_ CHAPTER TEN.
As Dexter Sprague had glibly and plausibly explained away every sinister aspect of the note he had written to Nita Selim that day, Special Investigator Dundee was recalling with verbatim vividness his argument with Captain Strawn of the Homicide Squad immediately after his arrival into the house of violent death.
He had said then: "The person who killed Nita Selim, was so well known to her, and his--or her--presence in this room so natural a thing that she paid no attention to his or her movements and was concentrating on the job of powdering her very pretty face."
And he had said further, in face of the disappearance of the gun and in explanation of the fact that all twelve of these people had immediately protested to Strawn that they had heard no shot:
"This was a premeditated murder, of course. The Maxim silencer--unless they are all lying about not hearing a shot--proves that. Silencers are damned hard to get hold of, but people with plenty of money can manage most things."
And as Dexter Sprague had talked on, more and more glibly, Dundee had suddenly found an explanation which fitted his own argument with such perfection that he wondered, naively, if he were perhaps gifted with clairvoyance.
Of all these twelve people, whom he had questioned so relentlessly, only Dexter Sprague could easily have come into possession of a Maxim silencer. He had dilated proudly upon the fact that he had been an assistant director at the Altamont Studios on Long Island. And the Altamont company had recently finished making a series of "underworld" motion pictures--crook dramas featuring gunmen with "rods" made eerily noiseless by Maxim silencers.
A bit of information he had picked up in a motion picture magazine had hurtled into the logical chain of Dundee's reasoning: assistant directors were in charge of "props"; it was their business to see that no article needed for the production of a picture was lost or missing when the director needed it. Dexter Sprague had said that he had "dropped everything" to come when Nita Selim wired him of the Chamber of Commerce project to make a "booster" movie of Hamilton.
Perhaps he
had dropped everything. But--
had he hesitated long enough to pick up a Maxim silencer and a blunt-nosed automatic? And was the "row" which Sprague had been so glibly explaining away an ancient one--a row so deadly that, when Nita Selim had refused to heed his written warning, her murder had become necessary?
It was with all this in mind that Bonnie Dundee flung his challenge: "I must conclude that you are all lying or that Nita Selim was killed with a gun equipped with a Maxim silencer."
And his eyes, terrible with their command that the weakling should break and confess, were upon Dexter Sprague. But Sprague did not break. He stared back blankly....
If his eyes and his attention had included the whole group it is possible that what happened would not have taken Dundee so completely by surprise. He had paid little attention to a sort of concerted gasp, a slight movement among the group farthest from him.
But not even his intense concentration upon Sprague could prevent his hearing Karen Marshall's childish voice, tremulous with fear:
"No, no, Hugo! Don't--don't!"
He whirled from Sprague in time to see Judge Marshall disengaging his arm from his young wife's clinging fingers, to note, with profound astonishment, that Drake was stepping hastily aside, so that not even his coat sleeve might be brushed by the advancing figure of the elderly, retired judge. And before Judge Marshall had time to speak, Dundee saw that a blight had touched, at last, the solid friendship of the women; that they did not look at each other with that air of standing together whatever happened, but that their eyes, not meeting at all, became secret, calculating, afraid....
"Sir!" Judge Marshall began pompously, when he had planted himself squarely before the young detective, "It shall never be said of me that I have tried, even in the slightest way, to hamper the course of justice."
"I am sure of that, Judge Marshall," Dundee replied courteously, but his pulses were hammering. What, in God's name, did this long-winded old fool have to tell him?... "You have some information you believe may be valuable, Judge?"
"I do not believe it will be at all valuable, sir. On the contrary!" the old man retorted indignantly. "But to suppress the fact at this juncture might lead to grave misunderstandings later, when it inevitably comes to light. So, sir, it is my duty to inform you that I myself own a Colt's .32, as well as a Maxim silencer."
"What!" Dundee exclaimed incredulously. He was conscious that, behind him, Captain Strawn was getting to his feet.
"There is no need to get out your handcuffs, Captain Strawn!" Judge Marshall warned him majestically. "I assure you that I have not violated the law. Every judge, active and retired, is entitled to a permit to carry a weapon, and I long ago availed myself of the privilege. Nor am I about to make a confession of murder!"
"There ain't no permit, so far as I know, Judge," Strawn growled, "for any man, whoever he may be--God A'mighty himself not excepted--to tote a gun with a silencer on it."
Karen Marshall was crying now, with the abandoned grief of a petted child.
"Granted, Captain!" Judge Marshall snapped. "But it happens that I do not 'tote' my gun with the silencer on it. If it interests you, I may as well explain that I came by the silencer several years ago, when I was on the bench. A notorious Chicago gunman, on trial for murder here, and acquitted by a feeble-minded jury, made me a present of the very silencer he had used in killing his victim--an ironic gesture, a gesture of supreme insolence, but an entirely safe gesture, since he well knew that a man once acquitted of a crime cannot again be placed in jeopardy for the same offence."
"So you kept the silencer as a curiosity, Judge Marshall?" Dundee interrupted the pompous flow of rhetoric.
"For years--yes," the ex-judge answered, then his face went yellow and very old. "As I told you just now, I will withhold no fact that may be of any relevance whatever.... About two months ago--in March, I believe--our little group here took up target-shooting as a fad. Several of us became quite expert with revolver and rifle. Mr. Drake--" and he nodded toward the banker, who instantly averted his eyes, "--conceived the idea of practising the draw-from-the-hip sort of revolver-shooting--the kind one sees in Wild West movies, you know--"
"I think you might add, Hugo," Drake cut in angrily, "that I had in mind the hope of being able to protect the bank in case of a holdup!"
"And the silencer, Judge Marshall?" Captain Strawn prodded.
Judge Marshall flushed, and fingered the end of a waxed mustache. "The silencer, sir, was my wife's idea. You see, sir, we are fortunate enough to be the parents of an infant son. He was just a month old when I painted a bull's eye upon the brick wall of our back garden and invited our friends to indulge their fad as our guests. The shooting awakened the baby so frequently that Karen--Mrs. Marshall--dug up the silencer, which I had shown her as a memento of my career on the bench. Thereafter we confined our practice almost exclusively to drawing from the hip and shooting without sighting. It is impossible to sight with a gun equipped with a silencer, you know, since the silencer covers the sighter on the barrel."
"It sure does," Strawn drawled. "So every last one of you folks had a good deal of this sort of practice, I take it?"
Judge Marshall glanced about the room, as if he could not recall the face of everyone present.
"Yes, all of us--except Mr. Sprague and--Penny, my dear, did you join us at all?"
The girl who had once been in on every sport that this crowd of Hamilton's socially elect indulged in, flushed a painful red.
"No, Hugo. I--I have to stay with Mother on Sunday mornings, you know."
"Your target practice was a Sunday morning diversion, then, Judge Marshall?" Dundee asked.
"Yes. We usually have an hour of the sport--between eleven and noon, on Sundays. We've been having a sort of tournament--quite sharply competitive--"
"When did you and your friends practise last?" Dundee asked.
"Last Sunday. Tomorrow was to mark the end of the 'tournament'," the Judge answered.
"And when did you last see your gun and silencer?" Dundee persisted.
"Last Sunday, of course.... Why, Good Lord!" Marshall ejaculated.
"It was Nita herself who put the gun away!"
There was a collective gasp of relief. Eyes could meet eyes--now. But it was Flora Miles who voiced the thought or hope that seemed apparent on every face.
"That's why I didn't hear anyone talking when I was in the closet!" she cried, her voice almost hysterical in its vehemence. "
There wasn't anybody but Nita in the room! She committed suicide! She stole poor Hugo's gun and the silencer and committed suicide!"
"At a distance of from ten to fifteen feet?" Dundee asked with ill-concealed sarcasm. "And when she was powdering her face? And just after entering the room, blithely singing a Broadway hit?"
"Maybe the lady is right, boy," Captain Strawn interposed mildly. "I've heard of people rigging up contrivances--"
"Which make the gun and the silencer disappear by magic?" Dundee demanded. "No, folks, I'm afraid the suicide theory is no good.... Now, Judge Marshall," and he turned again to the creator of the biggest sensation since the investigation into Nita Selim's death had got under way, "you say that Mrs. Selim herself put the gun away.... Will you explain the circumstances?"
The elderly man's face had gone yellowish again. "Certainly! Nita Selim and I were the last to leave the back garden. She was particularly poor at the sport--never made a bull's eye during the four or five Sunday mornings after Lois--Mrs. Dunlap--drew her into our set. She begged for a few more shots, and I stayed with her, after the others had gone into the house for--er--refreshment. She fired the last bullet in the chamber of the Colt's, and together we walked to the house, entering the little room at the rear where all sorts of sports equipment are kept--fishing rods and tackle, golf clubs, bows and arrows, skis, etc. She was carrying the gun, unscrewing the silencer as we walked. It is my habit to keep the pistol and the silencer in a drawer in a little corner cupboard--"
"Locked, up?" Dundee asked sharply.
"Usually locked, but not always, I am afraid," Judge Marshall answered reluctantly.
"And you saw Mrs. Selim place the gun and the silencer in the drawer?"
"I--thought I did, but I was really not watching closely. As a matter of fact, I stopped to look over a fishing rod, with a view to trying it out the first good fishing weather--"
"Was Mrs. Selim wearing a coat or cloak?" Dundee cut in impatiently.
"Why, I don't know--"
"Yes, she was, Hugo!" Karen cried out eagerly. "It was quite chilly last Sunday morning. Remember? We all had on coats or sweaters. Nita wore a dark-green leather jacket with big pockets--"
"And she left in a great hurry, without even waiting for a drink," Flora Miles contributed triumphantly. "I tell you, she took them away in her pockets."
"Your guess may be correct, Mrs. Miles," Dundee agreed, "but I think we had better not come to any definite conclusion until we know that Judge Marshall's automatic and silencer are really missing.... Is there anyone at your house now, Judge, whom you can ask to look for it?"
"Certainly. The butler.... Shall I telephone him?"
Accompanied by Captain Strawn, the ex-judge went to the telephone in the little foyer between Nita Selim's bedroom and the main hall. And within five minutes he was back, nodding his head gravely.
"Hinson tells me that the Colt's and the silencer are both missing, sir.... May I express my profound regret that my possession of--"
"Some other time, Judge Marshall!" Dundee interrupted curtly, and hurried from the room, followed by Strawn, who nodded to Sergeant Turner, still lounging wearily in a far corner of the living room, to stand guard vigilantly.
"Well, Bonnie, here's the devil to pay," Strawn gloomed, but Dundee made for the telephone without answering.
He called a number, then curtly demanded: "Dr. Price, please!... Yes, I know he's busy on an autopsy. Just tell him that Dundee, of the district attorney's office, wants to speak to him."
There was a long pause, then: "Hello, Dr. Price!... Dundee.... What are the caliber and type of bullet that killed Nita Selim?... Thanks much, doctor.... Anything new?... Fine! Thanks again!"
He hung up the receiver and faced Strawn. "Bullet from a Colt's .32," he said grimly. "I suggest you send one of your men around to the Marshall home to pick up a bullet that was shot in their damned target practice. If you send the two bullets tonight, registered mail, to Wright, the ballistics expert in Chicago, he can probably wire you tomorrow morning as to whether the same gun was used to fire both."
"Sure, Bonnie," Strawn agreed lugubriously. "I was going to do just that.... Say, this town is getting to be worse than Chicago!"
When he re-entered the living room Dundee began upon the judge again, regardless of the fact that the elderly husband was murmuring consolatory endearments to his young wife.
"Judge Marshall, how many keys are there to the cupboard drawer in which your gun and silencer were kept?"
"Just one. I have it with me," the old man answered wearily.
"Then when Hinson, your butler, looked for them, he found the drawer unlocked?"
"He did. I confess to almost criminal negligence--"
"Then so far as you know, the gun and silencer could have been removed at any time by any guest of yours between noon last Sunday and--today?" Dundee went on relentlessly.
"I--suppose so. But these people have been my close friends for years," the judge answered. "Not one of them, sir--"
"After Mrs. Selim's departure last Sunday, did your other guests remain for any length of time?"
"For an hour or more, I think. Lois and Peter Dunlap remained for our two o'clock Sunday dinner, but the others drifted away to various engagements."
"Did any of you return to the room where the gun was kept?"
"I can speak only for myself and Peter--Mr. Dunlap," Judge Marshall answered, flushing with indignation. "The two of us went down just before dinner was served. I wanted to show him some new flies for trout casting."
"Your home is a popular rendezvous for your intimates, is it not?"
"I pride myself that it is, sir!"
"And guests run in and out, having the freedom of the place?"
"Certainly, sir!... And since I am not so stupid as you imagine, I can tell you now that I understand the drift of your questions, and can forestall them: Yes, all of these people--
my friends!--have had opportunity to take the gun and the silencer from the cupboard since it was placed there last Sunday, if it
was placed there by Mrs. Selim. But may I remind you, sir, that opportunity alone is not sufficient; that
motive--"
"Since Mrs. Selim is dead, murdered by the weapon which was stolen, we can assume, Judge Marshall, that someone had motive," Dundee reminded him implacably, for in his mind there was no doubt that the ballistics expert would bear him out.
There was a heavy, throbbing silence. The group that, with the exception of Dexter Sprague, had been so united, so cemented with long-sustained friendship, again dissolved visibly before Dundee's eyes into eleven individuals, each shrinking into himself, mentally drawing away from any possible contamination with a murderer....
"You have said, Judge Marshall," Dundee went on at last, "that Miss Crain and Mr. Sprague were not at your home for target practice Sunday. Has either of them been in your home during this past week?"
"Penny--Miss Crain--spent an evening with my wife when I was--er--away from home on business. That was last Tuesday, I believe--"
"Yes, it was Tuesday, Hugo," Penny Crain interrupted firmly. "And Karen can vouch for the fact that I did not go into the gun room."
"Don't be silly, Penny!" Carolyn Drake scolded, as if she had long been bursting to speak. "Giving an alibi! As if
any of us who were playing bridge while that woman was being shot
needs any alibi!... But I'll tell you what
I think, Mr. Detective! I think Nita herself stole the gun and the silencer, to kill Dexter Sprague with, and that
he stole it from her and murdered
her! Nobody else has the slightest scrap of a motive, and that note he wrote her ought to be enough to hang him on!"
Dexter Sprague had struggled to his feet during the woman's hysterical attack, his face like chalk, his eyes blazing. But Dundee waved him aside peremptorily.
"One more question, Judge Marshall," he said suavely, as if he had not heard a word that Carolyn Drake had said. "You knew Mrs. Selim before her arrival in Hamilton with Mrs. Dunlap, I believe.... Just when and where did you meet her?" _