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 fell into the car, and almost before we were seated, Carter started
with a jerk. Before we reached the street it was in high, and we swept
out of the drive in a sharp curve. Then with the car increasing in
speed every second we started down the lighted street. Not a word was
said. I could see Carter's face, set and determined, as he drove his
car, first at forty, then crept to fifty, and settled down around
sixty. Down the wide street we swept, with people turning to look at
us in amazement as we dashed past them with the siren wide open.
As we came around the bend of the street, where the road led straight
as an arrow to Warren's estate, Ranville spoke. He was the first one
to speak since we had left the house. And what he said seemed far more
spoken to himself than any one else.
“So there is something in the library that some one is after,” came
his musing voice.
“Of course,” Bartley shot back at him. “And what is more, I have been
afraid all day that this might happen. I did not want a murder to take
place, but if something did happen—an attack on Patton or a
burglary—then it would prove a theory that I have.”
With a glance over his shoulder, Carter shot out:
“Got another one of your hunches, John?”
The car was slowing down. In front of us, through the gathering dusk,
loomed the wall which enclosed the Warren estate. As the car stopped
and we jumped out, Bartley answered Carter's question.
“Call it that, Carter,” he said. “I think we will discover something
to-night.”
Nothing else was said, and on a half run we rushed through the gate
and up the path which led to the house. As we turned to the path which
ran through the hedges, I gave one glance back at the house. Through
the semi-darkness there came the friendly gleam of a light, but there
were no signs of confusion, or of any one about. Up the path we ran,
and then, as the hedge ended, we could see the eight-sided library
before us.
Every light seemed to be on, and the front door was slightly open. But
of Patton we did not see a sign until we rushed into the building.
Then we saw him standing silently near the desk. He whirled around as
we entered, and I saw a look of relief sweep his face. One thing
struck me sharply—in his hand was a revolver—a revolver which he was
gripping firmly.
He started down the room to meet us. His face seemed strained, though
there was no fear in it. The color had gone out of his cheeks as if
there had come some sudden shock. He said nothing, but as we reached
his side, he took us around the desk and pointed to the door at the
extreme end of the room. For a moment I saw nothing, and then as I
took one step forward, I paused and came to a halt. For there by the
door, huddled in a heap on the floor, lay the figure of a man—a man
who did not move, a man whose appearance seemed to fill the silent
room with dignity, a man whom I knew in a glance was dead.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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