The going of Garson left the room deathly still. Dick stared fora moment at the space of window left uncovered by the draperiesnow, since the man had hurried past them, without pausing to drawthem after him. Then, presently, the young man turned again toMary, and took her hand in his. The shock of the event hadsomehow steadied him, since it had drawn his thoughts from thatother more engrossing mood of concern over the crisis in his ownlife. After all, what mattered the death of this crook? hisfancy ran. The one thing of real worth in all the world was thelife that remained to be lived between him and her.... Then,violently, the selfishness of his mood was made plain to him.
For the hand he held was shaking like some slender-stalked lilyin the clutch of the sirocco. Even as he first perceived thefact, he saw the girl stagger. His arm swept about her in avirile protecting embrace--just in time, or she would havefallen.
A whisper came from her quivering lips. Her face was close tohis, else he could not have caught the uncertain murmuring. Thatface now was become ghastly pale. The violet eyes were widenedand dull. The muscles of her face twitched. She rested supinelyagainst him, as if bereft of any strength of body or of soul.
Yet, in the intensity of her utterance, the feeble whisper strucklike a shriek of horror.
"I--I--never saw any one killed before!"The simple, grisly truth of the words--words that he might havespoken as well--stirred the man to the deeps of his being. Heshuddered, as he turned his eyes to avoid seeing the thing thatlay so very near, mercifully merged within the shadows beyond thegentle radiance from the single lamp. With a pang of infinitepity for the woman in his arms, he apprehended in some degree thetorture this event must have inflicted on her. Frightful to him,it must in truth be vastly worse to her. There was her womanlysensitiveness to enhance the innate hideousness of the thing thathad been done here before their eyes. There was, too, the factthat the murderer himself had been the man to whom she owed herlife. Yes, for him, Dick realized with poignant sympathy, thehappening that night was terrible indeed: for her, as he guessednow at last, the torture must be something easily to overwhelmall her strength. His touch on her grew tender beyond theordinary tenderness of love, made gentler by a great underlyingcompassion for her misery.
Dick drew Mary toward the couch, there let her sink down in ahuddled attitude of despair.
"I never saw a man--killed before!" she said again. There was anote of half-hysterical, almost childish complaint in her voice.
She moved her head a little, as if to look into the shadows where*IT lay, then checked herself violently, and looked up at herhusband with the pathetic simplicity of terror.
"You know, Dick," she repeated dully, "I never saw a man killedbefore."Before he could utter the soothing words that rose to his lips,Dick was interrupted by a slight sound at the door. Instantly,he was all alert to meet the exigencies of the situation. Hestood by the couch, bending forward a little, as if in a postureof intimate fondness. Then, with a new thought, he got out hiscigarette-case and lighted a cigarette, after which he resumedhis former leaning over the woman as would the ardent lover. Heheard the noise again presently, now so near that he made sure ofbeing overheard, so at once he spoke with a forced cheerfulnessin his inflection.
"I tell you, Mary," he declared, "everything's going to be allright for you and me. It was bully of you to come here to melike this."The girl made no response. She lived still in the nightmare ofmurder--that nightmare wherein she had seen Griggs fall dead tothe floor.
Dick, in nervous apprehension as to the issue, sought to bringher to realization of the new need that had come upon them.
"Talk to me," he commanded, very softly. "They'll be here in aminute. When they come in, pretend you just came here in orderto meet me. Try, Mary. You must, dearest!" Then, again, hisvoice rose to loudness, as he continued. "Why, I've been tryingall day to see you. And, now, here we are together, just as Iwas beginning to get really discouraged.... I know my father willeventually----"He was interrupted by the swift swinging open of the hallwaydoor. Burke stood just within the library, a revolver pointedmenacingly.
"Hands up!--all of you!" The Inspector's voice fairly roared thecommand.
The belligerent expression of his face vanished abruptly, as hiseyes fell on Dick standing by the couch and Mary reclining therein limp helplessness. His surprise would have been ludicrous butfor the seriousness of the situation to all concerned. Burke'sglance roved the room sharply, and he was quickly convinced thatthese two were in fact the only present spoil of his carefulplotting. His face set grimly, for the disappointment of thisminute surged fiercely within him. He started to speak, his eyeslowering as he regarded the two before him.
But Dick forestalled him. He spoke in a voice coldly repellent.
"What are you doing in this house at this time of night?" hedemanded. His manner was one of stern disapproval. "I recognizeyou, Inspector Burke. But you must understand that there arelimits even to what you can do. It seems to me, sir, that youexceed your authority by such an intrusion as this."Burke, however, was not a whit dismayed by the rebuke and the airof rather contemptuous disdain with which it was uttered. Hewaved his revolver toward Mary, merely as a gesture ofinquisitiveness, without any threat.
"What's she doing here?" he asked. There was wrath in his roughvoice, for he could not avoid the surmise that his shrewdlyconcocted scheme to entrap this woman had somehow been set awry.
"What's she doing here, I say?" he repeated heavily. His keeneyes were darting once more about the room, questing some clue tothis disturbing mystery, so hateful to his pride.
Dick's manner became that of the devoted husband offended byimpertinent obtrusion.
"You forget yourself, Inspector," he said, icily. "This is mywife. She has the right to be with me--her husband!"The Inspector grinned sceptically. He was moved no moreeffectively by Mary's almost hysterical effort to respond to herhusband's leading.
"Why shouldn't I be here? Why? Why? I----"Burke broke in on the girl's pitiful histrionics ruthlessly. Hewas not in the least deceived. He was aware that somethinguntoward, as he deemed it, had occurred. It seemed to him, infact, that his finical mechanisms for the undoing of Mary Turnerwere in a fair way to be thwarted. But he would not give up thecause without a struggle. Again, he addressed himself to Dick,disregarding completely the aloof manner of the young man.
"Where's your father?" he questioned roughly.
"In bed, naturally," was the answer. "I ask you again: What areyou doing here at this time of night?"Burke shook his shoulders ponderously in a movement of impatienceover this prolonging of the farce.
"Oh, call your father," he directed disgustedly.
Dick remonstrated with an excellent show of dignity.
"It's late," he objected. "I'd rather not disturb him, if youdon't mind. Really, the idea is absurd, you know." Suddenly, hesmiled very winningly, and spoke with a good assumption ofingenuousness.
"Inspector," he said briskly, "I see, I'll have to tell you thetruth. It's this: I've persuaded my wife to go away with me.
She's going to give all that other sort of thing up. Yes, we'regoing away together." There was genuine triumph in his voicenow. "So, you see, we've got to talk it over. Now, then,Inspector, if you'll come back in the morning----"The official grinned sardonically. He could not in the leastguess just what had in very deed happened, but he was far tooclever a man to be bamboozled by Dick's maunderings.
"Oh, that's it!" he exclaimed, with obvious incredulity.
"Of course," Dick replied bravely, though he knew that theInspector disbelieved his pretenses. Still, for his own part, hewas inclined as yet to be angry rather than alarmed by thisfailure to impress the officer. "You see, I didn't know----"And even in the moment of his saying, the white beam of theflashing searchlight from the Tower fell between the undrawndraperies of the octagonal window. The light startled theInspector again, as it had done once before that same night. Hisgaze followed it instinctively. So, within the second, he saw thestill form lying there on the floor--lying where had beenshadows, where now, for the passing of an instant, was brilliantradiance.
There was no mistaking that awful, motionless, crumpled posture.
The Inspector knew in this single instant of view that murder hadbeen done here. Even as the beam of light from the Tower shiftedand vanished from the room, he leaped to the switch by the door,and turned ............