A master hand : $b The story of a crimeDallas, Richard
General
A master hand : $b The story of a crime
Dallas, Richard
Detective and mystery stories; Murder -- Fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction
"I came, Mr. Dallas," he said, "because after I saw at the trial this
afternoon that the police had caught Winters and that he was the man, I
thought I ought to tell you at once what I know about it. I would have
told it when I testified, but did not think of him at all then. Mr.
Winters," he continued, "was always coming to Mr. White's rooms, at all
times of the day and often late in the evening, too, and he always
wanted money, and Mr. White always gave it to him; sometimes a good
deal, and sometimes a little, just according to what he had with him;
and he had generally been drinking, more or less, and sometimes he would
beg and cry, and sometimes, when Mr. White didn't have as much money to
give him as he wanted, he would get mad, and say it was all his money by
right anyhow, and that Mr. White had as good as robbed him of it and
such like; but Mr. White would never say much to him, but just give him
the money and be kind to him, and tell him to come again when he needed
more; and indeed it seemed to me he was always coming, sir, and it used
to bother Mr. White, I am sure, for he seemed worried and out of sorts
after Mr. Winters had been there." He paused for a moment and then went
on. "That is all I wanted to say, but I thought I ought to tell you,
sir. I tried to see you after the trial, but you got away too soon, and
so I thought I would wait until you got through your dinner, and had
time to see me. So I came around now."
He had rattled on till he was out of breath, and now stood in some
embarrassment waiting for what I might have to say.
I sat looking at him. I was puzzled as to his character. Either the man
was simple and straightforward in nature and worked up at the moment to
a high pitch of nervous and pleasurable excitement over the murder, as
is apt to be the case with his class; or else he was a worse man and a
deeper one than I had conceived him to be.
"Sit down, Benton," I said at last, pointing to a chair opposite me;
"what you have told me is of much importance, and I want to talk to you
further about it."
"Yes, sir," he said, and sat down obediently. I felt I had a delicate
task in hand. I must on no account alarm him or in any way arouse his
suspicion, and yet the opportunity of questioning him was too good to
lose.
"It is very important," I continued, "that I should learn all I can of
Mr. White's habits. I knew him well, of course, but as his servant, you
knew more about him than any one else. How long, now, had you lived with
him?"
"More than a year," he answered.
"Did you know this Miss Stanton, who testified to-day?" I continued.
"Yes, sir, I did; he had been going with her ever since I knew him."
"Do you know whether he was in the habit of visiting her house often
late in the evening?"
"I think so, sir, but I do not know just how often. I used to take notes
for him to her house, and sometimes she would come to his rooms and take
supper with him."
"Did she have any key to his rooms?" was my next question.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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