The Best American Mystery Stories of the Nineteenth Century

by Penzler, Otto

  On the day following, shortly before noon, Mr. Barnes walked quickly into the reading-room of the Fifth Avenue Hotel. In one corner there is a handsome mahogany cabinet, containing three compartments, each of which is entered through double doors, having glass panels in the upper half. About these panels are draped yellow silk curtains, and in the center of each appears a white porcelain numeral. These compartments are used as public telephone stations, the applicant being shut in, so as to be free from the noise of the outer room.

  Mr. Barnes spoke to the girl in charge, and then passed into the compartment numbered “2.” Less than five minutes later Mr. Leroy Mitchel came into the reading-room. His keen eyes peered about him, scanning the countenances of those busy with the papers or writing, and then he gave the telephone girl a number, and went into the compartment numbered “1.” About ten minutes elapsed before Mr. Mitchel came out again, and, having paid the toll, he left the hotel. When Mr. Barnes emerged, there was an expression of extreme satisfaction upon his face. Without lingering, he also went out. But instead of following Mr. Mitchel through the main lobby to Broadway, he crossed the reading-room and reached Twenty-third Street through the side door. Thence he proceeded to the station of the elevated railroad, and went uptown. Twenty minutes later he was ringing the bell of Mr. Mitchel’s residence. The “buttons” who answered his summons informed him that his master was not at home.

  “He usually comes in to luncheon, however, does he not?” asked the detective.

  “Yes, sir,” responded the boy.

  “Is Mrs. Mitchel at home?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Miss Rose?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Ah; then I’ll wait. Take my card to her.”

  Mr. Barnes passed into the luxurious drawing-room, and was soon joined by Rose, Mr. Mitchel’s adopted daughter.

  “I am sorry papa is not at home, Mr. Barnes,” said the little lady, “but he will surely be in to luncheon, if you will wait.”

  “Yes, thank you, I think I will. It is quite a trip up, and, being here, I may as well wait a while and see your father, though the matter is not of any great importance.”

  “Some interesting case, Mr. Barnes? If so, do tell me about it. You know I am almost as much interested in your cases as papa is.”

  “Yes, I know you are, and my vanity is flattered. But I am sorry to say I have nothing on hand at present worth relating. My errand is a very simple one. Your father was saying, a few days ago, that he was thinking of buying a bicycle, and yesterday, by accident, I came across a machine of an entirely new make, which seems to me superior to anything yet produced. I thought he might be interested to see it, before deciding what kind to buy.”

  “I am afraid you are too late, Mr. Barnes. Papa has bought a bicycle already.”

  “Indeed! What style did he choose?”

  “I really do not know, but it is down in the lower hall, if you care to look at it.”

  “It is hardly worth while, Miss Rose. After all, I have no interest in the new model, and if your father has found something that he likes, I won’t even mention the other to him. It might only make him regret his bargain. Still, on second thoughts, I will go down with you, if you will take me into the dining-room and show me the head of that moose which your father has been bragging about killing. I believe it has come back from the taxidermist’s?”

  “Oh, yes! He is just a monster. Come on!”

  They went down to the dining-room, and Mr. Barnes expressed great admiration for the moose’s head, and praised Mr. Mitchel’s skill as a marksman. But he had taken a moment to scrutinize the bicycle which stood in the hallway, while Rose was opening the blinds in the dining-room. Then they returned to the drawing-room, and after a little more conversation Mr. Barnes departed, saying that he could not wait any longer, but he charged Rose to tell her father that he particularly desired him to call at noon on the following day.

  Promptly at the time appointed, “Remington” walked into the office of Mr. Barnes, and was announced. The detective was in his private room. Mr. Leroy Mitchel had been admitted but a few moments before.

  “Ask Mr. Remington in,” said Mr. Barnes to his boy, and when that gentleman entered, before he could show surprise to find a third party present, the detective said:

  “Mr. Mitchel, this is the gentleman whom I wish you to meet. Permit me to introduce to you Mr. Mortimer J. Goldie, better known to the sporting fraternity as G. J. Mortimer, the champion short-distance bicycle rider, who recently rode a mile in the phenomenal time of 1.56, on a three-lap track.”

  As Mr. Barnes spoke, he gazed from one to the other of his companions, with a half-quizzical, and wholly pleased expression on his face. Mr. Mitchel appeared much interested, but the newcomer was evidently greatly astonished. He looked blankly at Mr. Barnes a moment, then dropped into a chair with the query:

  “How in the name of conscience did you find that out?”

  “That much was not very difficult,” replied the detective.

  “I can tell you much more; indeed, I can supply your whole past history, provided your memory has been sufficiently restored for you to recognize my facts as true.”

  Mr. Barnes looked at Mr. Mitchel, and winked one eye in a most suggestive manner, at which that gentleman burst out into hearty laughter, finally saying:

  “We may as well admit that we are beaten, Goldie. Mr. Barnes has been too much for us.”

  “But I want to know how he has done it,” persisted Mr. Goldie.

  “I have no doubt that Mr. Barnes will gratify you. Indeed, I am as curious as you are to know by what means he has arrived at his quick solution of the problem which we set for him.”

  “I will enlighten you as to detective methods with pleasure,” said Mr. Barnes. “Let me begin with the visit made to me by this gentleman two days ago. At the very outset his statement aroused my suspicion, though I did my best not to let him think so. He announced to me that he had lost his identity, and I promptly told him that his case was not uncommon. I said that in order that he might feel sure that I did not doubt his tale. But truly, his case, if he was telling the truth, was absolutely unique. Men have lost recollection of their past, and even have forgotten their names. But I have never before heard of a man who had forgotten his name, and at the same time knew that he had done so.”

  “A capital point, Mr. Barnes,” said Mr. Mitchel. “You were certainly shrewd to suspect fraud so early.”

  “Well, I cannot say that I suspected fraud so soon, but the story was so improbable that I could not believe it immediately. I therefore was what I might call ‘analytically attentive’ during the rest of the interview. The next point worth noting which came out was that, although he had forgotten himself, he had not forgotten New York, for he admitted having come to me without special guidance.”

  “I remember that,” interrupted Mr. Goldie, “and I think I even said to you at the time that it was significant.”

  “And I told you that it at least showed that you had been familiar with New York. This was better proven when you said that you would spend the day at Central Park, and when, after leaving here, you had no difficulty in finding your way thither.”

  “Do you mean to say that you had me followed? I made sure that no one was after me.”

  “Well, yes, you were followed,” said Mr. Barnes, with a smile. “I had a spy after you, and I followed you as far as the Park myself. But let me come to the other points in your interview and my deductions. You told me that you had registered as ‘M.J.G. Remington.’ This helped me considerably, as we shall see presently. A few minutes later you took out your watch, and in that little mirror over my desk, which I use occasionally when I turn my back upon a visitor, I noted that there was an inscription on the outside of the case. I turned and asked you something about the watch, when you hastily returned it to your pocket, with the remark that it was ‘an old family relic.’ Now can you explain how you could have known that, supposing that you had forgot
ten who you were?”

  “Neatly caught, Goldie,” laughed Mr. Mitchel. “You certainly made a mess of it there.”

  “It was an asinine slip,” said Mr. Goldie, laughing also.

  “Now then,” continued Mr. Barnes, “you readily see that I had good reason for believing that you had not forgotten your name. On the contrary, I was positive that your name was a part of the inscription on the watch. What, then, could be your purpose in pretending otherwise? I did not discover that for some time. However, I decided to go ahead, and find you out if I could. Next I noted two things. Your coat opened once, so that I saw, pinned to your vest, a bicycle badge, which I recognized as the emblem of the League of American Wheelmen.”

  “Oh! Oh!” cried Mr. Mitchel. “Shame on you, Goldie, for a blunderer.”

  “I had entirely forgotten the badge,” said Mr. Goldie.

  “I also observed,” the detective went on, “little indentations on the sole of your shoe, as you had your legs crossed, which satisfied me that you were a rider even before I observed the badge. Now, then, we come to the name, and the significance thereof. Had you really lost your memory, the choosing of a name when you registered at a hotel would have been a haphazard matter of no importance to me. But as soon as I decided that you were imposing upon me, I knew that your choice of a name had been a deliberate act of the mind; one from which deductions could be drawn.”

  “Ah! Now we come to the interesting part,” said Mr. Mitchel. “I love to follow a detective when he uses his brains.”

  “The name as registered, and I examined the registry to make sure, was odd. Three initials are unusual. A man without memory, and therefore not quite sound mentally, would hardly have chosen so many. Then why had it been done in this instance? What more natural than that these initials represented the true name? In assuming an alias, it is the most common method to transpose the real name in some way. At least it was a working hypothesis. Then the last name might be very significant. ‘Remington.’ The Remingtons make guns, sewing-machines, typewriters, and bicycles. Now, this man was a bicycle rider, I was sure. If he chose his own initials as a part of the alias, it was possible that he selected ‘Remington’ because it was familiar to him. I even imagined that he might be an agent for Remington bicycles, and I had arrived at that point during our interview, when I advised him not to buy anything until his identity was restored. But I was sure of my quarry when I stole a handkerchief from him at the park, and found the initials ‘M.J.G.’ upon the same.”

  “Marked linen on your person!” exclaimed Mr. Mitchel. “Worse and worse! We’ll never make a successful criminal of you, Goldie.”

  “Perhaps not! I shan’t cry over it.”

  “I felt sure of my success by this time,” continued Mr. Barnes, “yet at the very next step I was balked. I looked over a list of L.A.W. members and could not find a name to fit my initials, which shows, as you will see presently, that, as I may say, ‘too many clues spoil the broth.’ Without the handkerchief I would have done better. Next I secured a catalogue of the Remingtons, which gave a list of their authorized agents, and again I failed. Returning to my office I received information from my spy, sent in by messenger, which promised to open a way for me. He had followed you about, Mr. Goldie, and I must say you played your part very well, so far as avoiding acquaintances is concerned. But at last you went to a public telephone, and called up someone. My man saw the importance of discovering to whom you had spoken, and bribed the telephone attendant to give him the information. All that he learned, however, was that you had spoken to the public station at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. My spy thought that this was inconsequent, but it proved to me at once that there was collusion, and that your man must have been at the other station by previous appointment. As that was at noon, a few minutes before the same hour on the following day, that is to say, yesterday, I went to the Fifth Avenue Hotel telephone and secreted myself in the middle compartment, hoping to hear what your partner might say to you. I failed in this, as the boxes are too well made to permit sound to pass from one to the other; but imagine my gratification to see Mr. Mitchel himself go into the box.”

  “And why?” asked Mr. Mitchel.

  “Why, as soon as I saw you, I comprehended the whole scheme. It was you who had concocted the little diversion to test my ability. Thus, at last, I understood the reason for the pretended loss of identity. With the knowledge that you were in it, I was more than ever determined to get at the facts. Knowing that you were out, I hastened to your house, hoping for a chat with little Miss Rose, as the most likely member of your family to get information from.”

  “Oh, fie! Mr. Barnes,” said Mr. Mitchel, “to play upon the innocence of childhood! I am ashamed of you!”

  “‘All’s fair,’ etc. Well, I succeeded. I found Mr. Goldie’s bicycle in your hallway, and, as I suspected, it was a Remington. I took the number and hurried down to the agency, where I readily discovered that wheel no. 5086 is ridden by G. J. Mortimer, one of their regular racing team. I also learned that Mortimer’s private name is Mortimer J. Goldie. I was much pleased at this, because it showed how good my reasoning had been about the alias, for you observe that the racing name is merely a transposition of the family name. The watch, of course, is a prize, and the inscription would have proved that you were imposing upon me, Mr. Goldie, had you permitted me to see it.”

  “Of course; that was why I put it back in my pocket.”

  “I said just now,” said Mr. Barnes, “that without the stolen handkerchief I would have done better. Having it, when I looked over the L.A.W. list I went through the ‘G’s’ only. Without it, I should have looked through the ‘G’s,’ ‘J’s,’ and ‘M’s,’ not knowing how the letters may have been transposed. In that case I should have found ‘G. J. Mortimer,’ and the initials would have proved that I was on the right track.”

  “You have done well, Mr. Barnes,” said Mr. Mitchel. “I asked Goldie to play the part of a nameless man for a few days, to have some fun with you. But you have had fun with us, it seems. Though, I am conceited enough to say, that had it been possible for me to play the principal part, you would not have pierced my identity so soon.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” said Mr. Barnes. “We are both of us a little egotistical, I fear.”

  “Undoubtedly. Still, if I ever set another trap for you, I will assign myself the chief rôle.”

  “Nothing would please me better,” said Mr. Barnes. “But, gentlemen, as you have lost in this little game, it seems to me that someone owes me a dinner, at least.”

  “I’ll stand the expense with pleasure,” said Mr. Mitchel.

  “Not at all,” interrupted Mr. Goldie. “It was through my blundering that we lost, and I’ll pay the piper.”

  “Settle it between you,” cried Mr. Barnes. “But let us walk on. I am getting hungry.”

  Whereupon they adjourned to Delmonico’s.

  ***

  THE MONTEZUMA EMERALD

  “IS THE INSPECTOR IN?”

  Mr. Barnes immediately recognized the voice, and turned to greet the speaker. The man was Mr. Leroy Mitchel’s English valet. Contrary to all precedent and tradition, he did not speak in cockney dialect, not even stumbling over the proper distribution of the letter “h” throughout his vocabulary. That he was English, however, was apparent to the ear, because of a certain rather attractive accent, peculiar to his native island, and to the eye because of a deferential politeness of manner, too seldom observed in American servants. He also always called Mr. Barnes “Inspector,” oblivious of the fact that he was not a member of the regular police, and mindful only of the English application of the word to detectives.

  “Step right in, Williams,” said Mr. Barnes. “What is the trouble?”

  “I don’t rightly know, Inspector,” said Williams. “Won’t you let me speak to you alone? It’s about the master.”

  “Certainly. Come into my private room.” He led the way and Williams followed, remaining standing, although Mr. Barne
s waved his hand towards a chair as he seated himself in his usual place at his desk. “Now then,” continued the detective, “what’s wrong? Nothing serious, I hope?”

  “I hope not, sir, indeed! But the master’s disappeared.”

  “Disappeared, has he!” Mr. Barnes smiled slightly. “Now, Williams, what do you mean by that? You did not see him vanish, eh?”

  “No, sir, of course not. If you’ll excuse my presumption, Inspector, I don’t think this is a joke, sir, and you’re laughing.”

  “All right, Williams,” answered Mr. Barnes, assuming a more serious tone. “I will give your tale my sober consideration. Proceed!”

  “Well, I hardly know where to begin, Inspector. But I’ll just give you the facts, without any unnecessary opinions of my own.”

  Williams rather prided himself upon his ability to tell what he called “a straight story”. He placed his hat on a chair, and, standing behind it, with one foot resting on a rung, checked off the points of his narrative, as he made them, by tapping the palm of one hand with the index finger of the other.

  “To begin then,” said he. “Mrs. Mitchel and Miss Rose sailed for England, Wednesday morning of last week. That same night, quite unexpected, the master says to me, says he, ‘Williams, I think you have a young woman you’re sweet on down at Newport?’ ‘Well, sir,’ says I, ‘I do know a person as answers that description,’ though I must say to you, Inspector, that how he ever came to know it beats me. But that’s aside, and digression is not my habit. ‘Well, Williams,’ the master went on, ‘I shan’t need you for the rest of this week, and if you’d like to take a trip to the seashore, I shan’t mind standing the expense, and letting you go.’ Of course, I thanked him very much, and I went, promising to be back on Monday morning as directed. And I kept my word, Inspector; though it was a hard wrench to leave the young person last Sunday in time to catch the boat; the moon being bright and everything most propitious for a stroll, it being her Sunday off and all that. But as I said, I kept my word, and was up to the house Monday morning only a little after seven, the boat having got in at six. I was a little surprised to find the master was not at home, but then it struck me as how he must have gone out of town over Sunday, and I looked for him to be in for dinner. But he did not come to dinner, nor at all that night. Still, I did not worry about it. It was the master’s privilege to stay away as long as he liked. Only I could not help thinking I might just as well have had that stroll in the moonlight, Sunday night. But when all Tuesday and Tuesday night went by, and no word from the master, I must confess that I got uneasy; and now here’s Wednesday noon, and no news; so I just took the liberty to come down and ask your opinion in the matter, seeing as how you are a particular friend of the family, and an Inspector to boot.”