CHAPTER IX.MORE EVIDENCE.
Dora was the first to speak and break the silence.
“Mr. Carter,” she said, “I can see that Rich and Darwin are implicated in some affair which you are investigating. It may be a crime. It was committed on New Year’s Eve, or you would not be so particular about that date. I feel sure of that.”
“You are a shrewd woman,” the detective remarked, with a smile.
“I am not very shrewd, but I can read character, and I am able to form conclusions by putting two and two together.
“You asked about Dick Darwin’s clothing. If you desire to examine it, I will take you to my flat, and you can inspect it.”
“Darwin may be there now.”
“No, he is not. He can’t get in. I have the key.”
“I will go with you to your flat.”
“Tell me first what case you are working on.”
“That must remain a secret for the present.”
“Ha, ha! I know!”
“You know?”
“Yes.”
“What case am I working on?”
“The mystery of the Red Dragon Inn.”
Dora laughed heartily.
Carter uttered an exclamation of annoyance.
“When you mentioned the name of Lawrence, I remembered that a man by that name had been murderedon New Year’s Eve at the Red Dragon Inn, and I also remembered that it was stated that you were working on the case. You see, I know.”
“Humph!”
“Now that I come to think of it, I remember reading that that man had just been released from State’s prison. It was also stated that he was the forger of the Lawrence will. If that be so, then he was a cousin of Simeon and Sally Rich. Mr. Carter!”
“What is the matter?”
“A thought just occurred to me, and it startled me.”
“What was it?”
“Do you believe that Simeon Rich and Richard Darwin had a hand in that murder?”
“I can’t tell.”
“Perhaps Rich was afraid of Lawrence——”
“We will not talk any more about this matter. We will start for your flat.”
“I will help you.”
“I believe you.”
They arose from the table.
Carter put on his facial disguise, and then they left the restaurant.
Dora’s flat was situated on Thirty-ninth Street, next to a theater. It was elaborately furnished in a style that evinced more money than good taste, and Nick almost shuddered at the array of showy furniture, useless bric-a-brac, draperies, and ornaments which crowded the little parlor into which she ushered him.
“Mr. Carter, I suppose you do not want to lose any time,” she said, “so, if you will follow me, I will conduct you to Darwin’s room.”
Carter followed Dora along a private hall.
At last she opened a door, and led him into one of the bedrooms, remarking:
“This is the room.”
After she had turned on the electric light, she looked around, and then she uttered an exclamation of surprise.
The room was in confusion.
Carter looked at Dora.
“He has been here and carted off all his things!” Dora ejaculated, as soon as she recovered the use of her voice.
“I thought you said he had no key?” Carter remarked.
“He has none. He must have come here before the servant left.”
“What time does she leave?”
“Seven o’clock.”
“Where does she live?”
“On Twenty-seventh Street.”
While Carter was asking these questions, his eyes were wandering about the room.
On the floor, in a corner, he spied several pieces of paper.
He picked them up and smoothed them out.
Two were blanks.
The third had writing on it.
The detective read it.
His countenance brightened.
Dora noticed the change.
“What is it?” she asked.
“A note,” replied the detective.
“From whom?”
“Rich.”
“To Darwin?”
“Yes.”
“When was it written?”
“On the afternoon of the day before New Year’s.”
“Is it important?”
“It may be.”
“Will you read it?”
Nick examined her face intently.
“Do you still doubt me?” Dora asked.
“No,” replied Carter, after a pause.
Nick was satisfied.
“You can rely on me to help you, Mr. Carter.”
“I know it now.”
“Will you read that note?”
“Yes.”
“Do so.”
“‘December 31.“‘Dear Dick: I was at the Grand Central this afternoon when he arrived. Followed him downtown in a cab. He went to the safe deposit company’s office. Have placed a party on his trail. Meet me at seven o’clock to-night at the Knickerbocker Cottage. We will dine together. Yours in haste,“‘Simeon.’”
“‘December 31.
“‘Dear Dick: I was at the Grand Central this afternoon when he arrived. Followed him downtown in a cab. He went to the safe deposit company’s office. Have placed a party on his trail. Meet me at seven o’clock to-night at the Knickerbocker Cottage. We will dine together. Yours in haste,
“‘Simeon.’”
“Then Darwin was with Rich that night?”
“No doubt.”
Carter folded the paper and placed it carefully away in his pocketbook. He looked upon this note as an important piece of evidence. The “he” mentioned in it, he felt confident, referred to the man who had been murdered at the Red Dragon Inn.
According to this note, Rich and Darwin had dined together at the Knickerbocker Cottage.
It would be an easy matter to find out what time they left that place.
Another thing was clear, and that was that Darwin had taken fright about something, or he never would have removed his things from the flat in such haste.
Was this move an indication of guilt?
Carter turned to Dora, and asked:
“Do you know where Rich and his sister reside?”
“I do not,” Dora replied.
“Did you ever hear Darwin speak of a woman named Isabella Porter?”
“I know that woman.”
“Where does she live?”
“I do not know.”
“Did you know that Darwin and Rich were acquainted with her?”
“Rich has known her ever since she was a small girl.”
“What about Darwin?”
“He has only been acquainted with her a short time.”
“When did you first meet her?”
“She was in Rich’s company one night, and he introduced her to me.”
“What do you know about her?”
“She is the daughter of a rich merchant, I believe. Her mother and father are dead. She has an income.”
“Is that all you know?”
“It is.”
It was too late to continue the inquiries further that night, he concluded, and he determined to go home, as long as he was uptown.
Carter was in a very thoughtful mood.
Many curious events had happened during the past twenty-four hours.
He was walking along leisurely, with his head bowed, thinking of plans for that day, and where he would go to make inquiries, when his attention was attracted to two men, who were walking ahead of him.
Instantly he raised his head and slackened his pace.
One of the men he recognized as Darwin.
The man’s companion he had never seen before.
He could not get near enough to the men to hear their conversation.
At the corner of Fifty-second Street, the men separated, and Darwin started in an easterly direction.
Carter decided to follow him, and he gave up the idea of going home.
Darwin reached the east side of town, and turned into Second Avenue.
“What business has he over here?” the detective asked himself, as he kept on the trail of his quarry.
Between Forty-first and Fortieth Streets Darwin halted under a street lamp.
From his pocket he took a slip of paper, consulted it, and then went along examining the numbers of the houses.
Carter stopped in the doorway of the corner store and watched him.
At the same time he changed his disguise. He now looked as tough as any of the night prowlers in the questionable neighborhood.
Darwin entered a tall tenement.
Carter hurried out of his place of concealment.
He also went into the house and stood in the lower hall.
On each floor lights were burning.
As he looked up, he saw Darwin distinctly on the next floor, and he heard him knock on the door of the back room.
Darwin knocked a number of times, and no one opened the door.
When he started to descend the stairs, Carter walked out, and took up a position in a doorway of a house near the corner.
Darwin came out of the tenement, walked to the corner, and halted.
Back and forth he moved, and kept looking at the house.
The detective saw that he was uneasy. He wondered whom Darwin had come to see.
Darwin, after a time, came back to the tenement, and entered again.
Carter did not move from his hiding place.
His quarry only remained inside a minute or so, and then came out, going back to the corner and halting.
Carter came out of the doorway. He strolled up to the corner, and stopped within a few feet of Darwin, who saw and eyed him.
Two or three times the man made a movement as if he were going to address Carter.
But he hesitated.
The detective made no attempt to speak. He looked up and down the street, and appeared unconcerned.
Carter wanted to see if Darwin would speak to him. He judged that if he waited long enough the man would do so.
Darwin crossed the street, halted a moment, andthen came back. He glanced sharply, suspiciously, at Carter.
“Excuse me,” he said, as he came to a standstill, “do you live around here?”
“Are you addressing me?” the detective asked, in a disguised tone of voice.
“I am.”
“Oh, well, yes, I live in that house down there,” said Nick, pointing to the tall tenement which Darwin had twice entered.
“You do? What floor do you live on?”
“The top. Why?”
“I want some information about one of the tenants.”
“Eh!”
Carter bent forward and looked at Darwin.
His acting was magnificent.
“Say, are you a fly cop?” he asked, with suspicion.
“No,” Darwin replied quickly, “I’m not a detective.”
“You haven’t got the cut of one.”
“No.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Are you acquainted with a woman named Lena Peters?”
“You mean the woman who lives in the back room on the second floor?”
“Yes, yes.”
“I know her by sight.”
“Have you seen her to-night?”
“No.”
“I’ve been to her room and knocked, but no one seems to be in.”
“Did you have an appointment with her?”
“Not exactly an appointment.”
“Oh!”
For a time they were silent.
Then Carter said, in an offhand way:
“What does Miss Peters do?”
“She sings in a concert hall over on the West Side,” Darwin replied.
“I often wondered what she worked at to keep her out so late at night.”
“Will you see her when she comes in?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you going to remain here long?”
“All night.”
“What for?”
“I watch stores on the block.”
“Oh!”
“Why did you ask that question?”
“Will you deliver a message to Lena Peters when she comes home?”
“Certainly.”
“Tell her that a gentleman named Richard called to see her, and that he wants her to come to his room the first thing after noon.”
“Where are your rooms?”
“She is familiar with the address.”
“Then she has called on you before?”
“Yes.”
“At your rooms?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever been down here before?”
“No.”
“I’ll be sure and see Miss Peters.”
“Here’s a dollar for your trouble.”
“Thanks.”
Carter pocketed the money.
“I can depend on you?” Darwin asked uneasily.
“You can,” the detective replied, and he hardly was able to repress a smile.
“Good night.”
Darwin hurried away.
Carter did not budge from the corner.
That he had formed some new plan in his mind was evident, or he would have made a move to keep on the trail of his quarry.
“He said the woman’s name was Peters—Lena Peters,” the detective muttered, a few minutes after Darwin had disappeared around the corner. “She has seen him a number of times. Can she be any relation to the man who died in Bellevue Hospital? If she is——”
Carter stopped musing, as he saw a woman, who had hurried around the corner, enter the tenement.
Instantly he started toward the house, and went in.
The woman was halfway up the stairs.