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29 chapters
CHAPTER I—THE PARTING OF THE WAYS
CHAPTER I—THE PARTING OF THE WAYS
Chapman Price was leaving Grasslands. Events had been rapidly advancing to that point for the last three months, slowly advancing for the last three years. Everybody who knew the Prices and the Janneys said it was inevitable, and people who didn't know them but read about them in the "society papers" could give quite glibly the reasons why Mrs. Chapman Price was going to separate from her husband. His friends said it was her fault; Suzanne Price was enough to drive any man away from her—selfish,
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CHAPTER II—MISS MAITLAND GETS A LETTER
CHAPTER II—MISS MAITLAND GETS A LETTER
It was Thursday morning, three days after her husband's departure, and Suzanne was sitting in the window seat of her room looking across the green distances to where the roof of Dick Ferguson's place, Council Oaks, rose above the tree tops. Council Oaks adjoined Grasslands, there was a short cut which connected them—a path through the woods. Before Mrs. Janney bought Grasslands the path had become moss-grown, almost obliterated. Then when she took possession the two households wore it bare again
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CHAPTER III—ANOTHER LETTER AND WHAT FOLLOWED IT
CHAPTER III—ANOTHER LETTER AND WHAT FOLLOWED IT
Suzanne, her letter crumpled in her hand, had gone directly to her own room. There she read it for the second time, its baleful import sinking deeper into her consciousness with every sentence. It was in typewriting and bore the Berkeley postmark: " Dear Mrs. Price : "This is just a line to give your memory and your conscience a jog. Your bridge debts are accumulating. Also, I hear, there are dressmakers and milliners in town who are growing restive. If there was insufficient means I wouldn't bo
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CHAPTER IV—THE CIGAR BAND
CHAPTER IV—THE CIGAR BAND
Esther and Ferguson walked across the open spaces of lawn and then entered the woods. Ferguson had set the pace as slow, but he noticed that she quickened it, faring along beside him with a light, swift step. He also noticed that she was quiet, as she had been at dinner; as if she was abstracted, not like herself. He had seen a good deal of her lately and thought of her a good deal—thought many things. One was that she was interesting, provocative in her quiet reserve, not as easy to see through
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CHAPTER V—ROBBERY IN HIGH PLACES
CHAPTER V—ROBBERY IN HIGH PLACES
The next morning Mr. Janney had to read the papers to himself for Miss Maitland went to town on the 8:45. He sat on the balcony and missed her, for the Chicago murder had developed several new features and he had no one to talk them over with. Suzanne, who never came down to breakfast, appeared at twelve and said she was going to the Fairfax's to lunch with bridge afterward. Though she was not yet aware of Mrs. Janney's intention to once more come to her aid, her gloom and ill-humor had disappea
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CHAPTER VI—POOR MR. JANNEY!
CHAPTER VI—POOR MR. JANNEY!
The peace and aristocratic calm of the Janney household was disrupted. Into its dignified quietude burnt an irruption of alien activity and the great white light of publicity. Kissam with his minions came that evening and reporters followed like bloodhounds on the scent. Scenes were enacted similar to those Mr. Janney had read in novels and witnessed at the theater, but which, in his most fevered imaginings, he had never thought could transpire in his own home. It was unreal, like a nightmare, a
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CHAPTER VII—CONCERNING DETECTIVES
CHAPTER VII—CONCERNING DETECTIVES
Kissam kept his word and the interest in the Janney robbery began to languish. Detectives still came and went, morning trains still disgorged reporters, but it was not as it had been. The first, fine careless rapture of the chase was over; nothing new was discovered, nothing old developed. The house settled back to its methodical régime, the faces of its inmates lost their looks of harassed distress. Mr. Janney, though much pacified, was not yet restored to his normal poise. His wife was now the
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CHAPTER VIII—MOLLY'S STORY
CHAPTER VIII—MOLLY'S STORY
I've been asked to tell the part of this story in which I figure. I've done that kind of work before, so I'm not as shy as I was that first time, and since then I've studied some, and come up against fine people, and I'm older—twenty-seven on my last birthday. But as I said then, so I'll say now—don't expect any stylish writing from me. At the switchboard there's still ginger in me, but with the pen I'm one of the "also rans." Fortunately for me, I was always a good one to throw a bluff and, hav
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CHAPTER IX—GOOD HUNTING IN BERKELEY
CHAPTER IX—GOOD HUNTING IN BERKELEY
Two days after his interview with Suzanne, Mr. Larkin came to Berkeley and took a room at the Berkeley Arms. He registered as Henry Childs, and described himself to the clerk as a plumber, who, having had a prosperous year, was looking for a bit of land upon which to build a bungalow. Berkeley was much too exclusive to permit a hotel within its exclusive limits and the Berkeley Arms was allowed to exist in a small, subdued way as a convenience. It was an unassuming, gray-shingled building, withd
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CHAPTER X—MOLLY'S STORY
CHAPTER X—MOLLY'S STORY
As soon as I had the notes of that 'phone message down I wrote a report for the Whitney office—just an outline—and posted it myself in the village. The answer with instructions came the following evening. The next time Miss Maitland went into town I was to come with her. In the concourse of the Pennsylvania station I'd see O'Malley (the Whitneys' detective) and it would be my business to point her out to him. He was to follow her and I to come to the office and make my full report. Say nothing o
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CHAPTER XI—FERGUSON'S IDEA
CHAPTER XI—FERGUSON'S IDEA
During these days Dick Ferguson thought a good deal and said very little. Like the rest of his world he wondered over the unsolved mystery of the Janney robbery, but his wonderings contained an element of discomfort. He heard the subject discussed everywhere and often the name of Esther Maitland came up in the discussions. Not that any one ever suggested she might be involved;—it was more a sympathetic appreciation of her position. Every one spoke very feelingly about it:—poor girl, so uncomfort
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CHAPTER XII—THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T TELL
CHAPTER XII—THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T TELL
Mr. Larkin had lingered on at Cedar Brook. He said that he needed a holiday, the prosperity of the last year had worn him out, also the bungalow sites were many and a decision difficult. He saw a good deal of Willitts; they had become very friendly, almost chums. Their lodgings were but a few yards apart and of evenings they smoked neighborly pipes on the porch steps, and of afternoons took walks into the country. During these hours their talk ranged over many subjects, the valet proving himself
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CHAPTER XIII—MOLLY'S STORY
CHAPTER XIII—MOLLY'S STORY
One of the chief features of detective work is that you must be able to change your mind. That may not sound hard—especially when the owner of the mind happens to be a female—but believe me it's some stunt. You get pointed one way, and to have to shift and face round in another is candy for a weather vane but bread for a sleuth. Well, that's what happened to me. In the week that followed my visit to the Whitneys I had to start out fresh on a new line of thought. I'd left the office pretty certai
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CHAPTER XIV—A CHAPTER ABOUT BAD TEMPERS
CHAPTER XIV—A CHAPTER ABOUT BAD TEMPERS
Things were not going Mr. Larkin's way. What had begun with such bright promise was declining to a twilight uncertainty. The morning after his ignominious failure with Willitts he had a letter from Suzanne, forwarded from his New York office, telling him that she would be in town on the following Monday and would like to see him. The letter disturbed him greatly. It was not alone that he had nothing to report; it was that the tone of the missive was irritated and impatient. It was the angrily im
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CHAPTER XV—WHAT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY
CHAPTER XV—WHAT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY
The Friday morning when Suzanne was to go to town broke auspiciously bright and cloudless. As Annie was not the proper person to take Bébita to the oculist, and as Suzanne would be too busy to go herself, Miss Maitland had been impressed into the service. It had been decided two days earlier, and though she had received some instructions at the time, on the drive in, Mrs. Price went over her plans with a meticulous thoroughness. They would go first to the Fifth Avenue house, pick up there some c
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CHAPTER XVI—MOLLY'S STORY
CHAPTER XVI—MOLLY'S STORY
That Friday—gee, shall I ever forget it!—opening so quiet and natural and suddenly bang, in the middle of it, the sort of thing you read in the yellow press. It was a holiday for me and I was sitting in the upper hall alcove making a blouse and handy to the extension 'phone. Now and then it would ring and I'd pull it over with a weary sigh and hear a female voice full of cultivation and airs ask if Mrs. Janney'd take a hand at bridge, or a male one want to know what Mr. Janney thought about eigh
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CHAPTER XVII—MISS MAITLAND IN A NEW LIGHT
CHAPTER XVII—MISS MAITLAND IN A NEW LIGHT
At the entrance of the great building which housed the Whitney office the two motors came to a halt. Ferguson went in with the others saying he would see if he could be of any use, and if he was not wanted would return to the street level and wait. In the elevator Mr. Janney, who had been informed en route of Molly's real status, eyed her morosely, but when the car stopped forgot everything but the urgencies of the moment, and crowded out, tremulous and stumbling, on his wife's heels. They were
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CHAPTER XVIII—THE HOUSE IN GAYLE STREET
CHAPTER XVIII—THE HOUSE IN GAYLE STREET
The Janney party left the office soon after Molly and Esther. They had decided to stay at the St. Boniface hotel where rooms had already been engaged, and, with Suzanne swathed in veils and clinging to her mother's arm, they were escorted to the elevator and cheered on their way by the two Whitneys. When the car slid out of sight the father and the son went back into the old man's room. It was now late afternoon, the sun, sinking in a fiery glow, glazed the waters of the bay, seen from these hig
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CHAPTER XIX—MOLLY'S STORY
CHAPTER XIX—MOLLY'S STORY
It was nearly seven when we got back to Grasslands. We alighted as silent as we started, and I was following Miss Maitland into the hall, Ferguson behind me, when she turned in the doorway and spoke. She had orders that the servants must know nothing; she was to tell them that the family would stay in town for a few days, and for me to be careful what I said before them. Then, before I could answer, she glanced at Ferguson and said good-by, her eyes just touching him for a moment and passing, co
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CHAPTER XX—MOLLY'S STORY
CHAPTER XX—MOLLY'S STORY
The next morning, in the hall, right after breakfast I told her what I had to tell—I mean who I was. It gave her a start—held her listening with her eyes hard on mine—then when I explained it was for inside work on the robbery she eased up, got cool and nodded her head at me, politely agreeing. She understood perfectly and would go wherever she was wanted; she was glad to do anything that would be of assistance; no one was more anxious than she to help the family in their distress, and so forth
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CHAPTER XXI—SIGNED "CLANSMEN"
CHAPTER XXI—SIGNED "CLANSMEN"
The consultation in the office resulted in Esther Maitland being taken to O'Malley's flat in Stuyvesant Square, where his wife and sister agreed to be responsible for her. This course had been decided upon after some heated argument. Suzanne had clamored for her arrest, but the others were still determined to keep the affair out of the public eye, which, if Esther was brought before a magistrate, would have been impossible. The Janneys were more than ever convinced that Price was the prime mover
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CHAPTER XXII—SUZANNE FINDS A FRIEND
CHAPTER XXII—SUZANNE FINDS A FRIEND
On Monday evening Ferguson heard from Molly of the scene in the Whitney office. He was incredulous and enraged, refusing to accept what she insisted were irrefutable proofs of Esther's guilt. "What do I care about your 'phone messages and your suppositions!" he had almost shouted at her. "What do I care about what you think . You say she didn't answer the charges—she did, she denied them. That's enough for me." There was no use arguing with him, he was beyond reason. She lapsed into silence, let
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CHAPTER XXIII—MOLLY'S STORY
CHAPTER XXIII—MOLLY'S STORY
After that Monday night when he went off in a rage, Ferguson didn't show up at Grasslands for several days and I had the place to myself and all the time I wanted. Believe me, I wanted a lot and made use of it. While the others were concentrating on the kidnaping—the big thing that had absorbed all their interest—I went back to the job I was engaged for, the robbery. And I went back with a fresh eye, the old idea cleared out of my head by Mrs. Price's confession. She'd explained the light, the l
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CHAPTER XXIV—CARDS ON THE TABLE
CHAPTER XXIV—CARDS ON THE TABLE
In spite of Molly's excited certainty that Willitts was the thief, Ferguson was not convinced. He met her impetuous demand for the valet's arrest with a recommendation for a fuller knowledge of his activities on the night of the robbery. Willitts had gone to the movies with the Grasslands servants and if he had been with them the whole evening he was as innocent as Dixon or Isaac. She had to agree and promised to do nothing until she had satisfied herself that his movements tallied with their fi
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CHAPTER XXV—MOLLY'S STORY
CHAPTER XXV—MOLLY'S STORY
The morning after that talk with Ferguson I rose up "loaded for bar." At breakfast I led Dixon round to the old subject—we were good friends now and he'd drop his professional manner when we were alone and talk like a human being. Of course he remembered everything, and opened up as fluent as a gramophone. Willitts hadn't found them at the movies till nearly ten—been delayed on his way in from Cedar Brook, his landlady's little girl had been took bad with croup and he'd gone for the doctor—Dr. B
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CHAPTER XXVI—THE COUNTER PLOT
CHAPTER XXVI—THE COUNTER PLOT
Ferguson's knock on Suzanne's door was promptly answered by the lady herself, still in her hat and wrap. She clutched at him as she had done when he came to her in her dark hour, drawing him into the room and gasping her news. He was in no mood to follow her ramblings and, as soon as she spoke of a letter, interrupted her with a brusque demand for it. After he had mastered its contents he told her to 'phone at once to Larkin that it was all right, and while she delivered the message, stood by st
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CHAPTER XXVII—NIGHT ON THE CRESSON PIKE
CHAPTER XXVII—NIGHT ON THE CRESSON PIKE
The night fell stifling and airless, unfortunately favorable for the kidnapers, as the sky was covered with clouds and the country wrapped in a thick darkness. At half-past eight the roadster, with Ferguson driving, glided into the little village of North Cresson and swung out into the Cresson Turnpike. Ten minutes behind him was his touring car with Saunders, his chauffeur, at the wheel. Twenty minutes later a limousine was to strike into the pike from a road just beyond the village, and a runa
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CHAPTER XXVIII—THE MAN IN THE BOAT
CHAPTER XXVIII—THE MAN IN THE BOAT
Price took Bébita to Grasslands, handed her over to Annie and telephoned in to the Janneys. Then he left to rejoin Ferguson who was to go to the shore and find out the meaning of the shots. Price, missing the leading car, had decided that it had turned from the pike and scouring the side roads in a blind chase had heard the shots, agreeing with Ferguson that they came from the direction of the Sound. Ferguson went that way, driving at breakneck speed. He had almost reached the shore, felt the wa
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CHAPTER XXIX—MISS MAITLAND EXPLAINS
CHAPTER XXIX—MISS MAITLAND EXPLAINS
On Saturday afternoon several telephone messages were sent to Esther Maitland at O'Malley's flat. They came from Ferguson, from Grasslands, and the Whitney office. In the two latter cases they were conciliatory and apologetic and asked that Miss Maitland would see the senders and explain the circumstances that had so strangely involved her in the case. To both her employers and the Whitneys Miss Maitland returned an evasive answer. She would be happy to do as they asked, but would have to let a
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