect.

to do?"

absolutely needless," replied 1

am

that the letter

G

an accurate description of the yes!"

—And here

.

"I

am

not more sure

not at the Hotel."

is

have no better advice to give you,"

"Oh

"And now, Dupin,

a thorough re-search of the premises."

breathe than

course,

you suppose."

as

you are right there," said the

"I fear

"You have, of

said Dupin.

letter?"

memorandum-

the Prefect, producing a

book, proceeded to read aloud a minute account of the internal, and especially of the external appearance of the missing after finishing the perusal of this description,

more

entirely depressed in spirits than

I

document. Soon

he took

his departure,

had ever known the good

gentleman before. In about a

month

afterwards he paid us another

us occupied very nearly as before.

He

entered into some ordinary conversation.

"Well, but

have

at last

G

,

At

length

what of the purloined

made up your mind

visit,

and found

took a pipe and a chair and

that there

is

I

said

letter?

I

presume you

no such thing

as over-

reaching the Minister?"

as

"Confound him, say Dupin suggested but

—

I

—

it

yes;

was

I

made

all

labor

the re-examination, however, lost, as

I

knew

it

would be."

— EDGAR ALLAN POE

42

"How much was "Why,

the reward offered, did you say?" asked Dupin.

a very great deal

—

a very Uberal reward

—

don't like to

I

how much, precisely; but one thing I will say, that I wouldn't mind giving my individual check for fifty thousand francs to any one who could obtain me that letter. The fact is, it is becoming of more and say

more importance every If it

"Why,

and the reward has been

day;

were trebled, however,

I

yes," said Dupin, drawlingly,

—

meerschaum,

"I really

G

think,

I

have done."

between the

whiffs of his

you have not exerted yourself

,

—do

You might

to the utmost in this matter.

doubled.

lately

could do no more than

a

more,

little

think,

I

eh?"

— "Why— "How?

what way?"

in

—

—you

might

puff

puff,

the matter, eh?

—

puff,

—employ

counsel in

puff

Do you remember

puff, puff, puff.

the story they

tell

of Abernethy?"

"No: hang Abernethy!"

"To be

hang him and welcome. But, once upon a time,

sure!

upon

certain rich miser conceived the design of spunging

nethy for a medical opinion. Getting up,

for this purpose,

this

a

Aber-

an ordinary

conversation in a private company, he insinuated his case to the physician, as that of "

*We

an imaginary individual.

will suppose,' said the miser, 'that his

symptoms

and such; now, doctor, what would you have directed him "

Take!' said Abernethy, 'why take

"But," said the Prefect, a to take advice,

francs to any

and

little

to pay for

advice, to

discomposed,

it.

would

I

one who would aid me

be

are such

to take?' "

sure.'

"I imperfectly willing

really

give

thousand

fifty

in the matter."

"In that case," replied Dupin, opening a drawer, and producing

may

a check-book, "you

mentioned. I

When

as well

was astounded.

The

me

fill

you have signed

it,

Prefect

I

up a check will

for the

hand you the

amount

letter."

appeared absolutely thunder-

some minutes he remained speechless and motionless, looking incredulously at my friend with open mouth, and eyes that seemed starting from their sockets; then, apparently recovering himself in some measure, he seized a pen, and after several pauses and vacant stricken. For

stares, finally filled

and handed fully

it

and deposited

took thence a it

in a perfect

up and signed a check

across the table to Dupin.

letter

it

for fifty

The

latter

thousand francs,

examined

in his pocket-book; then, unlocking

and gave

agony of

joy,

it

an

it

care-

escritoire,

to the Prefect. This functionary grasped

opened

it

with a trembling hand, cast a

THE PURLOINED LETTER rapid glance at

43

contents, and then, scrambling and struggling to

its

room and from

the door, rushed at length unceremoniously from the

the house, without having uttered a syllable since Dupin had requested

him

to

up the check.

fill

When

he had gone, my friend entered into some explanations. 'The Parisian police," he said, "are exceedingly able in their way. They are persevering, ingenious, cunning, and thoroughly versed in the knowledge which their duties seem chiefly to demand. Thus, when

G

mode

detailed to us his

D

felt

I

,

vestigation

"So

—

of searching the premises at the Hotel

entire confidence in his having

made

a satisfactory in-

so far as his labors extended."

far as his labors extended.^" said

I.

"The measures adopted were not only the

"Yes," said Dupin.

Had

of their kind, but carried out to absolute perfection.

best

the letter

been deposited within the range of their search, these fellows would,

beyond a question, have found I

merely laughed

it."

—but he seemed

quite serious in

that he said.

all

"The measures, then," he continued, "were good in their kind, and well executed; but

their defect lay in their being inapplicable to

the case, and to the man. are,

A

certain set of highly ingenious resources

with the Prefect, a sort of Procrustean bed, to which he forcibly

adapts his designs. But he perpetually errs by being too deep or too

many a schoolboy is a better knew one about eight years of age, whose success game of 'even and odd' attracted universal admi-

shallow, for the matter in hand; and

reasoner than he. at guessing in the

ration.

This game

I

simple; and

is

number of

holds in his hand a

whether that number wins one;

if

the marbles of the school.

and

this lay in

If

to

is

right, the guesser

whom

Of course he had some

player

demands of another

the guess

The boy

loses one.

One

played with marbles.

even or odd.

is

wrong, he

is

these toys, and

I

won

allude

principle of guessing;

mere observation and admeasurement of the astuteness

of his opponents. For example, an arrant simpleton

is

his

opponent,

and, holding up his closed hand, asks, 'are they even or odd?'

schoolboy for

replies, 'odd,'

he then

first trial,

and

loses;

but upon the second

says to himself, 'the simpleton

and

his

amount of cunning

have them odd upon the second; odd, and wins.

Now, with

would have reasoned I

all

I

is

trial

Our

he wins,

had them even upon the

just sufficient to

will therefore guess odd;

make him

—he

a simpleton a degree above the

thus: 'This fellow finds that in the

first

guesses

first,

he

instance

guessed odd, and, in the second, he will propose to himself upon the

— EDGAR ALLAN POE

44

impulse, a simple variation from even to odd, as did the

first

simpleton; but then a second thought will suggest that this a variation, 1

and

finally

he

will therefore guess even;

will decide

—he

what, in "It

analysis,

its last

merely,"

is

I

said,

upon putting it even and wins. Now

guesses even,

whom

of reasoning in the schoolboy,

his fellows

first

too simple

is

termed

as befiDre. this

mode

'lucky,'

it?"

is

"an identification of the reasoner's

intellect

with that of his opponent." "It is," said

Dupin; "and, upon inquiring of the boy by what means

he effected the thorough identification in which his success consisted, I

'When I wish to find out how wise, or how wicked is any one, or what are his fashion the expression of my face, as ac-

received answer as follows:

how

stupid, or

how

good, or

thoughts at the moment,

I

curately as possible, in accordance with the expression of his,

wait to see what thoughts or sentiments arise in

my mind

and then

or heart, as

match or correspond with the expression. This response of the schoolboy lies at the bottom of all the spurious profundity which has been attributed to Rochefoucauld, to La Bruyere, to Machiavelli, and if

to

to

'

Campanella."

"And

the identification,"

I

that of his opponent, depends,

said, "of if I

the reasoner's intellect with

understand you aright, upon the

accuracy with which the opponent's intellect "For

its

practical value

the Prefect and his cohort tification,

it

fail

depends upon so frequently,

is

admeasured."

this," replied

first,

Dupin; "and

by default of this iden-

and, secondly, by ill-admeasurement, or rather through non-

admeasurement, of the consider only their

own

intellect

with which they are engaged. They

ideas of ingenuity; and, in searching for any-

thing hidden, advert only to the modes in which they would have hid-

den

it.

They

are right in this

much

faithful representative of the mass; but

ual felon

is

—

that their own ingenuity is a when the cunning of the individ-

diverse in character from their

own, the felon

foils

them, of

when it is above their own, and very usuThey have no variation of principle in their investigations; at best, when urged by some unusual emergency by some they extend or exaggerate their old modes of extraordinary reward practice, without touching their principles. What, for example, in this course. This always happens ally

when

it is

below.

—

—

case of all this

D

,

boring,

has been done to vary the principle of action?

and probing, and sounding, and

What

is

scrutinizing with the

microscope, and dividing the surface of the building into registered

—what

square inches

is it all

but an exaggeration of the application of the

THE PURLOINED LETTER

one principle or one

set of

which

set of principles of search,

notions regarding

human

45

ingenuity, to

for granted that all

it

men

Do you

not see he

proceed to conceal a

—

exactly in a gimlet-hole bored in a chair-leg

upon the

Prefect, in

the long routine of his duty, has been accustomed?

has taken

are based

which the

letter,

—not

but, at least in some out-

of-the-way hole or comer suggested by the same tenor of thought which

would urge leg?

And

ment

man

a

to secrete a letter in a gimlet-hole bored in a chair-

do you not see

also, that

only by ordinary intellects;

—

the article concealed the very

depends, not at

of importance

when

for, in all cases

a disposal of

and would be adopted

of concealment, a disposal of

in this recherche

it

manner,

and presumed; and thus

instance, presumable

first

care, patience,

eyes,

such recherches nooks for conceal-

are adapted only for ordinary occasions,

its

—

is,

in

discovery

upon the acumen, but altogether upon the mere seekers; and where the case is what amounts to the same thing in the political

all

and determination of the

—

or,

the reward

known

is

of magnitude,

You

—the

now

qualities in question

understand what

have

meant in suggesting that, had the purloined letter been hidden any where within the limits of the Prefect's examination in other words, had the principle of its concealment been comprehended within the principles of the Prefect its discovery would have been a matter altogether beyond question. This functionary, however, has been thoroughly mystified; and the remote source of his defeat lies in the supposition that the Minister is a fool, because he has acquired renown as a poet. All fools are poets; this the Prefect feels; and he is merely guilty of a non distributio

never been

to

fail.

will

I

—

—

medii* in thence inferring that

"But

is

all

poets are fools.

this really the poet?"

I

asked. "There are

know; and both have attained reputation believe has written learnedly

on

in letters.

two hrothers,

The

I

Minister

I

He

a

the Differential Calculus.

is

mathematician, and no poet."

"You

are mistaken;

I

know him

mathematician, he would reason well; not have reasoned at

all,

well;

as

he

is

both.

As poet

aiid

mere mathematician, he could

and thus would have been

at the

mercy of

the Prefect."

"You

surprise

me,"

I

said,

"by these opinions, which have been

You do not mean to set at centuries. The mathematical reason

contradicted by the voice of the world.

naught the well-digested idea of

has long been regarded as the reason par excellence.

undistributed middle.

"

A flaw in logical reasoning that leads to a false conclusion.

—

"

EDGAR ALLAN POE

46 " 'lly

ad parier,

" replied

'

Dupin, quoting from Chamfort,

toute idee publique, toute convention regue, est

au

plus grand nombre.

*

'

une

The mathematicians,

their best to promulgate the popular error to

which art

none the

is

less

an

worthy a better cause,

error for for

its

of this particular deception; but

if

as, in

The French is

allude,

—then

—

'analysis'

conveys

if

words

'algebra'

Latin, 'ambitus' implies 'ambition,' Weligio'

a quarrel

and

are the originators

of any importance

gion,' or 'homines honesti,' a set of honorable

"You have

which you

promulgation as truth. With an

a term

derive any value from applicability

much

car elk a convenu

grant you, have done

I

example, they have insinuated the term

'analysis' into application to algebra.

about as

sottise,

" 'que

on hand,

I

'reli-

men."

see," said

I,

"with some of the

algebraists of Paris; but proceed. "I dispute the availability,

which

is

logical.

I

dispute, in particular, the reason educed by mathematical

The mathematics

study.

and thus the value, of that reason

cultivated in any especial form other than the abstractly

ematical reasoning

is

are the science of form

and quantity; math-

merely logic applied to observation upon form

and quantity. The great error lies in supposing that even the truths of what is called pure algebra, are abstract or general truths. And this error is so egregious that 1 am confounded at the universality with which it has been received. Mathematical axioms are not axioms of general truth. What is true of relation of form and quantity is often

—

—

grossly false in regard to morals, for example. In this latter science is

it

very usually untrue that the aggregated parts are equal to the whole.

In chemistry also the axiom fails;

for

value

fails.

In the consideration of motive

two motives, each of a given value, have not,

when

united, equal to the

sum of

it

necessarily, a

their values apart.

There are

numerous other mathematical truths which are only truths within the limits of relation. But the mathematician argues, from his finite truths, through habit, as as the

if

they were of an absolutely general applicability

world indeed imagines them to be. Bryant, in his very learned

when he says that we forget ourselves continually, and make inferences from them as existing realities.' With the algebraists, however, who are Pagans themselves, the 'Pagan fables' are believed, and the inferences are made, not so much through lapse 'Mythology,' mentions an analogous source of error, 'although the Pagan fables are not believed, yet

of memory, as through an unaccountable addling of the brains. In *

"It's a

for

it is

good bet that every popular suited to the masses."

idea, every accepted

convention,

is

a stupidity,

THE PURLOINED LETTER short,

47

never yet encountered the mere mathematician

I

trusted out of equal roots, or

equal to

q.

Say to one of these gentlemen, by way of experiment,

altogether equal to

as

x^

+

px

is

if

not

made him understand what you

and, having

q,

mean, get out of his reach

as speedily as

convenient,

for,

beyond doubt,

endeavor to knock you down.

will

mean

"1

to say," continued Dupin, while

observations, "that

last

it

px was absolutely and unconditionally

you please, that you believe occasions may occur where

he

could be

one who did not clandestinely hold

+

a point of his faith that x^

who

if

merely laughed at his

I

no more than

the Minister had been

a

mathematician, the Prefect would have been under no necessity of giving

me

and poet,

this check.

and my

knew him, however,

I

to the circumstances by courtier, too,

not

fail

as

both mathematician

measures were adapted to his capacity, with reference

and

which he was surrounded.

Such

as a bold intriguant.

to be aware of the ordinary political

a

man,

I

knew him

1

modes of action. He could

—and events have proved —the waylayings which he was

not have failed to anticipate fail

to anticipate

have foreseen,

to

that he did not

subjected.

He must

reflected, the secret investigations of his premises.

I

frequent absences from

as a

considered, could

His

home at night, which were hailed by the Prefect

as certain aids to his success,

1

regarded only as ruses, to afford op-

portunity for thorough search to the police, and thus the sooner to

impress arrive

them with the conviction

—the conviction

felt, also,

that the whole train

in detailing to

you

just

which

to

G

in fact, did finally

,

upon the premises. I of thought, which 1 was at some pains

that the letter was not

now, concerning the invariable principle of

political action in searches for articles

—

concealed

1

felt

that this whole

train of

thought would necessarily pass through the mind of the Min-

ister. It

would imperatively lead him

of concealment.

He

could not,

1

to despise all the ordinary nooks

reflected, be so

weak as not to see would be as open

that the most intricate and remote recess of his hotel as his

and

commonest

closets to the eyes, to the probes, to the gimlets,

to the microscopes of the Prefect.

be driven, as a matter of course, to to

it

as a

saw, in fine, that he would

matter of choice. You will remember, perhaps,

the Prefect laughed

was

I

simplicity, if not deliberately

when

just possible this

I

suggested,

upon our

mystery troubled him so

first

induced

how desperately

interview, that

much on account

of

it

its

being so very self-evident." "Yes," said

I,

"1

remember

his

merriment

he would have fallen into convulsions."

well.

I

really

thought

EDGAR ALLAN POE

48

"The material world," continued Dupin, "abounds with very strict some color of truth has been given to the rhetorical dogma, that metaphor, or simile, may be made analogies to the immaterial; and thus

an argument,

to strengthen

principle of the

vis inertia,

and metaphysics. is

with more

subsequent

It is

*

as well as to embellish a description.

for

not more true in the former, that a large body

motion than a smaller one, and that

difficulty set in

momentum

is

commensurate with

more constant, and more eventful

in their

inferior grade, are yet the less readily

of hesitation in the

full

first

"I

name

it is,

forcible,

movements than those of

moved, and more embarrassed

street signs, over the

shop doors,

most attractive of attention?" have never given the matter a thought,"

"There a map.

more

its

few steps of their progress. Again:

have you ever noticed which of the are the

than

this difficulty,

in the latter, that intellects of the vaster capacity, while

and

The

example, seems to be identical in physics

One

a

is

I

said.

game of puzzles," he resumed, "which

is

played upon

party playing requires another to find a given

of town, river, state or empire

—any word,

motley and perplexed surface of the chart.

A

word

in short,

novice in

generally seeks to embarrass his opponents by giving

—the

upon the the game

them the most

minutely lettered names; but the adept selects such words as stretch,

from one end of the chart to the other. These,

in large characters,

like the over-largely lettered signs

and placards of the

street,

escape

observation by dint of being excessively obvious; and here the physical precisely analogous with the moral inapprehension by

oversight

is

which the

intellect suffers to pass

unnoticed these considerations which

and too palpably self-evident. But this is a point, somewhat above or beneath the understanding of the Pre-

are too obtrusively it

appears,

fect.

He

never once thought

it

probable, or possible, that the Minister

had deposited the letter immediately beneath the nose of the whole world, by

ceiving

way of

best preventing any portion of that world from per-

it.

"But the more

I

inating ingenuity of

reflected

D

;

always have been at hand,

if

upon the daring, dashing, and discrimupon the fact that the document must he intended

to use

and upon the decisive evidence, obtained by the

it

to

good purpose;

Prefect, that

not hidden within the limits of that dignitary's ordinary search

more

satisfied

I

force of inertia.

became

it

was

—the

that, to conceal this letter, the Minister

had

THE PURLOINED LETTER resorted to the comprehensive

ing to conceal

it

and called one

terial hotel.

I

and sagacious expedient of not attempt-

at all. I

prepared myself with a pair of green spec-

fine

morning, quite by accident, at the Minis-

"Full of these ideas, tacles,

49

found

D

at

home, yawning, lounging, and dawdling,

as usual, and pretending to be in the

perhaps, the most really energetic

extremity of ennui.

last

human

being

now

alive

He

—but

is,

that

when nobody sees him. "To be even with him, I complained of my weak eyes, and lamented the necessity of the spectacles, under cover of which I cauis

only

tiously

and thoroughly surveyed the apartment, while seemingly intent

my

only upon the conversation of "I sat,

host.

paid special attention to a large writing-table near which he

and upon which

some miscellaneous

lay confusedly,

letters

and

other papers, with one or two musical instruments and a few books.

Here, however, after a long and very deliberate scrutiny,

I

saw nothing

to excite particular suspicion.

"At length my

room, fell upon hung dangling by a

eyes, in going the circuit of the

a trumpery fillagree card-rack of paste-board, that

knob just beneath the middle of the mantelpiece. In this rack, which had three or four compartments, were five or six visiting cards and a solitary letter. This last was much soiled and crumpled. It was torn nearly in two, across the middle as dirty blue ribbon,

from a

brass

little

—

if

a design, in the

been the

first

instance, to tear

it

had

altered, or stayed, in the second. It

D

entirely

up

as worthless,

had

a large black seal, bearing

cipher very conspicuously, and was addressed, in a dimin-

D

utive female hand, to carelessly,

and even,

as

it

the minister, himself.

,

It

was thrust

seemed, contemptuously, into one of the

upper divisions of the rack.

"No

sooner had

be that of which

I

I

glanced at this

was in search.

To

letter,

than

be sure,

it

I

concluded

was, to

all

it

to

appear-

ance, radically different from the one which the Prefect had read us so minute a description.

D S

cipher; there

it

Here the

seal

was small and

was

red,

large

and black, with the

with the ducal arms of the

family. Here, the address, to the Minister,

was diminutive and

feminine; there the superscription, to a certain royal personage, was

markedly bold and decided; the

size

alone formed a point of corre-

spondence. But, then, the radicalness of these differences, which was excessive; the dirt; the soiled

and torn condition of the paper, so

inconsistent with the true methodical habits of

D

,

and so sugges-

EDGAR ALLAN POE

50

tive of a design to delude the beholder into

an idea of the worthlessness

of the document; these things, together with the hyperobtrusive

uation of this document,

exactly in accordance with the conclusions to arrived; these things, in

say,

protracted

my

which

had previously

I

were strongly corroborative of suspicion,

one who came with the intention "I

a

I

visit as

to suspect.

long as possible, and, while

maintained

I

most animated discussion with the Minister, on a topic which

well

had never

memory fell, I

its

and excite him,

failed to interest

upon the

really riveted

sit-

the view of every visitor, and thus

full in

my

kept

I

In this examination,

letter.

I

knew

I

attention

committed

to

external appearance and arrangement in the rack; and also

at length,

upon

a discovery

which

set at rest

whatever

trivial

doubt

might have entertained. In scrutinizing the edges of the paper,

I

observed them to be more chafed than seemed necessary. They presented the broken appearance which

is

manifested

having been once folded and pressed with a

when

folder,

is

a

stiff

paper,

refolded in a

reversed direction, in the same creases or edges which had formed the original fold. This discovery

had been turned,

letter

sealed.

I

was

sufficient. It

as a glove,

was clear to

me

that the

inside out, re-directed,

my

bade the Minister good morning, and took

and

re-

departure at

once, leaving a gold snuff-box upon the table.

"The next morning

I

called for the snuff-box,

when we resumed,

quite eagerly, the conversation of the preceding day.

gaged, however, a loud report, as

if

While thus en-

of a pistol, was heard immediately

beneath the windows of the hotel, and was succeeded by a fearful screams,

ment, threw

it

and the shoutings of a mob.

the card-rack, took the

letter,

put

it

in

my

lodgings; imitating the

D

)

my

series of

rushed to a case-

open, and looked out. In the meantime,

a facsimile, (so far as regards externals, at

D

I

stepped to

pocket, and replaced

which

I

had

it

by

carefully prepared

cipher, ver>' readily, by

means of

a seal formed of bread.

'The disturbance behavior of a

women and

man

in the street

with a musket.

children.

It

had been occasioned by the frantic He had fired it among a crowd of

proved, however, to have been without

ball,

go his way as a lunatic or a drunkard. came from the window, whither I had followed him immediately upon securing the object in view. Soon afterwards I bade him farewell. The pretended lunatic was a man in

and the fellow was

When

suffered to

he had gone,

my own

D

pay."

"But what purpose had you,"

I

asked, "in replacing the letter by

THE PURLOINED LETTER

Would

a facsimile. seized

it

Dupin,

," replied

His hotel, too,

made

not have been better, at the

"is

the wild attempt you suggest,

me no

more. But

In this matter,

I

I

left

in his power. is

not

was.

if it

more

She has now him

in

in his possession,

he

Thus

precipitate than awkward.

talk about the facilis descensus Averni, is

it

down. In the present instance

him who

will

he inevitably

He

descends.

of genius.

I

is

far I

*

but in

more easy

all

It is all

very well to

kinds of climbing, as

to get

have no sympathy

up than to come

—

at least

no

pity

that monstrum horrendum, an unprincipled

confess, however, that

I

should like very well to

the Prefect terms

which

"How?

"Why blank

—

me an

I

certain personage,' he

left for

him

reduced to opening the

is

in the card-rack."

did you put any thing particular in it?"

—

that

did not seem altogether right to leave the interior

it

would have been

evil turn,

remember. So, identity of the to give

'a

know

whom

the precise character of his thoughts, when, being defied by her

letter

the

of Paris might have heard

himself, at once, to his political destruction. His downfall,

Catalini said of singing,

man

man of nerve. Had

interests.

had an object apart from these considerations.

I

proceed with his exactions as

too, will not be

for

have

to

act as a partisan of the lady concerned. For eighteen

hers; since, being unaware that the letter

commit

a

might never have

The good people

months the Minister has had her will

man, and

a desperate

not without attendants devoted to his

is

Ministerial presence alive.

of

first visit,

openly, and departed?"

*'D

I

it

51

him

which

I

insulting.

D

,

at

Vienna once, did

told him, quite good-humoredly, that

I

should

knew he would feel some curiosity in regard to the person who had outwitted him, I thought it a pity not as

I

a clue.

He

is

well acquainted with

my MS., and

I

just

copied into the middle of the blank sheet the words

—Un S'il n'est

They

dessein

si

funeste,

digne d'Atree, est digne de Thyeste.t

are to be found in Crebillon's 'Atree.'

*

easy descent to Hades.

t

"A scheme

so deadly,

if

not worthy of Atreus,

is

"

worthy of Thyestes." In Greek

myth, Thyestes seduced the wife of Atreus. In revenge, Atreus killed the sons of Thyestes and served them to Thyestes

at a

banquet.

[ (I85B-IS3II)

Arthur Conan Doyle was born the University of Edinburgh.

he began writing mystery

drew on memories of tient's character

tales for

magazines such as The Strand.

and occupation,

—

—who could

at

income,

his physician's

his professor Joseph Bell

physical observation alone alytic powers.

Edinburgh and studied medicine

in

To supplement

He

tell

a pa-

as well as his state of health,

from

to create a detective of extraordinary an-

Sherlock Holmes appeared

first

in

A

Study

(1887) and The Sign of Four (1890) and then in a series of

in Scarlet

tales,

the

of which were collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

first

(1892).

Holmes quickly became the best-known

the best-known characters, in ognizable in appearance style:

—the

all

detective,

and one of

of English literature, instantly rec-

deerstalker cap, cape,

and pipe

—and

in

"the eagle eye, the misanthropy, the remoteness" that, as Julian

Symons

says,

convince us that Holmes was "a

man who

genuinely had

a genius for his occupation." Doyle was knighted for services in the

Boer

War and

wrote The White Company (1890) and other historical

novels but remains indelibly associated with the creation of the Great Detective.

"A

Scandal in Bohemia" was placed

first

among

the stories in The

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes apparently because, as the rare example of Holmes's being bested by an opponent,

and

it

serves to

also to set off his brilliance in the following tales.

indirectly but clearly, to Poe's

action

—uncovering

detective's ingenuity

a piece of

"The Purloined

humanize him

It

compromising evidence

and resourcefulness

pays homage,

Letter" in

its

—and

in using disguise

central in the

and diver-

54

ARTHUR

CONAN DOYLE

sionary tactics and, especially, in

its

emphasis on the Dupin Principle

of Investigation, implicit in Holmes's rebuke to Watson: "You see, but

you do not observe."

"The Adventure of the Speckled Band" shows the influence of Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" in several aspects, from the lockedroom crime to the animal as killer, but it also reveals the imagination with which Doyle reworked the material to produce an atmosphere of menace in the midst of which Holmes's coolness and patience are as important to success as are his powers of observation and analysis.

To

Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. him mention her under any other name. In his

predominates the whole of her sex.

It

I

have seldom heard

eyes she eclipses and

was not that he

felt

any emotion

akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly,

were abhorrent to his cold, precise, but admirably balanced mind. was,

I

take

it,

He

the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that

the world has seen; but, as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position.

and for

a sneer.

He

never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe

— excellent

They were admirable

drawing the

veil

things for the observer

from men's motives and actions. But

reasoner to admit such intrusions into his

own

for the trained

delicate

and

finely

adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might

throw a doubt upon

all his

mental

ment, or a crack in one of his

results.

Grit in a sensitive instru-

own high-power

lenses,

would not be

more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. And was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory. 1 had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us

yet there

away from each other.

My own

centred interests which

rise

master of his

own

among

man who

first

finds himself

establishment, were sufficient to absorb

tention; while Holmes,

whole Bohemian

complete happiness, and the home-

up around the

soul,

his old books,

who

all

my

at-

loathed every form of society with his

remained

in

our lodgings in Baker Street, buried

and alternating from week

to

week between

"

ARTHUR

56

CONAN

DOYLE

cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the of his

own keen

nature.

He was

still,

fierce

energy

as ever, deeply attracted

by the

immense

study of crime, and occupied his

and extraordinary

faculties

powers of observation in following out those

and clearing up

clues,

those mysteries which had been abandoned as hopeless by the police.

of his

official

From time to time I heard some vague account of his doings: summons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his

clearing up of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trin-

comalee, and delicately

finally of the

and

mission which he had accomplished so

successfully for the reigning family of Holland.

these signs of his activity, however,

the readers of the daily press,

which

knew

1

1

of

little

Beyond

merely shared with

my

all

former friend and

companion.

One

night

—

it

was on the 20th of March, 1888

from a journey to a patient

when my way

led

me

(for

1

had now returned

through Baker Street. As

I

—

1

was returning

to civil practice),

passed the well-

remembered door, which must always be associated in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as 1 looked up, I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their own story. He was at work again. He had arisen out of his drug-created dreams, and was hot upon the scent of some new problem. I rang the bell, and was shown up to the chamber which had formerly been in part my own. His manner was not think, to see me.

he waved

me

to

With

effusive. It

seldom was; but he was glad,

an armchair, threw across

his case of cigars,

indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the comer. before the

fire

and looked me over

Then he

"Indeed, I

fancy,

me

1

I

and

stood

in his singular introspective fashion.

"Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, have put on seven and a half pounds since 1 saw you. "Seven!"

1

hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly eye,

that you

answered.

should have thought a

Watson.

And

little

in practice again,

I

that you intended to go into harness."

"Then, how do you know?"

more. Just a

observe.

trifle

more,

You did not

tell

A SCANDAL "I see

it,

deduce

I

it.

How

do

BOHEMIA

IN

I

know

that you have been getting

and that you have

yourself very wet lately,

51

most clumsy and

a

careless

servant girl?"

"My

dear Holmes," said

"this

I,

is

too much.

You would

have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago.

It is

certainly

true that

I

had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess; but as I have changed my clothes, I can't imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice; but there, again,

He

fail

I

to see

how you work

it

out."

chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands

together. "It

of your

by

six

is

"my eyes

simplicity itself," said he;

left

tell

shoe, just where the firelight strikes

me

it,

that

on the

the leather

is

inside

scored

almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by some

one who has very

carelessly scraped

order to remove crusted

mud from

round the edges of the

sole in

my

double

it.

Hence, you

see,

deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting

to your practice,

specimen of the London slavey. As

gentleman walks into

a

if

my rooms

smelling of

iodoform, with a black mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger,

and a bulge on the his stethoscope,

side of his top-hat to

must be

member

be an active I

I

of the medical profession.

could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained

his process of deduction.

"When

I

hear you give your reasons,"

remarked, "the thing always appears to that

I

show where he has secreted I do not pronounce him to

dull, indeed, if

could easily do

your reasoning believe that

I

my

am

myself,

it

though

baffled until

I

me

to be so ridiculously simple

at

each successive instance of

you explain your process.

And

yet

I

eyes are as good as yours."

"Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing himself

down

into an armchair.

distinction

is

clear.

"You

see, but

you do not observe. The

For example, you have frequently seen the steps

which lead up from the

hall to this

room."

"Frequently."

"How

often?"

"Well, some hundreds of times."

"Then how many

"How many? "Quite is

just

my

so!

point.

I

are there?"

don't know."

You have not observed. And

Now,

I

know

yet you have seen.

That

that there are seventeen steps, because

ARTHUR

58 I

CONAN

DOYLE

have both seen and observed. By the way, since you are interested

in these little problems,

and since you

one or two of my

experiences, you

He

may be

interested in this."

open upon the

came by the

table. "It

last post," said he.

"Read

aloud."

The note was "There it

good enough to chronicle

are

threw over a sheet of thick, pink-tinted note-paper which had been

lying it

trifling

said, "a

undated, and without either signature or address.

will call

upon you

to-night, at a quarter to eight o'clock,"

gentleman who desires to consult you upon a matter of the

moment. Your recent services to one of the royal houses shown that you are one who may safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which can hardly be exaggerated. very deepest

of Europe have

This account of you we have from

chamber then

Be

quarters received.

all

and do not take

at that hour,

amiss

it

if

in your

your visitor

wears a mask."

"This that

indeed a mystery,"

is

I

"What do you imagine

remarked.

means?"

it

"I

have no data

yet. It

is

a capital mistake to theorize before one

has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.

from

But the note

itself.

What do you deduce

it?" I

carefully

examined the

writing,

and the paper upon which

it

was written.

"The man who wrote endeavouring to imitate

it

was presumably well to do,"

my companion's

I

remarked,

"Such paper could peculiarly strong and

processes.

not be bought under half a crown a packet.

It is

stiff."

"Peculiar

—that

English paper at I

all.

is

the very word," said Holmes. "It

Hold

it

up to the

is

not an

light."

did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a large

"G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "Not at all. The 'G' with the small *t' stands for 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company. It is a customary contraction like '

our *Co.' T,

'

of course, stands for Tapier.'

glance at our Continental Gazetteer."

volume from in a

his shelves. "Eglow, Eglonitz

German-speaking country

'Remarkable

He

as

—

in

Now

for the 'Eg.' Let us

down a heavy brown here we are, Egria. It is

took

—

Bohemia, not

far

from Carlsbad.

being the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for

A SCANDAL its

numerous

and

glass-factories

fN

BOHEMIA

59

Ha, ha,

paper-mills.'

my boy, what do

you make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue triumphant cloud from his cigarette.

"The paper was made "Precisely.

And

the

Bohemia,"

in

man who

I

said.

wrote the note

you note the peculiar construction of the sentence you we have from

quarters received.'

all

not have written that. verbs.

It

showing

resolve

all

writes

upon Bohemian

And

his face.

a

German. Do

A Frenchman or Russian could

German who

so uncourteous to his

is

only remains, therefore, to discover what

German who to

the

It is

is

—This account of

paper,

here he comes,

and

is

prefers

am

if I

wanted by wearing a

this

mask

not mistaken, to

our doubts."

As he spoke

there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and grating

wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the

Holmes

bell.

whistled.

"A

by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing

pair,

out of the window.

hundred and if

there "I

is

"Not

nice

little

brougham and

guineas apiece. There's

money

a pair of beauties. in this case,

A

Watson,

nothing else."

think that

Boswell.

miss

fifty

"A

I

had better

a bit, Doctor. Stay

And

this

it."

go.

Holmes."

where you

are.

promises to be interesting.

I

It

am

lost

without

would be a

my

pity to

—

"But your client

"Never mind him.

I

may want your

help,

and so may he. Here

he comes. Sit down in that armchair. Doctor, and give us your best attention.

A and

slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the

stairs

Then

there

in the passage, paused immediately outside the door.

was a loud and authoritative

"Come

in!" said

tap.

Holmes.

A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His dress

was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked upon akin to bad sleeves

and

taste.

Heavy bands of Astrakhan were

as

slashed across the

fronts of his double-breasted coat, while the

deep blue

cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined with flame-

coloured

silk,

and secured

at the

neck with a brooch which consisted

of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended halfway up his calves,

and which were trimmed

at the tops

with rich brown

fur,

completed

ARTHUR

60

CONAN

DOYLE

the impression of barbaric opulence which was suggested by his whole

He

appearance.

broad-brimmed hat

carried a

wore across the upper part of his

hand, while he

in his

extending

face,

down

past the cheek-

bones, a black vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very

moment,

for his

hand was

still

raised to

the lower part of the face he appeared to be a

with a thick, hanging

lip,

and

as

it

man

he entered. From

of strong character,

a long, straight chin, suggestive of

resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy.

"You had my note?" he asked, with a deep harsh voice and a marked German accent. "I told you that 1 would call." He

strongly

looked from one to the other of

us, as if

uncertain which to address.

"Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This Dr.

Watson, who

Whom

have

1

is

is

my friend and colleague. me in my cases.

occasionally good enough to help

the honour to address?"

"You may address me nobleman.

1

honor and

discretion,

as the

Count Von Kramm,

understand that this gentleman, your friend,

extreme importance.

whom

If

not,

I

I

may

should

trust

Bohemian

a

is

a

man

of

with a matter of the most

much prefer to communicate with

you alone." I

rose to go, but

back into this

my

Holmes caught me by the

chair. "It

is

wrist

and pushed

both, or none," said he. "You

may

me

say before

gentleman anything which you may say to me."

The Count shrugged said he, "by binding

his broad shoulders.

end of that time the matter not too

much

to say that

upon European "I

"Then

you both to absolute secrecy will

it is

for

I

two

must begin," years; at the

be of no importance. At present

of such weight

it

may have an

it is

influence

history."

promise," said Holmes.

"And

I."

"You

will

excuse this mask," continued our strange

visitor.

"The

who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to may confess at once that the title by which I have just

august person you, and

I

called myself "I

is

not exactly

was aware of

my own."

it," said

Holmes,

dryly.

"The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia."

A SCANDAL

BOHEMIA

IN

61

was also aware of that," murmured Holmes,

"I

settling himself

down in his arm-chair and closing his eyes. Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him most

as the

and most energetic agent

incisive reasoner

Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently

in Europe.

at his gigantic

client.

your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he

"If

marked,

"I

The man

sprang from his chair and paced up and

in uncontrollable agitation.

tore the

mask from

he

right,"

re-

should be better able to advise you."

cried;

his face

am

"I

Then, with and hurled

the King.

down

room

the

a gesture of desperation,

he

upon the ground. 'Tou

are

it

Why

should

I

attempt to con-

ceal it?"

"Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoI was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and heredSigismond

ken before itary

King of Bohemia." "But you can understand," said our strange

once more and passing can understand that

my own it

to

I

his

am

hand over

down

visitor, sitting

"you

his high, white forehead,

not accustomed to doing such business in

person. Yet the matter was so delicate that

an agent without putting myself

I

in his power.

could not confide I

have come

in-

cognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting you."

"Then, pray consult,"

said

Holmes, shutting

his eyes

once more.

"The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "Kindly look her up in my index. Doctor," murmured Holmes, without opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of docketing

all

difficult to

name

men and

paragraphs concerning a subject or a person

furnish information. In this case

I

on which he could not

had written a monograph upon the deep-sea "Let

me

see!" said

Opera of Warsaw

—

London

—

Holmes. "Hum!

—hum!

it

at

was

once

found her biography sandwiched in

between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of

year 1858. Contralto

things, so that

a staff-commander

who

fishes.

Bom

in

New

Jersey in the

La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial

Yes! Retired from operatic stage

quite so! Your Majesty, as

I

—

ha! Living in

understand, became entangled

"

ARTHUR

62

"

CONAN

DOYLE

with this young person, wrote her some compromising

now

letters,

and

is

desirous of getting those letters back.

how

"Precisely so. But

"Was

—

there a secret marriage?"

"None."

"No

legal papers or certificates?"

"None."

"Then produce her

fail

I

to follow your Majesty. If this

young person should

blackmailing or other purposes,

letters for

how

is

she to

prove their authenticity?"

"There

is

the writing."

"Pooh, pooh! Forgery."

"My

private note-paper."

"Stolen."

"My own

seal."

"Imitated."

"My

photograph."

"Bought."

"We

were both in the photograph."

"Oh

dear!

That

is

very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed

an indiscretion." "I

— insane."

was mad

"You have compromised yourself "I

was only Crown Prince then.

seriously." I

was young.

I

am

but thirty

now." "It

must be recovered."

"We

have

tried

and

failed."

"Your Majesty must pay.

"She

will

not

It

must be bought."

sell."

"Stolen, then."

"Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in

sacked her house.

Once we

diverted her luggage

Twice she has been waylaid. There has been no

"No

when

my

pay ran-

she travelled.

result."

sign of it?"

"Absolutely none."

Holmes laughed.

"It

is

quite a pretty

little

problem," said he.

"But a very serious one to me," returned the King, reproachfully. "Very,

indeed.

photograph?"

"To

ruin me."

And what

does she propose to do with the

A SCANDAL

IN

BOHEMIA

63

"But how?" "I

am

about to be married."

have heard."

"So

I

"To

Clotilde

the King of

She

family.

Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her

is

herself the very soul of delicacy.

my conduct would bring "And Irene Adler?"

as to

"Threatens to send them the photograph.

know

that she will do

steel.

She has the

it.

You do not know

face of the

there are

"You

no lengths

shadow of a doubt

And

she will do

it.

I

her, but she has a soul of

most beautiful of women, and the mind

of the most resolute of men. Rather than

woman,

A

the matter to an end."

to

I

should marry another

which she would not go

are sure that she has not sent

it

—none."

yet?"

am sure." "And why?" "I

"Because she has said that she would send

it

on the day when

the betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday."

"Oh, then, we have three days "That

is

very fortunate, as

to look into just at present.

I

yet," said

Holmes, with a yawn.

have one or two matters of importance

Your Majesty will, of course,

stay in

London

for the present?"

the

"Certainly. You will find me at the Langham, under the name of Count Von Kramm." "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress."

"Pray do

"Then,

so.

I

as to

"You have

shall

be

all

anxiety."

money?"

carte blanche."

"Absolutely?" "I tell

to

you that

I

would give one of the provinces of my kingdom

have that photograph."

"And for present expenses?" The king took a heavy chamois and

laid

it

on the

leather bag from under his cloak

table.

"There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred

in

notes," he said.

Holmes scribbled handed it to him.

"And "Is

a receipt

upon a sheet of

his

note-book and

Mademoiselle's address?" he asked.

Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue,

St. John's

Wood."

ARTHUR

64

Holmes took

a note of

CONAN "One

it.

DOYLE

"Was

other question," said he.

the photograph a cabinet?" "It

was."

"Then, good-night, your Majesty, and have some good news as the will

for you.

little

three o'clock precisely

yet returned.

The

I

down

to-morrow afternoon,

call

we

trust that

I

soon

shall

good-night, Watson," he added,

wheels of the royal brougham rolled

be good enough to

should like to chat this

At

And

the street. "If you at three o'clock,

I

matter over with you."

was

at

Baker Street, but Holmes had not

me

landlady informed

shortly after eight o'clock in the morning.

that he I

sat

had

the house

left

down

beside the

fire,

however, with the intention of awaiting him, however long he might be.

I

was already deeply interested in his inquiry,

though

for,

it

was

surrounded by none of the grim and strange features which were

as-

which

the

sociated with the two crimes

I

have already recorded,

nature of the case and the exalted station of his client gave of

friend

had on hand, there was something

a situation, to

a character

own. Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which

its

my

it

still,

me

and

his keen, incisive reasoning,

to study his system of work,

in his masterly grasp of

which made

I

a pleasure

and to follow the quick, subtle

methods by which he disentangled the most inextricable accustomed was

it

mysteries.

So

to his invariable success that the very possibility of

had ceased to enter into my head. was close upon four before the door opened, and

his failing It

a drunken-

looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an inflamed face

and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. Accustomed to

my

friend's

amazing powers in the use of

three times before

I

was certain that

it

disguises,

and respectable,

he stretched out

had

I

was

to look

was indeed he. With a nod he

vanished into the bedroom, whence he emerged in suited

I

as

as of old. Putting his

his legs in front of the fire,

five

minutes tweed-

hands into

his pockets,

and laughed heartily for

some minutes. "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again until

he was obliged to

"What

is

it?"

lie

back, limp and helpless, in the chair.

A SCANDAL "It's

employed

quite too funny.

my

I

am

morning, or what

IN

BOHEMIA

65

sure you could never guess

I

how

I

ended by doing."

imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler."

"I can't

habits,

"Quite

however.

but the sequel was rather unusual.

so;

the house a

left

I

I

will tell you,

eight o'clock this morning, in

little after

the character of a groom out of work. There

a wonderful sympathy

is

and freemasonry among horsy men. Be one of them, and you all

that there

is

with a garden

two

stories.

know.

to

I

soon found Briony Lodge.

lock to the door. Large sitting-room

side, well furnished,

with long windows almost to the

preposterous English

know

a bijou villa,

but built out in front right up to the road,

at the back,

Chubb

It is

will

window

which

fasteners

on the

floor,

right

and those

a child could open. Be-

hind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window could be reached from the top of the coach-house.

examined

it

closely

I

walked round

it

and

from every point of view, but without noting

anything else of interest. "I

then lounged

there was a mews

lent the ostlers a

I

in

down

in a lane

hand

exchange twopence, a

and

much

as

the street and found, as I expected, that which runs down by one wall of the garden.

in rubbing

down

their horses,

glass of half-and-half,

information as

I

two

fills

and

I

received

of shag tobacco,

could desire about Miss Adler, to say

nothing of half a dozen other people in the neighbourhood in I

was not in the

least interested,

but whose biographies

I

whom

was compelled

to listen to."

"And what

of Irene Adler?"

"Oh, she has turned is

all

I

asked.

the men's heads

on

the daintiest thing under a bonnet

Serpentine-mews, to a man. She

down

in that part.

this planet.

So

She

says the

lives quietly, sings at concerts, drives

out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except visitor,

never

but a good deal of him.

calls less

than once a day,

when she sings. Has only one male He is dark, handsome, and dashing, and often twice. He is a Mr, Godfrey

Norton, of the Inner Temple. See the advantages of a cabman confidant.

They had driven him home

mews, and knew

had

to tell,

1

all

about him.

a dozen times

When

I

had

as a

from Serpentine-

listened to all that they

began to walk up and down near Briony Lodge once

more, and to think over

my

plan of campaign.

"This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the matter.

He was a

lawyer.

That sounded ominous. What was the

relation

ARTHUR

66

CONAN

DOYLE

between them, and what the object of his repeated transferred the photograph to his keeping.

On

likely.

tinue

field

in the

my

of

Temple.

inquiry.

the latter,

little

I

I

it

was

less

should con-

my attention to the gentleman's

was a delicate point, and

It

fear that

I

my

you see

to let

Briony Lodge, or turn

she his

had probably

the issue of this question depended whether

my work at

chambers

If

Was

visits?

his friend, or his mistress? If the former, she

client,

widened the

it

bore you with these details, but

difficulties,

I

have

you are to understand the

if

situation." "I

am

following you closely,"

"I

was

still

I

answered.

balancing the matter in

my

mind, when a hansom cab

He

drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out.

was a

—evidently

remarkedly handsome man, dark, aquiline, and mustached the

man

of

whom

had heard. He appeared

I

to be in a great hurry,

shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the maid the door with the air of a

man who was

who opened

thoroughly at home.

"He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see glimpses of

nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than before.

As he stepped up and looked Gross

&

Monica

at

it

to the cab,

he pulled a gold watch from

earnestly. 'Drive like the devil,'

his

he shouted,

pocket

Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to the Church of in the

Edgware Road. Half a guinea

if

you do

to

'first

St.

in twenty

it

minutes!'

"Away

they went, and

I

was

just

wondering whether

do well to follow them, when up the lane came a neat the ear, It

coachman with while

all

his coat only half-buttoned,

and

I

should not

little

his tie

landau,

under his

the tags of his harness were sticking out of the buckles.

hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall door and into

it.

I

only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was a lovely

woman, with a face " The Church ereign

if

you reach

that a

man might

it

in

twenty minutes.'

"This was quite too good to

whether landau, at

should run for

I

it,

lose,

Watson.

or whether

I

I

was

just

balancing

should perch behind her

came through the street. The driver looked twice shabby fare; but I jumped in before he could object. 'The

when

such a

die for.

of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a sov-

Church of

St.

a cab

Monica,' said

I,

'and half a sovereign

if

you reach

it

in

A SCANDAL twenty minutes.' it

IN

BOHEMIA

67

was twenty-five minutes to twelve, and of course

It

was clear enough what was in the wind.

"My

cabby drove

fast.

don't think

I

I

ever drove

but the

faster,

The cab and the landau with their steaming the door when I arrived. paid the man and

others were there before us. horses were in front of

I

whom

hurried into the church. There was not a soul there save the two I

had followed and

a surpliced clergyman,

They were

tulating with them.

the

altar.

to be expos-

three standing in a knot in front of

all

lounged up the side

I

who seemed

aisle like

dropped into a church. Suddenly, to

my

any other

who

idler

has

surprise, the three at the altar

faced round to me, and Godfrey Norton

came running

as

hard as he

could towards me.

Thank

"

God!' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' 'What then?' I asked. 'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be

"

"

was half-dragged up to the

"I

was,

and vouching

for things of

It

gentleman thanking

was

all

me on

done

thought of

which

I

that started

it

in

me

knew

an

It

me

absolutely refused to marry

and there was the

on the

other,

was the most prepos-

my

laughing just now.

and

life,

It

it

was the

seems that there

their license, that the

them without

Godfrey

spinster, to

instant,

in front.

I

my

nothing, and generally

ever found myself in

had been some informality about

my

I

the one side and the lady

while the clergyman beamed on terous position in

which

up of Irene Adler,

assisting in the secure tying

Norton, bachelor.

that

legal.'

knew where

I

found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in

I

ear,

and, before

altar,

a witness of

clergyman

some

sort,

and

lucky appearance saved the bridegroom from having to sally

The

out into the streets in search of a best man. sovereign, and

I

mean

to

wear

it

bride gave

on my watch-chain

in

me

memory

a

of

the occasion."

"This

a very

is

unexpected turn of

affairs," said

I,

"and what

then?" "Well,

found

I

my

plans very seriously menaced.

It

looked as

if

the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate very

prompt and energetic measures on my ever, they separated,

own she

and

house.

left I

him.

went

part.

At

the church door, how-

he driving back to the Temple, and she to her

'I

shall drive out in the park at five as usual,' she said, as

I

heard no more. They drove away in different directions,

off to

make my own arrangements."

CONAN

ARTHUR

68

"Which are?" "Some cold beef and busier

a glass of beer,"

have been too busy

"I

bell.

he answered, ringing the

to think of food,

and

By the way, Doctor,

this evening.

still

DOYLE

am

I

shall

I

likely to

be

want your co-

operation." "I shall

be delighted."

"You don't mind breaking the law?" "Not in the least." "Nor running a chance of arrest?"

"Not in a good cause." "Oh, the cause is excellent!" "Then 1 am your man." was sure that

"I

"But what

"When

might

said, as

much

time.

It is

We

must be

"And what

will

I

"I

must discuss

it

while

nearly five now. In two hours

scene of action. Miss Irene, or at seven.

on you."

make

he turned hungrily on the simple

our landlady had provided,

not

rely

Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray

Now," he

to you.

I

you wish?"

is it

Madame,

it

eat, for

1

clear

fare that I

have

we must be on the

rather, returns

from her drive

at Briony Lodge to meet her."

then?"

"You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must not interfere, come what may. You understand?"

am

"I

to be neutral?"

"To do nothing whatever. There

Do

unpleasantness.

not join in

it.

will probably be

will

It

end

in

my

some small

being conveyed

into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the sitting-room will

open.

You

are to station yourself close to that

window

open window."

"Yes."

"You

are to

watch me,

for

I

will

be visible to you."

"Yes."

"And when what fire.

I

I

raise

my hand

give you to throw,

You

quite follow

and

— —you so

will, at

will

throw into the room

the same time, raise the cry of

me?"

"Entirely." "It roll

is

from

nothing very formidable," he his pocket. "It

is

with a cap at either end to make to that.

When

you

raise

said, taking a

long cigar-shaped

an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, it

self-lighting.

your cry of

fire,

it

will

Your task

is

fitted

confined

be taken up by quite

A SCANDAL a I

IN

BOHEMIA

69

number of people. You may then walk to the end of the street, and you in ten minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?"

will rejoin "I

am

to remain neutral, to get near the

throw in

and

at the signal to

and

to await you at the corner of the street."

window,

then to

this object,

watch you,

to

raise the cry of fire,

"Precisely."

"Then you may "That for the

is

new

He

entirely rely

excellent.

role

I

on me."

think, perhaps,

it is

almost time that

prepare

I

have to play."

I

disappeared into his bedroom, and returned in a few minutes

in the character of

an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist

gyman. His broad black

hat, his baggy trousers, his white

cler-

tie,

his

sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and benevolent curiosity

were such

as

Mr. John Hare alone could have equalled.

It

was not

merely that Holmes changed his costume. His expression, his manner, his very soul

seemed

The stage lost a when he became

to vary with every fresh part that

fine actor,

even

as science lost

he assumed.

an acute reasoner,

a specialist in crime.

It was a quarter-past six when we left Baker Street, and it still wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just being lighted as

we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes's succinct description, but the locality appeared to be

than

less private

I

expected.

a quiet neighbourhood,

of shabbily-dressed

it

On

the contrary, for a small street in

was remarkably animated. There was a group

men smoking and

laughing in a comer, a scissors-

grinder with his wheel, two guardsmen

who were

flirting

down with "You

cigars in their

see,"

mouths.

remarked Holmes,

as

we paced

to

and

the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters.

becomes

are

its

coming

we

fro in front of

The photograph

weapon now. The chances are that she would being seen by Mr. Godfrey Norton as our client is

a double-edged

be as averse to to

with a nurse-

and several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and

girl,

its

to the eyes of his princess.

Now

is.

Where

It is

cabinet

the question

to find the photograph?"

"Where, indeed?" "It size.

is

Too

most unlikely that she

large for easy

that the King

is

carries

it

about with her.

concealment about a woman's

dress.

She knows

capable of having her waylaid and searched.

Two

"

CONAN

ARTHUR

70

DOYLE

We

attempts of the sort have already been made. that she does not carry

may

take

it,

then,

about with her."

it

"Where, then?"

"Her banker or her lawyer. There I

am

anyone tell

She could

else?

what

own

secreting.

own

her

trust

guardianship, but she could not

indirect or political influence

a businessman. Besides, a few days.

"But

remember that she had resolved to use it within lay her hands upon it. It must

house."

has twice been burgled."

it

know how

"Pshaw! They did not "But

how

"I will

might be brought to bear upon

must be where she can

It

own

be in her

that double possibility. But

Women are naturally secretive, and Why should she hand it over to

inclined to think neither.

they like to do their

is

to look."

you look?"

will

not look."

"What then?" "I will get

"But she

"She

her to show me."

will refuse.

will

not be able

Now

her carriage.

As he spoke

to.

my

carry out

It

hear the rumble of wheels.

As

comer dashed forward

to

it

little

A

came round

landau which rattled up

pulled up, one of the loafing

open the door

was elbowed away by another

with the same intention.

It is

orders to the letter."

was a smart

to the door of Briony Lodge.

a copper, but

I

the gleam of the side- lights of a carriage

the curve of the avenue.

at the

But

fierce quarrel

in the

loafer,

men

hope of earning

who had

rushed up

broke out, which was in-

who took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and in an instant the lady, who had stepped from

creased by the two guardsmen,

her carriage, was the centre of a

little

knot of flushed and struggling

men, who struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood running freely

down

his face.

At

one direction and the loungers dressed people,

crowded

guardsmen took

to their heels in

in the other, while a

number of better

his fall the

who had watched

in to help the lady

Adler, as

I

at the top

with her superb

will still call her,

and

the scuffle without taking part in to attend to the injured

had hurried up the

steps;

it,

man. Irene

but she stood

figure outlined against the lights of the hall,

looking back into the street.

A SCANDAL "Is

the poor gentleman

"He

is

much

"No, no,

there's life in

him

7\_

hurt?" she asked.

him!" shouted another. "But

and watch

and a rough one, can't

if it

Ah,

too.

him

"Surely. Bring

be gone

woman. "They would have had the They were a gang,

hadn't been for him.

now."

he's breathing

May we

in the street.

lie

he'll

to hospital."

"He's a brave fellow," said a lady's purse

sofa.

BOHEMIA

dead," cried several voices.

before you can get

"He

IN

bring

him

There

into the sitting-room.

marm?"

in, is

a comfortable

This way, please!" Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid

out in the principal room, while

my 1

against

seized with

he was playing, but

ashamed of myself

whom

my

in

life

I

know

my

that

I

never

at that

moment

more

heartily

felt

saw the beautiful creature

I

was conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which

I

Holmes

intrusted to me.

under

but the blinds had

compunction

than when

she waited upon the injured man. treachery to

lit,

could see Holmes as he lay upon the couch.

I

do not know whether he was

for the part

observed the proceedings from

still

The lamps had been

post by the window.

not been drawn, so that

I

I

ulster.

to

yet

it

would be the blackest

draw back now from the part which he had

my

hardened

After

And

all,

I

heart,

thought,

and took the smoke-rocket from

we

are not injuring her.

We

are

but preventing her from injuring another.

Holmes had a

man who

the window. signal

I

is

in

sat

At the same

tossed

my

and

air.

instant

ill

my mouth

—

gentlemen,

in a general shriek of "Fire!"

the

room and out

figures,

and

a

A

rocket into the

was no sooner out of well dressed

up upon the couch, and

need of

at the

moment

I

saw him

room

I

saw him motion

like

across

and threw open

raise his

hand, and at the

maid rushed

with a cry of "Fire!"

The word

than the whole crowd of spectators, ostlers,

and servant-maids

—joined

Thick clouds of smoke curled through

open window.

later the voice of

I

caught a glimpse of rushing

Holmes from within

assuring

them that it was a false alarm. Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes, until we had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the Edgware Road.

"You did it very nicely, doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could have been better. It is all right."

CONAN

ARTHUR

72

DOYLE

"You have the photograph?" know where it is."

"I

"And how

did you find out?"

"She showed me, "I

am

"I

do not wish

still

as

you that she would."

told

I

in the dark."

make

to

"The matter

a mystery," said he, laughing.

was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that every one in the was an accomplice. They were

"Then, when the row broke the palm of

my

my

hand.

also

I

"Then they

carried

And

suspected.

I

fell

spectacle.

little

moist red paint in

down, clapped my hand It is

an old

trick."

me

lay

It

She was bound to have me in. What which was the very room between that and her bedroom, and I was in.

into her sitting-room,

determined to see which. They air,

had a

I

could fathom."

could she do?

which

out,

rushed forward,

I

and became a piteous

face,

"That else

street

for the evening."

guessed as much."

"I

to

engaged

all

me on

laid

a couch,

I

motioned

for

they were compelled to open the window, and you had your

chance."

"How

was all-important.

"It

on

her instinct

fire,

most.

did that help you?"

It is

a perfectly

once taken advantage of scandal

it

When

once

it.

in the

it

also in the

was clear to

me

Amsworth

Castle business.

an unmarried one reaches

that our lady of to-day

to secure

it.

The alarm

smoke and shouting were enough sponded

beautifully.

of

is

of.

She

was admirably done. The

fire

to shake nerves of steel.

The photograph

for her

had nothing

house more precious to her than what we are in quest

would rush

is

In the case of the Darlington substitution

was of use to me, and

Now

thinks that her house

to rush to the thing

A married woman grabs at her baby; jewel-box.

woman

a

which she values overpowering impulse, and I have more than at

is

in a recess

She

re-

behind a sliding

panel just above the right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I

caught a glimpse of

it

was a

false alarm,

the room, and

I

it

as she half-drew

she replaced

have not seen her

excuses, escaped from the house.

I

he was watching

me

narrowly,

may ruin all." "And now?" 1 asked.

precipitance

it

out.

When

I

cried out that

since.

I

rose,

and, making

my

hesitated whether to attempt to

secure the photograph at once; but the as

it

glanced at the rocket, rushed from

it,

coachman had come

seemed

safer to wait.

in,

and

A little over-

A SCANDAL

BOHEMIA

IN

73

"Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King tomorrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but

she comes she

may

satisfaction to

His Majesty to regain

"And when "At eight have a clear

mean

find neither us

will

you

probable that

it is

nor the photograph. it

with his

It

when

might be a

own hands."

call?"

She will not be up, so that we shall we must be prompt, for this marriage may

in the morning.

Besides,

field.

a complete change in her

life

and

habits.

1

must wire to the

King without delay.

We

had reached Baker

Street,

and had stopped

was searching his pockets for the key,

at the door.

when some one

He

passing said:

"Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes."

There were several people on the pavement

come from

greeting appeared to

at the time,

youth in an

a slim

ulster

but the

who had

hurried by. "I've

dimly

lit

down

heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring

street.

"Now,

I

wonder who the deuce

that could

the

have been."

Ill

1

slept at

and

Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our toast

coffee in the

morning when the King of Bohemia rushed into the

room.

"You have either shoulder,

"Not

really got it!"

he

cried, grasping Sherlock

and looking eagerly into

Holmes by

his face.

yet."

"But you have hopes?" "1

have hopes."

"Then, come.

"We

am

I

must have

all

impatience to be gone."

a cab."

my brougham is waiting." "Then that will simplify matters." once more for Briony Lodge. "No,

"Irene Adler

"Married!

is

We descended,

married," remarked Holmes.

When?"

"Yesterday."

"But to

whom?"

"To an English lawyer named Norton."

and

started off

CONAN

ARTHUR

74

DOYLE

"But she could not love him?"

am

"I

If

hopes that she does."

in

"And why

in hopes?"

"Because

would spare your Majesty

it

all

fear of future

annoyance.

the lady loves her husband, she does not love your Majesty.

does not love your Majesty, there

is

no reason why she should

If

she

interfere

with your Majesty's plan." "It

is

And yet

true.

—Well!

I

wish she had been of my

own station!

What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a moody silence, which was not broken

The door upon the

we drew up

until

Avenue.

in Serpentine

woman

of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly

steps.

She watched

stood

we stepped from

us with a sardonic eye as

the brougham.

"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "I

am

I

believe?" said she.

Mr. Holmes," answered

my companion,

looking at her with

a questioning and rather startled gaze.

My

"Indeed! left this

me

mistress told

that you were likely to call.

morning with her husband by the 5:15

train

She

from Charing

Cross for the Continent."

"What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and

"Do you mean

surprise.

"Never

"And

"We

that she has

England?"

left

to return."

the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All

shall see."

He pushed

past the servant

is

lost."

and rushed into the

drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves

drawers, as

if

the lady had hurriedly ransacked

Holmes rushed

at the bell-puU, tore

them

and open

before her flight.

back a small sliding shutter, and

plunging in his hand, pulled out a photograph and a

letter.

The pho-

tograph was of Irene Adler herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. friend tore

it

open, and we

To

three read

all

be

it

midnight of the preceding night, and ran in

left till

together. this

called for." It

was dated

way:

—

My Dear

Mr. Sherlock Holmes You really did it You took me in completely. Until after the alarm had not a suspicion. But then, when I found how

very well. of I

fire,

I

had betrayed myself,

against you

months

employed an agent,

began to think.

I

ago. it

I

I

had been told

had been warned that,

would certainly be you.

if

My

the King

And

your

at

A SCANDAL

BOHEMIA

IN

address had been given me. Yet, with

what you wanted

reveal

picious,

I

found

to

know. Even

Male costume

is

1

clothes, as

to

Well, that

1

was

it

gives.

me

became

sus-

1

often take

1

sent John, the

my

an object of

Then

1,

walking-

you departed.

just as

made

sure

interest to the celebrated

Mr.

followed you to your door, and so

1

really

an actress

as

up-stairs, got into

them, and came down

Sherlock Holmes.

rather imprudently, wished you

Temple

good-night, and started for the

We

you made I

nothing new to me.

watch you, ran

call

1

after

have been trained

advantage of the freedom which

coachman,

all this,

hard to think evil of such a dear, kind old

it

clergyman. But, you know, myself.

7b_

to see

both thought the best resource was

my

husband.

flight,

when

pursued by so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest

empty when you

your client

man

may

call

to-morrow.

rest in peace.

1

As

love and

to the photograph,

am

than he. The King may do what he

whom

drance from one

loved by a better

will

without hin-

he has cruelly wronged.

I

keep

it

only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a weapon which will always secure

in the future. possess;

and

1

me from any

steps

which he might take

which he might care

leave a photograph

to

remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, very truly

I

yours,

Irene Norton, nee Adler

—

"What a woman oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it

not a pity that she was not on

"From what

my

level?"

have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a

I

very different level to your Majesty," said that

Holmes

coldly. "I

am

sorry

have not been able to bring your Majesty's business to a more

I

successful conclusion."

"On

the contrary,

be more successful. is

now

as safe as

"I

"I

am am

I

if it

know

dear

sir,"

that her

were in the

cried the King; "nothing could

word

is

inviolate.

The photograph

fire."

glad to hear your Majesty say so."

immensely indebted to you. Pray

reward you. This ring finger

my

and held

it

—

"

He

tell

me

in

what way

I

can

slipped an emerald snake ring from his

out upon the palm of his hand.

ARTHUR

76

CONAN

DOYLE

"Your Majesty has something which

I

should value even more

highly," said Holmes.

"You have but

to

name

it."

"This photograph!"

The King

stared at

him

he

"Irene's photograph!" "I

matter.

in

amazement.

cried. "Certainly,

thank your Majesty. Then there I

is

if

you wish

no more

to be

it."

done

have the honor to wish you a very good-morning."

in the

He bowed,

and, turning away without observing the hand which the King had stretched out to him, he set off in

And

that was

how

my company

for his

chambers.

a great scandal threatened to affect the

kingdom

of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were

beaten by a woman's wit. of

women, but

I

of Irene Adler, or

the honourable

He

used to

make merry over the cleverness it of late. And when he speaks

have not heard him do

when he

refers to

of the

woman.

title

her photograph,

it is

always under

SPICKIHI BAND

!ll[

On

glancing over

during the

Holmes,

I

last

find

my

notes of the seventy odd cases in which

eight years studied the methods of

many tragic, some comic,

but none commonplace;

for,

working

a large

as

my

I

have

friend Sherlock

number merely strange,

he did rather

for the love of

than for the acquirement of wealth, he refused to associate

his art

himself with any investigation which did not tend towards the unusual,

and even the recall

fantastic.

Of

all

these varied cases, however,

I

cannot

any which presented more singular features than that which was

associated with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke

Moran. The events

in question occurred in the early days of

sociation with Holmes,

Baker Street.

It is

when we were

possible that

I

sharing rooms as bachelors in

was made

have only been freed during the

last

the lady to

should

whom

to light, for

I

at the time,

month by

the pledge was given.

now come

as-

might have placed them upon record

before, but a promise of secrecy

facts

my

from which

I

the untimely death of

perhaps as well that the

It is

have reasons to know that there

are wide-spread rumors as to the death of Dr.

Grimesby Roylott which

tend to make the matter even more terrible than the truth. It

was early

find Sherlock

in April in the year '83 that

Holmes

I

woke one morning

standing, fully dressed, by the side of

my

to

bed.

He was

a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little resentment, for I was myself

regular in

my

habits.

"Very sorry

to

knock you

up,

Watson,"

said he, "but

it's

the

ARTHUR

78

common retorted

CONAN

DOYLE

morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she

lot this

upon me, and

on you."

I

—

"What

is it,

"No; a

client. It

then

a fire?"

seems that a young lady has arrived in a consid-

who insists upon seeing me. She is waiting Now, when young ladies wander about the

erable state of excitement,

now

in the sitting-room.

metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock sleepy people up

out of their beds,

I

presume that

it is

they have to communicate. Should

you would, any

I

am

rate, that

"My I

I

sure,

should

dear fellow,

I

call

as intuitions,

from the outset.

it

would not miss

and

I

thought, at

you and give you the chance."

had no keener pleasure than

sional investigations,

prove to be an interesting case,

it

wish to follow

something very pressing which

it

for anything."

in following

Holmes

in his profes-

in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift

and yet always founded on a

logical basis,

with which

he unravelled the problems which were submitted to him. threw on

my

my friend down to the sitting-room. A lady dressed in who had been sitting in the window, rose as we

rapidly

entered.

veiled,

"Good-morning, madam," Sherlock Holmes. This son, before

I

accompany black and heavily

clothes and was ready in a few minutes to

whom

my

said

it,

Holmes,

cheerily.

as freely as before myself.

Hudson has had the good and

I

"My name

intimate friend and associate, Dr.

you can speak

glad to see that Mrs.

Pray draw up to

is

shall order

Ha!

I

sense to light the

you a cup of hot

is

Wat-

am fire.

coffee, for

I

observe that you are shivering." "It

is

not cold which makes

me

shiver," said the

woman

in a

low

voice, changing her seat as requested.

"What, then?" "It

is

fear,

spoke, and

Mr. Holmes.

we could

It is

see that she

She

raised her veil as she

was indeed

in a pitiable state of

terror."

drawn and gray, with restless, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot with premature gray, and her expression was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran her over agitation, her face all

with one of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.

"You must not patting her forearm.

fear," said he, soothingly,

bending forward and

"We shall soon set matters right,

You have come in by train this morning, "You know me, then?"

I

see."

I

have no doubt.

BAND

THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED

"No, but of your

left

79

observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm

I

You must have

glove.

started early,

and yet you had a good

drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the station."

The

and stared

lady gave a violent start,

bewilderment

in

my

at

companion. "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dogcart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver." "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said left

from home before

she. "1 started

and came

past,

strain

to

no

in by the

longer;

shall

I

—none, save only one,

be of

little aid.

was from her that

whom

you could help me, too, and

you

not find

my own

think

tiara.

I

that

shall

"Ah it

as

did to that of your friend.

to, at

through the

my power

out of

or six weeks

1

income, and then at

I

yes,

1

shall

least

be

you

drew out a small

it,

recall the case;

it

was concerned I

can only

be happy to devote the same care to your case

As

to reward,

are at liberty to defray

the time which suits you best.

lay before us

it is

was before your time, Watson.

madam,

put

month

and unlocking

to his desk,

say,

reward; but you

little light

present

consulted.

"Farintosh," said he.

I

have heard of you

ungrateful."

Holmes turned casebook, which he with an opal

At

for your services, but in a

me

I

do you not think that

sir,

throw a

at least

married, with the control of shall

Oh,

address.

dense darkness which surrounds me? to reward

this

you helped in the hour of her sore need.

had your

1

can stand

I

mad if it continues. I have no one to turn who cares for me, and he, poor fellow, can

have heard of you, Mr. Holmes;

1

from Mrs. Farintosh, It

go

reached Leatherhead at twenty

six,

train to Waterloo. Sir,

first

everything that

may

my

profession

whatever expenses

And now

I

own may be

is its I

beg that you will

help us in forming an opinion upon

the matter."

"Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of in the fact that

entirely

my

upon small

even he to

whom

advice looks upon

fears are so vague,

points,

of all

woman. He does not

all

that

which might seem

others I

tell

say so, but

I

my

situation lies

and my suspicions depend trivial to

have a right to look

so

another, that for help

and

him about

it

as the fancies of a

can read

it

from his soothing answers

1

nervous

— ARTHUR

80

and averted

But

eyes.

I

CONAN

DOYLE

have heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see

human heart. You may me how to walk amid the dangers which encompass me." "I am all attention, madam." "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather,

deeply into the manifold wickedness of the advise

who

is

the

last

survivor of one of the oldest

Saxon families in England, on the western border of Surrey." head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. one time among the richest in England, and

the Roylotts of Stoke Moran,

Holmes nodded his "The family was at

the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, and

Hampshire

in the west. In the last century, however, four successive

heirs were of a dissolute

and wasteful

disposition,

and the family ruin

was eventually completed by a gambler in the days of the Regency.

Nothing was

left

year-old house, last squire

an

save a few acres of ground, and the two-hundred-

which

itself

is

crushed under a heavy mortgage.

dragged out his existence there, living the horrible

my

aristocratic pauper; but his only son,

The

life

of

stepfather, seeing that

he

must adapt himself to the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative,

which enabled him

to take a medical degree

to Calcutta, where, by his professional skill

he established a

large practice. In a

fit

and

and went out

his force of character,

of anger, however, caused by

some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment, and afterwards returned to

England a morose and disappointed man.

"When

Dr. Roylott was in India he married

Stoner, the young tillery.

My

widow

sister Julia

old at the time of

sum

of

money

my

—not

and

mother, Mrs.

I

were twins, and we were only two years

mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable

less

—and

than £1000 a year

to Dr. Roylott entirely while

that a certain annual

my

of Major-General Stoner of the Bengal Ar-

we

this she

bequeathed

resided with him, with a provision

sum should be allowed

to each of us in the event

of our marriage. Shortly after our return to England

my mother died

she was killed eight years ago in a railway accident near Crewe. Dr.

Roylott then abandoned his attempts to establish himself in practice in

London and took

us to live with

Stoke Moran. The money which all

him

in the old ancestral house at

my mother had

left

was enough

for

our wants, and there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness.

"But a

terrible

change came over our stepfather about

this time.

Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbours.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED

who had

been overjoyed

at first

in the old family seat,

came out save

cross his path. Violence of

been

believe,

men of the

81

to see a Roylott of Stoke

he shut himself up

Moran back

house and seldom

in his

to indulge in ferocious quan-els with

hereditary in the I

BAND

whoever might

temper approaching to mania has been family,

and

my

in

stepfather's case

it

had,

A series

intensified by his long residence in the tropics.

of disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the policecourt, until at last

would

he became the

at his approach, for

fly

he

terror of the village, is

man

a

and the

folks

of immense strength, and

absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.

week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I could "Last

gather together that

had no

I

was able to avert another public exposure.

wandering

friends at all save the

these vagabonds leave to

gypsies,

encamp upon

covered land which represent the family

He

and he would give

the few acres of brambleestate,

and would accept in

them someon end. He has a passion also for Indian animals, over to him by a correspondent, and he has at this

return the hospitality of their tents, wandering away with

times for weeks

which

are sent

moment a cheetah and a baboon, which wander freely over his grounds, and are feared by the villagers almost as much as their master. "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I

had no great pleasure

and

for a long

in our lives.

we

time

did

No

servant would stay with us,

the work of the house. She was but

all

and yet her hair had already begun

thirty at the time of her death,

to

whiten, even as mine has."

"Your

sister

"She died

is

just

dead, then?"

two years ago, and

it is

of her death that

speak to you. You can understand that, living the described, position.

we were

We

little likely

to see

had, however, an aunt,

Honoria Westphail, who allowed to pay short

lives

life

any one of our

my

visits at this lady's

own

mother's maiden

near Harrow, and

wish to

I

which

we were

1

have

age and

sister.

Miss

occasionally

house. Julia went there at

Christmas two years ago, and met there a half-pay major of marines, to

whom she became engaged. My stepfather learned of the engagement

when my

sister returned,

and

offered

no objection

to the marriage;

but within a fortnight of the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event occurred which has deprived

me

of

my

only com-

panion."

Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes

ARTHUR

82

CONAN

DOYLE

closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his

and glanced across

lids

now

at his visitor.

"Pray be precise as to details," said he. "It is

is

me

easy for

seared into

do

to

every event of that dreadful time

so, for

my memory. The manor-house is, as I have already said, is now inhabited. The bedrooms in this

very old, and only one wing

wing

are

on the ground

Of

block of the buildings. the second

my

sister's,

the sitting-rooms being in the central

floor,

these bedrooms the

and the

third

nication between them, but they

Do

1

make myself

all

first is

my own. There

Dr. Roylott's, is

no commu-

open out into the same

corridor.

plain?"

"Perfectly so."

"The windows of the fatal

three rooms

open out upon the lawn. That

night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though

that he

had not

retired to rest, for

of the strong Indian cigars which

my

it

sister

we knew

was troubled by the smell

was his custom to smoke. She

left

her room, therefore, and came into mine, where she sat for some time,

At eleven

chatting about her approaching wedding. to leave "

in the

me

but she paused at the door and looked back.

Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard any one whistle

dead of the night?'

" 'Never,' said "

o'clock she rose

'I

I.

suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in your

sleep?'

" 'Certainly not. "

in the it

But why?'

'Because during the

few nights

last

I

morning, heard a low, clear whistle.

has awakened me.

I

cannot

tell

where

" 'No,

I

have not.

It

I

am

a light sleeper,

came from

—

and

perhaps from

would

just ask

must be those wretched gypsies

in the

the next room, perhaps from the lawn.

you whether you had heard

it

have always, about three

I

thought that

I

it.'

plantation.'

And

" 'Very likely.

did not hear "

at

if it

were on the lawn,

I

wonder that you

also.'

more heavily than you.' no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her key

'Ah, but

" 'Well,

back

it

yet

it

I

is

sleep

of

turn in the lock."

"Indeed," said Holmes. selves in at night?"

"Was

it

your custom always to lock your-

THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED

BAND

83

"Always."

"And why?" think that

"I

mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah

I

We

and a baboon.

had no

feeling of security unless our doors were

locked."

"Quite

Pray proceed with your statement."

so.

A

could not sleep that night.

"I

My

fortune impressed me.

and

sister

and you know how subtle are the are so closely allied.

vague feeling of impending mis-

you

I,

were twins,

will recollect,

which bind two

links

souls

which

was a wild night. The wind was howling outside,

It

and the rain was beating and splashing against the windows. Suddenly,

amid

all

the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream of

a terrified

my I

woman.

I

knew

that

it

my

was

sister's

voice.

I

sprang from

As

bed, wrapped a shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor.

opened my door

I

seemed

low whistle, such

to hear a

as

my

sister

moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it horror-

described,

and

stricken, not

a few

knowing what was about

the corridor- lamp

blanched with

I

like that of a

arms round her, but

and she

fell

sister

to issue

at that

to the ground.

drunkard.

moment

She writhed

had not recognized me, but the band!

would

fain

The

By the

it.

light of

I

shall

I

as

I

my

ran to her and threw

her knees seemed to give way as

one who

and her limbs were dreadfully convulsed. At out in a voice which

from

appear at the opening, her face

her hands groping for help, her whole figure

terror,

swaying to and fro

my

saw

first

is I

in terrible pain,

thought that she

bent over her she suddenly shrieked

never forget, 'Oh,

my God!

Helen!

was

It

speckled band!' There was something else which she

have

said,

and she stabbed with her

finger into the air in

the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion seized her

and choked her words.

and

I

I

rushed out, calling loudly for

met him hastening from

he reached

my

sister's side

brandy

down her

efforts

were in vain,

his

room

my

stepfather,

in his dressing-gown.

When

she was unconscious, and though he poured

throat and sent for medical aid from the village, for she slowly

all

sank and died without having

recovered her consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of

my

beloved

sister."

"One moment,"

said

Holmes; "are you sure about

Could you swear to it?" "That was what the county coroner asked me

this whistle

and

metallic sound?

at the inquiry. It

a

is

CONAN

ARTHUR

84

my

strong impression that

heard

I

DOYLE and

it,

the gale and the creaking of an old house,

among

yet,

may

1

the crash of

possibly

have been

deceived."

"Was your '*No, she

sister dressed?"

was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the

charred stump of a match, and in her

left

a

match-box."

"Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did the

come

the coroner

"He

to?"

investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's con-

duct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable to find

My evidence showed

any satisfactory cause of death.

been fastened upon the inner

side,

that the door

had

and the windows were blocked by

old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, which were secured every night.

The

walls were carefully

and the

solid all round,

staples. It

flooring

The chimney

the same result.

sounded and were shown to be quite was also thoroughly examined, with wide, but

is

certain, therefore, that

is

she met her end.

Besides,

my

is

barred up by four large

sister

was quite alone when

no marks of any violence

there were

upon her."

"How

about poison?"

"The doctors examined her

"What do you think "It

is

my

though what

"Were

for

but without success."

it,

that this unfortunate lady died of, then?"

and nervous shock,

belief that she died of pure fear

it

was that frightened her

I

cannot imagine."

there gypsies in the plantation at the time?"

"Yes, there are nearly always

some

there."

"Ah, and what did you gather from

this allusion to a

—

band

speckled band?"

"Sometimes

I

have thought that

delirium, sometimes that

it

may have

it

was merely the wild talk of

referred to

perhaps to these very gypsies in the plantation. the spotted handkerchiefs which so

many

heads might have suggested the strange

Holmes shook

his

head

like a

I

some band of people, do not know whether

them wear over their adjective which she used."

man who

of

is

far

from being

satisfied.

"These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your narrative."

"Two

years

lately lonelier I

have known

have passed since then, and

than ever. for

many

A month ago,

years, has

my

life

has been until

whom my hand

however, a dear friend,

done me the honor

to ask

THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND His

in marriage.

name

is

Armitage

— Percy Armitage— the second son My

of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. offered

no opposition

course of the spring.

to the match,

Two

and

I

my bedroom

have had to move into the chamber

to sleep in the very bed in

of terror

thrill

fate,

1

and we

when

night, as

last

stepfather has

are to be married in the

days ago some repairs were started in the

west wing of the building, and that

85

which she 1

lay

wall has been pierced, so in

which my

sister died,

my

Imagine, then,

slept.

awake, thinking over her

terrible

suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which

had been the herald of her own death.

sprang up and

I

but nothing was to be seen in the room.

bed again, however, so

down, got

I

dressed,

a dog-cart at the

to Leatherhead,

and

Crown

from whence

1

as

1

soon

Inn,

lit

the lamp,

was too shaken to go to as

it

which

have come on

was daylight

is

opposite,

this

I

slipped

and drove

morning with the

one object of seeing you and asking your advice."

"You have done

wisely," said

my

"But have you told

friend.

me

all?"

"Yes, all."

"Miss Stoner, you have not. You are screening your stepfather."

"Why, what do you mean?" For answer Holmes pushed back the frill fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee.

of black lace which

Five

little livid spots,

the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white wrist.

"You have been

The is

cruelly used," said

Holmes.

"and perhaps he hardly knows

his

"He own

which Holmes leaned

his

chin

lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist.

man," she

a hard

said,

strength."

There was a long

upon

silence, during

hands and stared into the crackling

his

"This

thousand

is

a very

deep business," he

come

to

at last.

"There are a

we have not

a

know before 1 decide upon moment to lose. If we were

Stoke Moran to-day, would

it

be possible for us to see over

details

which

1

our course of action. Yet to

fire.

said,

should desire to

these rooms without the knowledge of your stepfather?"

"As

it

happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some

most important business.

It is

probable that he will be away

all

day,

and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily get her out of the way."

CONAN DOYLE

ARTHUR

86 "Excellent.

You

are not adverse to this trip, Watson?'*

"By no means."

"Then we "I

am

shall

both come.

What

have one or two things which But

in town.

1

shall return

are I

you going to do yourself?"

would wish

by the twelve o'clock

do now that

to

I

be

train, so as to

there in time for your coming."

"And you may

expect us early in the afternoon.

some small business matters

to attend to.

I

have myself

Will you not wait and

breakfast?"

"No,

my

1

must

go.

trouble to you.

noon.

"

1

My heart is lightened already since

She dropped her thick black

veil

I

have confided

you again

shall look forward to seeing

this after-

over her face and glided from

the room.

"And what do you Holmes, leaning back "It

seems to

me

if

the lady

is

it

Watson?" asked Sherlock

all,

in his chair.

to be a

"Dark enough and "Yet

think of

most dark and

sinister

sinister business."

enough."

correct in saying that the flooring

and walls

are

sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, then her

sister

must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her mys-

terious end."

"What becomes,

then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of

the very peculiar words of the dying "I

woman?"

cannot think."

"When

you combine the ideas of whistles

who we have every reason

of a band of gypsies

the fact that

at night, the presence

are on intimate terms with this old doctor, to believe that the doctor has

an

interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying allusion

Helen Stoner heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of those metal bars which to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss

secured the shutters falling back into

good ground

its

to think that the mystery

place,

may be

1

think that there

is

cleared along those

lines."

"But what, then, did the gypsies do?" "I

cannot imagine."

many objections to any such theory." "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of the devil!" The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact "I see

BAND

THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED that our door

87

had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man

had framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a pecuUar mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a black top-hat, a

long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, with a hunting-crop swinging

So

in his hand.

tall

was he that

his hat actually brushed the cross bar

of the doorway, and his breadth seemed to span

A

side.

it

across from side to

with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow

large face, seared

with the sun, and marked with every evil passion, was turned from

one

to the other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes,

and

him somewhat the resemblance

thin, fleshless nose, gave

his high,

to a fierce

old bird of prey.

"Which

of you

"My name, companion, "I

am

Holmes?" asked

is

sir;

this apparition.

but you have the advantage of me," said

my

quietly.

Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran."

"Indeed, doctor," said Holmes, blandly. "Pray take a seat."

I

What

have traced her. "It

is

My

do nothing of the kind.

"I will

a

little

"What

stepdaughter has been here.

has she been saying to you?"

cold for the time of the year," said Holmes.

has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man,

furiously.

"But

I

have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued

my

companion, imperturbably. "Ha! You put forward and

me

off,

do you?"

new visitor, taking a step know you, you scoundrel! I

said our

shaking his hunting-crop. "I

have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler."

My

friend smiled.

"Holmes, the busybody!" His smile broadened.

"Holmes, the Scotland Yard ]ack-in-office!"

Holmes chuckled ing," said he.

"When

heartily.

"Your conversation

you go out close the door,

is

most entertain-

for there

is

a decided

draught."

when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle 1 know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped swiftly

"I will

with I

am

my a

go

affairs.

forward, seized the poker, and bent

it

into a curve with his huge

brown

hands.

"See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace, he strode out of the room.

CONAN

ARTHUR

88

"He seems

a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I

not quite so bulky, but

my

that

was not

grip

DOYLE

he picked up the

he had remained

if

much more

steel poker,

am

might have shown him

I

own." As he spoke

feeble than his

and with a sudden

straightened

effort,

out again.

it

"Fancy

having the insolence to confound

his

me

with the

official

detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, however,

and

I

only trust that our

little

friend will not suffer from her imprudence

in allowing this brute to trace her. breakfast,

where

I

and afterwards

hope

shall

I

And

now, Watson, we

some data which may help

to get

us in this matter."

was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from

It

He

excursion.

its

figures.

have seen the

"I

exact meaning

I

will of the

deceased wife," said he. "To determine

have been obliged

of the investments with which

which

at the

through the

his

held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled over

with notes and

it

to

time of the wife's death was

little

The

therefore, that

both

if

had married,

girls

prices

income,

total

short of £1100,

is

now,

not more than £750. Each

in agricultural prices,

fall

work out the present

concerned.

is

daughter can claim an income of £250, in case of marriage.

a

shall order

walk down to Doctors' Commons,

this

evident,

It is

beauty would have had

mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to a very My morning's work has not been wasted, since it has

serious extent.

proved that he has the very strongest motives

And

of anything of the sort.

dawdling, especially as the old affairs;

to Waterloo.

should be very

so

if

revolver into your pocket.

with gentlemen

who can

tooth-brush are,

1

think,

man

is

An

much Eley's

this

is

shall call a

obliged

No. 2

is

if

cab and drive

you would

that

slip

your

an excellent argument

twist steel pokers into knots. all

way

too serious for

aware that we are interesting

you are ready, we

ourselves in his I

now, Watson,

for standing in the

That and

a

we need."

At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn, and drove for four or five miles

through the lovely Surrey lanes.

a bright sun

and

wayside hedges were just throwing out their air

was

full

It

was a perfect day, with

a few fleecy clouds in the heavens. first

The

trees

and

green shoots, and the

of the pleasant smell of the moist earth.

To me

at least

there was a strange contrast between the sweet promise of the spring

and

this sinister quest

upon which we were engaged.

My

companion

THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND

arms folded, his hat pulled down over

sat in the front of the trap, his

and

his eyes,

89

chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the deepest

his

thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped

me on

the shoulder,

and pointed over the meadows.

"Look there!"

said he.

A heavily-timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, thickening into a grove at the highest point.

From amid the branches

there jutted

out the gray gables and high roof-tree of a very old mansion.

"Stoke Moran?" said he. "Yes,

sir,

that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked

the driver.

"There

some building going on there,"

is

Holmes; "that

said

is

where we are going." "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of roofs

some distance find

fields.

to the

left;

"but

if

shorter to get over this

it

There

it is,

"And the

We

got

where the lady

lady,

his eyes. "Yes,

1

fancy,

think

1

you want to get to the house,

stile,

is

is

walking."

Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading

we had

better

do

as

you suggest.

paid our fare, and the trap rattled back

off,

you'll

and so by the foot-path over the

on

its

way

to

Leatherhead. "1

should think

Holmes, as we climbed the stile, "that we had come here as architects, or on some

may

stop his gossip. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner.

thought

this fellow

it

definite business.

You

see that

Our

as well," said

It

we have been

client of the

as good as our word." morning had hurried forward to meet

us with a

which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely that he will be

face

back before evening."

"We said

have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance,"

Holmes, and in

a

few words he sketched out what had occurred.

Miss Stoner turned white to the

"Good heavens!" "So

"He

it is

lips as

she listened.

she cried, "he has followed me, then."

appears." so cunning that

I

never

know when

1

am

safe

from him.

What

will he say when he returns?" "He must guard himself, for he may

more cunning than himself upon from him to-night.

If

he

is

find that there

his track.

violent,

we

You must

shall take

is

some one

lock yourself up

you away to your

"

ARTHUR

90

CONAN

DOYLE

Now, we must make

aunt's at Harrow.

the best use of our time, so

kindly take us at once to the rooms which

The

we

are to examine."

building was of gray, lichen-blotched stone, with a high

and two curving wings,

central portion,

out on each

side. In

thrown one of these wings the windows were broken, and like the claws of a crab,

blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly caved

The

picture of ruin.

central portion was in

right-hand block was comparatively

in,

a

better repair, but the

little

modem, and

the blinds in the

windows, with the blue smoke curling up from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided.

Some

scaffolding

had been

erected against the end wall, and the stonework had been broken into,

workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and down the ill-trimmed lawn, and examined with deep attention the outsides of the windows. "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main building

but there were no signs of any

chamber?"

to Dr. Roylott's

"Exactly

so.

But

"Pending the

I

am now

sleeping in the middle one."

alterations, as

I

understand. By-the-way, there does

not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end wall."

"There were none. from

I

believe that

it

was an excuse to move

me

my room." "Ahl that

is

suggestive.

Now, on

the other side of this narrow

wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There are

windows

in

"Yes,

it,

of course?"

but very small ones.

Too narrow

for

any one to pass

through.

"As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were unside. Now, would you have the kindness to go into your room and bar your shutters." Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his lens he tested approachable from that

the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built firmly into the massive

"Hum!"

masonry.

shutters

any

if

light

A

some

said he, scratching his chin in

theory certainly presents some

difficulties.

they were bolted. Well,

we

No

perplexity;

"my

one could pass these

shall see

if

the inside throws

upon the matter."

small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which

THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED

Holmes

the three bedrooms opened.

chamber, so we passed Stoner was now fate.

and

sleeping,

was a homely

It

once

at

in

BAND

refused to

91

examine the third

which Miss had met with her

to the second, that in

which her

sister

room, with a low ceiling and a gaping

little

A

fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses.

brown chest of

drawers stood in one corner, a narrow white-counterpaned bed in

on the left-hand

another, and a dressing-table

These

Wilton carpet

furniture in the room, save for a square of

The

window. all

the

in the centre.

boards round and the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-

eaten oak, so old and discolored that original building of the house.

corner and sat

and down,

silent,

"Where does

communicate with?" he asked

that bell

"It looks

"Yes,

"No,

room."

asked for

it,

I

suppose?"

never heard of her using

I

tassel

pillow.

newer than the other things?"

sister

we wanted

at last, point-

was only put there a couple of years ago."

it

"Your

it.

We

used always to get what

for ourselves."

"Indeed,

it

excuse

He

the

chairs into a

which hung down beside the bed, the

"It goes to the house-keeper's

floor."

may have dated from

while his eyes travelled round and round and up

upon the

actually lying

will

it

Holmes drew one of the

taking in every detail of the apartment.

ing to a thick bell-rope

You

side of the

with two small wicker-work chairs, made up

articles,

seemed unnecessary

me

for a

to put so nice a bell-pull there.

few minutes while

I

satisfy

myself as to this

threw himself down upon his face with his lens in his hand,

and crawled

swiftly

backward and forward, examining minutely the

Then he

cracks between the boards.

did the same with the wood-work

with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he walked over to the bed, and spent

and down the it

some time

in staring at

wall. Finally

it,

and

in

running his eye up

he took the bell-rope in his hand and gave

a brisk tug.

"Why, it's a dummy," "Won't it ring?" "No,

You can little

it

see

is

not even attached to a wire. This

now

opening

"How

said he.

that

it

is

fastened to a

hook

very interesting.

above where the

for the ventilator is."

very absurd!

I

never noticed that before."

"Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling are

is

just

one or two very singular points about

this

at the rope.

"There

room. For example, what

ARTHUR

92

CONAN

DOYLE

must be to open a ventilator into another room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated with the outa fool a builder

side air!"

"That

is

also quite

modem,"

"Done about the same time "Yes,

there were several

said the lady.

as the bell-rope?"

little

remarked Holmes.

changes carried out about that

time."

—

"They seem to have been of a most interesting character dummy bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your permis-

we

sion. Miss Stoner,

shall

now

carry our researches into the inner

apartment." Dr. Grimesby Roylott's

chamber was

daughter, but was as plainly furnished.

larger

A

than that of his step-

camp-bed, a small wooden

shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character,

the bed, a plain large iron safe

wooden

an armchair beside

chair against the wall, a round table, and a

were the principal things which met the eye. Holmes

walked slowly round and examined each and

all

them with the

of

keenest interest.

"What's

"My

in here.^"

he asked, tapping the

safe.

stepfather's business papers."

"Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "Only once, some years ago. I remember that "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" "No.

What

stood on the top of

down

of papers."

He

took up a small saucer of milk which

yes, of course!

cat.

But there

is

Well, a cheetah

a cheetah is

one point which

in front of the

I

and a baboon."

its

wants,

should wish to determine."

wooden

chair,

and yet a

just a big cat,

saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying is

full

it.

"No; we don't keep a

There

was

a strange idea!"

"Well, look at this!"

"Ah,

it

and examined the

I

He

dare say. squatted

seat of

it

with

the greatest attention.

"Thank

you.

That

is

quite settled," said he, rising

his lens in his pocket. "Hello!

Here

is

and putting

something interesting!"

The object which had caught his eye was a small dog- lash hung on one comer of the bed. That lash, however, was curled upon itself, and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. "What do you make of that, Watson?" "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be tied."

THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND

'That

not quite so common,

is

is it?

Ah, me!

93

a

it's

wicked world,

and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of all. Miss Stoner, and with your 1 think that I have seen enough now. permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." I

it

had never seen

my

friend's face so

was when we turned from the scene of

grim or his brow so dark as this investigation.

We

had

walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he roused himself

from his "It

reverie. is

very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should

my

absolutely follow "I shall

advice in every respect."

most certainly do so."

"The matter

too serious for any hesitation. Your

is

life

may depend

upon your compliance." you that

"I assure

"In the

I

am

in your hands."

place, both

first

my

friend

and

I

must spend the night

in

your room."

Both Miss Stoner and "Yes,

it

must be

so.

gazed at

I

Let

me

him

in astonishment.

explain.

believe that that

I

is

the

village inn over there?"

Crown." "Very good. Your windows would be "Yes, that

is

the

visible

from there?"

"Certainly."

"You must confine ache,

when

yourself to your room,

your stepfather comes back.

on pretence of

Then when you

a head-

hear him

you must open the shutters of your window, undo

retire for the night,

the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then withdraw

which you are likely to want into the room occupy. I have no doubt that, in spite of the repairs,

quietly with everything

which you used to you could manage there

"Oh "The

you

rest

"But what

"We

for

one night."

yes, easily."

shall

will

will leave in

our hands."

you do?"

spend the night in your room, and we

shall investigate

the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." "I believe,

Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your

mind," said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon "Perhaps

"Then, death."

I

my companion's sleeve.

have."

for pity's sake, tell

me what

was the cause of

my

sister's

"

"You can

at least tell

I

speak."

me whether my own thought

is

correct,

and

she died from some sudden fright.

"No,

do not think

I

more tangible if

DOYLE

should prefer to have clearer proofs before

"I

if

CONAN

ARTHUR

94

"

cause.

I

And now.

Dr. Roylott returned

think that there was probably some

Miss Stoner,

and saw

Good-bye, and be brave, you may

so.

rest assured that

for

we

if

us,

you

we must

leave you, for

our journey would be in vain. will

do what

I

have told you,

soon drive away the dangers that

shall

threaten you."

Sherlock Holmes and

had no

I

difficulty in

engaging a bed-room

Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw and sitting-room

Dr.

Grimesby Roylott drive

little figure

in

at the

of the lad

undoing the heavy iron

doctor's voice, fists

sudden

gates,

and saw the

The

him.

at

past, his

and we heard the hoarse roar of the

fury with

trap drove on,

light spring

huge form looming up beside the

who drove him. The boy had some slight difficulty which he shook

and a few minutes

up among the

trees as the

his clenched

later

lamp was

lit

we saw in

a

one of

the sitting-rooms.

"Do you know, Watson,"

said

Holmes,

as

we

sat together in the

gathering darkness, "1 have really some scruples as to taking you tonight.

There

"Can

I

is

a distinct element of danger.

be of assistance?"

"Your presence might be invaluable."

"Then "It

is

I

shall certainly

come."

very kind of you."

"You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than was visible to me." "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine that you saw "I

all

that

I

did."

saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose

I confess is more than I can imagine." "You saw the ventilator, too?" "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a rat

that could answer

could hardly pass through." "I

knew

that

we should

Stoke Moran."

"My

dear Holmes!"

find a ventilator before ever

we came

to

THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED

"Oh sister

yes,

You remember

did.

I

BAND

95

in her statement she said that her

could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar.

Now,

of course that suggested

at

once that there must be a communication between the two rooms.

It

could only be a small one, or

the coroner's inquiry.

I

would have been remarked upon

it

at

deduced a ventilator."

"But what harm can there be in that?" "Well, there is

made, a cord

is

is

at least a curious

A ventilator

coincidence of dates.

hung, and a lady

who

sleeps in the

bed

dies.

Does

not that strike you?"

cannot

"I

as yet see

any connection."

"Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?"

"No." was clamped

"It

Did you ever see a bed fastened

to the floor.

like

that before?" "I

cannot say that

"The

I

lady could not

have."

move her

it,

since

was

it

clearly

"Holmes,"

We

I

bed.

and

relative position to the ventilator

It

must always be

to the rope

cried, "I

seem

to see dimly

some

the

first

of criminals.

He

what you

subtle

"Subtle enough and horrible enough. is

for so

in the

same

we may

call

never meant for a bell-pull."

are only just in time to prevent

wrong, he

—

are hinting at.

and horrible crime."

When

a doctor does go

has nerve and he has knowledge.

Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. This

man

strikes

even deeper, but

to strike deeper is

still.

I

think, Watson, that

over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet pipe,

for a

shall

be able

and turn our minds

few hours to something more cheerful,"

About nine and

we

But we shall have horrors enough before the night

o'clock the light

among

the trees was extinguished,

was dark in the direction of the Manor House.

all

Two

hours

passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us.

"That

is

our signal," said Holmes, springing to his

feet; "it

comes

from the middle window."

As we

passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord,

explaining that

we were going on

a late visit to an acquaintance, and

was possible that we might spend the night there.

that

it

later

we were out on

and one yellow guide us

light twinkling in front of us

on our sombre

There was

A

moment

the dark road, a chill wind blowing in our faces,

through the gloom to

errand.

little difficulty

in entering the grounds, for unrepaired

ARTHUR

96

CONAN

DOYLE

breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way

among

the trees,

we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted child, who threw itself upon the grass

with writhing limbs and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the

darkness.

"My God!"

I

whispered; "did you see

it?"

Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low laugh, and put his lips to my ear. "It I

is

a nice household,"

he murmured. "That

the baboon."

is

had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor

we might

was a cheetah, too; perhaps any moment.

I

confess that

1

find

felt easier in

lowing Holmes's example and slipping

off

affected.

There

upon our shoulders at

it

my mind when, after folmy shoes, I found myself

My

companion noiselessly closed the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to distinguish the words: "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." I nodded to show that I had heard. "We must sit without light. He would see it through the inside the

bedroom.

ventilator." I

nodded

again.

"Do not go

asleep; your very

pistol ready in case

and you

life

we should need

it.

may depend upon I

will sit

on the

it.

Have your

side of the bed,

in that chair."

my revolver and laid it on the comer of the table. Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left in I

took out

darkness.

How

shall

1

ever forget that dreadful vigil?

1

sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet

could not hear a 1

knew

that

my

companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same state of nervous tension in ray of light,

which

1

and we waited

was myself. The shutters cut

the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at

drawn

catlike whine,

which

off the least

From outside came our very window a long

in absolute darkness.

told us that the cheetah

was indeed

at

THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED

BAND

97

liberty. Far away we could hear the deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and one and two and three, and still

we

whatever might

sat waiting silently for

befall.

Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a

light up in the which vanished immediately, but was succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. Some one in the next room had lit a dark- lantern. I heard a gentle sound of

direction of the ventilator,

movement, and then stronger. For half

was

all

an hour

silent

1

another sound became audible

once more, though the smell grew

with straining

sat

—

ears.

Then

suddenly

a very gentle, soothing sound, like

The

that of a small jet of steam escaping continually from a kettle. instant that

and lashed

I

we heard

it.

Holmes sprang from the bed,

furiously with his

cane

Watson?" he

"You

see

But

saw nothing. At the

1

it,

struck a match,

at the bell-pull.

yelled.

"You

see it?"

moment when Holmes

struck the light

heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into

weary eyes made

impossible for

it

friend lashed so savagely.

and

pale

filled

me

to tell

what

it

was

at

my

which my

could, however, see that his face was deadly

I

with horror and loathing.

He had ceased

to strike,

and was gazing up

at the ventilator,

when

suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most horrible cry to

which

I

have ever

listened. It swelled

hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger shriek.

They

say that

away down

all

up louder and louder, a

mingled in the one dreadful

in the village,

and even

parsonage, that cry raised the sleepers from their beds. to our hearts, and last

I

in the distant It

struck cold

stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the

had died away into the silence from which "What can it mean?" I gasped.

echoes of

"It

after all,

it

means that it

is

it is all

for the best.

it

rose.

Holmes answered. "And perhaps, Take your pistol, and we will enter Dr. over,"

Roylott's room."

a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, 1 at his heels, with

With

corridor.

the cocked pistol in It

my

hand.

was a singular sight which met our eyes.

On

the table stood a

beam of upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott, clad in a long gray dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant light

"

ARTHUR

98

CONAN

DOYLE

dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. Across his lap lay the short stock

with the long lash which we had noticed during the day. His chin was

cocked upward and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful, corner of the ceiling.

Round

brow he had

his

rigid stare at the

a peculiar yellow band,

with brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his

As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes.

head.

I

to

took a step forward. In an instant his strange head-gear began

move, and there reared

itself from

among his hair the squat diamond-

shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. "It

He

is

a

swamp

adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in India.

has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence does, in

truth, recoil

he digs

upon the

and the schemer

violent,

falls

into the pit

back into

for another. Let us thrust this creature

its

which

den, and

we can then remove Miss Stoner to some place of shelter, and let the county police know what has happened. As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, its

and throwing the noose round the

horrid perch and, carrying

it

neck, he drew

reptile's

at arm's length, threw

it

it

from

into the iron

which he closed upon it. Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a narrative safe,

which has already run to too great a length, by telling how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed her by the morning train to the care of her

of

official

inquiry

came

good aunt

at

Harrow, of

how

the slow process

to the conclusion that the doctor

while indiscreetly playing with a dangerous pet. yet to learn of the case was told

me

The

little

met his fate which I had

by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled

back next day. "I

shows,

had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which

my

dear Watson,

insufficient data.

'band,'

The

how

dangerous

it

always

is

to reason from

presence of the gypsies, and the use of the word

which was used by the poor

girl,

no doubt

to explain the

appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of by the light of her match, were sufficient to put

me upon an

can only claim the merit that

instantly reconsidered

I

entirely

wrong

my

scent.

I

position

it became clear to me that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not come either from the window or the door. My attention was speedily drawn, as I have already remarked

when, however,

THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED to you, to this ventilator,

The

bed.

floor, instantly

as bridge for

to the bed.

The

coupled

with

I

it

The

gave

99

which hung down the

dummy, and

that the bed was

the suspicion that the rope

rise to

something passing through the hole, and coming

and when

idea of a snake instantly occurred to me,

my knowledge

supply of creatures from India, track.

to the bell-rope

discovery that this was a

clamped to the was there

and

BAND

I

that the doctor was furnished with a that

felt

idea of using a form of poison

I

was probably on the right

which could not

possibly be

discovered by any chemical test was just such a one as would occur to a clever

and

ruthless

man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity

with which such a poison would take of view, be an advantage.

who

It

could distinguish the two

Of

revealed

it

it

to the victim.

we

through

their work.

He had

trained

saw, to return to

this ventilator at the

the certainty that It

also,

from his point

Then

I

thought of the

course he must recall the snake before the morning light

the milk which

put

would

a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed,

dark punctures which would show

little

where the poison fangs had done whistle.

effect

would be

it

it,

probably by the use of

him when summoned. He would hour that he thought

best,

with

would crawl down the rope and land on the bed.

might or might not bite the occupant, perhaps she might escape

every night for a week, but sooner or later she must

had come

*'I

room.

An

to these conclusions before ever

inspection of his chair showed

habit of standing

on

it,

that he

fall

a victim.

had entered had been

which of course would be necessary

that he should reach the ventilator.

The

may have remained. The

his

in the

in order

sight of the safe, the saucer

enough

of milk, and the loop of whipcord were

doubts which

me

I

to finally dispel any

metallic clang heard by Miss

Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather hastily closing the door of his safe

upon

its

terrible

you know the steps which proof.

and

I

I

heard the creature

instantly

lit

occupant. Having once I

made up my mind,

took in order to put the matter to the

hiss, as

I

have no doubt that you did

the light and attacked

"With the

result of driving

"And

with the result of causing

it

also,

it."

through the ventilator."

upon its master at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home, and roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. Grimesby Roylott's death, and 1 cannot say that it is likely to weigh very heavily upon

my

also

conscience."

it

to turn

MQUES HIlRBll (1875-1912)

Jacques Futrelle was born in Pike County, Georgia, and worked as a theatrical

manager and newspaperman. He was writing

American in 1905 when

it

for the Boston

serialized, as part of a contest for readers,

Augustus

his story about the eccentric genius Professor

S. F. X.

Dusen who wagered that he could "think" himself out of prison. also used the professor in Plate (1906)

and

Van

Futrelle

an adventure novel. The Chase of the Golden The Thinking Machine

in collections of short stories,

(1907) and The Thinking Machine on

the

Case (1908). Except

for

one

other work. The Diamond Master (1909), Futrelle's remaining stories

were mainly Edwardian romances. His wife, L.

May

He died in the sinking of the Titanic.

Peel Futrelle, also a writer of mysteries, survived

and edited some of his

last

published in Ellery Queen

"The Problem of Cell mystery pieces of

all

works.

s

13,"

Mystery Magazine in 1949 and 1950.

one of the most frequently anthologized

time, owes

the "locked-room" format of

its

way it epitomizes the Rue Morgue" by

popularity to the

"The Murders

in

directly challenging the reader to anticipate the protagonist's

escape. Despite the implausibility of the basic situation

of coincidence,

the clues

—and

it

him

A few of the uncollected tales were

"plays fair" in that the reader

a welter of red herrings besides

the professor's solution before he reveals

it.

is

mode

of

and some use

supplied with

—necessary

all

to arrive at

1 PROBKM

cm 13

or

Practically all those letters remaining in the alphabet after Augustus S. F. X.

man

Van Dusen was named were

honorably

in the course of a brilliant scientific career, and, being

acquired, were tacked

with

afterward acquired by that gentle-

all

on

to the other end. His

that belonged to

it,

name,

therefore, taken

was a wonderfully imposing

also

some other things

—

what he himself couldn't

just

He He was

structure.

was a Ph.D., an LL.D., an F.R.S., an M.D., and an M.D.S.

— through

say

recognition of his ability by various foreign educational and scientific institutions.

In appearance he was

no

less striking

was slender with the droop of the student the pallor of a close, sedentary

life

on

things

—and when they could be seen

tacles,

were mere

slits

striking feature. This

in his thin shoulders

and

of a

man who

at all

through his thick spec-

studies

little

of watery blue. But above his eyes was his most

was a

and width, crowned by things conspired to give Professor

He

his clean-shaven face. His eyes

—

wore a perpetual, forbidding squint

than in nomenclature.

a

tall,

broad brow, almost abnormal in height

heavy shock of bushy, yellow

him

hair. All these

a peculiar, almost grotesque, personality.

Van Dusen was

remotely German. For generations his

ancestors had been noted in the sciences; he was the logical result,

the master mind. First and above five years

all

he was a

logician.

At

least thirty-

of the half-century or so of his existence had been devoted

exclusively to proving that two and two always equal four, except in

unusual cases, where they equal three or

five, as

the case

may

be.

He

JACQUES

104

stood broadly

FUTRELLE

on the general proposition

that

all

things that start must

go somewhere, and was able to bring the concentrated mental force of his forefathers to bear

on

a given problem. Incidentally

it

may be

remarked that Professor Van Dusen wore a No. 8 hat.

The world at large had heard vaguely of Professor Van Dusen as The Thinking Machine. It was a newspaper catch-phrase applied to him at the time of a remarkable exhibition at chess; he had demongame might, by the force of inevitable champion who had devoted a lifetime to its study. The Thinking Machine! Perhaps that more nearly described him than all his honorary initials, for he spent week after week, month after month, in the seclusion of his small laboratory from which had gone forth thoughts that staggered scientific associates and deeply stirred the world strated then that a stranger to the logic, defeat a

at large. It

was only occasionally that The Thinking Machine had

and these were usually men who, themselves high

visitors,

in the sciences,

dropped in to argue a point and perhaps convince themselves. these men. Dr. Charles

Ransome and Alfred

ning to discuss some theory which

"Such a thing

is

is

Fielding, called

Two

of

one eve-

not of consequence here.

impossible," declared Dr.

Ransome

emphatically,

in the course of the conversation.

"Nothing

is

He

equal emphasis. all

When

things.

The Thinking Machine with spoke petulantly. "The mind is master of

impossible," declared

always

science fully recognizes that fact a great advance will

have been made."

"How

about the airship?" asked Dr. Ransome.

"That's not impossible at all," asserted

be invented some time.

"It will

Dr.

Ransome laughed

"I've

I'd

do

it

The Thinking Machine.

myself, but I'm busy."

tolerantly.

heard you say such things before," he

nothing.

Mind may be master

to apply

itself.

of matter, but

it

said.

"But they mean

hasn't yet found a

There are some things that can't be

existence, or rather

which would not

yield to

way

thought out of

any amount of thinking."

for instance?" demanded The Thinking Machine. Ransome was thoughtful for a moment as he smoked. "Well, say prison walls," he replied. "No man can think himself out of a cell. If he could, there would be no prisoners."

"What, Dr.

"A man a cell,

which

can so apply his brain and ingenuity that he can leave is

the same thing," snapped

The Thinking Machine.

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13

Ransome was

Dr.

slightly

"Let's suppose a case,"

105

amused.

he

said,

after a

moment. "Take

a cell

—men who

where prisoners under sentence of death are confined desperate and, maddened by

fear,

are

would take any chance to escape

suppose you were locked in such a

cell.

Could you escape?"

The Thinking Machine. Mr. Fielding, who entered the

"Certainly," declared

"Of course," the

said

time, "you might wreck the

first

cell

conversation for

with an explosive

—but

inside,

a prisoner, you couldn't have that."

"There would be nothing of that kind," said The Thinking Machine.

"You might

sentence of death, and

Dr.

me

treat I

precisely as you treated prisoners under

would leave the

cell."

"Not unless you entered it with tools prepared to Ransome. The Thinking Machine was visibly annoyed and

get out," said

his blue eyes

snapped.

"Lock only what

me

is

in

any

any prison anywhere

cell in

necessary,

and

I'll

at

any time, wearing

escape in a week," he declared, sharply.

Ransome sat up straight in the chair, interested. Mr. Fielding lighted a new cigar. "You mean you could actually think yourself out?" asked Dr. Dr.

Ransome. "I

would get out," was the response.

"Are you serious?" "Certainly

I

am

serious."

Ransome and Mr. Fielding were silent for a long time. "Would you be willing to try it?" asked Mr. Fielding, finally. Dr.

"Certainly," said Professor

Van Dusen, and

irony in his voice. "I have done

convince other

The

men

of

less

and

it

to

important truths."

tone was offensive and there was an undercurrent strongly

resembling anger on both Professor

there was a trace of

more asinine things than that

Van Dusen

sides.

0{

course

it

was an absurd thing, but

reiterated his willingness to undertake the escape

was decided upon.

"To begin now," added "I'd prefer that

"because

—

"No, now," tively, of course,

it

said

Dr. Ransome.

begin tomorrow," said

Mr. Fielding,

flatly.

The Thinking Machine,

"You

without any warning locked in a

are arrested, figuracell

with no chance

JACQUES

06 to

communicate with

friends,

and

FUTRELLE

left

there with identically the

and attention that would be given death. Are you willing?" care

to a

man

same

under sentence of

"All right, now, then," said The Thinking Machine, and he arose. "Say, the death-cell in Chisholm Prison."

"The

Chisholm Prison."

death-cell in

"And what

will

"As

possible," said

little as

ings, trousers

"You "I

and a

will

am

you wear?"

The Thinking Machine.

"Shoes, stock-

shirt."

permit yourself to be searched, of course?"

The

to be treated precisely as all prisoners are treated," said

Thinking Machine. "No more attention and no

less."

There were some preliminaries to be arranged obtaining permission for the

and everything was done commissioners, to

whom

test,

but

satisfactorily

men

by telephone, albeit the prison

the experiment was explained

were sadly bewildered. Professor

entific grounds,

in the matter of

three were influential

all

on purely

sci-

Van Dusen would

be

the most distinguished prisoner they had ever entertained.

When The

Thinking Machine had donned those things which

he was to wear during

who was

"Martha," he o'clock.

I

am

here.

The

said,

Remember three

Dr.

is

now

all

little

old

woman

in one.

twenty-seven minutes past nine

One week

and one,

he called the

cook and maidservant

"it

going away.

these gentlemen

me

his incarceration

his housekeeper,

from to-night,

at half-past nine,

possibly two, others will take supper with

Ransome

is

very fond of artichokes."

men were driven to Chisholm Prison, where the warden

was awaiting them, having been informed of the matter by telephone.

He

understood merely that the eminent Professor

be his prisoner,

if

he could keep him,

committed no crime, but that he was

for

Van Dusen was

to

one week; that he had

to be treated as all other prisoners

were treated. "Search him," instructed Dr. Ransome.

The Thinking Machine was

searched. Nothing was found

on him;

the pockets of the trousers were empty; the white, stiff-bosomed shirt

had no pocket. The shoes and stockings were removed, examined, then replaced. As he watched all these preliminaries the rigid search

—

and noted the colorless face,

pitiful,

and the

gretted his part in the

childlike physical weakness of the thin, white

—

hands

Dr.

affair.

"Are you sure you want

to

do

this?"

man, the

Ransome almost

he asked.

re-

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13

"Would you be convinced Machine in turn.

if I

107

did not?" inquired

The Thinking

"No." "All right, rildoit."

What sympathy

Ransome had was

Dr.

dissipated by the tone.

nettled him, and he resolved to see the experiment to the end;

it

It

would

be a stinging reproof to egotism. be impossible for him to communicate with any one

"It will

outside?" he asked.

"Absolutely impossible," replied the warden.

permitted writing materials of any

"And

your

jailers,

"Not one word,

may

me

will

not be

would they deliver a message from him?"

directly or indirectly," said the warden.

rest assured of that.

turn over to

"He

sort.

They

will report

"You

anything he might say or

anything he might give them."

"That seems entirely

satisfactory," said

Mr. Fielding,

who was

frankly interested in the problem. ''0{ course, in the event

"I

Ransome, "and him free?"

fails," said Dr.

set

asks

understand," replied the warden.

The Thinking Machine was

until this "I

he

you understand you are to

for his liberty,

should

all

stood listening, but had nothing to say

ended, then:

like to

make

three small requests.

You may

grant

them

or not, as you wish."

"No

special favors,

am

now," warned Mr.

Fielding.

would like to have some tooth powder buy it yourself to see that it is tooth powder and I should like to have one five-dollar and two ten-dollar bills." Dr. Ransome, Mr. Fielding and the warden exchanged astonished glances. They were not surprised at the request for tooth powder, but were at the request for money. "Is there any man with whom our friend would come in contact that he could bribe with twenty-five dollars?" asked Dr. Ransome of "I

asking none," was the

stiff

response. "I

—

the warden.

"Not

for twenty-five

"Well,

let

hundred

him have them,"

dollars,"

said

was the positive

Mr. Fielding.

"I

reply.

think they are

harmless enough."

"And what "I

is

the third request?" asked Dr. Ransome.

should like to have

my

shoes polished."

Again the astonished glances were exchanged. This

last

request

JACQUES

08

FUTRELLE

was the height of absurdity, so they agreed to attended

The Thinking Machine was

to,

it.

These things

all

being

led back into the prison

from

which he had undertaken to escape. "Here is Cell 13," said the warden, stopping three doors down the steel corridor. "This is where we keep condemned murderers. No one can leave it without my permission; and no one in it can communicate with the outside.

I'll

three doors back of my office

and

"Will this

cell do,

"Admirably," was the steel

and scampering of the gloom of the

I

my

reputation

on

that.

It's

only

can readily hear any unusual noise."

gentlemen?" asked The Thinking Machine.

There was a touch of irony in

The heavy

stake

his voice.

reply.

door was thrown open, there was a great scurrying

tiny feet,

cell.

Then

and The Thinking Machine passed into the door was closed and double locked by

the warden.

"What

that noise in there?" asked Dr.

is

Ransome, through the

bars.

"Rats

The

— dozens of them," men, with

three

replied

final

The Thinking Machine,

tersely.

good nights, were turning away when

The Thinking Machine called: "What time is it exactly, warden?" "Eleven seventeen," replied the warden.

"Thanks. o'clock one

"And

will join

week from

if

"There

I

you gentlemen

to-night," said

in your office at half-past eight

The Thinking Machine.

you do not?" is

no

'if

about

it."

Chisholm Prison was a great, spreading structure of granite, four stories in all, which stood in the center of acres of open space. It was surrounded by a wall of solid masonry eighteen feet high, and so smoothly finished inside and out as to offer no foothold to a climber, no matter

how

expert.

Atop

of this fence, as a further precaution, was a five-

keen point. This fence marked an absolute deadline between freedom and imprisonment, for, even if a man escaped from his cell, it would seem foot fence of steel rods, each terminating in a in itself

impossible for

The

yard,

him

to pass the wall.

which on

all sides

of the prison building was twenty-

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13

[09

wide, that being the distance from the building to the wall,

five feet

was by day an exercise ground

for those prisoners to

whom was granted

the boon of occasional semiliberty. But that was not for those in

Cell 13.

At

times of the day there were armed guards in the yard, four

all

of them, one patrolling each side of the prison building.

By night the yard was almost each of the four

and gave

wall

sides

as brilliantly lighted as

was a great arc

light

rose above the prison

The lights, too, brightly The wires which fed the arc

to the guards a clear sight.

illuminated the spiked top of the wall. lights ran

which

On

by day.

up the side of the prison building on insulators and from the

top story led out to the poles supporting the arc lights.

All these things were seen and comprehended by

Machine, who was only enabled to see out

window by standing on his incarceration.

his bed.

He gathered,

The Thinking

his closely barred cell

This was on the morning following

too, that the river lay over there

beyond

the wall somewhere, because he heard faintly the pulsation of a motor

boat and high up in the

air

saw a

river bird.

From

that

same direction

came the shouts of boys at play and the occasional crack of a batted ball. He knew then that between the prison wall and the river was an open space,

a playground.

Chisholm Prison was regarded as absolutely safe. No man had ever escaped from it. The Thinking Machine, from his perch on the bed, seeing what he saw, could readily understand why. The walls of the cell, though built he judged twenty years before, were perfectly and the window bars of new iron had not a shadow of

solid,

them. The window

mode

itself,

of egress because

it

even with the bars

out,

would be a

rust

on

difficult

was small.

Yet, seeing these things.

The Thinking Machine was not

dis-

couraged. Instead, he thoughtfully squinted at the great arc light there was bright sunlight led

from

down

it

now

to the building.

—

and traced with his eyes the wire which That electric wire, he reasoned, must come

the side of the building not a great distance from his

cell.

That

might be worth knowing. Cell 13 was that steps

is,

on the same

floor

with the

up to the

office floor,

of the prison

therefore the level of the floor must be

only three or four feet above the ground. directly

offices

not in the basement, nor yet upstairs. There were only four

He

couldn't see the ground

beneath his window, but he could see

the wall.

It

it

further out toward

would be an easy drop from the window. Well and good.

JACQUES

10

FUTRELLE

Then The Thinking Machine fell to remembering how he had come to the cell. First, there was the outside guard's booth, a part of the wall. There were two heavily barred gates there, both of steel. At

man

was one

this gate

much

prison after

ordered to do

so.

He

always on guard.

admitted persons to the

clanking of keys and locks, and

The

warden's

office

was

let

them out when and

in the prison building,

from the prison yard one had to pass a

in order to reach that official

gate of solid steel with only a peep-hole in

it.

Then coming from

that

inner office to Cell 13, where he was now, one must pass a heavy

wooden door and two

and

steel doors into the corridors of the prison;

always there was the double-locked door to Cell 13 to reckon with.

There were then, The Thinking Machine

seven doors

recalled,

overcome before one could pass from Cell 13 into the outer world, a free man. But against this was the fact that he was rarely to be

A

interrupted.

appeared at his

jailer

with a breakfast of prison

At nine

again at six in the afternoon.

the inspection tour. That would be

six in the

at

morning

noon, and

come

o'clock at night would

all.

admirably arranged, this prison system," was the mental

"It's

The Thinking Machine.

ute paid by I

door at

cell

he would come again

fare;

get out.

I

"I'll

have to study

it

a

had no idea there was such great care exercised

trib-

when

little

in the

prisons."

There was nothing,

positively nothing, in his cell, except his iron

bed, so firmly put together that

with sledges or a

file.

He had

no man could

tear

chair, or a small table, or a bit of tin or crockery.

when he

stood by

ate,

When

the

an examination of sides,

to pieces save

Nothing! The

jailer

then took away the wooden spoon and bowl

which he had used. One by one these things sank Machine.

it

neither of these. There was not even a

into the brain of

last possibility

his cell.

The Thinking

had been considered he began

From the

roof,

down

the walls

on

he examined the stones and the cement between them.

stamped over the

floor carefully

time after time, but

perfectly solid. After the examination

bed and was S. F. X.

lost in

he

sat

it

all

He

was cement,

on the edge of the

iron

thought for a long time. For Professor Augustus

Van Dusen, The Thinking Machine, had something

to think

about.

He was

disturbed by a

rat,

which ran

pered away into a dark comer of the After a while

cell,

The Thinking Machine,

across his foot, then scam-

frightened at

its

own

daring.

squinting steadily into the

m

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13

make out

darkness of the corner where the rat had gone, was able to

gloom many

in the

little

beady eyes staring

at

He counted

him.

six

and there were perhaps others; he didn't see very well.

pair,

Then The Thinking Machine, from for the

first

time the bottom of his

his seat

cell door.

on the bed, noticed

There was an opening

there of two inches between the steel bar and the floor. Still looking steadily at this opening.

The Thinking Machine backed suddenly

into

the corner where he had seen the beady eyes. There was a great

scampering of tiny

feet, several

squeaks of frightened rodents, and then

silence.

None the

cell.

small.

of the rats had gone out the door, yet there were

Therefore there must be another way out of the

The Thinking Machine, on hands and last his

search was rewarded.

in the floor, level larger

than a

his fingers

with the cement.

silver dollar.

It

He came upon

it

in

fingers.

a small

opening

was perfectly round and somewhat

This was the way the

deep into the opening;

none

however

knees, started a search

with his long, slender

for this spot, feeling in the darkness

At

cell,

seemed

had gone. He put

rats

to be a disused drainage

pipe and was dry and dusty.

Having for

satisfied

himself on this point, he sat on the bed again

an hour, then made another inspection of his surroundings through

the small cell window.

One

posite, beside the wall,

and happened to be looking

Cell 13

when

the head of

of the outside guards stood directly op-

The Thinking Machine

at the

window of

appeared. But the

scientist didn't notice the guard.

Noon came and repulsively plain food.

the jailer appeared with the prison dinner of

At home The Thinking Machine merely

ate to

here he took what was offered without comment. Occasionally

live;

jailer who stood outside the door watching him. "Any improvements made here in the last few years?" he asked. "Nothing particularly," replied the jailer. "New wall was built

he spoke to the

four years ago."

"Anything done

to the prison proper?"

"Painted the woodwork outside, and

ago a

new system

I

believe about seven years

of plumbing was put in."

"Ah!" said the prisoner. "How far is the river over there?" "About three hundred feet. The boys have a baseball ground between the wall and the river." The Thinking Machine had nothing further to say just then, but

when

the jailer was ready to go he asked for some water.

JACQUES

112

little

later

"The warden prisoner. "But you

it

be possible for

water in a bowl for me?"

ask the warden," replied the

Half an hour

it

"Would

very thirsty here," he explained.

"I get

you to leave a "I'll

FUTRELLE

jailer,

and he went away.

he returned with water in a small earthen bowl.

says

you may keep

must show

to

it

bowl," he informed the

this

me when

I

ask for

If it is

it.

broken,

will be the last."

"Thank you," said The Thinking Machine. "I shan't break it." The jailer went on about his duties. For just the fraction of a second it seemed that The Thinking Machine wanted to ask a question, but he didn't.

Two 13,

hours later this same

jailer, in

passing the door of Cell No.

heard a noise inside and stopped. The Thinking Machine was

down on

hands and knees in a comer of the

his

same comer came

several frightened squeaks.

and from that

cell,

The

jailer

looked on

interestedly.

"Ah,

I've got

you," he heard the prisoner say.

"Got what?" he

"One scientist's

asked, sharply.

of these rats," was the reply. "See?"

long fingers the

prisoner brought

water rat," he

saw a small gray

jailer

And

over to the light and looked at

it

between the

rat struggling. it

The

closely. "It's a

said.

"Ain't you got anything better to do than to catch rats?" asked the

jailer.

that they should be here at all," was the irritated

"It's disgraceful

reply. it

"Take

this

one away and

kill

it.

There are dozens more where

came from."

The on the

jailer

took the wriggling, squirmy rodent and flung

floor violently. It

gave one squeak and lay

the incident to the warden,

who

still.

it

down

Later he reported

only smiled.

armed guard on Cell 13 side window and saw the prisoner looking out. He saw a hand raised to the barred window and then something white fluttered to the ground, directly under the window Still later

that afternoon the outside

of the prison looked up again at the

of Cell 13. material,

up

bill

It

and

was a tied

little roll

around

it

of linen, evidently of white shirting

was a

five-dollar bill.

The

window again, but the face had disappeared. With a grim smile he took the little linen roll and

guard looked

at the

to the warden's office.

the five-dollar

There together they deciphered something

U3

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13

which was written on it with a queer On the outside was this:

sort of ink, frequently blurred.

"Finder of this please deliver to Dr. Charles Ransome."

"Ah,"

said the warden, with a chuckle. "Plan of escape

one has gone wrong." Then, address

it

to Dr.

"And where

number

an afterthought: "But why did he

as

Ransome?" did he get the pen and ink to write with?" asked the

guard.

The warden looked

at the

guard and the guard looked at the

warden. There was no apparent solution of that mystery.

The warden

studied the writing carefully, then shook his head.

"Well,

let's

said at length,

"Well,

if

see

still

what he was going

puzzled,

Ransome," he

to say to Dr.

and he unrolled the inner piece of

—what—

that

^what

linen.

do you think of that?" he asked,

dazed.

The guard took

the bit of linen and read

awe

''Epa cseot d'net niiy

The

htto

nsi

sih.

T.

this:

"

v/arden spent an hour wondering what sort of a cipher

half an hour wondering

it

was, and

why his prisoner should attempt to commuwho was the cause of him being there. After

nicate with Dr. Ransome, this the

warden devoted some thought

prisoner got writing materials, and

With

had.

again.

It

to the question of

what

to write with

have been impossible

shirt

and had ragged edges. but what the prisoner

was another matter. The warden knew

for

him

to

to personally investigate.

if

The warden went back

it

in the case of

to Cell 13

chine on his hands and knees on the

What, then?

this

to escape by sending cipher messages to persons outside,

he would have stopped

would

The Thinking Machine

was his prisoner; he had orders to hold his prisoners;

as

it

have either pen or pencil, and, besides,

neither pen nor pencil had been used in this writing.

The warden decided

it,

he

the idea of illuminating this point, he examined the linen

was a torn part of a white

Now it was possible to account for the linen, had used

where the

sort of writing materials

one sought

he would stop

any other prisoner.

and found The Thinking Ma-

floor,

engaged

in

nothing more

JACQUES

114

alarming than catching

rats.

The

FUTRELLE

prisoner heard the warden's step and

turned to him quickly. "It's disgraceful,"

he snapped, "these

rats.

There are scores of

them."

"Other "Here

is

men have been

able to stand them," said the warden.

—

another shirt for you

let

me have

the one you have on."

"Why?" demanded The Thinking Machine, quickly. His tone was hardly natural, his manner suggested actual perturbation. "You have attempted the warden severely. "As

to

communicate with Dr. Ransome,"

my

prisoner,

it

is

my

said

duty to put a stop

to it."

The Thinking Machine was

moment. "Do your duty." The warden smiled grimly. The prisoner arose from the floor and removed the white shirt, putting on instead a striped convict shirt the warden had brought. The warden took the white shirt eagerly, and then and there compared the pieces of linen on which was written the cipher with certain torn places in the shirt. The Thinking Machine looked on curiously. "The guard brought you those, then?" he asked. "He certainly did," replied the warden triumphantly. "And that "All right," he said,

ends your

first

silent for a

finally.

attempt to escape."

The Thinking Machine watched the warden as he, by comparison, own satisfaction that only two pieces of linen had

established to his

been torn from the white

"What "I

shirt.

did you write this with?"

should think

Thinking Machine,

it

demanded the warden.

a part of your duty to find out," said

The

irritably.

The warden started to say some harsh things, then restrained himself and made a minute search of the cell and of the prisoner instead. He found absolutely nothing; not even a match or toothpick which might have been used for a pen. The same mystery surrounded the fluid left

with which the cipher had been written. Although the warden

Cell 13 visibly annoyed, he took the torn shirt in triumph.

"Well, writing notes on a shirt won't get him out, that's certain,"

he told himself with some complacency. his desk to await I'll

—hang — it

On

I'll

developments. "If that

He put the linen scraps into man escapes from that cell

resign."

the third day of his incarceration

The Thinking Machine

openly attempted to bribe his way out. The

jailer

had brought

his

U5

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13 dinner and was leaning against the barred door, waiting,

when The

Thinking Machine began the conversation.

"The drainage

pipes of the prison lead to the river, don't they?"

he asked. "Yes," said the "I

jailer.

suppose they are very small?"

"Too small

to crawl through,

if

that's

what you're thinking about,"

was the grinning response.

There was silence

until

The Thinking Machine

finished his meal.

Then:

"You know I'm not

a criminal, don't you?"

"Yes."

"And

that I've a perfect right to be freed

if I

demand

it?"

"Yes."

"Well,

I

came here

believing that

I

could make

my

the prisoner, and his squint eyes studied the face of the

you consider a financial reward

for aiding

me

escape," said

"Would

jailer.

to escape?"

jailer, who happened to be an honest man, looked at the weak figure of the prisoner, at the large head with its mass of yellow hair, and was almost sorry.

The

slender,

"I guess prisons like these

he

get out of,"

were not built for the

likes of

you to

said, at last.

"But would you consider a proposition to help

me

get out?" the

prisoner insisted, almost beseechingly.

"No,"

said the jailer, shortly.

The Thinking Machine.

"Five hundred dollars," urged

"I

am

not

a criminal."

"No,"

"A

said the jailer.

thousand?"

"No," again

said the jailer,

further temptation.

thousand dollars

I

seven doors, and

Then he

I

Then he

and he

started

away hurriedly

to escape

turned back. "If you should give

me

ten

couldn't get you out. You'd have to pass through

only have the keys to two."

told the

warden

"Plan number two

all

about

fails," said

it.

the warden, smiling grimly. "First

a cipher, then bribery."

When

the jailer was

bearing food to

on

his

way

to Cell 13 at six o'clock, again

The Thinking Machine, he

unmistakable scrape, scrape of steel against

sound of his

steps,

then craftily the jailer,

paused, startled by the steel.

It

stopped at the

who was beyond the prisoner's

JACQUES

116

FUTRELLE

range of vision, resumed his tramping, the sound being apparently that of a

man

same

going away from Cell 13. As a matter of fact he was in the

spot.

After a

moment

there

came again the

steady scrape, scrape, and

the jailer crept cautiously on tiptoes to the door and peered between the bars.

The Thinking Machine was

at the bars of the little

Cautiously the

warden

in person,

scrape was

still

He

window.

backward and forward swing of

standing

was using a

back to the

jailer crept

judging from the

file,

office,

on

to Cell 13

The warden

audible.

iron bed working

his arms.

and they returned

then suddenly appeared

on the

summoned the The steady

tiptoes.

listened to satisfy himself

and

at the door.

"Well?" he demanded, and there was a smile on his

face.

The Thinking Machine glanced back from

on the bed

and leaped suddenly to the thing.

The warden went

floor,

in,

making

some-

with hand extended.

"Give

it

"No,"

said the prisoner sharply.

"Come,

his perch

frantic efforts to hide

up," he said.

give

it

up," urged the warden. "I don't want to have to

search you again."

"No," repeated the

prisoner.

"What was it, a file?" asked the warden. The Thinking Machine was silent and

stood squinting at the

warden with something very nearly approaching disappointment on his face

—

nearly, but not quite.

"Plan number three bad,

fails,

The warden was almost

sympathetic.

eh?" he asked, good-naturedly. "Too

isn't it?"

The

prisoner didn't say.

"Search him," instructed the warden.

The

jailer

searched the prisoner carefully.

At

last,

artfully

con-

cealed in the waistband of the trousers, he found a piece of steel about

two inches long, with one

"Ah,"

side curved like a half

said the warden, as

he received

it

moon.

from the

jailer.

"From

your shoe heel," and he smiled pleasantly.

The

jailer

continued his search and on the other side of the

trousers waistband

The

was another piece of

steel identical

with the

first.

edges showed where they had been worn against the bars of the

window.

"You couldn't saw warden.

a

way through those

bars with these," said the

THE PROBLEM OF CELL could have," said

"I

U7

1

The Thinking Machine

firmly.

"In six months, perhaps," said the warden, good-naturedly.

The warden shook

his

head slowly

as

he gazed into the

slightly

flushed face of his prisoner.

"Ready

to give

it

up?" he asked.

haven't started yet," was the prompt reply.

"I

Then came another exhaustive search of the cell. Carefully the two men went over it, finally turning out the bed and searching that. Nothing. The warden in person climbed upon the bed and examined the bars of the window where the prisoner had been sawing. When he looked he was amused.

made

"Just

who

prisoner,

a

it

little

bright by hard rubbing," he said to the

stood looking on with a somewhat crestfallen

warden grasped the iron bars them. They were immovable,

amined each

down from "Give

in turn

in his strong

hands and

set firmly in the solid granite.

and found them

all satisfactory.

The

air.

shake

tried to

He

ex-

Finally he climbed

the bed. it

up, professor," he advised.

The Thinking Machine shook his head and the warden and jailer on again. As they disappeared down the corridor The Thinking

passed

Machine

sat

on the edge of the bed with

his

head

"He's crazy to try to get out of that cell," ^'0{ course I

It

would

like to

in his hands.

commented the

he can't get out," said the warden. "But he's

know what he wrote

jailer.

clever.

that cipher with."

was four o'clock next morning when an awful, heart-racking shriek

It came from a cell, somewhere about the center, and its tone told a tale of horror, agony, terrible fear. The warden heard and with three of his men rushed into

of terror resounded through the great prison.

the long corridor leading to Cell 13.

IV

As they ran there came again that awful cry. It died away in a sort of wail. The white faces of prisoners appeared at cell doors upstairs and down,

staring out

wonder ingly,

frightened.

"It's that fool in Cell 13," grumbled the warden.

He "That

stopped and stared in as one of the

fool in Cell 13" lay comfortably

on

jailers flashed a lantern.

his cot, flat

on

his

back

JACQUES

118

FUTRELLE

with his mouth open, snoring. Even as they looked there came again

The

the piercing cry, from somewhere above.

he started up the

a little as

man

in Cell 43, directly

stairs.

warden's face blanched

There on the top

above Cell

floor

he found a

13, but two floors higher, cowering

in a corner of his cell.

"What's the matter?" demanded the warden. "Thank God you've come," exclaimed the prisoner, and he himself against the bars of his

"What

He

threw open the door and went

again.

in.

The

prisoner dropped

on

and clasped the warden about the body. His face was white

his knees

with

cell.

demanded the warden

it?"

is

cast

were widely distended, and he was shuddering.

terror, his eyes

His hands, icy cold, clutched at the warden's.

"Take me out of

this cell, please take

me

"What's the matter with you, anyhow?"

out," he pleaded. insisted the

warden,

impatiently. "1

heard something

—something,"

roved nervously around the

"What "1

—

1

tell

his eyes

you," stammered the prisoner. Then, in a sudden

"Take me out of this

cell

—put me anywhere—but

take

out of here."

The warden and

"Who

is

the three jailers exchanged glances.

What's he accused of?" asked the warden.

this fellow?

"Joseph Ballard," said one of the acid in a

woman's

face.

Please put

He was arms

me still

"He's accused of throwing

it."

gasped the prisoner. "They can't prove cell."

clinging to the warden, and that official threw his

Then

off roughly.

wretch,

it,"

some other

in

jailers.

She died from

"But they can't prove it.

and

did you hear?"

can't

burst of terror:

me

said the prisoner,

cell.

who seemed

for a

time he stood looking at the cowering

possessed of

all

the wild, unreasoning terror of a

child.

"Look here, Ballard," said the warden, finally, thing, 1 want to know what it was. Now tell me." "1 can't,

"Where "I

1

can't," was the reply.

did

it

it

"Please don't

you heard any-

sobbing.

come from?"

don't know. Everywhere

"What was

He was

"if

—

—nowhere.

I

just

heard

it."

a voice?"

make me answer," pleaded the

"You must answer,"

prisoner.

said the warden, sharply.

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13 "It

was a voice

—but—but

wasn't

it

1_I9

human," was the sobbing

reply.

"Voice, but not human?" repeated the warden, puzzled. "It

sounded muffled and

—and

—and

away

far

ghostly," explained

the man.

"Did

it

come from seem

to

come from anywhere

heard

it.

I

"It didn't

everywhere.

I

inside or outside the prison?"

heard

—

it

was

just here, here,

it."

For an hour the warden tried to get the story, but Ballard had

become suddenly obstinate and would be placed in another

him

until daylight.

"And more of

at his cell

— only pleaded

to

or to have one of the jailers remain near

These requests were

gruffly refused.

see here," said the warden, in conclusion, "if there's any

this

Then

cell,

say nothing

screaming

I'll

put you in the padded cell."

the warden went his way, a sadly puzzled man. Ballard sat

door until daylight, his face, drawn and white with

terror,

pressed against the bars, and looked out into the prison with wide, staring eyes.

That day, the fourth since the incarceration of The Thinking Machine, was enlivened considerably by the volunteer prisoner, who spent most of his time at the

little

window

of his

proceedings by throwing another piece of linen

who

picked

it

up

dutifully

and took

it

cell.

down

He began

to the guard,

to the warden.

On

it

was

written:

"Only three days more."

The warden was in no way surprised at what he read; he understood that The Thinking Machine meant only three days more of his imprisonment, and he regarded the note as a boast. But how was the thing written? Where had The Thinking Machine found this new piece of linen? Where? How? He carefully examined the linen. It was white, of fine texture, shirting material.

and

carefully fitted the

places. This third piece

and yet

it

took the

shirt

which he had taken

was entirely superfluous;

it

didn't

fit

anywhere,

was unmistakably the same goods.

"And where manded

He

two original pieces of the linen to the torn

—where does he

get anything to write with?" de-

the warden of the world at large.

Still later on the fourth day The Thinking Machine, through the window of his cell, spoke to the armed guard outside. "What day of the month is it?" he asked. "The fifteenth," was the answer.

"

JACQUES

20

The Thinking Machine made and

o'clock that night.

"Who

Then he

a mental astronomical calculation

moon would

himself that the

satisfied

FUTRELLE

not

rise until after

nine

asked another question:

attends to those arc lights?"

"Man from

the company."

"You have no "No."

electricians in the building?"

should think you could save money if you had your own man." "None of my business," replied the guard. The guard noticed The Thinking Machine at the cell window "1

frequently during that day, but always the face seemed

listless

was a certain wistfulness in the squint eyes behind the a while

he accepted the presence of the leonine head

course.

He had

and there After

glasses.

matter of

as a

seen other prisoners do the same thing;

it

was the

longing for the outside world.

That afternoon,

just before the

day guard was relieved, the head

appeared at the window again, and

The Thinking Machine's hand

held something out between the bars. the guard picked

up.

it

It

It

fluttered to the

was a five-dollar

ground and

bill.

"That's for you," called the prisoner.

As at

it

usual, the guard took

suspiciously;

he looked

it

at

to the warden.

That gentleman looked

everything that came from Cell 13 with

suspicion.

"He

said

it

"It's a sort

reason

was

of a

why you

for

tip,

I

me," explained the guard. suppose," said the warden. "I see no particular

—

shouldn't accept

He had remembered

Suddenly he stopped.

Machine had gone

into Cell 13 with

dollar bills; twenty-five dollars in tied

around the

warden at

it.

It

still

was

had

and

to

Now

came from the

cell.

it

bills for

him," he thought

relief.

He would

search Cell

When

a

man

and change money, and do other wholly inex-

plicable things, there was something radically

He planned

and The

bills.

But then and there he made up his mind.

will,

The

out and looked

five dollars,

13 as a cell was never before searched in this world.

could write at

and two ten-

had been

here was another

"Perhaps somebody changed one of the with a sigh of

The Thinking

a five-dollar bill

convince himself he took

five dollars; yet

Thinking Machine had only had ten-dollar at last,

that

five-dollar bill

pieces of linen that

first it,

all.

one

to enter the cell at night

wrong with his prison. o'clock would be an

— three

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13

121

The Thinking Machine must do

excellent time.

all

the weird things

he did some time. Night seemed the most reasonable.

Thus

it

happened that the warden

13 that night at three o'clock.

He

stealthily

descended upon Cell

paused at the door and listened.

There was no sound save the steady, regular breathing of the

The

prisoner.

keys unfastened the double locks with scarcely a clank, and the

warden entered, locking the door behind him. Suddenly he flashed

his

dark-lantern in the face of the recumbent figure. If

the warden had planned to startle

was mistaken,

for that individual

The Thinking Machine he

merely opened his eyes quietly,

reached for his glasses and inquired, in a most matter-of-fact tone:

"Who It

It

it?"

is

would be

useless to describe the search that the

was minute. Not one inch of the

He found

cell or

warden made.

the bed was overlooked.

the round hole in the floor, and with a flash of inspiration

thrust his thick fingers into

moment

After a

it.

drew up something and looked

at

it

of fumbling there he

in the light of his lantern.

"Ugh!" he exclaimed.

The

thing he had taken out was a rat

fled as a mist before

The Thinking Machine, without rat

—

a dead rat. His inspiration

the sun. But he continued the search. a word, arose

and kicked the

out of the cell into the corridor.

The warden climbed on tiny

the bed and tried the steel bars in the

window. They were perfectly

rigid;

every bar of the door was the

same.

Then

the warden searched the prisoner's clothing, beginning at

Then the trousers waistband. Still Then the pockets of the trousers. From one side he drew out some paper money and examined it. the shoes. Nothing hidden in them!

nothing!

"Five one-dollar bills," he gasped.

"That's right," said the prisoner.

"But the

do

—you had two

tens

and a

five

—what the—how do you

it?"

"That's

my

The Thinking Machine. my men change this money for you on

business," said

"Did any of

—

your word

of honor?"

The Thinking Machine paused "No," he

just a fraction of a second.

said.

"Well, do you make believe anything.

it?"

asked the warden.

He was

prepared to

JACQUES FUTRELLE

122

"That's

my

business," again said the prisoner.

—

The warden glared at the eminent scientist fiercely. He felt he knew that this man was making a fool of him, yet he didn't know

—

how.

he were a

If

—

he would get the truth

real prisoner

but, then,

perhaps, those inexplicable things which had happened would not have

been brought before him so

men

sharply. Neither of the

long time, then suddenly the warden turned fiercely and

slamming the door behind him. He didn't dare

He glanced at the clock. settled himself in

the

cell,

to speak, then.

was ten minutes to

It

spoke for a

left

He had hardly

four.

bed when again came that heart-breaking shriek

through the prison. With a few muttered words, which, while not elegant, were highly expressive, he relighted his lantern

through the prison again to the

on the upper

cell

Again Ballard was crushing himself against the ing, shrieking at the top of his voice.

lamp

flashed his

"Take me

and rushed

floor.

steel door, shriek-

He stopped only when the warden

in the cell.

out, take

me

out," he screamed. "I did

it,

I

did

it,

I

Take it away." "Take what away?" asked the warden.

killed her.

threw the acid in her face

"I

—

I

—

did

it

I

confess.

Take me out

of here."

was

Ballard's condition let

him out

animal

pitiable;

into the corridor.

at bay,

and clasped

his

it

was only an act of mercy to

There he crouched hands to

in a

his ears. It

comer,

like

an

took half an hour

to calm him sufficiently for him to speak. Then he told incoherently what had happened. On the night before at four o'clock he had heard a sepulchral voice, muffled and wailing in tone. a voice

—

"What "Acid I

did

say?" asked the warden, curiously.

it

— — acid

acid!" gasped the prisoner. "It accused me. Acid!

threw the acid, and the

woman

died.

Oh!"

It

was a long, shuddering

wail of terror.

"Acid?" echoed the warden, puzzled. The case was beyond him. "Acid. That's

all

I

heard

—

that

There were other things, too, but "That was

—what

to-night "It

He

last night,

I

one word, repeated several

eh?" asked the warden.

"What happened

frightened you just now?"

was the same thing," gasped the prisoner. "Acid

covered

times.

didn't hear them."

his face

used on her, but

I

with his hands and

didn't

mean

— — acid

sat shivering. "It

to kill her.

I

just

acid."

was acid

heard the words.

I

It

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13

me

was something accusing

—accusing me."

123

He mumbled, and was

silent.

"Did you hear anything else?"

—but

"Yes

I

couldn't understand

—only

a

little bit

—

a

^just

word

or two."

"Well, what was "I

heard

—then—

then

it?"

three times, then

'acid'

heard 'No. 8 hat.'

I

I

I

heard a long, moaning sound,

heard that voice."

"No. 8 hat," repeated the warden. "What the devil

—No. 8 hat?

Accusing voices of conscience have never talked about No. 8 far as

I

hats, so

ever heard."

"He's insane," said one of the "I believe

jailers,

you," said the warden.

with an

air

of

finality.

"He must be. He probably heard

something and got frightened. He's trembling now. No. 8 hat!

What

the—"

When

the

fifth

day of

The Thinking Machine's imprisonment rolled He was anxious for the

around the warden was wearing a hunted look.

end of the thing. He could not help but prisoner had been amusing himself.

Machine had flung

lost

none of

down another

And

his sense of

if

feel that his distinguished

this

were

so.

humor. For on

The Thinking

this fifth

day he

linen note to the outside guard, bearing the words:

"Only two days more." Also he flung down half a

dollar.

Now the warden knew—he knew—that the man have any half dollars

—he

couldn't

in Cell 13 didn't

have any half dollars, no more than

he could have pen and ink and linen, and yet he did have them. was a condition, not a theory; that

is

It

one reason why the warden was

wearing a hunted look.

That clung to

ghastly,

him

uncanny

tenaciously.

thing, too, about "Acid"

and "No. 8 hat"

They didn't mean anything,

of course, merely

the ravings of an insane murderer confess his crime,

still

who had been driven by fear to many things that "didn't mean now since The Thinking Machine

there were so

anything" happening in the prison

was there.

On

the sixth day the warden received a postal stating that Dr.

Ransome and Mr.

Fielding would be at

Chisholm Prison on the

fol-

JACQUES

124

FUTRELLE

lowing evening, Thursday, and in the event Professor

Van Dusen had

—and they presumed he had not because they had not heard from him— they would meet him

not yet escaped

there.

"In the event he had not yet escaped!"

The warden smiled grimly.

Escaped!

The Thinking Machine enlivened this day for They were on the usual linen and bore

the warden with

three notes.

appointment

ment the

On

at half-past eight o'clock

scientist

had made

at the

on the

generally

Thursday night, which appoint-

time of his imprisonment.

the afternoon of the seventh day the warden passed Cell 13

The Thinking Machine was lying on the iron bed, apparently sleeping lightly. The cell appeared precisely as it always did from a casual glance. The warden would swear that no man was going and glanced

to leave

it

in.

—

between that hour

it

was then four o'clock

—and

half-past

eight o'clock that evening.

On his way back past the cell the warden heard the steady breathing again,

and coming

done so

The Thinking Machine had been

it

was

if

close to the door looked in.

He

wouldn't have

looking, but

now

—

well,

different.

A ray of light came through the high window and fell on the face of the sleeping man. his prisoner

occurred to the warden for the

It

appeared haggard and weary. Just then

first

time that

The Thinking

Machine stirred slightly and the warden hurried on up the guiltily. That evening after six o'clock he saw the jailer. "Everything

all

right in Cell 13?"

he asked.

"He

didn't eat

"Yes, sir," replied the It

was with a feeling of having done his

received Dr.

He

jailer.

Ransome and Mr.

corridor

much, though." duty that the warden

Fielding shortly after seven o'clock.

intended to show them the linen notes and lay before them the

full story

of his woes, which was a long one. But before this

came

to

pass the guard from the river side of the prison yard entered the office.

"The

arc light in

my

side of the yard won't light,"

he informed

the warden.

"Confound

it,

that man's a hoodoo," thundered the

official.

"Everything has happened since he's been here."

The guard went back phoned

to his post in the darkness,

to the electric light

"This

is

three or four

Chisholm Prison," he

men down

and the warden

company. said through the 'phone.

here quick, to

fix

an

arc light."

"Send

THE PROBLEM OF CELL

The receiver

reply

was evidently

Fielding sat waiting, the guard at

when

125

3

satisfactory, for the warderi

and passed out into the

delivery letter. Dr.

]

hung up the

While Dr. Ransome and Mr. the outer gate came in with a special yard.

Ransome happened

to notice the address, and,

the guard went out, looked at the letter more closely.

"By George!" he exclaimed.

"What

is

it?"

asked Mr. Fielding.

Silently the doctor offered the letter. Mr. Fielding

examined

it

closely.

"Coincidence," he It

The

said. "It

must be."

was nearly eight o'clock when the warden returned to his

electricians

had arrived

in a

wagon, and were now

at

work.

man

warden pressed the buzz-button communicating with the

office.

The

at the

outer gate in the wall.

"How many

came in?" he asked, over the short 'phone. "Four? Three workmen in jumpers and overalls and the manager? Frock coat

electricians

and

silk

hat? All right. Be certain that only four go

out. That's all."

He

turned to Dr.

careful here

—

Ransome and Mr.

particularly,"

Fielding.

"We

and there was broad sarcasm

we have scientists locked up." The warden picked up the special

have

to be

in his tone,

"since

then began to open

"When

I

delivery letter carelessly,

and

it.

read this

I

want

to tell you

gentlemen something about

—

how Great Caesar!" he ended, suddenly, as he glanced at the letter. He sat with mouth open, motionless, from astonishment. "What is it?" asked Mr. Fielding. "A special delivery letter from Cell 13," gasped the warden. "An invitation to supper."

"What?" and the two others arose, unanimously. The warden sat dazed, staring at the letter for a moment, then called sharply to a guard outside in the corridor.

"Run down to Cell 13 and see if that man's in there." The guard went as directed, while Dr. Ransome and Mr. examined the "It's

Dr.

Van

Ransome. Just

Fielding

letter.

Dusen's handwriting; there's no question of that," said "I've seen too

much

of

it."

then the buzz on the telephone from the outer gate sounded,

and the warden,

in a semi-trance, picked

up the receiver.

JACQUES

126

Two reporters,

"Hello!

to the doctor

and Mr.

FUTRELLE

em come in." He turned suddenly the man cant be out. He must

eh? Let

Fielding.

"Why,

be in his cell."

moment

Just at that

"He's

the guard returned.

in his cell, sir,"

still

he reported.

"1

saw him. He's lying

down." "There,

told you so," said the warden,

1

how

again. "But

There was

and he breathed

freely

did he mail that letter?"

a rap

on the

steel

door which led from the

jail

yard

into the warden's office. "It's

the reporters," said the warden. "Let

them

he instructed

in,"

the guard; then to the two other gentlemen; "Don't say anything about this before

them, because

I'd

The door opened, and

never hear the

the two

of

last

men from

it."

the front gate entered.

"Good-evening, gentlemen," said one. That was Hutchinson Hatch; the warden knew him well. "Well?" demanded the other,

irritably.

"I'm here."

That was The Thinking Machine.

He

squinted belligerently at the warden,

agape. For the

moment

that official

who

had nothing

sat

with mouth

to say. Dr.

Ransome

and Mr. Fielding were amazed, but they didn't know what the warden knew. They were only amazed; he was paralyzed. Hutchinson Hatch, the reporter, took in the scene with greedy eyes.

— —

"How how how did you do it?" gasped the warden, finally. "Come back to the cell," said The Thinking Machine, in the irritated voice

which

The warden,

still

in a condition bordering

"Flash your light in there," directed

The warden of the

cell,

knew so well. on trance, led the way. The Thinking Machine.

his scientific associates

did so. There was nothing unusual in the appearance

and there

—

there

on the bed

lay the figure of The

Machine. Certainly! There was the yellow looked at the

own ing

man

beside

him and wondered

Thinking Again the warden

at the strangeness of his

dreams.

With trembling hands he unlocked Machine passed inside. "See here," he

He three of

away

hair!

the cell door and

The Think-

said.

kicked at the steel bars in the bottom of the

them were pushed out of place.

cell

door and

A fourth broke off and rolled

in the corridor.

"And

here, too," directed the erstwhile prisoner as he stood

on

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13 the bed to reach the small window.

He

127

swept his hand across the

opening and every bar came out.

"What's

bed?" demanded the warden,

this in the

who was

slowly

recovering.

"A

wig," was the reply. "Turn

The warden

did so. Beneath

down

it

more, a dagger, three

thirty feet or

the cover."

lay a large coil of strong rope, files,

ten feet of electric wire, a

thin, powerful pair of steel pliers, a small tack

—and a Derringer

and

"How past

hammer with

its

handle,

pistol.

demanded the warden. "You gentlemen have an engagement to supper with me at halfnine o'clock," said The Thinking Machine. "Come on, or we did you do it?"

shall be late."

"But

how

did you do it?" insisted the warden.

"Don't ever think you can hold any said

The Thinking Machine. "Come

on;

man who can we

use his brain,"

shall be late."

VI

It

was an impatient supper party

and a somewhat

Fielding, the warden,

in the

The

silent one.

rooms of Professor Van Dusen

Ransome, Albert

guests were Dr.

and Hutchinson Hatch,

structions of licious.

At

turned

full

believe

now?" he demanded.

it

do," replied Dr. Ransome.

"Do you admit "I

before; Dr.

the supper was finished and

on Dr.

"Do you "I

Ransome found the artichokes deThe Thinking Machine Ransome and squinted at him fiercely.

one week

last

The meal was Van Dusen's in-

reporter.

served to the minute, in accordance with Professor

that

it

was a

fair test?"

do."

With the others,

particularly the warden,

for the explanation.

"Suppose you "Yes,

tell

us

tell

us

how,"

—

how

"

he was waiting anxiously

began Mr. Fielding.

said the warden.

The Thinking Machine

readjusted his glasses, took a couple of

preparatory squints at his audience, and began the story.

from the beginning

logically;

and no man ever talked

to

more

He

told

it

interested

listeners.

"My agreement

was," he began, "to go into a

cell,

carrying noth-

JACQUES

128 ing except a week. 1

I

what was necessary

FUTRELLE

to wear,

had never seen Chisholm

and

Prison.

to leave that cell within

When

I

went into the

asked for tooth powder, two ten and one five-dollar

to

my

have

shoes blacked. Even

would not have mattered "I

knew

if

seriously.

these requests

and

bills,

things to use.

They were

things

it

But you agreed to them.

there would be nothing in the cell

was apparently helpless, unless

also

had been refused

which you thought

might use to advantage. So when the warden locked the door on I

cell

I

me

could turn three seemingly innocent

I

which would have been permitted any

prisoner under sentence of death, were they not, warden?"

"Tooth powder and polished

shoes, yes, but not

money," replied

the warden.

"Anything to use it,"

is

dangerous in the hands of a

went on The Thinking Machine.

He

night but sleep and chase rats."

matter was broached

I

1

I

whom

The warden

I

when

pleased,

stared at

him

I

"When

first

the

that night, so suggested

wanted time

with outside assistance, but this was not

municate with

did nothing that

glared at the warden.

knew could do nothing

next day. You gentlemen thought

man who knows how

"I

true.

to arrange

I

knew

I

an escape

could com-

pleased."

moment, then went on smoking

a

solemnly. "1

was aroused next morning

at six o'clock

breakfast," continued the scientist.

"He

me

told

by the

jailer

with

my

dinner was at twelve

Between these times, I gathered, I would be pretty So immediately after breakfast I examined my outside surroundings from my cell window. One look told me it would be and supper

much

at six.

to myself.

useless to try to scale the wall,

by the window, for

my

even should

I

decide to leave

purpose was to leave not only the

cell,

my

cell

but the

Of course, I could have gone over the wall, but it would have me longer to lay my plans that way. Therefore, for the moment,

prison.

taken I

dismissed

"From

all

idea of that.

this first observation

the prison, and

I

knew

these surmises were verified by a keeper.

—

the river was on that side of

that there was also a playground there. Subsequently I

knew then one important

one might approach the prison wall from that side if necessary without attracting any particular attention. That was well to remember. 1 remembered it. thing

that any

"But the outside thing which most attracted

my

attention was

—probably

the feed wire to the arc light which ran within a few feet

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13

—of my

three or four

the event

1

found

I

knew

would be valuable

that

in

necessary to cut off that arc light.

it

"Oh, you shut

window.

cell

129

it

off to-night, then?'*

"Having learned

all

I

asked the warden.

could from that window," resumed The

Thinking Machine, without heeding the interruption, the idea of escaping through the prison proper.

had come into the cell, which doors lay between me and the

I

knew would be

I

"I

considered

recalled just

how

outside. So, also for the time being,

gave up the idea of escaping that way.

And

I

I

the only way. Seven I

couldn't go through the

solid granite walls of the cell.

The Thinking Machine paused for a moment and Dr. Ransome lighted a new cigar. For several minutes there was silence, then the scientific jail-breaker

"While It

went on:

was thinking about these things a

I

new

suggested a

—

line of thought.

rat ran across

There were

my foot.

at least half a

dozen

I had noticed none them purposely and watched the cell door to see if they went out that way. They did not, but they were gone. Obviously they went another way. Another way meant

rats in

the cell

come under the

I

could see their beady eyes. Yet

cell door.

I

frightened

another opening. "I

searched for this opening and found

it.

It

was an old drain pipe,

long unused and partly choked with dirt and dust. But this was the

way the

rats

had come. They came from somewhere. Where? Drain

pipes usually lead outside prison grounds. This one probably led to the

near

river, or

came

they

because

it

it.

The

rats

must therefore come from that direction.

a part of the way,

I

reasoned that they came

was extremely unlikely that a

have any hole

"When

in

it

except at the

the jailer

If

the way,

solid iron or lead pipe

would

exit.

came with my luncheon he

portant things, although he didn't

all

know

One

it.

told

me two

im-

was that a new system

of plumbing had been put in the prison seven years before; another that the river was only three hundred feet away. that the pipe was a part of an old system;

I

Then I knew positively

knew, too, that

generally toward the river. But did the pipe

end

it

slanted

in the water or

on

land?

"This was the next question to be decided. several of the rats in the cell. in this work. dry; they

I

examined

I

decided

it

by catching

My jailer was surprised to see me engaged

at least a

had come through the

dozen of them. They were perfectly

pipe, and,

most important of all, they

—

"

JACQUES

130

were not house

ratSy

but field

FUTRELLE

The

rats.

land, then, outside the prison walls.

"Then,

I

knew

that

if I

worked

other end of the pipe was on

So

so good.

far,

freely

from

this point

1

must

attract

You see, by telling the escape you made the test more severe,

the warden's attention in another direction.

warden that because

1

1

had come there

had to

trick

to

him by

false scents."

The warden looked up with a sad "The first thing was to make him nicate with you. Dr. Ransome. 1

tore

bill

take

my

from

around it

it

shirt,

addressed

and threw

it

to the warden, but

So

1

expression in his eyes.

think

was trying to commu-

Ransome,

to Dr.

it

I

wrote a note on a piece of linen tied a five-dollar

I knew the guard would hoped the warden would send it as

out the window.

1

rather

Have you that first linen note, warden?" The warden produced the cipher. "What the deuce does it mean, anyhow?" he asked.

addressed.

"Read

it

backward, beginning with the

the division into words," instructed

The warden

'T' signature

and disregard

The Thinking Machine.

did so.

"T-h-i-s, this,"

he spelled, studied

a

it

moment, then read

it off,

grinning:

"This

not the way

is

"Well,

I

intend to escape."

now what do you

think

that?" he

o'

demanded,

still

grinning. "1 knew that would attract your attention, just as it did," said The Thinking Machine, "and if you really found out what it was it

would be

a sort of gentle rebuke."

"What

did you write

it

with?" asked Dr. Ransome, after he had

examined the linen and passed

it

to Mr. Fielding.

"This," said the erstwhile prisoner, and he extended his foot. it

was the shoe he had worn

scraped off clean.

"The shoe

in prison,

though the polish was gone

blacking, moistened with water, was

ink; the metal tip of the shoe lace

made

a fairly

The warden looked up and suddenly relief,

half of

On my

good pen.

burst into a laugh, half of

amusement.

"You're a wonder," he said, admiringly.

"Go on."

"That precipitated a search of my cell by the warden, as intended," continued The Thinking Machine. "I was anxious the warden into the habit of searching stantly finding nothing,

happened, practically."

my

cell, so

he would get disgusted and

1

had

to get

that finally, conquit.

This at

last

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13

The warden blushed. "He then took my white

He was

satisfied that those

131

away and gave me a prison

shirt

two pieces of the

missing. But while he was searching

my

shirt

cell

were

shirt.

that was

all

had another piece of

I

that same shirt, about nine inches square, rolled into a small ball in

my mouth." "Nine inches of that it

come from?" "The bosoms

of

shirt?"

all stiff

demanded the warden. "Where did

white

shirts are of triple thickness,"

only two thicknesses.

There was a another of the

knew you wouldn't

I

little

men

think about,

else to

freedom," said Professor

Van

I

knew

for that."

Dusen.

time being by giving him

for the

took

I

that rats

"I

my

serious step

first

was necessary,

I

—but here," he pulled up

came

into

knew

I

my

cell

a great

after

I

got

them

started

his trousers legs

"Then on I

I

lisle,

hand?

—and

"I 1

unraveled those

had

easily a quarter

could depend on.

my remaining linen I wrote, laboriously enough, my situation to this gentleman here," Hutchinson Hatch. "I knew he would assist me for

half of

assure you, a letter explaining

and he indicated

—

the value of the newspaper story. ten-dollar bill

—

there

and wrote on the Daily American,

is

no

who

where a boy might

surer

will give

find

took one of the rats

I

tied firmly to this linen letter a

way of attracting the eye of any one this deliver to Hutchinson Hatch,

Tinder of

linen:

"The next thing was I

at

and showed that the tops

were gone.

wasn't difficult

it

many

from out there.

saw, a long and fairly reliable thread, so

of both stockings, of fine, strong

of a mile of thread that

toward

knew, within reason, that the

Could I communicate with some one outside with these things "First

to

grin.

pipe led somewhere to the playground outside;

boys played there;

So much

it.

and the warden looked from one

pause,

with a sheepish

"Having disposed of the warden something

see

was

bosom

the explanation. "I tore out the inside thickness, leaving the

it.

—

I

another ten dollars for the information."

to get this note outside

on

There were two ways, but

became

adept in catching

that playground I

chose the best.

—

them

tied the

money firmly to one leg, fastened my lisle thread to another, and turned him loose in the drain pipe. I reasoned that the natural fright of the rodent would make him run until he was outside the pipe

linen and

and then out on earth he would probably stop and money.

"From the moment the

rat

to

gnaw

off

the linen

disappeared into that dusty pipe

I

"

JACQUES FUTRELLE

132

became anxious. I was taking so many chances. The rat might gnaw the string, of which I held one end; other rats might gnaw it; the rat might run out of the pipe and leave the linen and money where they would never be found; a thousand other things might have happened. So began some nervous hours, but the fact that the rat ran on until only a few feet of the string remained in

was outside the pipe.

I

had

in case the note reached him.

"This done,

my

cell

The

made me think he

Mr. Hatch what to do

carefully instructed

Would

question was:

it

reach him?

could only wait and make other plans in case this

I

my

one

failed.

him

that he held the keys to only two of seven doors between

freedom.

openly attempted to bribe

I

Then

1

did something else to

and learned from

jailer,

make

me and

the warden nervous.

I

took the steel supports out of the heels of my shoes and made a pretense

my

of sawing the bars of

about that. cell

window

He

window. The warden

cell

row

raised a pretty

developed, too, the habit of shaking the bars of

to see

if

they were

solid.

They were

—

my

then.

Again the warden grinned. He had ceased being astonished. "With this one plan I had done all I could and could only wait to see what happened," the scientist went on. "I couldn't know whether

my note had been delivered or even found, or whether the rat had gnawed it up. And I didn't dare to draw back through the pipe that one slender thread which connected me with the outside. "When I went to bed that night I didn't sleep, for fear there would come the slight signal twitch at the thread which was to tell me that Mr. Hatch had received the note. At half-past three o'clock, I judge, and no prisoner actually under sentence of death 1 felt this twitch, ever welcomed a thing more heartily." The Thinking Machine stopped and turned to the reporter. "You'd better explain just what you did," he said. "The linen note was brought to me by a small boy who had been playing baseball," said Mr. Hatch. "I immediately saw a big story in it,

so

I

gave the boy another ten dollars, and got several spools of

some twine, and suggested that

I

a roll of light, pliable wire.

have the finder of the note show

picked up, and told

two o'clock

to

make my

in the morning. If

was to twitch "I

me

it

I

The

me

professor's just

where

silk,

note it

was

search from there, beginning at

found the other end of the thread

I

gently three times, then a fourth.

began to search with a small bulb

and twenty minutes before

I

electric light.

It

was an hour

found the end of the drain pipe, half

THE PROBLEM OF CELL

^3

1

hidden in weeds. The pipe was very large there, say twelve inches

Then I found

across.

and immediately

"Then to pull

it

1

1

the end of the

lisle

thread, twitched

it

as directed

got an answering twitch.

Van Dusen began

fastened the silk to this and Professor

into his cell.

nearly had heart disease for fear the string

1

would break. To the end of the

silk

1

fastened the twine, and

when

in I tied on the wire. Then that was drawn into we had a substantial line, which the rats couldn't gnaw, from the mouth of the drain into the cell." The Thinking Machine raised his hand and Hatch stopped.

that

had been pulled

the pipe and

"All this was done in absolute silence," said the scientist. "But

when

the wire reached

my hand

I

could have shouted.

another experiment, which Mr. Hatch was prepared

Then we

for.

tried

tested the

1

pipe as a speaking tube. Neither of us could hear very clearly, but

dared not speak loud for fear of attracting attention in the prison. last

to

made him understand what

1

have great

and

I

At

wanted immediately. He seemed

understanding

difficulty in

repeated the word

I

I

when

I

asked for nitric acid,

*acid' several times.

"Then I heard a shriek from a cell above me. I knew instantly that someone had overheard, and when I heard you coming, Mr. Warden, 1 feigned sleep. If you had entered my cell at that moment that whole plan of escape would have ended there. But you passed on. That was the nearest I ever came to being caught.

"Having established I

this

got things in the cell and

improvised trolley

made them

it is

easy to see

disappear at will.

I

how

merely

dropped them back into the pipe. You, Mr. Warden, could not have reached the connecting wire with your

you

fingers,

see, are longer

and more

they are too large.

fingers;

slender. In addition

My

guarded

I

—you remember how.

the top of that pipe with a rat "I

remember," said the warden, with a grimace.

"I

thought that

the rat would useful

any one were tempted to investigate that hole

through the pipe until next night, although he did send

change plan.

if

dampen his ardor. Mr. Hatch could not send me anything

for ten dollars as a test, so

Then

I

I

proceeded with other parts of

evolved the method of escape, which

"In order to carry this out successfully

it

guard in the yard to get accustomed to seeing I

I

finally

employed.

was necessary

me

me my

at the cell

for the

window.

arranged this by dropping linen notes to him, boastful in tone, to

make the warden

believe,

if

possible,

one of

his assistants

was com-

JACQUES FUTRELLE

134

municating with the outside

for

me.

I

would stand

my window

at

hours gazing out, so the guard could see, and occasionally

him. In that way

spoke to

I

learned that the prison had no electricians of

1

own, but was dependent upon the lighting company

if

for

its

anything should

go wrong.

"That cleared the way of the

last

day of

my

to

freedom

imprisonment,

perfectly. Early in the

when

it

was dark,

cut the feed wire which was only a few feet from it

with an acid-tipped wire

I

had. That would

I

my window, make

evening

planned to reaching

that side of the

prison perfectly dark while the electricians were searching for the break.

That would

also bring

Mr. Hatch into the prison yard.

"There was only one more thing to do before

work of

setting myself free. This

was to arrange

1

actually

began the

final details

with Mr.

Hatch through our speaking tube. I did this within half an hour after the warden left my cell on the fourth night of my imprisonment. Mr. Hatch again had serious difficulty in understanding me, and I repeated the word 'acid' to him several times, and later the words: 'Number that's my size eight hat' and these were the things which made a prisoner upstairs confess to murder, so one of the jailers told me next

—

—

day. This prisoner heard our voices, confused of course, through the

went to his cell. The cell directly over me was not no one else heard. ''0{ course the actual work of cutting the steel bars out of the window and door was comparatively easy with nitric acid, which I got through the pipe in thin bottles, but it took time. Hour after hour on the fifth and sixth and seventh days the guard below was looking at me as I worked on the bars of the window with the acid on a piece of wire. 1 used the tooth powder to prevent the acid spreading. I looked away abstractedly as 1 worked and each minute the acid cut deeper

which

pipe,

also

occupied, hence

into the metal.

I

noticed that the

jailers

always tried the door by

shaking the upper part, never the lower bars, therefore bars, leaving

was a

them hanging

bit of dare-deviltry.

I

But that

sat silent for several minutes.

think that makes everything clear," he went on. "Whatever

"I

have not explained were merely to confuse the warden and

points

I

jailers.

These things

plan.

cut the lower

could not have gone that way so easily."

The Thinking Machine

wanted

1

in place by thin strips of metal.

to

The

in

improve the

my bed brought story. 0{ course, I

special delivery letter

I

in to please

Mr. Hatch,

who my

the wig was necessary in

wrote and directed in

my

cell

with

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13 Mr. Hatch's fountain pen, then sent That's

all,

it

135

out to him and he mailed

it.

think."

1

"But your actually leaving the prison grounds and then coming in through the outer gate to

my

asked the warden.

office?"

"Perfectly simple," said the scientist. "I cut the electric light wire

with acid, as

I

when

said,

the current was

off.

Therefore

when

the

I knew it would take some make the repairs. When the guard went to report to you the yard was dark. I crept out the window replaced the bars by standing on a narrow ledge it was a tight fit, too

current was turned

on the

arc didn't light.

time to find out what was the matter and

—

in a shadow until the force of electricians arrived. Mr. Hatch was one of them. "When I saw him I spoke and he handed me a cap, a jumper and overalls, which 1 put on within ten feet of you, Mr. Warden, while you were in the yard. Later Mr. Hatch called me, presumably as a workman, and together we went out the gate to get something out of

and remained

the wagon.

had

The

gate guard let us pass out readily as two

just passed in.

to see you.

We

We

changed our clothing and reappeared, asking

saw you. That's

There was silence

workmen who

all."

Ransome was

for several minutes. Dr.

first

to

speak.

"Wonderful!" he exclaimed. "Perfectly amazing."

"How did Mr. Hatch happen to come with the electricians?" asked Mr. Fielding. "His father

is

manager of the company,"

replied

The Thinking

Machine. "But what

if

there had been

no Mr. Hatch outside to help?" who would help him escape

"Every prisoner has one friend outside if

he could." "Suppose

—

just

suppose

—

there

had been no old plumbing system

there?" asked the warden, curiously.

"There were two other ways out," said The Thinking Machine, enigmatically.

Ten minutes

later the

telephone bell rang.

It

was a request

for

the warden. "Light

all

right,

eh?" the warden asked, through the 'phone.

"Good. Wire cut beside Cell 13? Yes, many? What's that? Two came out?"

The warden

I

know.

One

electrician too

turned to the others with a puzzled expression.

JACQUES

136

"He only

let in

FUTRELLE

four electricians, he has let out two

and

says there

are three left." "1

"Oh," the

The Thinking Machine. warden. "I see." Then through the

was the odd one,"

fifth

said the

man

said

go. He's all right."

'phone: "Let

G. K.

raeiTDN

0B74-I93G)

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was Paul's

bom

in

London and educated

and the Slade School of Art before beginning

a career as a writer

of fiction, poetry, history, biography, and theology. After his only) mystery novel. The

Man Who Was

a series of stories, collected as

at St.

(and

first

Thursday (1908), he began

The Innocence of Father Brown (1911),

about an unassuming but wise priest adept at solving mysteries. Father

Brown, modeled on Chesterton's priest-friend John O'Connor, proved

immensely popular, and over the next twenty-five years Chesterton brought out four more collections of stories featuring him. Although

he himself did not become a

Roman

Catholic until 1922, Chesterton

was always interested in the morality of an action, rather than

its

his plots, clothed in wit

and

paradox, are allegories about what he sees as the real mystery of

life,

criminality or the detection process

itself;

humankind's relationship to God.

"The

Invisible

Man"

loined Letter" in fiction as

scene

is

reality.

its

romance or

reflects

not only Chesterton's debt to "The Pur-

central thesis but also his fairy tale; the

own view

of detective

opening description of a

city street-

intended to evoke a feeling of the wondrous beneath everyday Chesterton's sense of allegory and his penchant for using

social criticism

is

apparent in touches such

as the

murderer's apartment that suggest the robotization of a materialist world.

automata

human

it

for

in the

beings in

In the cool blue twilight of two steep streets in

glowed

Camden Town,

the

shop

at the corner, a confectioner's,

One

should rather say, perhaps, like the butt of a firework, for the

light

was of many colours and some complexity, broken up by many

mirrors and dancing

on many

meats. Against this one

like the butt of a cigar.

gilt

and gaily-coloured cakes and sweet-

fiery glass

were glued the noses of many gutter-

snipes, for the chocolates

were

all

wrapped

in those red

and gold and

green metallic colours which are almost better than chocolate

remote and eat.

satisfying, just as

if

in the

Such rainbow provocations could

naturally collect the youth of

the neighbourhood up to the ages of ten or twelve. But this

was also attractive to youth

itself;

window was somehow at once the whole North Pole were good to

and the huge white wedding-cake

at a later stage;

and

a

comer

young man, not

than twenty-four, was staring into the same shop window.

To

less

him,

the shop was of fiery charm, but this attraction was not wholly

also,

to be explained by chocolates; which,

however, he was

far

from

despising.

He was but a

listless

a

tall,

burly, red-haired

manner.

He

young man, with a resolute face

carried under his

arm

a

flat,

grey portfolio

of black-and-white sketches, which he had sold with more or

less

(who was an admiral) had disinherited him for Socialism, because of a lecture which he had delivered against that economic theory. His name was John Tumbull success to publishers ever since his uncle

Angus. Entering at

last,

he walked through the confectioner's shop to

the back room, which was a sort of pastry-cook restaurant, merely

140

G.

K.

CHESTERTON

young lady who was serving

raising his hat to the

She was a

there.

dark, elegant, alert girl in black, with a high colour

and very quick,

dark eyes; and after the ordinary interval she followed him into the

room

inner

to take his order.

His order was evidently a usual one.

want, please," he said

"I

with precision, "one halfpenny bun and a small cup of black coffee."

An

instant before the girl could turn

away he added, "Also,

want

I

you to marry me."

The young are jokes

I

The

lady of the shop stiffened suddenly and said, "Those

don't allow."

red-haired young

man

lifted

grey eyes of an unexpected

gravity.

"Really and truly," he said,

halfpenny bun.

It

"it's

as serious

—

as serious as the

expensive, like the bun; one pays for

is

it.

It

is

indigestible, like the bun. It hurts."

The dark young seemed

lady

to be studying

had never taken her dark eyes

him with almost

tragic exactitude.

off

him, but

At

the end

of her scrutiny she had something like the shadow of a smile, and she sat

down

in a chair.

"Don't you think," observed Angus, absently, "that cruel to eat these halfpenny buns?

buns.

I

up these brutal

shall give

The dark young dow,

at last she

They might grow up into penny when we are married."

lady rose from her chair

and walked

to the win-

unsympathetic cogitation.

swung round again with an

bewildered to observe that the young

air

man was

of resolution she was

carefully laying out

the table various objects from the shop-window.

amid of highly coloured sweets,

rather

sports

evidently in a state of strong but not

When

it's

They included

several plates of sandwiches,

on

a pyr-

and the

two decanters containing that mysterious port and sherry which

are

peculiar to pastry-cooks. In the middle of this neat arrangement he

had

carefully let

down

the enormous load of white sugared cake which

had been the huge ornament of the window. "What on earth are you doing?" she asked. "Duty,

"Oh,

my

dear Laura," he began.

for the Lord's sake, stop a

minute," she cried, "and don't

me in that way. mean, what is "A ceremonial meal. Miss Hope."

talk to

"And what

1

is

that?''

all

that?"

she asked impatiently, pointing to the moun-

tain of sugar.

"The wedding-cake, Mrs. Angus," he

said.

THE INVISIBLE

The and put

girl

it

marched

to that article,

MAN

141

removed

with some

it

clatter,

back in the shop window; she then returned, and, putting

her elegant elbows on the table, regarded the young

man

not unfa-

vourably but with considerable exasperation.

"You don't give me any time

to think," she said.

"I'm not such a fool, " he answered; "that's

She was

my Christian humility.

looking at him; but she had grown considerably

still

graver behind the smile.

"Mr. Angus," she said of this nonsense I

must

I

steadily, "before there

a

is

minute more

you something about myself

tell

as shortly as

can." "Delighted," replied

Angus gravely. "You might tell me something

about myself, too, while you are about

"Oh, do hold your tongue and I'm ashamed

and

of,

it

isn't

it."

listen," she said. "It's

nothing that

even anything that I'm specially

what would you say if there were something that mine and yet is my nightmare?"

about. But business of

"In that case," said the

man

sorry

no

is

you

seriously, "I should suggest that

bring back the cake."

"Well, you must listen to the story

"To begin

with,

must

I

tell

you that

the 'Red Fish' at Ludbury, and "I

I

first," said

my

father

Laura, persistently.

owned

the inn called

used to serve people in the bar."

have often wondered," he

said,

"why

there was a kind of a

Christian air about this one confectioner's shop."

"Ludbury

is

a sleepy, grassy

little

hole in the Eastern Counties,

and the only kind of people who ever came

to the 'Red Fish'

occasional commercial travellers, and for the

people you can see, only you've never seen them.

men, who had

just

enough

to live

rest, I

were

the most awful

mean

on and had nothing

little,

to

loungy

do but lean

about in bar-rooms and bet on horses, in bad clothes that were just too good for them. Even these wretched young rotters were not very

common common

at

our house; but there were two of them that were a

— common

in every sort of way.

They both

lived

lot

too

on money

of their own, and were wearisomely idle and over-dressed. But yet

was a

bit sorry for

them, because

I

I

half believe they slunk into our

empty bar because each of them had a slight deformity; the sort of thing that some yokels laugh at. It wasn't exactly a deformity either; it was more an oddity. One of them was a surprisingly small man, little

something

like a dwarf, or at least like a jockey.

jockeyish to look

at,

He was

not at

all

though; he had a round black head and a well-

142

G.

CHESTERTON

K.

trimmed black beard, bright eyes

he jingled money

like a bird's;

in his

pockets; he jangled a great gold watch chain; and he never turned up

much

except dressed just too fool though,

though a

gentleman to be one.

He was no

he was curiously clever

at all kinds

like a

futile idler;

of things that couldn't be the slightest use; a sort of impromptu con-

making

juring;

name was

His

matches

fifteen

each other

set fire to

like a regular

banana or some such thing into a dancing

firework; or cutting a

Smythe; and

Isidore

1

can see him

still,

with his

doll. little

dark face, just coming up to the counter, making a jumping kangaroo out of

five cigars.

"The other

more

fellow was

and more ordinary; but some-

silent

how he alarmed me much more than poor and

tall

slight,

and

light-haired; his nose

little

Smythe.

had a high

might almost have been handsome in a spectral

had one of the most appalling squints

When

he looked straight

yourself, let alone

at you,

show

off his

what he was looking

monkey

tricks

bridge,

very

and he

sort of way; but

he

have ever seen or heard

of.

you didn't know where you were at.

I

fancy this sort of

disfig-

Smythe was ready anywhere, James Welkin (that was the

urement embittered the poor chap a to

I

He was

little;

for while

squinting man's name) never did anything except soak in our bar parlour,

and go

for great walks

round. All the same,

I

by himself in the

think Smythe, too, was a

flat,

little

grey country

all

sensitive about

more smartly. And so it was that I was really puzzled, as well as startled, and very sorry, when they both offered to marry me in the same week. "Well, I did what I've since thought was perhaps a silly thing. But, after all, these freaks were my friends in a way; and I had a horror of their thinking I refused them for the real reason, which was that they were so impossibly ugly. So I made up some gas of another sort, about never meaning to marry anyone who hadn't carved his way in the world. I said it was a point of principle with me not to live on being so small, though he carried

money

it

off

that was just inherited like theirs.

in this well-meaning sort of way, the

thing as

if

I

Two

heard was that both of them had gone

they were in some

days after

I

had talked

whole trouble began. The

silly fairy tale.

"Well, I've never seen either of them from that day to I've

had two

letters

first

off to seek their fortunes,

from the

little

man

called Smythe,

and

this.

But

really they

were rather exciting." "Ever heard of the other man?" asked Angus.

"No, he never wrote,"

said the girl, after

an

instant's hesitation.

THE INVISIBLE

"Smythe's

first

MAN

143

was simply to say that he had started out walking

letter

with Welkin to London; but Welkin was such a good walker that the

man dropped

little

happened

out of

to be picked

and took

it,

He

a rest by the roadside.

up by some travelling show, and, partly because

he was nearly a dwarf, and partly because he was

really a clever little

wretch, he got on quite well in the show business, and was soon sent

up to the Aquarium, to do some His second was

letter.

tricks that

much more

I

forget.

of a startler, and

That was 1

his

only got

first

last

it

week."

The man

Angus emptied

called

his coffee-cup

own mouth

with mild and patient eyes. Her

and regarded her

took a slight twist of

on the hoardings

laughter as she resumed, "I suppose you've seen

all

Or you must be the only person don't know much about it, it's some clockwork that hasn't. Oh, invention for doing all the housework by machinery. You know the sort of thing: Tress a button A Butler who Never Drinks.' Turn a Handle Ten Housemaids who Never Flirt.' You must have seen the about this 'Smythe's Silent Service'? I

—

—

advertisements. Well, whatever these machines are, they are making

money; and they

pots of

making

are

knew down in Ludbury. I can't help has fallen on his feet; but the plain up any minute and

telling

me

it all

for that little

imp

whom

fact

is,

I

chap

feeling pleased the poor little

I'm in terror of his turning

he's carved his

way

in the

world

—

as

he

certainly has."

"And

the other man?" repeated

Angus with

a sort of obstinate

quietude.

Laura

Hope

got to her feet suddenly.

"My

think you are a witch. Yes, you are quite right. of the other man's writing; and of

what or where he

who I

is

all

about

my

is.

But

path.

think he has driven

I

it is

It is

have not seen a

line

have no more notion than the dead of

him

he who

me mad;

I

friend," she said, "I

for

I

that

I

am

frightened.

has half driven

have

felt

me mad.

It is

he

Indeed,

him where he could not

have been, and I have heard his voice when he could not have spoken." "Well, my dear," said the young man, cheerfully, "if he were is

mad

girl.

all

alone, old

now you have told somebody. One goes But when was it you fancied you felt and heard

done

Satan himself, he

for

our squinting friend?" "I

the

heard James Welkin laugh as plainly as

I

hear you speak," said

"There was nobody

I

stood just outside the

girl, steadily.

shop

at the corner,

forgotten

how he

and could

see

there, for

down both

streets at once.

I

had

laughed, though his laugh was as odd as his squint.

"

144

I

G.

had not thought of him

a few seconds later the

K.

CHESTERTON But

for nearly a year.

first

letter

came from

it's

solemn truth that

a

his rival."

"Did you ever make the spectre speak or squeak, or anything?" asked Angus, with some interest.

Laura suddenly shuddered, and then

said, with an unshaken voice, had finished reading the second letter from Isidore Smythe announcing his success, just then, I heard Welkin say, 'He shan't have you, though.' It was quite plain, as if he were in the room.

when

"Yes. Just

It is

awful;

I

you

"If

I

think really

I

must be mad."

were mad," said the young man, "you would think

me

you must be sane. But certainly there seems to little

one

rum about

—

I

this

unseen gentleman.

Two

spare you allusions to any other organs

would allow me,

as a sturdy, practical

cake out of the window

Even outside,

as

—

he spoke, there was a

and a small motor, driven

man,

in a shiny top hat stood

—and

to bring

something a

really,

if

you

back the wedding-

sort of steely shriek in the street at devilish speed, shot

door of the shop and stuck there. In the same

man

to be

heads are better than

flash of

up to the

time a small

stamping in the outer room.

Angus, who had hitherto maintained hilarious ease from motives of mental hygiene, revealed the strain of his soul by striding abruptly

out of the inner room and confronting the new-comer.

him was love.

A

glance at

quite sufficient to confirm the savage guesswork of a

This very dapper but dwarfish

figure,

man

in

with the spike of black

beard carried insolently forward, the clever unrestful eyes, the neat

man just dewho made dolls out of banana skins and match-boxes; Isidore Smythe, who made millions out of undrinking butlers and unflirting housemaids of metal. For a moment the two men, but very nervous fingers, could be none other than the scribed to him: Isidore Smythe,

instinctively understanding

each other's

air

of possession, looked at

each other with that curious cold generosity which

is

the soul of rivalry.

Mr. Smythe, however, made no allusion to the ultimate ground of their antagonism, but said simply and explosively: "Has Miss

Hope

seen that thing on the window?"

"On

the window?" repeated the staring Angus.

"There's no time to explain other things," said the small millionaire shortly. "There's

some tomfoolery going on here

that has to

be investigated."

He

pointed his polished walking-stick at the window, recently

depleted by the bridal preparations of Mr. Angus; and that gentleman

THE INVISIBLE

MAN

145

was astonished to see along the front of the

glass a

long strip of paper

which had certainly not been on the window when he had through it some time before. Following the energetic Smythe looked outside into the street, he found that some yard and a half of stamp paper had been carefully gummed along the glass outside, and on this pasted,

was written in straggly characters,

you marry Smythe, he

"If

will die."

"Laura," said Angus, putting his big red head into the shop,

mad."

"you're not

the writing of that fellow Welkin," said

"It's

him

haven't seen

in the last fortnight he's

can't

The seen,

had threatening

even find out who leaves them, porter of the

Smythe

for years, but he's always bothering

flats

swears that

and here he has pasted up

while the people in the shop

let

no

letters left at

alone

if it is

gruffly. "I

me. Five times

my

flat,

Welkin

suspicious characters have

on

a sort of dado

—

a public shop

and

I

himself.

been

window,

"Quite so," said Angus modestly, "while the people in the shop

were having

Well,

tea.

sir, I

can assure you

I

We

sense in dealing so directly with the matter. things afterwards. there was

The

On

know

don't even

you'll put this at

common

can talk about other

fellow cannot be very far off yet, for

no paper there when

minutes ago.

appreciate your

I

went

last to

I

swear

the window, ten or fifteen

the other hand, he's too far off to be chased, as the direction.

once

I

take

my

advice, Mr. Smythe,

hands of some energetic inquiry man,

in the

private rather than public.

If you'll

we

know an extremely

clever fellow,

who

has set up in business five minutes from here in your car. His name's

Flambeau, and though his youth was a

man now, and

his brains are

bit stormy, he's a strictly

worth money.

He

lives in

honest

Lucknow

Mansions, Hampstead."

"That live,

is

odd," said the

myself, in

little

man, arching

his black eyebrows. "I

Himylaya Mansions, round the corner. Perhaps you I can go to my rooms and sort out these

might care to come with me;

queer Welkin documents, while you run round and get your friend the detective."

"You

are very good," said

Angus

politely.

"Well, the sooner we

act the better."

Both men, with a queer kind of impromptu

fairness,

took the

same sort of formal farewell of the lady, and both jumped into the brisk little car. As Smythe took the handles and they turned the great corner of the street, Angus was amused to see a gigantesque poster of

"Smythe's Silent Service," with a picture of a huge headless iron

doll,

146

G.

K.

CHESTERTON

carrying a saucepan with the legend,

them

"I use

in

my own

"A Cook Who

flat," said

the

little

Is

Never Cross."

black-bearded man,

laughing, "partly for advertisements, and partly for real convenience.

Honestly, and

all

above board, those big clockwork

dolls of

mine do

bring you coals or claret or a timetable quicker than any live servants I've

ever known,

if

you know which knob to

between ourselves, that such servants have "Indeed?" said Angus;

"is

my it

me who

tell

those

left

small and swift like himself; in fact, like

was of his

own

invention.

he was one who believed in

tising quack,

never deny,

flat."

The man's motor was his domestic service,

I'll

there something they can't do?"

"Yes," replied Smythe coolly; "they can't

threatening letters at

But

press.

their disadvantages, too."

his

If

own

he was an adverwares.

The

sense

of something tiny and flying was accentuated as they swept up long

white curves of road in the dead but open daylight of evening. Soon

came sharper and

the white curves spirals, as

they say in the

cresting a corner of London if

dizzier;

they were upon ascending

modem

religions. For, indeed, they

which

almost as precipitous as Edinburgh,

is

were

not quite so picturesque. Terrace rose above terrace, and the special

tower of

they sought, rose above them

flats

to almost Egyptian

all

The change, as they turned the comer known as Himylaya Mansions, was as abrupt

height, gilt by the level sunset.

and entered the crescent as the

opening of a window;

above London

on the other like a steep

as

for they

found that

pile of flats sitting

above a green sea of slate. Opposite to the mansions,

side of the gravel crescent,

was a bushy enclosure more

hedge or dyke than a garden, and some way below that

artificial water, a sort of canal, like the moat of that embowered fortress. As the car swept round the crescent it passed, at one corner, the stray stall of a man selling chestnuts; and right away at the other end of the curve, Angus could see a dim blue policeman

ran a strip of

walking slowly. These were the only

human

shapes in that high sub-

urban solitude; but he had an irrational sense that they expressed the speechless poetry of London.

The out tall

its

little

owner

He

felt as if

they were figures in a story.

car shot up to the right house like a bullet, like a

bomb

shell.

He was

and shot

immediately inquiring of a

commissionaire in shining braid, and a short porter in shirt sleeves,

whether anybody or anything had been seeking was assured that nobody and nothing had his last inquiries;

whereupon he and the

were shot up in the

lift

like a rocket,

till

his apartments.

He

passed these officials since slightly

bewildered Angus

they reached the top

floor.

THE INVISIBLE

MAN

147

"Just come in for a minute," said the breathless Smythe. "I want show you those Welkin letters. Then you might mn round the

to

He

corner and fetch your friend." wall, and the door opened of

pressed a button concealed in the

itself.

opened on a long, commodious ante-room, of which the only

It

arresting features, ordinarily speaking, were the rows of tall

mechanical Like

figures that stood

tailors'

up on both

dummies they were

half-human

sides like tailors'

headless;

and

like tailors'

dummies.

dummies

they had a handsome unnecessary humpiness in the shoulders, and a pigeon-breasted protuberance of chest; but barring

much more that

like a

about the

is

this,

they were not

human figure than any automatic machine at a station human height. They had two great hooks like arms,

for carrying trays;

and they were painted pea-green, or vermillion, or

black for convenience of distinction; in every other way they were

only automatic machines and nobody would have looked twice at them.

On

nobody

this occasion, at least,

dummies

these domestic

lay

the mechanics of the world.

scrawled with red ink; and as

soon

The

as the

red ink

It

it

He handed

actually was not dry,

have been to see her today,

between the two rows of

was a white, tattered scrap of paper

the agile inventor

door flew open.

on

did. For

something more interesting than most of

I

it

had snatched to

it

up almost

Angus without

and the message

a word.

ran, "If

you

shall kill you."

There was a short silence, and then Isidore Smythe said quietly, "Would you like a little whiskey? I rather feel as if I should." "Thank you; I should like a little Flambeau," said Angus, gloomily.

"This business seems to

round

once

at

to fetch

me

to be getting rather grave. I'm going

him."

"Right you are," said the other, with admirable cheerfulness. "Bring

hirri

But

as

round here

as

quick as you can."

Angus closed the

front door behind

him he saw Smythe

push back a button, and one of the clockwork images glided from

its

place and slid along a groove in the floor carrying a tray with syphon

and decanter. There did seem something a the

little

life as

man

alone

among

trifle

those dead servants,

weird about leaving

who were coming

to

the door closed.

Six steps

down from Smythe's

was doing something with a fortified

pail.

landing the

Angus stopped

man

in shirt sleeves

to extract a promise,

with a prospective bribe, that he would remain in that place

until the return with the detective,

of stranger coming up those

stairs.

and would keep count of any kind Dashing down to the front

hall

he

"

148

G.

then

K.

CHESTERTON

laid similar charges of vigilance

whom

front door, from

there was

on the commissionaire

at the

he learned the simplifying circumstances that

no back door. Not content with

this,

he captured the

floating

policeman and induced him to stand opposite the entrance and watch it;

and

paused an instant for a pennyworth of chestnuts, and

finally

an inquiry

as to the probable length of the merchant's stay in the

neighbourhood.

The chestnut

seller,

turning up the collar of his coat, told

he should probably be moving shortly,

he thought

as

snow. Indeed, the evening was growing grey and

with

all his

it

but Angus,

bitter,

eloquence, proceeded to nail the chestnut

man

"Keep yourself warm on your own chestnuts," he

him

was going to

to his post.

said earnestly.

make it worth your while. I'll give you a sovereign if you'll wait here till I come back, and then tell me whether any man, woman, or child has gone into that house where the com"Eat up your whole stock;

missionaire

He

is

I'll

standing."

then walked away smartly, with a

look at the besieged

last

tower.

made a ring round that room, anyhow," he said. "They can't four of them be Mr. Welkin's accomplices. Lucknow Mansions were, so to speak, on a lower platform of that "I've

all

hill

of houses, of which Himylaya Mansions might be called the peak.

Mr. Flambeau's in every

way

a

semi-official flat

marked contrast

hotel-like luxury of the

flat

and presented

American machinery and cold

him

in a rococo artistic

who was

den behind

his

of which the ornaments were sabres, harquebuses. Eastern cu-

riosities, flasks

cat,

to the

floor,

of the Silent Service. Flambeau,

a friend of Angus, received office,

was on the ground

and

of Italian wine, savage cooking-pots, a plumy Persian

a small dusty-looking

Roman

Catholic

priest,

who

looked

particularly out of place.

"This

is

my to

Southerners

like

I

Brown,"

said Flambeau.

meet him. Splendid weather,

wanted you "Yes,

friend Father

this;

a

"I've often

little

cold for

me."

think

it

will

keep clear," said Angus,

sitting

down on

a

violet-striped Eastern ottoman.

"No," said the priest quietly, "it has begun to snow." And, indeed, as he spoke, the first few flakes, foreseen by the

man

of chestnuts, began to drift across the darkening window-pane.

"Well," said Angus heavily. "I'm afraid

and rather jumpy business

at that.

The

fact

I've is,

come on

business,

Flambeau, within a

THE INVISIBLE

throw of your house

stone's

a fellow

is

MAN

who

149

badly wants your help; he's

—

and threatened by an invisible enemy nobody has even seen." As Angus proceeded to tell

perpetually being haunted

whom

scoundrel

the whole tale of

Smythe and Welkin, beginning with

and going on with two empty

streets,

his

own, the supernatural laugh

Laura's story,

at the corner of

the strange distinct words spoken in an empty room.

Flambeau grew more and more vividly concerned, and the

seemed

to be left out of

like a piece of furniture.

it,

little priest

When

it

came

to

the scribbled stamp-paper pasted on the window. Flambeau rose, seeming to

fill

"If

room with

the

his

huge shoulders.

you don't mind," he

on the nearest road to that there is no time to be

rest

think you had better

said, "I

this

man's house.

It strikes

tell

me

the

me, somehow,

lost."

"Delighted," said Angus, rising also, "though he's safe enough for the present, for I've set four

men to watch the only hole

to his burrow."

They turned out into the street, the small priest trundling after them with the docility of a small dog. He merely said, in a cheerful way, like one making conversation, "How quick the snow gets thick on the ground." As they threaded the steep side streets already powdered with silver, Angus finished his story; and by the time they reached the crescent with the towering to the four sentinels.

The

flats,

he had

chestnut

leisure to turn his attention

seller,

both before and

after re-

ceiving a sovereign, swore stubbornly that he had watched the door

and seen no

He

said

in rags;

The policeman was even more emphatic.

visitor enter.

he had had experience of crooks of he wasn't so green

suspicious;

he looked out

been nobody. was more

for

And when

commissionaire,

as to

and

anybody, and, so help him, there had three

all

men

gathered round the gilded

who still stood smiling astride of the porch,

the verdict

any man, duke or dustman, what he wants

in these flats," said the genial

and gold-laced

been nobody to ask since

The unimportant estly at the

this

Father Brown,

giant,

"and

I'll

swear

gentleman went away."

who

stood back, looking

mod-

pavement, here ventured to say meekly, "Has nobody been

up and down stairs, then, since the snow began we were all round at Flambeau's." "Nobody's been in here, official,

kinds, in top hats

final still.

"I've got a right to ask

there's

all

expect suspicious characters to look

sir,

with beaming authority.

you can take

to fall?

it

It

began while

from me," said the

150

G.

"Then

CHESTERTON

wonder what that

I

ground blankly

The

K.

others

all

down

looked

and Flambeau used a

also;

exclamation and a French gesture. For

down

the priest, and stared at the

is?" said

like a fish.

it

the middle of the entrance guarded by the

actually

fierce

was unquestionably true that

between the arrogant, stretched

man

in gold lace,

legs of that colossus,

ran a

stamped upon the white snow.

stringy pattern of grey footprints

"God!" cried Angus involuntarily, "the Invisible Man!" Without another word he turned and dashed up the stairs, with Flambeau following; but Father Brown still stood looking about him snowclad

in the

street as

if

he had

lost interest in his query.

Flambeau was plainly in a mood to break down the door with big shoulders; but the

Scotchman, with more reason,

fumbled about on the frame of the door

he found the

till

his

intuition,

if less

invisible

button; and the door swung slowly open.

showed

It

grown

darker,

same

substantially the

though

it

was

still

had

serried interior; the hall

struck here and there with the last

crimson shafts of sunset, and one or two of the headless machines had

been moved from their places

and there about the all

for this or that purpose,

twilit place.

The green and

and stood here

red of their coats were

darkened in the dusk; and their likeness to human shapes

increased by their very shapelessness. But in the middle of

slightly

them

all,

exactly where the paper with the red ink had lain, there lay something that looked like red ink spilt out of

With

its

But

bottle.

a French combination of reason

simply said "Murder!" and, plunging into the

corner and cupboard of a corpse

dead or

it

in five minutes.

it

was not red

ink.

and violence Flambeau flat,

But

if

had explored every he expected to find

he found none. Isidore Smythe was not in the place, either alive.

men met each and staring eyes. "My

After the most tearing search the two

other in the outer hall, with streaming faces

friend," said Flambeau, talking French in his excitement, "not only

your

murderer

invisible,

but

he makes

invisible

also

the

is

mur-

dered man."

Angus looked round at the dim room full of dummies, and in some Celtic comer of his Scotch soul a shudder started. One of the life-size dolls

stood immediately overshadowing the blood stain, sum-

moned, perhaps, by the

slain

man an

instant before

he

fell.

One

the high-shouldered hooks that served the thing for arms, was a lifted,

of

little

and Angus had suddenly the horrid fancy that poor Smythe's

THE INVISIBLE

own

151

had struck him down. Matter had

iron child

machines had

MAN

But even

killed their master.

and these

rebelled,

what had they done

so,

with him? "Eaten him?" said the nightmare

an instant into

and he sickened

for

remains absorbed and crushed

that acephalous clockwork.

all

He

recovered his mental health by an emphatic

to Flambeau, "Well, there a cloud

at his ear;

human

at the idea of rent,

and

left a

and

effort,

said

The poor fellow has evaporated like on the floor. The tale does not belong to

it is.

red streak

this world."

'There it

only one thing to be done," said Flambeau, "whether

is

belongs to this world or the other,

I

must go down and

talk to

my

friend."

They descended,

passing the

man

with the

who

pail,

again as-

no intruder pass, down to the commissionaire and the hovering chestnut man, who rigidly reasserted their own watchfulness. But when Angus looked round for his fourth confirmation he could not see it, and called out with some nervousness, "Where is the severated that he had

let

policeman?" "I

sent

beg your pardon," said Father Brown; "that

him down

the road to investigate something

—

is

my

that

I

fault.

I

just

thought

just

worth investigating." "Well,

we want him back

man

the wretched

pretty soon," said

Angus

abruptly, "for

been murdered, but wiped

upstairs has not only

out."

"How?" asked

the priest.

"Father," said Flambeau, after a pause, "upon it is

more

in your

the house, but supernatural,

I

department than mine.

—Smythe

is

gone, as

As he spoke they were came round came straight up to Brown. blue policeman

"You're right,

sir,"

all

the

if

stolen by the

soul

comer of the

I

believe

has entered

fairies. If

checked by an unusual

he panted, "they've

Smythe's body in the canal

my

No friend or foe

that

is

sight; the big

crescent, running.

just

not

He

found poor Mr.

down below."

Angus put his hand wildly to his head. "Did he run down and drown himself?" he asked. "He never came down, I'll swear," said the constable, "and he wasn't drowned either, for he died of a great stab over the heart."

"

152

G.

"And

saw no one enter?"

yet you

"Let us walk

down

As they reached

the road a

if

I

1

astonished.

was any other coloured sack, the case must begin

if it

over again," said Father Brown; "but

"I

in a grave voice.

the priest.

forgot to ask the policeman something.

brown sack?" asked Angus,

a light

"Because

if it

was a

light

brown

sack,

why,

finished."

is

am pleased

begun, so

Flambeau

they found a light brown sack."

"Why

the case

said

little," said

the other end of the crescent he observed

abruptly, "Stupid of me!

wonder

CHESTERTON

K.

far as

"You must

I

to hear it," said

am

tell

Angus with hearty

irony. "It hasn't

concerned.

us

all

about

Flambeau with a strange heavy

it," said

simplicity, like a child.

Unconsciously they were walking with quickening steps down the long sweep of road on the other side of the high crescent. Father Brown leading briskly, though in silence.

touching vagueness, "Well,

Vm

At

last

he said with an almost

afraid you'll think

it

so prosy.

We

always begin at the abstract end of things, and you can't begin this story

anywhere

else.

—

say?

"Have you ever noticed this that people never answer what you They answer what you mean or what they think you mean.

Suppose one lady says to another

—

in a country house,

'Is

anybody staying

with you?' the lady doesn't answer Tes; the butler, the three footmen, the parlourmaid, and so on,' though the parlourmaid

may be

room, or the butler behind her chair. She says There

nobody staying

with

us,'

meaning nobody of the

inquiring into an epidemic asks,

the lady will

language

is

remember the

sort

you mean. But suppose a doctor

'Who

butler,

is

is

staying in the house?' then

parlourmaid, and the

used like that; you never get a question answered

even when you get

it

answered

truly.

in the

When

rest.

All

literally,

those four quite honest

no man had gone into the Mansions, they did not really mean that no man had gone into them. They meant no man whom they could suspect of being your man. A man did go into the house,

men

said that

and did come out of

it,

but they never noticed him."

"An invisible man?" inquired Angus, raising his "A mentally invisible man," said Father Brown.

red eyebrows.

A minute or two after he resumed in the same unassuming voice, like a

man,

man until

thinking his way. "Of course you can't think of such a

you do think of him. That's where

his cleverness

comes

MAN

THE INVISIBLE in.

But

153

came to think of him through two or three httle things in Angus told us. First, there was the fact that this Welkin

I

the tale Mr.

went

for long walks.

on the window. young lady said

And

—

added

And

then there was the vast

then, most of

"she thought they were true.

movement

when

somebody

She

in a street

can't be quite alone in a

she starts reading a letter just received. There must be

he must be mentally

pretty near her;

"Why

of the Scotchman's head;

A person cant be quite alone

a second before she receives a letter. street

of stamp paper

things that couldn't be true. Don't get annoyed," he

noting a sudden

hastily,

lot

there were the two things the

all,

invisible."

must there be somebody near her?" asked Angus.

"Because," said Father Brown, "barring carrier-pigeons, somebody

must have brought her the

"Do you Welkin

really

mean

letter."

to say," asked Flambeau, with energy, "that

carried his rival's letters to his lady?"

"Yes," said the priest. "Welkin carried his lady.

You "Oh,

is

I

rival's letters to his

he had to."

see,

can't stand

What

this fellow?

much more of this," exploded Flambeau. "Who What is the usual get-up of a

does he look like?

mentally invisible man?" "Fie

is

dressed rather handsomely in red, blue and gold," replied

the priest promptly with precision, "and in this striking, and even

showy, costume he entered Himylaya Mansions under eight eyes;

he

killed

Smythe

in cold blood,

again carrying the dead body

"Reverend or

am

sir," cried

in his

human

and came down into the

— arms

Angus, standing

still,

street

"are you raving

mad,

I?"

"You

mad,"

said

Brown, "only a

have not noticed such a

man

as this, for

He

are not

little

unobservant.

You

example."

took three quick strides forward, and put his hand on the

shoulder of an ordinary passing postman

unnoticed under the shade of the

"Nobody ever

who had

bustled by

them

trees.

somehow," he said thoughtfully; other men, and even carry large bags where

notices postmen

"yet they have passions like

a small corpse can be stowed quite easily."

The postman,

instead of turning naturally, had ducked and tum-

bled against the garden fence.

He was

a lean fair-bearded

man

of very

ordinary appearance, but as he turned an alarmed face over his shoulder, all three

men

were fixed with an almost fiendish squint.

54

G.

Flambeau went back

many

with

CHESTERTON

to his sabres, purple rugs

things to attend to.

at the shop,

K.

whom

John that

and Persian

cat,

having

TumbuU Angus went back to the lady imprudent young man contrives to be

extremely comfortable. But Father Brown walked those snow-covered hills

under the

said to

stars for

each other

will

many hours with

never be known.

a murderer, and

what they

eusAN euspdi (IBK-IIMO

Susan Glaspell, Iowa.

Her

fiction writer

and playwright, was born

in

Davenport,

desire to portray in her art the special characteristics of

America's Midwest places her

among

the local color writers of the late

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Though she stopped writing short stories by 1922, 5

March 1917,

"A

Jury of

Her

Peers," published in Every week,

reveals her unsentimental approach to local color writ-

The

ing as well as the period's feminist concerns. in dramatic

form

as the

one-act play

Trifles,

story appeared

produced

in 1917,

was based on an actual case Glaspell covered while working nalist in

"A

and

as a jour-

Des Moines.

Jury of

tection,

first

Her Peers"

coming

as

it

reflects a feminist

approach to crime and de-

does from a period in which women's legal rights,

including the right to serve

on

juries,

were

still

only partially recog-

nized. Glaspell emphasizes not only the limitations of "official" de-

tection (which dismisses

women's concerns

as "trifles") but also the

psychological aspects of the process by which the two tives" resolve the case, ranging

from their

own

women

sympathy,

"detec-

guilt,

and

resentment to their grasp of the extenuating circumstances of the murder.

A JURY or HIR

When

Martha Hale opened the storm-door and got a cut of the north

wind, she ran back for her big woolen that round her head her eye It

PIS

made

As

scarf.

she hurriedly

wound

a scandalized sweep of her kitchen.

was no ordinary thing that called her away

—

it

was probably farther

from ordinary than anything that had ever happened in Dickson

County. But what her eye took in was that her kitchen was in no shape for leaving: her bread

and half

all

ready for mixing, half the flour sifted

unsifted.

She hated

to see things half done; but she

town stopped

the team from

came running

to get

in to say his wife

had been

at that

Mr. Hale, and then the

when sheriff

wished Mrs. Hale would come too

adding, with a grin, that he guessed she was getting scarey and wanted

another it

woman

along.

So she had dropped everything

right

where

was.

"Martha!"

now came

her husband's impatient voice. "Don't keep

folks waiting out here in the cold."

She again opened the storm-door, and this time joined the three men and the one woman waiting for her in the big two-seated buggy. After she had the robes tucked around her she took another look at the woman who sat beside her on the back seat. She had met Mrs. Peters the year before at the county fair, and the thing she remembered about her was that she didn't seem like a sheriff's wife. She was small and thin and didn't have a strong voice. Mrs. Gorman, sheriff's wife before Gorman went out and Peters came in, had a voice that somehow seemed

to be backing

up the law with every word. But

didn't look like a sheriff's wife, Peters

made

it

if

Mrs. Peters

up in looking

like a

— SUSAN GLASPELL

158

He was

sheriff.

—a

sheriff

man who could who was

to a dot the kind of

man

heavy

with the law-abiding,

with a big voice, as

if

to

make

it

plain that he

get himself elected particularly genial

knew

the difference

And right there it came into this man who was so pleasant and

between criminals and non-criminals. Mrs. Hale's mind, with a stab, that lively

with

"The

all

of

them was going

to the Wrights'

now

as a sheriff.

country's not very pleasant this time of year," Mrs. Peters

at last ventured,

as

if

she

felt

they ought to be talking as well as

the men.

Mrs. Hale scarcely finished her reply, for they had gone up a hill

and could see the Wright place now, and seeing

her feel like talking. It

had always been

and the poplar were looking

at

It

a

trees it

it

little

make

did not

looked very lonesome this cold March morning.

lonesome-looking place.

around

it

It

was down in a hollow,

were lonesome-looking

trees.

The men

and talking about what had happened. The county

attorney was bending to one side of the buggy, and kept looking steadily at the place as they

drew up

to

it.

"I'm glad you came with me," Mrs. Peters said nervously, as the

two

women

were about to follow the

men

in

through the kitchen door.

Even after she had her foot on the door-step, her hand on the knob, Martha Hale had a moment of feeling she could not cross the threshold. And the reason it seemed she couldn't cross it now was simply because she hadn't crossed it before. Time and time again it had been in her mind, "I ought to go over and see Minnie Foster" she still thought of her as Minnie Foster, though for twenty years she had been Mrs. Wright. And then there was always something to do and Minnie Foster would go from her mind. But now she could come. The men went over to the stove. The women stood close together by the door. Young Henderson, the county attorney, turned around and said, "Come up to the fire, ladies."

—

Mrs. Peters took a step forward, then stopped. "I'm not

cold,"

she said.

And

so the

two

women

much as looking around The men talked for sheriff

had sent

his

stood by the door, at

a minute about

what a good thing

deputy out that morning to make a

outer coat, and leaned his hands to

mark the beginning of

he said in a

not even so

the kitchen.

and then Sheriff Peters stepped back from the

seemed

first

stove,

it

was the

for

them,

unbuttoned

his

way that "Now, Mr. Hale," we move things about,

on the kitchen

official business.

sort of semi-official voice, "before

fire

table in a

A JURY OF HER you

Mr. Henderson

tell

just

what

it

PEERS

159

was you saw when you came here

yesterday morning."

The county

attorney was looking around the kitchen.

"By the way," he to the

sheriff.

said,

"Are things

"has anything been moved?"

you

just as

left

them

He

turned

yesterday?"

Peters looked from cupboard to sink; from that to a small

rocker a

little

"It's just

one

to

worn

side of the kitchen table.

the same."

"Somebody should have been

here yesterday," said the county

left

attorney.

"Oh

—

yesterday," returned the sheriff, with a

more than he could bear

yesterday having been

had let

to send

me

Frank to Morris Center

you,

tell

I

Omaha

back from

my hands

had

little

to think

gesture as of of.

"When

man who went

for that

full yesterday.

by to-day, George, and

I

—

crazy

knew you could

as long as

I

I

get

went over

everything here myself

"Well, Mr. Hale," said the county attorney, in a way of letting

what was

past

and gone

go, "tell just

what happened when you came

here yesterday morning." Mrs. Hale,

still

leaning against the door, had that sinking feeling

of the mother whose child

is

about to speak a piece. Lewis often

wandered along and got things mixed up would

tell this

would

just

straight

make

and

plain,

in a story.

things harder for Minnie Foster.

—

once, and she noticed that he looked queer

kitchen and having to

made him almost

tell

She hoped he

and not say unnecessary things that as

He if

didn't begin at

standing in that

what he had seen there yesterday morning

sick.

"Yes, Mr. Hale?" the county attorney reminded.

"Harry and

I

had

started to

town with a load of potatoes," Mrs.

Hale's husband began.

Harry was Mrs. Hale's oldest boy.

He

wasn't with

the very good reason that those potatoes never got to

and he was taking them

this

tell

home when come over to the

morning, so he hadn't been

the sheriff stopped to say he wanted Mr. Hale to

Wright place and

them now, for town yesterday

the county attorney his story there, where he

it all out. With all Mrs. Hale's other emotions came the maybe Harry wasn't dressed warm enough they hadn't any of them realized how that north wind did bite. "We come along this road," Hale was going on, with a motion of his hand to the road over which they had just come, "and as we

could point fear that

—

—

"

SUSAN GLASPELL

160 got in sight of the house

John Wright

says to Harry, 'I'm goin' to see

I

You

to take a telephone.'

derson, "unless

can get somebody to go

I

out this branch road except for a price

about

it

anyway, and

talked himself. But

house and talked about

—though

to say

wife wanted

Now,

—

it

well,

1

made much

there he was!

me

—

much

know about

guess you

all

if

I

went

Harry that that was what

same time that

— I

know

didn't

John saying things he didn't need

tried to catch her husband's eye,

to the

the women-folks

lonesome stretch of road

difference to

—

Wright

saying folks talked too

thought maybe

I

come

they won't

can't pay. I'd spoke to

off,

in this

said to

said at the

I

he explained to Hen-

with

before his wife, and said

and that

liked the telephones,

be a good thing

in

he asked was peace and quiet

all

how much he

Hale

me

once before; but he put

/

see,"

can't get

if I

I

it

would

was going

what

as

his

to say. Mrs.

but fortunately the county

attorney interrupted with: "Let's talk about that a little later, Mr. Hale.

about that, but I'm anxious

when you

now

do want

I

to talk

what happened

to get along to just

got here."

When

he began

"I didn't see or

this time,

it

was very deliberately and

hear anything.

knocked

I

at the door.

carefully:

And

still

—

quiet inside. I knew they must be up it was past eight So I knocked again, louder, and I thought I heard somebody I'm not sure yet. But I opened the door say 'Come in.' I wasn't sure jerking toward the door by which the two women this door," a hand it

was

all

o'clock.

—

stood, "and there, in that rocker"

—pointing

Every one in the kitchen looked Hale's

mind

to

it

—

"sat Mrs.

Wright."

came

into Mrs.

at the rocker. It

that that rocker didn't look in the least like

— the Minnie Foster of twenty

Foster

years before.

It

Minnie

was a dingy red,

with wooden rungs up the back, and the middle rung was gone, and the chair sagged to one side.

—look?" the county attorney was "Well," Hale, "she looked— queer." "How do you mean— queer?" "How

did she

inquiring.

said

As he asked

it

he took out a note-book and pencil. Mrs. Hale

did not like the sight of that pencil. She kept her eye fixed on her

husband, as

if

to

keep him from saying unnecessary things that would

go into that note-book and make trouble.

Hale did speak guardedly, "Well, as

kind of

if

she didn't

— done up."

as

if

the pencil had affected

know what

him

she was going to do next.

too.

And

A JURY OF HER

"How

And

don't think she minded

I

attention.

she said,

"Well, or to said:

'I

"I

says

I

can't

I

She

didn't

cold, ain't

me

to

come up

it?'

to the stove,

And

not even lookin' at me.

just set there,

she

— laughed.

I

guess you would call

thought of Harry and the team outside, so see John?' 'No,' says she

Then

I.

It's

so

I

to see John.'

"And then 'Can

or other.

pleatin' at her apron.

was surprised. She didn't ask

I

want

—and went on

— one way

Mrs. Wright?

said, *Ho' do,

I

'Is it?'

down, but

sit

161

did she seem to feel about your coming?"

"Why,

much

pay

PEERS

—kind of

I

said, a little sharp,

I

'he's

he home?'

home.' 'Then why

asked her, out of patience with her now.

he's dead.' says she, just as quiet

apron. 'Dead?' says

a laugh.

dull like. 'Ain't

she looked at me. 'Yes,' says she,

see him?'

it

like

I,

and

dull

—and

'Cause

'

to pleatin' her

fell

you do when you can't take in what you've

heard.

"She back and "

nodded her head, not getting

just

a bit excited, but rockin'

forth.

'Why

"She

—where

is

he?' says

pointed upstairs

just

not knowing what to

I,

—

like

this"

—

say.

room

pointing to the

above. "I got up, I

—

didn't

with the idea of going up there myself. By

know what

to do.

'Why, what did he die "

I

time

this

walked from there to here; then

I

says:

of?'

'He died of a rope around his neck,' says she; and

just

went on

pleatin' at her apron."

Hale stopped speaking, and stood staring were

still

Nobody

woman who had

seeing the

spoke;

sat there the

was

it

morning

"And what

as

if

at the rocker, as

morning

sat there the

every one were seeing the

if

he

before.

woman who had

before.

did you do then?" the county attorney at

broke

last

the silence. "I

went out and called Harry.

got Harry in, and

"There he was "I

think

—

I'd

we went

I

thought

lying over the

—need

my

help.

I

rather have you go into that upstairs," the county it all

out. Just

go on

rest of the story."

"Well,

He

might

—

attorney interrupted, "where you can point

with the

I

upstairs." His voice fell almost to a whisper.

first

thought was to get that rope

off.

It

now

—

looked

stopped, his face twitching.

"But Harry, he went up to him, and he

said, 'No, he's

dead

all

SUSAN GLASPELL

162

and we'd better not touch anything.' So we went downstairs. still sitting that same way. 'Has anybody been notified?'

right,

"She was 1

asked. 'No,' says she, unconcerned. "

'Who

did

He

Mrs. Wright?' said Harry.

this,

and she stopped

like,

pleatin' at her apron.

said

it

business-

don't know,' she says.

*I

'You don't knowV says Harry. 'Weren't you sleepin' in the bed with him?'

'Yes,' says she, 'but

was on the

I

'Somebody slipped a

inside.'

rope round his neck and strangled him, and you didn't wake up?' says Harry.

didn't

'1

"We may after a

wake

up,' she said after

have looked

minute she

said,

as

if

we

him.

how

didn't see

that could be, for

sleep sound.'

'I

"Harry was going to ask her more questions, but

1 said maybe that maybe we ought to let her tell her story first to the sheriff. So Harry went fast as he could over to High

weren't our business; the coroner or

— the

Road

where

Rivers' place,

there's a telephone."

"And what did she do when she knew you had gone for the coroner?" The attorney got his pencil in his hand all ready for writing. "She moved from that chair to this one over here" Hale pointed

—"and

to a small chair in the corner

together and looking down. conversation, so a telephone;

and looked

At

said

1

and

at

me

1

got a feeling that

had come

1

—

just sat there

in to see

if

at that she started to laugh,

—

I

with her hands held

ought to make some

John wanted to put in and then she stopped

scared."

man who was

the sound of a moving pencil the

telling the

story looked up. "1

to say

—maybe

dunno was.

it

you, Mr. Peters, and so

He

wasn't scared," he hastened; "I wouldn't like

it

Soon Harry 1

got back, and then Dr. Lloyd came, and

said that last with relief,

one moved a

little.

"I guess we'll

all

1

know

and moved

a

little, as if

guess that's

The county go upstairs

that you don't."

relaxing. Every

attorney walked toward the stair door.

first

—then out

to the

bam and

around

there."

He

paused and looked around the kitchen.

"You're convinced there was nothing important here?" he asked the

sheriff.

The

"Nothing that would

sheriff too

looked

all

—point

to

around, as

any motive?"

if

"Nothing here but kitchen things," he for the insignificance of

The county

to re-convince himself. said,

with a

little

laugh

kitchen things.

attorney was looking at the cupboard

—

a peculiar.

A JURY OF HER

PEERS

163

ungainly structure, half closet and half cupboard, the upper part of

it

being built in the wall, and the lower part just the old-fashioned kitchen

As

cupboard.

if its

queerness attracted him, he got a chair and opened

the upper part and looked

moment he drew

After a

in.

his

hand away

sticky.

"Here's a nice mess," he said resentfully.

The two women had drawn

nearer,

and now the

sheriff's wife

spoke.

"Oh

—her

fruit,"

she said, looking to Mrs. Hale for sympathetic

understanding. She turned back to the county attorney and explained:

"She worried about that when the

fire

would go out and her

it

jars

turned so cold

She

last night.

said

might burst."

Mrs. Peters's husband broke into a laugh.

"Well, can you beat the

women! Held

for

murder, and worrying

about her preserves!"

The young

attorney set his

"I guess before

more

serious

lips.

may have something

we're through with her she

than preserves to worry about."

"Oh, well,"

said Mrs. Hale's husband, with good-natured supe-

"women are used to worrying over trifles." The two women moved a little closer together. Neither of them spoke. The county attorney seemed suddenly to remember his manriority,

ners

—and think of "And

all

his future.

yet," said he, with the gallantry of a

young

politician, "for

their worries,

what would we do without the

ladies?"

The women

did not speak, did not unbend.

He went

and began washing towel

—whirled

turned to wipe them on the roller

for a cleaner place.

it

"Dirty towels!

He

He

his hands.

to the sink

Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?" some dirty pans under the sink.

kicked his foot against

"There's a great deal of work to be done on a farm," said Mrs.

Hale

stiffly.

—

—

are

"To be sure. And yet" with a little bow to her "1 know some Dickson County farm-houses that do not have such

towels."

He

gave

it

a pull to expose

"Those towels get as clean as they

"Ah,

its full

dirty awful quick.

length again.

Men's hands

aren't always

might be."

loyal to your sex,

I

see," he laughed.

He

stopped and gave

her a keen look. "But you and Mrs. Wright were neighbors.

you were

there roller

friends, too."

1

suppose

SUSAN GLASPELL

164

Martha Hale shook her head. enough of her of late years. more than a year." "And why was that? You didn't like her?" "I've seen little

house

—

not been in

I've

this

it's

her well enough," she replied with

"I liked

have their hands

full,

Mr. Henderson.

spirit.

And then"

"Farmers' wives

—She looked around

the kitchen.

"Yes?" he encouraged. "It

never seemed a very cheerful place," said she, more to herself

than to him.

"No," he agreed;

think any one would call it cheerful. home-making instinct." "Well, I don't know as Wright had, either," she muttered. "You mean they didn't get on very well?" he was quick to ask. "I don't

I

shouldn't say she had the

"No;

I

don't

she turned a

mean

little

anything," she answered, with decision.

away from him, she added: "But

I

place would be any the cheerfuler for John Wright's bein' in "I'd like to talk to

you about that a

little later,

As

don't think a it."

Mrs. Hale," he

"I'm anxious to get the lay of things upstairs now."

said.

He moved "I

toward the

stair door,

suppose anything Mrs. Peters does'll be

inquired.

"She was

few

things.

little

The county "Yes

—Mrs.

who was not sheriff's wife.

to take in

We

left in

some clothes

among

all

for her,

right?" the sheriff

you know

women whom

Mrs. Peters, the big farmer

"Of course Mrs.

Peters

is

—and

Mr. Hale rubbed his face

No

woman who

one of us," he

"And keep

anything that might be of use. a clue to the motive

they were

the kitchen things.

Peters," he said, his glance resting

of entrusting responsibility.

—and a

such a hurry yesterday."

attorney looked at the two

leaving alone there

upon

followed by the two men.

on the woman

stood behind the said, in a

manner

your eye out, Mrs. Peters, for

telling;

you

that's the thing

women might come we need." show man

after the fashion of a

getting

ready for a pleasantry.

"But would the

he

said;

through the

first

women know

a clue

and, having delivered himself of

if

they did

this,

come upon

it?"

he followed the others

stair door.

The women stood motionless and silent, listening to in the room above them.

upon the stairs, then Then, as if releasing

the footsteps,

herself from something strange, Mrs. Hale

A JURY OF HER

PEERS

165

began to arrange the attorney's disdainful "I'd

dirty pans under the sink, which the county push of the foot had deranged.

hate to have

men comin'

into

my kitchen,"

she said testily

"snoopin' round and criticizin'." ''0{ course

it's no more than their duty," manner of timid acquiescence.

in her

"Duty's

deputy

all

right," replied Mrs.

sheriff that

come out

to

Hale

make the

said the sheriff's wife,

"but

bluffly;

fire

of this on." She gave the roller towel a pull.

I

guess that

might have got a

"Wish

I'd

little

thought of that

Seems mean to talk about her for not having things slicked up, when she had to come away in such a hurry." She looked around the kitchen. Certainly it was not "slicked up." Her eye was held by a bucket of sugar on a low shelf. The cover was off the wooden bucket, and beside it was a paper bag half full. sooner!

—

moved toward

Mrs. Hale

"She was putting

it.

—slowly.

this in here," she said to herself

—

She thought of the flour in her kitchen at home half sifted, half not sifted. She had been interrupted, and had left things half done. What had interrupted Minnie Foster? Why had that work been left half done? She made a move as if to finish it, unfinished things always

— —and then she glanced around and saw Mrs. was watching her— and she want Mrs. she had got of work begun and then— some reason—not bothered her,

that

Peters to get that feeling

didn't

finished.

for

"It's

shame about her

a

Peters

she said, and walked toward the

fruit,"

cupboard that the county attorney had opened, and got on the chair,

murmuring: It

"I

wonder

right," she said at last.

too."

She looked

With wiped

if it's all

gone."

was a sorry enough looking

off

She held

it

again. "I declare

a sigh, she got

sight, but "Here's

toward the I

down from

light.

one

"This

is

that's all

cherries,

believe that's the only one."

the chair, went to the sink, and

the bottle.

"She'll feel awful bad, after all her hard

work

in the hot weather.

remember the afternoon I put up my cherries last summer." She set the bottle on the table, and, with another sigh, started to sit down in the rocker. But she did not sit down. Something kept

I

her from sitting

down

in that chair.

She straightened

and, half turned away, stood looking at

it,

seeing the

—stepped back, woman who

sat

there "pleatin' at her apron."

The

thin voice of the sheriff's wife broke in upon her: "I must

.

SUSAN GLASPELL

166

be getting those things from the front room closet." She opened the

door into the other room, started

in,

stepped back. "You coming with

—you could help me

me, Mrs. Hale?" she asked nervously. "You

get

them."

They were soon back was not a thing to linger

"My!"

—the

room

stark coldness of that shut-up

in.

said Mrs. Peters, dropping the things

on the

table

and

hurrying to the stove.

Mrs. Hale stood examining the clothes the

woman who was being

detained in town had said she wanted.

"Wright was close!" she exclaimed, holding up a shabby black

much making

maybe that's do her part; and then, you don't enjoy things when you feel shabby. She used when she was Minnie Foster, to wear pretty clothes and be lively one of the town girls, singing in the choir. But that oh, that was bore the marks of

skirt that

why

she kept so

much

to herself.

I

over. "I think

s'pose she felt she couldn't

—

—

twenty years ago."

With

a carefulness in

which there was something tender, she

them at one comer of the table. She looked at Mrs. Peters, and there was something in the other woman's look that irritated her.

folded the shabby clothes and piled

"She don't care," she to her

Then at

said to herself.

"Much

difference

it

makes

whether Minnie Foster had pretty clothes when she was a

girl."

she looked again, and she wasn't so sure; in fact, she hadn't

any time been perfectly sure about Mrs. Peters. She had that shrink-

ing manner, and yet her eyes looked as

if

they could see a long way

into things.

you was to take in?" asked Mrs. Hale.

"This

all

"No,"

said the sheriff's wife; "she said she

wanted an apron. Funny

thing to want," she ventured in her nervous

not to

much

to get

make her

She

feel

you

dirty in jail,

more

way, "for there's I

natural. If you're used to wearing

said they were in the

they are.

little

goodness knows. But

bottom drawer of

this

suppose just

an apron

cupboard. Yes

—

—here

And then her little shawl that always hung on the stair door."

She took the small gray shawl from behind the door leading upstairs, and stood a minute looking at it. Suddenly Mrs. Hale took a quick step toward the other woman. "Mrs. Peters!" "Yes, Mrs. Hale?"

"Do you think

she

— did

it?"

A JURY OF HER

A frightened "Oh,

167

look blurred the other things in Mrs. Peters's eyes.

don't know," she said, in a voice that seemed to shrink

I

away from the "Well, for

PEERS

subject.

don't think she did," affirmed Mrs. Hale stoutly. "Asking

1

an apron, and her

shawl. Worryin' about her fruit."

little

—

"Mr. Peters says

."

room above; she on in a lowered voice: "Mr. Peters Mr. Henderson is awful sarcastic in a speech,

Footsteps were heard in the

stopped, looked up, then went says

and

—

it

looks bad for her.

make fun

he's going to

For a

moment

of her saying she didn't

—wake up."

Mrs. Hale had no answer. Then, "Well,

John Wright didn't wake up

—when they was

1

guess

rope under

slippin' that

his neck," she muttered.

"No, a

strange, "

it's

—funny way

to kill a

She began

breathed Mrs. Peters. "They think

was such

sound of the laugh, abruptly stopped.

to laugh; at the

"That's just

it

man."

what Mr. Hale

said," said Mrs. Hale, in a resolutely

natural voice. "There was a gun in the house.

He

says that's

what he

can't understand."

"Mr. Henderson

Something

case was a motive.

"Well, "I

I

coming

said,

to

what was needed

out, that

— or sudden

show anger

It

was

as

if

her mind tripped on something. Her eye

was caught by a dish-towel in the middle of the kitchen

moved toward

half messy.

feeling."

don't see any signs of anger around here," said Mrs. Hale.

don't—" She stopped.

she

for the

the table.

Her eyes made

One

half of

table.

Slowly

was wiped clean, the other

it

a slow, almost unwilling turn to the bucket

of sugar and the half empty bag beside

— and

Things begun

it.

not

finished.

After a

moment

she stepped back, and said, in that

manner of

releasing herself:

"Wonder how

they're finding things upstairs?

more red up up

little

gathered,

—

"it

there.

You know,"

I

hope she had

—she paused,

to get her

own house

and feeling

to turn against her!"

"But, Mrs. Hale," said the sheriff's wife, "the law "I s'pose 'tis,"

She turned

much

a

seems kind of sneaking; locking her up in town and

coming out here

being

it

answered Mrs. Hale

to the stove, saying

to brag of.

is

the law."

shortly.

something about that

She worked with

it

a minute,

fire

not

and when she

straightened up she said aggressively:

"The law

is

—and

the law

a bad stove

is

a

bad stove. How'd you

.

SUSAN GLASPELL

68

—

like to cook on this?" pointing with the poker to the broken Uning. She opened the oven door and started to express her opinion of the

oven; but she was swept into her

would mean, year

after year, to

own

thoughts, thinking of what

it

have that stove to wrestle with. The

—and the thought

thought of Minnie Foster trying to bake in that oven

—

of her never going over to see Minnie Foster

She was startled by hearing Mrs. Peters say: "A person gets disand loses heart." The sheriff's wife had looked from the stove to the sink to the of water which had been carried in from outside. The two women

couraged

pail

—

—

stood there silent, above

footsteps of the men who woman who had worked in

them the

looking for evidence against the

were that

kitchen. That look of seeing into things, of seeing through a thing to

something

else,

was in the eyes of the

Hale next spoke to her,

it

sheriff's wife

now.

When

was gently:

"Better loosen up your things, Mrs, Peters. We'll not feel

when we go

Mrs.

them

out."

Mrs. Peters went to the back of the room to hang up the fur tippet

A

she was wearing.

moment

later she

exclaimed,

"Why, she was

piecing a quilt," and held up a large sewing basket piled high with quilt pieces.

Mrs. Hale spread some of the blocks on the table. "It's

log-cabin pattern," she said, putting several of them together.

"Pretty, isn't it?"

They were so engaged with the quilt that they did not hear the footsteps on the stairs. Just as the stair door opened Mrs. Hale was saying:

"Do you suppose she was going The sheriff threw up his hands.

to quilt

it

or just knot it?"

"They wonder whether she was going to quilt it or just knot it!" for the ways of women, a warming of hands

There was a laugh

over the stove, and then the county attorney said briskly: "Well, "I

let's

go right out to the

bam and

get that cleared up."

don't see as there's anything so strange," Mrs. Hale said re-

sentfully, after the outside

taking up our time with get the evidence.

I

door had closed on the three

little

men

things while we're waiting for

don't see as

it's

—"our

them

to

anything to laugh about."

"Of course they've got awful important

things

on

their minds,"

said the sheriff's wife apologetically.

They returned

to

an inspection of the blocks

for the quilt. Mrs.

A JURY OF HER Hale was looking

at the fine,

PEERS

even sewing, and preoccupied with

woman who had done

thoughts of the

169

that sewing,

when

she heard

the sheriff's wife say, in a queer tone:

"Why, look

at this

one."

She turned to take the block held out to her. "The sewing," said Mrs. Peters, in a troubled way. "All the rest of them have been so nice and even but this one. Why, it looks as if she didn't know what she was about!" Their eyes met something flashed to life, passed between them;

— —

—

then, as

A

with an

if

moment

effort,

they seemed to pull away from each other.

Mrs. Hale sat there, her hands folded over that sewing

which was

so unlike all the rest of the sewing.

Then

she had pulled a

knot and drawn the threads.

"Oh, what

are

you doing, Mrs. Hale?" asked the

sheriff's wife,

startled.

"Just pulling out a stitch or

two

that's

not sewed very good," said

Mrs. Hale mildly. "I

don't think

we ought

to touch things," Mrs. Peters said, a

little

helplessly. "I'll just

finish

up

this

end," answered Mrs. Hale,

still

in that

mild, matter-of-fact fashion.

She threaded good. For a

little

a needle

and

started to replace

bad sewing with

while she sewed in silence. Then, in that thin, timid

voice, she heard:

"Mrs. Hale!" "Yes, Mrs. Peters?"

"What do you suppose "Oh,

I

important enough to spend nervous.

I

she was so

—nervous about?"

don't know," said Mrs. Hale, as

much

time on.

"I

if

dismissing a thing not

don't

sew awful queer sometimes when I'm

She cut Mrs. Peters.

know

as she

was

just tired."

and out of the corner of her eye looked up at The small, lean face of the sheriff's wife seemed to have a thread,

tightened up. Her eyes had that look of peering into something. But the next

moment

"Well,

sooner than

and

I

she moved, and said in her thin, indecisive way: must get those clothes wrapped. They may be through

we

think.

I

wonder where

I

could find a piece of paper

string."

"In that cupboard, maybe," suggested Mrs. Hale, after a glance

around.

— SUSAN GLASPELL

170

One

piece of the crazy sewing remained unripped. Mrs. Peters's back

turned,

Martha Hale now

scrutinized that piece,

dainty, accurate sewing of the other blocks.

Holding

tling.

made her

block

this

woman who had

thoughts of the

it

with the

difference was star-

feel queer,

as

perhaps turned to

communicating themselves

herself were

compared

The

if

it

the distracted

to try

and quiet

to her.

Mrs. Peters's voice roused her. "Here's a bird-cage," she said. "Did she have a bird, Mrs. Hale?"

"Why,

I

know whether

don't

she did or not." She turned to look

at the

cage Mrs. Peters was holding up. "I've not been here in so

long."

She

cheap

"There was a

sighed.

—but

I

don't

know

as she

man round

last

year selling canaries

took one. Maybe she did. She used

to sing real pretty herself."

Mrs. Peters looked around the kitchen.

"Seems kind of funny

She half laughed an attempt to put up a barrier. "But she must have had one or why would she have a cage? I wonder what happened to it." to think of a bird here."

—

"I

suppose maybe the cat got

it,"

suggested Mrs. Hale, resuming

her sewing.

"No, she didn't have a

—being

have about

cats

my

cat. She's got that feeling

afraid of

them.

When

some people

they brought her to our real upset

and

me to take it out." "My sister Bessie was like that," laughed Mrs. Hale. The sheriff's wife did not reply. The silence made Mrs. Hale

turn

house yesterday,

cat got in the room,

and she was

asked

around. Mrs. Peters was examining the bird-cage.

"Look

at this door," she said slowly. "It's broke.

One

hinge has

been pulled apart." Mrs. Hale came nearer.

"Looks

Again

as

if

their

—

some one must have been rough with it." startled, questioning, apprehensive. For eyes met

—

moment neither spoke nor stirred. Then

a

Mrs. Hale, turning away, said

brusquely: "If they're going to find I

any evidence,

I

wish they'd be about

it.

don't like this place."

"But I'm awful glad you came with me, Mrs. Hale." Mrs. Peters put the bird-cage on the table and sat down. for

me

—

"It

would be lonesome

sitting here alone."

"Yes,

it

would, wouldn't

mined naturalness

it?"

in her voice.

agreed Mrs. Hale, a certain deter-

She picked up the sewing, but now

it

A JURY OF HER dropped in her

you what

when

lap,

and she murmured

do wish, Mrs. Peters.

I

she was here.

I

—

wish

I

PEERS

171

in a different voice:

wish

I

"But

I

tell

had come over sometimes

had."

I

"But of course you were awful busy, Mrs. Hale. Your house

—and

your children."

couldVe come," retorted Mrs. Hale

"I

—and —she looked around— never

because I"

weren't cheerful

it

that's

"I've

down

it's

it is,

but

in a hollow it's

and you don't

I

stayed away

"I

ought to have come.

I

Maybe because know what wish I had come over

liked this place.

see the road.

and always was.

a lonesome place,

Minnie Foster sometimes.

to see

shortly.

why

can see

now

— I

I

"

don't

She did not put

it

into words.

"Well, you mustn't reproach yourself," counseled Mrs. Peters.

"Somehow, we

just don't see

how

it is

with other folks

till

—something

comes up."

"Not having children makes a silence, "but

day

less

work," mused Mrs. Hale,

makes a quiet house

it

—and no company when he

did

—and Wright out

come

to

after

work

all

Did you know John

in.

Wright, Mrs. Peters?"

"Not to know him. I've seen him in town. They say he was a good man." "Yes good," conceded John Wright's neighbor grimly. "He didn't drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his

—

debts. But

he was a hard man, Mrs.

day with him

—

Peters. Just to pass the time of

."

She stopped, shivered a little. "Like a raw wind that fell upon the cage on the table before her, and she added, almost bitterly: "I should think she would've wanted

gets to the

bone." Her eye

a bird!" at the cage.

Suddenly she leaned forward, looking intently

what do you "I

went wrong with

after she said

women watched "You

didn't

know

it it

"But

it?"

don't know," returned Mrs. Peters; "unless

But

Both

s'pose

it

got sick and died."

she reached over and swung the broken door. as

if

somehow held by

—her?" Mrs. Hale

it.

asked, a gentler note in her

voice.

"Not "She

till

they brought her yesterday," said the

— come

to think of

it,

she was kind of like a bird herself.

Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and did

— change." That held her

sheriff's wife.

—

for a long time. Finally, as

fluttery.

if

How

—she

struck with a

happy

— SUSAN GLASPELL

172

thought and relieved to get back to everyday things, she exclaimed: "Tell you what, Mrs. Peters,

you?

why

don't you take the quilt in with

might take up her mind."

It

"Why,

I

think that's a real nice idea, Mrs. Hale," agreed the

come

she too were glad to

sheriff's wife, as if

into the atmosphere of

a simple kindness. "There couldn't possibly be any objection to that,

could there? in here

Now,

—and her

just

what

will

I

take?

I

wonder

if

her patches are

things."

They turned to the sewing basket. "Here's some red," said Mrs. Hale, bringing out a roll of cloth. Underneath that was a box. "Here, maybe her scissors are in here and her things." She held it up. "What a pretty box! I'll warrant that was something she had a long time ago when she was a girl." She held it in her hand a moment; then, with a little sigh,

—

opened

it.

Instantly her

hand went

to her nose.

"Why—!" Mrs. Peters drew nearer

—then turned away.

"There's something wrapped up in this piece of silk," faltered Mrs. Hale.

"This

isn't

her scissors," said Mrs. Peters in a shrinking voice.

Her hand not

Hale raised the piece of

steady, Mrs.

silk.

"Oh,

Mrs. Peters!" she cried. "It's—" Mrs. Peters bent closer. "It's

the bird," she whispered.

"But, Mrs. Peters!" cried Mrs. Hale. ''Look at at

neck!

its

It's all

—other

side

sheriff's wife

— look

neck

her.

again bent closer.

"Somebody wrung

its

neck," said she, in a voice that was slow

and deep.

And

Its

to.''

She held the box away from

The

it!

then again the eyes of the two

women met

—

this

time clung

together in a look of dawning comprehension, of growing horror.

Mrs. Peters looked from the dead bird to the broken door of the cage.

Again

their eyes met.

And

just

then there was a sound

at the outside

door.

Mrs. Hale slipped the box under the quilt pieces in the basket,

and sank into the chair before table.

The county

it.

Mrs. Peters stood holding to the

attorney and the sheriff

came

in

from outside.

"Well, ladies," said the county attorney, as one turning from

A JURY OF HER

"We

or knot it?"

it

think," began the sheriff's wife in a flurried voice, "that she

—knot

was going to

He was on

voice

173

"have you decided whether she was

serious things to little pleasantries,

going to quilt

PEERS

it."

too preoccupied to notice the change that

that

came

in her

last.

"Well, that's very interesting, I'm sure," he said tolerantly.

He

caught sight of the bird-cage. "Has the bird flown?"

"We

think the cat got

Mrs. Hale in a voice curiously

it," said

even.

He was

walking up and down, as

if

thinking something out.

he asked absently.

"Is there a cat?"

Mrs. Hale shot a look up at the

sheriff's wife.

"Well, not now/' said Mrs. Peters. "They're superstitious, you

know; they leave."

She sank

into her chair.

The county attorney did not heed having come in from the outside," he

her.

"No

sign at all of any

said to Peters, in the

own

go upstairs again and go over

would have

been some one who knew

it,

piece by piece.

just the

—

It

rope.

manner

Now

of continuing an interrupted conversation. "Their

one

to

let's

have

The stair door closed behind them and their voices were lost. The two women sat motionless, not looking at each other, but as

if

peering into something and at the same time holding back.

they spoke

but as

if

now

it

was

going to bury

"When I

it I

bird," said

was a

— there was—

a

slowly.

"She was

Mrs. Peters, under her breath,

boy took a hatchet, and before

"

She covered her

me back would have" I

"I

it.

Martha Hale, low and

girl," said

footsteps were heard,

Then

When

they were afraid of what they were saying,

in that pretty box."

could get there

held

if

they could not help saying

"She liked the

kitten

as

my

—

eyes

"my

before

face an instant. "If they hadn't

—she caught — looked "hurt him." herself,

upstairs

where

and finished weakly

they sat without speaking or moving.

wonder how

it

would seem," Mrs. Hale

—

at last

began, as

if

way over strange ground "never to have had any children around?" Her eyes made a slow sweep of the kitchen, as if seeing what that kitchen had meant through all the years. "No, Wright wouldn't "a thing that sang. She used to like the bird," she said after that

feeling her

—

sing.

He

killed that too."

Her voice

tightened.

"

"

"

SUSAN GLASPELL

74 Mrs. Peters ''0{ course

moved uneasily. we don't know who

killed the bird."

knew John Wright," was Mrs.

"I

"It

Hale's answer.

was an awful thing was done

Hale," said the

sheriff's wife. "Killing

in this

a

a thing round his neck that choked the

man life

house that night, Mrs. while he slept

—

slipping

out of him.

Mrs. Hale's hand went out to the bird-cage.

Choked the life out of him. know who killed him," whispered Mrs.

"His neck.

"We "We

don't

Peters wildly.

don't /cnoi^."

Mrs. Hale had not moved. "If there had been years and years of

—nothing, then a bird to sing to you,

the bird was

was

It

it

would be awful

— — still

after

still."

as

if

something within her not herself had spoken, and

found in Mrs. Peters something she did not know

it

as herself.

know what stillness is," she said, in a queer, monotonous voice. "When we homesteaded in Dakota, and my first baby died after he "I

—

—and me with no other then—

was two years old Mrs. Hale

"How

stirred.

soon do you suppose

they'll

be through looking for

evidence?"

know what stillness Then she too pulled

"I

way.

is,"

repeated Mrs. Peters, in just that same

back.

Mrs. Hale," she said in her tight "I

"The law has got little

to punish crime,

way.

wish you'd seen Minnie Foster," was the answer, "when she

wore a white dress with blue ribbons, and stood up there

in the choir

and sang."

The that

picture of that

girl for

twenty

girl,

years,

the fact that she had lived neighbor to

and had

let

her die for lack of

life,

was

suddenly more than she could bear.

come over here once in a while!" she cried. "That crime! That was a crime! Who's going to punish that?"

"Oh, was a

"We

I

wish I'd

mustn't take on," said Mrs. Peters, with a frightened look

toward the

stairs.

known she needed help! I tell you, it's queer, Mrs. Peters. We live close together, and we live far apart. We all go through the same things it's all just a different kind of the same thing! If it weren't why do you and I understand? Why do we know what we "I

might

—

know

this

'a'

—

minute?"

—

A JURY OF HER She dashed her hand

on the

"If

her!

was you

I

Tell her

ain't.

She

I

it's all

it

wouldn't

—

right

and choked

tell

of

all

her her

Here

it.

—she may never know whether

175

Then, seeing the

across her eyes.

reached for

table, she

PEERS

jar of fruit

out:

fruit

was gone! Tell her

—take

this in to

prove

it

to

it

was broke or not."

it

She turned away. Mrs. Peters reached out for the bottle of to take

—

it

as

if

fruit as if

she were glad

touching a familiar thing, having something to do,

could keep her from something

something to wrap the

fruit in,

She got

else.

up, looked about for

took a petticoat from the pile of clothes

she had brought from the front room, and nervously started winding that round the bottle.

"My!" she began,

men

all stirred

dead canary." She hurried over to

that.

—with—My, wouldn't they

Footsteps were heard

on the

would,"

they

up over a

"As

do with

"Maybe

good thing the

in a high, false voice, "it's a

couldn't hear us! Getting

if

little

thing like a

that could have anything

laugh?''

stairs.

muttered

Mrs.

Hale

—"maybe

they

wouldn't."

"No, Peters,"

said the

county attorney

incisively; "it's all perfectly

juries when it women. If there was some definite thing something to show. Something to make a story about. A thing that would connect up with this clumsy way of doing it." In a covert way Mrs. Hale looked at Mrs. Peters. Mrs. Peters was looking at her. Quickly they looked away from each other. The outer door opened and Mr. Hale came in.

clear,

except the reason for doing

comes

to

it.

But you know

—

"I've got the

team round now," he

said. "Pretty

cold out there."

"I'm going to stay here awhile by myself," the county attorney

suddenly announced. "You can send Frank out for me, can't you?" he asked the can't

do

sheriff. "I

want

to go over everything. I'm not satisfied

we

better.

Again, for one brief moment, the two women's eyes found one another.

The

sheriff came up to the table. "Did you want to see what Mrs. Peters was going to take in?"

The county "Oh,

I

picked out."

attorney picked up the apron.

He

laughed.

guess they're not very dangerous things the ladies have

1

SUSAN GLASPELL

76

Mrs. Hale's hand was on the sewing basket in which the box was concealed. She

felt that she ought to take her hand off the basket. She did not seem able to. He picked up one of the quilt blocks which she had piled on to cover the box. Her eyes felt like fire. She had a

feeling that

if

he took up the basket she would snatch

But he did not take

it

up.

With another

from him.

it

laugh, he turned

little

away, saying:

"No; Mrs. Peters doesn't need supervising. For that matter, a sheriff's wife

is

married to the law. Ever think of

it

that way, Mrs.

Peters?"

Mrs. Peters was standing beside the table. Mrs. Hale shot a look

up

at her; but she could

When

not see her

face. Mrs. Peters

had turned away.

she spoke, her voice was muffled.

—

"Not

just that

way," she

said.

"Married to the law!" chuckled Mrs. Peters's husband.

He moved

toward the door into the front room, and said to the county attorney:

want you

"1 just

to

come

in here a minute, George.

We ought

to

take a look at these windows."

"Oh

—windows,"

said the

county attorney

scoffingly.

"We'll be right out, Mr. Hale," said the sheriff to the farmer,

who was

waiting by the door.

still

Hale went to look

after the horses.

The sheriff followed the county the two for one moment

—

—

attorney into the other room. Again

women

were alone in that kitchen.

Martha Hale sprang other

up, her hands tight together, looking at that

woman, with whom

for the sheriff's wife

it

rested.

At

first

she could not see her eyes,

had not turned back since she turned away

now

that suggestion of being married to the law. But

her turn back. Her eyes

made her

moment when

a

met the eyes of the other woman.

they held each other in a steady, burning

look in which there was no evasion nor flinching. eyes pointed the

way

to the basket in

Then Martha

there and yet

Hale's

which was hidden the thing that

would make certain the conviction of the other woman

who was not

at

made

turn back. Slowly, unwillingly, Mrs.

Peters turned her head until her eyes

There was

Mrs. Hale

who had been

there with

—

that

them

all

woman through

the hour.

For a

With

moment

Mrs. Peters did not move.

And

then she did

it.

a rush forward, she threw back the quilt pieces, got the box,

tried to put

it

in her handbag.

It

was too

big.

Desperately she opened

A JURY OF HER it,

PEERS

177

started to take the bird out. But there she broke

touch the

bird.

She stood

—she could not

helpless, foolish.

There was the sound of a knob turning Hale snatched the box from the

Martha

in the inner door.

sheriff's wife,

and got

it

pocket

in the

of her big coat just as the sheriff and the county attorney

came back

into the kitchen.

"Well, Henry," said the county attorney facetiously, "at

found out that she was not going to is

it

you

call

it,

quilt

it.

She was going

ladies?"

Mrs. Hale's hand was against the pocket of her coat.

"We

call

it

—knot

it,

Mr. Henderson."

least

we

—what

to

(W-ISIil)

(Samuel) Dashiell

He

left

Hammett was born

in St. Mary's

County, Maryland.

school early to work as a newsboy, stevedore, and private

investigator for the Pinkerton Detective Agency. In the early 1920s

he began writing

stories

about the nameless Continental Op, an

He

vestigator for the Continental Detective Agency.

in-

wrote for pulp

magazines, particularly Black Mask, which then serialized his novels:

Red Harvest and The Dain Curse (both 1929). His most famous detective is

Sam

who became a prototype of the hard-boiled private He appears in The Maltese Falcon (1930) and in short

Spade,

investigator.

stories collected in

1944

as

The Adventures of Sam Spade. Hammett

was a master of the form that emphasized violence and suspense rather than ingeniously plotted crime. Most of his creative work was done by the mid- 1930s; he

later

wrote some screenplays and became involved

in leftist politics but suffered in his last decades aftereffect of a

"The House

World War

in

I

Hammett's

in abbreviated

classic novel.

describes as "wistful cynicism."

—

of realism.

fat,

and

form

much

a tone that Julian

The mundane

with the atmosphere of treachery, greed, and detective

health, an

The Maltese Falcon: rapid

action, constant violence, colloquial dialogue,

Symons

ill

lung injury.

Turk Street" foreshadows

that characterizes

from

middle-aged, and beleaguered

lust

setting contrasts

and the unheroic

—provides another touch

!

I had been told that the man for whom I was hunting lived in a certain Turk Street block, but my informant hadn't been able to give me his

house number. Thus

it

came about

that late one rainy afternoon

canvassing this certain block, ringing each that

went

and

bell,

reciting a

was

like this:

"I'm from the law office of Wellington and Berkeley. clients

I

myth

—an

elderly lady

—was thrown from the

One

of our

rear platform of a street

week and severely injured. Among those who witnessed the accident was a young man whose name we don't know. But we have been told that he lives in this neighborhood." Then I would describe the man 1 wanted, and wind up: "Do you know of anyone who looks

car last

like that?"

All

down one

side

block the answers were:

of the

"No,"

"No," "No." 1

crossed the street and started

"No." The second: "No." The

No one came I

rang again.

1

third.

The

to the door in answer to

had

ring. After a while,

first

woman opened

a

a very fragile

woman, with

old

my

side.

decided that no one was at home,

just

knob turned slowly and little

fourth.

The first The fifth-

on the other

little

old

house:

when

the

the door. She was

a piece of gray knitting in

one

hand, and faded eyes that twinkled pleasantly behind goldrimmed spectacles.

She wore

a

starched apron over a black dress.

stiffly

"Good evening," she said in a thin friendly voice. "1 hope you didn't mind waiting. 1 always have to peep out to see who's there before 1

—an old woman's

open the door

"Sorry to disturb you,"

I

timidity."

apologized. "But

—

"

DASHIELL

182

HAMMETT

"Won't you come in, please?" "No; I just want a little information. I won't take much time." "I wish you would come in," she said, and then added with mock severity, "I'm sure

my

tea

is

getting cold."

She took my damp hat and coat, and I followed her down a narrow hall to a dim room, where a man got up as we entered. He was old too, and stout, with a thin white beard that fell upon a white vest that was as stiffly starched as the woman's apron. "Thomas," the little fragile woman told him; "this is Mr.

—

"Tracy,"

said,

I

because that was the

residents of the block; but

have in

fifteen years.

Their name,

I

came

I

These

as

name

I

had given the other

when

near blushing

folks weren't

learned, was Quarre;

made

I

said

it

as

I

to be lied to.

and they were an

affectionate

him "Thomas" every time she spoke to him, rolling the name around in her mouth as if she liked the taste of it. He called her "my dear" just as frequently, and twice he got up to

old couple. She

called

adjust a cushion

more comfortably

I

had

to drink a

cookies before

Quarre made teeth, while car.

The

1

man rumbled I

little

spiced

Then

Mrs.

sympathetic clicking sounds with her tongue and

told about the elderly lady

I

and gave me a Finally

cup of tea with them and eat some

could get them to listen to a question.

little

old

to her frail back.

who had

in his beard that

it

fallen off a street

was "a damn shame,"

fat cigar.

got away from the accident, and described the

man

I

wanted.

"Thomas," Mrs. Quarre in the

house with the railing

The

said, "isn't that

the young

—the one who always

man who

lives

looks so worried?"

man stroked his snowy beard and pondered for a moment. my dear," he rumbled at last, "hasn't he got dark hair?"

old

"But,

She beamed upon her husband. "Thomas is so observant," she had forgotten; but the young man 1 spoke of does

said with pride. "1

have dark

hair, so

he couldn't be the one."

man then suggested that one who below might be my man. They discussed this one The

old

fore they decided that

gested another.

Thomas

They

he was too

tall

and too

discussed that one,

offered a candidate;

lived in the block at

some length be-

old. Mrs.

Quarre sug-

and voted against him.

he was weighed and discarded. They

chattered on.

Darkness

settled.

The

old

man

turned on a light in a

tall

lamp

THE HOUSE

The room was

a large one,

and bulky horsehair furniture of a generation get any information here; but

ago.

didn't expect to

I

was comfortable, and the cigar was a

I

good one. Time enough to go out into the

my

[83

upon us, and left the rest of the room and heavy with the thick hangings

that threw a soft yellow circle

dim.

TURK STREET

IN

drizzle

when

I

had finished

smoke.

Something cold touched the nape of my neck. "Stand up!" I

didn't stand up:

I

couldn't.

I

was paralyzed.

I

sat

and blinked

at

the Quarres.

And

looking at them,

my

against the back of to stand up.

It

I

knew

that something cold couldn't be

neck; a harsh voice couldnt have ordered

me

wasn't possible!

Mrs. Quarre

still

band had adjusted

sat primly upright against the cushions

to her back; her eyes

still

her hus-

twinkled with friendliness

man still stroked his white beard, and let smoke drift unhurriedly from his nostrils. They would go on talking about the young men in the neighborhood who might be the man I wanted. Nothing had happened. I had dozed. "Get up!" The cold thing against my neck jabbed deep into the

behind her

glasses.

The

old

cigar

flesh. I

stood up. "Frisk him," the harsh voice came from behind.

The his

old

man my

hands over

carefully laid his cigar

body. Satisfied that

I

down, came

to

me, and ran

was unarmed, he emptied

my

upon the chair that I had just left. the man behind me, and returned to his

pockets, dropping the contents

"That's all," he told chair.

"Turn around, you!" the harsh voice ordered. I turned and faced a tall, gaunt, raw-boned man of about my own age,

which

is

thirty-five.

He had an

and spattered with big pale

and

his nose

ugly face

freckles.

and chin stuck out

—hollow-cheeked, bony,

His eyes were of a watery blue,

abruptly.

"Know

me.'" he asked.

"No." "You're a I

liar!"

didn't argue the point;

he was holding a gun

in

one big freckled

hand. "You're going to

me,"

this big ugly

know me

man

pretty well before you're through with

threatened. "You're going to

—

"

HAMMETT

DASHIELL

184

"Hook!" a voice came from through which the ugly

doorway

a portiered

—the doorway

man had no doubt crept up behind me. "Hook,

—

come here!" The voice was feminine young, clear, and musical. "What do you want?" the ugly man called over his shoulder. ''He's here."

He

"All right!"

From somewhere among

man

vest, the old

Thomas

turned to

Quarre. "Keep this joker safe."

his whiskers, his coat,

and

his stiff

white

brought out a big black revolver, which he handled

with no signs of unfamiliarity.

The

man

ugly

swept up the things that had been taken from

pockets, and carried

them through the portieres with him. "Do sit down, Mr. Tracy," she

Mrs. Quarre smiled up at me. 1

my

said.

sat.

Through the

portieres a

new

voice

came from

the next room; a

drawling baritone voice whose accent was unmistakably British; cultured British. "What's up.

The harsh

Hook?"

"Plenty's up, I'm telling you! They're

while ago; and as soon as

on the other

was asking.

this voice

voice of the ugly man:

side.

know

He was

on

got to the street,

I

pointed out to

I

me

started out a

to us!

1

seen a

man

I

knowed

in Philly five-six years

—

remember his mug he's a Continental Detective Agency man. 1 came back in right away, and me and Elvira watched him out of the window. He went to every house on ago.

I

don't

his

name, but

I

the other side of the street, asking questions or something.

came over and rings the bell. stall

him

I

along,

tell

and

dance about looking

—but

street car

stuck

him up

the old see

for a

that's

just

The

woman and

what he

her husband to get him

says for himself. He's got a song

guy what seen an old

the bunk! He's gunning

now.

1

meant

he'd get nervous and beat

The

Then he

started to give this side a whirl, and after a while he

British voice:

to wait

till

woman bumped

for us.

1

you come, but

went 1

in

in,

and by a

and

was scared

it."

"You shouldn't have shown

yourself to him.

others could have taken care of him."

Hook: "What's the

diff?

supposing he didn't, what

The drawling

Chances

diff

does

it

British voice: "It

is

he knows us

all

anyway. But

make?"

may make

a deal of difference.

It

was stupid."

Hook,

blustering: "Stupid,

other people being stupid.

To

huh? You're always bellyaching about

hell with you,

work? Who's the guy that swings

all

1

the jobs?

say!

Who

does

Huh? Where

—

all

the

THE HOUSE IN TURK STREET

185

The young feminine voice: "Now, Hook, make that speech again. I've listened to it until

A

and the

rustle of papers,

I

know

British voice: "I say,

correct about his being a detective. Here

The feminine

God's sake don't

for

is

it

by heart!"

Hook, you're

an identification card."

voice from the next room: "Well, what's to be

done? What's our play?"

Hook: "That's easy

We're going to knock

answer.

to

this

sleuth off!"

The feminine Hook,

"And

voice:

"As

scornfully:

if

put our necks in the noose?"

they ain't there

we

if

You

don't!

don't

think this guy ain't after us for the L.A. job, do you?"

The

British voice: "You're

one. Suppose this chap probable; what then?

He

his organization doesn't

make

—

as

Hook, and

ass.

is

And

is?

don't they

he does? There's no use

The

a quite hopeless

a Continental operative.

know where he

he was coming up here? chances are

an

interested in the Los Angeles

is

Is it

as

affair,

is

likely that

Don't you think they know

know

killing

much about

as

us

him. That would only

him up and leave him here. His associates will hardly come looking for him until tomorrow." My gratitude went out to the British voice! Somebody was in my matters worse.

thing to do

is

favor, at least to the extent of letting

very cheerful these

last

who were

my

all

seem

had confidence

I

voice of a

man who

off!

you want to about

be a

lot safer

hadn't been feeling

I

I

was to

felt better

I

couldn't

live or die,

made

now, though

in the drawling British voice;

Hook, bellowing: "Let me

it'll

I

it

far

was the

habitually carries his point.

going to be knocked all

live.

deciding whether

the more desperate.

from gay;

jaw

me

few minutes. Somehow, the fact that

see these people

plight

to tie

tell

That's it,

you something, brother: that guy's

flat!

I'm taking no chances.

but I'm looking out for

with that guy where he can't

You can

my own neck and

talk.

That's

flat."

The feminine voice, disgustedly: "Aw, Hook, be reasonable!" The British voice, still drawling, but dead cold: "There's no use reasoning with you. Hook, you've the instincts and the intellect of a troglodyte.

There

and I'm going to

it

only one sort of language that you understand;

to talk that language to you,

son. If you are tempted

silly

were out of the Bible

There followed

my

my

between now and the time of our departure, just to yourself two or three times: *If he dies, I die.' Say it as if

do anything

say this

is

—because

it's

that true."

a long space of silence, with a tenseness that

not particularly sensitive scalp

tingle.

made

"

HAMMETT

DASHIELL

186

When, been

fired;

—

"

at last, a voice cut the silence,

jumped

I

as

if

was the British voice, confidently victorious, and

It

a

gun had

though the voice was low and smooth enough. breathed

I

again.

"We'll get the old people away

be gone in

we'll

less

the voice was saying. "You

first,"

him up while

take charge of our guest. Hook. Tie

I

and

get the bonds,

than half an hour.

—

The portieres parted and Hook came into the room a scowling Hook whose freckles had a greenish tinge against the sallowness of his

He

face.

pointed a revolver at me, and spoke to the Quarres, short

and harsh:

"He wants you." They

went

got up and

Hook, meanwhile, had stepped back

me

acing

into the next room.

to the doorway,

still

men-

with his revolver; and pulled loose the plush ropes that were

around the heavy curtains. Then he came around behind me, and

me

my

tied

my my body to the chair's back and seat; and he me with the comer of a cushion that was too

securely to the highbacked chair;

arms to the chair's arms,

legs to the chair's legs,

wound up by gagging we 11 'Stuffed. As he finished lashing me at

me,

I

into place,

heard the street door close

softly,

and stepped back

and then

to scowl

light footsteps ran

back and forth overhead.

Hook

looked in the direction of those footsteps, and his

watery blue eyes grew cunning. "Elvira!" he called

The

if someone had touched them, and the came through. "What?"

portieres bulged as

musical feminine voice

"Come

here."

—

He wouldn't "Damn him!" Hook flared up. "Come "I'd better not.

She came lamp; a

little

softly.

girl in

into the

room and

here!"

into the circle of light from the tall

her early twenties, slender and

lithe,

and dressed

the street, except that she carried her hat in one hand.

for

face

Smoke-gray eyes that

beneath a bobbed mass of flame-colored

hair.

were

—though not

set too far apart for trustworthiness

A white

for beauty

laughed at me; and her red mouth laughed at me, exposing the edges of

little

sharp animal-teeth. She was as beautiful as the devil, and

twice as dangerous.

She laughed

at

me

and with the comer of to the ugly

—

a fat

man,

all

trussed

a green cushion in

man. "What do you want?"

up with red plush rope,

—and she tumed

my mouth

THE HOUSE

He

IN

TURK STREET

187

spoke in an undertone, with a furtive glance

above which

padded back and

soft steps still

at the ceihng,

forth.

"What say we shake him?" Her smoke-gray eyes lost their merriment and became "There's a hundred thousand he's holding

You don't think I'm going

—

Mickey Finn on

to take a

calculating.

a third of

mine.

it's

do you?"

that,

"Course not! Supposing we get the hundred-grand?"

"How?" "Leave

to

it

me,

know

with me? You

kid; leave

I'll

it

to

me!

If

I

swing

you go

will

it,

be good to you."

— —

She smiled contemptuously, I thought but he seemed to like it. "You're whooping right you'll be good to me," she said. "But listen. Hook: we couldn't get away with it not unless you get him. 1 know him! I'm not running away with anything that belongs to him unless he is fixed so that he can't come after it." Hook moistened his lips and looked around the room at nothing. Apparently he didn't

like the

thought of tangling with the owner of girl

was too strong

get him!

Do you mean

the British drawl. But his desire for the "I'll

do

it!"

he blurted.

"I'll

me?" She held out her hand. "It's

for his fear.

kid?

it,

If

I

get him, you'll go with

a deep breath

and straightened

— one time or another—

have believed her myself at

a bet," she said

warm and

His ugly face grew

all

and he believed

her.

red and utterly happy, and he took

his shoulders. In his place,

might

I

of us have fallen for that sort of thing

^but sitting tied

up on the

side-lines,

I

knew

that he'd have been better off playing with a gallon of nitro than with this baby.

She was dangerous! There was a rough time ahead for Hook! is the lay " Hook began, and stopped, tongue-tied.

—

"This

A

had sounded

step

in the next

room.

Immediately the British voice came through the portieres, and there was exasperation to the drawl now:

"This

is

"leave for a

really too

much!

I

can't"

moment without having

what got into you,

Elvira, that

—he

things

said reahly

done

all

—

and cawnt

wrong.

Now

just

you must go in and exhibit yourself to

our detective?" Fear flashed into her smoke-gray eyes, and out again, and she

spoke

airily.

"Don't be altogether yellow," she

said.

"Your precious

much guarding." The portieres parted, and I twisted my head around as far as could get it for my first look at this man who was responsible for my neck can get along

all

right without so

I

DASHIELL

188

still

being alive.

saw a short

I

man, hatted and coated

fat

and carrying a tan traveling bag

Then it

came

his face

was a Chinese

garments that were "It isn't a

now

the

and

saw that

I

short fat Chinese, immaculately clothed in

as British as his accent.

matter of color," he told the of her jibe;

full sting

for the street,

one hand.

in

into the yellow circle of light,

A

face.

HAMMETT

"it's

girl

—and

understood

I

simply a matter of ordinary wisdom."

His face was a round yellow mask, and his voice was the same emotionless drawl that

I

had heard

before; but

man

surely under the girl's sway as the ugly

her taunt bring him into the room. But

I

—

I

knew

that

he was

as

or he wouldn't have let

doubted that she'd find

this

Anglicized Oriental as easily handled as Hook.

"There was no particular need," the Chinese was "for this first

chap to have seen any of

time, with

little

us. "

He

opaque eyes that were

looked at like

talking,

still

me now

two black

for the

seeds. "It's

quite possible that he didn't

know any

showing ourselves to him

the most arrant sort of nonsense."

"Aw,

hell.

you? What's the

The Chinese "There

will

bit of killing.

Hook

Hook

Tail" diff?

I'll

set

is

blustered. "Quit your bellyaching, will

knock him

down

of us, even by description. This

his tan

off,

and that takes care of that!"

bag and shook his head.

be no killing," he drawled, "or there will be quite a

You don't mistake my meaning, do you. Hook?" His Adam's apple ran up and down with the

didn't.

effort

of his swallowing and behind the cushion that was choking me,

thanked the yellow

Then

man

I

again.

this red-haired she-devil put

her spoon in the dish.

"Hook's always offering to do things that he has no intention of doing," she told the Chinese.

Hook's ugly face blazed red

at this

reminder of his promise to

the Chinese, and he swallowed again, and his eyes looked as

if

get

nothing

would have suited him better than an opportunity to crawl under something. But the girl had him; her influence was stronger than his cowardice.

He

suddenly stepped close to the Chinese, and from his ad-

vantage of a

full

head in height scowled down into the round yellow

face.

"Tai," the ugly all this

man

to—" He faltered, and

snarled; "you're done. I'm sick

—acting

dog you put on

like

and

tired of

you was a king or something. I'm

going

his

words faded away into silence. Tai looked

THE HOUSE IN TURK STREET

up

him with

at

eyes that were as hard and black and

pieces of coal. Hook's hps twitched I

189

stopped sweating.

The

inhuman

and he flinched away

man had won She laughed now

yellow

little.

1 had mocking laugh

again. But

—

forgotten the red-haired she-devil.

a

two

as

a

that must have been like a knife to the ugly man.

A bellow came from deep in his chest, into the round blank face of the yellow

The

punch

force of the

and threw him on

and he hurled one big

carried Tai all the

his side in

way

across the

But he had twisted his body around to face the ugly

—

—and he was speaking

went down

—and

Just

now you

gun was

a

man even

as

hand before he had settled upon the

in his

before his legs

was a cultured British drawl.

his voice

"Later," he was saying; us.

room,

one corner.

he went hurtling across the room

floor

fist

man.

will

"we

will settle this thing that

drop your

pistol

and stand very

is

between while

still

1

get up."

Hook's revolver

— only

—thudded

had covered him

half out of his pocket

He

to the rug.

got to his feet, and Hook's breath

when

stood rigidly

came out

noisily,

the Oriental

still

while Tai

and each

freckle

stood ghastlily out against the dirty scared white of his face. 1

looked at the

girl.

There was contempt

in the eyes

with which

she looked at Hook, but no disappointment.

Then

I

a discovery: something had changed in the room

made

near her! I

shut

my

eyes

and

been before the two

tried to picture that part of the

men had

room

as

it

had

Opening my eyes suddenly,

clashed.

I

had the answer.

On the

table beside the girl

They were gone now. Not two

had been

feet

a

book and some magazines.

from the

girl

was the tan bag that

Tai had brought into the room. Suppose the bag had held the bonds

from the Los Angeles job that they had mentioned. It probably had. What then? It probably now held the book and magazines that had

been on the

men

table.

The

girl

had

stirred

up the trouble between the two

to distract their attention while she

the loot be, then?

I

didn't

know, but

I

made

a switch.

suspected that

it

Where would was too bulky

on the girl's slender person. Just beyond the table was a couch, with a wide red cover that went all the way down to the floor. I looked from the couch to the girl. She was watching me, and her eyes twinkled with a flash of mirth as they met mine coming from the couch. The couch it was! to be

— 90

HAMMETT

DASHIELL

By now the Chinese had pocketed Hook's ing to him: "If will

I

me

perhaps be of some value to Elvira and

parture,

and was

revolver,

talk-

hadn't a dislike for murder, and didn't think that you in effecting our de-

should certainly relieve us of the handicap of your stupidity

I

now. But

I'll

give you

one more chance.

I would suggest, however, way to any more of your violent "Have you been putting foolish ideas

that you think carefully before you give

impulses."

He

turned to the

girl.

Hook's head?"

in our

She laughed. "Nobody could put any kind in it." "Perhaps you're right," he said, and then came over to test the lashings about my arms and body. Finding them satisfactory, he picked up the tan bag, and held out the gun he had taken from the ugly man a few minutes before. "Here's your revolver. Hook, now try to be sensible. We may as well go now. The old man and his wife will do as they were told. They are on their way to a city that we needn't mention by name in front of our friend here, to wait for us and their share of the bonds. Needless

—they

to say, they will wait a long while

no more

ourselves there must be

are out of

treachery.

If

it

now. But between

we're to get clear,

we

must help each other." According to the best dramatic

made

sarcastic speeches to

passed

me

without even

me

rules,

before they

these folks should have

left,

They

but they didn't.

and went out of

a farewell look,

sight into

the darkness of the hall.

Suddenly the Chinese was

an open knife

in

one hand,

had been thanking

The

knife

arm slackened

a

for saving

moved on my its grip.

I

in the

gun

my

room

again, running tiptoe

in the other. This

life!

He

right side,

was the

man

I

bent over me.

and the rope that held that

breathed again, and

my

heart went back to

beating.

"Hook

On

will

be back," Tai whispered, and was gone.

the carpet, three feet in front of me, lay a revolver.

The street door closed, and I was alone in the house for a while. You may believe that I spent that while struggling with the red plush ropes that bound me. Tai had cut one length, loosening my right arm somewhat and giving my body more

And

his

throw I

play, but

whispered "Hook will be back" was

my

strength against

understood

now why

my life being spared.

I

was

my

all

I

was

far

the spur

I

from

free.

needed to

bonds.

the Chinese had insisted so strongly upon

the

weapon with which Hook was

to be

removed!

THE HOUSE IN TURK STREET

The Chinese

Hook would make some

figured that

they reached the street,

191

slip

rejoin his confederates. If he didn't

the Chinese would suggest

excuse as soon as

back into the house, knock

do

it

on his own

me

initiative,

and

off,

I

suppose

it.

So he had put a gun within reach and had loosened my ropes as as he could, not to have me free before he himself got away.

much

This thinking was a

The why

to get loose.

side-issue.

I

didn't let

wasn't important to

thing was to have that revolver in

my hand when

my

slow up

it

me just now

efforts

—the important man came

the ugly

back.

door opened,

Just as the front

I

got

my

arm completely

right

and plucked the strangling cushion from my mouth. The body was still held by the ropes held loosely but held.

—

I

threw myself, chair and

free arm.

The

all,

carpet was thick.

I

free,

rest of

my

with

my

—

forward, breaking the

went down on my

my

fall

with the

face,

arm was free of the tangle, and my right hand grasped the gun. The dim light hit upon a man hurrying into the room a glint of metal in his hand.

heavy chair atop me,

all

doubled up, but

right

—

I

fired.

He caught both hands to his belly,

bent double, and

slid

out across

the carpet.

That was

over. But that was far from being

plush ropes that held me, while

my mind

all.

wrenched

I

at the

what

tried to sketch

lay

ahead.

The

had switched the bonds, hiding them under the couch there was no question of that. She had intended coming back for them before

I

girl

had time

to get free. But

Hook had come back

would have to change her plan. What more

likely

first,

and she

than that she would

Hook had made the switch? What then? There was only one answer: Tai would come back for the bonds both of them would come. Tai knew that I was armed now, but they had

now

tell

the Chinese that

—

said that the

bonds represented a hundred thousand

dollars.

That would

be enough to bring them back! I

kicked the

last

bonds were beneath bands.

I

it:

rope loose and scrambled to the couch. four thick bundles,

done up with heavy rubber

tucked them under one arm, and went over to the

was dying near the door. His gun was under one of it

out,

The

stepped over him, and went into the dark

man who

his legs.

hall.

Then

I

I

pulled

stopped

to consider.

The

girl

and the Chinese would

split to tackle

me.

One would

— HAMMETT

DASHIELL

192

come

in the front

safest

way

inside

door and the other in the

them

for

to handle

one of those doors

for

me.

My

them.

It

That would be the

rear.

play, obviously,

was to wait

would be foolish

for

me

the house. That's exactly what they would be expecting at

just

to leave

—and

first

they would be lying in ambush.

my

Decidedly,

and wait

when

would,

play was to

low within sight of

—

glass

from the

to

door

this front

one of them

as

come

surely

out.

was lighted with the glow that

street door, the hall

through the

it

me

they had tired of waiting for

Toward the filtered

lie

one of them came through

until

street lights.

The

stairway leading

to the second-story threw a triangular shadow across part of the hall

a

shadow that was black enough

this three-cornered slice of night, I

I

to use

still

was loaded.

my

any purpose.

I

crouched low in

and waited.

had two guns: the one the Chinese had given me, and the one

had taken from Hook.

eleven

for

—

I

had

one

fired

shot; that

would leave

me

one of the weapons had been used since

unless

it

broke the gun Tai had given me, and in the dark ran

I

back of the cylinder.

fingers across the

My

fingers

touched one

—under the hammer. Tai had taken no chances; he had given with which had dropped Hook. —the

shell

me one I

bullet

bullet

put that gun

taken from Hook. at all!

I

down on

It

the floor, and examined the one

was empty. The

He had emptied Hook's gun

I

had

Chinese had taken no chances before returning

it

to

him

after

their quarrel. I

was

in a hole!

presently hold two a

woman

Alone, unarmed, in a strange house that would

—

who were hunting me and that one of them was me any she was none the less deadly on that

—

didn't soothe

account.

For a

moment

I

was tempted to make a dash

of being out in the street again was pleasant; but

That would be bonds under

foolishness,

my

and plenty of

it.

arm. They would have to be

I

Then

for

it;

the thought

put the idea away. I

remembered the

my weapon; and

if

they

were to serve me, they would have to be concealed.

my

shadow and went up the stairs. rooms were not too dark for me to move around. Around and around I went through the rooms, hunting for a place to hide the bonds. But when suddenly a window I

slipped out of

Thanks

triangular

to the street lights, the upstairs

rattled, as if

from the draught created by the opening of an outside

door somewhere,

I

still

had the

loot in

There was nothing to do now but

my

to

hands.

chuck them out of a window

THE HOUSE

and

trust to luck.

I

TURK STREET

IN

[93

grabbed a pillow from a bed, stripped

off

the white

and dumped the bonds into it. Then I leaned out of an already open window and looked down into the night, searching for a desirable dumping place: 1 didn't want the bonds to land on anything that would case,

make a racket. And, looking out of The window opened into was a house of the same

the window,

The

pillow case.

on the

crackled softly

Then (we

capture.

roof that sloped

—not too

me

far to

down

the

chuck the

disappeared over the edge of the roof and

It

all

the lights in the room, lighted a cigarette

to pose a little

my

on the other side of which was in. That house was of

tin.

turned on

I

all like

to await

it.

I

flat tin

roof wasn't far from

chucked

1

one

sort as the

the same height as this one, with a

other way.

found a better hiding place.

I

a narrow court,

I

now and

then), and sat

might have stalked

my

down on

the bed

enemies through the

dark house, and possibly have nabbed them; but most likely simply have succeeded in getting myself shot.

And

I

I

would

don't like to be

shot.

The

girl

found me.

She came creeping up the hall, an automatic in each hand, hesitated for an instant outside the door, and then came in on the jump. And when she saw me sitting peacefully on the side of the bed, her eyes snapped scornfully at me, as if I had done something mean. I suppose she thought "I

"What I

I

should have given her an opportunity to shoot.

got him, Tai," she called, and the Chinese joined

did

Hook do

little

and

I

ace.

don't you ask the girl?"

His face showed nothing, but a

my

grinned into his round yellow face and led

"Why

us.

with the bonds?" he asked point blank.

within

its

I

imagined that his

fat

body

stiffened

fashionable British clothing. That encouraged me,

went on with my

little lie

"Haven't you rapped to

it,"

that was I

meant

to stir things up.

asked, "that they were fixing up to

ditch you?"

"You

dirty liar!" the girl screamed,

and took

Tai halted her with an imperative gesture. with his opaque black eyes, and

She had

face.

this fat yellow

as

He

a step toward

he stared the blood

man on

me.

stared through her slid

out of his

her string, right enough, but he

wasn't exactly a harmless toy.

"So

Then

to

that's

how

it

is?"

he said slowly, to no one

me: "Where did they put the bonds?"

in particular.

HAMMETT

DASHIELL

194

The

went close

girl

him and her words came out tumbling over

to

each other: "Here's the truth of

Hook

myself.

wasn't in

it, it.

Tai, so help I

me God!

switched the

I

stuff

was going to run out on both of you.

stuck them under the couch

I

downstairs, but they're not there now.

That's the God's truth!"

He was eager to believe And knew that

to them.

and her words had the ring of truth

her,

—

I

readily forgive her treachery with the for

planning to run

off

he was

in love with her as

—he'd more

bonds than he would forgive her

with Hook; so

made

I

haste to

things up

stir

again.

"Part of that

is

enough,"

right

—but Hook was

under the couch

them while you were

in

I

said.

on

He was

upstairs.

They

it.

stick the

fixed

bonds

up between

it

to pick a fight with you,

make the

during the argument she was to

"She did

switch,

and that

is

and

exactly

what they did." had him! As she wheeled savagely toward me, he stuck the

I

muzzle of an automatic in her side

words she was hurling "I'll

—

a smart jab that checked the angry

me.

take your guns, Elvira," he said, and took them.

"Where I

at

are the

bonds now?" he asked me.

grinned. "I'm not with you, Tai. I'm against you."

"I

don't like violence," he said slowly, "and

sensible person. Let us

"You name "Gladly!

As

it,"

I

traffic,

my

believe you are a

I

friend."

suggested.

a basis for our bargaining,

we

will stipulate that

have hidden the bonds where they cannot be found by anyone

and that

I

have you completely in

used to have

I

"The

is

situation, then,

of us has the advantage.

the

As

thieves,

girl in

give

As

said;

"go on."

what gamblers

me

for the bonds,

You

will

girl.

but I

me an

to

Neither

we have offer

you

equitable

It will

give

to

Hook is find me and

will

have turned

as a detective.

All that will remain

—by no means

a hopeless task.

a defeat into half a victory, with

complete one."

us;

the bonds and a chance to get away.

have the

the bonds again

want

and that seems

you no small degree of success in your task dead.

call a standoff.

a detective, you

we want the bonds; but you have them.

exchange

offer. It will

else;

power, as the shilling shockers

it."

"Reasonable enough,"

you.

my

you

is

You

an excellent chance to make

it

a

THE HOUSE IN TURK STREET

^95

"How do know that you'll give me the girl?" He shrugged. "Naturally, there can be no guarantee. But, knowing that she planned to desert me for the swine who lies dead below, you can't imagine that my feelings for her are the most friendly. Too, if I

I

take her with me, she will want a share in the loot."

turned the lay-out over in

I

my

mind.

the way it looks to me," I told him at last. "You aren't come through alive no matter what happens. All right, why should I swap? You and the girl will be easier to find again than

"This

a killer.

is

I'll

the bonds, and they are the most important part of the job anyway. I'll

hold on to them, and take

Yes, I'm playing

it

"No, I'm not a smile

I

had seen on

something in

it

that

my

chances on finding you folks again.

safe." killer,"

he

very softly; and he smiled the

said,

his face. It wasn't a pleasant smile:

made you want

to shudder. "But

I

first

and there was

am other things,

perhaps, of which you haven't thought. But this talking

is

to

no pur-

pose. Elvira!"

The

girl came obediently forward. "You will find sheets in one of the bureau drawers," he told her. "Tear one or two of them into strips strong enough to tie up our friend

securely.

The

girl

went

to the bureau.

I

wrinkled

my head, trying my mind. The

a not too disagreeable answer to the question in that

came

first

wasn't nice:

to find

answer

torture.

Then a faint sound brought us all into tense motionlessness. The room we were in had two doors: one leading into the hall, the other into another bedroom. faint

sound had come

It

was through the hall door that the

—the sound of creeping

Swiftly, silently, Tai

moved backward

feet.

to a position

he could watch the hall door without losing sight of the

and the gun poised

like a live thing in his fat

hand was

from which

girl

all

and

me

the warning

we needed to make no noise. The faint sound again, just outside the door. The gun in Tai's hand seemed to quiver with eagerness. Through the other door the door that gave to the next room

—

popped Mrs. Quarre, an enormous cocked revolver in her thin hand. "Let

it

go,

you nasty heathen," she screeched.

Tai dropped his pistol before he turned to face her, and he held his

hands up high

—

all

of which was very wise.

Thomas Quarre came through

the hall door then; he also held a

DASHIELL

196

cocked revolver

—the mate of

his didn't look so I

his wife's

enormously

looked at the old

HAMMETT

—though,

in front of his bulk,

and found

little

large.

woman

again,

of the friendly

one who had poured tea and chatted about the neighbors. This was a witch if there ever was one a witch of the blackest, most malignant sort. Her little faded eyes were sharp with ferocity, her

fragile

—

withered

were taut in a wolfish

lips

and her thin body

snarl,

fairly

quivered with hate.

knew

"I

it,"

enough away

to think things over.

I

knew

supposed detective was a pal of yours!

this

Tom

she was shrilling. "I told

it

as

as

we

got far

was a frame-up!

knew

I

soon

it

was

just a

I

knew

scheme

Thomas and me out of our shares! Well, I'll show you, you Where are them bonds? Where are they?" The Chinese had recovered his poise, if he had ever lost it.

to beat

yellow monkey!

"Our

stout friend can

tell

extract the information from

you perhaps," he

him when you

said. "I

so

was about to

—ah— dramatically

arrived."

"Thomas, old I

for

goodness sakes don't stand there dreaming," she

who to all appearances was still the same mild man who had given me an excellent cigar. "Tie up this Chinaman!

snapped

her husband,

at

don't trust I

him an

got up from

to a spot that

I

inch,

and

won't

I

feel easy until he's tied

up."

my seat on the side of the bed, and moved cautiously

thought would be out of the line of

fire if

the thing

I

expected happened.

Tai had dropped the gun that had been in his hand, but he hadn't

been searched. The Chinese are a thorough people;

gun

carries a

at all,

he usually

carries

if

one of them

two or three or more.

One gun

had been taken from Tai, and if they tried to truss him up without frisking him, there was likely to be fireworks. So I moved to one side.

Thomas Quarre went

Fat

phlegmatically up to the Chinese to

—and bungled the job

carry out his wife's orders

He

put his

hands moved.

Tai's

Once more Tai he keeps on

When him

An

automatic was in each.

ran true to racial form.

until his

gun

is

as

1

yanked Tai over backward by

got a knee

worked on

still

on one of

a

Chinese shoots

Then

I

his fat throat,

and slammed

barking metal; and they clicked

his arms.

his throat until his eyes

out of things for a while.

When

empty.

to the floor, his guns were

empty 1

I

perfectly.

bulk between Tai and the old woman's gun.

I

didn't take any chances.

and tongue told me that he was

looked around.

THE HOUSE IN TURK STREET

Thomas Quarre was

197

against the bed, plainly dead, with three

round holes in his starched white

vest.

Across the room, Mrs. Quarre lay on her back. Her clothes had

somehow

around her

settled in place

fragile

body, and death had given

her once more the gentle friendly look she had worn

saw

The

red-haired

Presently Tai clothes, fat

when

I

first

her.

I

girl

Elvira was gone.

and

stirred,

helped him

hand and looked

sit

after taking

He

up.

another gun from his

stroked his bruised throat with one

coolly around the room.

"Where's Elvira?" he asked.

"Got away

He

—

for the time being."

shrugged. "Well, you can call

The Quarres and Hook

ation.

"Not "If

so bad,"

I

it

a decidedly successful oper-

dead; the bonds and

I

me

admitted, "but will you do

in your hands."

a favor?"

may."

I

"Tell

me what

the hell this

is all

about!"

"All about?" he asked.

From what you people have let me overhear, I gather that you pulled some sort of job in Los Angeles that netted you a hundred-thousand-dollars' worth of bonds; but I can't remember any "Exactly!

recent job of that size

"Why,

down

there."

he said with what,

him, was

al-

most wild-eyed amazement. "Preposterous! Of course you know

all

about

that's preposterous!"

for

it!"

"I

do not!

I

was trying to find a young fellow named Fisher

who

left his Tacoma home in anger a week or two ago. His father wants him found on the quiet, so that he can come down and try to talk him into going home again. I was told that I might find Fisher in this

block of Turk Street, and that's what brought

He

didn't believe me.

gallows thinking

When place a

I

me

a

He

me

here."

never believed me.

to the

got out into the street again (and Turk Street was a lovely

when I came free

newspaper that told

into

it

after

me most

my evening

of what

I

in that house!)

wanted

to

— messenger the employ stock and bond house—had disappeared two days A

He went

liar.

boy of twenty

a

in

I

bought

know. of a Los Angeles

before, while on his bank with a wad of bonds. That same night this boy and a slender girl with bobbed red hair had registered at a hotel in Fresno as ]. M. Riordan and wife. The next morning the boy had been found

way

to a

198

—murdered.

room

in his

DASHIELL

HAMMETT

The

was gone. The bonds were gone.

That much the paper little here and a little

up a

girl

told me. During the next few days, digging there,

succeeded in piecing together most

I

of the story.

The Chinese

—whose

—

name was Tai Choon Tau had been game had been a variation of the alwaysbadger game. Tai would pick out some youth who was mesfull

the brains of the mob. Their reliable

— one who

senger or runner for a banker or broker

carried either cash

or negotiable securities in large quantities.

The over her

girl

would then make

Elvira

him gently around

lead

to

him

this lad, get

—which shouldn't have been very hard

fussed up

all

—and then

for her

running away with her and whatever he

could grab in the way of his employer's bonds or currency.

Wherever they spent the

night of their

first

there

for bear.

at

hair

tear

his role

Hook The girl keep Hook in

flight,

—foaming the mouth and loaded her and would plead and of husband—from butchering the youth.

would appear

—

so forth, trying to

irate

Finally she

would

succeed, and in the end the youth would find himself without either girl

or the fruits of his thievery.

Sometimes he had surrendered committed stuff kill

to the police.

The Los Angeles

suicide.

than the others.

He had

lad

put up a

him. You can measure the

in her

the fact that not one of the half dozen youths

had

said the least thing to implicate her;

to great trouble to keep her out of

The house it

in

found had

built of tougher

and Hook had had

fight,

girl's skill

Two we

had been

to

end of the game by

who had been trimmed

and some of them had gone

it.

Turk Street had been the mob's retreat, and, that safe one, they had not worked their game in San

might be always a

Francisco.

Hook and

the

girl

Quarres' son and daughter

were supposed by the neighbors to be the

—and

Tai was the Chinese cook. The

Quarres' benign and respectable appearances had also

when

the

mob had

The Chinese went

securities to

be disposed

to the gallows.

come

in

handy

of.

We threw out the widest and finest-

meshed of dragnets for the red-haired girl; and we turned up girls with bobbed red hair by the scores. But the girl Elvira was not among them. I promised myself that some day .

.

.

DOROiiiv

I.

mm

(leea-iBs?)

Dorothy Leigh Sayers was

one of the medieval

first

women

literature.

bom

in

England, in East Anglia, and was

to obtain a degree at Oxford,

She became an

where she studied

advertising copywriter and, in

1923, began writing mystery novels about a gentleman-scholar, Lord Peter Wimsey,

who

called upon to solve crimes taking place within Whose Body? was followed by Clouds of Witness (1926), in which Wimsey clears his brother's name, and Strong Poison (1930), in which he saves from the gallows a young detective-fiction writer named Harriet Vane, whom he then woos and wins in Gaudy is

his aristocratic set.

Night (1935) as she works to solve a series of crimes at the fictional

Shrewsbury College, Oxford, which

is

her alma mater.

The debonair

Lord Peter, complete with monocle and trusty valet Bunter, also appeared in seven other novels as well as in several volumes of short stories before Sayers

gave up mysteries to return to medieval studies.

Her other contribution

to detective fiction

was the editing of several

Omnibus on the theory and

collections of detective stories, under the general title of The

of Crime, with an influential introductory essay history of the genre.

"The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba" in

its

ise,

is

typical Sayers

playful treatment of the detective process (the far-fetched

for

example) and

literary allusions (as in the title)

and

premin

its

considerable narrative verve and the suspense created by bizarre juxtapositions (the danse carrier

macabre

as fox trot, the

pigeon and voice-activated machine).

communications by

II

OriCAVEOrAllliABll

In the front

room of

a grim

and narrow house

in

Lambeth

eating kippers and glancing through the Morning Post.

and

spare, with

brown

hair rather too regularly

He

a

man

sat

was smallish

waved and

a strong,

brown beard, cut to a point. His double-breasted suit of navy-blue and his socks, tie, and handkerchief, all scrupulously matched, were a trifle more point-device than the best taste approves, and his boots were slightly too bright a

brown.

He

did not look a gentleman, not even a

gentleman's gentleman, yet there was something about his appearance

which suggested that he was accustomed

to the

manner of

life

in

good

which he had set with his own hands, was arrayed with the attention to detail which is exacted of good-class servants. His action, as he walked over to a little side-table and carved families.

The

breakfast- table,

himself a plate of ham, was the action of a superior butler; yet he was

not old enough to be a retired butler; a footman, perhaps,

come

He coffee,

who had

into a legacy. finished the

ham

with good appetite, and,

as

he sipped his

read through attentively a paragraph which he had already

noticed and put aside for consideration.

"lord peter wimsey's will bequest to valet £10,000 to charities

"The

who was killed last Decemgame in Tanganyika, was proved yes£500,000. A sum of £10,000 was left to various

will of

Lord Peter Wimsey,

ber while shooting big terday at

DOROTHY

202

SAYERS

L.

charities, including [here followed a valet,

Mervyn Bunter, was

left

of bequests].

list

The remainder

bequests.]

his

[Then followed a

lease of the testator's flat in Piccadilly.

number of personal

To

an annuity of £500 and the of the estate,

including the valuable collection of books and pictures at 1

10a Piccadilly, was

to the testator's mother, the

left

Dow-

ager Duchess of Denver.

''Lord Peter

He was is

the

Wimsey was

thirty-seven at the time of his death.

younger brother of

the present

distinguished as a criminologist

solution of several collector

famous

Duke

of Denver,

who

United Kingdom. Lord Peter was

the weahhiest peer in the

and took an

mysteries.

He was

active part in the

a welUknown book

and man-about-town."

The man gave

a sigh of

relief.

*'No doubt about that," he said aloud. "People don't give their

money away and buried

He

if

come back

they're going to

again.

The

blighter's

dead

right enough. I'm free."

and washed up the

finished his coffee, cleared the table,

crockery, took his bowler hat from the hall-stand, and went out.

A a

bus took

him

network of gloomy

to

Bermondsey.

alighted,

streets, arriving after a quarter

at a seedy- looking public-house in a

for a

He

low quarter.

The house had

only just opened, but a number of customers,

were already clustered about the

footman reached

a flash person in a

for his glass,

check

suit

don't want your sort here.

He

who

for this desirable event,

bar.

The man who might have been

and

in doing so jostled the

and regrettable

"Here!" expostulated the

We

of an hour's walk

He entered and called

double whisky.

had apparently been waiting on the doorstep a

and plunged into

tie.

"What

flash person,

elbow of

d'yer

mean by

it?

Get out!"

emphasised his remarks with a few highly coloured words, and

a violent

push in the chest.

"Bar's free to everybody, isn't it?" said the other, returning the

shove with

"Now didn't

do

it

interest.

then!" said the barmaid, "none

o' that.

The gentleman

intentional, Mr. Jukes."

"Didn't he?" said Mr. Jukes. "Well,

"And you ought

to be

ashamed of

I

did.''

yourself," retorted the

young

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF with a

lady, this

have no quarrelling

toss of the head. "I'll

BABA

ALI

in

203

—not

my

bar

time in the morning." "It

was quite an accident,"

man

said the

one

to

make

But

if

any gentleman wants to make trouble

a disturbance, having always

"All right,

all right," said

keen to give you a new

Mind

for the better.

face.

from Lambeth. "I'm not

been used

to the best houses.

—

Mr. Jukes, more

Not but what any

"I'm not

pacifically.

alteration wouldn't be

your manners another time, that's

What'U

all.

you have?"

"No, no," protested the other, pushed you.

I

didn't

mean

"Say no more about

But

it.

it," said

"this

one must be on me. Sorry

I

didn't like to be taken up so short."

I

Mr. Jukes generously. "I'm standing

Another double whisky, miss, and one of the usual. Come over here where there isn't so much of a crowd, or you'll be getting yourself this.

into trouble again."

He

led the

"That's there's it,

way

to a small table in the corner of the

Mr. Jukes. "Very nicely done.

right," said

all

any danger here, but you can't be too

Rogers.

Have you made up your mind

careful.

to

come

I

room. don't think

Now, what about

in with us.^"

"Yes," said Rogers, with a glance over his shoulder, "yes,

That

is,

trouble,

mind

mind and

I

you,

if

everything seems

don't want to get

Is

have.

understood as

I

take

no

I

don't active

that straight?"

"You wouldn't be allowed to," said

it's

I

I'm not looking for

any dangerous games.

let in for

giving you information, but

part in whatever goes on.

all right.

to take

Mr. Jukes. "Why, you poor

an active part

fish.

Number One

if

you wanted

wouldn't have

let us know The Society does the rest. It's some organisation, I can tell you. You won't even know who's doing it, or how it's done. You won't know anybody, and nobody will know you except Number One, of course. He knows everybody." "And you," said Rogers. "And me, of course. But I shall be transferred to another district.

anybody but experts on

where the

stuff

is

his jobs. All

and how

to get

you have to do

is

it.

—

We

shan't

meet again

and then we

shall all

"Go on!"

after to-day,

said Rogers incredulously.

"Fact. You'll be taken to

won't see him. Then, the

roll,

There

is

and

except at the general meetings,

be masked."

if

Number One

—

he'll see you,

he thinks you're any good,

after that you'll

you'll

but you

be put on

be told where to make your reports

to.

a divisional meeting called once a fortnight, and every three

DOROTHY

204

months

there's a general

up by number and has

SAYERS

L.

meeting and share-out. Each member

is

called

whack handed over to him. That's all." "Well, but suppose two members are put on the same job his

together?" "If

know

a daylight job, they'll be so disguised their mothers wouldn't

it's

'em. But

it's

look here

"I see. But,

home and

mostly night work."

—what's

me away

giving

to prevent

somebody following me

to the police?"

"Nothing, of course. Only I wouldn't advise him to try it, that's The last man who had that bright idea was fished out of the river down Rotherhithe way, before he had time to get his precious report in. Number One knows everybody, you see." "Oh!—and who is this Number One?" "There's lots of people would give a good bit to know that." all.

"Does nobody know?"

"Nobody. He's a I

can

tell

you

that,

fair

marvel,

is

Number One.

and a pretty high-up one, from

He's a gentleman, his ways.

And

he's

his head. And he's got an arm as long as from here nobody knows anything about him, unless it's Number Two, and I'm not even sure about her."

got eyes

all

round

to Australia. But

"There are

women

in

it,

then?"

"You can bet your boots there

are.

You

can't

do a job without

'em nowadays. But that needn't worry you. The

women

are safe

enough. They don't want to come to a sticky end, no more than you

and me." "But, look here. Jukes take.

Is it

worth

"Worth

—how about the money?

It's

a big risk to

it?"

it?"

Jukes leant across the

little

marble-topped table and

whispered.

"Coo!" gasped Rogers. "And how much of that would "You'd share and share alike with the in that particular job or not. There's fiftieth,

same

"Really?

as

fifty

Number One and same

No

rest,

I

get,

now?"

whether you'd been

members, and you'd get oneas

me."

kidding?"

"See that wet, see that dry!" Jukes laughed. "Say, can you beat it?

There's never been anything like

it.

It's

the biggest thing ever been

known. He's a great man, is Number One." "And do you pull off many jobs?" "Many? Listen. You remember the Carruthers necklace, and the Gorleston Bank robbery? And the Faversham burglary? And the big

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF

Rubens that disappeared from the National Gallery? pearls? All

And

done by the Society.

Rogers licked his

ALI

BABA

And the Frensham

never one of them cleared up."

lips.

"But now, look here," he said cautiously. "Supposing as

you might

and supposing

mind

for,

was to go straight

you

said Jukes, "suppose

thing nasty didn't happen to you

answer

I

1

was a

and

off

tell

spy,

the

what you've been saying?"

police about

"Ah,"

say,

205

—

"Do you mean

did, eh? Well, supposing

on the way there

—which

some-

wouldn't

I

me watched?"

to say you've got

"You can bet your sweet life we have. Yes. Well, supposing nothing happened on the way there, and you was to bring the slops to this

—

pub, looking for yours truly

"Yes?"

"You wouldn't

me,

find

that's all.

1

should have gone to

Number

Five."

"Who's Number Five?" "Ah! I don't know. But

man

he's the

while you wait. Plastic surgery, they

New

We

everything.

call

that it.

makes you a new face

And new

finger-prints.

go in for up-to-date methods in our show."

Rogers whistled.

how about

"Well,

it?"

asked Jukes, eyeing his acquaintance over

the rim of his tumbler.

"Look here

—you've

told

me

a lot of things. Shall

1

be safe

if 1

say 'no'?"

"Oh

yes

—

you behave yourself and don't make trouble

if

And

"H'm,

1

"Then

you'll

see.

your pocket to to tell us

It's

Rogers was "I'll

do

it!"

for

jam

thinking

he said

than no time, with money in

in less

And

nothing to do

for

about the houses you've been to

money

silent,

man

gentleman.

what you know

were in service.

say 'yes'?"

if I

be a rich

live like a

for us."

it

if

it,

except

when you

you act straight by the Society."

over.

at last.

"Good for you. Miss! The same again, please. Here's to it, Rogers! I knew you were one of the right sort the minute I set eyes on you. Here's to money for jam, and take care of Number One! Talking of Number One, you'd better come round and see him to-night. No time like the present."

"Right you "Nix.

No

are.

Where'll

more of

1

come

this little

pub

to?

Here?"

for us.

It's

a pity, because

it's

DOROTHY

206

nice and comfortable, but to

do

is

At ten

this.

it

SAYERS

can't be helped.

Now, what

at this intimation that his

you'll see a yellow taxi standing there,

doing something to his engine. You'll say to him, go?'

and

he'll say,

Take me

'Depends where you want to go

Number One, London.'

to

you've got

o'clock to-night exactly, you walk north across

Lambeth Bridge" (Rogers winced known), "and

L.

abode was

with the driver your bus

'Is

to.'

And

fit

to

you'll say,

There's a shop called that, by

the way, but he won't take you there.

You won't know where he

is

taking you, because the taxi- windows will be covered up, but you

mustn't

mind

that.

you're regularly

when you you don't.

one of

get there,

the rule for the

It's

do

us, you'll

be told the

as you're told

Number One

first visit.

will deal

name

Afterwards,

when

of the place.

And

and speak the

truth, because,

if

with you. See?"

"I see."

"Are you game? You're not

afraid?"

"Of course I'm not afraid." "Good man! Well, we'd better be moving now. And I'll say goodbecause we shan't see each other again. Good-bye and good

—

bye,

luck!"

"Good-bye."

They passed through

the swing-doors, and out into the

mean and

dirty street.

The two in a

years subsequent to the enrolment of the ex-footman Rogers

crook society were marked by a number of startling and successful

on the houses of distinguished people. There was the theft of the diamond tiara from the Dowager Duchess of Denver; the burglary the flat formerly occupied by the late Lord Peter Wimsey, resulting

raids

great at

in the disappearance of

£7,000 worth of

burglary at the country mansion of aire

—which,

silver

and gold

plate; the

Theodore Winthrop, the million-

incidentally, exposed that thriving

gentleman

as a

con-

firmed Society blackmailer and caused a reverberating scandal in Mayfair; and the snatching of the famous eight-string necklace of pearls

from the neck of the Marchioness of Dinglewood during the singing of the Jewel

Song

in Faust at

Covent Garden.

It is

true that the pearls

turned out to be imitation, the original string having been pawned by the noble lady under circumstances highly painful to the Marquis, but the coup was nevertheless a sensational one.

On room

in

a Saturday afternoon in January, Rogers

Lambeth, when a

was

slight noise at the front

sitting in his

door caught his

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF ear.

He

sprang up almost before

it

ALI

BABA

207

had ceased, dashed through the

The street was deserted. Neverhe turned back to the sitting-room, he saw an envelope lying on the hat-stand. It was addressed briefly to "Number Twenty-

small hallway, and flung the door open. theless, as

one." Accustomed by this time to the somewhat dramatic methods used by the Society to deliver

was written

It

correspondence, he merely shrugged

in cipher, and,

"Number Twenty-one,

when

Number One at 11:30. The word is finality."

be held to-night at the house of

You

will

be absent at your

room

to a

at the

built into the wall.

little

peril.

time considering

back of the house,

He

transcribed, ran thus:

—An Extraordinary General Meeting

will

Rogers stood for a

way

its

and opened the note.

his shoulders,

in

this.

Then he made

which there was

a

his

tall safe,

manipulated the combination and walked into

the safe, which ran back for some distance, forming, indeed, a small

He

strongroom.

pulled out a drawer marked "Correspondence," and

added the paper he had After a few

just received to the contents.

moments he emerged,

re-set the lock to a

new com-

and returned to the sitting-room. "Finality," he said. "Yes I think so." He stretched out

bination,

—

to the telephone

He went under the farthest

—then appeared

upstairs to

roof.

an

attic,

he made

his

a loft close

way

into the

comer: then carefully pressed a knot on the timber-work.

the corresponding

greeted

rafters,

hand

mind.

and thence climbed into

Crawling among the

concealed trap-door swung open. self in

to alter his

his

him

as

loft

He

crept through

of the next house.

it,

A

A

and found him-

soft

cooing noise

he entered. Under the skylight stood three cages, each

containing a carrier pigeon.

He

glanced cautiously out of the skylight, which looked out upon

back of some factory or other. There was nobody in the dim little courtyard, and no window within sight. He drew his head in again, and, taking a small fragment of thin paper from his pocketbook, wrote a few letters and numbers upon it. Going to the nearest cage, he took out the pigeon and attached the message a high blank wall at the

to

its

wing.

hesitated a

Then he moment,

carefully set the bird

shifted

and was gone. He saw

it

its

on the window-ledge.

pink feet a few times,

lifted its

It

wings,

tower up into the already darkening sky over

the factory roof and vanish into the distance.

DOROTHY

208

He

L.

SAYERS

An

glanced at his watch and returned downstairs.

he released the second pigeon, and in another hour the

he

down to wait. At half-past nine he went up

hour

third.

later

Then

sat

a few frosty stars were shining,

to the attic again.

and a cold

air

It

was dark, but

blew through the open

on the floor. He picked it up it was warm and feathery. The answer had come. He ruffled the soft plumes and found the paper. Before reading it, he fed the pigeon and put it into one of the cages. As he was about

window. Something pale gleamed

faintly

—

he checked himself.

to fasten the door, "If

anything happens to me," he

to starve to death,

my

He pushed the window a little again. The paper in his hand bore seemed

ink in the upper left-hand comer.

paper in the

fire,

no need

for

you

wider open and went downstairs only the two

have been written hurriedly,

to

said, "there's

child."

for there

He noted

this

letters,

"O.K."

It

was a long smear of

with a smile, put the

and, going out into the kitchen, prepared and ate a

hearty meal of eggs and corned beef from a

new

He

tin.

ate

it

without

on the shelf near at hand, and washed it down with water from the tap, which he let run for some time before venturing to drink it. Even then he carefully wiped the tap, both inside

bread, though there was a loaf

and outside, before drinking.

When

he had

inspecting the

finished,

he took a revolver from a locked drawer,

mechanism with attention

to see that

it

was in working

and loaded it with new cartridges from an unbroken packet. Then he sat down to wait again. At a quarter before eleven, he rose and went out into the street. order,

He walked

briskly,

keeping well away from the wall,

into a well-lighted thoroughfare.

Here he took a

till

he came out

bus, securing the

corner seat next the conductor, from which he could see everybody

who

on and

got

off.

A

succession of buses eventually brought

a respectable residential quarter of Hampstead. still

him

to

Here he alighted and,

keeping well away from the walls, made his way up to the Heath.

The

night was moonless, but not altogether black, and, as he

crossed a deserted part of the Heath, he observed one or two other

dark forms closing in upon him from various directions.

He

paused in

the shelter of a large tree, and adjusted to his face a black velvet mask,

which covered him from brow

to chin.

At

its

base the

number

2 1 was

clearly embroidered in white thread.

At

length a slight dip in the ground disclosed one of those agree-

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF able villas

which stand, somewhat

isolated,

among

All

BABA

209

the rural surround-

ings of the Heath. One of the windows was lighted. As he made his way to the door, other dark figures, masked like himself, pressed forward and surrounded him. He counted six of them. The foremost man knocked on the door of the solitary house. After a moment, it was opened slightly. The man advanced his head to the opening; there was a murmur, and the door opened wide. The man stepped in, and the door was shut. When three of the men had entered, Rogers found himself to be

the next in turn.

He

The door opened

to the extent of

knocked, three times loudly, then twice

presented to the chink. Rogers whispered "Finality."

withdrawn, the door opened, and he passed

into

faintly.

two or three inches, and an ear was

The

ear was

in.

Without any further word of greeting. Number Twenty-one passed a small room on the left, which was furnished like an office, with a

desk, a safe,

evening

and a couple of

dress,

chairs.

At

the desk sat a massive

with a ledger before him. The

carefully after him;

it

clicked to,

on

new

man

arrival shut the

a spring lock.

Advancing

in

door

to the

"Number Twenty-one, sir," and stood respectfully The big man looked up, showing the number 1 startingly white

desk, he announced,

waiting.

on

his velvet

mask. His eyes, of a curious hard blue, scanned Rogers

At a sign from him, Rogers removed his mask. Having verified his identity with care, the President said, "Very well. Number Twenty-one," and made an entry in the ledger. The voice was hard and metallic, like his eyes. The close scrutiny from behind the immovable black mask seemed to make Rogers uneasy; he shifted his feet, and his eyes fell. Number One made a sign of dismissal, and Rogers, with a faint sigh as though of relief, replaced his mask and left the room. As he came attentively.

comer passed in in his place. in which the Society met was a large one, made by knocking the two largest of the first-floor rooms into one. It was furnished in the standardised taste of twentieth-century suburbia and

out, the next

The room

A gramophone in one comer blared out a jazz tune, which about ten couples of masked men and women were dancing, some in evening dress and others in tweeds and jumpers. In one comer of the room was an American bar. Rogers went up brilliantly lighted.

to

man in charge for a double whisky. He consumed on the bar. The room filled. Presently somebody moved across to the gramophone and stopped it. He looked round. Number One had appeared on the threshold. A tall woman in black and asked the masked it

slowly, leaning

"

DOROTHY

210

and face completely; only her

bosom and the dark

woman

SAYERS

The mask, embroidered with

stood beside him.

a

L.

a white 2, covered hair

and her white arms and

fine bearing

eyes shining through the eye-slits proclaimed her

of power and physical attraction.

Number One was

"Ladies and gentlemen."

end of the room. The woman

sat beside

standing at the upper

him; her eyes were cast

down

and betrayed nothing, but her hands were clenched on the arms of the chair and her whole figure seemed tensely aware.

Our numbers

"Ladies and gentlemen.

The masks moved;

are

two short to-night."

eyes were turned, seeking and counting. "1 need

not inform you of the disastrous failure of our plan for securing the plans of the Court-Windlesham helicopter.

voted comrades,

Number

Fifteen

Our courageous and

de-

and Number Forty-eight, were be-

trayed and taken by the police."

An "It

uneasy murmur arose among the company. may have occurred to some of you that even

steadfastness of these comrades might give

There 1

is

have

no cause

this

for alarm.

The

the well-known

way under examination. and

usual orders have been issued,

evening received the report that their tongues have been

You

effectually silenced.

will,

1

am

sure,

be glad to

know

that these

two brave men have been spared the ordeal of so great a temptation

and that they

to dishonour, trial

and the

A

hiss of

like the

will

not be called upon to face a public

rigours of a long imprisonment.

intaken breath

wind over a

moved

across the assembled

members

barley-field.

"Their dependants will be discreetly compensated in the usual

upon Numbers Twelve and Thirty-four to undertake this agreeable task. They will attend me in my office for their instructions after the meeting. Will the Numbers I have named kindly signify that they are able and willing to perform this duty?"

manner.

1

call

Two hands were raised in salute. The President continued, at his

looking

watch:

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your partners for the next

dance."

The gramophone him

in a red dress.

of a fox-trot.

The

struck up again. Rogers turned to a

She nodded, and they

fro.

near

movement

couples gyrated solemnly and in silence. Their

shadows were flung against the blinds

and

slipped into the

girl

as they turned

and stepped to

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF

"What moving her

has happened?" breathed the lips.

I

BABA

21

1

a whisper, scarcely

girl in

"I'm frightened, aren't you?

All

feel as

if

something

awful was going to happen."

does take one a bit short, the President's way of doing things,"

"It

agreed Rogers, "but

"Those poor

A

safer like that."

it's

men

—

dancer, turning and following on their heels, touched Rogers

on the shoulder.

"No

talking, please,"

he

said.

His eyes gleamed sternly; he twirled

middle of the crowd and was gone. The

his partner into the

girl

shuddered.

The gramophone

The

stopped. There was a burst of clapping.

dancers again clustered before the President's

seat.

You may wonder why this extraordinary The reason is a serious one. The failure of our recent attempt was no accident. The police were not on the premises that night by chance. We have a traitor among us." Partners who had been standing close together fell distrustfully apart. Each member seemed to shrink, as a snail shrinks from the touch "Ladies and gentlemen.

meeting has been

called.

of a finger.

"You will remember the disappointing outcome of the Dinglewood went on the President, in his harsh voice. "You may recall

affair,"

other smaller matters which have not turned out satisfactorily. All these troubles have been traced to their origin.

our minds can

now be

easy.

The

be removed. There will be no more mistakes.

who

I

am happy

to say that

offender has been discovered and will

The misguided member

introduced the traitor to our Society will be placed in a position

where

his lack of caution will

have no further

ill-effects.

There

is

no

cause for alarm."

Every eye roved about the company, searching for the his unfortunate sponsor.

Somewhere

traitor

and

beneath the black masks a face

must have turned white; somewhere under the

stifling

velvet there

must have been a brow sweating, not with the heat of the dance. But the masks hid everything.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your partners for the next

dance."

The gramophone "There

mask

ain't

nobody

struck into an old and half-forgotten tune:

loves

in evening dress.

A

me." The

hand

laid

girl in

red was claimed by a

on Rogers's arm made him

tall

start.

DOROTHY

212

A

SAYERS

L.

plump woman in a green jumper slipped a cold hand into The dance went on. When it stopped, amid the usual applause, everyone stood, de-

small,

his.

The

tached, stiffened in expectation.

President's voice was raised

again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please behave naturally. This

is

a dance,

not a public meeting." Rogers led his partner to a chair and fetched her an stopped over her, he noticed the hurried "Ladies and gentlemen. "

no doubt wish

Number

man

and

rise

fall

As he

of her bosom.

"You

endless interval was over.

to be immediately relieved

the persons involved.

A

The

ice.

from suspense.

I

will

will

name

Thirty-seven!"

sprang up with a fearful, strangled cry.

"Silence!"

The wretch choked and "I

—

never

swear

1

You have

"Silence. If

I

—I'm innocent." You

failed in discretion.

you have anything to say

Sit

gasped.

never

be dealt with.

will

in defence of your folly,

I

will

hear

it

later.

down."

Number

down upon

Thirty-seven sank

handkerchief under the mask to wipe his

upon him. The

a chair.

face.

Two

He pushed his men closed in

tall

the recoil of humanity from one

rest fell back, feeling

stricken by mortal disease.

The gramophone

struck up.

"Ladies and gentlemen,

I

will

now name

the traitor.

Number

Twenty-one, stand forward."

The concentrated fear and loathing of burned upon him. The miserable Jukes set up

Rogers stepped forward. forty-eight pairs of eyes a fresh wail.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" "Silence! Number Twenty-one, take off your mask." The traitor pulled the thick covering from his face. The intense hatred of the eyes devoured him.

"Number Thirty-seven, this man was introduced here by you, under the name of Joseph Rogers, formerly second footman in the service of the Duke of Denver, dismissed for pilfering. Did you take steps to verify that statement?" "I

did

—

identified by straight

—

I'll

I

did!

As God's my

witness,

two of the servants. swear

it

was."

I

it

was

made

all straight.

enquiries.

The

I

had him tale

was

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF

The

ALI

BABA

213

President consulted a paper before him, then he looked at

watch again.

his

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your partners ..."

Number Twenty-one, and

arms twisted behind him and bound,

his

his wrists handcuffed, stood motionless, while the

circled about him.

of the

The

clapping, as

men and women who

it

ended, sounded like the clapping

sat, thirsty-lipped,

"Number Twenty-one, your name ers,

footman, dismissed for

dance of doom

beneath the

guillotine.

has been given as Joseph Rog-

your real name?"

theft. Is that

"No."

"What

your name?"

is

"Peter Death Bredon Wimsey."

"We

thought you were dead."

You were intended to think so." "What has become of the genuine Joseph Rogers?" "He died abroad. I took his place. I may say that no real blame attaches to your people for not having realised who I was. I not only was alone, I walked took Rogers's place; I vuas Rogers. Even when "Naturally.

I

like Rogers,

I

sat like Rogers,

clothes. In the end, to

I

read Rogers's books, and wore Rogers's

I

almost thought Rogers's thoughts.

keep up a successful impersonation "I see.

The

robbery of your

own

is

The only way

never to relax."

flat

was arranged?"

"Obviously."

"The robbery of the Dowager Duchess, your mother, was connived at

by you?" "It was.

decent

taste.

It

was a very ugly

May

"You may

I

not. Ladies

The dance was jerked,

—no

tiara

real loss to

anybody with

smoke, by the way?"

feet faltered.

and gentlemen ..."

like the

The

mechanical jigging of puppets. Limbs

prisoner watched with an air of critical

detachment.

"Numbers

Fifteen,

Twenty-two,

You have communicate with

and Forty-nine.

watched the prisoner. Has he made any attempts

to

anybody?"

"None." Number Twenty-two was the spokesman. "His letters his telephone tapped, and his move-

and parcels have been opened,

ments followed. His water-pipes have been under observation signals."

"You

are sure of

"Absolutely."

what you say?"

for

Morse

"

"

"

DOROTHY

214

SAYERS

L.

been alone in

"Prisoner, have you

Speak the

this adventure?

made somewhat more unpleasant

or things will be

for

truth,

you than they

might otherwise be." have been alone.

"I

may be

"It

I

have taken no unnecessary

man at Scotland Yard

taken to silence the

risks."

however, be as well that steps should be

It will,

so.

—what

is

his

name?

—

Parker.

Also the prisoner's manservant, Mervyn Bunter, and possibly also his

mother and to

The

sister.

brother

is

a stupid oaf,

and not,

A

have been taken into the prisoner's confidence.

watch

will,

The

think,

I

meet the

assure

I

you that

think, likely

precautionary

necessities of his case."

prisoner appeared, for the

"Sir,

I

first

time, to be moved.

my mother and

sister

know nothing which

could possibly bring danger on the Society."

"You should have thought of gentlemen, please take

"No

—no!"

—

Flesh and blood could endure the mockery

"No! Finish with him. Get gerous.

The

police

—

it

and

their situation earlier. Ladies

no

over. Break up the meeting.

longer.

It's

dan-

"Silence!"

The

President glanced round at the crowd.

look about

it.

"Very receive

He

well.

Number 4

had a dangerous

It

gave way.

Take the prisoner away and treatment.

And

silence him.

be sure you explain

it

to

He

him

will

care-

fully first."

"Ah!"

The

eyes expressed a wolfish satisfaction. Strong hands gripped

Wimsey's arms.

—

"One moment

for

God's sake,

let

me

die decently."

"You should have thought this over earlier. Take him away. Ladies and gentlemen, be

satisfied

"Stop! Wait!" cried say.

I

don't ask for

life

—he

will

Wimsey

— only

for a

not die quickly."

desperately. "I have something to

quick death.

I

—

I

have something

to sell."

"To

sell?"

"Yes."

"We make no "No

—but

not so mad.

I

bargains with traitors."

listen!

have

Do you

left

think

I

have not thought of

a letter."

"Ah! now it is coming. A letter. To whom?" "To the police. If I do not return to-morrow

—

this?

I

am

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF

ALI

BABA

215

"Well?"

"The

letter will

"Sir," broke in

not sent any

letter.

"Ah! but

"Then

be opened."

Number Fifteen. "This is bluff. The prisoner has He has been strictly watched for many months."

listen.

I

left

the letter before

I

came

to

Lambeth."

can contain no information of value."

it

"Oh, but it does." "What?" "The combination of my safe." "Indeed? Has this man's safe been searched?" "Yes, sir."

"What did it contain?" "No information of importance, sir. An outline of our organisathe name of this house nothing that cannot be altered and

—

—

tion

covered before morning."

Wimsey

smiled.

"Did you investigate the inner compartment of the

safe?"

There was a pause. find

"You hear what he says," snapped the President sharply. "Did you this inner compartment?" "There was no inner compartment, sir. He is trying to bluff." "I hate to contradict you," said Wimsey, with an effort at his

ordinary pleasant tone, "but

I

really think

you must have overlooked

the inner compartment.

"Well," said the President, "and what do you say

compartment,

if it

is

in this inner

does exist?"

"The names of every member of this

Society, with their addresses,

photographs, and finger-prints."

"What?"

The

eyes round

him now were

ugly with fear.

Wimsey

kept his

face steadily turned towards the President.

"How do you "Well,

I

say you have contrived to get this information?"

have been doing a

little

detective work

on my own, you

know." "But you have been watched." "True.

The

finger-prints of

my

watchers adorn the

first

page of

the collection."

"This statement can be proved?" "Certainly.

— ample

I

will

prove

it.

The name

of

Number

Fifty, for ex-

DOROTHY

216

A fierce muttering arose. "If

The

President silenced

you mention names here, you

mercy. There

is

a fifth treatment

will certainly

—kept

tion names. Bring the prisoner to

The

SAYERS

L.

my

it

with a gesture.

have no hope of

who menKeep the dance going."

specially for people

office.

President took an automatic from his hip-pocket and faced his

tightly fettered prisoner across the desk.

"Now "I

speak!" he said.

should put that thing away,

much

temptuously. "It would be a

ment Number

and

5,

if

I

were you," said Wimsey con-

pleasanter form of death than treat-

might be tempted to ask

I

"Ingenious," said the President, "but a

be quick;

little

for it."

too ingenious.

Now,

me what you know." me if I tell you?"

tell

"Will you spare

"I make no promises. Be quick." Wimsey shrugged his bound and aching

"Certainly.

I

will tell

you what

I

shoulders.

know. Stop

me when you have

heard enough."

He

leaned forward and spoke low. Overhead the noise of the

gramophone and the

shuffling of feet bore witness that the

dance was

going on. Stray passers-by crossing the Heath noted that the people in the lonely

house were making a night of

"Well," said Wimsey, "am

I

to go

From beneath the mask the

it

again.

on?"

President's voice

sounded

as

though

he were grimly smiling.

"My

lord,"

not, in fact, a

he

said,

member

"your story

fills

—

with regret that you are

of our Society. Wit, courage, and industry are

valuable to an association like ours.

No

me

1

fear

I

cannot persuade you?

supposed not."

I

He

touched a

bell

on

his desk.

"Ask the members kindly to proceed to the supper-room," he mask who entered. The "supper-room" was on the ground-floor, shuttered and

said

to the

tained.

about

In

its

bare table,

with chairs

curset

it.

"A *

Down

centre ran a long,

Barmecide

The Arabian

lavishly set to

feast,*

Nights, a

I

see," said

Barmecide

torment a hungry man.

feast

Wimsey

pleasantly.

It

was the

was an imaginary banquet; a table was

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF first

time he had seen this room. At the

far

ALI

BABA

217

end, a trap-door in the

gaped ominously.

floor

The

President took the head of the table.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, as usual courtesy had never sounded so sinister

the seriousness of the situation.

The

—

"I will

—and

the foolish

not conceal from you

prisoner has recited to

me more

than twenty names and addresses which were thought to be unknown, except to their owners and to me. There has been great carelessness"

—"which have be looked have been obtained—he has shown me the photographs

his voice rang harshly

prints

How

of them. this safe

is

into. Finger-

to

will

which

a matter

enquiry."

calls for

"Don't blame them," put in Wimsey. looked, you know.

The

of some

our investigators came to overlook the inner door of

made

I

it

like that

"It was meant on purpose."

to be over-

President went on, without seeming to notice the inter-

ruption.

"The prisoner informs me addresses

is

found in

to be

certain letters

that the

this inner

and papers stolen from the houses of members, and

numerous objects bearing authentic

He

telling the truth.

quick death.

for a

book with the names and

compartment, together with

offers

finger-prints.

I

believe

think the offer should be accepted.

I

him

to be

the combination of the safe in exchange

What

is

your

opinion, ladies and gentlemen?" is known already," said Number Twenty-two. man has told us, and has proved to me, that he Wimsey. Do you think he will have forgotten to alter

"The combination "Imbecile! This is

Lord Peter

the combination?

And

then there

is

the secret of the inner door.

he disappears to-night and the police enter "I say," said a

woman's rich

A

murmur

—

If

quickly.

Time

is

getting short."

of agreement went round the table.

"You hear," offers

house

voice, "that the promise should be

—and

given and the information used

his

said the President, addressing

you the privilege of a quick death

Wimsey. "The Society

in return for the

combination

of the safe and the secret of the inner door."

have your word "You have." "I

"Thank "If

honour shall

you

—

you.

for it?"

And my mother and

sister?"

in your turn will give us your

that these

be spared."

women know

word

—you

are a

nothing that could harm

man us,

of

they

"

"

DOROTHY

218

SAYERS

L.

"Thank you, sir. You may rest assured, upon my honour, that they know nothing. I should not think of burdening any woman with such dangerous secrets

"Very

well.

It is

The murmur

—

particularly those

—

agreed

who

are dear to

me."

yes?"

of assent was given, though with

less

readiness than

before.

"Then

1

am

willing to give you the information you want.

word of the combination

"And

is

the inner door?"

"In anticipation of the visit of the police, the inner door

might have presented

—

difficulties

"Good! You understand that

is

if

— senger think

is

—which

open."

the police interfere with our mes-

"That would not help me, would "It

The

unreliability."

it?"

a risk," said the President thoughtfully, "but a risk

we must

take. Carry the prisoner

down

to the cellar.

which

I

He can

amuse himself by contemplating apparatus Number 5. In the meantime, Numbers Twelve and Forty-six

—

"No, no!"

A

sullen mutter of dissent arose

"No,"

said a tall

man

any members be put in possession of

like treacle.

"No

this evidence?

—why should

We

have found

among us to-night and more than one fool. How are we know that Numbers Twelve and Forty-six are not fools and traitors

one to

and swelled threateningly.

with a voice

traitor

also?"

The two men turned

"Hear, hear! That's right, to

upon the speaker, but and agitated.

savagely

struck into the discussion, high

I

say.

How

about us?

a

We

girl's

voice

ain't

going

have our names read by somebody we don't know nothing about.

I've

had enough of this. They might sell the 'ole lot of us to the narks." "I agree," said another member. "Nobody ought to be trusted,

nobody

at all."

The President shrugged his shoulders. "Then what, ladies and gentlemen, do you suggest?" There was a pause. Then the same girl shrilled out again: "I say

knows all

Let

all

Mr. President oughter go himself. He's the only one

the names.

It

won't be no cop to him.

the risk and trouble and

him go

himself, that's

him

what

I

sit at

say."

Why

home and

should

collar the

as

we take money?

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF

All

A

long rustle of approbation went round the table.

"I

second that motion," said a stout

gold seals at his fob. that trifling vanity

Wimsey

which had

of the stout man, and he

BABA

man who wore

smiled as he looked at the led

felt

him

directly to the

219

bunch of

a

seals;

name and

it

was

address

a certain affection for the trinkets

on

that account.

The "It

President looked round.

the wish of the meeting, then, that

is

I

should go?" he

said,

an ominous voice.

in

Forty-five

known

hands were raised in approbation. Only the

Number Two remained

as

woman

motionless and silent, her strong

white hands clenched on the arm of the chair.

The till

President rolled his eyes slowly round the threatening ring

they rested upon her.

"Am

I

to take

The woman

it

that this vote

unanimous?" he enquired.

is

raised her head.

"Don't go," she gasped

"You hear,"

faintly.

said the President, in a faintly derisive tone. "This

lady says, don't go." "I

submit that what

said the

man

says

with the treacly voice. "Our

us to be going,

was an

Number Two

if

is

neither here nor there,"

own

is.

like

insult.

"Hear, hear!" cried another man. "This this

might not

ladies

they were in madam's privileged position." His voice

We

don't want

no

is

a democratic society,

privileged classes."

"Very well," said the President. "You hear. Number Two. The feeling of the meeting

is

against you.

Have you any

reasons to put

forward in favour of your opinion?"

"A If

hundred.

The

President

is

the head and soul of our Society.

—where should — we

anything should happen to him

swept the company magnificently with her eyes dered.

We

have your carelessness to thank

we should be

safe for five

minutes

if

be? You"

"you have

for all this.

Do

all

—she blun-

you think

the President were not here to

repair your follies?"

"Something "Pardon

my

in that," said a

man who had

suggesting," said

Wimsey

not hitherto spoken.

maliciously, "that, as the

lady appears to be in a position peculiarly favourable tor the reception

of the President's confidences, the contents of

probably be no news to her.

my modest volume

will

Why should not Number Two go herself?"

DOROTHY

220 "Because

must not,"

say she

I

SAYERS

L.

said the President sternly, checking

the quick reply that rose to his companion's

the meeting,

One handed "Is

I

of the

men

lips.

"If

it is

the will of

Give me the key of the house."

will go.

extracted

it

from Wimsey's jacket pocket and

over.

it

the house watched?" he

demanded of Wimsey.

"No." "That "It

is

the truth?"

the truth."

is

The

President turned at the door.

"If

have not returned in two hours' time," he

I

best to save yourselves,

Two

my

will give orders in

He of

and do what you

left

said, "act for the

Number

with the prisoner.

absence."

Number Two

the room.

like

rose from her seat with a gesture

command. "Ladies and gentlemen. Supper

is

now

considered over. Start the

dancing again."

Down

in the cellar the time passed slowly, in the

apparatus

Number

5.

The

contemplation of

miserable Jukes, alternately wailing and

raving, at length shrieked himself into exhaustion.

The

four

members

guarding the prisoners whispered together from time to time.

"An hour and

a half since the President left," said one.

Wimsey glanced

up.

Then he

returned to his examination of the

room. There were many curious things in

it,

which he wanted

to

memorise. Presently the trap-door was flung open. "Bring

Wimsey rose immediately, and The members of the gang were Number Two occupied the President's voice.

Wimsey's face with a tigerish

fury,

his face

him up!"

was rather

cried a

pale.

again seated round the table. chair,

but

and her eyes fastened on

when

she spoke

it

was with a

which roused his admiration. "The President has been two hours gone," she said. "What has happened to him? Traitor twice over what has happened to him?" "How should I know?" said Wimsey. "Perhaps he has looked after

self-control

—

Number One and gone

while the going was good!"

She sprang up with

cry of rage, and came close to him. and struck him on the mouth. "You know He is faithful to his friends. What have you

a

"Beast! liar!" she said,

he would never do

that.

little

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF

— or

done with him? Speak

He

bring the irons.

make you

will

I

BABA

ALI

You two,

speak.

can only form a guess, Madame," replied Wimsey, "and

"I

Pantaloon think

there

speak!"

shall

not guess any the better for being stimulated with hot

I

221

Calm

at the circus.

— indeed,

I

yourself,

—

greatly fear

and

will tell

I

that Monsieur

le

I

shall

irons,

like

you what

think.

I

President in his hurry

to examine the interesting exhibits in my safe may, quite inadvertently, no doubt, have let the door of the inner compartment close behind him. In which case

—

He

raised his eyebrows, his shoulders being too sore for shrugging,

and gazed

her with a limpid and innocent regret.

at

"What do you mean?" Wimsey glanced round "I

the circle.

think," he said, "I had better begin from the beginning by

explaining to you the mechanism of

he added plaintively. of

safe. It

rather a nice safe,"

is

—not the principle

working, of course; that

its

my

invented the idea myself

"I

a matter for scientists

is

—but

just the

idea of the thing.

"The combination good one of

its

kind.

strong-room, where

and

gave you

I

all that.

It I

perfectly correct as far as

Bunn

But there

is

doors

is

my

cash and

my

manner. The outermost of these two inner

fitting closely, so as

like the

not to betray any join.

It lies

plane as the wall of the room, you understand, so that

measure the outside and the inside of the It

"Do you is

safe

if

back of the in the

it

was

left

think," said the

open when

woman

I

same

you were to

you would discover no

opens outwards with an ordinary key, and,

assured the President,

very

Froth Blower's cuff-links

merely a thin steel skin, painted to look

discrepancy.

goes.

an inner compartment with two doors, which

in a quite different

and

it

& Fishett—a

opens the outer door, leading into the ordinary

keep

open safe

is

a three-alphabet thirteen-letter lock by

It is

quitted

my

as

I

truly

flat."

sneeringly, "that the President

so simple as to be caught in a so obvious trap?

He

will

have wedged

open that inner door undoubtedly. "Undoubtedly, madame. But the sole purpose of that outer inner door,

if I

may

so express myself,

is

to appear to be the only inner door.

But hidden behind the hinge of that door

is

another door, a sliding

panel, set so closely in the thickness of the wall that you would hardly see

it

knew it was there. This door was also left open. Our Number One had nothing to do but to walk straight through

unless you

revered

DOROTHY

222

compartment of the

into the inner

SAYERS

L.

which, by the way,

safe,

is

built

chimney of the old basement kitchen, which runs up the that point. I hope I make myself clear?"

into the

house at

"Yes, yes

—

Make

get on.

Wimsey bowed,

your story short."

and, speaking with even greater deliberation than

ever, resumed:

"Now,

this interesting

even, than Monsieur

le

of the Society's activities, which

list

had the honour of compiling,

is

—

written in a very large book

which he

President's ledger

I

have

bigger,

uses downstairs.

by the way, madame, that you have borne in mind the necessity

(I trust,

of putting that ledger in a safe place. Apart from the risk of investigation

by some officious policeman,

member of the would,

Society should get hold of

is

it.

The

feeling of the

meeting

an occurrence.)"

fancy, be opposed to such

I

"It

would be inadvisable that any junior

it

"Mon

secure," she answered hastily.

on with your

dieul get

story."

"Thank you

—you have

relieved

my

mind. Very good. This big

book lies on a steel shelf at the back of the inner compartment. Just a moment. I have not described this inner compartment to you. It is six feet high, three feet wide, and three feet deep. One can stand up in

it

quite comfortably, unless one

you may

see,

I

am

President has the advantage of

tied

me up "I

By the way,

"If

He

is

tied

is

and

for

know

him if

nicely

as

The

a half.

he might be a

little

he grew

tired

to squat

you know

till

if it,

but you have

your bones were locked together. Beat

trying to gain time."

you beat me," said Wimsey, "I'm damned

Control yourself, madame; king

don't

in height;

—

me

It suits

rather tightly."

would have you

him, you!

I

tall.

five feet eight

me

cramped, but there would be room of standing.

very

is

not more than

it

does not do to

move

if I'll

speak at

hastily

when

all.

your

in check."

"Get on!" she cried again, stamping with

rage.

"Where was I? Ah! the inner compartment. As I say, it is a little snug the more so that it is not ventilated in any way. Did I mention that the book lay on a steel shelf?"

—

"You did." "Yes. spring.

The

steel shelf

is

balanced on a very delicate concealed

When the weight of the book

—

a heavy one, as

the shelf rises almost imperceptibly. In rising

it

I

said

—

makes an

is

lifted,

electrical

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF contact. Imagine to yourself,

propping the

false

ALI

BABA

223

madame; our revered President steps in he sees the book quickly

—

—

door open behind him

To make sure that it is the right one, he opens it he studies the pages. He looks about for the other objects have mentioned, which bear the marks of fingerprints. And silently, but he snatches

it

up.

I

very, very quickly

—you can imagine

can you not?

it,

—the

secret panel,

released by the rising of the shelf, leaps across like a panther behind

him. Rather a

trite simile,

"My God!

oh,

but apt, don't you think?"

my God!" Her hand went

choking mask from her

face.

"You

—

up

you devil

word that opens the inner door? Quick!

I

will

though to

as

—

have

devil! it

tear the

What

is

the

torn out of you

the word!" "It

is

not a hard word to remember,

Do you

forgotten before now.

recollect,

—

madame though it has been when you were a child, being

Baba and the Forty Thieves'?

told the tale of 'Ali

my mind reverted, with rather a in my opinion, to the happy hours

door made, mentality,

words that open the door are

When

I

had that

pretty touch of senti-

—'Open Sesame.'of my childhood. The "

"Ah! How long can a man live in this devil's trap of yours?" "Oh," said Wimsey cheerfully, "I should think he might hold out a few hours if he kept cool and didn't use up the available oxygen by shouting and hammering. If we went there at once, I dare say we should find

him

"I shall

fairly all right."

go myself. Take this

man and

— do your worst with him.

him till I come back. I want to see him die!" "One moment," said Wimsey, unmoved by this amiable

Don't

finish

think you had better take

me

wish. "I

with you."

"Why—why?" who can open Was that a lie?"

"Because, you see, I'm the only person

"But you have given

"No

—the word's

me

style electric doors. In fact,

I'm rather proud of but to

my

it.

voice only.

"Your voice?

I

the word.

all right.

It

it's

But, you see,

it's

the door."

one of these new-

really the very latest thing in doors.

opens to the words 'Open Sesame'

all right

"

will

choke your voice with

my own

hands.

What

—

do you mean your voice only?" "Just what I say. Don't clutch my throat alter

my

like that, or

voice so that the door won't recognise

apt to be rather pernickety about voices.

It

it.

you may

That's better.

got stuck up for a

It's

week

—

"

DOROTHY

224 once,

when I had

Even

in the ordinary way,

I

a cold

L.

SAYERS

and could only implore sometimes have to

I

on the exact right intonation." She turned and appealed to a short,

hit

—

it

in a hoarse whisper.

try several

thick-set

man

times before

standing be-

side her. "Is this true? Is

it

possible?"

ma'am, I'm

"Perfectly,

Wimsey took him

voice

to be a superior

man

From his workman of some kind

afraid," said the

civilly.

probably an engineer. "Is

it

an

It

will

electric needle.

by

When

understand

it?"

have a microphone arrangement somewhere,

which converts the sound circuit

Do you

electrical device?

"Yes, ma'am.

into a series of vibrations controlling

an

the needle has traced the correct pattern, the

completed and the door opens. The same thing can be done

is

light vibrations equally easily."

"Couldn't you open

with tools?"

it

"In time, yes, ma'am. But only by smashing the mechanism, which is

probably well protected."

"You may take that for granted," interjected Wimsey reassuringly. She put her hands to her head. "I'm afraid we're done in," said the engineer, with a kind of respect in his tone for a

"No

—

wait!

good job of work.

Somebody must know

—the workmen who made

this

thing?"

"In Germany," said

Wimsey

briefly.

—

—

—

—

"Or yes, yes, I have it a gramophone. This this he shall be made to say the word for us. Quick how can it be done?" "Not possible, ma'am. Where should we get the apparatus at halfpast three on a Sunday morning? The poor gentleman would be dead long before

—

—

There was a

silence, during

which the sounds of the awakening A motor-horn sounded

day came through the shuttered windows. distantly. "I give in,"

she said.

"We

must

let

him

go.

Take the ropes

off

him. You will free him, won't you?" she went on, turning piteously to

Wimsey. "Devil

will

as

you

are,

you are not such a devil

as that!

You

go straight back and save him!"

"He doesn't go The President's while we can. It's

"Let him go, nothing!" broke in one of the men. to preach to the police,

done

in, that's all,

my

and we'd

lady, don't all

better

you think

make

tracks

it.

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF all

up, boys.

Chuck

this fellow

down

BABA

ALI

225

him

the cellar and fasten

in, so

he can't make a row and wake the place up. I'm going to destroy the ledgers. You can see it done if you don't trust me. And you. Thirty, you know where the switch

is.

Give

and then you can blow the place

—you — with the ropes

"No! You can't go

—my—

your leader

one of you,

"None

won't

I

wrists,

and struggling to get

and she

clear,

to die

—your President

this devil free.

man who had spoken

Help me,

before.

He

twisted, shrieking, in his arms, biting

free.

"Think, think," said the to morning.

him

happen. Set

of that, now," said the

caught her by the

on

can't leave

let it

an hour to

us a quarter of

to glory.

man

with the treacly voice.

The

be light in an hour or two.

It'll

"It's

police

getting

may be

here any minute."

"The

She seemed

police!"

"Yes, yes, you are right.

sake of one man.

He

We

to control herself by a violent effort.

must not imperil the

himself would not wish

put this carrion in the cellar where every one to his

"And

own

it

it.

safety of all for the

That

cannot harm

place, while there

is

is

us,

so.

We

will

and depart,

time."

the other prisoner?"

"He? Poor

fool

—he can do no harm. He knows nothing. Let him

go," she answered contemptuously.

Wimsey found himself bundled uncerecellar. He was a little puzzled. That him go, even at the price of Number One's

In a few minutes' time

moniously into the depths of the they should refuse to life,

let

He had

he could understand.

But that they should leave him

taken the

risk

with his eyes open.

as a witness against

them seemed

incredible.

The men who had taken him down and departed, switching the

out as they went.

lights

"Hi! Kamerad!" said Wimsey.

might leave the

light

"It's all right,

strapped his ankles together

"It's

a bit lonely sitting here.

You

on."

my

friend," was the reply.

"You

will

not be in the

dark long. They have set the time-fuse."

The together.

other

man

laughed with rich enjoyment, and they went out

So that was

it.

He was

to be

blown up with the house. In

that case the President would certainly be dead before he was extri-

Wimsey; he would rather have been able to bring justice. After all, Scotland Yard had been waiting six

cated. This worried

the big crook to

years to break up this gang.

"

DOROTHY

226

He

SAYERS

L.

waited, straining his ears.

seemed

It

The gang had There was certainly a creak. The

footsteps over his head.

somebody creeping

rather than heard,

"Hush!" said a voice

and went fumbling about

on

that he heard .

.

.

felt,

into the cellar.

hands passed over his

face,

There came the cold touch of steel

The ropes slackened and dropped off. A key clicked in handcuffs. The strap about his ankles was unbuckled. "Quick! quick! they have set the time-switch. The house is mined.

Follow

it.

him

trap-door had opened; he

in his ear. Soft

his body.

to

crept out by this time.

his wrists.

the

It

all

was

me

Make

left it

1

—

I stole back I said I had left my jewelry. on purpose. He must be saved only you can do

you can.

as fast as

true.

—

haste."

Wimsey, staggering with pain, as the blood rushed back into his bound and numbed arms, crawled after her into the room above. A

moment, and she had

and thrown the window

flung back the shutters

open.

"Now "I

go! Release him!

You promise?" you, madame,

And warn When my safe-door

promise.

rounded.

I

closed

it

—never

is

gave a signal which sent

servant to Scotland Yard. Your friends are

"Ah! But you go

that this house

mind me

all

—

sur-

my

taken

—

quick!

The time

is

al-

most up."

"Come away from this!" He caught her by the arm, and across the

little

garden.

they went running and stumbling

An electric torch shone suddenly in the bushes.

"That you, Parker?" cried Wimsey. "Get your fellows away. Quick! the house

is

going up in a minute."

The garden seemed suddenly full of shouting, sey, floundering in the darkness,

wall.

He made

hurrying men.

Wim-

was brought up violently against the

a leap at the coping, caught

it,

and hoisted himself up.

His hands groped for the woman; he swung her up beside him. They

jumped; everyone was jumping; the with a gasping

cry.

Wimsey

woman

and came down headlong. Then, with a

went up

in

Wimsey picked

and a

roar, the night

still

Good

himself painfully out from

among

the debris of

A faint moaning near him proclaimed that his comalive. A lantern was turned suddenly upon them.

"Here you are!" thing?

flash

fell

over a stone,

fire.

the garden wall.

panion was

caught her foot and

tried to stop himself, tripped

lord!

said a cheerful voice.

What

a hairy monster!"

"Are you

all right,

old

THE ADVENTUROUS EXPLOIT OF THE CAVE OF "All right," said Wimsey. "Only a bit winded.

H'm

BABA

ALI

227

the lady safe?

Is

—arm broken, apparently— otherwise sound. What's happened?" "About

half a dozen of 'em got

blown

up; the rest we've bagged."

Wimsey became aware of a circle of dark forms in the wintry dawn. "Good Lord, what a day! What a come-back for a public character! You old stinker to let us go on for two years thinking you were dead!

—

I

bought a

bit of

black for an arm-band.

Did anybody

did, really.

I

know, besides Bunter?"

"Only

my mother and

sister.

I

put

it

in a secret trust

the thing you send to executors and people.

We

shall

—you know,

have an awful

time with the lawyers, I'm afraid, proving I'm me. Hullo!

Is

that friend

Sugg?" "Yes,

my

lord," said Inspector Sugg, grinning

ing with excitement.

"Damned

piece of work, your lordship. They're you,

and nearly weep-

glad to see your lordship again. Fine all

wanting to shake hands with

sir."

"Oh, Lord! glad to see you

good

little

he

"Is

wish

I

all

I

could get washed and shaved

two

again, after

show, hasn't

years' exile in

first.

Awfully

Lambeth. Been a

it?"

safe?"

Wimsey started at the agonised cry. "Good Lord!" he cried. "I forgot the gentleman

in the safe. Here,

fetch a car, quickly. I've got the great big top Moriarty of the whole

bunch

quietly asphyxiating at

in too.

I

home. Here

—hop and put the — though" (he in,

promised we'd get back and save him

lady

finished

may be murder charges too, and much for his chance at the Old Bailey. Whack her last much longer shut up there. He's the bloke you've

the sentence in Parker's ear) "there I

wouldn't give

up.

He

can't

been wanting, the

man

Wilmington

and hundreds of others."

case,

at the

The cold morning had turned

back of the Morrison case and the Hope-

when they drew up before Wimsey took the woman by the

the streets grey

the door of the house in Lambeth.

arm and helped her out. The mask was haggard and desperate, and white with

off

now, and showed her

fear

face,

and pain.

"Russian, eh?" whispered Parker in Wimsey's ear.

"Something of the

sort.

Damn! the front door's blown shut, and him in the safe. Hop through the

the blighter's got the key with

window,

will

you?"

Parker bundled obligingly

in,

and

in a

few seconds threw open

DOROTHY

228 the door to them.

L.

SAYERS

The house seemed

very

still.

the second door stood propped open with chairs.

them

Wimsey

led the

like a

The

inner door faced

blank green wall.

"Only hope he hasn't upset the adjustment with thumping muttered Wimsey.

He

way

back room, where the strong-room stood. The outer door and

to the

The anxious hand on

pulled himself together,

at it,"

arm clutched feverishly. tone to one of cheerful

his

forcing his

commonplace.

"Come ally to

on, old thing," he said, addressing himself conversation-

the door.

"Show

Open Sesame!" The green door

us your paces.

slid

Open Sesame, confound

suddenly away into the wall.

sprang forward and caught in her arms the that rolled out from the safe.

Its

humped and

you.

The woman

senseless thing

clothes were torn to ribbons, and

its

battered hands dripped blood. "It's all right," said

his trial."

Wimsey,

"it's all right!

He'll live

—

to stand

AMI GISIK (I8B0-1!I7E)

Agatha

Christie, nee Miller

was born in Devon, England, studied to

be a singer, and took up writing mysteries between hospital duties in

World War

1.

Her

first

novel. The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920),

featured the diminutive Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, of the

mustache and busy novels

on

the

"little

grey cells,"

—most notably The Murder (1934) — A

of Roger Ackroyd (1926)

and Murder

second detective, the village spinster Jane Marple, was

introduced in The Murder at

number

waxed

appeared in dozens of

before his last performance in Curtain

Orient Express

(1975).

who

the Vicarage

(1930) and appeared in a

Most of some have exotic

of short stories and novels over the next decades.

Christie's stories are set in English country houses but settings that reflect her travels with her

Max Mallowan, on Mideastem

second husband, archaeologist

expeditions.

No

other detective story

writer has approached her in worldwide popularity; her books,

number over

which

eighty, are said to be second in sales only to the Bible,

and her mystery play The Mousetrap (1952) has had a run of three She was made a Dame Commander, Order of the British

decades.

Empire, in 1971.

"The Blue Geranium," which

illustrates

"armchair detection" in that

the detective arrives at the solution entirely on the basis of reported information, is

from a

is

typical of

series called

Golden Age

fiction in

its

The Tuesday Club Murders

in

"cozy" setting

which

(it

a group of

AGATHA

230 friends

meet

regularly to

usual murder,

its

match

CHRISTIE

wits at solving murder cases),

playful tone (Miss

old maid of fiction"), and, above

Marple described

all,

its

its

un-

as "the typical

observance of

"fair play" in

giving the reader the key clue pointing to the murderer before the final revelation.

"When

I

was down here

last

—

year

Henry CHthering, and

" said Sir

stopped.

His hostess, Mrs. Bantry, looked at him curiously.

The ex-Commissioner friends of his,

of Scotland Yard was staying with old

Colonel and Mrs. Bantry, who lived near

Mary

St.

Mead. Mrs. Bantry, pen in hand, had just asked his advice as to

who

should be invited to make a sixth guest at dinner that evening. "Yes?" said Mrs. Bantry encouragingly.

"When

you were here

last

year?"

"Tell me," said Sir Henry, "do you

Mrs. Bantry was surprised.

"Know Miss Marple?

It

was the

know last

Who doesn't! The typical old maid of fiction.

Quite a dear, but hopelessly behind the times. like

me

Do you mean you would

to ask her to dinner?"

"You

"A

a Miss Marple?"

thing she had expected.

are surprised?"

little,

I

must confess.

I

should hardly have thought you

— but

perhaps there's an explanation?"

year five

"The explanation is simple enough. When I was down here last we got into the habit of discussing unsolved mysteries there were or six of us. We each supplied a story to which we knew the

—

answer, but nobody else did.

—

deductive faculties

to see

It

who

was supposed to be an exercise

in the

could get nearest the truth."

"Well?" "Like in the old story playing; but

we were

—we hardly

very polite about

realized that Miss it

—

didn't

want

Marple was

to hurt the old

—

"

AGATHA

232 dear's feelings.

And now comes

CHRISTIE

the cream of the

jest.

The

old lady

outdid us every time!"

"But

how

extraordinary!

"Ah! But according tunities of observing

Why,

dear old Miss Marple has hardly

Mary Mead."

ever been out of St.

to her, that has given her unlimited oppor-

—under the microscope,

human nature

as

it

were."

suppose there's something in that," conceded Mrs. Bantry.

"I

"One would at least know the petty side of people. But I don't think we have any really exciting criminals in our midst. I think we must try

her with Arthur's ghost story after dinner.

I'd

be thankful

if

she'd

find a solution to that." "I didn't

know

"Oh, he

doesn't. That's

that Arthur believed in ghosts?"

what worries him so. And it happened a most prosaic person. It's really

—

George Pritchard

to a friend of his,

rather tragic for poor George. Either this extraordinary story

or else

—

"Or

else

is

true

what?"

Mrs. Bantry did not answer. After a minute or two she said irrelevantly:

"You know, George— everyone —but people do do such extraordinary I

he

Sir

like

Henry nodded. He knew,

does.

One can't believe

that

things."

better than Mrs. Bantry, the ex-

traordinary things that people did.

So

it

came about

that that evening Mrs. Bantry looked around

her dinner table (shivering a

room,

like

little as

she did so, because the dining

most English dining rooms, was extremely cold) and fixed

her gaze on the very upright old lady sitting on her husband's right.

Miss Marple wore black lace mittens; an old lace fichu was draped

round her shoulders and another piece of lace surmounted her white

She was talking animatedly to the elderly doctor, Dr. Lloyd, about the workhouse and the suspected shortcomings of the district hair.

nurse.

Mrs. Bantry marvelled anew. She even wondered whether Sir Henry had been making an elaborate joke but there seemed no point in that. Incredible that what he had said could be really true. Her glance went on and rested affectionately on her red-faced broad-shouldered husband as he sat talking horses to Jane Helier, the beautiful and popular actress. Jane, more beautiful (if that were possible) off the stage than on, opened enormous blue eyes and murmured

—

I

THE BLUE GERANIUM at discreet intervals, "Really?" *'Oh, fancy!"

knew nothing whatever about

233

"How extraordinary!" She

horses and cared

less.

"Arthur," said Mrs. Bantry, "you're boring poor Jane to distrac-

Leave your horses alone and

tion.

You know

.

.

"Eh, Dolly? Oh, but "Sir it

this

tell

her your ghost story instead.

George Pritchard."

.

Henry wants

morning.

It

I

don't

to hear

know—"

too.

it

I

was

telling

him something about

would be interesting to hear what everyone has

to

say about it."

"Oh, do!" "Well

—

"

said Jane. "I love ghost stories."

in the supernatural.

the best. His wife this

But

this

.

.

don't think any of you

"I

much

Colonel Bantry hesitated. "I've never believed

—

well, she's

.

know George

one of

Pritchard. He's

dead now, poor woman.

much: she didn't give George any too easy

a time

I'll

just say

when

she was

—

She was one of those semi-invalids I believe she really had something wrong with her, but whatever it was, she played it for all it was worth. She was capricious, exacting, unreasonable. She comalive.

plained from morning to night. George was expected to wait

hand and

"She was "I

woman," said Mrs. Bantry with conviction. know how this business started. George was rather

a dreadful

don't quite

vague about

it.

I

gather Mrs. Pritchard had always had a weakness for

fortunetellers, palmists, clairvoyants

didn't mind.

on her

and everything he did was always wrong."

foot,

If

—anything

she found amusement in

it,

of that sort. George

well and good. But he

refused to go into rhapsodies himself, and that was another grievance.

"A

succession of hospital nurses was always passing through the

house, Mrs. Pritchard usually becoming dissatisfied with them after a

few weeks. stunt,

and

One young for a

she suddenly

fell

another nurse

nurse had been very keen on this fortunetelling

time Mrs. Pritchard had been very fond of her.

Then

out with her and insisted on her going. She had back

who had been

with her previously

—an older woman, woman —

experienced and tactful in dealing with a neurotic patient. Nurse Copling, according to George, was a very good sort to talk to.

She put up with Mrs.

a sensible

Pritchard's tantrums

and nerve storms

with complete indifference. "Mrs. Pritchard always lunched upstairs, and

time for George and the nurse to

come

to

it

was usual

at

some arrangement

lunch

for the

afternoon. Strictly speaking, the nurse went off from two to four, but

— AGATHA

234 'to oblige,' as

after tea

if

CHRISTIE

the phrase goes, she would sometimes take her time off

George wanted

to be free for the afternoon.

she mentioned that she was going to see a

might be a to play a

httle late returning. George's face

round of

golf.

he had arranged

A twinkle came more exciting company

be missed, Mr. Pritchard.'

into her eye. 'Mrs. Pritchard's going to have

'Let

for

Nurse Copling, however, reassured him.

" 'We'll neither of us

than

fell,

On this occasion

Golders Green and

sister at

ours.' "

'Who's

"

'Wait a minute.' Nurse Copling's eyes twinkled more than ever.

me

get

that?'

" 'That's a " 'Quite

Reader of

right. Zarida, Psychic

it

new

new.

I

one,

groaned George.

isn't it?'

my

believe

predecessor, Nurse Carstairs, sent her

She made me

along. Mrs. Pritchard hasn't seen her yet.

an appointment " 'Well,

went

at

'

the Future.

write, fixing

for this afternoon.'

any

rate,

my

shall get

I

golf,' said

George, and he

with the kindliest feelings toward Zarida, the reader of the

off

future.

"On

he found Mrs. Pritchard in a

his return to the house,

of great agitation.

She was,

on her

as usual, lying

she had a bottle of smelling

invalid couch,

state

and

her hand which she sniffed at

salts in

frequent intervals. " 'George,'

The moment I

tell

you so

I

she exclaimed, 'what did

came

into

it,

I

felt

I

you about

tell

this

house?

there was something wrong! Didn't

at the time?'

"Repressing his desire to reply, 'You always do,' George said, 'No, can't say "

I

remember

it.'

'You never do remember anything that has to do with me.

—but

are all extraordinarily callous

more

really believe that

I

Men

you are even

insensitive than most.' "

'Oh,

come now, Mary

" 'Well, as

I

was

she actually blenched at that door,

dear, that's not

telling you, this

—

and she

if

you know what

said,

"There

is

fair.'

woman knew I

evil here

—

She came in

at once!

—

mean

as she

evil

and danger.

I

'

feel it."

"Very unwisely George laughed. " 'Well,

you have had your money's worth

"His wife closed her eyes and took a long

this afternoon.'

sniff

from her smelling

bottle. "

'How you hate me! You would

jeer

and laugh

if I

were dying.'

THE BLUE GERANIUM

"George protested, and " is

may

'You

laugh, but

after a

minute or two she went on.

shall tell

me

dangerous to

definitely

I

235

you the whole thing. This house

—the woman

said so.'

"George's formerly kind feeling toward Zarida underwent a

He knew his wife was perfectly capable new house if the caprice got hold of her.

change. to a

"

'What

she did say.

1

me

had some

on moving

he asked.

else did she say?'

" 'She couldn't tell

of insisting

very much.

She was

so upset.

She pointed

violets in a glass.

One

at

thing

them and

cried out: "

Blue flowers are "

No

"Take those away.

'

fatal to

you

blue flowers

—remember

'And you know,' added Mrs.

that blue as a colour

of warning against

is

—never have blue

that."

Pritchard,

repellent to me.

1

flowers.

'1

always have told you

feel a natural instinctive sort

it.

"George was much too wise to remark that he had never heard her say so before. Instead he asked what the mysterious Zarida was like.

Mrs. Pritchard entered with gusto upon a description. " 'Black hair in coiled

—

closed

knobs over her ears

great black rims round

—she had

—her

eyes were half

a black veil over her

—she spoke kind of singing voice with —Spanish, think—

mouth and chin foreign accent

them

in a

a

marked

I

" 'In fact, all

the usual stock in trade,' said George cheerfully.

"His wife immediately closed her eyes. "

me,

'I

feel

extremely

ill,'

you know only too

as

"It

was two days

she said. 'Ring for Nurse. Unkindness upsets well.'

later that

Nurse Copling came to George with

a grave face. " 'Will

you come to Mrs. Pritchard, please. She has had a

which upsets her greatly.' "He found his wife with the

letter in

her hand. She held

letter

it

out

to him. "

'Read

she said.

it,'

"George read

it.

It

was on heavily scented paper, and the writing

was big and black.

I

have seen the Future. Be warned before

Beware of the

full

.

.

.

too

late.

moon. The Blue Primrose means Warning; Geranium means

the Blue Hollyhock means Danger; the Blue

Death.

it is

"

'

AGATHA

236

CHRISTIE

"Just about to burst out laughing,

She made a quick warning woman's probably trying to

eye.

The

—

"

'

George caught Nurse Copling's

gesture.

He

said rather awkwardly,

Anyway, there

frighten you, Mary.

aren't such things as blue primroses

and blue geraniums.'

"But Mrs. Pritchard began to cry and say her days were numbered.

Nurse Copling came out with George upon the landing. "

'Of

"

*I

the

all

suppose

"Something in

silly

tomfoolery,' he burst out.

it is.'

in the nurse's tone struck

amazement. " 'Surely, Nurse, " 'No, no,

that's

you don't believe

Mr. Pritchard.

I

the meaning of this. Fortunetellers

is

what they can

are usually out for

frightening Mrs. Pritchard with

—

don't believe in reading the future

What puzzles me

nonsense.

him, and he stared at her

get.

But

this

no advantage

— There's another thing

the point.

woman

seems to be

to herself.

1

can't see

" 'Yes?' " 'Mrs.

Pritchard says that something about Zarida was faintly

familiar to her.' " 'Well?'

" 'Well, "

'1

" 'I'm

don't like

it,

Mr. Pritchard,

know you were

To

explain

—

it

to you,

that's all.'

so superstitious. Nurse.'

not superstitious, but

was about four days

"It

pened.

I

didn't

I

know when

a thing

is

fishy.'

after this that the first incident I

shall

hap-

have to describe Mrs. Pritchard's

room

"You'd better

let

me do

papered with one of these flowers to

make

that," interrupted Mrs. Bantry. "It was

new

wallpapers where you apply clumps of

a kind of herbaceous border.

being in a garden

—though, of

they simply couldn't be in bloom

"Don't Dolly,"

let a

effect

all at

all

the same time

is

almost

wrong.

—

I

like

mean

passion for horticultural accuracy run away with you,

her husband.

said

The

course, the flowers are

"We

all

know

you're

an enthusiastic

gardener."

"Well,

and

it

daffodils

is

absurd," protested Mrs. Bantry.

"To have

and lupins and hollyhocks and Michaelmas

bluebells

daisies all

grouped together."

"Most story ..." "Well,

unscientific," said Sir Henry. "But to proceed with the

among

these massed flowers were primroses, clumps of

L

THE BLUE GERANIUM

237

— oh, go on, Arthur,

yellow and pink primroses, and

Colonel Bantry took up the

this

is

"Mrs. Pritchard rang her bell violently one morning.

hold came running violently excited

—

thought she was in extremis; not

and pointing

was one blue primrose in

"Oh!"

at the wallpaper,

"how

The

at all.

and there, the midst of the others ..."

said Miss Helier,

your story."

tale.

house-

She was

sure enough,

creepy!"

"The question was: Hadn't the blue primrose always been there? That was George's suggestion and the nurse's. But Mrs. Pritchard wouldn't have it at any price. She had never noticed it till that very morning, and the night before had been about

full

moon. She was very upset

it."

met George Pritchard that same day and he told me about it," went to see Mrs. Pritchard and did my best to ridicule the whole thing, but without success. I came away really concerned, and 1 remember 1 met Jean Instow and told her about it. Jean is a queer girl. She said, 'So she's really upset about it?' 1 told "1

said Mrs. Bantry. "1

her that

"I

abnormally

really

remember Jean

said, 'Well, that it

shocked.

1

To have

me

with what she said next. She

the best, mightn't

I

know

it's

life

that

done nowadays it.

Jean smiled

—

happen

And

to him.'

I

said,

1

she said

really

to be brutal

—

well,

and out-

me rather oddly and true. What use is Mrs. for

George Pritchard.

would be the best thing most awfully good to her

George Pritchard. The

—what was her name?

the row between her and Mrs.

—

is

And

she said, 'Yes, he deserves a reward, poor dear. He's a

the pretty one

"Now

'George

it?'

was

I

at

my saying that but it's None at all, and it's hell

very attractive person,

wondered

—

to her?

his wife frightened out of existence

that could always.'

all for

never get used to

'You don't like

Pritchard's

rather startled

might be

Of course

spoken, but

was perfectly capable of dying of fright

superstitious.

in so matter-of-fact a tone,

so coolly,

said,

woman

thought the

I

she was

last

Carstairs.

nurse thought so

That was the cause of

P.'

didn't like hearing Jean say that.

0{

course,

one had

Mrs. Bantry paused significantly. "Yes, dear," said Miss Marple placidly.

Instow a pretty

girl?

I

"One

always does.

Is

Miss

suppose she plays golf?"

"Yes. She's good at

all

games.

And

she's nice-looking, attractive-

looking, very fair with a healthy skin and nice steady blue eyes. course,

we always have

felt

that she and

George Pritchard

—

I

Oi

mean.

"

AGATHA

238 if

things had been different

other.

CHRISTIE

—they

are so well suited to

one an-

"

"And they were friends?" asked Miss "Oh yes. Great friends." "Do you think, Dolly," said Colonel might be allowed to go on with

my

Marple.

Bantry plaintively, "that

I

story?"

"Arthur," said Mrs. Bantry resignedly, "wants to get back to his ghosts." "I

had the

rest of the story

colonel. "There's

no doubt

from George himself," went on the

that Mrs. Pritchard got the

toward the end of the next month. She marked day

when

moon would

the

be

full,

off

on

wind up badly a calendar the

and on that night she had both

room and made them study the

the nurse and then George into her

wallpaper carefully. There were pink hollyhocks and red ones, but there were

no blue among them. Then when George

left

—

the

room

she locked the door

"And

morning there was a

in the

large blue hollyhock," said Miss

Helier joyfully.

"Quite right," said Colonel Bantry. "Or at any

One

rate, nearly right.

flower of a hollyhock just above her head had turned blue.

staggered George, and of course, the

he refused to take the thing

seriously.

was some kind of a practical joke.

more

it

staggered

He insisted He ignored

It

him the more

that the

whole thing

the evidence of the

locked door and the fact that Mrs. Pritchard discovered the change before anyone

— even Nurse Copling—was admitted.

"It staggered

wanted

George, and

to leave the house,

it

made him unreasonable. His

and he wouldn't

to believe in the supernatural for the to admit

He

it.

Mary was not

first

let her.

time, but

He

he wasn't going

usually gave in to his wife, but this time

to

make

a fool of herself,

he

said.

wife

was inclined

he wouldn't.

The whole

thing was

the most infernal nonsense.

"And

so the next

protest than

month sped away. Mrs.

one would have imagined.

I

Pritchard

made

less

think she was superstitious

enough to believe that she couldn't escape her fate. She repeated again and again: The blue primrose warning. The blue hollyhock danger. The blue geranium death.' And she would lie looking at the clump

—

—

—

of pinky-red geraniums nearest her bed.

"The whole business was pretty nervy. Even the nurse caught the infection. She came to George two days before full moon and begged him to take Mrs. Pritchard away. George was angry.

THE BLUE GERANIUM " kill

the flowers

'If all

on

239

that wall turned into blue devils,

couldn't

it

anyone!' he shouted. " *It

might. Shock has killed people before now.'

" 'Nonsense,' said

George.

"George has always been a shade pigheaded. You can't drive him. I

had a

believe he

and that

it

was

"Well, the usual.

secret idea that his wife

all

some morbid,

fatal

worked the changes herself

hysterical plan of hers.

night came. Mrs. Pritchard locked her door as

She was very calm

—

in almost

nurse was worried by her state

an exalted

—and wanted

an injection of strychnine, but Mrs. Pritchard believe, she was enjoying herself.

George

mind. The

refused.

In a way,

1

said she was."

think that's quite possible," said Mrs. Bantry. "There must

"I

have been a strange

sort of

glamour about the whole thing.

"There was no violent ringing of a Pritchard usually

no

state of

to give her a stimulant,

woke about

eight.

bell the

When,

next morning. Mrs.

at eight-thirty, there

was

on the door. Getting no reply, on the door being broken open. They

sign from her. Nurse rapped loudly

she fetched George and insisted did so with the help of a chisel.

"One look

at the still figure

on the bed was enough

for

Copling. She sent George to telephone for the doctor, but late.

it

Nurse

was too

Mrs. Pritchard, he said, must have been dead at least eight hours.

Her smelling salts lay by her hand on the bed, and on the wall beside her one of the pinky-red geraniums was a bright deep blue." "Horrible," said Miss Helier with a shiver. Sir

Henry was frowning.

"No

additional details?"

Colonel Bantry shook

"The

his head, but Mrs. Bantry spoke quickly.

gas."

"What about

"When

the gas?" asked Sir Henry.

the doctor arrived there was a slight smell of gas, and sure

enough, he found the gas ring in the fireplace very but so

that

little

it

slightly

turned on,

couldn't have mattered."

"Did Mr. Pritchard and the nurse not notice

it

when

they

first

went in?"

"The nurse

said she did notice a slight smell.

notice gas, but something

—

feel very

George

said

he didn't

queer and overcome;

down to shock and probably it was. At any rate, no question of gas poisoning. The smell was scarcely

but he put that there was

made him

noticeable."

—

""

AGATHA

240

"And "No, servants,

end of the

that's the

you

story?"

One way and

it isn't.

CHRISTIE

another, there was a lot of talk.

had overheard things

see,

—had heard,

Pritchard telling her husband that he hated her and would jeer

And

were dying.

also

more recent remarks. She

said

everyone will

have

it,

realize that

very day before. afterward seen

"The I

don't

you have

killed

he had been mixing some weed

One

talk spread

know

I

glass of

what terms

she

hope

would

the garden paths the

him and had

hot milk to his wife.

and grew. The doctor had given

exactly in

1

ill

killer for

of the younger servants had seen

him taking up a

if

one day, apropos

When am dead, me.' And as luck

of his refusing to leave the house, 'Very well.

The

for instance, Mrs.

—shock,

a certificate

syncope, heart failure,

probably some medical term meaning nothing much. However, the

poor lady had not been a month in her grave before an exhumation order was applied for and granted."

"And

the result of the autopsy was

nil,

1

remember,"

said Sir

Henry gravely. "A case, for once, of smoke without fire." "The whole thing is really very curious," said Mrs. Bantry. "That Zarida. At the address where she was supfortuneteller, for instance posed to be, no one had ever heard of any such person!"

— "She appeared once— out of the blue," then vanished. Out of the blue—

said her husband,

that's rather

utterly

"and

good!"

"And what is more," continued Mrs. Bantry, "little Nurse Carstairs, who was supposed to have recommended her, had never even heard of her.

They looked "It's

at

each other.

a mysterious story," said Dr. Lloyd.

—

"One can make

guesses,

but to guess

He shook

his head.

"Has Mr. Pritchard married Miss Instow?" asked Miss Marple

in

her gentle voice.

"Now why do

you ask that?" inquired Sir Henry.

Miss Marple opened gentle blue eyes. "It

seems to

me

so important," she said.

"Have they married?"

Colonel Bantry shook his head.

"We

—

—

we expected something of the kind but it's eighteen don't believe they even see much of each other."

well,

months now. I "That is important," said Miss Marple. "Very important." "Then you think the same as I do," said Mrs. Bantry. "You think—"

THE BLUE GERANIUM

241

—

"Now, Dolly," said her husband. "It's unjustifiable what you're going to say. You can't go about accusing people without a shadow of proof."

"Don't be so

—

tastic idea

are always afraid to say

between ourselves.

is all

of mine that possibly

— only

Mind

herself as a fortuneteller. I

Men

so manly, Arthur.

anything. Anyway, this

—

possibly

you, she

It's

just a wild, fan-

^Jean

Instow disguised

may have done

don't for a minute think that she meant any harm; but

and

it,

if

—

anyone

—which,

minute, because killing

it

of course,

gardener does

as

yes.

Well,

know one

I

I

well,

see, if

I

were going

wouldn't dream of doing for a

know

besides,

don't like

I

has to be, and I'm sure the

it

humanely as possible. Let me see, what was I saying?"

you wished to

"Oh fright.

it

I

would be very wicked, and

—not even wasps, though

"If

she did do

it?"

"No, dear, not quite," said Miss Marple. "You to kill

for a joke.

if

Mrs. Pritchard was foolish enough to die of fright

what Miss Marple meant, wasn't

that's

it

kill

if I

anyone," prompted Sir Henry.

did,

shouldn't be at

I

reads of people dying of

to trust to

all satisfied

but

it,

seems a very

it

uncertain sort of thing, and the most nervous people are far more brave

than one certain

really thinks they are.

I

should like something definite and

and make a thoroughly good plan about

it."

"Miss Marple," said Sir Henry, "you frighten me.

I

hope you

will

never wish to remove me. Your plans would be too good." Miss Marple looked at him reproachfully. "I

thought

had made

I

such wickedness," she

said.

it

clear that

"No,

I

I

would never contemplate

was trying to put myself

in the

—er—a certain person."

place of

"Do you mean George

Pritchard?" asked Colonel Bantry.

"I'll

— though, mind you, even the nurse went and saw her about the time of the month exhumation. She — she wouldn't know how was done anything she believed George enough —but was

never believe it.

it

of George

believes

didn't

say

at all

to be in

of

afterward, at

a

I

in fact,

it

it

some way responsible

clear

that

for his wife's death.

She was convinced

it."

"Well," said Dr. Lloyd, "perhaps she wasn't so

mind

you, a nurse often knows.

She

can't say

—

far

wrong.

she's got

And

no proof

but she knows."

Henry leaned forward. "Come now. Miss Marple," he said persuasively. "You're daydream. Won't you tell us all about it?" Sir

a

lost in

"

AGATHA

242

CHRISTIE

Miss Marple started and turned pink.

beg your pardon," she

"I

district nurse.

"More

A

most

was

"I

depends on the primroses," said Miss Marple.

that turned blue, of course, that

one

to be a yellow

was

a

—

fits

If it

in perfectly.

*i

mean,

was a pink primrose But

if it

happened

pink one," said Mrs. Bantry.

She stared. They all "Then that seems to head

thinking about our

problem."

Mrs. Bantry said they were yellow and pink.

*it

just

than the problem of a blue geranium?"

difficult

'it really

difficult

said.

regretfully.

"And

stared at Miss Marple. settle it," said

Miss Marple. She shook her

the wasp season and everything.

And

of course

the gas."

reminds you,

"It

suppose, of countless village tragedies?" said

I

Sir Henry.

"Not

"And

tragedies," said Miss Marple.

certainly nothing crim-

does remind

me

a little of the trouble

the district nurse. After

all,

nurses are

But

inal.

it

human

we

are having with

beings,

and what with

having to be so correct in their behaviour and wearing those uncom-

—

and being so thrown with the family wonder that things sometimes happen?"

fortable collars

A

glimmer of

light

"You mean Nurse

"Oh

no.

is

broke upon Sir Henry.

Not Nurse

Carstairs.

an attractive man.

I

needn't go into that.

I

of course afterward,

when

and she

Nurse Copling. You

do

all

the it?"

"What

see,

she had

with Mr. Pritchard,

who you

—

daresay she thought, poor thing

don't suppose she

gave her away, didn't

tried to

can you

Carstairs?"

been there before and very much thrown say

well,

knew about Miss

she found out,

harm she

could.

it

well,

we

Instow, and

turned her against him

0{ course,

the letter really

letter?"

"Well, she wrote to the fortuneteller at Mrs. Pritchard's request,

and the fortuneteller came, apparently later

it

in

answer to the

letter.

was discovered that there never had been such a person

address. to write

But

at that

So that shows that Nurse Copling was in it. She only pretended so what could be more likely than that she was the for-

—

tuneteller herself?" "I

a

never saw the point about the

letter," said Sir

Henry. "That's

most important point, of course." "Rather a bold step to take," said Miss Marple, "because Mrs.

THE BLUE GERANIUM

243

Pritchard might have recognized her in spite of the disguise

of course

she had, the nurse could have pretended

if

"What

it

"when you

did you mean," said Sir Henry,

— though

was a joke."

said that

if

you

were a certain person, you would not have trusted to fright?"

"One

couldn't be sure that way," said Miss Marple. "No,

that the warnings and the blue flowers were,

term"

—she laughed

"And

—

if

may

I

think

use a military

"just camouflage."

the real thing?"

know,"

"I

self-consciously

I

Marple apologetically, "that

said Miss

I've got

wasps

—

on the brain. Poor things, destroyed in their thousands and usually on such a beautiful summer's day. But I remember thinking, when I saw the gardener shaking up the cyanide of potassium in a bottle with

how

water,

salt bottle

like smelling salts

and substituted

it

looked.

for the real

And if it were put in a smellingone

—

well, the poor lady

in the habit of using her smelling salts. Indeed,

was

you said they were

found by her hand. Then, of course, while Mr. Pritchard went to telephone to the doctor, the nurse would change

and she'd and

in case

leaves

no

and

may have been something

it

it

for the real bottle,

on the gas a little bit to mask any smell of almonds anyone felt queer, and I always have heard that cyanide

just turn

trace

if

you wait long enough. But, of course,

may be wrong,

I

entirely different in the bottle, but

that doesn't really matter, does it?"

Miss Marple paused, a

little

out of breath.

Jane Helier leaned forward and said, "But the blue geranium and the other flowers?"

"Nurses always have litmus paper, don't they?" said Miss Marple,

—

"for

on

well, for testing.

it.

have done

I

Not

a little

And

when

the poor lady used her smelling

ammonia fumes would

turn

the geranium wasn't blue

the

sal

alkalies.

—near the bed, of

some red litmus over a red flower

then,

noticed

won't dwell

nursing myself." She grew delicately pink.

"Blue turns red with acids, and red turns blue with to paste

We

a very pleasant subject.

it

till

afterward.

ammoniac

it

blue. Really

when

they

When

first

salts,

So easy course.

the strong

most ingenious. Of course,

broke into the room

—nobody

nurse changed the bottles, she held

against the wallpaper for a minute,

I

expect."

"You might have been there. Miss Marple," said Sir Henry. "What worries me," said Miss Marple, "is poor Mr. Pritchard and that nice girl. Miss Instow. Probably both suspecting each other and keeping apart and life so very short." She shook her head.

—

— AGATHA

244

"You needn't worry," something up

my

sleeve.

CHRISTIE

said Sir Henry.

A

murdering an elderly patient

"As a matter of fact, I have on a charge of

nurse has been arrested

who had

left

her a legacy.

with cyanide of potassium substituted for smelling trying the

same

no doubts

as to the truth."

"Now the

isn't

trick again.

salts.

Nurse Copling

wickedness there

of course. That's very sad and shows in the world

is

which reminds me,

I

must

about the village nurse."

was done

Miss Instow and Mr. Pritchard need have

that nice?" cried Miss Marple. "I don't

new murder,

It

finish

and that

my

little

if

mean about how much

once you give away

conversation with Dr. Lloyd

woom

GORNiii

(IBII3-IB6B)

in New York City, grew Columbia University. A "twentieth-century Poe," Woolrich influenced mystery and suspense fiction with his use of oppressive atmosphere and his fascination with

Cornell Woolrich (William

up

in

South America,

Irish)

and

was

bom

attended

the irrational. Products of a bizarre and claustrophobic

life

and an

imagination that fed on a sense of catastrophic doom, his stories depict a universe of ill-defined threat, despair,

and

His shorter

failed love.

works, reflecting the grayness of the Depression era, appeared during the 1930s in pulps such as Black

His longer

fiction, like his first

Mask and

Detective Fiction Weekly.

Wore Black

suspense novel. The Bride

(1940), also reflected his grim awareness of the irrational subsurface of

life

and inspired the French roman

noir

and film

noir, as

well as

some

of Alfred Hitchcock's finest suspense movies.

"Murder

at the

Automat"

is

an example of "Black Mask"

fiction in

its

grimy setting, colloquial language, and atmosphere of greed, treachery,

and violence.

It is

also

an early example of the police procedural,

as

the detective pursues his "private" case at the same time he pursues his "official" case for the department.

technical help, however, than especially,

suicide").

on

a grasp of

human

The

detective relies

on observation and

less

on

persistence and,

psychology ("misers seldom commit

Nelson pushed through the revolving-door

at

twenty to one in the

morning, his squadmate, Sarecky, in the compartment behind him.

They stepped clear and looked around. The place looked funny. Almost all the little white tables had helpings of food on them, but no one was at them eating. There was a big black crowd ganged up over in one comer, thick

as bees

and sending up

a buzz.

One

or two were

standing up on chairs, trying to see over the heads of the ones in front,

rubbering like a flock of cranes.

The crowd back.

burst apart,

Get away from

nothing to

see.

He met

The man's dead

in the

comer," he

He went back

They

split

said unnecessarily.

"Indigestion,

I

with them.

the crowd wide open again, this time from the outside.

In the middle of a chair,

—

he was saying. "There's

that's all."

the two dicks halfway between the crowd and the door.

"Over there guess."

and a cop came through. "Now, stand

this table, all of you,"

it

was one of the

little

white tables, a dead

man

in

an ambulance doctor, a pair of stretcher-bearers, and the

automat manager.

"He gone?" Nelson asked "Yep.

overhear. "Better send at.

I

the interne.

We got here too late." He came closer so the mob wouldn't him down

to the

morgue and have him looked

think he did the Dutch. There's a white streak on his chin, and

a half-eaten

whatever

sandwich under

it is.

That's

why

I

his face spiked

with some more of

got in touch with you fellows.

he wound up pleasantly and elbowed

two stretcher-bearers tagging

after

his

him.

it,

Good night,"

way out of the crowd, the

The ambulance clanged

do-

I

Nelson pushed through the revolving-door

at

twenty to one in the

morning, his squadmate, Sarecky, in the compartment behind him.

They stepped clear and looked around. The place looked funny. Almost all the little white tables had helpings of food on them, but no one was at them eating. There was a big black crowd ganged up over in one comer, thick

as bees

and sending up

a buzz.

One

or two were

standing up on chairs, trying to see over the heads of the ones in front,

rubbering like a flock of cranes.

The crowd back.

burst apart,

Get away from

nothing to

see.

He met

—

The man's dead

in the

split

he was saying. "There's

that's all."

1

with them.

the crowd wide open again, this time from the outside.

In the middle of a chair,

cop came through. "Now, stand

comer," he said unnecessarily. "Indigestion,

He went back

They

a

the two dicks halfway between the crowd and the door.

"Over there guess."

and

this table, all of you,"

it

was one of the

little

white tables, a dead

man

in

an ambulance doctor, a pair of stretcher-bearers, and the

automat manager.

"He gone?" Nelson asked "Yep.

overhear. "Better send at.

I

the interne.

We got here too late," He came closer so the mob wouldn't him down

to the

morgue and have him looked

think he did the Dutch. There's a white streak on his chin, and

a half-eaten

whatever

sandwich under

it is.

That's

why

I

his face spiked with

some more of

got in touch with you fellows.

he wound up pleasantly and elbowed

two stretcher-bearers tagging

after

his

him.

it,

Good night,"

way out of the crowd, the

The ambulance clanged

do-

248

CORNELL WOOLRICH

lorously outside, swept

its

whined off. Nelson

fiery

said to the cop:

we

in here, until

"Go

headlights around the comer, and

over to the door and keep everyone

get the three others that were sitting at this table

with him."

The manager

said:

"There's a

little

be taken up there, instead of being

balcony upstairs. Couldn't he

down

left

here in

full sight like

this?"

"Yeah, pretty soon," Nelson agreed, "but not

He on

it,

down

one on each

finished

prone

looked

at the table.

side.

and only the

Two had

the

barely

One had been One was hidden by the

been touched.

soiled plates remained.

figure sprawled across

down toward

just yet."

There were four servings of food

one arm out, the other hanging limply

it,

floor.

"Who was sitting here?" said Nelson, pointing to one of the unconsumed portions. "Kindly step forward and identify yourself." No one made a move. "No one," said Nelson, raising his voice, "gets out of here until

we have

at this table

with him

Someone

a

chance

when

to question the three people that

started to back out of the

woman who had wanted

—

were

happened."

it

home

to go

crowd from behind. The

so badly a minute ago, pointed

remember him distinctly. He he sat down." Sarecky went over, took him by the arm, and brought him forward again. "No one's going to hurt you," Nelson said, at sight of his pale face. "Only don't make it any tougher for yourself than you have to." "1 never even saw the guy before," wailed the man, as if he had already been accused of murder, "I just happened to park my stuff at " Misery liking company, he broke off short the first vacant chair 1 and pointed in turn. "He was at the table, too. Why doncha hold him, if you're gonna hold me?" "That's just what we're going to do," said Nelson dryly. "Over accusingly.

bumped

"He was

into

me

that

man

with his tray

there!

1

just before

—

new witness. "Now, who was eating spaAs soon as we find that out, the rest of yoCi

here, you," he ordered the ghetti

on the

right here?

can go home."

The crowd looked around

indignantly in search of the recalcitrant

witness that was the cause of detaining

was definitely able to single him

out.

edged forward and said to Nelson: place right after

it

happened.

1

them

all.

But this time no one

A white-uniformed busman finally "1

think he musta got out of the

looked over at

this table a

minute before

MURDER AT THE AUTOMAT it

249

happened, and he was already through eating, picking holding

just

down

"Well, he's not as smart as he thinks he

And

at the door, or you'll

The

don't give fake

names and

itself

like

magic,

rest of

you clear

addresses to the cop

dead man, the manager, the assistant medical

the usual basket, and

staff,

being

table-mates of the

and the two dicks remained

examiner

made

self-preservation

The two

stronger than curiosity in most people.

An

The

be making trouble for yourselves."

emptied

place

and

Nelson. "We'll

is," said

catch up with him, whether he got out or didn't. out of here now.

his teeth

the chair."

arrived, followed

by two

inside.

men

a brief preliminary investigation.

with

While

was going on. Nelson was questioning the two witnesses, the

this

He got an illuminating composite picture. man was well known to the staff by sight, and was considered The an eccentric. He always came in at the same time each night, just

busman, and the manager.

before closing time, and always helped himself to the same snack coffee

and

a bologna sandwich.

It

hadn't varied for six months now.

busman removed from where the man sat each The manager was able to corroborate this. He, the dead man, had raised a kick one night about a week ago, because the bologna-sandwich slots had all been emptied before he came in. The manager had had to remind him that it's first come, first

The remnants

that the

time were always the same.

served, at

an automat, and you can't reserve your food ahead of time.

The man

at the

change-booth, questioned by Nelson, added to the

old fellow's reputation for eccentricity. Other, well-dressed people

came

and changed

in

in his battered hat

a half-dollar, or at the

and

derelict's overcoat,

most a dollar

bill.

He,

never failed to produce a

ten and sometimes even a twenty.

"One

of these misers, eh?" said Nelson.

"They always end up

behind the eight-ball, one way or another."

The

The

old fellow was removed, also the partly

assistant

examiner

here, brother.

I

let

Nelson know:

may be wrong, but

"I

consumed sandwich.

think you've got something

that sandwich was loaded with

cyanide." Sarecky, who had gone through the man's clothes, said: "The name was Leo Avram, and here's the address. Incidentally, he had

seven hundred dollars, in C's, in his right shoe and three hundred in his

left.

Want me

"Suppose

"My

pal,"

I

to go over there

and nose around?"

go," Nelson said. "You stay here and clean up."

murmured the other dick

dryly.

CORNELL WOOLRICH

250

The waxed paper from the chair. Nelson picked in his pocket.

it

Avram

lived,

It

it

the sandwich had been

up,

wrapped

it

lying under

left

in a paper-napkin,

and put

was only a short walk from the automat to where

an outmoded, walk-up building,

falling to pieces

with

neglect.

Nelson went into the thought

at first

hall

and there was no such name

Sarecky had made a mistake, or at

least

listed.

He

been misled

memorandum it was he had found that purported to give He rang the bell marked Superintendent, and

by whatever

the old fellow's address.

went down

woman

in

to the basement-entrance to

"Is there

"That's I

make

sure.

A

stout blond

an old sweater and carpet-slippers came out.

anyone named Avram

—

my husband

living in this building?"

he's the superintendent. He's out right

now,

expect him back any minute."

Nelson couldn't understand, himself, why he didn't break her then and there.

He wanted

surroundings while they

still

it

to

on the old man's remained normal. "Can I come in and to get a line, perhaps,

wait a minute?" he said.

"Why

not?" she said indifferently.

She led him down a barren, unlit basement-way, stacked with empty ashcans, into a room green-yellow with a tiny bud of gaslight. Old as the building upstairs was, it had been wired for electricity, Nelson had noted. For that matter, so was this basement down here. There was a cord hanging from the ceiling ending in an empty socket. It had been looped up out of reach. "The old bird sure was a miser," thought Nelson. "Walking around on one grand and living like this!" He couldn't help feeling a little sorry for the woman.

He on

noted to his further surprise that a pot of coffee was boiling

a one-burner gas stove over in the comer.

He wondered

if

she

knew

home each night. "Any idea where down in a creaking rocker. down to the automat for a bite to eat every

that he treated himself away from

he went?" he asked,

"He

sitting

goes two blocks

night at this time," she said.

like

"How

is

that,

when he could have

it,"

he asked curiously,

"he'll

coffee

go out and spend money

right here

where he

lives

with you?"

A

spark of resentment showed in her face, but a defeated re-

sentment that had long turned to resignation. She shrugged. "For himself, nothing's too good.

he

says.

But

for

me and

He

goes there because the light's better,

the kids, he begrudges every penny."

MURDER AT THE AUTOMAT "You've got

kids,

251

have you?"

"They're mine, not his," she said dully.

Nelson had already caught boy peeping shyly out

at

and a

little

him from another room. "Well," he

said,

sight of a half-grown girl

getting up, "I'm sorry to have to

an accident a

little

The weary change

—

tell

you

this,

but your husband had

while ago at the automat, Mrs. Avram. He's gone."

stolidity

to fright.

on her

"Cyanide

face

—what's

changed very

slowly. But

that?" she breathed,

it

when

did

he'd

told her.

"Did he have any enemies?"

him

She

said with utter simplicity,

that

much,

"Nobody loved him. Nobody hated

either."

"Do you know of any reason he'd have to take his own life?" "Him? Never! He held on tight to life, just like he did to his money." There was some truth

in that,

the dick had to admit. Misers

seldom commit suicide.

The

little girl

behind her.

"Is

—

edged into the room

is

he dead.

fearfully,

holding her hands

Mom?"

The woman just nodded, dry-eyed. "Then, can we use this now?" She was holding a fly-blown

electric

bulb in her hands.

Nelson

down

felt

touched, hard-boiled dick though he was.

to headquarters

there you can claim. G'night."

ment-gate shut after him.

bloomed feebly with

"Come

tomorrow, Mrs. Avram. There's some money

He went

outside and clanged the base-

The windows

electricity,

alongside

him suddenly

and the silhouette of a woman standing

up on a chair was outlined against them. "It's a

funny world," thought the dick with a shake of his head,

as

he trudged up to sidewalk-level.

It

was

The automat was dark when Nelson down to headquarters. They were quesbranch-manager and the unseen counterman who prepared

now two

in the

morning.

returned there, so he went tioning the

the sandwiches and

filled

the slots from the inside.

Nelson's captain said: "They've already telephoned from the lab that the

sandwich

is

loaded with cyanide

crystals.

On

chem

the other

hand, they give the remainder of the loaf that was used, the leftover

bologna from which the sandwich was prepared, the breadknife, the cutting-board, and the scraps in the garbage-receptacle

—

all

of

which

CORNELL WOOLRICH

252

we

sent over there

—

a clean

of health. There was clearly

bill

no

slip-

up or carelessness in the automat pantry. Which means that cyanide got into that sandwich

committed

on the consumer's

He

side of the apparatus.

was deliberately murdered by one of the other

suicide or

customers." "1

was

just

up there," Nelson

worry about keeping their light their

own

miserliness

psychology," the captain nodded.

A

life.

type, just for the asking.

Do

"My

experience

The choice of method wouldn't be

Cyanide's expensive, and

important you tonight.

they're going to take

is

that

simply a perverted form of self-preservation, an exag-

is

gerated clinging to

Avram's

wasn't suicide. People don't

down when

lives."

"Good

either.

said. "It

bills

men

wouldn't be sold to a

it

murder, then.

It's

bring in whoever the fourth

with the

it

in character,

I

man

think

man

it's

of

highly

at that table

was

least possible loss of time."

composite description of him, pieced together from the few

busman and the other two

scraps that could be obtained from the

at

He was a heavy-set dark-complected man, He had been the first of the four at the table,

the table, was available.

wearing a light-tan

suit.

and already through eating, but had lingered on. Mannerisms

—had

kept looking back over his shoulder, from time to time, and picking his teeth.

He had had

at his feet

under the

Both had stubbed

a small black satchel, or sample-case, parked

table.

Both survivors were positive on

their toes against

glanced to the floor to see what

Had he as

if

to

reached

open

it

it

at

or take anything out of

left it

unguarded

for a

this point.

down, and both had

was.

it

down toward

To the best of their united Had Avram, after bringing again and

in sitting

it

any time,

after their arrival,

it?

recollections

—no.

the sandwich to the table, gotten up

moment?

Again, no. In fact the whole thing had been over with in a

He had

noisily

unwrapped

it,

taken a huge

bite,

flash.

swallowed without

chewing, heaved convulsively once or twice, and fallen prone across the tabletop.

"Then

it

must have happened right outside the

—and not

inserting of the stuff privately.

"Guess he

laid

it

at the table, at all,"

down

for a

—

slot

I

mean

the

Sarecky told Nelson

minute while he was drawing

his coffee."

"Absolutely not!" Nelson contradicted. "You're forgetting all

wrapped up

in wax-paper.

How

it

was

could anyone have opened, then

MURDER AT THE AUTOMAT closed

again, without attracting his attention?

it

guy with the satchel

to suspect the

to

—he was already

came

253

How

over.

at the table

could he

And

if

—and the cap seems

and

want

to

us

Avram

through eating when

all

know ahead

we're going

of time which table the old guy

was going to select?"

"Then how

did the stuff get

on

Where

it?

did

it

come from?"

the

other dick asked helplessly. "It's little

him

things like that we're paid to find out," Nelson reminded

dryly.

"Pretty large order, isn't it?"

"You by

now

talk like a layman. You've

know how damnably unescapable

to

impossible

been on the squad long enough

it

to shake

is

thinks detective

work

is

them

off,

little

habits are,

once formed. The public

something miraculous

like pulling rabbits

out

—

that

They don't realize that no adult is a hand and foot by tiny, harmless little

of a silk hat.

free agent

they're tied

habits,

helpless.

a public

how

at large

and held

man has a habit of taking a snack to eat at midnight in place. He has a habit of picking his teeth after he's through, This

of lingering

on

at the table, of looking

back over his shoulder aimlessly

from time to time. Combine that with a stocky build, a dark complexion, and you have him!

What more

d'ya

—

want

a spotlight trained

on him?" It

was Sarecky, himself,

in spite of his misgivings,

who

picked him up

forty-eight hours later in another automat, sample-case

and

all,

at

and brought him in for questioning! The busman from the former place, and the two customers, called in, identified him unhesitatingly, even if he was now wearing nearly the same hour as the

first

time,

a gray suit.

His name, he

and-such a

said,

was Alexander

Hill,

and he lived

at

215 Such-

street.

"What business are you in?" rapped out the captain. The man's face got livid. His Adam's apple went up and down an elevator. He could barely articulate the words. "I'm I'm a

—

like

salesman for a wholesale drug concern," he gasped

case,

terrifiedly.

two of his three questioners expressively. The sampleopened, was found to contain only tooth-powders, aspirins, and

"Ah!"

said

headache remedies. But Nelson, rummaging through pat.

And

it,

thought: "Oh, nuts,

he's too scared, too defenseless, to

have

really

done

it.

it's

too

Came

"

CORNELL WOOLRICH

254

now without a bit of mental build-up prepared ahead of The real culprit would have been all primed, all rehearsed, for this. Watch him go all to pieces. The innocent ones always do." The captain's voice rose to a roar. "How is it everyone else stayed

in here just

time. just

in the place that night, but "I

—

don't know.

I

It

you got out in such a hurry?"

happened

so close to me,

I

guess

I

—

I

got

nervous."

That wasn't

Nelson was thinking.

necessarily a sign of guilt;

was his duty to take part

"You got nervous, eh? What reason d'you have

How'd you know

stuff!

I

It

him:

at

for getting nervous?

wasn't just a heart attack or malnutrition

it

you were the cause of

He

he shot out

in the questioning, so

—

unless

it?"

stumbled badly over that one. "No! No!

don't carry anything like that

"So you know what

it

—

I

don't handle that

We didn't tell you,"

was? How'd you know?

Sarecky jumped on him. "I

—

read

I

Well,

it

"You word

The

in the papers next

in all of

morning," he wailed.

them. Nelson had to admit.

didn't reach out in front of you

You kept your hands

that night? get a

it

had been

— toward him—

to yourself?"

for

anything

Then, before he could

out, ''What about sugar?"

went from bad

suspect

to worse:

"I

don't use any!" he

whimpered. Sarecky had been

and swung

at

him.

"I

just waiting for that.

watched you

"Don't

for ten full

lie

to us!"

he

yelled,

minutes tonight before

went over and tapped your shoulder. You emptied half the container into your cup!" His fist hit him a glancing blow on the side of the jaw,

I

knocked him and the chair he was sitting on both off-balance. Fright was making the guy sew himself up twice as badly as before. "Aw, we're just barking up the wrong tree," Nelson kept saying to himself, "It's just

happens to be poisoning!"

one of those

sitting at the

Still,

into the chair just

same

fluke coincidences.

table

A drug salesman

where a guy drops from cyanide

he knew that more than one guy had been strapped on the strength of such a coincidence and nothing

more. You couldn't expect a jury not to pounce on

it

for all

it

was

worth.

The relief,

captain took Nelson out of

it

took him aside and murmured:

at this point,

"Go

place a good cleaning while we're holding

up any of that

stuff

hidden around there,

somewhat

to his

over there and give his

him

here.

that's all

If

you can turn

we need.

He'll

MURDER AT THE AUTOMAT break

down

like a stack of cards."

He

255

glanced over at the cowering

"We'll have him before morning," he promised.

figure in the chair.

"And

"That's what I'm afraid of," thought Nelson, easing out.

then what'll we have? Exactly nothing."

He

wasn't the kind of a dick

had a wrong guy than no guy at all, like some or none at all. The last he saw of of them. He wanted the right guy the captain, he was stripping off his coat for action, more as a moral threat than a physical one, and the unfortunate victim of circumstances that would have rather

—

was wailing, in

"I didn't

do

it,

I

didn't

do

a record with a flaw

it," like

it.

on the upper West Side. Nelson let himself in with the man's own key, put on the lights, and went to work. In half an hour, he had investigated the Hill

was a bachelor and lived in a small, one-room

flat

place upside-down. There was not a grain of cyanide to be found, nor

anything beyond what had already been revealed in the sample-case.

This did not mean, of course, that he couldn't have obtained some either through the firm he

whom him

worked

he canvassed. Nelson found

to

for,

a

or

list

some of the

retail druggists

of the latter and took

it

with

check over the following day.

Instead of returning directly to headquarters, he de toured

Avram

impulse past the

basement windows, went over and rang the

The

little girl

came

on an

house, and, seeing a light shining in the

out, her brother

bell.

behind her. "Mom's not in,"

she announced. "She's out with Uncle Nick," the boy supplied.

His

sister

whirled on him. "She told us not to

tell

anybody

that,

didn't she!"

Nelson could hear the instructions the

room

him

I've

at the time, "If that

if

he'd been in

again, don't you tell

gone out with Uncle Nick, now!"

Children are

what he wanted

after all very transparent.

to

know without

not really your uncle,

A

as clearly as

man comes around

"Your

ma gonna

told

him most of

were doing

it.

"He's

he?"

is

gasp of surprise.

They

realizing they

"How'd you know

that?"

marry him?"

They both nodded approvingly. "He's gonna be our new Pop." "What was the name of your real Pop the one before the last?"

—

"Edwards," they chorused proudly.

"What happened

to

him?"

"

CORNELL WOOLRICH

256

"He

died."

"In Dee-troit," added the

He

little

boy.

only asked them one more question. "Can you

tell

me

his full

name?" "Albert

He

Edwards," they recited.

J.

gave them a friendly push. "All

He went back

to headquarters, sent a wire to the

Statistics in Detroit,

Hill

down

ing,"

right, kids,

on

to the bone,

his

own

hook. They were

go back to bed."

Bureau of Vital questioning

still

meanwhile, but he hadn't caved in

Nelson reported. "Only

this

yet.

"Noth-

account-sheet of where he places

his orders."

"I'm going to try framing

—

or something

we

pretend

him with

got the goods

a handful of bicarb of soda,

on him.

I'll

see

if

that'll

open

him up,"

the captain promised wrathfully. "He's not the push-over

expected.

You start

this

for

list

in at

seven

this

of retail druggists. Find out

any of that

1

morning and work your way through if

he ever

tried to contract

them

stuff.

Meanwhile, he had Hill smuggled out the back way to an outlying precinct, to evade the statute governing the length of time a prisoner

can be held before arraignment. They didn't have enough of a case

him

against

to arraign

him, but they weren't going to

let

Nelson was even more surprised than the prisoner

him go. what he

at

caught himself doing. As they stood Hill up next to him in the corridor, for a

minute, waiting for the Black Maria, he breathed over his shoul-

der,

"Hang on tight, or you're sunk!" The man acted too far gone even

driving

to understand

what he was

at.

Nelson was present the next morning when Mrs. Avram showed up to claim the money, and watched her expression curiously. She had the same air of weary resignation as the night he had broken the

news

to her.

She accepted the money from the

turned apathetically away, holding

it

in her hand.

prearrangement, had pulled another of his

withheld one of the hundred-dollar

would

captain, signed for

bills

little

to see

The

captain, by

tricks

—purposely

what her reaction

be.

Halfway to the door, she turned

on

hundred-dollar

top!"

She

bills!"

came hurrying back.

in alarm,

"Gentlemen, there must be a mistake! There's dollar bill here all

it,

—

there's a

hundred-

shuffled through the roll hastily. "They're

she cried out aghast.

"I

knew he had

a

little

MURDER AT THE AUTOMAT

money but

in his shoes

—he

thought maybe,

I

slept

fifty,

with them under his pillow at nights

seventy dollars

"There was a thousand in another thousand stitched

She

money

the

let

all

257

—

go, caught the edge of the desk

he was

behind with both hands, and slumped draggingly down dead

in a

They had

faint.

"and

his shoes," said the captain,

along the seams of his overcoat."

it

sitting

to the floor

to hustle in with a pitcher of water to re-

vive her.

Nelson impatiently wondered what the heck was the matter with him, what more he needed to be convinced she hadn't she was coming into? to tell a real faint

and which

He

And

known what

he said to himself, how are you going

yet,

from a fake one! They close their eyes and they

slept three hours,

and then he went down and checked

wholesale-drug concern Hill worked

for.

The

record there.

man had a morning working his way down

He spent the who had placed

retail druggists

got nowhere.

At noon he

—not

had happened

their orders through Hill,

and went back

quit

to the

—an

official

one

very good

the

He was

with

really

fit if

he'd

it.

we had

"Will you lemme have that busman of yours, the one

down

of

for his captain

and a private one of his own. The captain would have had a

known

list

and again

automat where

to eat but to talk to the manager.

working on two cases simultaneously

at the

firm did not handle cy-

anide or any other poisonous substance, and the

it

flop,

is it?

at headquarters the

me

for

other night?

I

want

to take

him out

of here

about half an hour."

"You're the Police Department," the manager smiled acquiescently.

Nelson took him with him

good job of identifying him. "Naturally,

I

don't expect you to

in there that night. Especially

man

a pretty

he told

remember every

face that was

with the quick turnover there

automat. However, here's what you do.

Number One-twenty-one

"You did

at that table,"

in his streetclothes.

Hill, the fourth

—you can

see

Go down

this street

is

in

an

here to

from here. Ring the super-

it

intendent's bell. You're looking for an apartment, see? But while you're at

it,

you take a good look at the

back and

tell

me

if

woman

night or any other night. Don't stare It

took him a

you'll see,

you remember seeing her face

little

—

now

and then come

in the

just size

automat that

her up."

longer than Nelson had counted on.

When

CORNELL WOOLRICH

258

he

finally rejoined the

dick around the comer, where the latter was

waiting, he said: "Nope, I've never seen her in our place, that night

or any other, to

my

— I'm not on the

knowledge. But don't forget

floor

every minute of the time. She could have been in and out often without

my

spotting her."

"But not," thought Nelson, "without

went anywhere near him

Avram

She hadn't been

at all."

seeing her,

if

there, then.

she

That

was practically certain. "What took you so long?" he asked him.

"Funny

There was

thing.

used to work for

us.

a guy there in the place with her that

He remembered me

right away."

"Oh, yeah?" The dick drew up short. "Was he in there that night?" "Naw, he quit six months ago. I haven't seen him since."

"What was

he, sandwich-maker?"

"No, busman

like

He

me.

cleaned up the tables."

Just another coincidence, then. But, if

one coincidence was strong enough

Nelson reminded himself,

to put Hill in jeopardy,

—

should the other be passed over as harmless? Both cases captain's

was

why

and the

his

—now had coincidences. remained be seen which — coincidence and nothing more—and which was the their

just that

to

It

a

McCoy.

He went back to headquarters. No wire had yet come from in

answer to

The

his,

—

but he hadn't expected any this soon

it

Detroit

took time.

They had spirited him were holding him on some technicality or

captain, bulldog-like, wouldn't let Hill go.

away

to

still

a third place,

other that had nothing to do with the

Avram

The

case.

bicarbonate

of soda trick hadn't worked, the captain told Nelson ruefully.

"Why?" looking at

it

the dick wanted to know. "Because he caught that

it

wasn't cyanide

—

is

that

it?

I

on

just

by

think that's an im-

portant point, right there."

"No, he thought

it

was the

stuff all right.

But he hollered blue

come out of his room." "Then if he doesn't know the difference between cyanide and bicarb of soda at sight, doesn't that prove he didn't put any on that murder

hadn't

it

sandwich?"

The wanted

captain gave

to

know

druggists until

him a look. "Are you for us "You go ahead checking

acidly.

you find out where he got

it.

And

or against us?" he that if

we

list

any other motive, unhealthy

scientific curiosity will satisfy

wanted

first

to study the effects at

who came

along."

hand, and picked the

of retail

can't dig up

first

me.

He

stranger

MURDER AT THE AUTOMAT "Sure,

— the

an automat

in

eating-place there

food

is

—

most conspicuous, crowded public

human handling

place where

of the

reduced to a minimum."

He fore

The one

is.

259

deliberately disobeyed orders, a thing he

them

or rather, postponed carrying

commenced a one-man watch over Avram house.

back and

the basement-entrance of the

man came up

In about an hour, a squat, foreign- looking

walked down

had never done be-

He went

out.

the steps and

the street. This was undoubtedly "Uncle Nick," Mrs.

Avram's husband-to-be, and former employee of the automat. Nelson tailed

him

effortlessly

on the opposite

side,

boarded the same bus he

did a block below, and got off at the same stop. "Uncle Nick"

and Nelson into

into a bank,

transparent telephone booths

a cigar-store across the

commanding

went

way that had

the street through the glass

front.

When

he came out again. Nelson didn't bother following him

any more. Instead, he went into the bank himself. "What'd that guy

do

— open an account He had

just

now? Lemme

see the deposit-slip."

name

deposited a thousand dollars cash under the

Nicholas Krassin, half of the sum Mrs.

Avram had claimed

at

of

head-

quarters only the day before. Nelson didn't have to be told that this

by no means indicated Krassin and she had had anything to do with

The money was

the old man's death. if

she wanted to divide

it

rightfully hers as his

widow, and,

with her groom-to-be, that was no criminal

offense. Still, wasn't there a stronger scientific curiosity" the captain

motive here than the "unhealthy

had pinned on

Hill?

The

fact

remained

had possession of the money had Avram still would have still been in his shoes and coat-seams where

that she wouldn't have

been

alive. It

she couldn't get at

it.

Nelson checked Krassin

at the address

and, somewhat to his surprise, found

to Detroit

had

at the

not

bank,

fictitious.

bright, or they

were innocent.

to headquarters at six,

and the answer

to his telegram

finally

come. "Exhumation order obtained

as per request

Edwards deceased January 1936 stop death certificate

stop Albert

J.

gives cause

fall

struction stop

level,

them weren't very

Either the two of

He went back

it

he had given

to be on the

from —autopsy—

Nelson read

steel girder

it

while at work building under con-

to the end, folded

changing his expression.

it,

put

it

in his

pocket without

"

"

CORNELL WOOLRICH

260

"Well, did you find out anything?" the captain wanted to know.

on the way

*'No, but I'm

Nelson assured him, but he may

to,"

have been thinking of that other case of they were

He The

his

own, and not the one

He went out again without saying where.

steamed up over.

all

got to Mrs. Avram's at quarter to seven, and rang the bell.

came out

little girl

At

to the basement-entrance.

sight of him,

she called out shrilly, but without humorous intent, "Ma, that man's here again."

Nelson smiled a sudden hush had

and walked back

little

enough

fallen thick

to the living-quarters.

to cut with a knife. Krassin

Avram and

there again, in his shirt-sleeves, having supper with Mrs.

They not only had

the two kids. well,

was

he noticed. You can't

silent as a

titiously,

'Tm

tomb, but he

not butting sit

in,

down,"

am

but a midget radio as

dial

was

still

warm from

he greeted them

I.^"

I

it,

It

surrep-

recent use.

cheerfully.

Avram nervously. 'This don't know your name

said Mrs.

of the family.

sin, a friend

now

people for buying a midget radio.

the back of his hand brush

let

and the front of the

"N-no,

electricity

arrest

A

was

—

is

Mr. Kras-

"Nelson." Krassin just looked at

The

him

watchfully.

dick said: "Sorry to trouble you.

I

just

wanted

to ask

couple questions about your husband. About what time was

it

you a

he had

the accident?"

"You know

better than I," she objected.

"You were the one came

here and told me." "I don't

that

mean Avram,

mean Edwards,

—the

in Detroit

riveter

the girder.

fell off

Her face went face didn't

I

change

a little gray, as

if

color, but only

the

memory were painful.

showed considerable

Krassin's

surprise.

"About what time of day?" he repeated. "Noon," she said almost inaudibly. "Lunch-time," said the dick

men

carry their lunch from

thoughtfully. preciatively.

Then he changed "That

She gave him

softly, as if to himself.

home

in a pail

"Thanks, don't mind

if I

He

"Most work-

looked at her

he remarked.

a peculiar, strained smile.

He saw

"

the subject, wrinkled up his nose ap-

coffee smells good,"

tective," she offered.

—

"Have

her eyes meet Krassin's do," drawled Nelson.

a cup, Mr. Debriefly.

MURDER AT THE AUTOMAT

261

She got up. Then, on her way to the stove, she suddenly flared out at the two kids for no apparent reason: "What are you hanging around here for? Go to bed. Get out of here now, I say!" She banged the door shut on them, stood before it with her back to the room for a minute. Nelson's sharp ears caught the faint but unmistakable click of a key.

She turned back

and

again, purred to Krassin: "Nick, go outside

take a look at the furnace, will you, while I'm pouring Mr. Nelson's coffee? If the heat dies

right away.

The

Give

it

hairs at the

man

watched the

down,

complaining from upstairs

they'll all start

good shaking up."

a

back of Nelson's neck stood up a

up and

get

sidle out.

little as

he

But he'd asked for the cup of

coffee, himself.

He

couldn't see her pouring

it

—her back was turned toward him

again as she stood over the stove. But he could hear the splash of the

hot

liquid, see her

replaced

it.

elbow-motions, hear the clink of the pot as she

She stayed that way a moment

him

poured, with her back to seconds. It

was

One elbow moved

thirty seconds too long,

a

lot,

some

own

sugar

in,

like a little."

less

longer, after

it

had been

than a moment, barely thirty Nelson's eyes were narrow

slightly.

She turned, came back, you put your

—

one elbow-motion too many. cup down before him.

set the

yes?" she said almost playfully.

"I'll let

"Some

There was a disappearing ring of froth

middle of the black steaming

slits.

like

in the

liquid.

Outside somewhere, he could hear Krassin raking up the furnace.

"Drink

He

it

lifted

while it

went down. Not

it's still

hot," she urged.

slowly to his all

lips.

As

the cup went up, her eyelids

the way, not enough to completely shut out sight,

though.

He it I

a

—bum my mouth. Gotta "How about you— you having any?

blew the steam away. "Too hot

minute

to cool,"

he

said.

give

ain't

couldn't drink alone. Ain't polite." "I

had mine," she breathed heavily, opening her eyes again.

"I

don't think there's any left."

"Then I'll give you half of this." Her hospitable alarm was almost overdone. She back in protest. "No, no! Wait,

I'll

all

but jumped

look. Yes, there's more, there's

plenty!"

He

could have had an accident with

a second time, upset

it

over the

floor.

it

while her back was turned

Instead,

he took a kitchen-

CORNELL WOOLRICH

262

match out of

He

his pocket, broke the

head

with his thumbnail.

off short

stick, over on top of the warm stove in which she was standing. It fell to one side of her, without making any noise, and she didn't notice it. If he'd thrown stick and all, it would have clicked as it dropped and attracted her attention.

threw the head, not the

front of

She came back and

sat

down

opposite him. Krassin's footsteps

could be heard shuffling back toward them along the cement corridor outside.

"Go

ahead. Don't be bashful

— drink up," she encouraged. There

was something ghastly about her smile,

like a

death's-head grinning

across the table from him.

The match-head on suddenly flared up with a

She jumped

When

a

little,

the stove, heated to the point of combustion, little spitting

sound and a momentary gleam.

and her head turned nervously

to see

what

she looked back again, he already had his cup to his

raised hers, too,

watching him over the rim of

it

was.

lips.

She

Krassin's footfalls

it.

had stopped somewhere just outside the room door, and there wasn't another sound from him, as if he were standing there, waiting.

At the

table, the

started swallowing with a dry constriction eyes,

moment longer. Nelson of the throat. The woman's

cat-and-mouse play went on a

watching him above her cup, were greedy half-moons of delight.

Suddenly, her head and shoulders went

down

across the table with a

bang, like her husband's had at the automat that other night, and the crash of the crushed cup sounded from underneath her.

Nelson jumped up watchfully, throwing shot open, and Krassin

came

in,

his chair over.

The door

with an ax in one hand and an empty

burlap-bag in the other.

"I'm not quite ready for cremation yet," the dick gritted, and

threw himself

at

him.

Krassin dropped the superfluous burlap-bag, the ax flashed up

overhead. Nelson dipped his knees, fall.

He

and

Krassin's grip,

down

in under

his other

fist

ant's teeth.

and held the weapon teetering

he started imitating a hydraulic

before

it

could

Then he lowered his

in mid-air.

With

against his assail-

drill

barrage suddenly to solar-plexus level,

sent in two bodyblows that caved his opponent in finished

it

caught the shaft with one hand, midway between the blade

—and

that about

it.

Out

in the wilds of

Corona, an hour

locker-room, Alexander Hill

—

or at least

later,

in a sub-basement

what was

left

of

him

—was

MURDER AT THE AUTOMAT saying:

"And

quick, send

lemme

you'll

me up and

put

sleep

me

if I

out of

263

do?

And

my

misery?"

you'll get

it

over real

"Yeah, yeah!" said the haggard captain, flicking ink out of a fountain pen and jabbing

make

it

it

at

"Why

him.

dincha do

this days ago,

easier for us all?"

"Never saw such a guy," complained Sarecky, rinsing

his

mouth

with water over in a corner.

"What's that

man

signing?" exploded Nelson's voice from the

stairs.

"Whaddye think you been

all

"And where

he's signing?" snarled the captain.

night, incidentally?"

"Getting poisoned by the same party that croaked Avram!"

came the

rest of

the way down, and Krassin walked

down

He

alongside

end of a short steel link. "Who's this guy?" they both wanted to know. Nelson looked at the first prisoner, in the chair. "Take him out

at the

of here a few minutes, can't you?" he requested.

know

don't have to

our business."

all

"Just like in the story-books,"

Man

"He

Nelson walks

in at the last

A cop led Hill upstairs.

muttered Sarecky jealously. "One-

minute and cops

all

the glory."

Another cop brought down a small brown-

paper parcel at Nelson's request. Opened,

it

had once contained cocoa. Nelson turned

revealed a small tin that

it

upside

down and

a few

threads of whitish substance spilled lethargically out, filling the close air

of the

room with

a faint odor of bitter almonds.

"There's your cyanide," he said. "It

Avram's kitchen-stove. Her quarters until

I

kids,

who

can get back there,

they were warned never to go near

way back

last

"She did

came

will tell it.

off

the shelf above Mrs.

are being taken care of at head-

you

it's

roach-powder and

She probably got

it

in Detroit,

year." it?" said

the captain.

"How

automat-sandwich, not anything he ate

at

could she?

It

was on the

home. She wasn't

at the

automat that night, she was home, you told us that yourself." "Yeah, she was at home, but she poisoned him at the automat just the

same. Look,

it

goes like this."

He unlocked

his manacle,

refastened his prisoner temporarily to a plumbing-pipe in the comer.

He

took a paper-napkin out of his pocket, and, from within that, the

carefully preserved

done

waxpaper wrapper the death-sandwich had been

in.

Nelson

said:

"This has been folded over twice, once on one

side.

CORNELL WOOLRICH

264

once on the other. You can see double-barreled. tored,

that, yourself.

Every crease in

Meaning what? The sandwich was taken

and rewrapped. Only,

in her hurry, Mrs.

Avram

it

is

out, doc-

slipped up and

put the paper back the other way around.

"As

I

told Sarecky already, there's death in

was a miser. Bologna

is

little

habits.

the cheapest sandwich that automat

Avram

sells.

For

months straight, he never bought any other kind. This guy here used to work there. He knew at what time the slots were refilled for the last time. He knew that that was just when Avram always showed up. And, incidentally, the old man was no fool. He didn't go there because the light was better he went there to keep from getting poisoned at home. Ate all his meals out. "All right, so what did they do? They got him, anyway like this. Krassin, here, went in, bought a bologna sandwich, and took it home to her. She spiked it, rewrapped it, and, at eleven-thirty, he took it back there in his pocket. The sandwich-slots had just been refilled for the last time. They wouldn't put any more in till next morning. There are three bologna-slots. He emptied all three, to make sure the victim six

—

—

wouldn't get any but the lethal sandwich. After they're taken out, the glass slides

remain

a coin.

He

get

The

ajar.

You can

lift

them and reach

in without inserting

no one else would Maybe he's near sighted and didn't recognize Krassin. Maybe he didn't know him at all 1 haven't cleared that point up yet. Krassin eased out of the place. The old man is a it.

put his death-sandwich old

man came

in,

stayed by

it

so

in.

—

He sees he can get a sandwich for nothing, thinks something went wrong with the mechanism, maybe. He grabs it up twice as quick as anyone else would have. There you are. "What was in his shoes is the guy's motive. As for her, that was miser.

only partly her motive. She was a congenital of that.

him

He would have

married her, and

She got

it

killer,

anyway, outside

would have happened

to

some She got a wonderful break. He ate the poisoned lunch she'd given him way up on the crossbeams of a building under construction, and it looked like he'd lost his balance and toppled to his death. They exhumed the body and performed an autopsy at my day.

in his turn

rid of

her

first

husband, Edwards,

in Detroit that way.

request. This telegram says they

found traces of cyanide poisoning even

after all this time. "I

paid out rope to her tonight,

told her her coffee smelled good.

up there now, dead.

I

let

Then

can't say that

1

1

her

know

I

was onto her.

1

switched cups on her. She's

wanted

it

that way, but

it

was

MURDER AT THE AUTOMAT

me

or her.

You never would have gotten her

265 to the chair, anyway.

She was unbalanced of course, but not the kind that's easily recognizable. She'd have spent a year in an institution, been released, and gone out and done it all over again. It grows on 'em, gives 'em a feeling of power over their fellow

human

"This louse, however,

is

thousand dollars and no cents first

to

last.

So

I

beings.

not insane.

He

did

it

for exactly

one

—and he knew what he was doing from

think he's entitled to a chicken-and- ice-cream-dinner

in the death-house, at the state's expense."

his

"The Sphinx," growled Sarecky under his breath, shrugging coat. "Sees all, knows all, keeps all to himself."

"Who one does,

into

stinks?" corrected the captain, misunderstanding. "If any-

it's

you and me.

He

brought

home

the bacon!"

WIIUIM

rJUIIKNlR

(I8B7-IBGZ)

in New Albany, Mississippi, and lived most town of Oxford, where he attended the University of Mississippi. With good reason, Faulkner has been called America's greatest modern writer. The range of his literary experimentation, the

William Faulkner was born

of his

life

variety

in the

and dimension of

his characters,

and the depth of engagement

with his themes in such classic novels as Light Absalom, Absalom (1936)

all testify

his works, crime, violence,

in

August (1932) and

to his achievement.

Throughout

and retribution form consistent

motifs,

even when they are not central to a novel. As a professional writer concerned with earning stories.

What

sets

them

his living,

apart

is

he

also wrote popular detective

not only the

craft

they exhibit, but

their ability to bear the weight of Faulkner's familiar themes, settings,

and characters. Faulkner's detective

stories, like his

other fiction,

make

Yoknapatawpha County a stage for all the world and create figures who grow into mythic stature embodying fundamental traits of humankind. "Fiand Post

Upon

and

the Waters," published originally in the Saturday Evening

Gambit (1949), shows Gavin Stevens, and themes,

later in a collection called Knight's

Faulkner adapting characters, such as

such as the

past's refusal to stay buried,

in the detective genre.

The

from

his other

works

for use

biblical overtones of the title suggest that

more concerned with justice than with legality in the detecting process. The detective comes to the solution, not out of arcane knowlhe

is

edge or through brilliant deduction, but from a deep understanding of his place

and

his people.

[

The two men

followed the path where

the dense wall of cypress and cane and carried a

river

too.

The

was low,

"He ought "If

gum and

One

brier.

gunny sack which had been washed and looked

been ironed

The

ran between the river and

it

to

other was a youth,

as

if

them it had

than twenty, by his

face.

at mid-July level.

been catching

he happened to

"Him and

less

of

fish in this

water," the youth said.

one with the sack

feel like fishing," the

when Lonnie

Joe run that line

feels like

it,

not

said.

when

the

fish are biting."

"They'll be

on the

anyway," the youth

line,

Lonnie cares who takes them

off for

said. "I

don't reckon

him."

Presently the ground rose to a cleared point almost like a headland.

Upon

it

sat a conical

hut with a pointed roof, built partly of mildewed

canvas and odd-shaped boards and partly of oil

A

rusted stove pipe projected crazily above

tins it,

hammered out

flat.

there was a meager

woodpile and an ax, and a bunch of cane poles leaned against

Then

it.

they saw, on the earth before the open door, a dozen or so short lengths of cord just cut from a spool near by, and a rusted can half

full

of

heavy fishhooks, some of which had already been bent onto the cords. But there was nobody there.

"The

boat's gone," the

to the store."

Then he

man

said.

"So he

ain't

gone

discovered that the youth had gone on, and

he drew in his breath and was

man

with the sack

just

about to shout

when suddenly

a

rushed out of the undergrowth and stopped, facing him and mak-

ing an urgent

whimpering sound

—

a

man

not

large,

but with tremen-

dous arms and shoulders; an adult, yet with something childlike about

270

WILLIAM FAULKNER

him, about the way he moved, barefoot, in battered overalls and with the urgent eyes of the deaf and dumb.

man with the sack said, raising his voice as people who they know cannot understand them. "Where's

"Hi, Joe," the will

with those

Lonnie?"

He

held up the sack. "Got some fish?"

But the other only stared

Then he

disappeared, who, at that

The

at

him, making that rapid whimpering.

turned and scuttled on up the path where the youth had

moment, shouted:

older one followed.

The youth was

"Just look at this line!"

leaning eagerly out over

the water beside a tree from which a light cotton rope slanted tautly

downward him,

still

the older

The deaf-and-dumb man

into the water.

whimpering and

man

stood just behind

lifting his feet rapidly in turn,

though before

reached him he turned and scuttled back past him,

toward the hut. At

should have been

this stage of the river the line

clear of the water, stretching from

bank

to bank,

between the two

trees,

with only the hooks on the dependent cords submerged. But

now

it

slanted into the water from either end, with a heavy downstream

sag,

and even the older man could

man!" the youth

feel

"Yonder's his boat," the older

—

across the stream

a point. "Cross

The youth shirt

and below them,

and get

and

it,

and waded out and began

him down

back, standing erect in

heavy sag of the

man

said.

big as a

The youth saw

floated into a willow

we'll see

how

it,

clump

too

inside

big this fish is."

to swim, holding straight across to let

to the skiff

and

it

submerged movement.

below the older man, who,

man

and got the

skiff

and paddled

staring eagerly upstream toward the

near the center of which the water, from time

line,

to time, roiled heavily with

deaf-and-dumb

"It's

it.

stepped out of his shoes and overalls and removed his

the current carry

skiff in

movement on

cried.

just

at that

behind him again,

urgent sound and trying to enter the

"Get back!" the older man

said,

He

brought the

moment, discovered the still making the rapid and

skiff.

pushing the other back with his

arm. "Get back, Joe!"

"Hurry up!" the youth line,

said, staring eagerly

toward the submerged

where, as he watched, something rolled sluggishly to the surface,

then sank again. "There's something on there, or there Georgia.

The

It's

big as a

man

older one stepped into the

he drew the

skiff,

ain't a

hog

in

too!" skiff.

He

hand over hand, along the

still

held the rope, and

line itself.

HAND UPON

THE WATERS

271

Suddenly, from the bank of the river behind them, the deaf-and-

dumb man began

to

make an

actual sound.

It

was quite loud.

"Inquest?" Stevens said.

"Lonnie Grinnup." The coroner was an old country doctor. "Two

him drowned on

fellows found

"No!" Stevens

no

attorney he had

He knew

it.

his

own

"Poor damned

said.

trotline this

business there, even

if it

morning."

come

feeb. Fll

out."

As county

had not been an accident.

He was going to look at the dead man's face for a senWhat was now Yoknapatawpha County had been

timental reason.

founded not by one pioneer but by three simultaneous ones. They came

on horseback, through the Cumberland Gap from the Carolinas, when Jefferson was still a Chickasaw Agency post, and bought land in the Indian patent and established families and flourished and together

vanished, so that now, a hundred years afterward, there was in

all

the

county they helped to found but one representative of the three names. This was Stevens, because the before the end of the

last

last

of the Holston family had died

century, and the Louis Grenier,

whose dead

face Stevens was driving eight miles in the heat of a July afternoon to

had never even known he was Louis Grenier. He could not

look

at,

even

spell the

Stevens, a

middle

—an orphan,

Lonnie Grinnup he called himself

man

thirties,

almost delicate

a razor,

but whatever

under the medium

whom

the whole county

when you looked

an invariable

cheerful, with

known

a little

it

at

it

—the

knew

him

—

—"touched," they

lightly, taking

in a

and year

not very

out, in the hovel

orphan he had taken into

hut ten years ago and clothed and fed and raised, and far as

said,

much

few mismatched boards and

flattened oil tins, with the deaf-and-dumb

not even grown mentally as

in his

which was

golden beard which had never

and light-colored peaceful eyes

away that need be missed living, year he had built himself of an old tent and his

face

again, equable, constant, always

fuzz of soft

was, had touched

too, like

and somewhere

size

who had

he himself had.

Actually his hut and trotline and

fish trap

were in almost the

exact center of the thousand and more acres his ancestors had once

owned. But he never knew

it.

Stevens believed he would not have cared, would have declined

WILLIAM FAULKNER

272

any one

to accept the idea that

of the earth which belongs to sure

—

sat

and the span of

in his

own

and eat

And

own

could or should

to every

man

which

river across at

and

where

plea-

hut

his

his trotline stretched

where

any time, whether he was there or not, to use

his food as long as there

he would wedge

at times

much

that

for his use

case, that thirty or forty square feet

anyone was welcome his gear

man

all,

his

was food. door shut against prowling

animals and with his deaf-and-dumb companion he would appear without warning or invitation at houses or cabins ten and fifteen miles

away, where he would remain for weeks, pleasant, equable, demanding

nothing and without his hosts to

or

servility, sleeping

have him sleep

company rooms, while

—

in the

wherever

hay of

it

lofts,

the deaf-and-dumb youth lay

and father both, breathing.

It

He was

infallibly

It

was

aware of

his

for

on the porch

him who was brother

or the ground just outside, where he could hear

earth.

was convenient

or in beds in family

one sound out of all the voiceless

it.

was early afternoon. The distances were blue with heat. Then,

across the long

where the highway began

flat

bottom, Stevens saw the

now he

serted, but

store.

By ordinary

it

to parallel the river

would have been de-

could already see clotted about

it

the topless and

battered cars, the saddled horses and mules and the wagons, the riders

and drivers of which he knew by name. Better

him

voting for

year after year and calling

though they did not quite understand him,

they

still,

him by

his given

knew him, name even

just as they did

not un-

He drew

derstand the Harvard Phi Beta Kappa key on his watch chain. in beside the coroner's car.

Apparently beside

and

it

was not to be in the

before the

it,

shirts

store,

but in the

grist mill

open door of which the clean Saturday

and the bared heads and the sunburned necks

overalls

striped with

the white razor lines of Saturday neck shaves were densest and quietest.

They made way

for

him

to enter.

There was a

where the coroner and two witnesses Stevens noticed a

man

folded and refolded until

it

table

and three chairs

sat.

of about forty holding a clean gunny sack,

resembled a book, and a youth whose face

wore an expression of weary yet indomitable amazement. The body lay

under a quilt on the low platform to which the

bolted.

He

at the face

to town,

the

crossed to

it

and

and lowered the

raised the corner of the quilt quilt

and turned, already on

and then he did not go back

men who

silent mill

to town.

and looked

his

He moved

was

way back

over

among

stood along the wall, their hats in their hands, and

HAND UPON listened to the

spent, incredulous voice

He watched

—

reckon

cross

knew he was not going back that's all,"

moved

toward the

The

He had

telling

it

in his amazed,

finish describing the finding of the body.

the coroner said.

He

glanced toward the

aside with the others

"You going

quilt.

eldest of the four glanced

his burying

to town.

"You can take him now." and watched the four men

door. "All right, Ike," he said.

Stevens

was the youth

it

273

the coroner sign the certificate and return the pen to his

pocket, and he "1

—

two witnesses

THE WATERS

money with

he

to take him, Ike?"

back

him

at

said.

moment.

for a

"Yes.

Mitchell at the store."

"You, and Pose, and Matthew, and Jim Blake," Stevens

said.

This time the other glanced back at him almost with surprise, almost impatiently.

"We "I'll

"1

can make up the difference," he

said.

help," Stevens said.

thank you," the other

Then

said.

"We

got enough."

among them, speaking

the coroner was

testily:

"All right,

Give them room."

boys.

With again.

the others, Stevens

moved out

There was a wagon backed up

been there before.

Its tail

into the

air,

the afternoon

now which had

to the door

not

gate was open, the bed was filled with straw,

and with the others Stevens stood bareheaded and watched the four

men emerge from

the shed, carrying the quilt- wrapped bundle, and

approach the wagon. Three or four others moved forward to help, and Stevens moved, too, and touched the youth's shoulder, seeing again

and incredulous wild amazement. "You went and got the boat before you knew anything was wrong,"

that expression of spent

he

said.

"I

swum

"That's right," the youth said.

He

spoke quietly enough at

over and got the boat and rowed back.

was on the

line.

I

could see

it

—

I

swagged

"You mean you swam the boat back," Stevens "

— down

into the

—

said.

Sir?"

"You swam the boat back. You swam over and got it

it

and swam

back."

"No, I

first.

knowed something

sir!

I

rowed the boat back.

never suspected nothing!

"What you row

it

with?" Stevens

I

I

rowed

could see them

said.

The youth

it

fish

straight

—

back across!

glared at him.

"What

did

back with?"

"With the

oar!

I

picked up the oar and rowed

it

right back,

and

WILLIAM FAULKNER

274 all

the time

want

They held on

to let go!

eating him! Fish were!

still

fish! I

could see them flopping around in the water. They didn't

I

Eating him!

0{

I

course

it

to him even after we hauled him up, knowed turtles would, but these were was fish we thought was there! It was!

won't never eat another one! Never!" It

had not seemed

long, yet the afternoon

taking some of the heat with

it.

Again

now

switch, Stevens sat looking at the wagon, it's

not

didnt

he thought.

right,

see.

Or

dont

It

The wagon was now moving, mules beside It

A the

down

It

And

missed,

crossing the dusty banquette toward

the seat and the other two

hand turned the

Stevens'

I

yet.

on saddled

switch; the car was already

passed the wagon, already going

mile

hills.

it.

men on

hand on the

about to depart.

Something more that

something that hasnt happened

the highroad, with two

in gear.

add.

had gone somewhere,

in his car, his

fast.

the road he turned into a dirt lane, back toward

began to

rise,

the sun intermittent now, for in places

among

the ridges sunset had already come. Presently the road forked.

In the

V

of the fork stood a church, white-painted and steepleless,

beside an unfenced straggle of cheap marble headstones and other

graves outlined only by rows of inverted glass jars and crockery and

broken brick.

He

did not hesitate.

He

drove up beside the church and turned

and stopped the car facing the fork and the road over which he had just

come where

it

curved away and vanished. Because of the curve,

he could hear the wagon the truck.

It

sweeping into

sight,

tarpaulin spread over It

for

some time before he saw

was coming down out of the

—

already slowing

hills

it,

then he heard

behind him,

a cab, a shallow

fast,

bed with a

it.

drew out of the road

at the fork

hear the wagon again, and then he saw

and stopped; then he could it

and the two

around the curve in the dusk, and there was a

man

riders

come

standing in the

road beside the truck now, and Stevens recognized him: Tyler Ballen-

—

baugh

a farmer, married

sufficiency

and with

a family

and

and violence, who had been born

a reputation for self-

in the county

and went

out West and returned, bringing with him, like an effluvium, rumors

won gambling, who had married and bought land and no longer gambled at cards, but on certain years would mortgage his own crop and buy or sell cotton futures with the money standing in

of sums he had

—

the road beside the wagon,

tall

in the dusk, talking to the

men

in the

HAND UPON wagon without

275

making any

raising his voice or

man

was another

THE WATERS

Then

gesture.

whom

beside him, in a white shirt,

there

Stevens did not

recognize or look at again.

His hand dropped to the switch; again the car was in motion with the sound of the engine. rapidly

the

down

wagon

as the

shouting at

He

turned the headUghts on and dropped

out of the churchyard and into the road and up behind

man

in the

white shirt leaped onto the running board,

him, and Stevens recognized him

of Ballenbaugh's,

who had gone

Memphis

to

too:

A younger brother where

years ago,

understood he had been a hired armed guard during a textile but who, for the hiding,

was

it

last

said,

two or three

had been

was

at his brother's,

not from the police but from some of his Memphis

friends or later business associates.

one

years,

it

strike,

in reported brawls

and

From time

was subdued and thrown into

to time his

once by two

jail

name made

country dances and picnics.

fights at

He

officers in Jefferson,

where, on Saturdays, drunk, he would brag about his past exploits or curse his present luck

and the older brother who made him work about

the farm.

"Who

in hell

you spying on?" he shouted.

"Boyd," the other Ballenbaugh

"Get back

voice.

faced

man who

in the truck."

said.

He had

He

did not even raise his

not moved

—

a big somber-

stared at Stevens out of pale, cold, absolutely expres-

"Howdy, Gavin," he said. "Howdy, Tyler," Stevens said. "You going "Does anybody here object?"

sionless eyes.

"I don't,"

swamp him." Then he

Stevens

said,

to take Lonnie?"

getting out of the car.

got back into the car.

"I'll

The wagon moved

The

truck

fled past

—the

on.

backed and turned, already gaining speed; the two faces

help you

one which Stevens saw now was not truculent, but frightened; the other, in

which there was nothing

The cracked County

license

tail

at all save the

lamp vanished over the

hill.

still,

cold, pale eyes.

That was an Okatoba

number, he thought.

Lonnie Grinnup was buried the next afternoon, from Tyler Ballenbaugh's house.

Stevens was not there. "Joe wasn't there, either, said.

"Lonnie's

"No.

He

I

suppose," he

dummy."

wasn't there, either.

camp on Sunday morning

The

folks that

went

in to Lonnie's

to look at that trotline said that

he was

still

— WILLIAM FAULKNER

276

there, hunting for Lonnie. But finds

him

Lonnie

this time,

at the burying.

When

he

breathing."

"No," Stevens

said.

He was in Mottstown, noon. And although it was until

he wasn't

he can he down by him, but he won't hear

he found

it

just

the agent for the

the seat of Okatoba County,

on

that after-

Sunday, and although he would not know what he was looking for, he found it before dark

company which, eleven

years ago,

had

issued to

Lonnie Grinnup a five-thousand-doUar policy, with double indemnity for accidental death, It

on

his

life,

with Tyler Ballenbaugh as beneficiary.

was quite correct. The examining doctor had never seen Lonnie

Grinnup before, but he had known Tyler Ballenbaugh for years, and Lonnie had made his mark on the application and Ballenbaugh had paid the first premium and kept them up ever since. There had been no particular secrecy about

it

other than trans-

acting the business in another town, and Stevens realized that even that was not unduly strange.

Okatoba County was just across the river, three miles from where lived, and Stevens knew of more men than Ballenbaugh who owned land in one county and bought their cars and trucks and banked their money in another, obeying the country-bred man's inBallenbaugh

herent, possibly atavistic, faint distrust, perhaps, not of collars but of

paving and

"Then I'm not

men

in white

electricity.

company yet?" the agent asked. "No. I want you to accept the claim when he comes in to file it, explain to him it will take a week or so to settle it, wait three days and send him word to come in to your office to see you at nine o'clock or ten o'clock the next morning; don't tell him why, what for. Then telephone me at Jefferson when you know he has got the message." Early the next morning, about daybreak, the heat wave broke.

He

lay in

and the

to notify the

bed watching and listening to the crash and glare of lightning

rain's

loud fury, thinking of the

drumming of it and the

fierce

channeling of clay-colored water across Lonnie Grinnup's raw and kinless grave in the barren hill beside the steepleless church,

and of

would make, above the turmoil of the rising river, on the tin-and-canvas hut where the deaf-and-dumb youth probably still

the sound

it

HAND UPON waited for him to

THE WATERS

come home, knowing

277

that something

had happened,

but not how, not why. Not how, Stevens thought. They fooled him

someway. They didnt even bother

On Wednesday

to tie

him

up.

They

just fooled him.

night he received a telephone message from the

Mottstown agent that Tyler Ballenbaugh had

filed his claim.

him the message Monday, to come in Tuesday. And let me know when you know he has gotten it." He put the phone down. / am playing stud poker with a man who "All right," Stevens said. "Send

has proved himself a gambler, which I

have forced him

to

draw a

have not, he thought. But at

I

And

card.

he knows

who

least

the pot

in

is

with him.

So when the second message came, on the following Monday afternoon, he knew only what he himself was going to do. He had thought once of asking the

sheriff for a deputy, or of taking

with him. But even a friend would not card,

he told himself, even though

at murder, might be satisfied that he

two of them, neither one

there are left

no

I

believe that

do:

I

some

have

is

friend

a hold

That one man, even an amateur

had cleaned up

is

what

But when

after himself.

going to be satisfied that the other has

ravelings.

So he went alone. He owned a pistol. He looked at it and put it its drawer. At least nobody is going to shoot me with that, he

back into

told himself.

He

left

town

just after dusk.

This time he passed the

store,

When

dark at the roadside.

he

reached the lane into which he had turned nine days ago, this time

he turned to the right and drove on

for a quarter of a mile

into a littered yard, his headlights full

turn

them

off.

He walked

full in

upon

a dark cabin.

and turned

He

did not

the yellow beam, toward the cabin,

shouting: "Nate! Nate!"

After a

moment

a

Negro voice answered, though no

"I'm going in to Mr. Lonnie Grinnup's camp. daylight,

you better go up to the store and

tell

If

light

showed.

I'm not back by

them."

There was no answer. Then a woman's voice

said:

"You come on

away from that door!" The man's voice murmured something. "I can't

help

it!"

the

woman

cried.

"You come away and

let

them

how

quite

white folks alone!"

So

there are others besides me,

often, almost always, there

to recognize evil at

snapped

off

is

once when

in it

Stevens thought, thinking

Negroes an instinct not exists.

He went back

for evil but

to the car

and

the lights and took his flashlight from the seat.

He found

the truck. In the close-held

beam

of the light he read

— WILLIAM FAULKNER

278

number which he had watched nine days ago

again the license

over the

He snapped

hill.

Twenty minutes the

He was

light.

later

off

the light and put

he

realized

in the path,

flee

into his pocket.

it

he need not have worried about

between the black wall of jungle and

the river, he saw the faint glow inside the canvas wall of the hut and

—the one

he could already hear the two voices

He

the other harsh and high.

it

—the shuck

the devastation of the dead man's house

vessels

wooden bunks,

steady,

stumbled over the woodpile and then

over something else and found the door and flung

out of the

and

cold, level

back and entered

mattresses dragged

the overturned stove and scattered cooking

—where Tyler Ballenbaugh stood

facing

him with

a pistol

and

the younger one stood half-crouched above an overturned box.

"Stand back, Gavin," Ballenbaugh "Stand back

yourself, Tyler,"

The younger one his face. "Well, by "Is "I

it all

it

else

he

"

is,"

is

"You're too late."

said.

Stevens

said.

"Don't

said.

him

"Put your pistol down."

He began

to the door

anybody with him. He's Because this time

He was moving slightly

away from

to

move; Stevens saw

behind him. "He's

just spying

around

lying.

going to get bit

it's

his

There

he was the other

like

had kept

it

off."

towards Stevens, stooping a

little,

his

arms held

his sides.

"Boyd!" Tyler

said.

The

not smiling, but with a queer

Then he moved,

said.

me."

to

lie

day, putting his nose into business he's going to wish he of.

into

"Put your pistol down, Tyler."

said.

"Hell," the younger one said. eyes go swiftly from

out

come

said.

with you?"

"Enough," Stevens

ain't

Stevens

stood up. Stevens saw recognition

Gavin?" Ballenbaugh

up,

reckon

"Who

—

said.

other continued to approach Stevens,

light, a glitter, in his face.

too, with astonishing speed,

"Boyd!" Tyler

and overtook the

younger and with one sweep of his arm hurled him back into the bunk.

They

—the one

faced each other

cold,

still,

expressionless, the pistol

him aimed at nothing, the other half-crouched, snarling. "What the hell you going to do? Let him take us back to town two damn sheep?"

held before

like

"That's for

never intended yes.

But

it

me

this,

to decide," Tyler said.

He

Gavin.

kept the premiums paid

I

insured his

was good business:

If

life,

looked at Stevens.

he had outlived me,

I

"I

wouldn't have

had any use for the money, and if I had outlived him, I would have collected on my judgment. There was no secret about it. It was done

HAND UPON open

in

daylight.

I

as long as

279

Anybody could have found out about

And who's always fed him when he came to my house,

told about

anyway?

THE WATERS

it.

1

never told him not

he wanted

to,

to.

Maybe he

it.

to say against

it

he always stayed

come when he wanted to. But I never intended

this."

Suddenly the younger one began to laugh, half-crouched against bunk where the other had flung him. "So that's the tune," he said. "That's the way it's going." Then it was not laughter any more, though the

the transition was so slight or perhaps so swift as to be imperceptible.

He was

standing now, leaning forward a

never insured him for

"Hush," Tyler "

—

said.

thousand dollars

five

little,

facing his brother. "I

— when they found him dead on that—

thousand

five

dollars!

1

wasn't going to get

Tyler walked steadily to the other and slapped him in two motions,

palm and back, of the same hand, the

him

in

looked at Stevens again.

"1

held before

pistol still

the other. "1 said,

hush, Boyd," he said.

never intended going to pay the way

it,

I

don't want that

because this

What

bet.

1

this.

He

are

is

money now, even

not the way

I

aimed

for

if

it

they were

to be.

Not

you going to do?"

"Do you need to ask that? I want an indictment for murder." "And then prove it!" the younger one snarled. "Try and prove it!

1

never insured his

"Hush," Tyler

life

said.

for

He

—

spoke almost gently, looking at Stevens

with the pale eyes in which there was absolutely nothing. "You can't

do it 1

that.

yet,

good name. Has been. Maybe nobody's done much

a

It's

but nobody's hurt

it

bad

yet,

up to now.

I

have taken nothing that was not mine. You musn't do "I

mustn't do anything

The

it.

But his face did not change

an eye and tooth "Justice

wants

that,

Gavin."

Tyler."

other looked at him. Stevens heard

and expel for

else,

for

have owed no man,

him draw a long breath "You want your eye

at all.

for a tooth." it.

Maybe Lonnie Grinnup wants

it.

Wouldn't

you?" For a

moment

turned and

made

longer the other looked at him.

a quiet gesture at his brother

Then Ballenbaugh

and another toward

Stevens, quiet and peremptory.

Then

they were out of the hut, standing in the light from the

door; a breeze

came up from somewhere and

overhead and died away, ceased.

rustled in the leaves

"

WILLIAM FAULKNER

280

At watched

know what Ballenbaugh was

Stevens did not

first

mounting surprise

in

as

about.

He

Ballenbaugh turned to face his brother,

hand extended, speaking in a voice which was actually harsh now: is the end of the row. I was afraid from that night when you came home and told me. 1 should have raised you better, but 1 didn't. his

"This

Here. Stand up and finish

"Look

"Keep out of get

it.

"

He

still

"Here," he

"Take

was too

it

Gavin.

this,

If it's

meat

do that!"

meat you want, you

for

will

faced his brother, he did not even glance at Stevens.

said.

Then

He saw

it."

out, Tyler!" Stevens said. "Don't

it

and stand up."

late.

Stevens saw the younger one spring back.

Tyler take a step forward and he seemed to hear in the other's

voice the surprise, the disbelief, then the realization of the mistake.

"Drop the

pistol,

Boyd," he

"So you want

somebody happened

me

wouldn't. Sure you can have

orange

Now

fire

my

it's

on

to look

and you turned

ten dollars,

side; the

"Drop

said.

it."

come

back, do you?" the younger said. "I

and told you you were worth

that night as

it

it.

thousand dollars

five

that trotline,

and asked you

me down. Ten

Take

you

soon

to give

and you

dollars,

it." It flashed,

to

as

low against his

lanced downward again as the other

fell.

Stevens thought. They faced each other; he

turn,

heard again that brief wind come from somewhere and shake the leaves

overhead and

fall still.

"Run while you

can,

Boyd," he

said.

"You've done enough.

Run, now." "Sure in a

I'll

run.

You do

your worrying about

all

minute you won't have any worries.

said a

word

to smart guys that

—

come

I'll

run

me now,

all right,

sticking their noses

because

after I've

where

they'll

wish to hell they hadn't

Now instant

hes going

he had the

somehow by

to shoot,

Stevens thought, and he sprang. For an

illusion of

watching himself springing, reflected

the faint light from the river, that luminousness which

water gives back to the dark, in the

Then he knew

it

air

above Boyd Ballenbaugh's head.

was not himself he saw,

it

had not been wind he

no tongue and needed none, which had been waiting nine days now for Lonnie Grinnup to come home, dropped toward the murderer's back with its hands already extended and its body curved and rigid with silent and deadly purpose. heard, as the creature, the shape which had

He was the

flash,

in the tree,

Stevens thought.

but he heard no sound.

The

pistol glared.

He saw

HAND UPON

THE WATERS

281

He was sitting on the veranda with his neat surgeon's bandage after supper when the sheriff of the county came up the walk a big man,

—

too, pleasant, affable, with eyes

even paler and colder and more expres-

than Tyler Ballenbaugh's.

sionless

said, "or

won't take but a minute," he

wouldn't have bothered you."

I

"How The

"It

bothered me?" Stevens

sheriff

said.

lowered one thigh to the veranda

rail.

"Head

feel all

right?"

"Feels

all

right," Stevens said.

"That's good,

reckon you heard where we found Boyd."

I

Stevens looked back at him just as blankly. pleasantly. "Haven't remembered

"You

told us

You were

where

much

"I

may have," he

said

today but a headache."

You were conscious when I got there. Tyler water. You told us to look on that

to look.

trying to give

trotline."

"Did

Well, well, what won't a

I?

man

say,

drunk or out of

his

head? Sometimes he's right too."

"You were.

We

looked on the

one of the hooks, dead,

just like

and there was Boyd hung on

line,

Lonnie Grinnup was.

And

Tyler

Ballenbaugh with a broken leg and another bullet in his shoulder, and

you with a crease in your get

on "I

skull

you could hide a cigar

in.

How

did he

that trotline, Gavin?"

don't know," Stevens said.

"All right.

I'm not sheriff now.

How

did

Boyd

get

on

that

trotline?" "I

don't know."

The

sheriff

looked at him; they looked at each other.

"Is that

what you answer any friend that asks?" "Yes. Because

The

sheriff

time. "Joe

—

was shot, you

see.

I

don't know."

that deaf-and-dumb boy Lonnie raised

—seems

it

for a

to

have

He was still around there last Sunday, but nobody him since. He could have stayed. Nobody would have both-

gone away has seen

I

took a cigar from his pocket and looked at

at last.

ered him."

"Maybe he missed Lonnie too much to stay," Stevens said. "Maybe he missed Lonnie." The sheriff rose. He bit the end from the cigar and

lit it.

"Did that bullet cause you

to forget this too? Just

WILLIAM FAULKNER

282

what made you suspect something was wrong? What was us seem to have missed?" "It

was that paddle," Stevens

it

the rest of

said.

"Paddle?" "Didn't you ever run a trotUne, a trotUne right at your camp?

You

don't paddle, you pull the boat

itself

hand over hand along the

line

from one hook to the next. Lonnie never did use his paddle; he

even kept the

skiff tied to

and the paddle stayed would have seen found

it."

it.

the same tree his trotline was fastened

in his house. If

to,

you had ever been there, you

But the paddle was in the

skiff

when

that boy

joii6[ luis

wm

(11190-10116)

Jorge Luis Borges was

bom in Buenos Aires to a Spanish-English family,

studied in Switzerland, and lived for

many

years in Spain before re-

turning to his native Argentina, where he became director of the

National Library.

He

first

won

recognition as a poet and essayist, then

international fame as a writer of enigmatic philosophical tales, collected in Ficciones (1944), El Aleph (1949),

and Labyrinths (1962). His

marked by concision and by fantastic themes worked out in elaborate verbal and emotional structures that create their own universe fiction

is

divorced from the chaos of the actual world. Borges' fascination with puzzles

is

revealed in his recurrent images of mazes and mirrors.

An

avid reader of stories of mystery and detection, he collaborated with his friend

Adolfo Bioy-Casares to create an Argentinian private

vestigator in Six Problems for

A

Mode!

translated

for

—

in-

Parodr (1942) and in a novella,

largely English

and American detective

and 1956). His contribution

revising, parodying,

genre's adaptability for strictions

Isidro

Death (1946). Also with Bioy-Casares, he edited and

two anthologies of

short stories (1943

genre

Don

new

and subverting

its

schools of writers

and conventions of

to the detective

formulas

who

—shows

the

challenge the re-

fiction.

"Death and the Compass" shows the influence of G. K. Chesterton,

whom

Borges greatly admired, in treating metaphysical concerns with

paradox and allegory.

ABC Murders

It

was also influenced by Agatha Christie's The

(1936) in which a series of murders

is

committed

for

284

JORGE

LUIS

BORGES

the sake of the pattern they create, a pattern intended to mislead the detective. In Borges' hands, this pattern limits of detection

and the inexorable power of destruction.

becomes

a critique

on the

by showing both the ultimate unknowability of truth logic

to

draw the detective to

his

Of the many problems which exercised rot

none was

so strange

—

the daring perspicacity of Lonn-

so harshly strange,

which culminated

staggered series of bloody acts

we may

le-Roy, amid the boundless odor of the eucalypti.

Lonnrot did not succeed putable that he foresaw

say

It is

Nor

as

the

true that Erik

in preventing the last crime, but it.

—

at the villa of Triste-

it is

indis-

did he, of course, guess the identity

of Yarmolinsky's unfortunate assassin, but he did divine the secret

morphology of the vicious Scharlach, whose alias

many

others)

is

series as well as the participation of

Scharlach the Dandy. This criminal

had sworn on

his

honor

Red

(as so

to kill Lonnrot, but the latter

had never allowed himself to be intimidated. Lonnrot thought of himself as a

pure thinker, an Auguste Dupin, but there was something of

the adventurer in him, and even of the gamester.

The

first

crime occurred at the Hotel du Nord

that dominates the estuary

To

this

whose waters

—

that high prism

are the colors of the desert.

tower (which most manifestly unites the hateful whiteness of

a sanitorium, the

numbered

divisibility of a prison,

and the general

appearance of a bawdy house) on the third day of December came the delegate from Podolsk to the Third Talmudic Congress, Doctor Marcel

Yarmolinsky, a

man

of gray beard and gray eyes.

We shall never know

whether the Hotel du Nord pleased him: he accepted

it

with the ancient

which had allowed him to endure three years of war in the Carpathians and three thousand years of oppression and pogroms. He resignation

was given a sleeping room on

floor R, in front of the suite

which the

Tetrarch of Galilee occupied not without some splendor. Yarmolinsky supped, postponed until the following day an investigation of the

JORGE

286

unknown

city,

BORGES

LUIS

arranged upon a cupboard his

and before midnight turned

possessions,

the Tetrarch's chauffeur,

who

many books and

off the light.

few

On

the

him from

the

an adjoining room.)

slept in

his

(Thus declared

fourth, at 11:03 a.m., there was a telephone call for

editor of the Yiddische Zeitung; Doctor Yarmolinsky did not reply; he

was found in his room, his face already a

little

almost nude, beneath a large anachronistic cape.

and

dark,

He was

his body,

lying not far

from the door which gave onto the corridor; a deep stab wound had split

open

his breast. In the

same room,

a couple of hours later, in the

midst of journalists, photographers, and police. Commissioner Treviranus and Lonnrot were discussing the problem with equanimity.

no need

"There's

to look for a

Chimera, or a cat with three

Treviranus was saying as he brandished an imperious cigar.

know that the Tetrarch of Galilee in the world.

is

Someone, intending

legs,"

"We

all

the possessor of the finest sapphires

came

to steal them,

mistake. Yarmolinsky got up; the robber had to

kill

him.

in here by

What do you

think?" "It's possible,

but not interesting," Lonnrot answered. "You will

reply that reality hasn't the slightest

answer you that

reality

that hypotheses

may

chance intervenes

may avoid

interest.

And

I'll

the obligation to be interesting, but

In the hypothesis you have postulated,

not.

largely.

need to be of

Here

lies

a

dead rabbi;

I

should prefer a

purely rabbinical explanation; not the imaginary mischances of an

imaginary robber." Treviranus answered ill-humoredly:

am

"I

not interested in rabbinical explanations;

in the capture of the

"Not works."

An

He

man who

stabbed this

unknown

unknown," corrected Lonnrot. "Here

so

indicated a line of tall volumes:

Examination of

I

am

interested

person."

are his complete

A Vindication of the Cabala;

the Philosophy of Robert Fludd; a literal translation

of the Sepher Yezirah; a Biography of the Baal Shem; a History of the Sect

monograph (in German) on the Tetragrammaton; on the divine nomenclature of the Pentateuch. The Commissioner gazed at them with suspicion, almost with revulsion. Then

of the Hasidim; a

another,

he

fell

to laughing.

"I'm only a poor Christian," he replied. "Carry off all these moth-

eaten classics

if

you

like;

I

haven't got time to lose in Jewish su-

perstitions."

"Maybe perstitions,"

this

crime

belongs

murmured Lonnrot.

to

the

history

of Jewish

su-

DEATH AND THE COMPASS

287

"Like Christianity," the editor of the Yiddische Zeitung dared to put

in.

He was

No

a myope, an atheist,

one answered

hinl.

One

and very

timid.

of the agents had found inserted in

the small typewriter a piece of paper on which was written the following

inconclusive sentence.

The

first letter

of the

Name

has been spoken

Lonnrot abstained from smiling. Suddenly become a bibliophile

—he

or Hebraist parcel,

directed that the dead man's books be

and he carried them

investigation,

he dedicated himself to studying them.

volume revealed

to

him

made

into a

to his office. Indifferent to the police

the teachings of Israel Baal

A

large octavo

Shem-Tob, founder

of the sect of the Pious; another volume, the virtues and terrors of the

Tetragrammaton, which thesis that

God

is

the ineffable

name

God; another, the

of

has a secret name, in which

is

epitomized (as in

the crystal sphere which the Persians attribute to Alexander of

—

edon) his ninth attribute, eternity

knowledge of everything that universe. Tradition

that

to say,

is

will exist, exists,

Mac-

the immediate

and has existed

in the

numbers ninety-nine names of God; the Hebraists number to the magical fear of even numbers;

attribute this imperfect

the Hasidim reason that this hiatus indicates a hundredth

name

—the

Absolute Name.

From

this erudition

he was

distracted, within a few days, by the

appearance of the editor of the Yiddische Zeitung. This talk of the assassination;

names of God. The

man

wished to

Lonnrot preferred to speak of the diverse

journalist declared, in three columns, that the

had dedicated himself to studying the names "come up with" the name of the assassin. Lonnrot, the simplifications of journalism, did not become indig-

investigator Erik Lonnrot

of

God

in order to

habituated to nant.

One

for every

of those shopkeepers

book came out with

who have found

that there are buyers

a popular edition of the History of the

Sect of the Hasidim.

The second crime

occurred on the night of the third of January,

in the most deserted and empty corner of the capital's western suburbs. Toward dawn, one of the gendarmes who patrol these lonely places on horseback detected a man in a cape, lying prone in the shadow of

an ancient paint shop. The hard visage seemed bathed in blood; a deep stab wound had

split

open

his breast.

On

the wall, upon the

— JORGE

288

LUIS

BORGES

yellow and red rhombs, there were some words written in chalk.

gendarme spelled them

out.

.

.

The

.

That afternoon Treviranus and Lonnrot made their way toward the remote scene of the crime. To the left and right of the automobile, the city disintegrated; the firmament grew larger and the houses meant less

and

less

and a brick kiln or

a poplar grove

reached their miserable destination: a

which

walls

in

some way seemed

The dead man had

the sun.

Simon Azevedo,

who had

risen

them

The second

The

A

little

to reflect the disordered setting of

political tough,

letter

He was

Daniel

only to degenerate

and even an informer. (The singular

The words

Azevedo was the

who knew how

death

to handle a dagger, but not a

were the following:

in chalk

of the

style of his

representative of a

last

Name

has been spoken

on the night of the

third crime occurred

third of February.

before one o'clock, the telephone rang in the office of

missioner Treviranus. In avid secretiveness a spoke: he said his

mud

of some fame in the ancient northern suburbs,

as appropriate:

generation of bandits revolver.)

of rose-colored

already been identified.

from wagoner to

later into a thief

struck

man

a

more and more. They

final alley

name was Ginzberg

man with

(or Ginsburg)

Com-

a guttural voice

and that he was

disposed to communicate, for a reasonable remuneration, an expla-

nation of the two sacrifices of Azevedo and Yarmolinsky.

The

discor-

dant sound of whistles and horns drowned out the voice of the informer.

Then a

the connection was cut

hoax

(it

off.

Without

rejecting the possibility of

was carnival time), Treviranus checked and found he had

been called from Liverpool House, a tavern on the Rue de Toulon that dirty street where cheek by jowl are the store, the bordello

and the

women

peepshow and the milk

selling Bibles. Treviranus called

back and spoke to the owner. This personage (Black Finnegan by name,

an old

Irish criminal

ability) told

him

who was

crushed, annihilated almost, by respect-

that the last person to use the establishment's

phone

had been a lodger, a certain Gryphius, who had some friends. Treviranus immediately went to Liverpool House, where just

Finnegan related the following

had taken

a

room above the

facts.

saloon.

gone out with

Eight days previously, Gryphius

He was

a

man

of sharp features,

(who put rent which

a nebulous gray beard, shabbily clothed in black; Finnegan

the

room

to a use

which Treviranus guessed) demanded

a

was undoubtedly excessive; Gryphius immediately paid the stipulated

DEATH AND THE COMPASS

He

sum.

scarcely ever

went

was hardly known

his face

came down

out;

he dined and lunched in his room;

On

in the bar.

this particular night,

to telephone from Finnegan's

The

stopped in front of the tavern.

289

several of the patrons recalled that

office.

driver did not

A

he

closed coupe

move from

his seat;

he was wearing a bear mask.

Two

harlequins descended from the coupe; they were short in stature, and

no one could

fail

to observe that they were very drunk.

of horns they burst into Finnegan's

who seemed

them but who

to recognize

exchanged a few words in shrill, falsetto tones

office;

—

in Yiddish

With

a tooting

they embraced Gryphius,

replied to

them

coldly; they

he, in a low guttural voice; they,

—and then the

party climbed to the upstairs

room. Within a quarter hour the three descended, very joyous; Gryphius, staggering,

dazed

—

women

seemed

in the middle,

as

drunk

as the others.

He walked

—

tall,

between the masked harlequins. (One of the

remembered the yellow, red and green rhombs,

in the bar

the diamond designs.) Twice he stumbled; twice he was held up by the harlequins. Alongside the adjoining dock basin, whose water was rectangular, the trio got into the coupe

running board, the figure

last

and a sentence on one of the

slates of the

Treviranus gazed upon the sentence. It

and disappeared. From the

of the harlequins had scrawled an obscene

It

outdoor shed.

was nearly foreknowable.

read:

The

He

last

of the

letters

of the

Name

has been spoken

examined, then, the small room of Gryphius-Ginzberg.

On

the floor was a violent star of blood; in the comers, the remains of

some Hungarian-brand

cigarettes; in a cabinet, a

Philologus Hebraeo-Graecus

book

—along

(1739) of Leusden

— the

in Latin

with various

manuscript notes. Treviranus studied the book with indignation and

had Lonnrot summoned. The

latter, without taking off his hat, began Commissioner questioned the contradictory witnesses kidnapping. At four in the morning they came out. In

to read while the

to the possible

the tortuous

Rue de Toulon,

as

they stepped on the dead serpentines

of the dawn, Treviranus said:

"And

supposing the story of this night were a sham?"

Erik Lonnrot smiled

and read him with due gravity

a passage

(underlined) of the thirty-third dissertation of the Philologus:

JORGE

290 Dies ]udaeorum

usque ad

solis

incipit

occasum

a

soils

occasu

diet sequentis.

"This means," he added, "that lasts until the

BORGES

LUIS

following sundown.

the

Hebrew day

begins at

sundown and

"

Treviranus attempted an irony. "Is this fact the

most worthwhile you've picked up tonight?"

"No. Of even greater value

The

is

a

word Ginzberg used."

afternoon dailies did not neglect this series of disappearances.

The Cross and

the

and order of the

Sword contrasted them with the admirable discipline

last

Eremitical Congress; Ernest Palast, writing in The

Martyr, spoke out against "the intolerable delays in this clandestine

and

frugal

pogrom, which has taken three months to liquidate three

Jews"; the Yiddische Zeitung rejected the terrible hypothesis of an anti-

Semitic plot, "even though

many

discerning intellects do not admit

of any other solution to the triple mystery"; the most illustrious in the South,

Dandy Red Scharlach, swore

gunman

that in his district such

crimes as these would never occur, and he accused Commissioner Franz

Treviranus of criminal negligence.

On

the night of

March

the Commissioner received an

first,

imposing' looking, sealed envelope.

He opened

it:

the envelope con-

tained a letter signed Baruj Spinoza, and a detailed plan of the city,

obviously torn from a Baedeker. third of

March

The

letter

prophesied that on the

there would not be a fourth crime, inasmuch as the

on the Rue de Toulon and the Hotel du Nord were the "perfect vertices of an equilateral and mystic triangle"; the regularity of this triangle was made clear on the

paint shop in the West, the Tavern

map with

red ink. This argument, more geometrico, Treviranus read

with resignation, and sent the

letter

and map on to Lonnrot

—who

deserved such a piece of insanity. Erik Lonnrot studied the documents. equidistant.

Symmetry

The

in time (the third of

three sites were in fact

December, the third of

January, the third of February); symmetry in space as well. ...

sudden he sensed he was about to decipher the mystery.

and

a

compass completed

his

sudden intuition.

He

Of

a

A set of calipers

smiled,

pronounced

the word "Tetragrammaton" (of recent acquisition), and called the

Commissioner on the telephone. He

"Thank you has enabled will

be in

me

jail,

told him:

for the equilateral triangle

to solve the problem.

we can

rest assured."

you sent

Tomorrow,

me

last night. It

Friday, the criminals

DEATH AND THE COMPASS

291

"In that case, they're not planning a fourth crime?" "Precisely because they are planning a fourth crime can

we

rest

assured."

Lonnrot hung up.

An

Triste-le-Roy. South of the river filled with

On

garbage.

hour

he was traveling in one of the

later

Southern Railways, en route to the abandoned

trains of the

city of

muddy water made

the further side

is

disgraceful by floating scraps

gunmen

flourish.

smiled to himself to think that the most famous of them

—would have given anything possibility

Then, he put

and

to

know

Lonnrot

—Red Schar-

of this clandestine

visit.

comrade of Scharlach's; Lonnrot considered the that the fourth victim might be Scharlach himself.

Azevedo had been remote

little

a manufacturing suburb where, under

the protection of a chief from Barcelona,

lach

villa of

our story there flows a blind

a

aside the thought.

...

He had

virtually deciphered the

problem; the mere circumstances, or the reality (names, prison records, faces, judicial

and penal proceedings), scarcely interested him now.

months of on how the explanation of the crimes lay in an anonymous triangle and a dust-laden Greek word. The mystery seemed to him almost crystalline now; he was mortified to have dedicated a hundred days to it. Most of

all

he wanted to take a

sedentary investigation.

He

relax from three

reflected

The train stopped at a silent It

stroll, to

loading platform. Lonnrot descended.

was one of those deserted afternoons which seem

air

the

over the fields.

muddy

He saw

plain was

dogs,

damp and

cold.

like

Lonnrot

dawn. The

set off across

he saw a wagon on a dead road, he saw the

horizon, he saw a silvery horse drinking the crapulous water of a puddle.

Dusk was

falling

when he saw

of Triste-le-Roy, almost as it.

He

the rectangular belvedere of the villa

tall as

the black eucalypti which surrounded

thought of the fact that only one more dawn and one more

nightfall (an ancient splendor in the east,

separated

him from

the hour so

much

and another

in the west)

desired by the seekers of the

Name.

A rust colored wrought- iron fence defined the of the

irregular perimeter

The main gate was closed. Without much expectation of Lonnrot made a complete circuit. In front of the insur-

villa.

entering,

mountable gate once again, he put

his

hand between the

mechanically and chanced upon the bolt. surprised him.

With

The

bars almost

creaking of the iron

laborious passivity the entire gate gave way.

Lonnrot advanced among the eucalypti, stepping amidst confused generations of rigid, broken leaves. Close up, the house

on the

estate

JORGE

292

LUIS

BORGES

of Triste-le-Roy was seen to abound in superfluous symmetries and in

maniacal repetitions: a glacial Diana in one lugubrious niche was com-

plemented by another Diana

in

another niche; one balcony was

peated by another balcony; double steps of balustrade.

A

stairs

re-

opened into a double

two-faced Hermes cast a monstrous shadow. Lonnrot

circled the house as

he had the

He examined

estate.

everything; be-

neath the level of the terrace he noticed a narrow shutter door.

He pushed against it: some marble steps descended to a vault. now in the architect's preferences, Lonnrot divined that there would be a set of stairs on the opposite wall. He found them, ascended, Versed

raised his hands,

The

and pushed up

a trap door.

diffusion of light guided

moon

round, yellow

him

to a

window. He opened

ancholy garden. Lonnrot explored the house.

antechambers and

and came out into

reflected in opposing mirrors;

He

a

traveled through

emerge upon duplicate

galleries to

times he emerged upon the same patio. stairways

it:

outlined two stopped-up fountains in the mel-

He

patios; several

ascended dust-covered

circular antechambers;

he was

infinitely

he grew weary of opening or half-opening

windows which revealed the same desolate garden outside, from various heights and various angles; inside, the furniture was wrapped in yellow covers and the chandeliers bound up with cretonne. A bedroom detained him; in the bedroom, a single rose in a porcelain vase first

touch the ancient petals

fell apart.

On

—

the second floor,

at the

on the

top story, the house seemed to be infinite and growing. The house not

this large,

symmetry,

he thought.

the mirrors, the years,

Going up evening

It is

my

a spiral staircase

moon shone

made

only

larger by the

penumbra,

is

the

ignorance, the solitude.

he arrived

at the observatory.

The

through the rhomboid diamonds of the windows,

which were yellow, red and green. He was brought stunning and dizzying recollection.

Two men of short stature,

ferocious

to a halt by a

and stocky, hurled themselves

upon him and took his weapon. Another man, very tall, saluted him gravely, and said: "You are very thoughtful. You've saved us a night and a day." It was Red Scharlach. His men manacled Lonnrot's hands. Lonnrot at length

found his voice.

"Are you looking

for the Secret

Name, Scharlach?"

Scharlach remained standing, indifferent. in the short struggle;

Lonnrot's revolver.

He

He had not participated

he scarcely stretched out his hand to receive spoke; in his voice Lonnrot detected a fatigued

DEATH AND THE COMPASS triumph, a hatred the

size

293

of the universe, a sadness

no smaller than

that hatred.

"No," answered Scharlach. ephemeral and

him

brother and had

my men

night

am

"I

metrical villa;

who

looking for something more

was racked with

I

my

two

waking.

I

lay

dying in this desolate, sym-

fever,

and the odious double-faced

I

and dawn

learned to abominate

two hands, two lungs are

eyes,

me

night,

that famous

my

as

my

monstrous

came

1

two

as

to

faces.

he repeated

Rome. At on this metaphor: I sensed that the from which it was impossible to flee, for all

delirium nurtured

to

itself

whether they seemed to lead north or south, actually led to

Rome, which was dying and the

who

the god

mirrors, to

brother.

on

my

terrorized

body,

axiom of the goyim: All roads lead

world was a labyrinth, paths,

my

with a police bullet in

in a coupe,

An Irishman attempted to convert me to the faith of Jesus; to

my

sent to prison. In the exchange of shots that

me away

got

gazes toward the twilights of dusk

dreams and feel that

am

looking for Erik Lonnrot. Three years

Nine days and nine nights

chest.

Janus

1

gambling house on the Rue de Toulon, you arrested

in a

ago,

slippery,

I

villa

sees

where

also the quadrilateral jail

my

brother was

of Triste-le-Roy. During those nights

from two

and by

faces,

all

I

swore by

the gods of fever and of

weave a labyrinth around the man who had imprisoned my

have woven

it,

heresies, a compass,

and

holds: the materials are a dead writer

it

an eighteenth-century

sect, a

Greek word, a

rhombs of a paint shop. "The first objective in the sequence was given me by chance. I had made plans with some colleagues among them, Daniel Azevedo to take the Tetrarch's sapphires. Azevedo betrayed us; with the money we advanced him he got himself inebriated and started on the

dagger, the

—

—

job a day early.

In the vastness of the hotel he got

two

at

lost;

morning he blundered into Yarmolinsky's room. The

in the

latter,

He was editing some notes, apparently, or writing an article on the Name of God; he had just written the words The first letter of the Name has been spoken.

harassed by insomnia, had set himself to writing.

Azevedo enjoined him for the bell

stabbed

him

in the chest. It

of violence had taught

Ten

days

to be quiet; Yarmolinsky reached out his

which would arouse

later,

I

him

all

the hotel's forces;

was almost a that

it

was

Azevedo

reflex action: half a

easiest

and

at

hand once

century

surest to kill.

.

perusing the writings of Yarmolinsky for the key to his death. For part

I

.

.

learned through the Yiddische Zeitung that you were

read the History of the Sect of the Hasidim;

I

my

learned that the

— JORGE

294

LUIS

reverent fear of pronouncing the

Name

doctrine that this

Hasidim, in search of

human had

Name

all-powerful

knew you would

1

sacrificed the rabbi;

I

of

God had

and mystic.

given

rise to

as far as to offer

conjecture that the Hasidim

myself to justifying this conjecture.

set

"Marcel Yarmolinsky died on the night of December the second sacrifice

third; for

selected the night of January third. Yarmolinsky

1

West was

died in the North; for the second sacrifice a place in the

Azevedo was the

preferable. Daniel

the

learned that some

1

Name, had gone

this secret

...

sacrifices.

is

BORGES

inevitable victim.

He

deserved

death: he was an impulsive person, a traitor; his capture could destroy

the entire plan.

One

letter

of the

"The as

Name

men

of our

corpse to the other one

1

stabbed him; in order to link his

wrote on the paint shop diamonds The second

has been spoken.

third 'crime'

was produced on the third of February.

Treviranus must have guessed, a mere mockery, a simulacrum.

GryphiuS'Ginzberg'Ginsburg;

1

endured an interminable week

was

It I

am

(filled

out with a tenuous false beard) in that perverse cubicle on the Rue de

Toulon, until

my

friends spirited

one of them wrote on

The

a pillar

me last

away. From the running board of the

of the

letters

spoken. This sentence revealed that the series of crimes

the public thus understood

it;

nevertheless,

would allow you, Erik Lonnrot, the reasoner,

that

quadruple.

is

A

has been

triple.

And

interspersed repeated

I

signs that it

Name was

to understand

portent in the North, others in the East and

West, demand a fourth portent in the South; the Tetragrammaton the

name

of God,

and the paint shop

JHVH— is made

up of four

letters;

sign suggested four points. In the

the harlequins

manual of Leusden

it

manifested that the Hebrews calculate

a day counting from dusk to dusk

and that therefore the deaths occurred

I

underlined a certain passage:

on the

fourth day of each

triangle.

I

month. To Treviranus

sent the equilateral

sensed that you would supply the missing point.

which would form a

perfect

rhomb, the point which

exactly, awaits you. In order to attract you

thing,

I

I

fixes

The

point

where death,

have premeditated every-

Erik Lonnrot, so as to draw you to the solitude of Triste-

le-Roy."

Lonnrot avoided Scharlach's eyes. He was looking at the trees and the sky divided into rhombs of turbid yellow, green and red. He felt a little cold, and felt, too, an impersonal, almost anonymous sadness.

It

was already night; from the dusty garden arose the useless

cry of a bird. For the last time, Lonnrot considered the problem of

symmetrical and periodic death.

DEATH AND THE COMPASS

295

"In your labyrinth there are three lines too many," he said at "I

know

of a Greek labyrinth which

this line so

many

too. Scharlach,

last.

Along mere de-

a single straight line.

philosophers have lost themselves that a

might well do so

tective

is

when,

in

some other

incar-

nation you hunt me, feign to commit (or do commit) a crime at A,

then a second crime at

at B, eight kilometers

C, four kilometers from

Wait

me

for

again,

later at

A and B,

from A, then a third crime

halfway enroute between the two.

D, two kilometers from

between both.

Kill

me

at

A

D, as you are

and C, halfway, once

now

going to

kill

me

at Triste-le-Roy."

"The next time I kill you," said Scharlach, "I promise you the made of the single straight line which is invisible and

labyrinth

everlasting."

He

stepped back a few paces. Then, very carefully, he

—

fired.

Translated by Anthony Kerrigan

fRBKRIC DimiUY 0005-1002)

M«0

BINNINOION IS (1005-1071)

Queen was the creation of two Brooklyn-bom cousins, Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee, who collaborated on a story about a private investigator named Ellery Queen for a crime novel

Ellery

contest in 1928.

Thus began one of the

longest mystery-writing careers

in literature, as they proceeded over the next four decades to publish

and novels about

stories

"Ellery

Queen."

A

their detective, using the joint

Queen collaboration underwent an index to

by Francis M. Nevins,

by S. S.

Van

Jr.

in

an essay on Queen

Writers, the

start,

the

a series of changes in style that provide

shifting popular tastes in detective fiction.

Crime and Mystery

pseudonym of

thoroughly commercial venture from the

first

As

characterized

in Twentieth-Century

stage of Queen's career, inspired

Dine's aristocratic detective Philo Vance, was marked

by a brittleness that reflected the 1920s' fascination with wealth and social

prominence. In the second period, in response to Hollywood's

demands, Queen's character became were introduced. In the

late

less priggish

and love

1930s and early 1940s the

interests

Queen

authors

initiated a popular radio series about their detective, as well as the

famous

Ellery

to publish

Queen

s

Mystery Magazine, which continues to this day

work by some of the most prominent

practitioners of the

Queen period, considered by many to be the best, dates from 1942 when the writers began to explore character in depth and to create evocative settings. The fourth period saw a falling back genre.

The

third

into the stylized plots

and thin characterization of the

Nevins notes that "Most of Queen's distinctive

earliest stage.

story motifs

— the neg-

ative clue, the dying message, the murderer as lagoesque manipulator,

the patterned series of clues deliberately

left at

the crime scenes, the

QUEEN

298

ELLERY

false

answer followed by the true and devastating solution

in [Queen's] early novels"

and were used throughout

— originated

his long career.

"The Adventure of Abraham Lincoln's Clue," from EUery Queen's Golden Age style in its central puzzle (the decoding of the message) and in its use of literary allusions and abstruse best period, reflects the

facts (about historical figures, philately,

to Poe's

"The Purloined

and the

like). It

Letter" in that the solution rests

harks back

on the

ability

of the detective (and the reader) to see the object (in this case the cryptic message) from a, quite literally, different perspective or angle

of vision.

1 msm ABRAHAM

The

case began

dreadful

name

on the

OF

IINCOIN'S ClUE

outskirts of

an upstate

New

York

city

with the

of EulaUa, behind the flaking shutters of a fat and

curUcued house with architectural dandruff, recalling

world

for all the

some blowsy ex-Bloomer Girl from the Gay Nineties of its origin. The owner, a formerly wealthy man named DiCampo, possessed it was no less fallen more Florentine then Victorian, was ravaged by time and the inclemencies of fortune; but

a grandeur not shared by his property, although into ruin. His falcon's face, like the

house

—

haughtily so, and indeed

DiCampo wore

his scurfy purple velvet

house

jacket like the prince he was entitled to call himself, but did not.

was proud, and stubborn, and

named

Bianca,

who

useless;

and he had

He

a lovely daughter

taught at a EulaUa grade school and, through

marvels of economy, supported them both.

How

Lorenzo San Marco Borghese-Ruffo

decayed estate a

man named

is

no concern of

Harbidger and a

ours.

The

man named

DiCampo came

to this

presence there this day of

Tungston, however,

is

to

the point: they had come, Harbidger from Chicago, Tungston from Philadelphia, to buy something each wanted very

had summoned them

in order to sell

it.

much, and DiCampo

The two visitors were collectors,

Harbidger's passion being Lincoln, Tungston's Poe.

The Lincoln fruit picker,

collector,

had plucked

an elderly

man who

$40,000,000, every dollar of which was Lincolniana. Tungston,

who was

at the

well in the wars of Poeana.

like a

migrant

was worth about

beck of his mania

for

almost as rich, had the aging body

of a poet and the eyes of a starving panther,

him

looked

his fruits well: Harbidger

armament

that

had served

300

ELLERY

must

"I

surprised

QUEEN

Mr. DiCampo," remarked Harbidger, "that your

say,

me." He paused

to savor the

wine

"May

claret before their arrival).

book and document

to offer the

"To quote Lincoln

in

I

had poured from

his host

an ancient and honorable bottle (DiCampo had

with California

filled it

ask what has finally induced you

for sale?"

another context, Mr. Harbidger," said

a shrug of his wasted shoulders, " 'the

DiCampo with

letter

dogmas of the

quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.' In short, a hungry

man

blood."

sells his

"Only

if it's

of the right type," said old Tungston, unmoved.

"You've made that book and document historians,

here?

DiCampo, than the gold

other hand will ever touch them except by right of owner-

DiCampo

ship," Lorenzo

in his lucky finds,

need to

sell

replied bitterly.

vowing never

them, he was

stumbling at

on pay

last

like a

dirt,

from stealing the secret of I

its

He had

taken a miser's glee

to part with them;

now

forced by his

suspicion-caked old prospector who,

draws cryptic maps to keep the world

location.

"As

I

informed you gentlemen,

represent the book as bearing the signatures of Poe and Lincoln, and

the

document

as

being in Lincoln's hand;

I

customary proviso that they are returnable not as represented; and

if

this

does not

am

offering

"Sit

down,

"No one "It's just

they should prove to be

satisfy

you," and the old prince

that I'm not used to buying sight unseen.

Lorenzo I

take

"Oh,

we'll

do

DiCampo it

"Oh, no,"

it

If there's

a

money-

your way."

reseated himself stiffly. "Very well, gentlemen.

you are both prepared to buy?"

"What is your price?" DiCampo. "What is your bid?"

said

collector cleared his throat,

book and document

which was full of slaver. Mr. DiCampo, you

are as represented,

might hope to get from a dealer or offer

said.

yes!" said Harbidger.

The Lincoln "If the

and now."

down, Mr. DiCampo," Harbidger

questioning your integrity," snapped old Tungston.

is

back guarantee,

Then

sit

them with the

if

actually rose, "let us terminate our business here

I

and

Knox. Have you got them

examine them."

I'd like to

"No

less accessible to collectors

in Fort

you $55,000."

"$56,000," said Tungston. "$57,000," said Harbidger.

"$58,000," said Tungston. "$59,000," said Harbidger.

realize at

— oh—$50,000.

auction

ABRAHAM LINCQLN^S CLUE

THE ADVENTURE OF

Tungston showed Harbidger miracles.

To

his fangs.

"$60,000," he

301

said.

and DiCampo waited. He did not expect

fell silent,

these men, five times $60,000 was of less

the undistinguished wine they were smacking their

lips

moment than over; but they

were veterans of many a hard auction-room campaign, and a collector's victory tasted very nearly as sweet for the price as for the prize.

So the impoverished prince was not

me

DiCampo

and

strolled out of the

through a cracked window

the Lincoln

to allow

Mr.

moment?"

to talk privately for a

rose

when

"Would you be good enough

collector suddenly said,

Tungston and

surprised

at the jungle

room, to gaze somberly

growth that had once been

his Italian formal gardens.

was the Poe collector who summoned him back. "Harbidger

It

has convinced

me

that for the two of us to try to outbid each other

would simply run the price up out of

all

reason.

We're going to make

you a sporting proposition."

Mr. Tungston, and he has agreed," nodded

"I've proposed to

Harbidger, "that our bid for the book and document be $65,000. Each of us

is

prepared to pay that sum, and not a penny more."

"So that "But

I

is

how

the screws are turned," said

do not understand.

If

DiCampo,

each of you makes the identical

smiling.

bid,

which

of you gets the book and document?"

"Ah," grinned the Poe man, comes in." "You see, Mr. DiCampo,"

"that's

where the sporting propo-

sition

said the Lincoln

man, "we

are going

to leave that decision to you."

Even the old

prince,

who had seen more than his share of the He looked at the two rich men really for

astonishing, was astonished.

the

first

time. "I must confess," he

an amusement. Permit me?" collectors sat expectantly.

He

murmured, "that your compact

is

sank into thought while the two

When the old man looked up he was smiling

"The very thing, gentlemen! From the typewritten copies document I sent you, you both know that Lincoln himself left

like a fox.

of the

a clue to a theoretical hiding place for the

explained.

Some

time ago

ident's little mystery.

accordance with

I

I

book which he never

arrived at a possible solution to the Pres-

propose to hide the book and document in

it."

"You mean whichever of

us figures out your interpretation of the

Lincoln clue and finds the book and document where you will hide

them, Mr. DiCampo, gets both

for the agreed price?"

"

302

ELLERY

"That

is

exactly.'*

it

The Lincoln

collector looked dubious. "I don't

"Oh, come, Harbidger," is

We

a deal.

said

DiCampo!

accept,

"You gentlemen

we

QUEEN

Tungston, eyes

Now

will of course

know ..."

glittering.

"A

deal

what?"

have to give

me

a

little

time. Shall

say three days?"

Ellery let himself into the

and

on

set

Queen apartment,

about opening windows.

and Inspector Queen was

a case,

tossed his suitcase aside,

He had been

out of town for a week

in Atlantic City attending a police

convention. Breathable

air

having been restored, Ellery

accumulation of mail.

One

airmail special delivery,

lower

return address 69,

it

southern

on the

down

was postmarked four days

corner, in red, flamed the

left

sat

envelope made him pause.

word

to the week's

had come by

earlier,

and

URGENT. The

in the

printed

dicampo, post office box

flap said: l.s.m.b.-r

The

district, eulalia, n.y.

It

initials

of the

name had

been crossed out and "Bianca" written above them.

The

enclosure, in a large agitated female

hand on inexpensive

notepaper, said:

Dear Mr. Queen,

The most important Phone me on and

I

will pick

book

detective

disappeared. Will you please find

it

for

in the world has

me?

RR station or airport

arrival at the Eulalia

you up. Bianca

A

yellow envelope then caught his eye.

It

DiCampo

was a telegram, dated the

previous day:

NOT HEARD FROM YOU STOP AM IN DESPERATE NEED YOUR SERVICES BIANCA DICAMPO

WHY HAVE

I

He had no sooner finished reading the telegram than the telephone on

his desk trilled. It

was a long-distance

call.

"Mr. Queen?" throbbed a contralto voice. "Thank heaven finally got

through to you!

I've

been calling

all

— day

I've

THE ADVENTURE OF

been away,"

"I've

DiCampo

of Eulalia.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN^S CLUE

said Ellery, ''and

was

Ellery "It's true,

Abraham

"So

I

Lincoln."

he chuckled.

How did you find out? Well, Which book?"

book. Miss DiCampo.

letter refers to a

me?"

voice told him, and certain other provocative things

you come, Mr. Queen?"

will

"Tonight

Why

a persuasive case,"

I'm an incurable Lincoln addict.

The husky as well.

"You plead

startled.

never mind. Your

you would be Miss Bianca

In two words, Miss DiCampo:

'in two words, Mr. Queen:

303

if

I

could! Suppose

1

drive up

first

thing in the morning.

ought to make Eulalia by noon. Harbidger and Tungston are

around,

still

take it?"

I

"Oh,

They're staying at a motel downtown."

yes.

"Would you ask them to be there?" The moment he hung up, Ellery leaped

to his bookshelves.

He

snatched out his volume of Murder for Pleasure, the historical work on detective stories by his good friend

he was looking

And

.

.

.

for

on page

Howard

Haycraft, and found what

26:

young William Dean Howells thought

praise to assert of a

nominee

it

significant

United

for President of the

States:

The bent of his mind

is

mathematical and metaphysical,

and he

is

method

of Poe's tales and sketches, in

mystery

is

therefore pleased with the absolute

given,

and

and wrought out into everyday

processes of cunning analysis.

It

said that

is

logical

which the problem of he

facts

by

suffers

no

year to pass without a perusal of this author.

Abraham Lincoln

subsequently confirmed this state-

ment, which appeared in his little-known "campaign biography" by Howells in 1860. notable, of course, for finity

Very files,

.

.

.

The

early the next

them

instance

is

chiefly

revelation of a little-suspected af-

between two great Americans.

stuffed

and ran

its

morning

.

.

.

Ellery gathered

some papers from

his

into his brief case, scribbled a note for his father,

for his car, Eulalia-bound.

304

ELLERY

He was enchanted

by the

QUEEN

DiCampo

house, which looked Uke some-

thing out of Poe by Charles Addams; and, for other reasons, by Bianca,

who

turned out to be a genetic product supreme of northern

with

titian hair

and Mediterranean blue eyes and a

figure that

Italy,

needed

only some solid steaks to qualify her for Miss Universe competition. Also, she was in deep mourning; so her conquest of the

Queen

heart

was immediate and complete.

"He dabbing

died of a cerebral hemorrhage, Mr. Queen," Bianca said,

her absurd

at

after his session

little

nose. "In the middle of the second night

with Mr. Harbidger and Mr. Tungston."

So Lorenzo San Marco Borghese-Ruffo DiCampo was unexpectbequeathing the lovely Bianca near-destitution and a

edly dead,

mystery.

"The only

me

book and the Lincoln document. The $65,000 they now represent would pay off Father's debts and give me a fresh start. But I can't find them, Mr. things of value Father really

left

are that

Queen, and neither can Mr. Harbidger and Mr. Tungston

—who'll be

here soon, by the way. Father hid the two things, as he told

them he

would; but where? We've ransacked the place." "Tell

me more

"As

said over the

I

about the book. Miss DiCampo."

phone,

mas annual that contained the

The

Purloined Letter.'

it's

called

earliest

The

Gift: 1845.

The

Christ-

appearance of Edgar Allan Poe's

"

& Hart? Bound in red?" At "You understand that an ordinary copy of worth more than about $50. What makes your

"Published in Philadelphia by Carey Bianca's

The

Gift:

father's

nod

Ellery said,

1845

isn't

copy unique

is

that double autograph you mentioned."

"That's what he said, Mr. Queen.

I wish I had the book here to show you that beautifully handwritten Edgar Allan Poe on the flyleaf, " and under Poe's signature the signature Abraham Lincoln. "Poe's own copy, once owned, signed and read by Lincoln," Ellery said slowly. "Yes, that would be a collector's item for the ages. By the way. Miss DiCampo, what's the story behind the other piece the Lincoln document?" Bianca told him what her father had told her. One morning in the spring of 1865, Abraham Lincoln opened the rosewood door of his bedroom in the southwest comer of the second floor of the White House and stepped out into the redcarpeted hall at of 7:00 a.m.; he was more accusthe unusually late hour for him tomed to beginning his workday at six.

—

—

—

—

ABRAHAM LINCOLN^S CLUE

THE ADVENTURE OF

But that

(as

DiCampo had

Lorenzo

morning had lingered

his usual

reconstructed events) Mr. Lincoln

He had awakened

bedchamber.

hour but, instead of leaving immediately on dressing

he had pulled one of the cane chairs over to the round

office,

with

in his

305

its

and

gas'fed reading lamp,

sat

down

morning, and the natural

table,

"The

to reread Poe's

Purloined Letter" in his copy of the 1845 annual;

it

at

for his

was a dreary

was poor. The President was alone; the

light

bedroom remained

folding doors to Mrs. Lincoln's

Impressed as always with Poe's

tale,

closed.

Mr. Lincoln on

this

occasion

was struck by a whimsical thought; and, apparently finding no paper handy, he took an envelope from his pocket, discarded slit

its

enclosure,

the two short edges so that the envelope opened out into a single

sheet,

and began

"Describe "It's

it

to write to

on the blank

side

.

.

.

me, please."

a long envelope,

one that must have contained a bulky

the White House, but

no return

letter.

address,

and

Father was never able to identify the sender from the handwriting.

We

It is

addressed to

do know that the

there

is

came through the regular mails, because there are two Lincoln stamps on it, lightly but unmistakably canceled." "May I see your father's transcript of what Lincoln wrote out that morning on the inside of the envelope?" Bianca handed him a typewritten copy and, in spite of himself, letter

he

Ellery felt goose flesh rise as

read:

Apr. 14, 1865

Mr. Poe's The Purloined Letter originality. Its simplicity

never

fails to

arouse

Reading the "notion." Suppose perhaps?

Where

Why,

in a library

if

wished to hide a book,

this very

singular

over this morning has given

do

letters,

which

so? Well, as

this very

me

a

book,

Mr. Poe in his

tale

might not a book be hidden among

copy of the

tale

were to be deposited

—would not the — might

and on purpose not recorded

Library of Congress it

work of

a

a master-stroke of cunning,

wonder.

best to

hid a letter among books!

my

tale I

is

is

make

a prime depository!

well

repose there, undiscovered, for a generation.

On

the other hand,

let us

regard Mr. Poe's "notion"

turn-about: suppose the book were to be placed, not amongst

other books, but where no book would reasonably be expected?

306

ELLERY

(I

may

QUEEN

follow the example of Mr. Poe, and, myself, compose

a tale of "ratiocination"!)

The "notion" Later to-day, a few

moments

beguiles me,

the vultures and

if

of leisure,

I

may

it

is

my

nearly seven o'clock.

appointments leave

write further of

my

me

imagined

hiding-place.

In self-reminder: the hiding place of the

book

is

in 3od,

which

Ellery looked up.

"The document ends

there?"

"Father said that Mr. Lincoln must have glanced again at his

watch, and shamefacedly jumped up to go to his

leaving the

office,

sentence unfinished. Evidently he never found the time to get back to it." Ellery brooded. Evidently indeed.

ham

From the moment when Abra-

Lincoln stepped from his bedroom that

fingering his thick gold

watch on

its

Good

Friday morning, to bid the

vest chain,

unrelieved night guard his customary courteous

still-

"Good morning" and

make for his office at the other end of the hall, his day was spoken for. The usual patient push through the clutching crowd of favor seekers, many of whom had bedded down all night on the hall carpet; sanctuary in his sprawling

office,

where he read

correspondence;

official

—Mrs. Lincoln

by 8:00 a.m. having breakfast with his family

away about plans

for the evening, twelve-year-old

palate lisping a complaint that

Robert Lincoln, his

just

"nobody asked me

Tad

chattering

of the cleft

to go,"

and young

returned from duty, bubbling with stories about

hero Ulysses Grant and the

last

presidential office to look over the

had once remarked he "never"

days of the war; then back to the

morning newspapers (which Lincoln

read, but these were

good news everywhere), sign two documents, and the door to admit the morning's

first

caller.

happy

days, with

signal the soldier at

Speaker of the House

Schuyler Colfax (who was angling for a Cabinet post and had to be tactfully handled);

meeting

at

and so on throughout the day

—the

historic

Cabinet

11:00 a.m., attended by General Grant himself, that

stretched well into the afternoon; a hurried lunch at almost half past

two with Mrs. Lincoln (had

this forty-five-pounds-underweight

man

eaten his usual midday meal of a biscuit, a glass of milk, and an apple?);

more

visitors to see in his office (including the

unscheduled Mrs. Nancy

ABRAHAM LINCOLN^S CLUE

THE ADVENTURE OF

307

Bushrod, escaped slave and wife of an escaped slave and mother of three small children, weeping that

Tom,

a soldier in the

Army

of the

Potomac, was no longer getting his pay: "You are entitled to your husband's pay.

Come

this

time tomorrow," and the

escorted her to the door, bowing her out "like

was a natural-bom

I

lady"; the late afternoon drive in the barouche to the

back with Mrs. Lincoln; more work, more .

.

.

President

tall

Navy Yard and

visitors, into

until finally, at five minutes past 8:00 p.m.,

the evening

Abraham Lincoln

stepped into the White House formal coach after his wife, waved, and

sank back to be driven

Our American Ellery

mused over the black day

hanging on the sat

off to see a play

he did not much want to

Cousin, at Ford's Theatre

specialist's yet

.

.

see.

.

in silence.

And,

like a relative

undelivered diagnosis, Bianca

DiCampo

watching him with anxiety.

Harbidger and Tungston arrived in a taxi to greet Ellery with the fervor

smoke on the horizon. "As I understand it, gentlemen," Ellery said when he had calmed them down, "neither of you has been able to solve Mr. DiCampo's interpretation of the Lincoln clue. If I succeed in finding the book and paper where DiCampo hid them, which of you gets them?" "We intend to split the $65,000 payment to Miss DiCampo," said

of castaways grasping at a smudge of

Harbidger, "and take joint ownership of the two pieces."

"An

arrangement," growled old Tungston, "I'm against on prin-

ciple, in practice,

"So am

I,"

and by plain horse sense." sighed the Lincoln collector, "but what else can

we do?" "Well," and the Poe

man

regarded Bianca

DiCampo with

intimacy of the cat that long ago marked the bird as

its

the icy

prey, "Miss

DiCampo, who now owns the two pieces, is quite free to renegotiate a sale on her own terms." "Miss DiCampo," said Miss DiCampo, giving Tungston stare for stare, "considers herself bound by her father's wishes. His terms stand." "In

all

likelihood, then," said the other millionaire,

will retain the book, the other the

document, and

we'll

"one of us

exchange them

every year, or some such thing." Harbidger sounded unhappy.

"Only

practical arrangement under the circumstances," grunted

Tungston, and he sounded unhappy. "But unless

and

until the

book and document

all this is

academic, Queen,

are found."

"

308

ELLERY

QUEEN

"The problem, then,

Ellery nodded.

is

to

fathom DiCampo's

...

pretation of that 3od in the document. 3od

Campo

—

or,

may

Bianca?

I?

—

inter-

notice. Miss Di-

I

that your father's typewritten copy of

—no spacing

the Lincoln holograph text runs the 3 and o and d together in between.

Is

that the

way

it

3od

.

occurs in the longhand?"

"Yes."

"Hmm.

Still

.

.

.

Could d stand for days ... or the Does any of these make

.

.

British pence ... or died, as used in obituaries?

sense to you, Bianca?"

"No." "Did your father have any special

interest in, say,

chemistry? physics? algebra? electricity? Small d

pharmacology?

an abbreviation used

shook her splendid head. "Banking? Small

in all those." But Bianca

d for

is

dollars, dividends?''

"Hardly," the

"How

with a sad smile.

girl said

Was

about theatricals?

your father ever involved in a

play production? Small d stands for door in playscript stage directions."

"Mr. Queen, dictionary

lists,

I've

and

with any interest of

I

gone through every darned abbreviation

my

father's.

— assume the typewritten copy making an — the manuscript shows no period the

Ellery scowled.

curate

"At that

is

I

after

breviation unlikely. 3od

the

number 30 have any

.

.

ac-

ab-

significance for you?"

they sank back. "In a few years significance.

d,

concentrate on the number. Does

let's

.

"Yes, indeed," said Bianca,

enormous

my

haven't found one that has a point of contact

making it

But only

all

three

will represent

for

me, I'm

men sit up. But then my age, and that has

afraid."

"You'll be drawing wolf whistles at twice thirty," quoth Ellery

warmly. "However! Could the number have cross-referred to anything in your father's

"None grown

that

life I

or habits?"

can think

roses in her cheeks,

of,

Mr. Queen. And," Bianca

having

"thank you."

think," said old Tungston

"I

said,

testily,

"we had

better stick to the

subject."

me

"Just the same, Bianca, let as they

come

Tyrants

—

War

to mind. Stop

—was your

me

if

run over some

one of them

'thirty' associations

hits a nerve.

The

Thirty

father interested in classical Athens? Thirty Years'

in seventeenth-century

play or follow tennis?

Or

.

.

European history? Thirty .

all

—

did he

did he ever live at an address that

THE ADVENTURE OF

ABRAHAM LINCOLN^S CLUE

309

included the number 30?" Ellery went on and on, but to each suggestion

Bianca

DiCampo

could only shake her head.

come to think of it, doesn't necessarily DiCampo chose to view the clue that way," said Ellery thoughtfully. "He might have interpreted it arbitrarily as 3'Space'0'
mean

lack of spacing,

that Mr.

mean?" "Od? Od Reichenbach

is

—

Manifests

the hypothetical force or power claimed by Baron von

in 1850, wasn't

itself in

it?

—

to pervade the

whole of nature.

magnets, crystals and such, which according to the

excited Baron explained animal magnetism and mesmerism. father by any chance interested in hypnosis, Bianca?

"Not

Or

Was

your

the occult?"

in the slightest."

"Mr. Queen," exclaimed Harbidger, "are you serious about this

—

"Why,

1

don't know," said Ellery. "1 never

over something.

Od

the force of animal

Three od

.

.

.

or

.

.

the triune force 1

rather suggest the Trinity, doesn't

the

Church

—

just it?

Od

—

capitalized

it's all

right,

—has been .

.

.

gawped. Bianca had

idly

a

minced form of the

you wouldn't happen

—

girl

and the two

col-

picked up the typewritten copy of the

Lincoln document. She was not reading

on her knees; but

up to

smashing abruptness of an ordinary force

meeting an absolutely immovable object. The lectors

does

it

tie

any other way? No? That's too

have three Bibles on the premises, would you? Because Ellery stopped with the

biod,

Mr. Harbidger,

coined the word. But

word God since the sixteenth century. Or to

stumble

I

Bianca, did your father

in a personal, scholarly, or

bad, really, because

till

the force of electricity; and so forth.

elod,

life;

triod,

know

the word was used with prefixes, too

.

not ignorance on your part,

it's

all

semantic sludge?"

this

it;

she was simply holding

Ellery, sitting opposite her,

had shot forward

it

in a

crouch, rather like a pointer, and he was regarding the paper in her lap with a glare of pure discovery.

"That's

"What's "Please course.

it!" it,

he

Mr. Queen?" the

— the

Hear

cried.

transcript!"

this:

'On

Look

asked, bewildered.

plucked the paper from her. ''0{

the other hand,

tion' turn-about/ Turn-about.

saw

girl

He

let

at the

us regard

Mr. Poes

3od 'turn-about'

—

as

''no1

just

it!"

He

turned the Lincoln message upside

In that position the

3od became:

down

for their inspection.

"

310

QUEEN

ELLERY

p08

''Poer exploded Tungsten.

crude but recognizable," EUery said

*'Yes,

read the Lincoln clue

There was

as:

The

swiftly.

hiding-place of the book

is

"So now we "

in Poe!'

a silence.

"In Poe," said Harbidger blankly. "In Poe?" muttered Tungston. "There are only a couple of trade editions of Poe in those.

We

DiCampo's

library,

Harbidger, and

we went through

looked in every book here."

"He might have meant among Miss DiCampo

—

the Poe books in the public library.

"Wait." Bianca sped away. But when she came back she was drooping. "It

isn't.

We have two public libraries in Eulalia,

the head librarian in both.

I

and

them. Father didn't

just called

know

I

visit either

library."

EUery gnawed a fingernail. Bianca?

Or any

"Is there a bust of

Poe

in the house,

other Poe-associated object, aside from books?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Queer," he mumbled. "Yet I'm positive your father interpreted

So he'd have hidden it ..." EUery 's mumbling dribbled away into a tormented sort of silence: his eyebrows worked up and down, Groucho Marx fashion; 'the hiding-place

'in

of the book' as being

Poe'

he pinched the

tip of his

unoffending ears; he face cleared,

The

munched on

and he sprang

girl

nose until

the words.

"One

it

was

his lip

.

he yanked

scarlet; .

.

to his feet. "Bianca,

until, all at

may

I

once, his

use your phone?"

He was

hall,

although they could not make out

back in two minutes.

thing more," he said briskly, "and we're out of the woods.

suppose your father used a key ring or a key case, Bianca?

have

it,

May

I

please?"

She fetched

a key case.

sorriest of objects, a scuffed

received

at his

could only nod, and EUery dashed. They heard him

telephoning in the entrance

I

'

Poe.

'in

it

from the

To

and

girl as if it

the two millionaires

were an

artifact of historic

from a newly discovered Fourth Dynasty tomb. concentrated love; he fingered

it

seemed the

dirty tan leatherette case.

its

But EUery importance

He unsnapped

it

with

contents like a scientist. Finally he

decided on a certain key.

"Wait here!" Thus Mr. Queen; and

exit,

running.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN^S CLUE

THE ADVENTURE OF

decide," old Tungsten said after a while, "whether that

"I can't

fellow

is

3y\_

an escaped lunatic."

a genius or

Neither Harbidger nor Bianca replied. Apparently they could not decide, either.

They waited through twenty elongated minutes;

twenty-

at the

they heard his car, champing. All three were in the front doorway

first,

as Ellery strode

He

up the walk.

was carrying a book with a red cover, and smiling.

It

was a

compassionate smile, but none of them noticed.

—

"You

Bianca. "

" said

shouted Harbidger.

"Is

—found—

Tungston.

the Lincoln holograph in

"It is," said Ellery. "Shall

mourn

" said

we

all

"

— the book!"

it?"

go into the house, where we may

in decent privacy?"

"Because," Ellery said to Bianca and the two quivering collectors as they sat across a refectory table from him,

Tungston,

I

now

Will you

"I

have

believe you have never actually seen Mr.

Mr.

foul news.

DiCampo's book.

look at the Poe signature on the flyleaf?"

The panther

claws leaped. There, toward the top of the

flyleaf,

in faded ink-script, ran the signature Edgar Allan Poe.

The claws curled, and old Tungston looked up sharply. "DiCampo never mentioned that

it's

—he kept

a full autograph

instance after his

name

an autograph!

in

edition

And

when

obviously

is

it

as

Why, I don't know of a single West Point days when Poe wrote out his middle

Poe signature.' Edgar Allan Poe

'the

referring to

.

.

.

the earliest he could have signed this 1845

it

was published, which was around the

fall

of 1844. In 1844 he'd surely have abbreviated the 'Allan,' signing

way he signed everything! This

'Edgar A. Poe,' the

"My God," murmured was

as pale as Poe's

"I'm afraid

you told

And

if

me

it

a forgery."

Lenore. "Is that true, Mr. Queen?"

is," Ellery said sadly. "I

the Poe signature

the Poe signature

considered Poe's

is

Bianca, clearly intending no impiety; she

own

is

on the

was suspicious the moment

flyleaf

a forgery, the

contained the 'Allan.'

book

itself

can hardly be

copy.

"And the Lincoln signature underneath DiCampo never told me it reads Abraham Lin-

Harbidger was moaning. the Poe, Mr. Queen!

—the

coln

full

Christian name. Except on

practically always signed his

Lincoln autograph

is

name

'A.

official

documents, Lincoln

Lincoln.' Don't

tell

me

this

a forgery, too?"

Ellery forbore to look at poor Bianca. "I

was struck by the 'Abra-

— 312

QUEEN

ELLERY

ham'

as well,

me, and

Mr. Harbidger, when Miss DiCampo mentioned

came equipped

I

to test

it.

I

have here"

—and—

the pile of documents he had taken from his briefcase

to

it

Ellery tapped

"facsimiles of

Lincoln signatures from the most frequently reproduced of the historic

Now

documents he signed.

Lincoln signature on the so

—"and

I

shall

I'm going to

flyleaf of the

make

a precise tracing of the

book"

—he proceeded

do

to

superimpose the tracing on the various signatures of

He worked

the authentic Lincoln documents. So."

rapidly.

On

his

third superimposition Ellery looked up. "Yes. See here.

The

of the purported Lincoln signature from the flyleaf

in minutest

detail over the authentic Lincoln signature

Emancipation Proclamation. forger that nobody ever writes are always variations. If

It's

his

a fact of

name

on

life

exactly the

two signatures

fits

tracing

this facsimile of the

that's tripped

same way

many

twice.

are identical, then

a

There

one must

be a tracing of the other. So the 'Abraham Lincoln' signed on this

can be dismissed without further consideration

flyleaf It's

as a forgery also.

a tracing of the Emancipation Proclamation signature.

"Not only was

this

book not Poe's own copy;

and therefore probably never owned

came

it

was never signed

—by Lincoln. However your

father

into possession of the book, Bianca, he was swindled."

was the measure of Bianca DiCampo's quality that she said

It

quietly, "Poor, poor Father,"

nothing more.

Harbidger was poring over the worn old envelope on whose inside appeared the dearly beloved handscript of the Martyr President. "At least,"

he muttered, "we have

"Do we?" asked

this."

Ellery gently.

"Turn

it

over, Mr. Harbidger."

Harbidger looked up, scowling. "No! You're not going to deprive

me

of this, too!"

"Turn

it

over," Ellery repeated in the same gentle way.

"What do you see?" period! With two authentic

The

Lincoln collector obeyed reluctantly.

"An

authentic envelope of the

Lin-

coln stamps!" "Exactly.

And

the United States has never issued postage stamps

depicting living Americans; you have to be dead to qualify.

U.S. stamp showing a portrait of Lincoln went on

1866

—

a year to the day after his death.

scarcely

paper.

have used

this envelope,

The document

is

"

I

am

earliest

15,

a living Lincoln could

with these stamps on

spurious, too.

Incredibly, Lorenzo

her ''Non importa, signor.

Then

The

sale April

it,

as writing

so very sorry, Bianca."

DiCampo's daughter managed a smile with He could have wept for her. As for the two

ABRAHAM LINCOLN^S CLUE

THE ADVENTURE OF collectors, Harbidger

"Where the

31^

was in shock; but old Tungston managed to croak,

DiCampo

devil did

hide the book. Queen?

And how

did

you know?"

"Oh, that," that

DiCampo

interpreted

Lincoln's, clue, as

"So

I

is

"I

e. If

forger's,

not

But

'the

or, crudely, Poe.

nowhere.

in Poe' led

Poe, what could they

go away

was convinced

what we now know was the

reconsidered, P, o,

mean

didn't

admirable creature.

this

3od read upside down;

hiding-place of the book

men would

two old

said Ellery, wishing the

so that he might comfort

those three letters of the alphabet

mean? Then

I

remembered some-

thing about the letter you wrote me, Bianca. You'd used one of your father's envelopes,

Office

Box

on the

flap of

which appeared

69, Southern District, Eulalia,

District in Eulalia,

it

N. Y.

seemed reasonable

If

his address: Post

there was a Southern

to conclude that there were

post offices for other points of the compass, too. As, for instance, an

Eastern District. Post Office Eastern. P.O. East. P.O.E."

"Poe!" cried Bianca.

"To answer your to

question, Mr. Tungston:

I

how

to get there, looked for a postal

box key

key case, found the right one, located the box especially for the occasion, unlocked

added, hopefully,

"And

that

collectors

Queen.

"And

that

is

that," Bianca said

is

it

—and

is

how

documents declared

when

rented

there was the book."

He

she returned from seeing the two

glad

I

am he

somehow. Right now

all

didn't live to see the signatures

forgeries publicly, as they

I

and

would surely have been

they were expertized."

some milk

"I

think you'll find there's

"I

beg your pardon?" said Bianca.

still

in the bottle, Bianca."

Ellery tapped the pseudo-Lincolnian envelope.

didn't

Mr. DiCampo's

that."

straighten out Father's affairs

I'll

in

DiCampo had

"I'm not going to cry over an empty milk bottle, Mr.

off.

can think of

when

phoned the main post

confirmed the existence of a Post Office East, got directions as

office,

do a very good job describing

this

"You know, you

envelope to me. All you said

was that there were two canceled Lincoln stamps on

it."

"Well, there are." "1

can see you misspent your childhood. No,

collect things,

do they? Why,

if

you'll

little

girls

don't

examine these 'two canceled

Lincoln stamps,' you'll see that they're a great deal more than that. In the

first

place, they're not separate stamps. They're a vertical pair

"

314 that

ELLERY

is,

one stamp

is

QUEEN

joined to the other at the horizontal edges.

Now

look at this upper stamp of the pair.

The Mediterranean "Yes, pair

it's

eyes widened.

"It's

upside down,

isn't it?"

upside down," said Ellery, "and what's more, while the

have perforations

all

around, there are no perforations between

them, where they're joined.

—

"What you have here, young lady and what our unknown forger when he fished around for an authentic White House

didn't realize

—

cover of the period on which to perpetrate the Lincoln forgery what's

known

to

stamp collectors

as a

double printing

is

error: a pair of

1866 black 15'Cent Lincolns imperforate horizontally, with one of the pair printed upside

down.

No

such error of the Lincoln

issue

has ever

been reported. You're the owner, Bianca, of what may well be the rarest item in

U.S. philately, and the most valuable."

The world But don't

will little note, try to

prove

it

nor long remember.

by Bianca DiCampo.

ryuMiv ircoiOB 0925-1964)

(Mary) Flannery O'Connor was

bom

in

Savannah, Georgia, and stud-

ied fiction-writing at the University of

Iowa Writers' Workshop. She

returned in 1950 to Milledgeville, Georgia, and, although weakened

by the blood disease which would eventually take her

life,

two novels. Wise Blood (1952) and The Violent Bear

Away

and two collections of short

stories,

A

devout

human nature,

Roman

She

and her

Rises

Must Converge

Catholic whose faith informed her view of

on the more

fiction has

bizarre manifestations of spiritual

been labeled

writes about sin rather than crime,

refers to the

(1960),

she focuses nevertheless in her fiction not on traditional

religious practices but crises,

produced

A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955)

and the posthumously published Everything That (1965).

It

as a result

and

for

"southern Gothic."

her the word "mystery"

human spiritual condition rather than to something subject

to detection.

"The Comforts of Home" is a critique, rather than an illustration, of O'Connor shows by confining the detective's analysis to the final paragraph and treating it ironically. Irony is her main device

detection, as

in the story,

from

title to

ending, and

it

emphasizes the limitations,

or virtual irrelevance, of the investigatory process

with the complexities of the

human

ological, not psychological: the "old is

not the Freudian father but "old

soul.

when confronted

O'Connor's concern

is

the-

man" who seems to drive Thomas Adam" of original sin.

Thomas withdrew

to the side of the

window and with his head between down on the driveway where the

the wall and the curtain he looked car

had stopped. His mother and the

little slut

were getting out of

His mother emerged slowly, stolid and awkward, and then the long slightly

slut's

With

bowed

legs slid out, the dress pulled

a shriek of laughter she ran to

overjoyed, shaking with pleasure,

to

above the knees.

meet the dog, who bounded,

welcome

her.

Rage gathered

throughout Thomas's large frame with a silent ominous intensity, a

mob

it.

little

like

assembling.

was now up to him to pack a

It

suitcase,

go to the hotel, and stay

there until the house should be cleared.

He needed

did not

know where

a suitcase was,

his books, his typewriter

electric blanket,

he disliked to pack, he

was not portable, he was used to an

he could not bear to eat

mother,

in restaurants. His

with her daredevil charity, was about to wreck the peace of the house.

The back door slammed and

the

girl's

laugh shot up from the

kitchen, through the back hall, up the stairwell and into his room,

making

for

him

like a bolt of electricity.

He jumped

to the side

and

stood glaring about him. His words of the morning had been unequivocal: "If

choose

you bring that

—her

girl

back into

She had made her choice. was the

first

this house,

I

leave.

You can

or me."

An

intense pain gripped his throat.

time in his thirty-five years ...

moisture behind his eyes.

He

felt

a

It

sudden burning

Then he steadied himself, overcome by rage. made any choice. She was counting on

On

the contrary: she had not

his

attachment to his

electric blanket.

She would have

to be

shown.

8

3

FLANNERY O'CONNOR

1

The girl's

laughter rang upward a second time and

He saw again her He had waked to

door open and her in

find his

from the hall to make her

light

Thomas winced.

look of the night before. She had invaded his room.

There was enough

it.

toward him. The

visible as she turned

—

face was like a comedienne's in a musical

comedy

a pointed chin,

wide apple cheeks and feline empty eyes.

He had

sprung out of his

bed and snatched a straight chair and then he had backed her out the door, holding the chair in front of

out a dangerous cat.

when he reached and

gasp, turned

In a

was framed girl

in

his

Her

like

an animal trainer driving

on

in front of

trying to

as

if

with a

girl,

mother had opened her door and peered out

face, greasy

with whatever she put on

curlers.

"I

at night,

it

She looked down the

where

hall

her, the chair

he were about to quell another

my room," he hissed, get in my room." He

voice rose in outrage.

the hall, pausing

The

the guest room.

pink rubber

him

down

his mother's door.

had disappeared. Thomas stood before

to get in

it

him

driven her silently

to beat

fled into

moment

apprehensively.

the

it

He had

still lifted

"She

beast.

tried

woke up and she was closed the door behind him and his pushing

in.

won't put up with

"I

this!

won't put up with

I

another day!" His mother, backed by him to her bed,

She had

it.

a

heavy body on which

sat

down on

the edge of

sat a thin, mysteriously

gaunt and

incongruous head. "I'm telling you for the

last

time,"

Thomas

said, "I

won't put up

with this another day." There was an observable tendency in

all

of

her actions. This was, with the best intentions in the world, to make a

mockery of

virtue, to pursue

it

with such a mindless intensity that

everyone involved was made a fool of and virtue

itself

became

"Not another day," he repeated. His mother shook her head emphatically, her eyes

ridic-

ulous.

still

on the

door.

on

Thomas put He leaned

it.

the chair

on the

forward as

if

floor in front of

her and

sat

down

he were about to explain something to

a defective child.

"That's just another way she's unfortunate," his mother said. "So awful, so awful. it's

She

told

me

the

name

of

it

but

something she can't help. Something she was

she said and put her hand to her jaw, "suppose

Exasperation blocked his windpipe. "Can't croaked, "that

if

forget

I

what

it is

but

bom with. Thomas," it I

were you?"

make you

she can't help herself you can't help her?"

see,"

he

THE COMFORTS OF

HOME

319

His mother's eyes, intimate but untouchable, were the blue of

"Nimpermaniac," she murmured.

great distances after sunset.

"Nymphomaniac," he

"She doesn't need

said fiercely.

you with any fancy names. She's a moral moron. That's to

know. Born without the moral faculty

be born without a kidney or a "I

keep thinking were you,

Do

leg.

—

think

jaw. "If

it

What

you were a nimpermaniac and not a

if

you need

else

would

you understand?"

might be you," she

it

how do you

somebody

like

to supply

all

her hand

said,

I'd feel if

still on her nobody took you in?

brilliant

smart person and

you did what you couldn't help and ..."

Thomas

felt a

deep unbearable loathing

turning slowly into the

"What

can

I

"Send her back

"Now

still

you get her out of here!"

kill

herself again."

to jail,"

Thomas

said.

Thomas," she said. room while he was

jail,

got up and snatched the chair and fled the

able to control himself.

Thomas to

will

would not send you back to

He

do

He

loved his mother.

but there were times

so,

him. There were times

when

and he sensed about him

loved her because

when he

it

became nothing but pure

She proceeded always from the nice thing to do

The

whom,

in

any degree

—

of considerations

tritest

Thomas was

only a manner of speaking, but

to the situations his

intellectual,

—

it

mother got

home and

into.

it

was

Had

she

he could have proved to her from early is

justified, that a

of good produces likewise a moderation in evil, that at

mystery

into the most foolhardy engagements with

Christian history that no excess of virtue

had stayed

idiot

of course, she never recognized.

devil for

manner appropriate

been

was his nature

forces, invisible currents entirely out of his

was the

the devil,

it

could not endure her love for

control.

a

he were

turn her out in the cold?" she said. "This morning

she was threatening to

"I

if

did she have on?" she asked abruptly, her eyes narrowing.

"Nothing!" he roared.

"How

for himself as

girl.

attended to his

sister,

no

if

moderation

Antony

devils

of Egypt

would have

plagued him.

Thomas was not he saw

it

cynical and so far from being opposed to virtue,

as the principle of order

bearable. His

saner virtues

own

life

—by the

meals she served. But a sense of devils grew

and the only thing that makes

was made bearable by the

fruits

life

of his mother's

well-regulated house she kept and the excellent

when virtue got out of hand with her, as now, upon him, and these were not mental quirks in

FLANNERY O'CONNOR

320

himself or the old lady, they were denizens with personalities, present

though not

who might any moment

visible,

be expected to shriek or

rattle a pot.

The

girl

his

the breakfast table

passed

in the county jail a month ago on a bad mother had seen her picture in the paper. At she had gazed at it for a long time and then had

had landed

check charge and

over the coffee pot to him. "Imagine," she said, "only nine-

it

teen years old and in that

filthy jail.

And

she doesn't look like a bad

girl."

Thomas glanced ly

showed the

at the picture. It

He observed

ragamuffin.

shrewd

face of a

that the average age for criminality was steadi-

lowering.

"She looks

like a

wholesome

mother

girl," his

said.

"Wholesome people don't pass bad checks," Thomas "You don't know what you'd do in a pinch." "I wouldn't pass a bad check," Thomas said. "I

think," his mother said,

If

then and there he had put his foot down, nothing

have happened. His foot

down

father,

When

had he been

anyone within her

she called and took a box of candy;

had babies or won

take her a

little

living,

box of candy."

social station

when any

would his

favorite nice

moved

to town,

of her friends' children

and took

a scholarship, she called

else

would have put

Taking a box of candy was her

at that point.

thing to do.

"I'll

said.

a

box of candy;

when an

old person broke his hip, she was at his bedside with a box

of candy.

He had been amused

to the

He his

at the idea of

stood

now

in his

head and cursed

his

room with the

girl's

into his study without knocking lifting

laugh rocketing away in

amusement.

When his mother returned from the couch,

her taking a box of candy

jail.

visit to

the

and had collapsed

jail,

she had burst

full-length

her small swollen feet up on the arm of

moment, she recovered under them. Then she

herself

fell

enough

back again.

to

sit

"We

it.

on

his

After a

up and put a newspaper

don't

know how

the other

half lives," she said.

Thomas knew

that though her conversation

to cliche there were real experiences for the girl's

being in

He would have

jail

behind them.

spared her

jail."

He was

cliche

less sorry

than for his mother having to see her there. all

unpleasant sights. "Well," he said and

put away his journal, "you had better forget reason to be in

moved from

it

now. The

girl

has ample

THE COMFORTS OF

"You

what

can't imagine

Star,

girl.

321

been through," she

all she's

up again, "listen." The poor

HOME

said, sitting

had been brought up by a

stepmother with three children of her own, one an almost grown boy

who had

taken advantage of her in such dreadful ways that she had

been forced

to run

away and

find her real mother.

Once

found, her

mother had sent her to various boarding schools to get rid of her. each of these she had been forced to run away by the presence of At real

perverts

and

sadists so

Thomas could

tell

monstrous that their acts defied description.

that his mother

Now

that she was sparing him.

her voice shook and he could

had not been spared the

tell

that she was remembering

horror that had been put to her graphically.

He had hoped

few days the memory of

off,

all this

next day she returned to the

few days It

later,

was

details

and again when she spoke vaguely,

would wear

jail

but

it

some

that in a

did not.

The

with Kleenex and cold-cream and a

she announced that she had consulted a lawyer.

at these times that

father though he

Thomas

mourned the death of his him in life. The old foolishness. Untouched by useless

had not been able

man would have had none

of this

truly

to endure

compassion, he would (behind her back) have pulled the necessary strings

with his crony, the

sheriff,

and the

off to the state penitentiary to serve

engaged

in

would have been packed

He had

some enraged action until one morning

angry glance at his wife as

dead

girl

her time.

if

at the breakfast table.

always been

when

(with an

she alone were responsible) he had dropped

Thomas had

inherited his father's reason

without his ruthlessness and his mother's love of good without her

tendency to pursue see

it.

His plan for

all

practical action

was to wait and

what developed.

The

lawyer found that the story of the repeated atrocities was for

the most part untrue, but

when he

explained to her that the

a psychopathic personality, not insane

criminal enough for the

mother was more deeply

jail,

enough

girl

for the asylum,

was not

not stable enough for society, Thomas's

affected

than ever. The

girl readily

admitted

on account of her being a congenital liar; because she was insecure. She had passed through

that her story was untrue

she

lied,

she said,

who had put the finishing touches She knew there was no hope for her. In the presence of such an affliction as this, his mother seemed bowed down by some painful mystery that nothing would make endurable but a redoubling of effort. To his annoyance, she appeared to look on him with compassion, as if her hazy charity no longer made distinctions. the hands of several psychiatrists to her education.

FLANNERY O'CONNOR

322

A few days girl

paroled

—

Thomas

later she burst in

he

had got the

bland face contracted in anticipated pain. "You

large

"going to bring that

said,

"No, no," she with

said that the lawyer

from his Morris chair, dropping the review he had

rose

been reading. His are not,"

and

to her.

"calm

said,

the

difficulty to get

girl

yourself,

here!"

Thomas." She had managed town and a place

a job in a pet shop in

girl

to board with a crotchety old lady of her acquaintance. People were

not kind. They did not put themselves in the place of someone Star

to

who had everything against Thomas sat down again and

her.

retrieved his review.

have escaped some danger which he did not care

"Nobody can

himself.

that

have

girl will

you anything," he

tell

left

like

said,

He seemed

to

make

just

clear to

"but in a few days

town, having got what she could out of you.

You'll never hear from her again."

Two

came home and opened the

nights later he

was speared by a

close to the fireplace

parlor door

depthless laugh. His mother and the

shrill

where the gas

logs

were

lit.

The

girl

and

girl sat

gave the

immediate impression of being physically crooked. Her hair was cut like a dog's or

an

elf's

was training on him

and she was dressed

second into an intimate

"Thomas!"

his

not to bolt, "this

is

She

in the latest fashion.

a long familiar sparkling stare that turned after a grin.

mother

said,

her voice firm with the injunction

Star you've heard so

much

about. Star

is

going to

have supper with us."

real

The girl called herself Star Drake. The lawyer had found name was Sarah Ham. Thomas neither moved nor spoke but hung in the door

seemed

a savage perplexity. Finally

in a tone of

he

said,

"How do

such loathing that he was shocked

reddened, feeling

it

beneath him to show contempt

He advanced

so pathetic.

decent politeness and

"Thomas look at him.

at the

sat

that her

in

you do, Sarah,"

sound of for

it.

He

any creature

into the room, determined at least

down

what

on

a

heavily in a straight chair.

writes history," his

mother

said with a threatening

"He's president of the local Historical Society this

year."

The

girl

leaned forward and gave

Thomas an even more pointed

attention. "Fabulous!" she said in a throaty voice.

"Right try," his

now Thomas

mother

said.

is

writing about the

first settlers

in this coun-

THE COMFORTS OF "Fabulous!" the

Thomas by an

HOME

323

repeated.

girl

effort

of will

managed

to look as

he were alone

if

in the room.

know who he looks him in at an angle.

like?" Star asked, her

"Say, you side, taking

"Oh some one "This cop

very distinguished!" his mother said archly.

saw in the movie

I

mother

"Star," his

said, "I

the kind of movies you go ones.

head on one

to.

I

went

I

to last night," Star said.

think you ought to be careful about

think you ought to see only the best

don't think crime stories would be good for you.

I

"Oh

was a crime-does-not-pay," Star

this

cop looked exactly

like

said,

"and

I

swear this

him. They were always putting something over

on the guy. He would look like he couldn't stand it a minute longer or he would blow up. He was a riot. And not bad looking," she added with an appreciative leer at Thomas. mother said,

"Star," his

"I

think

it

would be grand

if

you developed

a taste for music."

Thomas

sighed. His

attention to her,

was such that

now on

let

mother

rattled

on and the

her eyes play over him.

The

quality of her look

might have been her hands, resting now on

it

his neck.

Her eyes had

a

mocking

glitter

him he was

tell

behind

He was

it.

He needed

in the presence of the very stuff of cor-

no

ruption, but blameless corruption because there was faculty

his knees,

and he knew that

she was well aware he could not stand the sight of her.

nothing to

paying no

girl,

responsible

looking at the most unendurable form of

innocence. Absently he asked himself what the attitude of

meaning

to this,

if

possible to adopt

God was

it.

His mother's behavior throughout the meal was so idiotic that he could barely stand to look at her and since he could at

less

stand to look

Sarah Ham, he fixed on the sideboard across the room a continuous

gaze of disapproval and disgust. Every remark of the

met

as

the wholesome use of Star's spare time. Sarah attention to this advice than

Thomas

if it

came from

Ham

he had swallowed the

"1

have to go,

I

"Thomas," For a

his

mother

I

last

paid no more

Once when winked. As soon

a parrot.

inadvertently looked in her direction, she

as

your way.

girl's

deserved serious attention. She advanced several plans for

if it

spoonful of dessert, he rose and muttered,

have a meeting." his

mother

said, "1

want you

to take Star

home on

don't want her riding in taxis by herself at night."

moment Thomas remained

furiously silent.

Then he

turned

FLANNERY O'CONNOR

324

and

came back with a look of obscure The girl was ready, meekly waiting at the up at him a great look of admiration and con-

the room. Presently he

left

determination on his face.

She

parlor door. fidence.

cast

Thomas

moved out

did not offer his

down

of the house and

arm but she took

it

anyway and

the steps, attached to what might

have been a miraculously moving monument.

"Be good!" Sarah

While

Ham

jail.

called.

snickered and poked

getting his coat he

opportunity to his mother,

mother

his

the

tell

girl

let

her

in the ribs.

would be

this

his

that unless she ceased to be a parasite

he would see to

He would

him

had decided that

know

it,

on

personally, that she was returned to

that he understood

what she was up

to,

that he was not an innocent and that there were certain things he

would not put up with. At articulate

his desk,

than Thomas. As soon

with Sarah

Ham,

as

pen

in

hand, none was more

he found himself shut into the car

terror seized his tongue.

She curled her

feet

up under her and

said,

"Alone

at last,"

and

giggled.

Thomas swerved

the car away from the house and drove fast

toward the gate. Once on the highway, he shot forward

as

if

he were

being pursued. "Jesus!" Sarah

Ham

said,

swinging her feet off the

seat, "where's

the fire?"

Thomas closer.

She

did not answer. In a few seconds he could feel her edging

stretched, eased nearer,

and

finally

hung her hand limply

over his shoulder. "Tomsee doesn't like me," she said, "but

I

think

he's fabulously cute."

Thomas covered the three and a half miles into town in a little over four minutes. The light at the first intersection was red but he ignored it. The old woman lived three blocks beyond. When the car screeched to a halt at the place, he jumped out and ran around to the girl's

door and opened

was obliged to

it.

She did not move from the

wait. After a

moment one

white crooked face appeared and stared up about the look of

it

leg at

car

and Thomas

emerged, then her small

him. There was something

that suggested blindness but

it

was the blindness

who don't know that they cannot see. Thomas was curiously sickened. The empty eyes moved over him. "Nobody likes me," she said in a sullen tone. "What if you were me and I couldn't stand to of those

ride

you three miles?"

"My mother

likes

you," he muttered.

HOME

THE COMFORTS OF "Her!" the

325

"She's just about seventy-five years behind

girl said.

the times!" Breathlessly

Thomas

have you put back

said, "If

in jail."

I

find

you bothering her again,

There was a

it came out barely above a whisper. "You and who else?" she said and drew back

I'll

behind his voice

dull force

though

she did not intend to get out at

all.

grasped the front of her coat, pulled her out by

Then he lunged back

to the car

and sped

off.

hanging open and her laugh, bodiless but as

if it

He

The

it,

if

now

blindly

and released

her.

other door was

still

bounded up the street of the car and ride away

reached over and slammed the door and then drove

toward home, too angry to attend his meeting. his

it

into

real,

were about to jump in the open side

with him.

in the car as

Thomas reached

mother well-aware of

He

his displeasure.

He

intended to make

intended to leave no

doubt in her mind. The voice of his father rasped in his head.

man

Numbskull, the old

said,

put your foot

down now. Show her

who's boss before she shows you.

But when Thomas reached home, his mother, wisely, had gone to bed.

The next morning he appeared

at the breakfast table, his

brow

lowered and the thrust of his jaw indicating that he was in a dangerous

humor.

When

he intended to be determined, Thomas began

bull that, before charging, backs with his

ground. "All right sitting

down,

"I

now

listen,"

head lowered and paws the

he began, yanking out his chair and

have something to say to you about that

don't intend to say

it

but once."

like a

He drew

girl

and

I

breath. "She's nothing but

She makes fun of you behind your back. She means to and you are nothing to her. His mother looked as if she too had spent a restless night. She did not dress in the morning but wore her bathrobe and a grey turban around her head, which gave her face a disconcerting omniscient look. a little slut.

get everything she can out of you

He might have been "You'll

breakfasting with a sibyl.

have to use canned cream

this

morning," she

said,

pouring

his coffee. "I forgot the other."

"All right, did you hear me?"

Thomas

growled.

"I'm not deaf," his mother said and put the pot back on the trivet. "I

know I'm nothing but an old bag of wind to her." "Then why do you persist in this foolhardy ..." "Thomas," she

might be

.

.

."

said,

and put her hand

to the side of her face, "it

FLANNERY O'CONNOR

326

"It is not me!" Thomas said, grasping the table leg at his knee. She continued to hold her face, shaking her head slightly. 'Think

of

all

you have," she began. "All the comforts of home.

Thomas.

No

And

morals,

bad inclinations, nothing bad you were born with."

Thomas began

someone who

to breathe like

feels the

onset of

asthma. "You are not logical," he said in a limp voice. "He would

have put

his foot

down."

The old lady stiffened. "You," she said, Thomas opened his mouth silently. "However,"

his

mother

said, in a

"are not like him."

tone of such subtle accusation

that she might have been taking back the compliment, "I won't invite

her back again since you're so dead set against her." "I

am

making a

not

set against her,"

Thomas

said. "I

am

As soon

he

as

left

the table and closed the door of his study on

himself, his father took up a squatting position in his mind.

man had had

and only moved skill

The

old

the countryman's ability to converse squatting, though

bom

he was no countryman but had been steady

your

set against

fool of yourself."

and brought up

in the city

to a smaller place later to exploit his talents.

With

he had made them think him one of them. In the midst

on the courthouse lawn, he would squat and his two or three companions would squat with him with no break in the surface of the talk. By gesture he had lived his lie; he had never deigned to of a conversation

tell

one.

Let her run over you, he said.

You

me. Not enough to

ain't like

be a man.

Thomas began vigorously to read and presently the image faded. The girl had caused a disturbance in the depths of his being, somewhere

He

out of the reach of his power of analysis.

felt as if

he had seen a it

would

mind

firmly

tornado pass a hundred yards away and had an intimation that turn again and head directly for him.

on

his

work

Two

until

He

did not get his

mid-morning.

nights later, his mother and he were sitting in the den after

their supper,

each reading a section of the evening paper, when the

telephone began to ring with the brassy intensity of a

Thomas reached shrill

for

it.

As soon

as the receiver

female voice screamed into the room,

get her! Drunk!

Drunk

in

my

and come back here drunk!

I

parlor

and

won't have

I

fire

alarm.

was in his hand, a

"Come

get this

won't have it!"

His mother leapt up and snatched the receiver.

it!

girl!

Come

Lost her job

THE COMFORTS OF

the

The ghost of Thomas's old man prompted. "Call

HOME

327

father rose before him. Call the sheriff,

the sheriff,"

Thomas

said in a loud voice.

"Call the sheriff to go there and pick her up.

"We'll be right there," his mother was saying. "We'll

come and

get her right away. Tell her to get her things together."

"She

ain't in

no condition

to get

nothing together," the voice

screamed. "You shouldn't have put something like her

house

is

off

on me!

My

respectable!"

Thomas shouted. down and looked at him.

"Tell her to call the sheriff,"

His mother put the receiver

"I

wouldn't

turn a dog over to that man," she said.

Thomas

sat in the chair

with his arms folded and looked fixedly

at the wall.

"Think of the poor girl, Thomas,"

And we have

Nothing.

When

they arrived, Sarah

against the banister

down on

his

mother said, "with nothing.

everything."

Ham

was slumped spraddle- legged

on the boarding house

front-steps.

Her tam was

woman had slammed it and her suitcase where the old woman had

her forehead where the old

clothes were bulging out of her

thrown them

in.

She was carrying on

herself in a low personal tone.

A

a

drunken conversation with

streak of lipstick ran

up one

side of

her face. She allowed herself to be guided by his mother to the car

and put

in the

back seat without seeming to know who the rescuer

was. "Nothing to talk to

all

day but a pack of goddamned parakeets,"

she said in a furious whisper.

Thomas, who had not got out of the

car at

all,

after the first revolted glance, said, "I'm telling you,

the place to take her

is

the

or looked at her

once and

for all,

jail."

His mother, sitting on the back

seat,

holding the

girl's

hand, did

not answer. "All right, take her to the hotel," he said. "I

cannot take a drunk

know that." "Then take

girl to

a hotel,

Thomas," she

said.

"You

her to a hospital."

"She doesn't need a

jail

or a hotel or a hospital," his mother said,

"she needs a home."

"She does not need mine," Thomas

"Only

for

tonight,

said.

Thomas," the old

lady sighed.

"Only

for

tonight."

Since then eight days had passed.

The

little slut

was established

— FLANNERY O'CONNOR

328 in the guest

room. Every day

a place to board,

Thomas

and failed,

out to find her a job and

as personal as the shell of a turtle

could not believe that

face

set

woman had broadcast a warning. den. His home was to him home,

kept to his room or the

workshop, church,

He

mother

his

for the old

and

as necessary.

could be violated in this way. His flushed

it

had a constant look of stunned outrage. As soon as the girl was up in the morning, her voice throbbed

out in a blues song that would

rise

and waver, then plunge low with

insinuations of passion about to be satisfied and

would lunge up and begin

Each time he

started from

Thomas,

frantically stuffing his ears

one room

to another,

one

at his desk,

with Kleenex.

floor to another,

she would be certain to appear. Each time he was half way up or the

him and

she would either meet

stairs,

up or down behind him, breathing small sighs. it

She appeared

to adore

got as

if it

go

tragic spearmint-flavored

Thomas's repugnance

him every chance she

out of

down

pass, cringing coyly, or

to her

and

to

draw

added delectably to her

martyrdom.

The

old

seersucker

man

suit,

—

his

small, wasp-like, in his yellowed

pink carefully-soiled

shirt, his

Panama

hat, his

small string

tie

appeared to have taken up his station in Thomas's mind and from

he shot out the same rasping suggestion every

there, usually squatting,

time the boy paused from his forced studies. Put your foot down.

Go

to see the sheriff.

The

sheriff

was another edition of Thomas's father except that

he wore a checkered

He was

younger.

shirt

and

a

Texas type hat and was ten years

as easily dishonest,

and he had genuinely admired

the old man. Thomas, like his mother, would have gone far out of his

way

to avoid his glassy pale blue gaze.

He

kept hoping for another

solution, for a miracle.

With Sarah Ham in the house, meals were unbearable. "Tomsee doesn't like me," she said the third or fourth

night at

the supper table and cast her pouting gaze across at the large rigid figure of

Thomas, whose

face was set with the look of a

by insufferable odors. "He doesn't want

me

here.

man

trapped

Nobody wants me

anywhere."

"Thomas's name

is

Thomas,"

his

mother interrupted.

"Not

Tomsee."

made Tomsee up," she said. "I think it's cute. He hates me." "Thomas does not hate you," his mother said. "We are not the

"I

THE COMFORTS OF

who

kind of people

hate," she added, as

HOME

329

this

were an imperfection

if

had been bred out of them generations

that

"Oh,

know when I'm not wanted," Sarah Ham continued. "They

I

even want

didn't

ago.

me

in

jail.

If

I

killed myself

I

wonder would God

want me?" and

"Try

it

The

girl

see,"

Thomas

and she began

face puckered

her teeth clattering,

said,

body's way.

muttered.

screamed with laughter. Then she stopped abruptly, her

I'll

"The

to shake.

"is to kill myself.

best thing to do," she

Then

go to hell and be out of God's way.

won't want me. He'll kick

me

I'll

be out of every-

And even the

devil

out of hell, not even in hell ..." she

wailed.

Thomas them

to the

picked up his plate and knife and fork and carried

rose,

den

to finish his supper. After that,

he had not eaten

another meal at the table but had had his mother serve him at his

At

desk.

these meals, the old

man was

intensely present to him.

He

appeared to be tipping backwards in his chair, his thumbs beneath his galluses,

while he said such things

my own

table.

A

few nights

and had

knife

supper,

Sarah

later,

hysterics.

Thomas heard

as,

Ham

She never ran me away from

slashed her wrists with a paring

From the den where he was

mother's scurrying footsteps through the house. first

instant of

closeted after

a shriek, then a series of screams,

hope that the

she could not have done

it

girl

He

then his

did not move. His

had cut her throat faded

he

as

realized

and continue to scream the way she was

He returned to his journal and presently the screams subsided. moment his mother burst in with his coat and hat. "We have to

doing. In a

take her to the hospital," she said. "She tried to do away with herself. 1

have

a tourniquet

on her arm.

Oh Lord,

Thomas," she

said,

"imagine

being so low you'd do a thing like that!"

Thomas

rose

woodenly and put on

take her to the hospital," he said, "and

"And

his hat

we

and

will leave

coat.

"We

will

her there."

drive her to despair again?" the old lady cried.

"Thomas!"

Standing in the center of his room now, realizing that he had reached the point where action was inevitable, that he must pack, that he must leave, that he must go,

His fury was directed not at the

Thomas remained immovable.

little slut

but at his mother. Even

though the doctor had found that she had barely damaged herself and

had

raised the girl's wrath by laughing at the tourniquet

and putting

FLANNERY O'CONNOR

330

only a streak of iodine on the cut, his mother could not get over the incident.

Some new weight

of sorrow seemed to have been thrown

Ham

across her shoulders,

and not only Thomas, but Sarah

furiated by this, for

appeared to be a general sorrow that would have

it

was

in-

found another object no matter what good fortune came to either of them. The experience of Sarah

mourning

Ham

had plunged the old lady

into

for the world.

The morning

attempted suicide, she had gone through

after the

the house and collected

them in a drawer. She emptied a bottle of rat poison down the toilet and took up the roach tablets from the kitchen floor. Then she came to Thomas's study and said in a whisper, "Where is that gun of his? I want you to lock it up." "The gun is in my drawer," Thomas roared, "and I will not lock it

the knives and scissors and locked

all

much

up. If she shoots herself, so

"Thomas,"

his

mother

"Let her hear me!"

the better!"

said, "she'll

Thomas

yelled.

intention of killing herself? Don't you selves?

hear you!"

"Don't you

know

she has no

know her kind never

kill

them-

Don't you ..."

His mother slipped out the door and closed

Sarah Ham's laugh, quite close in the "Tomsee'll find out. nice to me.

I'll

I'll

use his

kill

own

hall,

gun, his

to silence

came rattling

myself and then

lil

it

own

lil

he'll ol'

him and

into his room.

be sorry he wasn't

pearl-handled revol-

lervuh!" she shouted and let out a loud tormented-sounding laugh in imitation of a movie monster.

Thomas ground for the pistol. It

his teeth.

He

pulled out his desk drawer and

felt

was an inheritance from the old man, whose opinion

had been that every house should contain a loaded gun. He had discharged two bullets one night into the side of a prowler, but Thomas had never shot anything. He had no fear that the girl would use the it

gun on herself and he closed the drawer. Her kind clung tenaciously to life and were able to wrest some histrionic advantage from every

moment. Several ideas for getting rid of her had entered his head but each of these had been suggestions whose moral tone indicated that they

and Thomas had rejected them. He could not get the girl locked up again until she did something illegal. The old man would have been able with no qualms at all to

had come from a mind akin

get her

to his father's,

drunk and send her out on the highway

in his car,

meanwhile

THE COMFORTS OF

HOME

notifying the highway patrol of her presence

331

on the

road, but

Thomas come

considered this below his moral stature. Suggestions continued to

each more outrageous than the

to him,

He had

last.

not the vaguest hope that the

shoot herself, but that afternoon

girl

would get the gun and

when he looked

gun was gone. His study locked from the

in the drawer, the

not the out.

inside,

He

cared

nothing about the gun, but the thought of Sarah Ham's hands sliding

among

his papers infuriated him.

Now

even

his study

was contami-

The only place left untouched by her was his bedroom. That night she entered it. In the morning at breakfast, he did not eat and did not sit down. He stood beside his chair and delivered his ultimatum while his mother sipped her coffee as if she were both alone in the room and in great pain. "I have stood this," he said, "for as long as I am able. Since I nated.

see plainly that

or working conditions, I

will give

I

am

you one more day.

this afternoon,

leave.

I

you bring the

If

You can choose

—her

left

first

step that

alert,

would

a knife

and

told to operate

to

on himself

if

to the

shaking. set

him walking like a

man

he wished to

live.

He was

to the closet in the hall to look for the suitcase.

handed

house

the house.

and rushed

gravel

window. As the car stopped, the dog stood up, unable to take the

this

He had more

left.

Ham

on the

back into

girl

or me."

and he

ten o'clock his mother and Sarah four he heard the car wheels

He seemed

or comfort

about to take the only step open to me.

say but at that point his voice cracked

At At

my peace

you care nothing about me, about

His huge hands clenched helplessly. His expression was a turmoil of indecision and outrage. His pale blue eyes seemed to sweat in his broiling face.

He

closed

them

image leered

for a

moment and on the back man hissed,

him. Idiot! the old

lids,

his father's

The

criminal slut stole your gun! See the It

at

sheriff!

See the

was a moment before Thomas opened his

newly stunned.

He

he turned slowly the door.

He

eyes.

of his idiot!

sheriff!

He seemed

stood where he was for at least three minutes, then

like a large vessel reversing its direction

stood there a

moment

longer, then

he

left,

and faced

his face set

to see the ordeal through.

his

He own

where

did not rules

his office

and was

know where he would find the sheriff. The man made his own hours. Thomas stopped first at the jail, was, but he was not in it. He went to the courthouse

and kept

told by a clerk that the sheriff

had gone

to the barber-shop

FLANNERY O'CONNOR

332

across the street. "Yonder's the deppity," the clerk said

window

out the

was leaning against the

As

little as

and pointed

who

in a checkered shirt,

side of a police car, looking into space.

Thomas

has to be the sheriff,"

"It

shop.

man

to the large figure of a

said

and

left for

he wanted anything to do with the

sheriff,

the barber-

he realized

man was at least intelligent and not simply a mound of sweating

that the flesh.

The

barber said the sheriff had just

the courthouse and as he stepped

he saw a

on

left.

Thomas

started

back to

to the sidewalk from the street,

lean, slightly stooped figure gesticulating angrily at the deputy.

Thomas approached with an agitation.

He

"Can

loud voice,

aggressiveness brought

on by nervous

stopped abruptly three feet away and said in an over-

have a word with you?" without adding the

I

name, which was Farebrother.

sheriff's

Farebrother turned his sharp creased face just enough to take

Thomas

in,

and the deputy did

likewise, but neither spoke.

removed a very small piece of cigaret from his his feet. "I told

moved if

off

you what to do," he

lip

The

sheriff

and dropped

it

at

Then he follow him

said to the deputy.

with a slight nod that indicated Thomas could

he wanted to see him. The deputy slunk around the front of the

police car

and got

inside.

Thomas

Farebrother, with

following, headed across the court-

house square and stopped beneath a tree that shaded a quarter of the front lawn.

He waited,

Thomas began

leaning slightly forward, and

to blurt out his business.

lit

another

cigaret.

As he had not had time

he was barely coherent. By repeating the same

to prepare his words,

thing over several times, he managed at length to get out what he

wanted

to say.

When

he

finished, the sheriff

forward, at an angle to him, his eyes

was

still

on nothing

leaning slightly

in particular.

He

remained that way without speaking.

let

Thomas began again, slower and in a lamer voice, and Farebrother him continue for some time before he said, "We had her oncet."

He

then allowed himself a slow, creased, all-knowing, quarter smile. "I

had nothing

to

do with that," Thomas

said.

"That was

my

mother." Farebrother squatted.

"She was trying

to help the girl,"

Thomas

said.

"She didn't know

she couldn't be helped." "Bit off

him mused.

more than she could chew,

I

reckon," the voice below

THE COMFORTS OF

"She has nothing

know

I'm here.

The

do with

to

girl

is

"She might

down

looking

at

333

Thomas

woman

let

anything grow under his

"Where's she got

it?"

said weakly,

silence.

Farebrother asked.

don't know. She sleeps in the guest room.

in her suitcase probably,"

feet.

planted."

somebody with that gun," Thomas the round top of the Texas type hat. kill

There was a long time of "I

"She doesn't

said.

dangerous with that gun."

"He, " the sheriff said, "never Particularly nothing a

this,"

HOME

Thomas

It

must be

in there,

said.

Farebrother lapsed into silence again.

"You could come search the guest room," Thomas said in a home and leave the latch off the front door and you can come in quietly and go upstairs and search her room." Farebrother turned his head so that his eyes looked boldly at Thomas's knees. "You seem to know how it ought to be done," he strained voice. "I can go

said.

say,

"Want to swap jobs?" Thomas said nothing because he could not think

of anything to

but he waited doggedly. Farebrother removed the cigaret butt from

and dropped

his lips

porch a group of

moved over

it

on the

loiterers

to the right

grass.

Beyond him on the courthouse

who had been

leaning at the

left

where a patch of sunlight had

of the door

settled.

From

one of the upper windows a crumpled piece of paper blew out and down.

drifted

"I'll

off

come along about

six," Farebrother said.

the door and keep out of

women

yourself

and them two

too."

Thomas

let

out a rasping sound of relief meant to be "Thanks,"

and struck off across the two women," stuck to his

—

my way

"Leave the latch

grass like

someone

released.

—the

like a burr in his brain

The phrase, "them

subtlety of the insult

mother hurting him more than any of Farebrother's references

own incompetence. As he got into his car, his face suddenly Had he delivered his mother over to the sheriff to be a butt for the man's tongue? Was he betraying her to get rid of the little slut? He saw at once that this was not the case. He was doing what he was doing for her own good, to rid her of a parasite that would ruin their peace. He started his car and drove quickly home but once he had to his

—

flushed.

turned in the driveway, he decided

it

would be better

to park

distance from the house and go quietly in by the back door.

on the

grass

and on the

grass

walked in a

circle

He

some

parked

toward the rear of the

FLANNERY O'CONNOR

334

The

house.

sky was lined with mustard-colored streaks.

on the back doormat. At the approach of opened one yellow eye, took him in, and closed asleep

Thomas

let

himself into the kitchen.

was quiet enough clock.

for

him

it

he

again.

was empty and the house

aware of the loud ticking of the kitchen

to be

was a quarter to

It

It

The dog was

his master's step,

He

six.

tiptoed hurriedly through the hall

and took the latch off it. Then he stood for a moment From behind the closed parlor door, he heard his mother

to the front door listening.

snoring softly and presumed that she had gone to sleep while reading.

On

the other side of the hall, not three feet from his study, the

black coat and red pocketbook were slung on a chair.

slut's

He

little

heard

water running upstairs and decided she was taking a bath.

He went

into his study

and

sat

down

at his desk to wait,

noting

with distaste that every few moments a tremor ran through him.

minute or two doing nothing. Then he picked up a pen and

sat for a

began to draw squares on the back of an envelope that

He

looked at his watch.

he

idly

It

was eleven minutes to

Idiot!

him.

lay before

After a

moment

his lap. For a

gun without recognition. Then he gave a She had put it back!

stared at the

yelp and leaped up.

his father hissed,

just stand there.

Thomas

Go

idiot!

plant

it

Go

plant

in her

it

in her pocketbook.

pocketbook!

stood staring at the drawer.

Moron! the old man fumed. Quick while it

six.

drew the center drawer of the desk out over

moment he

Don't

He

there's time!

Go

plant

in her pocketbook.

Thomas

did not move.

Imbecile! his father cried.

Thomas picked up the gun. Make haste, the old man ordered. Thomas started forward, holding opened the door and looked pocketbook were lying on Hurry up, you

it

the gun away from him.

at the chair.

The

He

black coat and red

almost within reach.

fool, his father said.

From behind the parlor door the almost inaudible snores of his rose and fell. They seemed to mark an order of time that had nothing to do with the instants left to Thomas. There was no other mother sound.

Quick, you imbecile, before she wakes up, the old

The

snores stopped and

grabbed the red pocketbook.

Thomas heard It

had a

man

said.

the sofa springs groan.

skin-like feel to his touch

He and

THE COMFORTS OF as

HOME

335

opened, he caught an unmistakable odor of the

it

he thrust

in the

gun and then drew back. His

face

girl.

Wincing,

burned an ugly

dull red.

Tomsee putting in my purse?" she called and her pleased laugh bounced down the staircase. Thomas whirled. She was at the top of the stair, coming down in the manner of

"What

is

one bare leg and then the other thrusting out the kimona in a definite rhythm. "Tomsee is being naughty," she said in a throaty voice. She reached the bottom and cast a possessive leer at Thomas whose face was now more grey than red. She reached out, pulled the bag open with her finger and peered at the gun. His mother opened the parlor door and looked out. a fashion model,

front of her

"Tomsee put

his pistol in

my

bag!" the

girl

"Ridiculous," his mother said, yawning.

want

shrieked.

"What would Thomas

to put his pistol in your bag for?"

Thomas the wrists as "I don't

stood slightly hunched, his hands hanging helplessly at

he had

if

just pulled

know what

them up out of

a pool of blood.

he sure did

for," the girl said, "but

it,"

and

on her hips, her on him fiercely. All

she proceeded to walk around Thomas, her hands

neck thrust forward and her intimate grin fixed at

as the purse had opened when She stood with her head cocked on one side in

once her expression seemed to open

Thomas touched an attitude of

it.

"Oh

disbelief.

boy," she said slowly,

"is

he a case."

Thomas damned not only the girl but the entire order of the universe that made her possible. "Thomas wouldn't put a gun in your bag," his mother said. "Thomas is a gentleman." The girl made a chortling noise. "You can see it in there," she At

that instant

and pointed

said

You found "I

stole

found

my

it

open

to the

it

in her bag,

in her bag!"

purse.

you dimwit! the old man hissed.

Thomas

shouted.

"The

dirty criminal slut

gun!"

His mother gasped at the sound of the other presence in his voice.

The

old lady's sybil-like face turned pale.

"Found

it

my

eye!" Sarah

etbook, but Thomas, as it first

if

his

Ham

shrieked and started for the pockarm were guided by his father, caught

and snatched the gun. The

girl in

throat and would actually have caught his

mother thrown Fire! the old

a frenzy lunged at

herself forward to protect her.

man

yelled.

Thomas's

him around the neck had not

FLANNERY O'CONNOR

336

Thomas

The blast was Uke a sound meant to bring an end Thomas heard it as a sound that would shatter

fired.

to evil in the world.

the laughter of sluts until

all

shrieks were stilled

and nothing was

left

to disturb the peace of perfect order.

The echo

died away in waves. Before the

last

one had faded,

Farebrother opened the door and put his head inside the hall. His nose wrinkled. His expression for some few seconds was that of a

unwilling to admit surprise. His eyes were clear as

man

glass, reflecting

the

The old lady lay on the floor between the girl and Thomas. The sheriff's brain worked instantly like a calculating machine.

scene.

He saw the facts as if they were already in print: all

along to

kill his

been too quick door.

As he

for

mother and pin

it

on the

girl.

But Farebrother had

him. They were not yet aware of his head in the

scrutinized the scene, further insights were flashed to him.

Over her body, the other's arms.

The

killer

and the

sheriff

knew

slut

were about to collapse into each

a nasty bit

when he saw

accustomed to enter upon scenes that were not to find

the fellow had intended

them, but

this

one met

as

his expectations.

bad

as

it.

He

was

he had hoped

0BI5-19B3)

bom

Ross MacDonald was a pseudonym for Kenneth Millar,

in Los

Gatos, California, and educated at the University of Western Ontario, the University of Toronto, and the University of Michigan for a career as

an English teacher. His detective, Lew Archer, who

onist in

all

but two of Macdonald's novels,

detectives in

American

is

the protag-

is

one of the best-known

fiction. Initially influenced

by Dashiell

Ham

mett and Raymond Chandler, Macdonald developed an interest in Freudian psychology that led

him

to create

what have been called

"gothic psychodramas," stories of psychically

whose crimes

are the

end

result of

wounded

characters

complex family relationships often

going back several generations. By emphasizing the familial and psychological history leading up to the crime,

Macdonald turned from

the hard-boiled school of Hammett and Chandler back to the tradition of crime fiction rooted in the novel of social manners. his

British

Among

best-known novels are The Goodbye Look (1969) and The Blue

Hammer

(1976).

"The Sleeping Dog"

illustrates a shift to

the kind of story in which

the detective's character and personality are more central than his

method. The private investigator has a personal

and

is

drawn into the private

lives

interest in the case

and complicated domestic tragedies

of others. Typical Macdonald touches are the California setting, in

which

affluence threatens to scar the natural landscape

and corrupt

the justice system, and the theme of the buried past rising up to disturb

the present, suggested by the sleeping dogs lie."

title

with

its

echo of the warning

to "let

The day

me

dog disappeared, Fay Hooper called

after her

early.

Her

normal voice was like waltzing violins, but this morning the violins were out of tune. She sounded

as

though she'd been crying.

"Otto's gone."

Otto was her one-year-old German shepherd.

"He jumped

the fence yesterday afternoon and ran away.

he was kidnapped

— dognapped,

1

suppose

"What makes you think that?" "You know Otto, Mr. Archer how

—

|

is

loyal

else

He wouldn't his own power.

he was.

away from me overnight, not under

deliberately stay

Or

the right word to use."

There must be thieves involved."

She caught her breath.

"1 realize

searching for stolen dogs

your metier. But you are a detective, and

I

thought, since

isn't

we knew

one another ..."

She allowed her voice to suggest, ever so chastely, that we might know one another better. 1 liked the woman. 1 liked the dog, 1 liked the breed. 1 was taking

get to

my own German

shepherd pup to obedience school, which is where 1 met Fay Hooper. Otto and she were the handsomest and most expensive members of the class.

"How do She

I

get to your place?"

lived in the hills north of Malibu, she said,

of the county line.

would

If

she wasn't

home when

I

on the

far side

got there, her husband

be.

On my to talk to the

way out

I

stopped at the dog school

man who ran

it,

m

Pacific Palisades

Fernando Rambeau. The kennels behind

ROSS MacDONALD

340

the house burst into clamor

beau boarded dogs

when

A dark-haired girl

I

let

me

them.

me

looked out and informed

was feeding the animals. "Maybe

and then she

knocked on the front door. Ram-

I

as well as trained

that her husband

can help," she added doubtfully,

I

into a small living room.

told her about the missing dog. "It

would help

if

you called the

shelters and gave them a description," I said. "We've already been doing that. Mrs. Hooper was on the phone to Fernando last night." She sounded vaguely resentful. "I'll get him." Setting her face against the continuing noise, she went out the back door. Rambeau came in with her, wiping his hands on a rag. He was a square-shouldered Canadian with a curly black beard that failed to conceal his youth. Over the beard, his intense dark eyes peered at

vets

me

and animal

warily, like

an animal's sensing trouble.

Rambeau handled dogs as if he loved them. He wasn't quite so human beings. His current class was only in its third week, but he was already having dropouts. The man was loaded with explosive patient with

and

feeling,

was close to the surface now.

it

"I'm sorry about Mrs. Hooper and her dog.

He

pupils.

was, anyway. But

I

They were my

best

can't drop everything and spend the

next week looking for him."

"Nobody expects

that.

take

I

it

you've had no luck with your

contacts."

don't have such good contacts. Marie and

"I

down

here

last year,

"That was a mistake,"

his wife said

"If

I

hear any word of the dog

His wife gave him a quick look. looks which said, if

I'll

let

I

know nothing

possibility

away

you know, naturally.

among other

It

was one of those revealing

things, that she loved

him and

didn't

he loved her, and she was worried about him. She caught

watching her and lowered her

somebody "I

moved

nothing against Mrs. Hooper."

I've got

know

just

from the doorway.

Rambeau pretended not to hear her. "Anyway, about dog thieves." With both hands he pushed the from him.

we

I,

from British Columbia."

eyes.

Then

she burst out,

me

"Do you think

killed the dog?"

have no reason to think so."

"Some people shoot

dogs, don't they?"

"Not around here," Rambeau someplace."

He

turned to

me

said.

"Maybe back

in the

bush

with a sweeping explanatory gesture.

THE SLEEPING

DOG

"These things make her nervous and she Marie

is

"I

a country girl

am

him, she

but

I

not.

I

—

bom

was

"Was Otto

shot?"

"Not that

You know

in Chilliwack." Flinging a bitter look at

know

1

asked Rambeau.

I

of. Listen,

can't stand here talking

They were It

gets wild ideas.

the room.

left

of hearing.

341

still

barking

all

Mr. Archer, you're a good customer, day. I've got twenty dogs to feed."

when

I

drove up the coast highway out

was nearly 40 miles to the Hoopers' mailbox, and another

mile up a black-top lane which climbed the side of a canyon to the gate.

On

both

sides of the

bination padlock on

it,

heavy wire gate, which had a new com-

a hurricane fence, eight feet high

and topped

sight. Otto would have to be quite So would I. The house beyond the gate was low and massive, made of fieldstone and steel and glass. I honked at it and waited. A man in blue bathing trunks came out of the house with a shotgun. The sun glinted on its twin barrels and on the man's bald head and round, brown,

with barbed wire, extended out of a jumper to clear

burnished

belly.

sixties, scuffling

him

it.

He walked

quite slowly, a short heavy

along in huaraches.

The

brown

flabby

man

in his

shell of fat

on

jiggled lugubriously.

When

he approached the

under his tan,

like stone

gate,

I

could see the

showing under varnish.

He

stiff

was

gray pallor

sick, or afraid,

mouth was profoundly discouraged. "What do you want?" he said over the shotgun.

or both. His

"Mrs. Hooper asked

me

to help find her dog.

My name

is

Lew

Archer."

He was

not impressed.

"My wife

isn't here,

and I'm busy.

I

happen

to be following soy-bean futures rather closely."

"Look here, I've come quite a distance to lend a hand. I met Mrs. Hooper at dog school and Hooper uttered a short savage laugh. "That hardly constitutes an introduction to either of us. You'd better be on your way right now."

—

its

"I

think

"I

think you won't."

I'll

wait for your wife."

He

raised the shotgun

and

let

me

look into

round eyes. "This is my property all the way down and you're trespassing. That means I can shoot you if I

close-set, hollow,

to the road,

have to."

"What

sense would that make?

1

came out here

to help you."

"

ROSS MacDONALD

342

"You

me." He looked

can't help

at

me

through the wire gate with

a kind of pathetic arrogance, like a lion that had grown old in captivity.

"Go away." down to the road and waited for Fay Hooper. The The inside of my car turned oven-hot. I went for canyon. The brown September grass crunched under

drove back

I

sun

up the

slid

sky.

down the my feet. Away up on a walk

looked

A

very fast black car

beside me. his

the far side of the canyon an earth

like a crazy red insect

A

hand on

gaunt

man

The

hairline.

that

came up the canyon and stopped abruptly brown suit climbed out, with

there. his

mover

pieces.

in a wrinkled

his holster, told

me what I was doing He pushed back

was cutting the ridge to

me I

and asked

that he was Sheriff Carlson,

told him.

wide cream-colored hat and scratched were

pale eyes in his sun-fired face

like

at his

clouded glass

inserts in a brick wall.

"I'm surprised Mr. Hooper takes that attitude. Mrs. Hooper just

me

came

to see

me

Mr. Hooper says no."

if

"Why

in the courthouse.

it.

I

can't take

you up there with

not?"

"He owns most of

But

of the county and holds the mortgage

on the

Hooper

Besides," he added with careful logic, "Mr.

is

rest

a friend

of mine."

"Then you better get him a keeper." The sheriff glanced around uneasily,

as

if

might be bugged. "I'm surprised he has a gun, you with

it.

He must

the Hoopers' mailbox let

alone threatening

be upset about the dog."

"He didn't seem to care about the dog." "He does, though. She cares, so he cares," Carlson "What did she have to tell you?" "She can

She

talk to

you

herself.

said.

She should be along any minute.

told

me

He

drove his black car up the lane.

that she was going to follow

me

out of town."

A

few minutes

later

Fay

Hooper stopped her Mercedes at the mailbox. She must have seen the

my face. She got out and came toward me making noises of dismayed regret. Fay was in her late thirties and fading slightly, as if a

impatience on run,

had touched her pale gold head, but she was

She turned the gentle

force of her

did.

He

ran

little

light frost

a beautiful

woman.

charm on me.

"I'm dreadfully sorry," she said. "Have

"Your husband

still

in a

me

off

I

kept you waiting long?"

with a shotgun.

DOG

THE SLEEPING

Her gloved hand

lighted

even through

electric touch,

"That's terrible.

Her mouth was

I

on my arm, and

She had an

stayed.

layers of cloth.

had no idea that Allan

still

blue behind her lipstick, as

chilled her to the marrow.

The

343

if

She took me up the

had a gun."

the information had

the Mercedes.

hill in

gate was standing open, but she didn't drive in right away.

might

"I

be perfectly frank," she said without looking at

as well

me. "Ever since Otto disappeared yesterday, there's been a nagging

my

question in again.

was

1

Allan when

The

in

What

mind.

town

all

—when

it

me

you've just told

raises the

question

day yesterday so that Otto was alone here with

happened."

values her voice gave to the two

names made

it

sound

as

if

Allan were the dog and Otto the husband.

"When what

happened, Mrs. Hooper?"

Her voice sank

him. He's never liked any of are

hunting dogs

when

I

wanted to know.

lower. "I can't help suspecting that Allan shot

my

—and he was

The

dogs.

only dogs he appreciates

particularly jealous of Otto. Besides,

got back from town, Allan was getting the ground ready to

I

plant

some

heat.

We

He's never enjoyed gardening, particularly in the

roses.

have professionals to do our work.

And

this really isn't the

time of year to put in a bed of roses."

"You think your husband was planting "If

he was,

have

I

to

If

I

asked.

know." She turned toward me, and the

leather seat squeaked softly under her

Mr. Archer.

a dog?"

my

Allan killed

movement. "Find out

beautiful big old dog,

me,

for

couldn't stay

I

with him."

"Something you guns, but gave

"He had officer in

off

said implied that

them

up.

Is

Allan used to have a gun or

that right?"

a small arsenal

when

I

married him.

He was an

infantry

the war and a big-game hunter in peacetime. But he swore

hunting years ago.

"Why?" "I

don't really know.

and Allan sold it

was the

all

We came home from a hunting trip one fall

his guns.

fall after

He

never said a word about

the war ended, and

I

it

to

always thought that

me it

but

must

have had something to do with the war."

"Have you been married so long?" "Thank you for that question." She produced a met Allan during the war, the year I came out, and

my

fate.

He was

a very powerful person."

rueful smile. "I I

knew

I'd

met

ROSS MacDONALD

344

"And

a very wealthy one."

She gave me

a flashing, haughty look

and stepped

on the

so hard

accelerator that she almost ran into the sheriff's car parked in front

of the house.

We walked around to the back, past a free-form swimming

pool that looked inviting, into a walled garden. stood around in elegant disrepair. Bees

among the flowers. The bed where Allan Hooper had been feet long

and three

"Get me

feet wide,

a spade,"

"Are you going

1

and

it

A

murmured

few Greek statues

bombers

like distant

digging was about five

reminded

me

of graves.

said.

him up?"

to dig

"You're pretty sure he's in there, aren't you, Mrs. Hooper?" "1 guess

From

1

a lath house at the

edged spade. 1

took

1

off

look too bad.

minutes

I

am."

end of the garden she fetched

a square-

asked her to stick around.

my It

jacket

and hung

was easy digging

was two

feet

below the

it

on

a marble torso where

in the surface,

newly worked

it

didn't

In a few

soil.

and the ground was

still soft

and penetrable.

The edge

of my spade struck something soft but not so penetrable.

Fay Hooper heard the peculiar dull sound

sound of her own. stiff

I

it

made. She made a dull

scooped away more earth. Dog

fur sprouted like

black grass at the bottom of the grave.

down on her knees and began to dig with her lacquered Once she cried out in a loud harsh voice, "Dirty murderer!" Her husband must have heard her. He came out of the house and

Fay got fingernails.

looked over the stone wall. His head seemed poised on top of the wall, hairless

and

bodiless, like

Humpty-Dumpty. He had

that look

on

his

face, of not being able to be put together again. "I didn't kill

She

your dog. Fay. Honest to God,

didn't hear him.

She was

I

didn't."

talking to Otto. "Poor boy, poor

boy," she said. "Poor, beautiful boy." Sheriff Carlson

came

into the garden.

He

reached

down

into the

grave and freed the dog's head from the earth. His large hands gently

on the

great

wedge of the

moved

skull.

Fay knelt beside him in torn and dirty stockings.

"What

are

you

doing?"

Carlson held up a red-tipped the head, Mrs. Hooper, but like a

deer

rifle."

it's

finger.

"Your dog was shot through

no shotgun wound. Looks

to

me more

DOG

THE SLEEPING don't even

"I

owned one

haven't

own

345

Hooper said over the wall. "I nearly twenty years. Anyway, I wouldn't shoot

for

a

rifle,"

your dog."

Fay scrambled to her feet. She looked ready 'Then why did you bury him?" His mouth opened and closed.

"Why

to climb the wall.

did you buy a shotgun without telling me?"

"For protection."

"Against

my

dog?"

Hooper shook

his head.

tentatively through the gate.

yellow jersey which

and

He edged along the wall and came in He had on slacks and a short-sleeved

somehow emphasized

and

his fatness

his age.

"Mr. Hooper had some threatening

body got hold of it

his shortness

his unlisted

calls," the sheriff said.

He was

number.

"Some-

me

just telling

about

now."

"Why

didn't you tell me, Allan?"

want

"I didn't

anyway.

bought

1

to alarm you.

a

You weren't

shotgun and kept

it

in

the one they were after,

my

study."

"Do you know who they are?" "No. I make enemies in the course of business, especially the farming operations. Some crackpot shot your dog, gunning for me. I heard a shot and found him dead in the driveway." "But how could you bury him without telling me?" Hooper spread well.

And to

I

I

felt guilty,

I

hands

his

want you

didn't

in front of

him.

wasn't thinking too

"I

suppose, because whoever got to see

him

dead.

I

guess

I

him was wanted

after

me.

to break

it

you gently." "This "It's

gently?"

is

not the way

you another pup

"No one

—

I

planned

it.

I

thought

if

the two of

Carlson and

"What "Get the sniper

had a chance

to get

at

her wistfully across the open

he would have liked to take Otto's place. After a while

them went

sheriff's car.

I

will ever take Otto's place."

Allan Hooper stood and looked grave, as

if

I

into the house.

finished digging

His inert blackness are you going to

a vet

I

we can

know

Otto up and carried him out

filled

to the

the trunk from side to side.

do with him, Sheriff?"

to recover the slug in him.

use ballistics to convict him."

I

asked.

Then

if

we nab

ROSS MacDONALD

346

"You're taking this just as seriously as a real murder, aren't you?" 1

observed.

"They want me

he

to,"

said with a respectful look toward the

house.

Mrs. Hooper came out carrying a white leather suitcase which she deposited in the back seat of her Mercedes.

"Are you going someplace?" "Yes,

I

I

asked her.

am." She didn't say where.

Her husband, who was watching her from the doorway, didn't The Mercedes went away. He closed the door. Both of them

speak.

had looked

sick.

"She doesn't seem to believe he didn't do

me

Carlson jabbed

it.

Do

you. Sheriff?"

with his forefinger. "Mr. Hooper

—served under him

Mr. Hooper for over twenty years I

no

liar. If

I've

known

is

you want to get along with me, get that through your head.

in the

—and

war

never heard him twist the truth."

"I'll have to take your word for it. What about those threatening phone calls? Did he report them to you before today?" "No." "What was said on the phone?" "He didn't tell me." "Does Hooper have any idea who shot the dog?"

"Well, he did say he saw a

He

didn't get close

but he did

make out

"There's a dog fits

enough

man slinking around outside the fence. me a good description,

to the guy to give

that he

had a black beard."

trainer in Pacific Palisades

Hooper has been taking Otto to his school." "Rambeau?" Carlson said with interest. "Fernando Rambeau. He seemed pretty upset when I talked to

the description. Mrs.

him

morning."

this

"What

did he say?"

"A good

deal less than he knows,

Rambeau was not

at

where

coffee,

I

My

home.

only by the barking of the dogs. in

named Rambeau who

I

I

think.

retreated

ate a torpedo sandwich.

I'll

talk to

When

up the highway I

was on

home. "I "Is

my

Marie Rambeau drove by in a pickup truck.

"Where's Fernando?"

I

asked.

don't know. I've been out looking for him."

he

in a

bad way?"

him

again."

repeated knocking was answered

I

to a drive-

second cup of followed her

DOG

THE SLEEPING

know how you mean."

don't

"I

347

"Emotionally upset."

"He has been

ever since that

woman came

into the class."

"Mrs. Hooper?"

Her head bobbed slightly. "Are they having an affair?" "They better not be." Her small red mouth looked quite implacable. "He was out with her night before last. I heard him make the date. He was gone all night, and when he came home he was on one of his black drunks and he wouldn't go to bed. He sat in the kitchen and drank himself glassy-eyed." She got out of the pickup facing me. "Is

shooting a dog a very serious crime?" "It

is

me, but not to the law.

to

not

It's

like

shooting a

human

being." "It

love

would be to Fernando. He loves dogs the way other people

human

beings.

That included Otto."

"But he shot him."

Her head drooped.

I

could see the straight white part dividing

her black hair. "I'm afraid he did. He's got a crazy streak and out in

him when he

yesterday morning.

drinks.

He

You should have heard him

comes

it

in the kitchen

was moaning and groaning about his brother."

"His brother?"

"Fernando had an older brother, George, who died back in Canada after the war.

Fernando was

just a kid

when

it

happened and

big loss to him. His parents were dead, too, and they put

it

was a

him

in a

home in Chilliwack. He still has nightmares about it." "What did his brother die of?" "He never told me exactly, but I think he was shot in some kind

foster

of hunting accident. George was a guide and packer in the Fraser River valley

below Mount Robson. That's where Fernando comes from, the

Mount Robson pened

country.

He

won't go back, on account of what hap-

to his brother."

"What

did he say about his brother yesterday?"

"That he was going to get I

couldn't listen to him.

back

in,

I

asked.

I

his revenge for George.

went out and fed the dogs.

Fernando was loading

his deer

rifle.

I

I

got so scared

When

I

came

asked him what he was

planning to do, but he walked right out and drove away."

"May

I

see the rifle?"

"It isn't in the house.

have taken

it

I

looked for

it

after

he

with him again. I'm so afraid that

left

today.

he'll kill

He

must

somebody."

ROSS MacDONALD

348

"What's he driving?"

"Our

an old blue Meteor sedan."

car. It's

Keeping an eye out

for

it,

drove up the highway to the Hoopers'

I

Too peaceful. down on his

canyon. Everything there was very peaceful.

Just inside

the locked gate, Allan Hooper was lying face

could see small ants in single

shotgun.

I

trekking across the crown of his bald

file

head. got a

I

hammer

the padlock.

had

fallen

I

out of the trunk of

on him

Now

no

exit

wound; the

the ants were crawling on I

found

my way

and

teletype,

sat

I

to break if

death

my

was

bullet

still

in his head.

hands.

elk

head

to telephone the courthouse.

office.

have bad news,

"I

it

into the Hoopers' study, turned off the stuttering

down under an

Carlson was in his

and used

car

But he had been shot neatly between

like a fever.

the eyes. There was

my

head. His skin was hot in the sun, as

lifted his

Allan Hooper's been shot."

Sheriff.

heard him draw in his breath quickly.

You

"Extremely dead.

he dead?"

"Is

put out

better

alarm for

general

a

Rambeau." Carlson said with gloomy satisfaction,

"I already

have him."

"You have him?" "That's correct.

brought him in

mournful mumble.

picked him up in the Hoopers' canyon and

I

few minutes ago." Carlson's voice sank to a

just a "I

picked him up a

too

little

late,

I

guess."

"Did Rambeau do any talking?"

"He

hasn't

had a chance

me

out and threatened I

went outside

afternoon

me

When

to yet.

with a

rifle.

I

to wait for Carlson

moon hung

like a

I

stopped his car, he piled

clobbered

and

him one good." men.

his

A

very pale

ghost in the sky. For some reason

think of Fay. She ought to be here.

It

occurred to

me

it

made

that possibly

she had been. I

tell

went and looked

me.

He

lay as

if

at

Hooper's body again.

He had

he had fallen from a height, perhaps

nothing to all

the

way

from the moon.

They came in a black county wagon and took him away. I followed them inland to the county seat, which rose like a dusty island in a dark green lake of orange groves. lot,

and the

sheriff

and

I

went

We parked in the courthouse parking

inside.

Rambeau was under guard windows. Carlson said

it

was used

in a second-floor

room with barred

for interrogation.

There was nothing

DOG

THE SLEEPING

349

room but an old deal table and some wooden chairs. Rambeau hunched forward on one of them, his hands hanging limp between knees. Part of his head had been shaved and plastered with

in the sat

his

bandages.

him with my gun butt," Carlson said. "You're lucky you know that, Fernando?" I Rambeau made no response. His black eyes were set and dull. "Had his rifle been fired?" "Yeah. Chet Scott is working on it now. Chet's my identification lieutenant and he's a bear on ballistics." The sheriff turned back to Rambeau. "You might as well give us a full confession, boy. If you shot Mr. Hooper and his dog, we can link the bullets to your gun. You know that." Rambeau didn't speak or move. "What did you have against Mr. Hooper?" Carlson said. No answer. Rambeau's mouth was set like a trap in the thicket "I

had

to cool

didn't shoot you

—

of his beard.

"Your older brother,"

said to him, "was killed in a hunting

I

accident in British Columbia.

gun that

killed

Rambeau

Was Hooper

at the

other end of the

George?"

didn't answer

me, but Carlson's head came up. "Where

did you get that, Archer?"

"From

a couple of things

I

was

told.

he was talking yesterday about revenge

According to Rambeau's

wife,

for his brother's death.

Ac-

when he came Would you know if that trip

cording to Fay Hooper, her husband swore off guns

back from a hunting

trip after

the war.

was to British Columbia?" "Yeah. Mr. Hooper took

"Whose

me and

the wife with him."

wife?"

"Both our wives."

"To the Mount Robson area?" "That's correct. We went up after elk." "And did he shoot somebody accidentally?" "Not that 1 know of. I wasn't with him all the time, understand. He often went out alone, or with Mrs. Hooper," Carlson replied. "Did he use a packer named George Rambeau?" "I wouldn't know. Ask Fernando here." I asked Fernando. He didn't speak or move. Only his eyes had changed. They were wet and glistening-black, visible parts of a grief that filled his head like a dark underground river.

ROSS MACDONALD

350

The questioning went on and produced nothing. It was night when I went outside. The moon was sUpping down behind the dark hills. I took a room in a hotel and checked in with my answering service in Hollywood.

About an hour before, Fay Hooper had called me from hotel.

When

I

a Las

Vegas

room and come home, that

tried to return the call, she wasn't in her

didn't respond to paging.

I

left

a message for her to

her husband was dead.

Next,

I

called

R.C.M.P. headquarters

in

Vancouver

some

to ask

The answers came over

questions about George Rambeau.

the line in

clipped Canadian tones. George and his dog had disappeared from his

cabin below Red Pass in the

fall

of 1945. Their bodies hadn't been

recovered until the following May, and by that time they consisted of

two skeletons. These included George Rambeau's

parts of the

which had been pierced

in the right front

The

a heavy-caliber bullet.

bullet

and

quadrants by

had not been recovered.

The

or when, or why, had never been determined. also

left rear

skull,

Who

fired,

dog, a husky, had

been shot through the head. I

rounds from Fernando Rambeau's .30/30 repeater.

firing test I

He who was

walked over to the courthouse to pass the word to Carlson.

was in the basement shooting gallery with Lieutenant Scott, gave them the

official

Rambeau's dog was

shot,

account of the accident. "But since George too,

it

probably wasn't an accident,"

I

said. "I see

spreading nail

it I

what you mean," Carlson

all this stuff

"It's

going to be rough,

out in court about Mr. Hooper.

We

have to

down, though."

went back

down the case

to

my

against

ing Lieutenant Scott fired slugs I

said.

hotel and to bed, but the process of nailing

Rambeau continued through the night. By morn-

had detailed comparisons

set

up between the

looked at his evidence through a comparison microscope.

no doubt

test-

and the ones dug out of Hooper and the dog. in

my mind

dog. Otto, had

that the slugs that killed Allan

come from Rambeau's

But Rambeau

still

wouldn't

talk,

It left

Hooper and the

gun.

even

to

phone

his wife or ask

for a lawyer.

"We'll take you out to the scene of the crime," Carlson

said. "I've

cracked tougher nuts than you, boy."

We between

rode in the back seat of his car with Fernando handcuffed us.

Lieutenant Scott did the driving.

Rambeau groaned and

DOG

THE SLEEPING pulled against his handcuffs. I

He was

351

very close to the breaking point,

thought.

came

It

when

a few minutes later

He

the Hoopers' mailbox.

the car turned up the lane past

burst into sudden fierce tears as

gauge in his head had broken.

It

if

a pressure

was strange to see a bearded

man

crying like a boy. "I don't want to go up there."

"Because you shot him?" Carlson shot the dog.

"I

"And who

He

did.

cried. "I

said.

shot the dog,"

Rambeau

said.

followed

never killed a man. Mr. Hooper was the one

my

you knew that,"

"If

I

man?"

the

"No!" he

confess

I

brother out in the woods and shot him." I

"why

said,

didn't you tell the

Mounties

years ago?" "I didn't

understand?

know

When

then.

I

was seven years

Mrs. Hooper

came

old.

How

would

I

my

to our cabin to be with

how would know it was a curious thing? Or when Mr. Hooper me if she had been there? didn't know he was her husband.

brother,

asked

it

I

I

I

thought he was her father checking up.

—

him

I

could see

the situation

till

it

in his face the

minute

the other night,

when

I

knew

after I

I

shouldn't have told

—but

I

didn't understand

talked to Mrs. Hooper."

"Did she know that her husband had shot George?"

"She didn't even know George had been back to the Fraser River

after

nineteen

our facts together, we agreed he must have done

The dog came

next morning to get even. real to

me

until the

—

I'd

I

But when we put

it.

I

came out here

out to the gate.

been drinking most of the night

dog went down.

They never went

killed.

forty-five.

—

it

It

wasn't

wasn't real to

shot him. Mr. Hooper shot

my

me

dog. But

when he came out of the house himself, I couldn't pull the trigger. I yelled at him and ran away." "What did you yell?" I said. "The same thing I told him on the telephone: 'Remember Mount Robson.'

A

"

yellow cab, which looked out of place in the canyon, came

over the ridge above

us.

Lieutenant Scott waved

it

to a stop.

The

Hooper home from the airport and wanted to know if that constituted a felony. Scott waved him on. "I wonder what she was doing at the airport," Carlson said. "Coming home from Vegas. She tried to call me from there last

driver said he'd just brought Mrs.

night.

I

forgot to tell you."

"You don't

forget important things like that," Carlson said.

ROSS MacDONALD

352 "I

suppose

I

wanted her

come home under her own power."

to

"In case she shot her husband?"

"More or "She "I

less."

didn't.

Fernando shot him, didn't you, boy?"

shot the dog.

I

"Tell her that. Tell her

surrender the gun and

am innocent of the man." He turned to me. am sorry about the dog. came out here to I

I

tell

her yesterday.

don't trust myself with

I

guns."

"With darn good reason," Carlson Hooper.

Ballistic

evidence doesn't

Rambeau screeched Carlson swung

"Don't

call

his

me names,

said.

"We know

in his ear, "You're a

open hand against the little

you shot Mr.

lie." liar!

You're

side of

all liars!"

Rambeau's

face.

man."

Lieutenant Scott spoke without taking his eyes from the road.

"I

wouldn't hit him. Chief. You wouldn't want to damage our case."

Carlson subsided, and we drove on up to the house. Carlson went in

without knocking.

The guard

at the

door discouraged

me from

following him. I

couldn't hear Fay's voice

on the other

low

something to her.

to be understood. Carlson said

"Get out! Get out of my house, you Carlson didn't come out.

side of the door, too

I

went

killer!"

in instead.

Fay cried out sharply.

One

of his arms was

wrapped around her body, the other hand was covering her mouth. I got his Adam's apple in the crook of my left arm, pulled him away from her, and threw him over my left hip. He went down clanking and got up holding

He to save

his revolver.

should have shot

my

me

right away.

But he gave Fay Hooper time

life.

She stepped in front of me. "Shoot me, Mr. Carlson. You might You shot the one man I ever cared for." "Your husband shot George Rambeau, if that's who you mean. I ought to know. I was there." Carlson scowled down at his gun and as well.

replaced

it

in his holster.

Lieutenant Scott was watching him from the doorway.

"You were there?" I said to Carlson. "Yesterday you told me Hooper was alone when he shot Rambeau." "He was. When I said I was there, I meant in the general neighborhood." "Don't believe him," Fay George, and

it

said.

"He

fired

the gun that killed

was no accident. The two of them hunted George down

THE SLEEPING

DOG

353

My husband planned to shoot him himself, but George's him and he had to dispose of it. By that time George had bead on Allan. Mr. Carlson shot him. It was hardly a coin-

in the woods.

dog came

drawn a

at

cidence that the next spring Allan financed his campaign for sheriff." "She's making

up," Carlson said. "She wasn't within ten miles

it

of the place."

"But you were, Mr. Carlson, and so was Allan.

whole

knew

story yesterday, after

that everything was

of course, after

He

I

Carlson

couldn't.

I

said,

I

left

the

the details himself.

filled in

him and

been intending to

I've

me

we found Otto. Once that happened, he to come out. I already suspected him,

talked to Fernando. Allan

But

him.

to divorce

told

bound

thought, since he hadn't killed George personally,

to forgive him.

He

for

I

would be able

Nevada, intending

flew to

twenty years."

"Are you sure you didn't shoot him before you

"How could she have?"

I

said. "Ballistics don't lie,

and the

left?"

ballistic

rifle. Nobody had access to You stopped him on the road and knocked him out, took his rifle, and used it to kill Hooper. You killed him for the same reason that Hooper buried the dog to keep the past buried. You thought Hooper was the only witness to the murder of George Rambeau. But by that time Mrs. Hooper knew about it, too." "It wasn't murder. It was self-defense, just like in the war. Anyway, you'll never hang it on me." "We don't have to. We'll hang Hooper on you. How about it,

evidence says he was shot with Fernando's it

but Fernando

—and

you.

—

Lieutenant?" Scott nodded grimly, not looking at his chief.

He

of his gun. offered I

tell

no

winced, as

resistance

when

if I

relieved Carlson

were amputating part of

Scott took

stayed behind for a final

you he's sorry

I

him out

word with

Fay.

his body.

"Fernando asked

me

to

for shooting your dog."

"We're both sorry." She stood with her eyes down, was swirling

He

to the car.

visibly

around her

feet. "I'll talk to

as

Fernando

if

the past

later.

Much

later."

"There's one coincidence that bothers me. to take your "I

dog to

happened

mon name. happened

I

to see his sign,

did you happen

and Fernando Rambeau

couldn't resist going there.

to George.

I

I

had

to

isn't a

com-

know what had

think perhaps Fernando came to California for

the same reason."

"Now

How

his school?"

you both know,"

I

said.

(IBZ6-

)

Ed McBain was born in New York City and educated at Hunter College. his various pen names (Evan Hunter, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Richard Mars ten) indicate, he is a prolific writer of detective and adventure stories. As Ed McBain, his fame rests on his

As

contributions, spanning three decades, to the police procedural. Set

which

in the fictional city of Isola, real

New

York City,

is

a geographic mirror image of the

his stories feature a collective protagonist, the

detectives working the city's 87th Precinct. McBain's inventiveness

is

seen in the various plots and structural patterns with which he continually tests the narrative restrictions of the police procedural. In

Who

Hesitates (1965), for example, everything

is

He

seen through the

murderer's eyes and the police are relegated to a minor role. For the

most

part,

however, McBain

and collective protagonist procedural: ously,

how

and how

credibility.

relies

to

on the

flexibility

of his urban setting

overcome the major challenges of the

to present police routines realistically but not tedito give

them

a

human dimension without

sacrificing

His metropolitan setting provides for an inexhaustible sup-

ply of storylines crossing ethnic

recurring characters

and

class

— including not only

and Meyer Meyer but a continuity and depth. essentially optimistic

villain

McBain

known differs

view of the city

boundaries and his cast of

detectives like Steve Carella as the

Deaf

Man

—provides

from his predecessors

as a place in

in his

which, despite the

violence, moral order prevails because police are good citizens and laws

work.

ED McBAIN

356 "Sadie

When

She Died," which McBain

also published in a longer

version as a novel, illustrates the "inverted" detective story in which

the detective suspects from the beginning the identity of the killer but

has to find legal proof of

it.

As

a procedural

it

shows the team

involved in solving the crime, the reliance on technology gerprints

and photographs

to telephone taps

tective's psychological skills in

and victim

alike.

—and the

shown

fin-

individual de-

decoding the eccentric behavior of killer

McBain's special contribution to the procedural

mat, faith in the system tempered by an understanding of human is

effort

—from

for-

frailty,

in the story's concluding juxtaposition of the arrest of the

actual murderer against the suicide of the wrongly accused

man.

WHIN

SADI[

"Fm

very glad she's dead," the

He wore

man

SH[ DIfD

said.

a homburg, muffler, overcoat

the night table, a gray mustache that

tall

man

and

gloves.

He

stood near

with a nan-ow face, and a well-groomed

matched the graying

were clear and blue and distinctly

hair at his temples. His eyes

free of

pain or

grief.

man

Detective Steve Carella wasn't sure he had heard the rectly. "Sir," Carella said,

"I'm sure

man

"That's right," the

said,

pens I'm a criminal lawyer and

I

don't have to

tell

"you don't have to

am

well aware of

my

— you

cor-

me.

It

hap-

My

wife

tell

rights.

was no good, and I'm delighted someone killed her." Carella opened his pad. This was not what a bereaved husband

was supposed to say when his wife floor in a pool of

"Your name

own

her is

lay

disemboweled on the bedroom

blood.

Gerald Fletcher."

"That's correct."

"Your

wife's

name, Mr. Fletcher?"

"Sarah. Sarah Fletcher."

"Want "I

got

to tell

me what happened?"

home about

fifteen

minutes ago.

the front door, and got no answer.

her dead on the

"Was "It

the

floor.

room

I

came

I

my

called to

into the

wife from

bedroom and found

immediately called the police."

I

in this condition

when you came

in?"

was."

"Touch anything?" "Nothing.

I

"Anybody

in here

moved from this spot when you came in?"

haven't

since

I

placed the call."

ED McBAIN

358

"Not

a soul. Except

my

wife, of course."

"Is that

your suitcase in the entrance hallway?"

"It

was on the Coast

is.

I

needed advice on a

brief

for three days.

An

associate of

mine

he was preparing. What's your name?"

"Carella. Detective Steve Carella."

remember that." While the police photographer was doing his macabre little jig around the body to make sure the lady looked good in the rushes, or as good as any lady can look in her condition, a laboratory assistant "I'll

named Marshall Davies was

in the kitchen of the apartment, waiting

examiner to pronounce the lady dead,

for the medical

at

which time

Davies would go into the bedroom and with delicate care remove the knife protruding from the blood to salvage

some good

and slime of the lady, in an attempt from the handle of the murder

latent prints

weapon. Davies was a

new

ticed that the kitchen

when

December night

technician, but an observant one, and he no-

window was wide open, not

exactly usual

on

a

the temperature outside hovered at twelve de-

Leaning over the sink, he further noticed that the window

grees.

opened onto a

fire

escape

on the rear of the building. He could not someone had climbed up the fire escape

speculating that perhaps

resist

and then into the kitchen. Since there was a big muddy footprint in the kitchen sink, another

one on the

floor

across the

waxed kitchen

near the sink, and several others fading floor to the living

that he was onto something hot. Wasn't

it

as

they traveled

room, Davies surmised

possible that

an intruder

had climbed over the windowsill, into the sink and walked across the

room, bearing the switchblade knife that had across the lady's

abdomen from

through with the

damn

home, thanks

The

left

later

to right?

been pulled viciously

If

the M.E. ever got

body, the boys of the 87th would be halfway

to Marshall Davies.

He

felt pretty

good.

three points of the triangle were Detective-Lieutenant Byrnes,

and Detectives Meyer Meyer and Steve Carella. Fletcher sat in a chair, wearing homburg, muffler, overcoat and gloves as if he expected to be called outdoors at any moment. The interrogation was being conducted in a windowless cubicle labeled Interrogation Room. still

The cops

standing in their loose triangle around Gerald Fletcher

were amazed but not too "1

terribly

hated her guts," he

said.

amused by

his brutal frankness.

WHEN

SADIE

"Mr. Fletcher," Lieutenant Byrnes

woman

you that a "Yes.

My

".

which

.

.

359

SHE DIED

has been murdered

—

said, "I

still

feel

I

must warn

dear, wonderful wife," Fletcher said sarcastically. a serious crime.

is

..." Byrnes

Fletcher's presence. Bullet-headed, hair turning

felt

tongue-tied in

from iron-gray to

ice-

white, blue-eyed, built like a compact linebacker, Byrnes looked to

Both Meyer and Carella were watching

his colleagues for support.

their

shoelaces.

why.

"You have warned me repeatedly," Fletcher said, "I can't imagine My wife is dead someone killed her but it was not I." "Well, it's nice to have your assurance of that, Mr. Fletcher, but

this

alone doesn't necessarily

—

—

still

our doubts," Carella

said,

hearing

He "How do

the words and wondering where the hell they were coming from. was, he realized, trying to impress Fletcher.

He

we know it wasn't you who stabbed her?" "To begin with," Fletcher said, "there were in the

signs of forcible entry

kitchen and hasty departure in the bedroom, witness the wide-

open window

dow

continued,

— the in

in the

aforementioned room and the shattered win-

The

latter.

drawers in the dining-room sideboard were

open

"You're very observant," Meyer said suddenly. "Did you notice all this

in the four

minutes

it

took you to enter the apartment and

call

the police? "It

is

my job

question, no.

I

to be observant," Fletcher said.

"But to answer your

had spoken

to Detective Carella

noticed

all this after

I

here."

Wearily, Byrnes dismissed Fletcher,

"What do you "I

think he did

"Even with

all

it,"

left

the room.

Carella said.

those signs of a burglary?"

with those

''Especially

who then

think?" Byrnes said.

—but not

his wife stabbed

signs.

fatally

knife across her belly. Fletcher

He

could have

— and

come home, found

finished her off by yanking the

had four minutes, when

all

he needed

was maybe four seconds." possible," Meyer said. "Or maybe I just don't like the guy," Carella said. "Let's see what the lab comes up with," Byrnes said. The laboratory came up with good fingerprints on the kitchen window sash and on the silver drawer of the dining-room sideboard. There were good prints on some of the pieces of silver scattered on "It's

ED McBAIN

360

the floor near the smashed bedroom window. Most important, there

were good prints on the handle of the switchblade knife. The prints

matched; they had

all

been

by the same person.

left

Gerald Fletcher graciously allowed the police to take prints,

his finger-

which were then compared with those Marshall Davies had

sent over from the police laboratory. sash, the drawer, the silverware

The

fingerprints

on the window

and the knife did not match Gerald

Fletcher's.

Which gloves when

didn't

On Monday

morning, in the second-floor rear apartment of 721

mean

a

damn

he'd finished her

thing

if

he had been wearing his

off.

Sil-

vermine Oval, a chalked outline on the bedroom floor was the only evidence that a

woman had lain there in death the night before.

sidestepped the outline and looked out the shattered

Carella

window

at the

narrow alleyway below. There was a distance of perhaps twelve

between

this building

and the one across from

feet

it.

Conceivably, the intruder could have leaped across the shaftway, but this would have required premeditation and calculation.

The more

probable likelihood was that the intruder had fallen to the pavement below. "That's quite a long drop," Detective Bert Kling said, peering

over Carella's shoulder.

"How

far

"Thirty

"Got

do you

At

feet.

figure?" Carella asked. least."

to break a leg taking a fall like that.

through the window head

"How

You think he went

first?"

else?"

"He might have broken

the glass out

first,

then gone through,"

Carella suggested. "If

the

he was about to go to

damn

all

that trouble,

why

didn't

he

just

open

thing?"

"Well,

let's

take a look," Carella said.

They examined the latch and the sash. Kling grabbed both handles on the window frame and pulled up on them. "Stuck." "Probably painted shut," Carella

"Maybe he realized

it

did try to

open

it.

said.

Maybe he smashed

it

only

when he

was stuck."

"Yeah," Carella

said.

"And

in a big hurry,

too.

Fletcher was

opening the front door, maybe already in the apartment by then."

WHEN

SADIE

*The guy probably had loot in.

the

He must have

window was

SHE DIED

361

something with him, to put the

a bag or

taken a wild swing with the bag

stuck,

and maybe some of the

when he

realized

stuff fell out,

which

floor. Then down feet first. In fact, what he could' ve done, Steve, was drop the bag down first, and then he climbed out and hung from the sill before he jumped, to make it a shorter distance." "I don't know if he had all that much time, Bert. He must have

would explain the silverware on the

he probably climbed

through the hole and dropped

heard that front door opening, and Fletcher coming in and calling to

have taken

his wife. Otherwise, he'd

out the kitchen

come

window and down

his good, sweet time

and gone

the

way he'd

fire

escape,

the

in."

Kling nodded reflectively. "Let's take a look at that alley," Carella said.

In the alleyway outside, Carella

pavement, and then looked up

and Kling studied the concrete

at the shattered second-floor

window

of the Fletcher apartment.

"Where do you suppose

he'd have landed.^" Kling said.

"Right about where we're standing. " Carella looked at the ground. "I

don't know, Bert.

A guy drops twenty feet to a concrete pavement,

doesn't break anything, gets up, dusts himself

yard dash, right .^" Carella shook his head.

where he was

"My

off,

and runs the

guess

is

fifty-

he stayed right

to catch his breath, giving Fletcher time to look out the

window, which would be the natural thing

to do, but

which Fletcher

didn't."

"He was anxious "I still

to call the police."

think he did

it."

"Steve, be reasonable.

and the knife

a knife,

"And

if

If

is still

a guy's fingerprints are in the victim

and

on the handle of

the victim's husband realizes what a sweet setup he's

stumbled into, wife lying on the into

—

burglarized,

why

floor

with a knife in her, place broken

not finish the job

and hope the burglar

will

be blamed?" "Sure," Kling said. "Prove "I can't,"

it."

Carella said. "Not until

we catch the

burglar."

While Carella and KUng went through the tedious routine of retracing the burglar's footsteps, Marshall Davies called the 87th Precinct and got Detective Meyer. "I

think I've got some

fairly interesting

information about the

"

ED McBAIN

362 suspect," Davies said.

and footprints

"He

left

in the kitchen.

latent fingerprints all over the apartment

A

very good one in the sink,

when he

climbed through the window, and some middling-fair ones tracking across the kitchen floor to the dining room.

pictures

got some excellent

I

and some good blowups of the heel."

"Good," Meyer

said.

"But more important," Davies went on, picture from the footprints

on the

floor.

the distance between his footprints

is

If

a

"I got a

man

is

good walking

walking slowly,

usually about twenty-seven

These were thirtymoving quickly, but not normal and not broken."

inches. Forty for running, thirty-five for fast walking.

two inches. So we have a man's usual in a desperate hurry, with the

"What

gait,

walking line

does that mean?"

"Well, a walking line should normally run along the inner edge of a man's heelprints. Incidentally, the

size

and type of shoe and angle

of the foot clearly indicate that this was a man.

"OK,

fine,"

Meyer

said.

He

did not thus far consider Davies'

information valuable nor even terribly important.

"Anyway, none of this is valuable nor even Davies said, "until we consider the rest of the

terribly important,"

data. The bedroom window was smashed, and the Homicide men were speculating that the suspect had jumped through the window into the alley below. I went down to get some meaningful pictures, and got some picture of where he must have landed on both feet, incidentally and I got another walking picture and direction line. He moved toward the

—

—

basement door and into the basement. But the important thing our

is

that

man is injured, and I think badly." "How do you know?" Meyer asked. "The walking

in the kitchen.

the

left

leg

picture downstairs

When

is

entirely different from the

and dragging the

right.

I

would suggest that whoever's

handling the case put out a physician's bulletin. a broken leg,

I'll

one

he got downstairs he was leaning heavily on

eat the pictures

I

If this

guy hasn't got

took."

A girl in a green coat was waiting in the apartment lobby when Carella and Kling came back said,

in, still retracing footsteps, or trying to.

The

girl

"Excuse me, are you the detectives?" "Yes," Carella said.

"The super told me you were

in the building," the girl said. "You're

SADIE

WHEN

SHE DIED

363

She was quite

investigating the Fletcher murder, aren't you?"

soft-

spoken.

"How can we "I

help you, miss?" Carella asked.

saw somebody in the basement

last night,

with blood on his

clothes."

Carella glanced at Kling and immediately said,

"What time was

this?"

"About

are.

a quarter to eleven," the girl said.

"What were you doing in the basement?" The girl sounded surprised. "That's where the washing machines I'm sorry, my name is Selma Bernstein. I live here in the building." "Tell us "I

is

was

what happened,

sitting

will

simply fascinating^ you know,

—the door

yard opened

and

I

you?" Carella

said.

by the machine, watching the clothes tumble, which

when

the door leading to the back

man came down the stairs, He went straight for the stairs at

to the alley. This

don't even think he saw me.

the other end, the ones that go up into the street. before last

"Can you "Sure.

I

never saw him

night." describe him?" Carella asked.

He was

weight, well,

about twenty-one or twenty-two, your height and

maybe

a little shorter, five ten or eleven,

Kling was already writing.

brown

hair."

The man was white, wore dark trousers,

high-topped sneakers, and a poplin jacket with blood on the right sleeve

and on the

front.

He

carried a small red bag, "like

one of those

bags the airlines give you."

Selma didn't know

much

if

he had any

scars.

"He went by

of a hurry, considering he was dragging his right

leg.

in pretty

I

think he

was hurt pretty badly."

What

they had in mind, of course, was identification from a

mug

but the l.S. reported that none of the fingerprints in their

file

the ones found in the apartment. So the detectives figured

it

to be a tough one,

and they sent out a bulletin

doctors just to prove

can be

out to be a nice easy one after

noon,

call

came from

just as Carella

"This

is

to all of the city's

it.

Just to prove that cops

The

shot,

matched was going

as

wrong

as

anyone

else,

it

turned

all.

a physician in Riverhead at 4:37 that after-

was ready to go home.

Dr. Mendelsohn," he said. "I have your bulletin here.

ED McBAIN

364

and

I

want

description

to report treating a

—

a

man

early this

Ralph Corwin of 894 Woodside

morning who in Riverhead.

fits

your

He had

a bad ankle sprain."

"Thank

you, Dr. Mendelsohn," Carella said.

Carella pulled the Riverhead directory from the top drawer of his

desk and quickly flipped to the C's. for

Ralph Corwin.

He

did not expect to find a listing

A man would have to be a rank amateur to burglarize woman

an apartment without wearing gloves, then stab a

and give

his

name when

to death,

seeking treatment for an injury sustained in

escaping from the murder apartment.

Ralph Corwin was apparently a rank amateur. His name was

in

the phone book, and he'd given the doctor his correct address. Carella and Kling kicked in the door without warning, fanning into the room, guns drawn.

The man on

the bed was wearing only

undershorts. His right ankle was taped.

"Are you Ralph Corwin?" Carella asked. "Yes," the

"Get

man

dressed,

said.

His face was drawn, the eyes in pain.

Corwin.

We

want

to ask

you some questions."

"There's nothing to ask," he said and turned his head into the pillow. "I killed her."

Ralph Corwin made

his confession in the presence of

two detectives

of the 87th, a police stenographer, an assistant district attorney, a lawyer appointed by the Legal

Aid

and

Society.

Corwin was the burglar. He'd entered 721 Silvermine Oval on Sunday night, December 12, down the steps from the street where the garbage cans were. He went through the basement, up the steps at the other end, into the back yard, and climbed the

fire

escape,

all at

about

ten o'clock in the evening. Corwin entered the Fletcher apartment

because

it

was the

first

one he saw without

lights.

was nobody home. The kitchen window was open a squeezed his fingers under the bottom and opened was pretty desperate cash.

He

and asked Corwin he

said,

Corwin

if

the D.A.'s

office

he hadn't been

figured that

figured there

it all

Corwin

the way.

He

time because he was a junkie in need of

swore that he'd never done anything

The man from gloves.

at the

He

tiny crack;

like this before.

was conducting the Q. and A.

afraid of fingerprints, not

was done only

in the movies,

wearing

and anyway,

he didn't own gloves.

Corwin used a tiny flashlight to guide him as he stepped into the sink and down to the door. He made his way to the dining room,

WHEN

SADIE

SHE DIED

emptied the drawer of silverware into his for the

bedroom, scouting

take in the

up

real

way of

Now came the

he

The

important part.

said. "I

was

just

hung

over."

D. A.'s assistant asked Corwin

bedroom.

in the

A. There was a lady

me

tide

Then he looked

whatever he could

rings,

jewelry. "I'm not a pro,"

bad and needed some bread to

what happened

airline bag.

watches and

for

365

was only

in bed. This

you don't expect nobody to be asleep so

like close to ten-thirty, early.

Q. But there was a woman in bed. A. Yeah. She turned on the light the minute Q. What did you do? A. I had a knife in my pocket.

pulled

I

almost comical. She looks at

me and

stepped in the room.

I

out to scare her.

it

"What

says,

are

It

was

you doing

here?"

Q. Did you say anything to her? A. I told her to keep quiet, that got out of bed and

I

wasn't going to hurt her. But she

I

saw she was reaching

got to be crazy, right?

A

guy

is

for the

phone. That's

standing there in your bedroom

with a knife in his hand, so she reaches for the phone.

Q. A.

What I

did you do?

grabbed her hand before she could get

nobody was going

it.

know? And

bed, away from the phone, you

to hurt her, that

I

I

pulled her off the told her again that

I

was getting out of there right

away, to just please calm down.

Q. What happened next? A. She started to scream. I told her to I

mean

stop.

I

was beginning to panic.

she was really yelling.

Q. Did she stop? A. No. Q. A.

What I

did you do?

stabbed her.

Q. Where did you stab her?

A.

I

don't know.

It

was a

She was

reflex.

whole building would come down. in her.

I

was very scared.

I

I

just

yelling,

...

I

I

was

afraid the

just stuck the knife

stabbed her in the belly. Someplace in

the belly.

Q. How many times did you stab her? A. Once. She She backed away from me. .

.

.

look on her face.

And

she

.

.

.

fell

on the

I'll

floor.

never forget the

ED McBAIN

366

Q. Would you look A. Oh, no. .

.

at this photograph, please?

.

Q. Is that the woman you stabbed? A. Oh, no ... I didn't think Oh, no! .

A

moment

.

.

he stabbed Sarah Fletcher, Corwin heard the door

after

opening and someone coming

in.

The man yelled, "Sarah, on the floor, and

it's

I'm home." Corwin ran past Sarah's body

open the window, but

it

was stuck.

He smashed

it

with his

me,

tried to

airline bag,

threw the bag out first to save the swag because, no matter what, he knew he'd need another fix, and he climbed through the broken window, cutting his hand on a piece of glass. He hung from the sill, and finally let go,

down

dropping to the ground.

He

again. His ankle was killing him, his

and

tried to get up,

fell

hand bleeding. He stayed

in the alley nearly fifteen minutes, then finally escaped via the route

Selma Bernstein had described to Carella and Kling. He took the subway to Riverhead and got to Dr. Mendelsohn at about nine in the morning. He read of Sarah Fletcher's murder in the newspaper on the way back from the doctor.

On

Tuesday, December 14, which was the

off that

week, he received a

call at

first

told the puzzled Carella that he'd gotten his

the D.A.'s their

office,

of Carella's two days

home from Gerald Fletcher. number from

Fletcher

a friend in

complimented Carella and the boys of the 87th on

snappy detective work, and invited Carella to lunch

at the

Golden

one o'clock. Carella wasn't happy about interrupting his Christmas shopping, but this was an unusual opportunity, and he accepted. Most policemen in the city for which Carella worked did not eat

Lion

at

very often in restaurants like the Golden Lion. Carella had never been

A

menu posted on the window outside would have him out of six months' pay. The place was a faithful replica of the dining room of an English coach house, circa 1627: huge oaken inside.

look at the

frightened

beams, immaculate white cloths, heavy

silver.

Gerald Fletcher's table was in a secluded comer of the restaurant.

He

rose as Carella approached, extending his hand,

you could make

and

said,

"Glad

down, won't you?" Carella shook Fletcher's hand, and then sat. He felt extremely uncomfortable, but he couldn't tell whether his discomfort was caused it.

Sit

by the room or by the

man

with

whom

he was dining.

SADIE

"Would you

WHEN

SHE DIED

367

care for a drink?" Fletcher asked.

"Well, are you having one?" Carella asked. "Yes,

am."

I

have a Scotch and soda," Carella

"I'll

said.

He was

not used to

drinking at lunch. Fletcher signaled for the waiter and ordered the drinks, making

another whiskey sour.

his

When

the drinks came, Fletcher raised his

"Here's to a conviction," he said.

glass.

own

Carella lifted his

don't expect there'll be any

"I

glass.

trouble," he said. "It looks airtight to

me."

Both men drank. Fletcher dabbed his lips with a napkin and said, "You never can tell these days. I hope you're right, though." He sipped at the drink. "I must admit I feel a certain amount of sympathy for

him."

"Do you?" "Yes. If he's an addict, he's automatically entitled to pity.

when one but

considers

that

the

woman he murdered was

And

nothing

a—" "Mr. Fletcher ..."

And

"Gerry, please.

I

know:

the dead. I'm afraid you didn't

May

I

call

it

isn't

know my

me

very kind of wife, though,

to

malign

Mr. Carella.

you Steve?"

"Sure."

"My enmity might I

be a bit more understandable

shall take your advice. She's dead,

me, so why be

bitter. Shall

we

if

you had.

Still,

and no longer capable of hurting

order, Steve?"

Fletcher suggested that Carella try either the trout au meuniere or

the beef and kidney pie, both of which were excellent. Carella ordered

prime

ribs,

As

medium

the

men

ate

least Carella thought

sure.

The

rare,

and

and a mug of talked,

beer.

something began happening, or

at

something was happening; he might never be quite

conversation with Fletcher seemed on the surface to be

routine chatter, but rushing through this inane, polite discussion was

an undercurrent that caused excitement, they spoke, Carella

knew with renewed

fear,

and apprehension. As

certainty that Gerald Fletcher

killed his wife. Without ever being told so, he knew it. This was why Fletcher had called this morning; this was why Fletcher had invited him to lunch; this was why he prattled on endlessly while every contradictory move of his body signaled on an almost extrasensory level

had

ED McBAIN

368

knew Carella suspected him of murder, and was here to tell Carella (without teUing him) that, "Yes, you stupid cop, I killed my wife. However much the evidence may point to another man, however that he

many

confessions you get,

damn

there isn't a

I

Ralph Corwin was being held before

known

and I'm glad

killed her

thing you can do about

trial in

and lawbreakers

to law enforcers

Corwin's lawyer nor the

I

killed her.

And

it."

the city's oldest prison,

Neither

alike as Calcutta.

district attorney's office felt that allowing

Carella to talk to the prisoner would be harmful to the case.

Corwin was expecting him. "What did you want "I wanted to ask you some questions."

"My said.

"Why here to

me about?"

lawyer says I'm not supposed to add anything to what

don't even

I

to see

like

didn't you ask for another lawyer?

the Legal

call

I

already

Ask one of the

officers

that guy."

Aid

Society.

Or

simply

tell

him. I'm sure he'd

have no objection to dropping out."

Corwin shrugged.

"I

don't want to hurt his feelings. He's a

little

cockroach, but what the hell."

"You've got a

"But got

it all

killed her, so

I

in black

"You

it's

"If you'd

what does

Corwin." matter who the lawyer

it

is?

You

and white." answering some questions?" Carella

feel like

"I feel like

good, and

lot at stake here,

dropping dead,

is

what

I

Cold

feel like.

said.

turkey's never

when you can't yell." rather I came back another time ..." worse

What do you want to know?" know exactly how you stabbed Sarah Fletcher."

"No, no, go ahead. "I

want

to

"How do that's

you

think

you stab somebody? You

stick a knife in her,

how."

"Where?" "In the belly."

"Left-hand side of the body?"

"Yeah.

I

guess so."

"Where was the knife when she fell?" "I don't know what you mean." "Was the knife on the right-hand side of her body or the left?'' "I don't know. That was when I heard the front door opening and

all

I

could think of was getting out of there."

"When

you stabbed her, did she

twist

away from you?"

SADIE *'No, she

what

I

WHEN

SHE DIED

backed away, straight back,

done, and

"And then

.

.

.

and

just

wanted

369

as

she couldn't believe

if

away from me."

to get

she fell?"

her knees sort of gave way and she grabbed for She they her belly, and her hands sort of it was terrible they just were grabbing air^ you know? And she fell." "Yes.

.

.

.

—

—

.

.

.

"In what position?"

"On

her side."

''Which side?" "I

The

could

"One that

.

.

last

see the knife, so

from where

I

question, Ralph.

it

mustVe been the opposite

side.

stabbed her."

Was

she dead

when you went through

window?"

She was bleeding and guess she was dead. I don't know. I guess "I

.

still

side opposite

Among

don't know.

.

Sarah Fletcher's personal

effects that

terest to the police before they arrested

book found

in the

.

.

she was very quiet.

I

so."

were considered of

in-

Ralph Corwin was an address

dead woman's handbag on the bedroom

dresser. In

the Thursday afternoon stillness of the squad room, Carella examined the book.

There was nothing ings.

terribly fascinating

about the alphabetical

list-

Sarah Fletcher had possessed a good handwriting, and most of

the listings were obviously married couples (Chuck and

Harold and Marie Spander, and so on), some were

Nancy Benton,

girlfriends, local

merchants, hairdresser, dentist, doctors, restaurants in town or across the river.

A

—

thoroughly uninspiring address book

to a page at the

came

until Carella

end of the book, with the printed word memoranda

at its top.

Under the word, numbers written

there were five names, addresses and telephone

in Sarah's meticulous hand.

names, obviously entered

and others all

in ink.

noted in

felt

Andrew

The

at different times

They were

all

men's

because some were in pencil

parenthetical initials following each entry were

marking pens of various

colors:

Hart, 1120 Hall Avenue, 622-8400

(PB&G) (TO)

Michael Thornton, 371 South Under, 881-9371 (TS)

Lou Kantor, 434 North 16 Street, FR 7-2346 (TPC) (TG) Sal Decotto, 831 Grover Avenue, FR 5-3287 (F) (TG) Richard Fenner, 110 Henderson, 593-6648 (QR) (TG)

ED McBAIN

370 If

there was one thing Carella loved,

almost as

much

as

phone book and the address

He

Sarah's handwriting. too,

it

was a code.

He

loved a code

he loved German measles. He flipped through the for

Andrew Hart matched

the one in

found an address for Michael Thornton.

was identical to the one

in her book.

He kept turning He verified all

the directory, checking names and addresses.

At them.

a

He

little

called

pages in five.

past eight the next morning, Carella got going

Andrew Hart

at the

number

It,

on

listed in Sarah's address

book. Hart answered, and was not happy. "I'm in the middle of shaving," he said. "I've got to leave for the office in a

What's

little

while.

this about?"

"We're investigating a homicide, Mr. Hart."

"A what? A homicide.^ Who's been "A woman named Sarah Fletcher."

killed?"

know anyone named Sarah Fletcher," he "She seems to have known you, Mr. Hart." "I

don't

said.

"Sarah who? Fletcher, did you say?" Hart's annoyance increased. "That's right." "I don't

know anybody by

my

never heard of her in

"Your name's "M)/

that name.

Who

says she

knew me?

I

life."

in her address

book."

name? That's impossible."

Nevertheless, Hart agreed to see Carella and Meyer Meyer at the offices

of Hart and

Widderman, 480 Reed

Street, sixth floor, at ten

o'clock that morning.

At

Meyer and Carella parked the car and went into the 480 Reed, and up the elevator to the sixth floor. Hart and

ten,

building at

Widderman manufactured watchbands.

A huge advertising display near "H&W Beat

the receptionist's desk in the lobby proudly proclaimed

the Band!" and then backed the slogan with more discreet copy that

explained

how Hart and Widderman had

solved the difficult engi-

neering problems of the expansion watch bracelet.

"Mr. Hart, please," Carella

said.

"Who's calling?" the receptionist asked. She sounded as if she were chewing gum, even though she was not. "Detectives Carella and Meyer." "Just a minute, please," she said, and lifted her phone, pushing a button in the base. "Mr. Hart," she said, "there are some cops here to see you." She listened for a moment and then said, "Yes, sir." She replaced the receiver

on

its

cradle, gestured

toward the inside corridor

SADIE

with a nod of her golden

WHEN

SHE DIED

"Go

tresses, said,

371

right in, please.

Door

at

the end of the hall," and then went back to her magazine.

The

gray skies had apparently infected

Andrew

Hart.

"You

didn't

have to broadcast to the world that the police department was here," he said immediately.

"We

merely announced ourselves," Carella

now

"Well, okay,

He was

a big

man

in his middle

eyeglasses. "1 told

trimmed

said.

you're here," Hart said, "let's get

1

over with."

with iron-gray hair and black-

fifties,

you

it

don't

know Sarah

Fletcher and

I

don't."

"Here's her book, Mr. Hart," Carella said. "That's your name, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Hart

said,

and shook

"But

his head.

how

it

got there

is

beyond me." "Is

possible she's

it

someone you met

at a party,

someone you

exchanged numbers with?"

"No." "Are you married, Mr. Hart?" "No."

"We've got

a picture of Mrs. Fletcher.

"Don't go showing "This was taken

me any

when

Meyer handed Carella

"What

is

up

—

much alive, Mr. Hart." manila envelope. He opened the flap and

a

still

very

a framed picture of Sarah Fletcher

he handed to Hart. Hart looked diately looked

wonder

pictures of a corpse," Hart said.

she was

removed from the envelope

1

at the

which

photograph, and then imme-

at Carella.

this?"

he

said.

He

looked

at the

photograph again, shook

"Somebody killed her, huh?" "Yes, somebody did," Carella answered. "Did you know her?" "1 knew her."

his head,

"1

and

said,

thought you said you didn't."

know Sarah Fletcher, if that's who you think she was. knew this broad, all right." "Who'd you think she was?" Meyer asked. "Just who she told me she was. Sadie Collins. She introduced herself as Sadie Collins, and that's who 1 knew her as. Sadie Collins." "Where was this, Mr. Hart? Where'd you meet her?" "A singles bar. The city's full of them." "Would you remember when?" "I didn't

But

1

"At

least a year ago."

"

"

"

"

ED McBAIN

372 "Ever go out with her?" "I

used to see her once or twice a week."

"When

did you stop seeing her?"

"Last summer."

"Did you know she was married?"

"Who,

Sadie? You're kidding."

"She never told you she was married?" "Never."

Meyer up?

"When

asked,

She used

"I didn't.

"Where'd you

"We

go,

to call

did

"She used didn't

to reach her?"

me."

Mr. Hart?

didn't go out too

"What She

you were going out, where'd you pick her

At her apartment?" "No. She used to come to my place." "Where'd you call her when you wanted

When

you went out?"

much."

you do?" to

want

come

to

to go out

my

The

place.

truth

is,

we never went

out.

much."

"Didn't you think that was strange?"

"No," Hart shrugged.

"1 figured

she liked to stay home." "Why'd you stop seeing her, Mr. Hart?" "I met somebody else. A nice girl. I'm very serious about "Was there something wrong with Sadie?" "No, no. She was a beautiful woman, beautiful." "Then why would you be ashamed "Ashamed? Who said anything about being ashamed?"

her."

—

"I

—

gathered you wouldn't want your girlfriend

"Listen,

what

is

this?

I

stopped seeing Sadie

wouldn't even talk to her on the phone after that. got herself killed

—

six If

months

ago.

I

the crazy babe

"Crazy?"

Hart suddenly wiped his hand over

walked behind to

his desk. "I don't think

I

his face,

wet his

lips,

and

have anything more to say

you gentlemen."

"What "Good

did you

mean by

crazy?" Carella asked.

day, gentlemen," Hart said.

Carella went to see Lieutenant Byrnes. In the lieutenant's office,

Byrnes and Carella sat

down

Carella's request.

"Oh, come on, Pete!" Carella

comer

over coffee. Byrnes frowned at

said. "If Fletcher did

it

—

SADIE

WHEN

SHE DIED

373

"That's only your allegation. Suppose he didn't do

and suppose

it,

you do something to screw up the D.A.'s case?" "Like what?"

know

"I don't

you

spit

on the

like

what.

The way

sidewalk, that's

things are going these days,

enough

if

thrown out of

to get a case

court."

"Fletcher hated his wife," Carella said calmly.

"Lot of

men

hate their wives. Half the

men

in this city hate their

wives."

"But her

gives Fletcher

little fling

good reason

for

.

.

.

Look, Pete,

he had a motive; he had the opportunity, a golden one, in he had the means

—another man's

fact;

knife sticking in Sarah's belly.

and

What

more do you want?" "Proof. There's a funny

proof before "Right.

we can

And

arrest a

all

little

I'm asking

"Sure, by putting a

"Yes or no, Pete?

I

tail

system we've got here

man and on

is

the opportunity to

Fletcher.

want permission

—

it

requires

him with murder.

charge

try for it."

Suppose he sues the city?"

to conduct a round-the-clock

surveillance of Gerald Fletcher, starting Sunday morning. Yes or no?" "I

must be out of

my

Michael Thornton lived

mind," Byrnes

in

said,

an apartment building several blocks from

the Quarter, close enough to absorb some of

enough

to escape

its

and sighed.

high rents.

its artistic

A blond man

flavor, distant

in his apartment, Paul

Wendling, told Kling and Meyer that Mike was in

his jewelry shop.

Thornton was wearing a blue work smock, but the contours of the garment did nothing to hide his powerful build. His eyes were blue, his hair black. A small scar showed white in the thick In the shop,

eyebrow over

"We on you

his left eye.

understand you're working," Meyer

this

said.

"Sorry to break in

way."

"That's okay," Thornton said. "What's up?"

"You know a woman named Sarah Fletcher?" "No," Thornton said. "You know a woman named Sadie Collins?" Thornton hesitated. "Yes," he said.

"What was your

relationship with her?" Kling asked.

Thornton shrugged. "Why? Is she in trouble?" "When's the last time you saw her?" "You didn't answer my question," Thornton said.

ED McBAIN

374

"Well, you didn't answer ours either," Meyer

"What was your met her

"I

corner.

big

in July, in a joint called

The

crowd on weekends,

not a gay bar.

I

last

and soup.

It

couple of odd ones for spice

singles, a

saw her

and smiled. see her last?"

Saloon, right around the

a bar, but they also serve sandwiches

It's

said,

and when did you

relationship with her,

August, a

brief,

gets a

—but

hot thing, and then

good-bye."

"Did you "No.

was married?" Kling

realize she

said.

she?"

Is

"Yes," Meyer said. Neither of the detectives had yet informed Thornton that the lady in question was now unfortunately deceased.

They were saving "Gee,

that for

didn't

I

happen?"

bought her a few drinks and then

"I

Later,

did

she was married." Thornton seemed truly

nothing would've happened."

surprised. "Otherwise,

"What

last, like dessert.

know

I

I

took her

home with me.

put her in a cab."

"When

did you see her next?"

"The following day. It was goofy. She called me in the morning, on her way downtown. I was still in bed. I said, 'So come on down, baby.' And she did. Believe me, she did." she said she was

"Did you see her again

"Two

after that?" Kling asked.

or three times a week."

"Where'd you go?" "To my pad on South Lindner." "Never went anyplace but there?" "Never."

"Why'd you "I

quit seeing her?"

went out of town

in the directory, so

I

When

for awhile.

hear from her again. She never gave

me

I

got back,

1

just didn't

her number, and she wasn't

couldn't reach her."

"What do you make

of this?" Kling asked, handing Thornton the

address book.

Thornton studied this

down

the night

it

and

said,

—we

we met

"Yeah, what about

it?

She wrote

were in bed, and she asked

my

address."

"Did she write those rentheses under your

"I didn't actually see

book."

initials at

the same time, the ones in pa-

phone number?" the page

itself.

I

only saw her writing in the

WHEN

SADIE

"Got any

"None special,

of

what the

idea

initials

mean?"

He

it."


kind of

grinned. "She'll call again, I'm sure

it."

wouldn't count on

"I

Meyer

it,"

His face did not crumble it

375

Suddenly he looked thoughtful. "She

at all."

have to admit

I

SHE DIED

dead."

said. "She's

or express grief or shock.

The only

thing

expressed was sudden anger. "The stupid ..." Thornton said. "That's

all

she ever was, a stupid, crazy ..."

On

Sunday morning, Carella was ready

Gerald Fletcher was nowhere in

to

become

A call

sight.

a surveillant, but

to his apartment

from a

He

parked

nearby phone booth revealed that he was not in his

apartment building until 5:00 p.m. when he was

in front of Fletcher's

relieved by Detective Arthur Brown. Carella son's latest note to

down

settling

digs.

went home

to read his

Santa Glaus, had dinner with his family, and was

in the living

ago and not yet cracked

room with

when

had bought a week

a novel he

the telephone rang.

"Hello?" Garella said into the mouthpiece. "Hello, Steve? This

is

Gerry. Gerry Fletcher."

Carella almost dropped the receiver. "Fine, thanks.

while ago, in

fact.

was wondering

if

I

I

it's

said. "It's

weekend,

for the

find this

you'd like to join

"Well," Carella

"Nonsense,

was away

Frankly

"How

are you?" just got

back a

apartment depressing

me

Sunday

little

as hell.

I

for a drink."

night,

and

only eight o'clock. We'll do a

it's

late

little

..."

old-fashioned

pub crawling." It

had

suddenly occurred to Carella that Gerald Fletcher had already

a few drinks before placing his

he played

this too cozily, Fletcher

"Okay.

my

I'll

call. It

further occurred to

him that

if

might rescind his generous offer.

see you at eight-thirty, provided

I

can square

it

with

wife."

"Good, " Fletcher Paddy's Bar district.

said.

"See you.

& Grill was on the Stem, adjacent to the city's theater

Carella and Fletcher got there at about nine o'clock while the

place was

still

relatively quiet.

The

action began a

little later,

Fletcher

explained.

Fletcher lifted his glass in a silent toast.

would you say comes

"What kind

of person

to a place like this?"

would say we've got a nice lower-middle-class clientele bent on making contact with members of the opposite sex." "I

ED McBAIN

376

"What would you jersey

say

told you the blonde in the clinging

if I

working prostitute?"

a

is

Carella looked at the

woman.

don't think

"I

young competition, and

a bit old for the

she's

believe you. She's

I'd

not

selling

She's waiting for one of those two or three older guys to

move. Hookers don't

wait, Gerry.

Is

anything.

make

their

she a working prostitute?"

haven't the faintest idea," Fletcher said. "I was merely trying

"I

can sometimes be misleading. Drink up,

to indicate that appearances

more places

there are a few

He knew was trying to

I'd like to

show you."

Fletcher well enough by

tell

transmitted a message and a challenge:

do about

now

him something. At lunch

to realize that the

my

killed

/

man

Tuesday, Fletcher had

last

what can you

wife,

Tonight, in a similar manner, he was attempting to indicate

it?

something

else,

but Carella could not fathom exactly what.

Fanny's was only twenty blocks away from Paddy's Bar and Grill,

but as

removed from

far

to cater to a quiet

it

as the

Fanny's was noisy and raucous,

women

of

all ages,

moon. Whereas the

crowd peacefully pursuing

jammed

first

bar seemed

romantic inclinations,

its

to the rafters with

men and

wearing plastic hippie gear purchased in head shops

up and down Jackson Avenue.

mind

Fletcher lifted his glass. "I hope you don't into a stupor," he said. "Merely pour

the night." Fletcher drank.

"1

me

if I

drink myself

into the car at the

don't usually consume this

end of

much alcohol,

but I'm very troubled about that boy."

"What boy?"

Carella asked.

"Ralph Corwin," Fletcher difficulty

I

said. "I

with his lawyer and, well,

''Help

him?"

"Yes.

Do you

think the D.A.'s

understand he's having some

I'd like to

office

help him somehow."

would consider

it

strange

if

suggested a good defense lawyer for the boy?" "I

think they might consider

"Do "Not

I

it

passing strange, yes."

detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?" at all."

Fletcher squired Carella from Fanny's to, in geographical order.

The

Purple Chairs and Quigley's Rest. Each place was rougher, in

way, than the

last.

The

its

Purple Chairs catered to a brazenly gay crowd,

and Quigley's Rest was a

dive,

where Fletcher's liquor caught up with

him, and the evening ended suddenly in a brawl. Carella was shaken by the experience, and

still

couldn't piece out Fletcher's reasons.

SADIE

WHEN

Carella received a further shock

377

when he continued

to pursue Sarah

Lou Kantor was simply the

Fletcher's address book.

now wearying

SHE DIED

third

name

in a

Ust of Sarah's bedmates, until she turned out to be a

tough and striking woman. She confirmed Carella's suspicion's immediately.

knew her a short while," she said. "I met her in September, Saw her three or four times after that."

only

"I I

believe.

"Where'd you meet her?" "In a bar called quickly. "That's

what

The I

Purple Chairs. That's right," she added

am."

"Nobody asked," Carella "Spell

it

said.

"What about

Sadie Collins?"

out, Officer, I'm not going to help you.

I

don't like being

hassled."

"Nobody's hassling you, Miss Kantor. You practice your religion

and

I'll

practice mine.

"Then

Was

We're here

talk about her, spit

it

to talk about a out.

dead woman."

What do you want

to

know?

she straight? Everybody's straight until they're not straight any-

more,

isn't

that right?

She was

willing to learn.

I

taught her."

"Did you know she was married?"

"She told me. So what? Broke down the rest of the night crying.

"What'd she

I

in tears

knew she was

one night, and spent

married.

say about her husband?"

"Nothing that surprised me. She

said

he had another woman.

Said he ran off to see her every weekend, told

little

Sadie he had out-

of-town business. Every weekend, can you imagine that?"

"What do you make of this?" Carella said, and handed book opened to the memoranda page. "I don't know any of these people," Lou said.

her Sarah's

address

"The initials under your name," Carella said. "TPC and then TG. Got any ideas?" "Well, the TPC is obvious, isn't it? I met her at The Purple Chairs. What else could it mean?" Carella suddenly felt very stupid. "Of course. What else could it mean?" He took back the book. "I'm finished," he said. "Thank you very much." "I miss her," Lou said suddenly. "She was a wild one." Cracking a code to

do

it,

it's

is

easy.

like learning to roller-skate;

With

a little help

once you know how

from Gerald Fletcher,

provided a guided tour the night before, and a

lot

who had

of help from Lou

ED McBAIN

378 Kantor,

who had

generously provided the key, Carella was able to

—

crack the code wide open

gone with

well, almost. Last night, he'd

PB&G

Fletcher to Paddy's Bar and Grill, or

under Andrew Hart's

name; Fanny's, F under Sal Decotto; The Purple Chairs, Lou Kantor's TPC; and Quigley's Rest, QR for Richard Fenner on the list. Probably because of the

fight,

he hadn't taken Carella to The Saloon,

—the

Michael Thornton's name first

place where

TS

under

Thornton had admitted

meeting Sarah.

TO

Except, what the hell did

mean, under

all

the names but

Thornton's?

By Carella's own modest estimate, he had been

in

more

bars in

the past twenty-four hours than he had in the past twenty-four years.

He

decided, nevertheless, to hit

The Saloon was

ran a mottled, flaking mirror;

The Saloon

A

just that.

that night.

cigarette-scarred bar behind

wooden booths with patched,

seat cushions; bowls of pretzels

and potato

which

fake leather

chips; jukebox gurgling;

steamy bodies.

"They come in here," the bartender said, "at all hours of the Take yourself. You're here to meet a girl, am I right?'' "There was someone 1 was hoping to see. A girl named Sadie

night.

Collins.

Do you know

her?"

"Yeah. She used to come in a

What "Why? What's

lot,

but

1

ain't

seen her in months.

do you want to fool around with her for?" the matter with her?"

know something?" the bartender said. "I thought she was a hooker at first. Aggressive. You know what that word means? Aggressive? She used to come dressed down to here and up to there, "You want

to

ready for action, selling everything she had, you understand? She'd

come guys.

and go

in here, pick out a guy she wanted,

world was gonna end at midnight.

You wouldn't stand

And

after

him

like the

always the same type. Big

a chance with her, not that you ain't big,

don't misunderstand me. But Sadie liked

them

gigantic,

and mean.

You know something?" "What?" "I'm glad she don't

about her

—

like she

come

in here

anymore. There was something

was compulsive. You know what that word means,

compulsive?"

Tuesday afternoon, Arthur Brown handed

on Gerald

Fletcher.

Much

of

it

was not

in his surveillance report

at all illuminating.

From 4:55

WHEN

SADIE

SHE DIED

379

p.m. to 8:45 p.m. Fletcher had driven home, and then to 812 North

Crane and parked. The report did become somewhat illuminating when, at 8:46 p.m., Fletcher emerged from the building with a red-

woman

headed

went

wearing a black fur coat over a green

to Rudolph's restaurant, ate,

rived at 10:35 p.m. and

went

and drove back

inside.

to

dress.

They

812 Crane,

ar-

Arthur Brown had checked the

lobby mailboxes, which showed eight apartments on the eleventh

which was where the elevator indicator had stopped. Brown went outside to wait again, and Fletcher emerged alone at 11:40 p.m., and drove home. Detective O'Brien relieved Detective Brown at floor,

12:15 a.m.

Byrnes said, 'This "That's just what

1

woman

could be important."

Brown answered.

think,"

Carella had not yet spoken to either Sal Decotto or Richard Fenner,

the two remaining people listed in Sarah's book, but saw no reason to

pursue that

trail

any further.

If

the place listings in her book had been

chronological, she'd gone from bad to worse in her search for partners.

Why? To

give

it

back to her husband in spades? Carella tossed

black book into the manila folder bearing the various

Sarah's

little

reports

on the

case,

and turned

Brown had brought

his attention to the information Artie

in last night.

The redheaded woman's presence

might be important, but Carella was

still

puzzling over Fletcher's be-

havior. Sarah's blatant infidelity provided Fletcher with a strong

mo-

why take Carella to his wife's unhappy haunts, why show Carella that he had good and sufficient reason to kill her? Furthermore, why the offer to get a good defense attorney for the boy who had already tive, so

been indicted

for the slaying?

Sometimes Carella wondered who was doing what

At

five o'clock that

to

whom.

evening, Carella relieved Detective Hal Willis

downtown, and then followed Fletcher midtown Isola. Carella was wearing a false

outside Fletcher's office building to a

department store

mustache stuck

and of a

to his

in

upper

different color,

and

lip,

a wig with longer hair than his

own

a pair of sunglasses.

In the department store, he tracked Fletcher to the Intimate

Apparel department. Carella walked into the next

aisle,

pausing to

look at women's robes and kimonos, keeping one eye on Fletcher,

was in conversation with the lingerie

"May stocky

I

help you,

woman

at his

sir?" a

who

salesgirl.

voice said, and Carella turned to find a

elbow, with gray hair, black-rimmed spectacles.

"

ED McBAIN

380 wearing

Army

him of being "Thank

you, no," Carella said. "I'm just looking."

made

Fletcher

which the

shoes and a black dress. Her suspicious smile accused

a junkie shoplifter or worse.

salesgirl

his selections

from the gossamer undergarments

had spread out on the counter, pointing

The salesgirl wrote up

garment, then to another.

to

first

reached into his wallet to give her either cash or a credit card; difficult to tell

"Are you said,

from an

aisle

and then walked

longer,

sure

off

away.

He

chatted with the

girl a

it

was

moment

toward the elevator bank.

can't assist you?" the

I

one

the order and Fletcher

and Carella answered, "I'm

woman

the lingerie counter. Fletcher had

left

in the

and moved

positive,"

Army

swiftly

shoes

toward

the counter without a package

which meant he was sending his purchases. The salesgirl was gathering up Fletcher's selections and looked up when Carella in his arms,

reached the counter. "Yes, sir," she said.

"May

I

help you?"

Carella opened his wallet and produced his shield. "Police officer,"

he

said.

"I'm interested in the order you just wrote up."

The

girl

was perhaps nineteen years

old, a college girl

working in

the store during the Christmas rush. Speechlessly, she studied the shield, eyes bugging.

"Are these items being sent?" Carella asked. "Yes,

sir,

"

and stood up a

"Can you "Yes,

sir,''

the

girl said.

Her eyes were

little straighter,

tell

me

still

wide. She wet her lips

prepared to be a perfect witness.

where?" Carella asked.

she said, and turned the sales

slip

wanted them wrapped address. Miss Arlene Orton, 812 North Crane

toward him. "He

separately, but they're all going to the

the city, and

I'd

"Thank you It felt like

guess

at

it

—

Street, right here in

a swell

very much," Carella said.

Christmas already.

The man who picked minutes

it's

after she left

the lock

Police Department.

on Arlene Orton's

front door, ten

her apartment on Wednesday morning, was better

than any burglar in the It

city,

and he happened

took the technician longer to

ment, but the telephone was the easiest of his

to

for

list

for the

up

his equip-

The

tap would

set

jobs.

work

become operative when the telephone company supplied the with a

same

police

of so-called bridging points that located the pairs and cables

Arlene Orton's phone. The monitoring equipment would be hooked

WHEN

SADIE

SHE DIED

381

went out of or came into the apartment,

into these

and whenever a

a recorder

would automatically tape both ends of the conversation. In

call

whenever a call was made from the apartment, a dial indicator would ink out a series of dots that signified the number being called. The technician placed his bug in the bookcase on the opposite addition,

side of the

room. The bug was a small

FM

transmitter with a battery-

powered mike that needed to be changed every twenty-four hours. The technician would have preferred running his

own

wires, but

he dared

not ask the building superintendent for an empty closet or workroom in

which

A blabbermouth superintendent can kill

to hide his listener.

an investigation more quickly than a squad of gangland goons. In the rear of a panel truck parked at the curb

some twelve

feet

south of the entrance to 812 Crane, Steve Carella sat behind the recording equipment that was locked into the frequency of the bug.

He

sat hopefully,

to hear

with a tuna sandwich and a bottle of beer, prepared

and record any sounds that emanated from Arlene's apartment.

At

the bridging point seven blocks away and thirty minutes

Arthur Brown

sat

behind equipment that was hooked into the

phone mike, and waited

for

Arlene Orton's phone to

ring.

later,

tele-

He was

in

radio contact with Carella.

The

call

first

came

at 12:17

The equipment

p.m.

tripped in au-

tomatically and the spools of tape began recording the conversation,

while Brown simultaneously monitored

it

through his headphone.

"Hello?" "Hello, Arlene?" "Yes, who's this?"

"Nan."

"Nan? You sound

so different.

Do you have

a cold or something?"

"Every year at this time. Just before the holidays. Arlene, I'm terribly rushed,

The to three

I'll

make

this short.

Do you know

Beth's dress size?"

conversation went on in that vein, and Arlene Orton spoke

more

girlfriends in succession.

She then

called the local su-

permarket to order the week's groceries. She had a fine voice, deep

and

forceful,

girlfriends)

punctuated every so often (when she was talking to her

with a delightful giggle.

At 4:00

p.m., the telephone in Arlene's apartment rang again.

"Hello?" "Arlene, this

is

Gerry."

"Hello, darling."

"I'm leaving here a

little early.

1

thought

I'd

come

right over."

ED McBAIN

382

"Good." "I'll

be there

oh, half an hour, forty minutes."

in,

"Hurry."

Brown radioed Carella at once.

Carella thanked him, and sat back

to wait.

On

Thursday morning, two days before Christmas, Carella

sat at his

desk in the squad room and looked over the transcripts of the

from the night before. The conversation on that

reel

had

at

five reels

one point

changed abruptly in tone and content; Carella thought he knew why but he wanted to confirm his suspicion.

FLETCHER:

I

MISS orton:

with

my

meant I

trial.

able to get away, I'm not sure.

I'll

have to check

shrink.

FLETCHER: What's he got to do with MISS orton: Well,

FLETCHER:

not the

after the holidaySj

may be

Is

MISS orton:

he taking a vacation? I'll

ask him.

FLETCHER: Yes, ask him. Because MISS orton:

Ummm. When

lawyer, you

I'd really like to get

away.

do you think the case (inaudible).

FLETCHER: In Match sometime. MISS orton:

it?

have to pay whether I'm there or not, you know.

I

No

sooner than that. He's got a

new

know.

What

does that mean, a

new

lawyer?

FLETCHER: Nothing. He'll be convicted anyway. MISS orton: (Inaudible).

FLETCHER: Bccause the MISS orton:

FLETCHER:

I

How

trial's

soon

going to take a lot out of me.

after the trial

MISS orton: She's dead, Gerry,

FLETCHER: Yes, but MISS orton:

I

.

.

A

No, not

I

.

don't see

why we have

.

.

.

to wait,

do you?

this?

we ought to set a date now. depending on when the trial is. Gerry?

yet.

provisional date,

FLETCHER:

.

.

don't see

FLETCHER: Have you read MISS orton:

.

don't know.

Gerry.

I

think

Mmmm?

MISS orton:

Do you

FLETCHER: What? MISS orton: Gerry?

FLETCHER: YcS?

think

it'll

be a terribly long, drawn-out

trial?

SADIE

Where

MISS orton:

FLETCHER:

was

I

SHE DIED

383

are you?

just looking

Do you

MISS orton:

WHEN

over some of these books.

think you can tear yourself away?

FLETCHER: Forgive me, darling. MISS orton: for

it

.

.

If

the

trial starts in

March, and we planned on April

.

FLETCHER: Unless they come up with something unexpected, of course. MISS orton: Like what?

FLETCHER: Oh,

don't know. They've got some pretty sharp people

I

investigating this case.

MISS orton: What's there to investigate?

FLETCHER: There's always the possibility he didn't do

it.

MISS orton: (Inaudible) a signed confession?

One

FLETCHER:

of the cops thinks

A

FLETCHER:

dctective

named

I

Carella.

by now. He's a very thorough cop. for

him.

I

wonder

if

he

killed her.

Who?

MISS orton: You're not serious.

I

He

probably knows about us

have a great deal of admiration

realizes that.

MISS orton: Where'd he even get such an idea?

FLETCHER: Well, MISS orton:

told

I

What?

him

Gerry,

I

hated her.

why

the hell did you do that?

FLETCHER: He'd have found out anyway.

He

probably knows by

that Sarah was sleeping around with half the

he probably knows

I

knew

it,

men

in this city.

now

And

too.

MISS orton:

Who cares what he found out? Corwin's already confessed.

FLETCHER:

Can understand his reasoning. I'm

I

just

not sure he can

understand mine. MISS orton:

let

Some

reasoning.

If

you were going to

kill her,

you'd have

when she refused to sign the separation papers. So him investigate, who cares? Wishing your wife dead isn't the

done

it

ages ago,

same thing

as killing her. Tell that to Detective Copolla.

FLETCHER: Carella. (Laughs). MISS orton: What's so funny?

FLETCHER:

I'll

tell

him, darling.

According to the technician who had wired the Orton apartment, the living-room bug was in the bookcase on the wall opposite the bar. Carella was interested in the tape from the time Fletcher had asked

—"Have you read

Arlene about a book cupied.

It

this?"

—and then seemed preoc-

was Carella's guess that Fletcher had discovered the bookcase

.

ED McBAIN

384

What

bug.

what Fletcher had

interested Carella more, however, was

he knew the place was wired. Certain of an audience now,

said after

Fletcher had:

1

Suggested the possibility that Corwin was not

2.

Flatly stated that a

3.

Expressed admiration for Carella, while wondering

aware of 4.

if

Carella was

it.

Speculated that Carella had already doped out the purpose of the bar-crawling

5.

guilty.

cop named Carella suspected him.

last

Sunday

night, was cognizant of Sarah's promis-

cuity,

and knew Fletcher was aware of

Made

a little joke about "telling" Carella.

Carella

when

felt as eerie as

he had when lunching with Fletcher and

drinking with him.

Now

what was he

to Carella. But

it.

Carella wanted very

later

he'd spoken, through the bug, directly

trying to say?

much

to hear

And why?

what Fletcher would

he didnt know he was being overheard.

He

say

when

asked Lieutenant Byrnes

for permission to request a court order to put a

bug in Fletcher's

automobile. Byrnes granted permission, and the court issued the order.

Fletcher

made

a date with Arlene

across the river,

Fletcher

left

and the bug was

Orton

his

work cut out

By ten minutes couraged.

The Chandeliers 1972

the city, the effective range of the transmitter

open road would be about a quarter of a had

to go to

installed in Fletcher's

On

for

mile.

The

car. If

on the

listener-pursuer

him.

to ten that night, Carella

the way out to

The

was drowsy and

dis-

Chandeliers, Fletcher and Arlene

had not once mentioned Sarah or the plans for their impending marriage. Carella was anxious to put them both to bed and get home to his family. When they finally came out of the restaurant and began walking toward Fletcher's automobile, Carella actually uttered an au-

"At last, " and started his car. They proceeded east on Route 701, heading

dible,

said nothing. Carella thought at

equipment, then

finally

first

for the bridge,

and

something was wrong with the

Arlene spoke and Carella knew

just

what had

happened. The pair had argued in the restaurant, and Arlene had been smoldering until this anger.

moment when

she could no longer contain her

WHEN

SADIE

"Maybe you don't want

to

SHE DIED

me

marry

385

at all," she shouted.

"That's ridiculous," Fletcher said.

"Then why won't you "1

have

"You haven't When,

set a date?"

set a date." set a date.

Maybe

after the trial.^

All you've done this

say after the

trial.

whole damn thing has been a

stall.

is

Maybe you never planned to marry me." "You know that isn't true, Arlene." "How do I know there really were separation "There were.

I

papers?"

told you there were."

"Then why wouldn't she

them?"

sign

"Because she loved me."

then why did she do those horrible things?"

"If she loved you,

"To make me

pay,

1

think."

why she showed you her to make me pay."

"Is that

"Yes,

"No. Because she was a "I guess.

I

guess that's

"Putting the a

new

TG

little

slut."

what she became." in her

book every time she

one. Told Gerry, and marked a

make me pay." You should have gone

"Yes, to

"A

slut.

black book?"

little

little

TG

told

in her

you about

book."

her with detectives. Gotten

after

—

pictures, threatened her, forced her to sign

"No,

couldn't have done that.

I

It

would have ruined me, Arl."

"Your precious career."

my

"Yes,

precious career."

They both now. Carella

fell silent

again.

tried to stay close

They were approaching the

bridge

behind them, but on occasion the

distance between the two cars lengthened and he lost

some words

in

the conversation.

"She wouldn't sign the papers and )

(

"And

I

"I did

everything

thought

"Yes, Gerry, but

)

(

adultery because

)."

(

I

possibly could."

now

she's dead.

"I'm suspected of having Fletcher was making a

on the

I

have come out."

accelerator, not

"What

So what's your excuse now?"

killed her,

left turn, off

wanting to

difference does that

damn

it!"

the highway. Carella stepped

lose voice contact

make?" Arlene asked.

now.

""

"

""

ED McBAIN

386

"None at all, I'm sure," Fletcher said. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind at all being married to a convicted murderer."

"What

are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the possibility

me

"Let

hear

.

.

.

Never mind."

it."

"All right, Arlene. I'm talking about the possibility of someone accusing

me

And

—of my having

of the murder.

to stand trial for it."

"That's the most paranoid

not paranoid."

"It's

"Then what

—

They've caught the murderer, they

is it?

"I'm only saying suppose. her,

if

someone

says

How

we

get married

if I

killed

killed her?"

I

"No one

has said that, Gerry."

"Well,

someone should."

i/

could

Silence. Carella was dangerously close to Fletcher's car now, risking discovery. Carella held his breath

and stayed glued

and

to the car

ahead. "Gerry,

don't understand this," Arlene said, her voice low.

I

"Someone could make

good case

a

for it."

—

"Why would

anyone do that? They know that Corwin

"They could

say

say she was

still

when

still

in her

say the knife was

way and

.

.

came

I

alive

into the apartment

came

I

and

...

I

and

.

.

.

into the apartment. I

came

in

They could They could

and found her that

finished her off."

.

"Why would

you do that?"

"To end it." "You wouldn't

kill

anyone, Gerry."

"No."

"Then why I'd

done

belly,

it

are

wanted

"If she .

.

.

you even suggesting such a it

...

If

me

to

do

I

don't think

"I'm only trying to

"No,

I

someone

said

it."

are you saying, Gerry?"

"I'm trying to explain that Sarah might have "Gerry.

If

that I'd finished the job, pulled the knife across her

they could claim she asked

"What

terrible thing?"

someone accused me ...

I

tell

want you

to

—

—

know."

don't want to know. Please. Gerry, you're frightening

me." ''Listen to

me,

damn

it!

I'm trying to explain what might have

SADIE

happened.

Is

SHE DIED

that so hard to accept?

to kill her?"

"Gerry, please, "I

WHEN

wanted to

don't you think

I

I

387

That she might have asked me

— the hospital,

call

was ready to

I

could see she wasn't

fatally

the hospital,

call

stabbed?"

"Gerry, please."

"She begged her, she

.

.

.

show him,

me

Damn

to kill her, Arlene, she begged it,

Is it

end

all

the places,

I

thought he was a

it

for

tried to

I

man who'd

that difficult?"

"Oh, my God,

did

you

kill

her? Did you

"No. Not Sarah. Only the

woman

Sarah?"

kill

she'd become, the slut I'd

forced her to become. She was Sadie, you see,

when

to

can't either of you understand that?

took him to

1

understand.

me

when

I

killed her

she died."

"Oh, my God," Arlene

said,

and Carella nodded

in

weary ac-

ceptance. Carella er's

felt

neither elated nor triumphant.

As he followed

Fletch-

car into the curb in front of Arlene's building, he experienced

only a familiar nagging sense of repetition and despair. Fletcher was

coming out of

his car

now, walking around

who took

to the curb side,

opening

hand and stepped onto the sidewalk, weeping. Carella intercepted them before they reached the front door the door for Arlene,

his

of the building. Quietly, he charged Fletcher with the murder of his wife,

and made the

arrest

without resistance.

Fletcher did not seem at

So

it

was finished, or

all

surprised.

at least Carella

thought

it

was.

In the silence of his living room, the telephone rang at a quarter past one.

He

caught the phone on the third

ring.

"Hello?" "Steve," Lieutenant Byrnes said,

Ralph Corwin hanged himself have done

it

while

we were

"I just

got a call from Calcutta.

in his cell, just after midnight.

still

Must

taking Fletcher's confession in the

squad room." Carella was silent.

"Steve?" Byrnes said.

"Yeah, Pete."

"Nothing," Byrnes

said,

and hung

up.

Carella stood with the dead phone in his hands for several seconds

ED McBAIN

388

and then replaced where the

it

on the hook. He looked

lights of the tree

cell, who had taken his own known he had not taken the life of another.

junkie in a prison

It

into the living room,

glowed warmly, and thought of a despairing life

without ever having

was Christmas day.

Sometimes, none of

it

made any

sense at

all.

SUG6ESII0N8 FOR FURIHfR READING

DETECTIVE FICTION:

WILLIAM GODWIN,

Things

As They Are

or,

The Adventures of Caleb

Williams (1794)

CHARLES DICKENS,

Bleak House (1853)

WILKIE COLLINS, The Woman in White (1860) MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON, Lady Audleys Secret (1862) EMILE GABORIAU, V Affaire Lerouge (1866) WILKIE COLLINS, The Moonstone (1868) CHARLES DICKENS, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870) ANNA KATHERINE GREENE, The Leavenworth Case (1878)

MARY ROBERTS RINEHART, The Circular Staircase (1908) AGATHA CHRISTIE, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) DASHIELL HAMMETT, The Maltese Falcon (1930) DOROTHY L. SAYERS, Gaudy Night (1935) RAYMOND CHANDLER, The Long Goodbye (1953) CHESTER HIMES, A Rage in Harlem (1957)

GEORGES SIMENON, P.

D.

JAMES, An

REX BURNS,

Maigret and the

Unsuitable Job for a

Strip Search

Madwoman

Woman

(1970)

(1972)

(1984)

CRITICAL

WORKS:

BARZUN, JACQUES and WENDELL Crime. New York: Harper & Row,

H.

TAYLOR. A

1971; rev. 1989.

Catalogue of

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

390

CHANDLER, RAYMOND.

The Simple Art of Murder, Boston: Hough-

ton Mifflin, 1950.

DOVE, GEORGE N. The

Bowling Green, Ohio;

Police Procedural

Popular Press, 1982.

ECO, UMBERTO.

Postscript to

New

Weaver.

HAYCRAFT, HOWARD,

& Dunlap,

Grosser .

Murder

New

'TheNameoftheRose,''

trans.

William

York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1984. ed.

The Art of the Mystery

The

Life

and Times of

York: Appleton-Century, 1941; Carroll

Crime

J.

New York:

1946.

for Pleasure:

HUBIN, ALLEN

Story.

Fiction

the Detective Story.

& Graf, A

1749-1980:

1984.

Comprehensive

Bibliography.

JAMES,

P.

New

"No Gore, Please—They're

D.

British," (interview)

The

York Times Book Review 9 October 1988. ^

LANDRUM, LARRY, PAT BROWNE

and

RAY

B.

BROWNE,

ed.

Dimensions of Detective Fiction. Bowling Green, Ohio: Popular Press, 1976.

MAUGHAM, W. SOMERSET. tive

"The Decline and Fall of the DetecStory," The Vagrant Mood. Port Washington, New York:

Kennikat

Press, 1969.

NEVINS, FRANCIS M. Ohio: Popular

OUSBY, IAN.

JR. The Mystery Writers Art. Bowling Green,

Bloodhounds of Heaven: The Detective

from Godwin

to

JOHN

M.,

in English Fiction

Doyle. Cambridge, Massachusetts

Harvard University

REILLY,

,

Press, 1970.

and London:

Press, 1976.

ed. Twentieth-Century

Crime and Mystery Writers.

New York: St. Martin's, 1980; rev. 1985. SYMONS, JULIAN. Bloody Murder: A History, From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel. New York: Viking, 1985. WILSON, EDMUND. A Literary Chronicle of the mOs. New York: Farrar, Strauss

& Giroux,

1950.

WINKS, ROBIN, ED. Colbquium

on Crime.

New

York: Scribner's,

1986. .

Detective Fiction:

Cliffs, N.J.:

A

Collection of Critical Essays.

Englewood

Prentice Hall, 1980; rev. Woodstock, Vermont: Foul

Play Press, 1988. .

"The Genre of Mystery and Spy Fiction Should Get Serious But It Must Be for the Right Reasons," The Chronicle of

Study

—

Higher Education, 2 August 1989.

I

Rex Burns

is

the Edgar Award-winning author

of ten mystery novels.

Mary Rose Sullivan

the author of three books on Victorian

is

litera-

Both of these authors have written on the subject of mystery fiction, and they together teach a course on the development of mystery fiction at the University of Colorado at Denver. ture.

Jacket design by Todd

Printed in U.S.A.

Radom

cmssic MYSTERY STORIES BY

MASTERS OF THE GENRE Ian

Poe "The Murders

In

the Rue Morgu<

"The Purloined Letter" Arthur

Conan Doyle "A Scandal

in

Bohemia*'

"The Adventure of the Speckled Band**

Jacques Futrelle "The Problem of Cell

G.

K.

Chesterton "The

13'*

Invisible Man**

Susan Glaspell "A Jury of Her Peers" Dashiell

rothy

L Sayers

Hammett "The House

in

Turk Street*

"The Adventurous Exploit of the Gave of Ali

B<

Agatha Christie "The Blue Geranium** Cornell Woolrich "Murder at the Automat*' William Faulkner

"Hand upon the Waters"

Jorge Luis Borges "Death and the Compass" Ellery

Queen "The Adventure of Abraham Lincoln's Clue* Flannery O'Connor "The Comforts of

Home"

Ross MacDonald "The Sleeping Dog"

EdMcBain "Sadie When She Died"

E3ocks-:-iction iro

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