CHAPTER XXVIUNCOVERED
Marjorieand the others gazed at the physician in stupefied silence.
“I mean exactly what I said,” he went on. “The girl was hypnotized.”
“She wasn’t asleep,” protested Kathryn. “Her eyes were wide open, and her manner was perfectly natural. She knew what she was about.”
“That is not surprising or unusual,” answered Potter. “In cases of animal magnetism the subject is awake; has returned to what may be called her normal state, is able to reflect, reason, and direct her conduct; and yet under these conditions, she is influenced by the auto-suggestion. The real thief is the person who hypnotized Janet.”
“I tell you she was alone in this room,” declared Kathryn stubbornly.
“I am not denying it,” the physician spoke with quiet force. “At the will of the hypnotist the act of stealing may be accomplished several hours, or even two days after the date of auto-suggestion. Such suggestion can only be realized at the given hour, and cannot be realized until that hour arrives.”
“All very fine,” scoffed Kathryn. “But if JanetFordyce was a poor girl she would be in jail by now. Do you think you’d put up such a bluff for—Miss Langdon, for instance?”
A light broke on Duncan and he stepped toward Marjorie. “Have you known Janet stole?”
“Yes,” she answered huskily. “I feared it was kleptomania. I first saw her take a diamond sunburst from Mrs. Walbridge’s dressing-table on Christmas Eve.”
“And you never told?” Both voice and gesture showed Duncan’s unbounded admiration and love as he addressed Marjorie. “You let others think you the thief!” His look repaid her for the suffering she had endured.
“I watched Janet,” she confessed. “And whenever I found anything in her possession which I knew did not belong to her, I returned it to the rightful owner.”
“How about my wife’s pearl necklace?” broke in Calhoun-Cooper. “Did Miss Fordyce take that also?”
“I fear so,” faltered Marjorie. “But I have never seen the necklace in her possession.”
“Have you any objection to sending for your daughter, Fordyce, and asking her to return the necklace to me?”
Before Fordyce could reply to Calhoun-Cooper’s question, Potter interrupted him.
“It will do little good,” he began. “Janet is herself again, and all is forgotten; the crime, the impulse, and the instigator.”
“Do you mean to say we cannot learn the name of the fiend who has used my daughter as a puppet to accomplish his villany?” cried Fordyce unbelievingly.
“Not unless we hypnotize Janet anew, when her loss of memory will return. She can then probably tell us the author of the suggestion, the time, the place, and the manner.”
“A witness cannot be constrained to undergo hypnotism,” put in Pauline, breaking her long silence. “It is against the law.”
“And how do you know that?” asked Potter.
“A friend, who attended Janet’s boarding-school, told me that a young teacher, who took a number of pupils to see Keller, discovered that Janet was susceptible to hypnotism. The magician used her as a subject in the audience. Afterwards the teacher often demonstrated her power over Janet. Mr. Fordyce found it out”—Calderon Fordyce drinking in every word nodded affirmatively, “and wished to prosecute the teacher, but her lawyer refused to permit Janet to be hypnotized so that she might testify against her.”
“And how many people have you told that Janet was a sympathetic subject for hypnotism?” asked Potter. Pauline made no answer. “Your brother, for instance?” she fidgeted uncomfortably, but again refused to answer. “Just before dinner,” continued the physician quietly, “I saw a man running down the hall from this room; on coming in here I found Janet in a hypnotic trance....”
“Did you recognize the man?” questioned Duncan swiftly.
“I did not; but he dropped this in his flight,” taking out the silver pencil. “The initials engraved on it are ‘J. C. C.’”
“I know nothing about the whole business,” protested Joe vehemently. “I thought I heard raised voices in here, and stopped to investigate....”
“Through the keyhole?” with sarcastic significance, and Joe flushed.
“If I was on the other side of the door how did I hypnotize Janet Fordyce?” he asked, avoiding his father’s look.
Potter paid no attention to Joe’s remark, but continued to address the others. “There is nothing which suggestion cannot accomplish with a sensitive subject. With a suggested act are connected sentiments, emotions, passions, voluntary action, and all the phenomena constituting the psychology of movement. The suggestion which persists during the waking state presents one interesting characteristic; it appears to the subject to be spontaneous.”
“Do you mean that Janet was consciously a thief?” exclaimed Fordyce aghast.
Potter evaded a direct reply. “The subject generally supposes it to be a spontaneous act, and sometimes she even invents reasons to explain her conduct,” he said. “It is owing to this former fact that it is not necessary for the hypnotist to indicate in what way the crime is to be committed. Hurried on by this irresistible force, the subject feels none ofthe doubts and hesitations of a real criminal, but acts with a tranquility and security which insures the success of the crime.”
“Your theory illustrates Spinoza’s remark that ‘the consciousness of free-will is only ignorance of the cause of our acts’,” said Calhoun-Cooper reflectively. “As my son seems to be involved in this affair, I must ask you to examine your daughter; and the sooner the better, for we are losing valuable time.”
“Miss Marjorie,” began Calderon Fordyce. “Tell me who Janet has been with most frequently since coming to Washington, and who are her confidential friends.”
“Miss Langdon comes under that heading better than anyone else,” interpolated Pauline, and her spiteful manner made her meaning plain, but Marjorie did not flinch under the attack. She was about to speak when Potter answered for her.
“That is a matter of no moment,” he broke in. “If Janet voluntarily alienated her free-will to a magnetizer, though the latter may be only a casual acquaintance, she is at his or her mercy; and by the law of habit and repetition the control of a subject becomes more easy and complete.”
“But is not a long interval required in which to hypnotize a person?” asked Pauline doubtfully.
“No. Hypnotic sleep can be produced and terminated in the time it takes a subject to traverse a short passage from door to door, and an auto-suggestion can be made in fifteen seconds and affected in all places and at any hour of the day.”
Fordyce glanced at the physician appalled. “What a frightful power for evil in unscrupulous hands. Surely Janet will be able to tell us who has gained so fearful a hold over her.”
Potter shook his head. “A suggestion will destroy all recollection of what occurred during hypnotism. As a rule the process which produced the auto-suggestion leaves no trace of its symptoms, and the subject does not remember the way it was produced, and is altogether ignorant of the original source of the impulse she has received.”
“Are we to sit here and do nothing, Paul?” demanded Duncan hotly. The opening of the hall door interrupted him.
“Why are you all staying in here?” asked Janet, from the doorway. “Our other guests have left....” A stricken silence prevailed as she advanced into the room, and she was just becoming aware of their concentrated attention when Potter leaned forward, picked up the chamois-covered hammer and struck the Chinese gong until the vibrations filled the room. Thunderstruck, the others looked at him, but he only saw Janet.
“Janet, where did you put the ruby pendant?” he asked, authoritatively.
A crash broke the tense stillness as a statuette toppled to the floor, but the interruption came too late. Janet was deaf to her surroundings. She was obsessed with but one idea.
“I couldn’t find your coat,” she pleaded. “I had to bring the pendant direct to you, Chichester.”
Barnard dashed the jewel out of her extended palm and sprang for the door. But he was too late. Tom Nichols, with murder in his heart, was there before him, and he went down under the officer’s blow.
“Let me finish him, Duncan,” begged Tom, frantically, as the men dragged him off Barnard. “Let me kill the dastardly hound!”
“Control yourself, Nichols,” commanded Potter sternly. “Think of Janet.”
The admonition had the desired effect, and Tom, much against his will, permitted Marjorie to lead him away from the prostrate man.
“Is Janet in a hypnotic trance?” asked Duncan, staring at his sister.
“Yes,” replied the physician. “Barnard hypnotized her by means of sensorial excitement. I suspected as much because earlier this evening, I found Janet in a trance in the Chinese room, and before entering that room I heard the sound of a gong.”
“She struck the gong herself,” gasped Marjorie.
“Unconscious self-hypnotism,” commented Potter. “Probably Barnard used musical instruments, or perhaps the regular ticking of a clock to magnetize her so frequently that the law of repetition had its way when she heard the vibrations. I brought her back to her normal condition by placing my hand to the nape of her neck. Tell me,” he walked over and planted a hearty kick in the small of Barnard’s back. “What means did you use to awaken Janet?”
“Breathed on her forehead and eyes,” mumbled the half-conscious man.
Quickly Potter aroused Janet. She shivered, and turned and stretched out her hands to Tom.
“Take me away,” she said. “Oh, Tom, I asked you at dinner to protect me from myself. I’m not well—I tell you, I’m not well,” and she shook as with an ague.
Utterly regardless of the others’ presence, Tom gathered her in his strong arms. “I shall always guard you, my darling,” he promised tenderly. “No one shall come between us, and you will never be tormented again. Come with me.”
Barnard staggered to his feet and tried to intercept the lovers. Janet cowered back at his approach.
“Don’t let him touch me,” she pleaded piteously. “He says I’m a kleptomaniac, and that I must steal, steal——” a shudder of repulsion shook her. “He threatened to tell, he threatened to tell. Am I a kleptomaniac, Tom, dear Tom, am I a kleptomaniac?” Her eyes were alight with horror.
“No, no, my darling; you are only the dearest and best sweetheart in the whole world”—Tom’s voice quivered, and he held her close.
“But, Tom, I did find other people’s jewelry in my possession sometimes, and how did I get it unless I was a kleptomaniac?” Janet raised both hands to her throbbing temples and burst into a storm of tears.
“Go in the library with Nichols, Janet,” broke in Potter. “He will explain away your—nightmare.”Tom nodded understandingly as he caught the physician’s warning glare, and he gently led Janet out of the room. Barnard tried to slide after them, but Duncan pulled him back and closed the hall door.
“State what you have to say to us,” he ordered, “and be brief.”
“And suppose I refuse to make a statement?” replied Barnard sullenly, nursing his bruised and bleeding face.
“You will have plenty of time to think it over in jail.”
“Ah, then you intend to prosecute?”
“Did you doubt it?” Duncan’s eyes hardened; it was only by exerting the utmost self-restraint that he kept his hands off Barnard, so great was his fury at the latter’s treatment of his sister.
“Have you counted the cost of publicity?” inquired Barnard, with cool effrontery. Some of his habitual composure was returning to him.
“Whatever the cost you shall suffer the full penalty of the law. Father, call up the nearest precinct and tell the sergeant to send here and arrest a thief....”
“And hypnotizer,” sneered Barnard, as Calderon Fordyce stepped toward the door.
Joe, who had divided his time looking out of the window and watching his companions, sidled up to Kathryn, who stood next Barnard, and, while pretending to pick up her handkerchief, whispered:
“I found your note. My taxi’s waiting outside. You slip out there the first chance you get, and I’ll follow.”
She nodded understandingly as her eyes and Barnard’s crossed, but Joe did not see their by-play.
“Just a moment,” called Barnard, and Calderon Fordyce paused undecidedly. “I’ll not keep you waiting until my trial for an accurate account of my business transactions with your daughter,” and he laughed mockingly. “I needed money; always have needed it. Miss Pauline,” indicating her with a flippant wave of his hand, “told me Janet was easily hypnotized, and it gave me the idea of compelling her to steal for me. I had her practice by picking up trifles; then came Tom Nichol’s coin, then money and jewelry. I netted quite a tidy sum out of our silent partnership....” He stepped back to avoid Duncan’s furious leap toward him. Potter promptly stepped between the two men, and in the confusion Kathryn Allen slipped from the room.
“Be quiet, Duncan,” commanded Potter. “Finish your statement, Barnard.”
“There is very little to add,” said the latter, placing the desk carefully between himself and Duncan. “Sometimes Janet passed me the jewelry, sometimes she lost it before she could get it to me. Your wife’s necklace was a rich haul”—J. Calhoun-Cooper smiled wryly. “I realized that if Janet was caught stealing, she would only be thought a kleptomaniac. She was tractable enough until I tried to make her turn against Tom Nichols; then she grew stubborn.”
“Hypnotic subjects often rebel against injuring those they love,” remarked Potter thoughtfully.
“She would have obeyed me in the end,” andBarnard’s dark eyes flamed in sudden baffled rage. “We might have gone on indefinitely, but I grew to hate the influence you, Duncan Fordyce, exerted over Marjorie”—Barnard’s manner betrayed genuine emotion. “I planned to get her away from here. Miss Pauline had told me when I accompanied her home from the Charity Ball, that she suspected Marjorie of stealing her mother’s pearl necklace, and I suggested that she call here and charge Marjorie with the theft, and also told her to ask Janet what she knew of the theft. She said she would go and see Mrs. Fordyce this morning, so I made an appointment to see Janet before Miss Pauline got here. I saw Janet alone, and by auto-suggestion forced her to testify against Marjorie.” A horrified gasp escaped Marjorie, and for the first time he turned and looked fully at her. “I loathed poverty and I loved you,” he said, and there was infinite pathos in his charmingly modulated voice. “No other woman counted,” he stumbled in his speech, his passion mastering him. “My punishment lies in losing you. Have you no word for me?” stretching out his hands imploringly. But Marjorie bowed her head, unable to speak. Potter, watching her closely, saw she was on the point of collapse.
“Go and call the police, Duncan,” he began, then stopped speaking as the room was plunged in darkness.
Barnard, taking his hand from the electric light switch, sprang noiselessly out of the room and raced down the hall, Duncan at his heels. He gained thefront steps by a narrow margin, and one leap carried him through the open door of the waiting taxi-cab. Duncan stood watching the disappearing rear lights of the taxi-cab with mixed emotions, then turned on his heel and re-entered the house. He met the three older men in the hall, and they accompanied him back to the Chinese room. Joe turned from the open window on their appearance.
“Did Kathryn go with Barnard?” he asked in a voice he strove to make steady.
“Yes,” answered Duncan.
J. Calhoun-Cooper stepped forward at the sight of his son’s grief-stricken face, and laid an affectionate hand on his shoulder.
“Come home with me, my boy,” he said, and his tone gave Joe some ray of comfort. “I need you,” and shoulder to shoulder, father and son stepped from the room. Without speaking to the Fordyces, Pauline followed her father and brother out into the hall.
Potter slipped his arm inside Calderon Fordyce’s. “Let us see them off the premises,” he suggested, and paused only long enough to carefully close the hall door behind them.
Left by themselves Duncan walked swiftly over to Marjorie. He had not seen her alone since his long-distance proposal at the dinner table. At his approach Marjorie faltered and drew back, embarrassment tinging her white cheeks a delicate pink. Desperately she controlled an impulse to turn and fly; then as she met the yearning tenderness ofhis regard she half conquered her shyness and her hand stole toward him in pleading surrender. Intuitive knowledge guided Duncan as he laid his cheek against her soft palm; she had been sorely tried that day, her composure was at the breaking point.
“What have you there?” he asked gently, pointing to a long envelope which Marjorie clutched in one nervous hand.
“I don’t know,” she steadied her voice with an effort, and handed him the envelope. “My name is written over your house address in the upper left-hand corner, and it is addressed to Admiral Lawrence. I found the envelope in the pocket of my sweater which was lying on the floor behind this door leading to your mother’s private staircase. I have no idea how it got there.”
“We’ve had enough mysteries.” Duncan thrust an impatient finger under the flap of the envelope and tore it open; then drew out a folded typewritten sheet and glanced hastily over it. “Jove! it’s the signed codicil to Mrs. Lawrence’s will. I thought I had solved that mystery.”
His surprise was reflected in Marjorie’s face. “I know nothing about it,” she protested hotly. “I did not address this envelope to Admiral Lawrence, nor write my name in the corner....”
“But the person who stole the codicil inscribed it for you,” exclaimed Duncan triumphantly. “And also made free with your sweater. What else is in the pockets?” thrusting his hand inside them. Fromthe last one he pulled out a piece of white linen. “Why, it’s a nurse’s cap, and the initials ‘K. A.’ are stamped inside it——” turning the cap over in his hand.
“Kathryn Allen!” exclaimed Marjorie. “She was Mrs. Lawrence’s nurse, and was desperately in love with Chichester Barnard....”
“Ah, that is the key to the riddle. She stole the codicil after you left that afternoon; it was lying conveniently to her hand on the desk where Alvord had left it. She undoubtedly hoped that Barnard would marry her and they would inherit Mrs. Lawrence’s legacy.”
“But why should my name be on this envelope—it looks as if I had sent the codicil back to Admiral Lawrence.”
“That is obviously what she intended; probably hoped to involve you in further trouble. Jove! now she’s with Barnard, she’s probably longing to have this codicil back in her possession,” as he spoke, Duncan thrust the codicil inside the secret drawer. “It can rest there for tonight; in the morning I’ll take it to the Admiral, and then, good-bye to Chichester Barnard’s inheritance. To think of his eloping with a poor woman after all! I believe he knew or suspected she had the codicil—what an awakening for them both when they find she left the codicil here.” Duncan shut the drawer, and turned to his silent companion. “Marjorie, have you nothing to say to me?”
Marjorie’s eyes fell before his ardent look. “Ihave so much that I do not know where to begin. Ah, how can I thank you for your faith....”
“It was more than faith, Marjorie, it was the master hand of love.”
And as his arms closed around her, she knew, Oh, happy Marjorie, that she had won her woman’s paradise at last.
THE END
Transcriber’s Notes:On page 13, swivil has been changed to swivel.On page 13, amenuensis has been changed to amanuensis.On page 24, Consin has been changed to Cousin.On page 66, to-day has been changed to today.On page 69, Elipse has been changed to Ellipse.On page 95, dinner dance has been changed to dinner-dance.On pages 136 and 139, to-morrow has been changed to tomorrow.On page 175, insistance has been changed to insistence.On page 175, ice-water has been changed to ice water.On page 186, Calhourn has been changed to Calhoun.On page 211, Valkenburg has been changed to Valkenberg.On page 224, sun-lit has been changed to sunlit.On page 233, armchair has been changed to arm-chair.Illustrations occurring in the middle of a paragraph have been moved to avoid interrupting the reader’s flow.Other spellings, hyphenation and non-English dialogue have been retained as typeset.
Transcriber’s Notes:
Transcriber’s Notes:
On page 13, swivil has been changed to swivel.
On page 13, amenuensis has been changed to amanuensis.
On page 24, Consin has been changed to Cousin.
On page 66, to-day has been changed to today.
On page 69, Elipse has been changed to Ellipse.
On page 95, dinner dance has been changed to dinner-dance.
On pages 136 and 139, to-morrow has been changed to tomorrow.
On page 175, insistance has been changed to insistence.
On page 175, ice-water has been changed to ice water.
On page 186, Calhourn has been changed to Calhoun.
On page 211, Valkenburg has been changed to Valkenberg.
On page 224, sun-lit has been changed to sunlit.
On page 233, armchair has been changed to arm-chair.
Illustrations occurring in the middle of a paragraph have been moved to avoid interrupting the reader’s flow.
Other spellings, hyphenation and non-English dialogue have been retained as typeset.