CHAPTER XIBEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Aloudrat-a-tat-tat startled Dick as he dressed in his room that night. On opening the door, he was much surprised to find General Long standing on the threshold.
“Didn’t expect to see me, did you?” asked Long, smiling at Dick’s amazement. “Your very charming landlady told me I might come right up. By Jove! she has fixed you up in comfort,” and he looked enviously around Dick’s pleasant, home-like room. “This is something like,” sinking luxuriously into a huge lounging chair.
“It’s mighty good of you to look me up so soon, Chester. Sorry I can’t spend the evening with you, but I must hurry along as soon as I am fully dressed,” struggling to tie his cravat as he spoke.
“Don’t mind me. I only dropped in to askwhat you did to Tom Murray; he’s in the devil of a flutter for fear he betrayed official secrets.”
“Tom need not worry; he won’t get into trouble. Say, old man, I simply must consult you; but first promise by all that you hold sacred you won’t breathe a word of what I’m telling you.”
“I swear.” Long’s mouth closed like a steel trap. When he spoke in that tone Dick knew he meant what he said.
“The Secretary of State asked me to keep these facts from becoming public; but I know you can be relied on to be ‘mum.’” Dick spoke slowly, weighing each word. “I must have your advice, Chester. Since I saw you last I have received incontestable proof that Trevordidsee his wife on his return from the banquet that night, although he testified to the contrary.”
Long whistled. “You think then that he had a hand in the murder?” he asked doubtfully.
“I cannot reach any other conclusion.”Dick stopped a moment to check off his deductions on his fingers. “First, there is the possibility of Gordon’s being Mrs. Trevor’s first husband—anyway, an old lover. Secondly, he certainly was there that night. Probably Trevor returned in time to catch them together.”
“Or perhaps he overheard their conversation, waited until Gordon left, then had it out with his wife,” interjected Long, quickly. “He may have lost his temper—biff! Poor devil!” remorsefully. “We must not judge too hastily, Dick; we don’t know what provocation he had—he may have been insanely jealous, like Othello, for instance.”
“Think of having to go and ask a man why he murdered his wife—oh, Lord!—oh, damn!” Dick’s lamentations changed to maledictions. To emphasize his remarks he had inadvertently used too much strength in forcing his sleeve button through his cuff, and one of the links had broken in his hand. “Here, help yourself to a cigarette,” pushing a box towards Long, “while I mend this confounded button.Why aren’t you dining at the White House to-night?”
“Not sufficiently urged. Nothing under a Major-General was invited to meet his Imperial Highness, the Grand Duke. The Russians are a mighty fine looking race of men, Dick, and the Grand Duke’s staff is no exception to the rule.”
“Is that so? I met a very distinguished looking Russian last night, a Count de Smirnoff. He spoke our language much better than most foreigners.”
“Oh, his nation are all good linguists. Is the Count a member of the Grand Duke’s staff?”
“De Morny didn’t tell me. By the way, we discussed the Trevor murder last night, and Count de Smirnoff suggested that the burglar may have picked up the broken end of the weapon used to kill Mrs. Trevor, and being in no immediate fear of the hangman, is holding it back to use as blackmail when he gets out of jail.”
“That’s not a bad theory,” said Long.“Look into it, Dick. The deeper we get in this affair the more involved it becomes. At present,” rising as he saw Dick pick up his overcoat and hat, “it looks as if the Attorney General were indeed the guilty man. And yet, Dick, if those three people had a scene that night, Gordon, if innocent, must suspect Trevor. Then why doesn’t he speak out and clear himself?”
Dick shook his head despondently. “It’s beyond me,” he groaned. “Come down and see me at the office to-morrow afternoon, Chester.”
“I am sorry, but I can’t; for I have to escort the Grand Duke to Fort Myer. The troops stationed there are to give a special drill in his honor. But you come and dine with me at the Willard, about seven thirty; for I am most anxious to hear the outcome of your interview with Trevor.”
“All right, I’ll be there. Come, hurry up, Chester, I’m behind time.” So saying he hustled Long into his overcoat and out of the house.
Twenty minutes later Dick ran lightly upthe Trevor steps in much tribulation of spirit. He heartily wished the night was over.
“Can I see the Attorney General, Wilkins?” he asked, as that functionary opened the door.
“No, sir. He is not at home, sir.”
“Sorry, Wilkins, but I must insist on being admitted. I come from the Secretary of State. Take this note and my card up to the Attorney General and ask if he can see me.”
On entering the drawing-room Dick was surprised to see Alfred Clark lounging comfortably back on the big divan near the fireplace. He glanced up with annoyance at the sound of footsteps; but, recognizing Dick, he came forward with outstretched hand.
“Good evening, Tillinghast,” he said cordially. “I didn’t hear the front bell ring; I must have been dozing.”
“Indeed,” answered Dick. What was it about the fellow he didn’t like? Ah, it came to him as Clark moved forward a chair—it was the Secretary’s air of proprietorship—as if he were host and Dick a tolerated intruder!
“Can I do anything for you to-night, Tillinghast?”
“No, thanks. I called to see the Attorney General.”
“Ah!” Clark’s exclamation and shrug were foreign in their expressiveness. “That is impossible. Mr. Trevor sees no one.”
“I think he will see me,” said Dick, patiently.
“I fear you are mistaken, Tillinghast. The Attorney General denies himself to all callers,” Clark replied suavely. “You will really have to confide your business to me.”
“That is impossible,” replied Dick, shortly.
Clark flushed at his tone, and his eyes flashed.
“You forget, sir, that I am the Attorney General’s confidential secretary, in fact, his representative. I would be perfectly within my rights if I denied you admittance to this house.”
The hot retort on Dick’s lips was checked by Wilkins’ entrance.
“The Attorney General will see you, sir. Please walk into his private office.”
Try as he would, Clark could not prevent a look of deep chagrin crossing his face, and Dick chuckled inwardly as he followed the butler out of the room and across the broad hall. Just before he reached the door leading into the office, he felt his nose twitching, premonitory symptoms of a sneeze, and with hasty fingers he pulled his handkerchief out of his cuff.
The mended cuff link broke and made a tinkling noise as it struck on the hearth of the open fireplace; and then, with the evil ingenuity which sometimes possesses inanimate objects, it rolled far out of sight under a suit of chain armor which hung to the left of the chimney. Dick sprang in pursuit; Mrs. Macallister had given the set to him that Christmas, and he was determined not to lose the button. So getting down on hands and knees he groped about until his fingers closed over it again; then rose hurriedly to his feet at the same time thrusting the recovered link into his waistcoat pocket, to find himself face to face with the Attorney General.
“G—good e—evening, Mr. Attorney General,” he stammered, much flustered. “I smashed my cuff link, and was hunting for the thing.” And he exhibited his unfastened cuff to the Attorney General’s amused gaze.
“I am sorry, Tillinghast,” said he. “Wilkins, see if you can help—”
“Oh, I have the link,” broke in Dick, tapping his pocket reassuringly.
“Then let us go into the office. I believe you wish to see me alone. Ah! Clark,” as his secretary came out of the drawing-room, “you need not wait any longer. Stay,” as Clark hastily put on his overcoat with Wilkins’ assistance, “please stop on your way down Connecticut Avenue and send this night letter for me. Good night, my boy.”
“Good night, sir; good night, Tillinghast,” and the door banged to behind his retreating form.
After they were seated in the closed room Dick gazed in shocked surprise at the Attorney General. Never had he seen a man alter so much in so short a time. His hair andmustache were white, deep lines had formed about his mouth and eyes, and the latter had a feverish light in them which worried Dick extremely. For a moment he was at a loss how to explain his errand, but the Attorney General solved the difficulty for him.
“Secretary Bowers in his note tells me that I can trust you absolutely, and that you have confidential news of importance for my ear alone. Is it in regard to my resignation?”
“Well, partly, sir. I was with the President and the Secretary when your letter was delivered. They both wish you to reconsider your decision.”
A shade of annoyance crossed Trevor’s face. “I am afraid that is impossible, Tillinghast. I am an ill man, as you can see. It is physically impossible for me to carry on my work at the Department of Justice.”
“Very true, sir. But could you not take a vacation only? That would set you up wonderfully.”
“My mind is made up,” said Trevor, stubbornly. “I intend to resign.”
“The President told me, Mr. Attorney General, that he could not accept your resignation until—until—”
“Until what?” questioned Trevor, in growing surprise.
Dick, taking his courage in both hands, continued: “Until you explain your presence here with your wife shortly before she was killed.”
“Are you mad?” shouted Trevor. “As I said on the witness stand, I never saw my wife after my return that night—I—”
“One moment, sir. You forget the Secretary himself talked on the telephone to both you and your wife in this room at fifteen minutes past two on Thursday morning.”
The Attorney General grew so ghastly that Dick feared he would collapse in his chair.
“The telephone,” he croaked. “My God! the telephone—I forgot that—” then, in uncontrollable agitation, he sprang to his feet and walked up and down, head bent, eyes on the floor.
Five minutes, ten minutes passed; but thesilence between the two men remained unbroken. Dick simply could not speak, he felt as if he were torturing some dumb animal, for the look of agony on Trevor’s face unnerved him. Finally the Attorney General dropped exhausted into his revolving chair.
“Tillinghast,” he said, slowly, “I am miserable—miserable—” His shaking hand played for a second with his watch chain. “I thought that by taking a certain course of action I could prevent knowledge of other matters from becoming known broadcast.”
“I beg your pardon, sir,” interrupted Dick, gently. “What you tell me to-night will, as far as I am concerned, be repeated to only one person—the Secretary.”
“Thanks; that assurance makes it easier for me. If I had recollected about the telephone call I would have gone to the President myself; but—” a shrug completed his sentence. “Now, as I understand it, Tillinghast,” he continued, “you three men think I came down here, met my wife, quarreled with her, and killed her.”
“Yes, that’s about it,” admitted Dick, reluctantly.
“It is, I suppose, a natural inference. But the woman whom I was talking to in this room—was not my wife.”
Dick started so violently that he overturned a pile of magazines lying on the desk by his elbow. He was too confused to pick them up, but sat gazing blankly at Trevor. A vulgar intrigue! He had never supposed he was that sort of man.
The Attorney General colored painfully as he read Dick’s thought.
“Don’t jump to conclusions,” he said, harshly. “To explain matters fully I shall have to go back to my marriage to Hélène de Beaupré. We met in London, and I, like many others, fell madly in love with her. She returned my affection, and I persuaded her to marry me at once.
“She has always been a good and loving wife to me. But I found she had one fault; in fact, it became an overwhelming passion—she gambled. It seemed to be some taint inher blood. Again and again I remonstrated with her, but to no purpose. She gambled so persistently, so recklessly, and her losses were so large that, finally, I told her my income was crippled by her extravagance, and that hereafter she would have to live within a certain allowance. She realized at last that I was in earnest, and did her best to comply with my request. Would God I had never made it!” Trevor spoke with passionate feeling. “I might have known that a born gambler can never be cured or kept within bounds.
“Well, to go on with my story, I thought that she had stopped gambling, knowing that she had not overdrawn her allowance, or appealed to me for extra money. But on Monday, February 1st, I went to the Barclays’ about midnight to fetch my wife home from their card party. They play bridge for high stakes in that house, and I had asked my wife to decline the invitation. She refused to do so, however, saying if I would go there for supper she would leave with me immediately afterwards. Knowing that most of the highplay took place after midnight, I agreed to do as she requested.
“When I entered the Barclays’ drawing-room the guests were still playing, and I went and stood silently behind my wife’s chair. She was absorbed in the play and did not notice my presence. To my unspeakable horror, I saw her deliberately cheat.
“For a moment the room swam around me, then gathering my wits I looked to see if the other players had also detected her. As my eye traveled around the table, Madame de Berriot raised her head, and I saw by her expression that she also had caught my wife in the act of cheating. For one sickening second I feared she would call everyone’s attention to their table, but to my surprise, she said nothing.
“I got my wife away as quickly as possible, but I was too sick at heart to tell her of my discovery. I walked the floor for the rest of the night wondering what was the best thing for me to do.
“On my arrival at the Department Tuesdaymorning, I found Madame de Berriot awaiting me in my office. It was not a pleasant interview.” The Attorney General smiled bitterly. “We went over the whole dirty business. She had come there to bleed me, and she did—$10,000 was her price of silence.
“I am a proud man, Tillinghast, and I could not bear to have my wife and my name coupled with dishonor. I—I could not face the scandal that would follow the exposé; therefore, I bought the woman off.
“It was a large sum, and I could not give it to her at a moment’s notice. She was then on her way to Baltimore, but intended to return to Washington late on Wednesday afternoon to get her traps together, as she was leaving here for good Thursday morning on the Colonial Express. She did not wish me to call at the Embassy where she was stopping as it might cause comment; she would not accept a certified check for the same reason.
“My engagements on Wednesday were such that I had no time free. Therefore, in desperation,I suggested she should stop here for the money. I knew my wife and Beatrice intended to go to the Bachelors’, and that they never left a dance until the very end. So it was arranged that she should come here on her way from the ball about two o’clock.
“It was sheer madness to yield to a blackmailer, I know, but, Tillinghast, I was half wild by that time, and lost my head; and bitterly have I rued it since.” Trevor sighed drearily. “I came home that night, as I testified at the inquest, and went directly to my room, tiptoeing past my wife’s door, for I was desperately afraid of awakening her. I threw myself down on the lounge and, overcome by weariness, fell into a troubled sleep.
“Some time later I awoke with a start, struck a match and glanced at the clock; it was just five minutes of two. I raised the shade and looked out of the window. The Embassy was not far away. Suddenly I saw a woman’s figure coming slowly down 20th Street. I watched her cross the street, and then hurried downstairs as noiselessly as Icould and admitted her. We went at once to the private office, and there I discovered that I had left my wallet containing the money in my bedroom, and I hastened back upstairs to get it. Just as I was returning the telephone rang. Madame de Berriot, thinking the noise might be overheard, removed the receiver, but instead of putting it on the table answered the call; then beckoned to me. I talked to the Secretary; then rang off. Immediately afterwards I gave Madame de Berriot her money in gold certificates, and escorted her to the door. That is the last I ever saw of her,” he added, leaning wearily back in his chair.
For some minutes Dick sat regarding Trevor in silence. Then he roused himself.
“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
“No; go ahead.”
“Do you think anyone could have been in hiding in this room while you were here?”
“I think not. Madame de Berriot was as nervous as a cat, she kept glancing in every direction.”
“Was the safe open or closed?”
“The outside closet door was closed, so the one to the safe had to be shut.”
“Why did you not keep the $10,000 in the safe?”
“I had forgotten the combination.” Then, as he saw Dick’s look of incredulity, he added: “I never can remember the complicated numbers; so for convenience I wrote the word ‘safe’ and the numbers of the combination down in a small memorandum book when I first took this house. I seldom open the safe as Clark attends to it for me.”
“Why didn’t you ask your secretary for the combination, or look it up in your book?”
“I forgot to ask Clark until after he had gone,” explained the Attorney General patiently, “and when I looked for the book it was not in its place.”
“Indeed. Where do you usually keep it?”
The Attorney General put his hand on the beveled front of his massive, flat-topped desk.
“This looks like a solid piece of mahogany,” he said, “but in fact it is a secret drawer. To unlock it you open this upper left handdrawer as far as it will go. There is a round hole in its back partition, and by putting your hand through it you can touch the spring.” He illustrated his words as he spoke, and the small secret drawer slid noiselessly open. Dick examined the mechanism with care.
“How many people can open this drawer besides yourself?” he asked.
The Attorney General considered a moment before replying.
“I am positive only Mrs. Trevor, my daughter, and myself can do so,” he declared, finally. “My daughter bought the desk at an auction in New York, and gave it to me shortly after we moved here.”
“Did you go immediately upstairs after Madame de Berriot’s departure?” asked Dick, continuing his inquiries.
“I did; going straight to my room. Everything upstairs was perfectly quiet. I went to bed at once, and fell sound asleep shortly after my head touched the pillow.” Then, as Dick rose, he added quickly: “Tell the Secretary everything. Now that I know I may be suspectedof murder, I withdraw my resignation. I will stay here and fight it out. Tell him, also—” his voice rang out clearly, impressively—“that, as God is my witness, I know nothing of my wife’s murder!”