The crooked crossDutton, Charles J. (Charles Judson)
General
The crooked cross
Dutton, Charles J. (Charles Judson)
Bartley, John (Fictitious character) -- Fiction; Detective and mystery stories; Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction
We slowly returned to the center of the room, no one speaking. The
girl's story had added little, if anything, to our knowledge. So far
as we could tell nothing in the room had been disturbed or even
touched. As to gaining any knowledge which would aid us in solving the
mystery of Warren's death, we were in the same position as before. I
think the chief was thinking this, for I saw him glance slowly around
the room and then shake his head. And then Ranville's voice broke the
silence.
“Miss Harlan, there is just one thing you might explain. You said that
you were angry because Mr. Warren wished you to work until ten
o'clock. Did you expect he was to be with you in the library?”
“No,” was the reply. “In fact, I knew he would not have been. He had a
dinner he was giving to three men. But there were notes which had to
be typed. He would have corrected the manuscript the next morning.
That's why I would have had to stay so late. He was in a hurry to
finish the book, you know.”
“Fine,” came the drawling voice of the Englishman. “And now did you
ever hear some silly story about Mr. Warren having a box with the
bone—excuse me—the ashes of Buddha in it?”
The girl's eyes grew large as she gazed at Ranville. I could see that
she thought he was joking, and at his next remark her eyes grew even
larger as he asked:
“And did any Chinaman come around here to see Mr. Warren?”
She shook her head, saying she knew nothing of either a Chinaman or a
box with ashes in it. It was clear she did not even understand what he
was talking about, for she glanced at both the chief and Bartley as if
asking for information. But instead of replying the chief reached into
his pocket and came forth with a long envelope. Very slowly he opened
it and brought forth a piece of paper. As I saw the torn sheet, I
recognized it. It was the letter I had found on the desk. Approaching
the girl and holding the letter where she could read it, he asked:
“Did you ever see that?”
She carefully read the few lines, and then shook her head. Bartley's
hand went out for the sheet of paper and as he took it I told him
where we had found it. He said nothing for a moment, then turned to
the girl:
“Did you open Mr. Warren's mail?” he asked.
“As a rule I did. I never saw that letter. And I never heard anything
about a Chinaman or any box of ashes of any kind.”
As Bartley gazed at his watch he said that it was rather late, and
that perhaps Ranville would be willing to drive the secretary home in
our car. Ranville nodded his assent and said that he would come back
for us, to which Bartley replied by saying that we could walk back to
the house. As the Englishman and the girl started for the door
Bartley, who was by the desk, bent forward to pick something from the
floor. Then he called to the secretary.
“Miss Harlan, who cleaned this room?”
She had reached the door, but turned to answer him.
“Why, Jimmy—the man who works around the grounds. He swept every
morning before we came to work.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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