The Circular Study
Page 20
CHAPTER VI.
ANSWERED.
A silence more or less surcharged with emotion followed this finalappeal. Then, while the various auditors of this remarkable historywhispered together and Thomas Adams turned in love and anxiety towardhis wife, the inspector handed back to Mr. Gryce the memorandum he hadreceived from him.
It presented the following appearance:
[Sidenote: Answered]
1. Why a woman who was calm enough to stop and arrange her hair duringthe beginning of an interview should be wrought up to such a pitch offrenzy and exasperation before it was over as to kill with her own handa man she had evidently had no previous grudge against. (Remember thecomb found on the floor of Mr. Adams's bedroom.)
[Sidenote: Answered]
2. What was the meaning of the following words, written just previous tothis interview by the man thus killed: "I return you your daughter.Neither you nor she will ever see me again. Remember Evelyn!"
[Sidenote: Answered]
3. Why was the pronoun "I" used in this communication? What position didMr. Felix Adams hold toward this young girl qualifying him to make useof such language after her marriage to his brother?
[Sidenote: Answered]
4. And having used it, why did he, upon being attacked by her, attemptto swallow the paper upon which he had written these words, actuallydying with it clinched between his teeth?
[Sidenote: Answered]
5. If he was killed in anger and died as monsters do (her own word), whydid his face show sorrow rather than hate, and a determination as far aspossible removed from the rush of over-whelming emotions likely tofollow the reception of a mortal blow from the hand of an unexpectedantagonist?
[Sidenote: Answered]
6. Why, if he had strength to seize the above-mentioned paper and conveyit to his lips, did he not use that strength in turning on a lightcalculated to bring him assistance, instead of leaving blazing thecrimson glow which, according to the code of signals as now understoodby us, means: "Nothing more required just now. Keep away?"
[Sidenote: Answered]
7. What was the meaning of the huge steel plate found between thecasings of the doorway, and why did it remain at rest within its socketat this, the culminating, moment of his life?
[Sidenote: Answered]
8. An explanation of how old Poindexter came to appear on the scene sosoon after the event. His words as overheard were: "It is Amos' son, notAmos!" Did he not know whom he was to meet in this house? Was thecondition of the man lying before him with a cross on his bosom and adagger in his heart less of a surprise to him than the personality ofthe victim?
[Sidenote: Not Answered]
9. Remember the conclusions we have drawn from Bartow's pantomime. Mr.Adams was killed by a left-handed thrust. Watch for an acknowledgmentthat the young woman is left-handed, and do not forget that anexplanation is due why for so long a time she held her other armstretched out behind her.
[Sidenote: Answered]
10. Why did the bird whose chief cry is "Remember Evelyn!" sometimesvary it with "Poor Eva! Lovely Eva! Who would strike Eva?" The story ofthis tragedy, to be true, must show that Mr. Adams knew his brother'sbride both long and well.
[Sidenote: Answered]
11. If Bartow is, as we think, innocent of all connection with thiscrime save as witness, why does he show such joy at its result? This maynot reasonably be expected to fall within the scope of Thomas Adams'sconfession, but it should not be ignored by us. This deaf-and-dumbservitor was driven mad by the fact which caused him joy. Why?[2]
[Footnote 2: It must be remembered that the scraps of writing in Felix'shand had not yet been found by the police. The allusions in them toBartow show him to have been possessed by a jealousy which probablyturned to delight when he saw his master smitten down by the object ofthat master's love and his own hatred. How he came to recognize in thebride of another man the owner of the name he so often saw hovering onthe lips of his master, is a question to be answered by more astutestudents of the laws of perception than myself. Probably he spent muchof his time at the loophole on the stairway, studying his master till heunderstood his every gesture and expression.]
[Sidenote: Answered]
12. Notice the following schedule. It has been drawn up after repeatedexperiments with Bartow and the various slides of the strange lamp whichcause so many different lights to shine out in Mr. Adams's study:
White light--Water wanted. Green light--Overcoat and hat to be brought. Blue light--Put back books on shelves. Violet light--Arrange study for the night. Yellow light--Watch for next light. Red light--Nothing wanted; stay away.
The last was on at the final scene. Note if this fact can be explainedby Mr. Adams's account of the same.
* * * * *
Two paragraphs alone lacked complete explanation. The first, No. 9, wasimportant. The description of the stroke dealt by Mr. Adams's wife didnot account for this peculiar feature in Bartow's pantomime. Consultingwith the inspector, Mr. Gryce finally approached Mr. Adams and inquiredif he had strength to enact before them the blow as he had seen it dealtby his wife.
The startled young man looked the question he dared not ask. In commonwith others, he knew that Bartow had made some characteristic gesturesin endeavoring to describe this crime, but he did not know what theywere, as this especial bit of information had been carefully held backby the police. He, therefore, did not respond hastily to the suggestionmade him, but thought intently for a moment before he thrust out hisleft hand and caught up some article or other from the inspector's tableand made a lunge with it across his body into an imaginary victim at hisright. Then he consulted the faces about him with inexpressible anxiety.He found little encouragement in their aspect.
"You would make your wife out left-handed," suggested Mr. Gryce. "Now Ihave been watching her ever since she came into this place, and I haveseen no evidence of this."
"She is not left-handed, but she thrust with her left hand, because herright was fast held in mine. I had seized her instinctively as shebounded forward for the weapon, and the convulsive clutch of our twohands was not loosed till the horror of her act made her faint, and shefell away from me to the floor crying: 'Tear down the cross and lay iton your brother's breast. I would at least see him die the death of aChristian.'"
Mr. Gryce glanced at the inspector with an air of great relief. Themystery of the constrained attitude of the right hand which madeBartow's pantomime so remarkable was now naturally explained, and takingup the blue pencil which the inspector had laid down, he wrote, with asmile, a very decided "answered" across paragraph No. 9.
CHAPTER VII.
LAST WORDS.
A few minutes later Mr. Gryce was to be seen in the outer room, gazingcuriously at the various persons there collected. He was seeking ananswer to a question that was still disturbing his mind, and hoped tofind it there. He was not disappointed. For in a quiet corner heencountered the amiable form of Miss Butterworth, calmly awaiting theresult of an interference which she in all probability had been anactive agent in bringing about.
He approached and smilingly accused her of this. But she disclaimed thefact with some heat.
"I was simply there," she explained. "When the crisis came, when thisyoung creature learned that her husband had left suddenly for New Yorkin the company of two men, then--why then, it became apparent to everyone that a woman should be at her side who understood her case and theextremity in which she found herself. And I was that woman."
"You are always that woman," he gallantly replied, "if by the phrase youmean being in the right place at the right time. So you are alreadyacquainted with Mrs. Adams's story?"
"Yes; the ravings of a moment told me she was the one who had handledthe dagger that slew Mr. Adams. Afterward, she was able to explain thecause of what has seemed to us such a horrible crime. When I heard herstory, Mr. Gryce, I no longer hesitated either as to her duty or mine.Do you think she will be call
ed upon to answer for this blow? Will shebe tried, convicted?"
"Madam, there are not twelve men in the city so devoid of intelligenceas to apply the name of crime to an act which was so evidently one ofself-defence. No true bill will be found against young Mrs. Adams. Resteasy."
The look of gloom disappeared from Miss Butterworth's eyes.
"Then I may return home in peace," she cried. "It has been a desperatefive hours for me, and I feel well shaken up. Will you escort me to mycarriage?"
Miss Butterworth did not look shaken up. Indeed, in Mr. Gryce'sjudgment, she had never appeared more serene or more comfortable. Butshe was certainly the best judge of her own condition; and aftersatisfying herself that the object of her care was reviving under thesolicitous ministrations of her husband, she took the arm which Mr.Gryce held out to her and proceeded to her carriage.
As he assisted her in, he asked a few questions about Mr. Poindexter.
"Why is not Mrs. Adams's father here? Did he allow his daughter to leavehim on such an errand as this without offering to accompany her?"
The answer was curtness itself:
"Mr. Poindexter is a man without heart. He came with us to New York, butrefused to follow us to Police Headquarters. Sir, you will find that theunited passions of three burning souls, and a revenge the most deeplycherished of any I ever knew or heard of, have been thrown away on a manwho is positively unable to suffer. Do not mention old John Poindexterto me. And now, if you will be so good, tell the coachman to drive me tomy home in Gramercy Park. I have put my finger in the police pie for thelast time, Mr. Gryce--positively for the last time." And she sank backon the carriage cushions with an inexorable look, which, nevertheless,did not quite conceal a quiet complacency which argued that she was notaltogether dissatisfied with herself or the result of her interferencein matters usually considered at variance with a refined woman's naturalinstincts.
Mr. Gryce, in repressing a smile, bowed lower even than his wont, and,under the shadow of this bow, the carriage drove off. As he walkedslowly back, he sighed. Was he wondering if a case of similar interestwould ever bring them together again in consultation?
THE END.