Chapter 4
CHAPTER IV. THE Nail "'My God!' Farrell exclaimed, stepping closer and pushing aside the gray hair, thus clearly revealing the awful truth. A flat-headed nail, the head rather more than a quarter of an inch in diameter, had been driven into the skull with such force that it showed merely as a metal disc. Having been hidden by the dead man's hair, it had remained unnoticed until Moore's quick eyes
espied it. Farrell picked at it a little, but it was far too firmly fastened to be moved by his fingers. What shall we do? the inspector asked helplessly. Shall we try to get Dr. Rogers back? No, returned the coroner. He's just starting on a long trip. Let him go.
He could do nothing, and it would be a pity to spoil his journey. His diagnosis of apoplexy was most natural in the circumstances, for the symptoms are the same. I, too, thought death was the result of an apoplectic stroke. But now we know it is black murder.
The case comes directly within my jurisdiction, and there's no occasion to recall Dr. Rogers. "'You're right,' Ames assented. "'But who could have done this fearful thing? "'I can hardly believe a human being capable of such a horror.
"'Mr. Moore, you simply must take up this case. "'It ought to be a problem after your own heart.' Every word the man uttered made me dislike him more. To refer to this terrible tragedy as a problem after Moore's own heart seemed to me to indicate a mind callous and almost ghoulish in its type. I knew Key well enough to feel sure that he would investigate the murder, but not at the behest of Harper Ames.
He only acknowledged Ames's speech by a noncommittal nod and turned to Detective March. "'We have our work cut out for us,' he said very gravely. "'I have never seen a stranger case. The murderer must have been a man of brute passions and brute strength. That nail is almost embedded in the bone,
and I fancy needed more than one blow of the hammer that drove it in. But first, as to the doors and windows, you tell me they were locked this morning?' yes sir answered griscom the butler as moore looked at him he was a smallish man bald and with what are sometimes called pop-eyes he stared in a frightened manner but he controlled his voice as he went on to tell his story yes sir i brought the master's tea at nine o'clock as always the door was locked is it usually locked in the morning moore interrupted
sometimes not always when it is locked i knock and mr tracy would get up and open the door if unlocked i walked right in and this morning it was locked and the key in the lock on the inside yes sir so i knocked but when there was no answer i got scared why were you scared because dr rogers had often told me that mr tracy was in danger of an apoplectic stroke and that i must do anything i could to make him eat less and take more exercise i've been with the master a long time sir and i had the privilege of a bit of talk with him now and then so i did try to persuade him to obey the doctor's orders and he would laugh and promise to do so but he soon forgot it as soon as he saw some dish he was fond of and he'd eat his fill of it go on griscom moore said what happened next i went to mr everett yes he went to everett broke in the aggrieved voice of harper ames why did he do that instead of coming to me i'd like to know go on moore instructed the butler
i went to mr everett sir he was up and dressed and he said at once to get louis that's the chauffeur and tell him to bring some tools i did that and louis first pushed the key out of the lock and then poked around with a wire until he got the door open then we came in who came in mr everett and mr ames and me sir and mrs fenn she's the housekeeper she saw louis running upstairs so she came too and you saw mr tracy just as he was when you first saw him sir just as he is now except for the things dr rogers chucked out is that door the one that was locked the entrance to the whole suite yes sir that door is the only one connecting these rooms with the house i see now what about the windows they haven't been touched sir kee moore turned his attention to the windows
there were many of them the suite of sampson tracy's was a rectangular wing built out from the main house and having windows on three sides but all of these windows overlooked the deep black waters of the sunless sea it had been the whim of the man to have his quarters thus to be surrounded on all sides by the water of the lake that he loved and he usually had all the windows wide open doubtless enjoying the lake breezes that played through the rooms and listening to the birds whose notes broke the stillness of the night what is below these rooms moore asked the big ball-room sir nothing else after scrutinizing every window in the bedroom dressing-room bathroom and sitting-room moore said slowly these windows seem to me to be inaccessible from below it was characteristic of the man that he didn't say they were inaccessible but merely that they seemed so to him as they certainly did to the rest of us
we all looked out and in every instance the sheer drop to the lake was about fifteen or more feet the outer walls of marble presented no foothold for even the most daring of climbers they were smooth plain and absolutely unscalable it is certain no one entered by the windows moore said at last having looked out of every one i suppose the house is always carefully secured at night yes sir griscom assured him mr tracy was very particular about that he and all the household had latch-keys and the front door indeed all the doors and windows were carefully seen to who has latch-keys mr everett mr dean myself and the housekeeper then there are others which are given to guests mr ames had one with so many latch-keys about one may have been abstracted by some evil-minded person not likely sir we keep strict watch on them
well that would only give entrance to the house how could any one get into and out of mr tracy's room leaving the door locked on the inside i knew moore purposely voiced this problem himself to head off those who would ask it of him he had often said to me if you don't want a question asked of you ask it yourself of somebody else and so as he flung this at them each felt derelict in not being able to reply but ames's querulous voice volleyed the question back that's why i want you to do up this business moore he said that's what makes it such a pretty problem moore could stand this no longer for an intimate friend of a martyred man i should think you would see the matter in a more personal light than a pretty problem oh i do i'm sad and sorry enough but i don't wear my heart on my sleeve
and first of all i'm keen to avenge my friend and i know that what's to be done must be done quickly so get busy i beg the more ames said the less i liked him and i knew kee felt the same way about it but the man was right as to haste being advisable the circumstances were so peculiar the condition so fantastic that search for the criminal must be made quickly or a man of such diabolical cleverness would put himself beyond our reach the inspector the police detective and keeley moore consulted a few moments and then inspector farrell said the case is altered now that we know it is wilful murder and not a stroke of illness we must act accordingly coroner hart will conduct an immediate inquiry preliminary to his formal inquest no one may leave this house you griscom will tell the servants this and i shall call in more help from the police station to guard the place
we will go downstairs and the coroner will choose a suitable room and begin his investigation farrell was an efficient director though in no way a detective he locked the door that commanded the whole apartment after he had herded us all out we filed downstairs and i could hear women's voices in a small reception room as we passed it the coroner chose a room which was fitted up as a sort of writing room it was of moderate size and contained several desks or writing tables evidently a writing-room for guests there was a bookcase of books and a table of periodicals and newspapers clearly the house had every provision for comfort and pleasure save for the sinister atmosphere now pervading it i felt i should have liked a visit there the coroner settled himself at a table and instructed griscom to send in the house servants one at a time he also told the butler to serve breakfast as usual and advised harper ames to go to the dining-room as he would be called on later for testimony
hart's manner now was crisp and business-like the realization of the awful facts of the case had spurred him to definite and immediate action mrs fenn the cook housekeeper threw no new light on the situation she corroborated griscom's story of the locked door and the subsequent opening of it by louis but she could add no new information you were fond of mr tracy asked moore kindly for the poor woman was vainly trying to control her grief oh yes sir he was a good master and a truly great man you've never known among the guests of the house any one who was his enemy no sir but i almost never see the guests i'm a housekeeper to be sure but the maids do all the housework i superintend the cooking and you've heard no gossip about any one who had an enmity or a grudge toward mr tracy ah who could have he was a gentle peaceable man was mr tracy who could wish him harm yet somebody did the coroner put in and then he dismissed mrs fenn feeling she could be of no use
the other house servants were similarly ignorant of any guest or neighbor who was unfriendly to mr tracy and then hart called for the chauffeur louis a frenchman was different in manner and disinclined to talk in fact he refused to do so unless all members of the household were sent from the room so the coroner ordered everybody out except farrell and detective march moore and myself then louis waxed confidential and declared that mr ames and mr tracy were deadly enemies i thought the man was exaggerating and that he had some grudge of his own against ames but hart listened avidly to the chauffeur's arraignment and i was forced to the conclusion that louis knew a lot yet it was all hints and innuendoes he stated that the two men were continually quarreling asked what about he replied money matters what sort of money matters hart asked him
stocks and bonds and mortgages i think mr ames owed mr tracy a great deal of money and he couldn't or wouldn't pay it and so they wrangled over it there was no quarreling on other subjects no sir except now and then about mrs dallas and what about her well mr ames didn't want mr tracy to marry her did mr ames favor the lady himself oh no sir he's a woman hater or at least he says so no but he didn't want mr tracy to marry anybody for fear he might cut him mr ames out of his will how do you know all these things well i drive the car you see and they talk these matters over and i can't help hearing them they make no bones of it they talk right out i never repeat anything i hear in an ordinary way but as you ask me sir yes louie tell all you know so mr ames would suffer financially if mr tracy married
i don't know that sir but i know he thought he would and i suppose he knew it seems to me farrell said we ought to know the terms of mr tracy's will as it might help us to get at the truth we can't do that at the moment hart said and anyway this is merely a preliminary inquiry to get the main facts of the situation but the other servants had no more information to impart than those hitherto questioned a chambermaid one sally bray convinced us that all the queer decorations spread on the bed had been already in the room and were therefore not brought in by the murderer the red feather duster belonged in a small cupboard that held polishing cloths and dusters the larkspur flowers had been in a vase on a side table and the whole bunch had been removed from the vase and laid around the dead man the orange and crackers had been on a plate on the bedside table but where the plate was sally had no idea the crucifix was mr tracy's property and belonged on a small hook above the head of his bed
and the scarf suggested hart the red chiffon scarf where did that come from sally blushed and looked down but finally being urged to tell she said she knew it to be a scarf belonging to mrs dallas and the lady had left it there one evening not long ago when she had been there to dinner why had it not been returned to her hart wanted to know because mr tracy took a notion to it it was a sort of keepsake of the lady sir and too mr tracy was fond of beautiful things any pretty piece of silk or brocade would please him tremendous then whoever arranged all those decorations round him knew of his love for beautiful things and that would explain the flowers and the scarf is there anything missing from his room sally i don't know sir i've not been allowed in there this morning well go up there now tell the guard he's to let you in here's the key
oh sir i daren't don't make me go in there the girl shivered with real fear but hart had to know you must go he said not unkindly get griscom to go with you or mrs fenn if you'd like but it is important for me to know if anything has been taken away that you know of i don't mean papers or letters from his desk i mean any of his appointments or small belongings the girl went off still shuddering and hart finished up the rest of the servants in short order next he interviewed charlie everett i had taken a fancy to everett and somehow from the way kee looked at him i thought he liked him too he was not a distinguished-looking man but he seemed a well-balanced sort and his eyes were alert and showed a sense of humor not that the occasion called for humor but you can always tell by a man's eyes if he has that desirable trait very quiet and self-possessed was everett his manner polite but a little detached
he was quite ready to answer questions but he gave only the answer no additional information yes he said he had spent an hour or so with mr tracy the night before they had played a game of billiards and had then sat for a short time over a cigar and a whisky and soda then perhaps about ten o'clock he had said good-night to his employer and had gone to his own room no he could form no idea whatever as to who could have killed sampson tracy or how he could have got into the room that is he amended his speech he could get in easy enough but i don't see how he could get out and leave the door locked behind him it is one of those cases hart said a little sententiously where there has been a murder committed in a sealed room keeley moore spoke up then a murder cannot be committed in a sealed room he said unless the murderer stays there if the murderer left the room the room was not a sealed room how did he get out demanded hart that we have yet to learn but he did get out not through the door to the hall
remains the possibility of a secret passage and the windows i'm sure there is no secret passage everett said with an unusual burst of unasked information i've been here three years and if there was such a thing i'm sure i'd know of it you might and you might not said moore looking at him if mr tracy wanted a private entrance to his suite for any reason he would have had it built and kept the matter quiet not sampson tracy exclaimed everett he was not a secretive man i think i may say i knew all about his affairs both business matters and private dealings and he trusted me absolutely even so moore told him but in the lives of most men there is some secret something that they don't talk over with anybody not mr tracy everett reiterated even his engagement to mrs dallas was freely talked over with me both before it occurred and since i know all about his habits and his fads and whims and in no case was there ever an occasion for a secret passage to or from his rooms
yet it may be there kee insisted but if none can be found then the murderer either escaped by the window or-or what asked hart or he had a steel wire contraption to turn the key from the outside but this i don't think likely for the door has a rather complicated lock and is far from being an easy thing to manipulate you know the terms of his will then the coroner inquired oh yes everett said at present his niece miss remsen is his principal heir there are many bequests to friends and to servants but the bulk of the estate goes to miss remsen mr tracy knew that his marriage would invalidate his will which was why he had not changed it he said that after his wedding with mrs dallas he would revise the will to suit his changed estate then under his existing will mrs dallas has no legacy not unless mr tracy made a change without telling me he may have done that but i think it's very unlikely you know of no one then who had sufficient enmity toward mr tracy to desire his death
absolutely no one so far as i am aware he hadn't an acquaintance in the world who was anything but friendly toward him everett was dismissed and billy deane was called in he was a pleasant-faced chap of twenty-three or thereabouts his work was far from being as important as everett's in fact he was really a high-class stenographer and office boy he was good-looking with big brown eyes and a curly mop of brown hair he too scoffed at the idea of a secret passage in the house pleasure dome has all the modern improvements he said but nothing like that if there was such a thing i'd have been through it in no time i can ferret out anything queer of that sort by instinct and there's nothing doing there's no way in and out of mr tracy's suite but by that one hall door
i know that and it has a special lock he had that put on about six months ago why was he afraid of intruders don't think so but there had been some robberies down in the village and he said it was as well to be on the safe side then mr deane in your opinion how did the man who killed mr tracy get out of his rooms that's where you get me i'm positively kerflummoxed i can't see anybody twisting that peculiar key with a bit of wire though that's easier to swallow than to imagine anyone jumping out of the window why the windows are not so very high no but the lake there is mighty deep and dangerous why specially dangerous because there are swirling undercurrents you see it's almost like a cauldron that sunless sea as mr tracy named it is in a cove and the winds make the water eddy about and well
i'm a pretty fair diver but i wouldn't dive out of a second-story window into that cove then we have to look for either a clever mechanician or an expert diver said keeley moore how about the chauffeur he's an expert m'kannishin all right but he wouldn't harm a hair of mr tracy's head he loved him as indeed we all did nobody could help loving that man he was always genial courteous and kindly to everybody and his niece miss remsen asked the coroner she too is gentle and lovely young dean blushed fiery red yes she is was all he said but no clairvoyance was needed to read his thoughts of her is she here asked moore knowing we had seen her arrive yes billy deane said we telephoned her so soon as we knew what had happened and she came right over you may go now said the coroner and please send miss remsen in here chapter four
