Part + 

I + 

The Dains + 

I + 

Eight Diamonds + 

It was a diamond all right, shining in the grass half a dozen feet from the blue brick walk. It was small, not more than a quarter of a carat in weight, and unmounted. I put it in my pocket and began searching the lawn as closely as I could without going at it on all fours. + 

I had covered a couple of square yards of sod when the LeggettsтАЩ front door opened. + 

A woman came out on the broad stone top step and looked down at me with good-humored curiosity. + 

She was a woman of about my age, forty, with darkish blond hair, a pleasant plump face, and dimpled pink cheeks. She had on a lavender-flowered white housedress. + 

I stopped poking at the grass and went up to her, asking: тАЬIs Mr.┬аLeggett in?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes.тАЭ Her voice was placid as her face. тАЬYou wish to see him?тАЭ + 

I said I did. + 

She smiled at me and at the lawn. + 

тАЬYouтАЩre another detective, arenтАЩt you?тАЭ + 

I admitted that. + 

She took me up to a green, orange, and chocolate room on the second floor, put me in a brocaded chair, and went to call her husband from his laboratory. While I waited, I looked around the room, deciding that the dull orange rug under my feet was probably both genuinely oriental and genuinely ancient, that the walnut furniture hadnтАЩt been ground out by machinery, and that the Japanese pictures on the wall hadnтАЩt been selected by a prude. + 

Edgar Leggett came in saying: тАЬIтАЩm sorry to have kept you waiting, but I couldnтАЩt break off till now. Have you learned something?тАЭ + 

His voice was unexpectedly harsh, rasping, though his manner was friendly enough. He was a dark-skinned erect man in his middle forties, muscularly slender and of medium height. He would have been handsome if his brown face hadnтАЩt been so deeply marked with sharp, hard lines across the forehead and from nostrils down across mouth-corners. Dark hair, worn rather long, curled above and around the broad, grooved forehead. Red-brown eyes were abnormally bright behind horn-rimmed spectacles. His nose was long, thin, and high-bridged. His lips were thin, sharp, nimble, over a small, bony chin. His black and white clothes were well made and cared for. + 

тАЬNot yet,тАЭ I said to his question. тАЬIтАЩm not a police detectiveтБатАФContinental AgencyтБатАФfor the insurance companyтБатАФand IтАЩm just starting.тАЭ + 

тАЬInsurance company?тАЭ He seemed surprised, raising dark eyebrows above the dark tops of his spectacles. + 

тАЬYeah. DidnтАЩtтБатАФ?тАЭ + 

тАЬSurely,тАЭ he said, smiling, stopping my words with a small flourish of one hand. It was a long, narrow hand with over-developed fingertips, ugly as most trained hands are. тАЬSurely. They would have been insured. I hadnтАЩt thought of that. They werenтАЩt my diamonds, you know; they were HalsteadтАЩs.тАЭ + 

тАЬHalstead and Beauchamp? I didnтАЩt get any details from the insurance company. You had the diamonds on approval?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo. I was using them experimentally. Halstead knew of my work with glassтБатАФcoloring it, staining or dyeing it, after its manufactureтБатАФand he became interested in the possibility of the process being adapted to diamonds, particularly in improving off-color stones, removing yellowish and brownish tinges, emphasizing blues. He asked me to try it and five weeks ago gave me those diamonds to work on. There were eight of them, none especially valuable. The largest weighed only a trifle more than half a carat, some of the others only a quarter, and except for two they were all of poor color. TheyтАЩre the stones the burglar got.тАЭ + 

тАЬThen you hadnтАЩt succeeded?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬFrankly,тАЭ he said, тАЬI hadnтАЩt made the slightest progress. This was a more delicate matter, and on more obdurate material.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhereтАЩd you keep them?тАЭ + 

тАЬUsually they were left lying around in the openтБатАФalways in the laboratory, of courseтБатАФbut for several days now they had been locked in the cabinetтБатАФsince my last unsuccessful experiment.тАЭ + 

тАЬWho knew about the experiments?тАЭ + 

тАЬAnyone, everyoneтБатАФthere was no occasion for secrecy.тАЭ + 

тАЬThey were stolen from the cabinet?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes. This morning we found our front door open, the cabinet drawer forced, and the diamonds gone. The police found marks on the kitchen door. They say the burglar came in that way and left by the front door. We heard nothing last night. And nothing else was taken.тАЭ + 

тАЬThe front door was ajar when I came downstairs this morning,тАЭ Mrs.┬аLeggett said from the doorway. тАЬI went upstairs and awakened Edgar, and we searched the house and found the diamonds gone. The police think the man I saw must have been the burglar.тАЭ + 

I asked about the man she had seen. + 

тАЬIt was last night, around midnight, when I opened the bedroom windows before going to bed. I saw a man standing upon the corner. I canтАЩt say, even now, that there was anything very suspicious-looking about him. He was standing there as if waiting for somebody. He was looking down this way, but not in a way to make me think he was watching this house. He was a man past forty, I should say, rather short and broadтБатАФsomewhat of your buildтБатАФbut he had a bristly brown mustache and was pale. He wore a soft hat and overcoatтБатАФdarkтБатАФI think they were brown. The police think thatтАЩs the same man Gabrielle saw.тАЭ + 

тАЬWho?тАЭ + 

тАЬMy daughter Gabrielle,тАЭ she said. тАЬComing home late one nightтБатАФSaturday night, I think it wasтБатАФshe saw a man and thought he had come from our steps; but she wasnтАЩt sure and didnтАЩt think anything more of it until after the burglary.тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩd like to talk to her. Is she home?тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett went out to get her. + 

I asked Leggett: тАЬWere the diamonds loose?тАЭ + 

тАЬThey were unset, of course, and in small manila envelopesтБатАФHalstead and BeauchampтАЩsтБатАФeach in a separate envelope, with a number and the weight of the stone written in pencil. The envelopes are missing too.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett returned with her daughter, a girl of twenty or less in a sleeveless white silk dress. Of medium height, she looked more slender than she actually was. She had hair as curly as her fatherтАЩs, and no longer, but of a much lighter brown. She had a pointed chin and extremely white, smooth skin, and of her features only the green-brown eyes were large: forehead, mouth, and teeth were remarkably small. I stood up to be introduced to her, and asked about the man she had seen. + 

тАЬIтАЩm not positive that he came from the house,тАЭ she said, тАЬor even from the lawn.тАЭ She was sullen, as if she didnтАЩt like being questioned. тАЬI thought he might have, but I only saw him walking up the street.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat sort of looking man was he?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know. It was dark. I was in the car, he was walking up the street. I didnтАЩt examine him closely. He was about your size. It might have been you, for all I know.тАЭ + 

тАЬIt wasnтАЩt. That was Saturday night?тАЭ + 

тАЬYesтБатАФthat is, Sunday morning.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat time?тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, three oтАЩclock or after,тАЭ she said impatiently. + 

тАЬWere you alone?тАЭ + 

тАЬHardly.тАЭ + 

I asked her who was with her and finally got a name: Eric Collinson had driven her home. I asked where I could find Eric Collinson. She frowned, hesitated, and said he was employed by Spear, Camp and Duffy, stockbrokers. She also said she had a putrid headache and she hoped I would excuse her now, as she knew I couldnтАЩt have any more questions to ask her. Then, without waiting for any reply I might have made to that, she turned and went out of the room. Her ears, I noticed when she turned, had no lobes, and were queerly pointed at the top. + 

тАЬHow about your servants?тАЭ I asked Mrs.┬аLeggett. + 

тАЬWeтАЩve only oneтБатАФMinnie Hershey, a Negress. She doesnтАЩt sleep here, and IтАЩm sure she had nothing to do with it. SheтАЩs been with us for nearly two years and I can vouch for her honesty.тАЭ + 

I said IтАЩd like to talk to Minnie, and Mrs.┬аLeggett called her in. The servant was a small, wiry mulatto girl with the straight black hair and brown features of an Indian. She was very polite and very insistent that she had nothing to do with the theft of the diamonds and had known nothing about the burglary until she arrived at the house that morning. She gave me her home address, in San FranciscoтАЩs darktown. + 

Leggett and his wife took me up to the laboratory, a large room that covered all but a small fifth of the third story. Charts hung between the windows on the whitewashed wall. The wooden floor was uncovered. An X-ray machineтБатАФor something similarтБатАФfour or five smaller machines, a forge, a wide sink, a large zinc table, some smaller porcelain ones, stands, racks of glassware, siphon-shaped metal tanksтБатАФthat sort of stuff filled most of the room. + 

The cabinet the diamonds had been taken from was a green-painted steel affair with six drawers all locking together. The second drawer from the topтБатАФthe one the diamonds had been inтБатАФwas open. Its edge was dented where a jimmy or chisel had been forced between it and the frame. The other drawers were still locked. Leggett said the forcing of the diamond drawer had jammed the locking mechanism so that he would have to get a mechanic to open the others. + 

We went downstairs, through a room where the mulatto was walking around behind a vacuum cleaner, and into the kitchen. The back door and its frame were marked much as the cabinet was, apparently by the same tool. + 

When I had finished looking at the door, I took the diamond out of my pocket and showed it to the Leggetts, asking: тАЬIs this one of them?тАЭ + 

Leggett picked it out of my palm with forefinger and thumb, held it up to the light, turned it from side to side, and said: тАЬYes. It has that cloudy spot down at the culet. Where did you get it?тАЭ + 

тАЬOut front, in the grass.тАЭ + 

тАЬAh, our burglar dropped some of his spoils in his haste.тАЭ + 

I said I doubted it. + 

Leggett pulled his brows together behind his glasses, looked at me with smaller eyes, and asked sharply: тАЬWhat do you think?тАЭ + 

тАЬI think it was planted there. Your burglar knew too much. He knew which drawer to go to. He didnтАЩt waste time on anything else. Detectives always say: тАШInside job,тАЩ because it saves work if they can find a victim right on the scene; but I canтАЩt see anything else here.тАЭ + 

Minnie came to the door, still holding the vacuum cleaner, and began to cry that she was an honest girl, and nobody had any right to accuse her of anything, and they could search her and her home if they wanted to, and just because she was a colored girl was no reason, and so on and so on; and not all of it could be made out, because the vacuum cleaner was still humming in her hand and she sobbed while she talked. Tears ran down her cheeks. + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett went to her, patted her shoulder, and said: тАЬThere, there. DonтАЩt cry, Minnie. I know you hadnтАЩt anything to do with it, and so does everybody else. There, there.тАЭ Presently she got the girlтАЩs tears turned off and sent her upstairs. + 

Leggett sat on a corner of the kitchen table and asked: тАЬYou suspect someone in this house?тАЭ + 

тАЬSomebody whoтАЩs been in it, yeah.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhom?тАЭ + 

тАЬNobody yet.тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЭтБатАФhe smiled, showing white teeth almost as small as his daughterтАЩsтБатАФтАЬmeans everybodyтБатАФall of us?тАЭ + 

тАЬLetтАЩs take a look at the lawn,тАЭ I suggested. тАЬIf we find any more diamonds IтАЩll say maybe IтАЩm mistaken about the inside angle.тАЭ + 

Halfway through the house, as we went towards the front door, we met Minnie Hershey in a tan coat and violet hat, coming to say goodbye to her mistress. She wouldnтАЩt, she said tearfully, work anywhere where anybody thought she had stolen anything. She was just as honest as anybody else, and more than some, and just as much entitled to respect, and if she couldnтАЩt get it one place she could another, because she knew places where people wouldnтАЩt accuse her of stealing things after she had worked for them for two long years without ever taking so much as a slice of bread. + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett pleaded with her, reasoned with her, scolded her, and commanded her, but none of it was any good. The brown girlтАЩs mind was made up, and away she went. + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett looked at me, making her pleasant face as severe as she could, and said reprovingly: тАЬNow see what youтАЩve done.тАЭ + 

I said I was sorry, and her husband and I went out to examine the lawn. We didnтАЩt find any more diamonds. + 

II + 

Long-Nose + 

I put in a couple of hours canvassing the neighborhood, trying to place the man Mrs.┬аand Miss Leggett had seen. I didnтАЩt have any luck with that one, but I picked up news of another. A Mrs.┬аPriestlyтБатАФa pale semi-invalid who lived three doors below the LeggettsтБатАФgave me the first line on him. + 

Mrs.┬аPriestly often sat at a front window at night when she couldnтАЩt sleep. On two of these nights she had seen the man. She said he was a tall man, and young, she thought, and he walked with his head thrust forward. The street was too poorly lighted for her to describe his coloring and clothes. + 

She had first seen him a week before. He had passed up and down on the other side of the street five or six times, at intervals of fifteen or twenty minutes, with his face turned as if watching somethingтБатАФor looking for somethingтБатАФon Mrs.┬аPriestlyтАЩsтБатАФand the LeggettsтАЩтБатАФside of the street. She thought it was between eleven and twelve oтАЩclock that she had seen him the first time that night, and around one oтАЩclock the last. Several nights laterтБатАФSaturdayтБатАФshe had seen him again, not walking this time, but standing on the corner below, looking up the street, at about midnight. He went away after half an hour, and she had not seen him again. + 

Mrs.┬аPriestly knew the Leggetts by sight, but knew very little about them, except that the daughter was said to be a bit wild. They seemed to be nice people, but kept to themselves. He had moved into the house in 1921, alone except for the housekeeperтБатАФa Mrs.┬аBegg, who, Mrs.┬аPriestly understood, was now with a family named Freemander in Berkeley. Mrs.┬аLeggett and Gabrielle had not come to live with Leggett until 1923. + 

Mrs.┬аPriestly said she had not been at her window the previous night and therefore had not seen the man Mrs.┬аLeggett had seen on the corner. + 

A man named Warren Daley, who lived on the opposite side of the street, down near the corner where Mrs.┬аPriestly had seen her man, had, when locking up the house Sunday night, surprised a manтБатАФapparently the same manтБатАФin the vestibule. Daley was not at home when I called, but, after telling me this much, Mrs.┬аDaley got him on the phone for me. + 

Daley said the man had been standing in the vestibule, either hiding from or watching someone up the street. As soon as Daley opened the door, the man ran away, down the street, paying no attention to DaleyтАЩs тАЬWhat are you doing there?тАЭ Daley said he was a man of thirty-two or three, fairly well dressed in dark clothes, and had a long, thin, and sharp nose. + 

That was all I could shake the neighborhood down for. I went to the Montgomery Street offices of Spear, Camp and Duffy and asked for Eric Collinson. + 

He was young, blond, tall, broad, sunburned, and dressy, with the good-looking unintelligent face of one who would know everything about polo, or shooting, or flying, or something of that sortтБатАФmaybe even two things of that sortтБатАФbut not much about anything else. We sat on a fatted leather seat in the customersтАЩ room, now, after market hours, empty except for a weedy boy juggling numbers on the board. I told Collinson about the burglary and asked him about the man he and Miss Leggett had seen Saturday night. + 

тАЬHe was an ordinary-looking chap, as far as I could see. It was dark. Short and chunky. You think he took them?тАЭ + 

тАЬDid he come from the Leggett house?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬFrom the lawn, at least. He seemed jumpyтБатАФthatтАЩs why I thought perhaps heтАЩd been nosing around where he shouldnтАЩt. I suggested I go after him and ask him what he was up to, but Gaby wouldnтАЩt have it. Might have been a friend of her fatherтАЩs. Did you ask him? He goes in for odd eggs.тАЭ + 

тАЬWasnтАЩt that late for a visitor to be leaving?тАЭ + 

He looked away from me, so I asked: тАЬWhat time was it?тАЭ + 

тАЬMidnight, I dare say.тАЭ + 

тАЬMidnight?тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs the word. The time when the graves give up their dead, and ghosts walk.тАЭ + 

тАЬMiss Leggett said it was after three oтАЩclock.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou see how it is!тАЭ he exclaimed, blandly triumphant, as if he had demonstrated something we had been arguing about. тАЬSheтАЩs half blind and wonтАЩt wear glasses for fear of losing beauty. SheтАЩs always making mistakes like that. Plays abominable bridgeтБатАФtakes deuces for aces. It was probably a quarter after twelve, and she looked at the clock and got the hands mixed.тАЭ + 

I said: тАЬThatтАЩs too bad,тАЭ and тАЬThanks,тАЭ and went up to Halstead and BeauchampтАЩs store in Geary Street. + 

Watt Halstead was a suave, pale, bald, fat man, with tired eyes and a too tight collar. I told him what I was doing and asked him how well he knew Leggett. + 

тАЬI know him as a desirable customer and by reputation as a scientist. Why do you ask?тАЭ + 

тАЬHis burglaryтАЩs sourтБатАФin spots anyway.тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, youтАЩre mistaken. That is, youтАЩre mistaken if you think a man of his caliber would be mixed up in anything like that. A servant, of course; yes, thatтАЩs possible: it often happens, doesnтАЩt it? But not Leggett. He is a scientist of some standingтБатАФhe has done some remarkable work with colorтБатАФand, unless our credit department has been misinformed, a man of more than moderate means. I donтАЩt mean that he is wealthy in the modern sense of the word, but too wealthy for a thing of that sort. And, confidentially, I happen to know that his present balance in the SeamanтАЩs National Bank is in excess of ten thousand dollars. WellтБатАФthe eight diamonds were worth no more than a thousand or twelve or thirteen hundred dollars.тАЭ + 

тАЬAt retail? Then they cost you five or six hundred?тАЭ + 

тАЬWell,тАЭ smiling, тАЬseven fifty would be nearer.тАЭ + 

тАЬHowтАЩd you come to give him the diamonds?тАЭ + 

тАЬHeтАЩs a customer of ours, as IтАЩve told you, and when I learned what he had done with glass, I thought what a wonderful thing it would be if the same method could be applied to diamonds. FitzstephanтБатАФit was largely through him that I learned of LeggettтАЩs work with glassтБатАФwas skeptical, but I thought it worth tryingтБатАФstill think soтБатАФand persuaded Leggett to try.тАЭ + 

Fitzstephan was a familiar name. I asked: тАЬWhich Fitzstephan was that?тАЭ + 

тАЬOwen, the writer. You know him?тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah, but I didnтАЩt know he was on the coast. We used to drink out of the same bottle. Do you know his address?тАЭ + 

Halstead found it in the telephone book for me, a Nob Hill apartment. + 

From the jewelerтАЩs I went to the vicinity of Minnie HersheyтАЩs home. It was a Negro neighborhood, which made the getting of reasonably accurate information twice as unlikely as it always is. + 

What I managed to get added up to this: The girl had come to San Francisco from Winchester, Virginia, four or five years ago, and for the last half-year had been living with a Negro called Rhino Tingley. One told me RhinoтАЩs first name was Ed, another Bill, but they agreed that he was young, big, and black and could easily be recognized by the scar on his chin. I was also told that he depended for his living on Minnie and pool; that he was not bad except when he got madтБатАФthen he was supposed to be a holy terror; and that I could get a look at him the early part of almost any evening in either Bunny MackтАЩs barbershop or Big-foot GerberтАЩs cigar-store. + 

I learned where these joints were and then went downtown again, to the police detective bureau in the Hall of Justice. Nobody was in the pawnshop detail office. I crossed the corridor and asked Lieutenant Duff whether anybody had been put on the Leggett job. + 

He said: тАЬSee OтАЩGar.тАЭ + 

I went into the assembly room, looking for OтАЩGar and wondering what heтБатАФa homicide detail detective-sergeantтБатАФhad to do with my job. Neither OтАЩGar nor Pat Reddy, his partner, was in. I smoked a cigarette, tried to guess who had been killed, and decided to phone Leggett. + 

тАЬAny police detectives been in since I left?тАЭ I asked when his harsh voice was in my ear. + 

тАЬNo, but the police called up a little while ago and asked my wife and daughter to come to a place in Golden Gate Avenue to see if they could identify a man there. They left a few minutes ago. I didnтАЩt accompany them, not having seen the supposed burglar.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhereabouts in Golden Gate Avenue?тАЭ + 

He didnтАЩt remember the number, but he knew the blockтБатАФabove Van Ness Avenue. I thanked him and went out there. + 

In the designated block I found a uniformed copper standing in the doorway of a small apartment house. I asked him if OтАЩGar was there. + 

тАЬUp in three ten,тАЭ he said. + 

I rode up in a rickety elevator. When I got out on the third floor, I came face to face with Mrs.┬аLeggett and her daughter, leaving. + 

тАЬNow I hope youтАЩre satisfied that Minnie had nothing to do with it,тАЭ Mrs.┬аLeggett said chidingly. + 

тАЬThe police found your man?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes.тАЭ + 

I said to Gabrielle Leggett: тАЬEric Collinson says it was only midnight, or a few minutes later, that you got home Saturday night.тАЭ + 

тАЬEric,тАЭ she said irritably, passing me to enter the elevator, тАЬis an ass.тАЭ + 

Her mother, following her into the elevator, reprimanded her amiably: тАЬNow, dear.тАЭ + 

I walked down the hall to a doorway where Pat Reddy stood talking to a couple of reporters, said hello, squeezed past them into a short passageway, and went through that to a shabbily furnished room where a dead man lay on a wall bed. + 

Phels, of the police identification bureau, looked up from his magnifying glass to nod at me and then went on with his examination of a mission tableтАЩs edge. + 

OтАЩGar pulled his head and shoulders in the open window and growled: тАЬSo we got to put up with you again?тАЭ + 

OтАЩGar was a burly, stolid man of fifty, who wore wide-brimmed black hats of the movie-sheriff sort. There was a lot of sense in his hard bullet-head, and he was comfortable to work with. + 

I looked at the corpseтБатАФa man of forty or so, with a heavy, pale face, short hair touched with gray, a scrubby, dark mustache, and stocky arms and legs. There was a bullet hole just over his navel, and another high on the left side of his chest. + 

тАЬItтАЩs a man,тАЭ OтАЩGar said as I put the blankets over him again. тАЬHeтАЩs dead.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat else did somebody tell you?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬLooks like him and another guy glaumed the ice, and then the other guy decided to take a one-way split. The envelopes are hereтАЭтБатАФOтАЩGar took them out of his pocket and ruffled them with a thumbтБатАФтАЬbut the diamonds ainтАЩt. They went down the fire-escape with the other guy a little while back. People spotted him making the sneak, but lost him when he cut through the alley. Tall guy with a long nose. This oneтАЭтБатАФhe pointed the envelopes at the bedтБатАФтАЬhas been here a week. Name of Louis Upton, with New York labels. We donтАЩt know him. Nobody in the dumpтАЩll say they ever saw him with anybody else. NobodyтАЩll say they know Long-nose.тАЭ + 

Pat Reddy came in. He was a big, jovial youngster, with almost brains enough to make up for his lack of experience. I told him and OтАЩGar what I had turned up on the job so far. + 

тАЬLong-nose and this bird taking turns watching LeggettтАЩs?тАЭ Reddy suggested. + 

тАЬMaybe,тАЭ I said, тАЬbut thereтАЩs an inside angle. How many envelopes have you got there, OтАЩGar?тАЭ + 

тАЬSeven.тАЭ + 

тАЬThen the one for the planted diamond is missing.тАЭ + 

тАЬHow about the yellow girl?тАЭ Reddy asked. + 

тАЬIтАЩm going out for a look at her man tonight,тАЭ I said. тАЬYou people trying New York on this Upton?тАЭ + 

тАЬUh-huh,тАЭ OтАЩGar said. + 

III + 

Something Black + 

At the Nob Hill address Halstead had given me, I told my name to the boy at the switchboard and asked him to pass it on to Fitzstephan. I remembered Fitzstephan as a long, lean, sorrel-haired man of thirty-two, with sleepy gray eyes, a wide, humorous mouth, and carelessly worn clothes; a man who pretended to be lazier than he was, would rather talk than do anything else, and had a lot of what seemed to be accurate information and original ideas on any subject that happened to come up, as long as it was a little out of the ordinary. + 

I had met him five years before, in New York, where I was digging dirt on a chain of fake mediums who had taken a coal-and-ice dealerтАЩs widow for a hundred thousand dollars. Fitzstephan was plowing the same field for literary material. We became acquainted and pooled forces. I got more out of the combination than he did, since he knew the spook racket inside and out; and, with his help, I cleaned up my job in a couple of weeks. We were fairly chummy for a month or two after that, until I left New York. + 

тАЬMr.┬аFitzstephan says to come right up,тАЭ the switchboard boy said. + 

His apartment was on the sixth floor. He was standing at its door when I got out of the elevator. + 

тАЬBy God,тАЭ he said, holding out a lean hand, тАЬit is you!тАЭ + 

тАЬNone other.тАЭ + 

He hadnтАЩt changed any. We went into a room where half a dozen bookcases and four tables left little room for anything else. Magazines and books in various languages, papers, clippings, proof sheets, were scattered everywhereтБатАФall just as it used to be in his New York rooms. + 

We sat down, found places for our feet between table-legs, and accounted roughly for our lives since we had last seen one another. He had been in San Francisco for a little more than a yearтБатАФexcept, he said, for weekends, and two months hermiting in the country, finishing a novel. I had been there nearly five years. He liked San Francisco, he said, but wouldnтАЩt oppose any movement to give the West back to the Indians. + 

тАЬHowтАЩs the literary grift go?тАЭ I asked. + 

He looked at me sharply, demanding: тАЬYou havenтАЩt been reading me?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo. WhereтАЩd you get that funny idea?тАЭ + 

тАЬThere was something in your tone, something proprietary, as in the voice of one who has bought an author for a couple of dollars. I havenтАЩt met it often enough to be used to it. Good God! Remember once I offered you a set of my books as a present?тАЭ He had always liked to talk that way. + 

тАЬYeah. But I never blamed you. You were drunk.тАЭ + 

тАЬOn sherryтБатАФElsa DonneтАЩs sherry. Remember Elsa? She showed us a picture she had just finished, and you said it was pretty. Sweet God, wasnтАЩt she furious! You said it so vapidly and sincerely and as if you were so sure that she would like your saying it. Remember? She put us out, but weтАЩd both already got plastered on her sherry. But you werenтАЩt tight enough to take the books.тАЭ + 

тАЬI was afraid IтАЩd read them and understand them,тАЭ I explained, тАЬand then youтАЩd have felt insulted.тАЭ + 

A Chinese boy brought us cold white wine. + 

Fitzstephan said: тАЬI suppose youтАЩre still hounding the unfortunate evildoer?тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah. ThatтАЩs how I happened to locate you. Halstead tells me you know Edgar Leggett.тАЭ + 

A gleam pushed through the sleepiness in his gray eyes, and he sat up a little in his chair, asking: тАЬLeggettтАЩs been up to something?тАЭ + 

тАЬWhy do you say that?тАЭ + 

тАЬI didnтАЩt say it. I asked it.тАЭ He made himself limp in the chair again, but the gleam didnтАЩt go out of his eyes. тАЬCome on, out with it. DonтАЩt try to be subtle with me, my son; thatтАЩs not your style at all. Try it and youтАЩre sunk. Out with it: whatтАЩs Leggett been up to?тАЭ + 

тАЬWe donтАЩt do it that way,тАЭ I said. тАЬYouтАЩre a storywriter. I canтАЩt trust you not to build up on what I tell you. IтАЩll save mine till after youтАЩve spoken your piece, so yours wonтАЩt be twisted to fit mine. How long have you known him?тАЭ + 

тАЬSince shortly after I came here. HeтАЩs always interested me. ThereтАЩs something obscure in him, something dark and inviting. He is, for instance, physically asceticтБатАФneither smoking or drinking, eating meagerly, sleeping, IтАЩm told, only three or four hours a nightтБатАФbut mentally, or spiritually, sensualтБатАФdoes that mean anything to you?тБатАФto the point of decadence. You used to think I had an abnormal appetite for the fantastic. You should know him. His friendsтБатАФno, he hasnтАЩt anyтБатАФhis choice companions are those who have the most outlandish ideas to offer: Marquard and his insane figures that arenтАЩt figures, but the boundaries of areas in space that are the figures; Denbar Curt and his algebraism; the Haldorns and their Holy Grail sect; crazy Laura Joines; FarnhamтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬAnd you,тАЭ I put in, тАЬwith explanations and descriptions that explain and describe nothing. I hope you donтАЩt think any of what youтАЩve said means anything to me.тАЭ + 

тАЬI remember you now: you were always like that.тАЭ He grinned at me, running thin fingers through his sorrel hair. тАЬTell me whatтАЩs up while I try to find one-syllable words for you.тАЭ + 

I asked him if he knew Eric Collinson. He said he did; there was nothing to know about him except that he was engaged to Gabrielle Leggett, that his father was the lumber Collinson, and that Eric was Princeton, stocks and bonds, and handball, a nice boy. + 

тАЬMaybe,тАЭ I said, тАЬbut he lied to me.тАЭ + 

тАЬIsnтАЩt that like a sleuth?тАЭ Fitzstephan shook his head, grinning. тАЬYou must have had the wrong fellowтБатАФsomebody impersonating him. The Chevalier Bayard doesnтАЩt lie, and, besides, lying requires imagination. YouтАЩveтБатАФor wait! Was a woman involved in your question?тАЭ + 

I nodded. + 

тАЬYouтАЩre correct, then,тАЭ Fitzstephan assured me. тАЬI apologize. The Chevalier Bayard always lies when a woman is involved, even if itтАЩs unnecessary and puts her to a lot of trouble. ItтАЩs one of the conventions of Bayardism, something to do with guarding her honor or the like. Who was the woman?тАЭ + 

тАЬGabrielle Leggett,тАЭ I said, and told him all I knew about the Leggetts, the diamonds, and the dead man in Golden Gate Avenue. Disappointment deepened in his face while I talked. + 

тАЬThatтАЩs trivial, dull,тАЭ he complained when I had finished. тАЬIтАЩve been thinking of Leggett in terms of Dumas, and you bring me a piece of gimcrackery out of O. Henry. YouтАЩve let me down, you and your shabby diamonds. ButтАЭтБатАФhis eyes brightened againтБатАФтАЬthis may lead to something. Leggett may or may not be criminal, but thereтАЩs more to him than a twopenny insurance swindle.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou mean,тАЭ I asked, тАЬthat heтАЩs one of these masterminds? So you read newspapers? What do you think he is? King of the bootleggers? Chief of an international crime syndicate? A white-slave magnate? Head of a dope ring? Or queen of the counterfeiters in disguise?тАЭ + 

тАЬDonтАЩt be an idiot,тАЭ he said. тАЬBut heтАЩs got brains, and thereтАЩs something black in him. ThereтАЩs something he doesnтАЩt want to think about, but must not forget. IтАЩve told you that heтАЩs thirsty for all thatтАЩs dizziest in thought, yet heтАЩs cold as a fish, but with a bitter-dry coldness. HeтАЩs a neurotic who keeps his body fit and sensitive and readyтБатАФfor what?тБатАФwhile he drugs his mind with lunacies. Yet heтАЩs cold and sane. If a man has a past that he wants to forget, he can easiest drug his mind against memory through his body, with sensuality if not with narcotics. But suppose the past is not dead, and this man must keep himself fit to cope with it should it come into the present. Well, then he would be wisest to anaesthetize his mind directly, letting his body stay strong and ready.тАЭ + 

тАЬAnd this past?тАЭ + 

Fitzstephan shook his head, saying: тАЬIf I donтАЩt knowтБатАФand I donтАЩtтБатАФit isnтАЩt my fault. Before youтАЩre through, youтАЩll know how difficult it is to get information out of that family.тАЭ + 

тАЬDid you try?тАЭ + 

тАЬCertainly. IтАЩm a novelist. My business is with souls and what goes on in them. HeтАЩs got one that attracts me, and IтАЩve always considered myself unjustly treated by his not turning himself inside out for me. You know, I doubt if LeggettтАЩs his name. HeтАЩs French. He told me once he came from Atlanta, but heтАЩs French in outlook, in quality of mind, in everything except admission.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat of the rest of the family?тАЭ I asked. тАЬGabrielleтАЩs cuckoo, isnтАЩt she?тАЭ + 

тАЬI wonder.тАЭ Fitzstephan looked curiously at me. тАЬAre you saying that carelessly, or do you really think sheтАЩs off?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know. SheтАЩs odd, an uncomfortable sort of person. And, then, sheтАЩs got animal ears, hardly any forehead; and her eyes shift from green to brown and back without ever settling on one color. How much of her affairs have you turned up in your snooping around?тАЭ + 

тАЬAre youтБатАФwho make your living snoopingтБатАФsneering at my curiosity about people and my attempts to satisfy it?тАЭ + 

тАЬWeтАЩre different,тАЭ I said. тАЬI do mine with the object of putting people in jail, and I get paid for it, though not as much as I should.тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs not different,тАЭ he said. тАЬI do mine with the object of putting people in books, and I get paid for it, though not as much as I should.тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah, but what good does that do?тАЭ + 

тАЬGod knows. What good does putting them in jail do?тАЭ + 

тАЬRelieves congestion,тАЭ I said. тАЬPut enough people in jail, and cities wouldnтАЩt have traffic problems. What do you know about this Gabrielle?тАЭ + 

тАЬShe hates her father. He worships her.тАЭ + 

тАЬHow come the hate?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know; perhaps because he worships her.тАЭ + 

тАЬThereтАЩs no sense to that,тАЭ I complained. тАЬYouтАЩre just being literary. What about Mrs.┬аLeggett?тАЭ + 

тАЬYouтАЩve never eaten one of her meals, I suppose? YouтАЩd have no doubts if you had. None but a serene, sane soul ever achieved such cooking. IтАЩve often wondered what she thinks of the weird creatures who are her husband and daughter, though I imagine she simply accepts them as they are without even being conscious of their weirdness.тАЭ + 

тАЬAll this is well enough in its way,тАЭ I said, тАЬbut you still havenтАЩt told me anything definite.тАЭ + 

тАЬNo, I havenтАЩt,тАЭ he replied, тАЬand that, my boy, is it. IтАЩve told you what I know and what I imagine, and none of it is definite. ThatтАЩs the pointтБатАФin a year of trying IтАЩve learned nothing definite about Leggett. IsnтАЩt thatтБатАФremembering my curiosity and my usual skill in satisfying itтБатАФenough to convince you that the man is hiding something and knows how to hide it?тАЭ + 

тАЬIs it? I donтАЩt know. But I know IтАЩve wasted enough time learning nothing that anybody can be jailed for. Dinner tomorrow night? Or the next?тАЭ + 

тАЬThe next. About seven oтАЩclock?тАЭ + 

I said I would stop for him, and went out. It was then after five oтАЩclock. Not having had any luncheon, I went up to BlancoтАЩs for food, and then to darktown for a look at Rhino Tingley. + 

I found him in Big-foot GerberтАЩs cigar-store, rolling a fat cigar around in his mouth, telling something to the other NegroesтБатАФfour of themтБатАФin the place. + 

тАЬтАж┬аsays to him: тАШNigger, you talking yourself out of skin,тАЩ and I reaches out my hand for him, and, тАЩfore God, there werenтАЩt none of him there excepting his footprints in the ce-ment pavement, eight feet apart and leading home.тАЭ + 

Buying a package of cigarettes, I weighed him in while he talked. He was a chocolate man of less than thirty years, close to six feet tall and weighing two hundred pounds plus, with big yellow-balled pop eyes, a broad nose, a big blue-lipped and blue-gummed mouth, and a ragged black scar running from his lower lip down behind his blue and white striped collar. His clothes were new enough to look new, and he wore them sportily. His voice was a heavy bass that shook the glass of the showcases when he laughed with his audience. + 

I went out of the store while they were laughing, heard the laughter stop short behind me, resisted the temptation to look back, and moved down the street towards the building where he and Minnie lived. He came abreast of me when I was half a block from the flat. + 

I said nothing while we took seven steps side by side. + 

Then he said: тАЬYou the man that been inquiring around about me?тАЭ + 

The sour odor of Italian wine was thick enough to be seen. + 

I considered, and said: тАЬYeah.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat you got to do with me?тАЭ he asked, not disagreeably, but as if he wanted to know. + 

Across the street Gabrielle Leggett, in brown coat and brown and yellow hat, came out of MinnieтАЩs building and walked south, not turning her face towards us. She walked swiftly and her lower lip was between her teeth. + 

I looked at the Negro. He was looking at me. There was nothing in his face to show that he had seen Gabrielle Leggett, or that the sight of her meant anything to him. + 

I said: тАЬYouтАЩve got nothing to hide, have you? What do you care who asks about you?тАЭ + 

тАЬAll the same, IтАЩm the party to come to if you wants to know about me. You the man that got Minnie fired?тАЭ + 

тАЬShe wasnтАЩt fired. She quit.тАЭ + 

тАЬMinnie donтАЩt have to take nobodyтАЩs lip. SheтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬLetтАЩs go over and talk to her,тАЭ I suggested, leading the way across the street. At the front door he went ahead, up a flight of stairs, down a dark hall to a door which he opened with one of the twenty or more keys on his ring. + 

Minnie Hershey, in a pink kimono trimmed with yellow ostrich feathers that looked like little dead ferns, came out of the bedroom to meet us in the living-room. Her eyes got big when she saw me. + 

Rhino said: тАЬYou know this gentleman, Minnie.тАЭ + 

Minnie said: тАЬYтАСyes.тАЭ + 

I said: тАЬYou shouldnтАЩt have left the LeggettsтАЩ that way. Nobody thinks you had anything to do with the diamonds. What did Miss Leggett want here?тАЭ + 

тАЬThere been no Miss Leggetts here,тАЭ she told me. тАЬI donтАЩt know what you talking about.тАЭ + 

тАЬShe came out as we were coming in.тАЭ + 

тАЬOh! Miss Leggett. I thought you said Mrs. Leggett. I beg your pardon. Yes, sir. Miss Gabrielle was sure enough here. She wanted to know if I wouldnтАЩt come back there. She thinks a powerful lot of me, Miss Gabrielle does.тАЭ + 

тАЬThat,тАЭ I said, тАЬis what you ought to do. It was foolish, leaving like that.тАЭ + 

Rhino took the cigar out of his mouth and pointed the red end at the girl. + 

тАЬYou away from them,тАЭ he boomed, тАЬand you stay away from them. You donтАЩt have to take nothing from nobody.тАЭ He put a hand in his pants pocket, lugged out a thick bundle of paper money, thumped it down on the table, and rumbled: тАЬWhat for you have to work for folks?тАЭ + 

He was talking to the girl, but looking at me, grinning, gold teeth shining against purplish mouth. The girl looked at him scornfully, said: тАЬLead him around, vino,тАЭ and turned to me again, her brown face tense, anxious to be believed, saying earnestly: тАЬRhino got that money in a crap game, mister. Hope to die if he didnтАЩt.тАЭ + 

Rhino said: тАЬAinтАЩt nobodyтАЩs business where I got my money. I got it. I gotтБатАФтАЭ He put his cigar on the edge of the table, picked up the money, wet a thumb as big as a heel on a tongue like a bath-mat, and counted his roll bill by bill down on the table. тАЬTwentyтБатАФthirtyтБатАФeightyтБатАФhundredтБатАФhundred and tenтБатАФtwo hundred and tenтБатАФthree hundred and tenтБатАФthree hundred and thirtyтБатАФthree hundred and thirty-fiveтБатАФfour hundred and thirty-fiveтБатАФfive hundred and thirty-fiveтБатАФfive hundred and eighty-fiveтБатАФsix hundred and fiveтБатАФsix hundred and tenтБатАФsix hundred and twentyтБатАФseven hundred and twentyтБатАФseven hundred and seventyтБатАФeight hundred and twentyтБатАФeight hundred and thirtyтБатАФeight hundred and fortyтБатАФnine hundred and fortyтБатАФnine hundred and sixtyтБатАФnine hundred and seventyтБатАФnine hundred and seventy-fiveтБатАФnine hundred and ninety-fiveтБатАФten hundred and fifteenтБатАФten hundred and twentyтБатАФeleven hundred and twentyтБатАФeleven hundred and seventy. Anybody want to know what I got, thatтАЩs what I gotтБатАФeleven hundred and seventy dollars. Anybody want to know where I get it, maybe I tell them, maybe I donтАЩt. Just depend on how I feel about it.тАЭ + 

Minnie said: тАЬHe won it in a crap game, mister, up the Happy Day Social Club. Hope to die if he didnтАЩt.тАЭ + 

тАЬMaybe I did,тАЭ Rhino said, still grinning widely at me. тАЬBut supposing I didnтАЩt?тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩm no good at riddles,тАЭ I said, and, after again advising Minnie to return to the Leggetts, left the flat. Minnie closed the door behind me. As I went down the hall I could hear her voice scolding and RhinoтАЩs chesty bass laughter. + 

In a downtown Owl drugstore I turned to the Berkeley section of the telephone directory, found only one Freemander listed, and called the number. Mrs.┬аBegg was there and consented to see me if I came over on the next ferry. + 

The Freemander house was set off a road that wound uphill towards the University of California. + 

Mrs.┬аBegg was a scrawny, big-boned woman, with not much gray hair packed close around a bony skull, hard gray eyes, and hard, capable hands. She was sour and severe, but plainspoken enough to let us talk turkey without a lot of preliminary hemming and hawing. + 

I told her about the burglary and my belief that the thief had been helped, at least with information, by somebody who knew the Leggett household, winding up: тАЬMrs.┬аPriestly told me you had been LeggettтАЩs housekeeper, and she thought you could help me.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аBegg said she doubted whether she could tell me anything that would pay me for my trip from the city, but she was willing to do what she could, being an honest woman and having nothing to conceal from anybody. Once started, she told me a great deal, damned near talking me earless. Throwing out the stuff that didnтАЩt interest me, I came away with this information: + 

Mrs.┬аBegg had been hired by Leggett, through an employment agency, as housekeeper in the spring of 1921. At first she had a girl to help her, but there wasnтАЩt enough work for two, so, at Mrs.┬аBeggтАЩs suggestion, they let the girl go. Leggett was a man of simple tastes and spent nearly all his time on the top floor, where he had his laboratory and a cubbyhole bedroom. He seldom used the rest of the house except when he had friends in for an evening. Mrs.┬аBegg didnтАЩt like his friends, though she could say nothing against them except that the way they talked was a shame and a disgrace. Edgar Leggett was as nice a man as a person could want to know, she said, only so secretive that it made a person nervous. She was never allowed to go up on the third floor, and the door of the laboratory was always kept locked. Once a month a Jap would come in to clean it up under LeggettтАЩs supervision. Well, she supposed he had a lot of scientific secrets, and maybe dangerous chemicals, that he didnтАЩt want people poking into, but just the same it made a person uneasy. She didnтАЩt know anything about her employerтАЩs personal or family affairs and knew her place too well to ask him any questions. + 

In August 1923тБатАФit was a rainy morning, she rememberedтБатАФa woman and a girl of fifteen, with a lot of suitcases, had come to the house. She let them in and the woman asked for Mr.┬аLeggett. Mrs.┬аBegg went up to the laboratory door and told him, and he came down. Never in all her born days had she seen such a surprised man as he was when he saw them. He turned absolutely white, and she thought he was going to fall down, he shook that bad. She didnтАЩt know what Leggett and the woman and the girl said to one another that morning, because they jabbered away in some foreign language, though the lot of them could talk English as good as anybody else, and better than most, especially that Gabrielle when she got to cursing. Mrs.┬аBegg had left them and gone on about her business. Pretty soon Leggett came out to the kitchen and told her his visitors were a Mrs.┬аDain, his sister-in-law, and her daughter, neither of whom he had seen for ten years; and that they were going to stay there with him. Mrs.┬аDain later told Mrs.┬аBegg that they were English, but had been living in New York for several years. Mrs.┬аBegg said she liked Mrs.┬аDain, who was a sensible woman and a first-rate housewife, but that Gabrielle was a tartar. Mrs.┬аBegg always spoke of the girl as тАЬthat Gabrielle.тАЭ + 

With the Dains there, and with Mrs.┬аDainтАЩs ability as a housekeeper, there was no longer any place for Mrs.┬аBegg. They had been very liberal, she said, helping her find a new place and giving her a generous bonus when she left. She hadnтАЩt seen any of them since, but, thanks to the careful watch she habitually kept on the marriage, death, and birth notices in the morning papers, she had learned, a week after she left, that a marriage license had been issued to Edgar Leggett and Alice Dain. + 

IV + 

The Vague Harpers + 

When I arrived at the agency at nine the next morning, Eric Collinson was sitting in the reception room. His sunburned face was dingy without pinkness, and he had forgotten to put stickum on his hair. + 

тАЬDo you know anything about Miss Leggett?тАЭ he asked, jumping up and meeting me at the door. тАЬShe wasnтАЩt home last night, and sheтАЩs not home yet. Her father wouldnтАЩt say he didnтАЩt know where she was, but IтАЩm sure he didnтАЩt. He told me not to worry, but how can I help worrying? Do you know anything about it?тАЭ + 

I said I didnтАЩt and told him about seeing her leave Minnie HersheyтАЩs the previous evening. I gave him the mulattoтАЩs address and suggested that he ask her. He jammed his hat on his head and hurried off. + 

Getting OтАЩGar on the phone, I asked him if he had heard from New York yet. + 

тАЬUh-huh,тАЭ he said. тАЬUptonтБатАФthatтАЩs his right nameтБатАФwas once one of you private dicksтБатАФhad an agency of his ownтБатАФtill тАЩ23, when him and a guy named Harry Ruppert were sent over for trying to fix a jury. HowтАЩd you make out with the shine?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know. This Rhino TingleyтАЩs carrying an eleven-hundred-case roll. Minnie says he got it with the rats and mice. Maybe he did: itтАЩs twice what he could have peddled LeggettтАЩs stuff for. Can you try to have it checked? HeтАЩs supposed to have got it at the Happy Day Social Club.тАЭ + 

OтАЩGar promised to do what he could and hung up. + 

I sent a wire to our New York branch, asking for more dope on Upton and Ruppert, and then went up to the county clerkтАЩs office in the municipal building, where I dug into the August and September 1923 marriage-license file. The application I wanted was dated August 26 and bore Edgar LeggettтАЩs statement that he was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 6, 1883, and that this was his second marriage; and Alice DainтАЩs statement that she was born in London, England, on October 22, 1888, and that she had not been married before. + 

When I returned to the agency, Eric Collinson, his yellow hair still further disarranged, was again lying in wait for me. + 

тАЬI saw Minnie,тАЭ he said excitedly, тАЬand she couldnтАЩt tell me anything. She said Gaby was there last night to ask her to come back to work, but thatтАЩs all she knew about her. But sheтБатАФsheтАЩs wearing an emerald ring that IтАЩm positive is GabyтАЩs.тАЭ + 

тАЬDid you ask her about it?тАЭ + 

тАЬWho? Minnie? No. How could I? It would have beenтБатАФyou know.тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs right,тАЭ I agreed, thinking of FitzstephanтАЩs Chevalier Bayard, тАЬwe must always be polite. Why did you lie to me about the time you and Miss Leggett got home the other night?тАЭ + 

Embarrassment made his face more attractive-looking and less intelligent. + 

тАЬThat was silly of me,тАЭ he stammered, тАЬbut I didnтАЩtтБатАФyou knowтБатАФI thought youтБатАФI was afraidтБатАФтАЭ + 

He wasnтАЩt getting anywhere. I suggested: тАЬYou thought that was a late hour and didnтАЩt want me to get wrong notions about her?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes, thatтАЩs it.тАЭ + 

I shooed him out and went into the operativesтАЩ room, where Mickey LinehanтБатАФbig, loose-hung, red-facedтБатАФand Al MasonтБатАФslim, dark, sleekтБатАФwere swapping lies about the times they had been shot at, each trying to pretend he had been more frightened than the other. I told them who was who and what was what on the Leggett jobтБатАФas far as my knowledge went, and it didnтАЩt go far when I came to putting it in wordsтБатАФand sent Al out to keep an eye on the LeggettsтАЩ house, Mickey to see how Minnie and Rhino behaved. + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett, her pleasant face shadowed, opened the door when I rang the bell an hour later. We went into the green, orange, and chocolate room, where we were joined by her husband. I passed on to them the information about Upton that OтАЩGar had received from New York and told them I had wired for more dope on Ruppert. + 

тАЬSome of your neighbors saw a man who was not Upton loitering around,тАЭ I said, тАЬand a man who fits the same description ran down the fire-escape from the room Upton was killed in. WeтАЩll see what Ruppert looks like.тАЭ + 

I was watching LeggettтАЩs face. Nothing changed in it. His too bright red-brown eyes held interest and nothing else. + 

I asked: тАЬIs Miss Leggett in?тАЭ + 

He said: тАЬNo.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhen will she be in?тАЭ + 

тАЬProbably not for several days. SheтАЩs gone out of town.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhere can I find her?тАЭ I asked, turning to Mrs.┬аLeggett. тАЬIтАЩve some questions to ask her.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett avoided my gaze, looking at her husband. + 

His metallic voice answered my question: тАЬWe donтАЩt know, exactly. Friends of hers, a Mr.┬аand Mrs.┬аHarper, drove up from Los Angeles and asked her to go along on a trip up in the mountains. I donтАЩt know which route they intended taking, and doubt if they had any definite destination.тАЭ + 

I asked questions about the Harpers. Leggett admitted knowing very little about them. Mrs.┬аHarperтАЩs first name was Carmel, he said, and everybody called the man Bud, but Leggett wasnтАЩt sure whether his name was Frank or Walter. Nor did he know the HarpersтАЩ Los Angeles address. He thought they had a house somewhere in Pasadena, but wasnтАЩt sure, having, in fact, heard something about their selling the house, or perhaps only intending to. While he told me this nonsense, his wife sat staring at the floor, lifting her blue eyes twice to look swiftly, pleadingly, at her husband. + 

I asked her: тАЬDonтАЩt you know anything more about them than that?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo,тАЭ she said weakly, darting another glance at her husbandтАЩs face, while he, paying no attention to her, stared levelly at me. + 

тАЬWhen did they leave?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬEarly this morning,тАЭ Leggett said. тАЬThey were staying at one of the hotelsтБатАФI donтАЩt know whichтБатАФand Gabrielle spent the night with them so they could start early.тАЭ + 

I had enough of the Harpers. I asked: тАЬDid either of youтБатАФany of youтБатАФknow anything about UptonтБатАФhave any dealings with him of any sortтБатАФbefore this affair?тАЭ + 

Leggett said: тАЬNo.тАЭ + 

I had other questions, but the kind of replies I was drawing didnтАЩt mean anything, so I stood up to go. I was tempted to tell him what I thought of him, but there was no profit in that. + 

He got up too, smiling politely, and said: тАЬIтАЩm sorry to have caused the insurance company all this trouble through what was, after all, probably my carelessness. I should like to ask your opinion: do you really think I should accept responsibility for the loss of the diamonds and make it good?тАЭ + 

тАЬThe way it stands,тАЭ I said, тАЬI think you should; but that wouldnтАЩt stop the investigation.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett put her handkerchief to her mouth quickly. + 

Leggett said: тАЬThanks.тАЭ His voice was casually polite. тАЬIтАЩll have to think it over.тАЭ + 

On my way back to the agency I dropped in on Fitzstephan for half an hour. He was writing, he told me, an article for the Psychopathological ReviewтБатАФthatтАЩs probably wrong, but it was something on that orderтБатАФcondemning the hypothesis of an unconscious or subconscious mind as a snare and a delusion, a pitfall for the unwary and a set of false whiskers for the charlatan, a gap in psychologyтАЩs roof that made it impossible, or nearly, for the sound scholar to smoke out such faddists as, for example, the psychoanalyst and the behaviorist, or words to that effect. He went on like that for ten minutes or more, finally coming back to the United States with: тАЬBut how are you getting along with the problem of the elusive diamonds?тАЭ + 

тАЬThis way and that way,тАЭ I said, and told him what I had learned and done so far. + 

тАЬYouтАЩve certainly,тАЭ he congratulated me when I finished, тАЬgot it all as tangled and confused as possible.тАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩll be worse before itтАЩs better,тАЭ I predicted. тАЬIтАЩd like to have ten minutes alone with Mrs.┬аLeggett. Away from her husband, I imagine things could be done with her. Could you get anything out of her? IтАЩd like to know why Gabrielle has gone, even if I canтАЩt learn where.тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩll try,тАЭ Fitzstephan said willingly. тАЬSuppose I go out there tomorrow afternoonтБатАФto borrow a book. WaiteтАЩs Rosy Cross will do it. They know IтАЩm interested in that sort of stuff. HeтАЩll be working in the laboratory, and IтАЩll refuse to disturb him. IтАЩll have to go at it in an offhand way, but maybe I can get something out of her.тАЭ + 

тАЬThanks,тАЭ I said. тАЬSee you tomorrow night.тАЭ + 

I spent most of the afternoon putting my findings and guesses on paper and trying to fit them together in some sort of order. Eric Collinson phoned twice to ask if I had any news of his Gabrielle. Neither Mickey Linehan nor Al Mason reported anything. At six oтАЩclock I called it a day. + 

V + 

Gabrielle + 

The next day brought happenings. + 

Early in the morning there was a telegram from our New York office. Decoded, it read: + 

Louis Upton former proprietor detective agency here stop arrested September first one nine two three for bribing two jurors in Sexton murder trial stop tried to save himself by implicating Harry Ruppert operative in his employ stop both men convicted stop both released from Sing Sing February six this year stop Ruppert said to have threatened to kill Upton stop Ruppert thirty two years five feet eleven inches hundred fifty pounds brown hair and eyes sallow complexion thin face long thin nose walks with stoop and chin out stop mailing photographs + 

That placed Ruppert definitely enough as the man Mrs.┬аPriestly and Daley had seen and the man who had probably killed Upton. + 

OтАЩGar called me on the phone to tell me: тАЬThat dinge of yoursтБатАФRhino TingleyтБатАФwas picked up in a hock-shop last night trying to unload some jewelry. None of it was loose diamonds. We havenтАЩt been able to crack him yet, just got him identified. I sent a man out to LeggettтАЩs with some of the stuff, thinking it might be theirs, but they said no.тАЭ + 

That didnтАЩt fit in anywhere. I suggested: тАЬTry Halstead and Beauchamp. Tell them you think the stuff is LeggettтАЩs. DonтАЩt tell them he said it wasnтАЩt.тАЭ + 

Half an hour later the detective-sergeant phoned me again, from the jewelersтАЩ, to tell me that Halstead had positively identified two piecesтБатАФa string of pearls and a topaz broochтБатАФas articles Leggett had purchased there for his daughter. + 

тАЬThatтАЩs swell,тАЭ I said. тАЬNow will you do this? Go out to RhinoтАЩs flat and put the screws on his woman, Minnie Hershey. Frisk the joint, rough her up; the more you scare her, the better. She may be wearing an emerald ring. If she is, or if itтБатАФor any other jewelry that might be the LeggettsтАЩтБатАФis there, you can take it away with you; but donтАЩt stay too long and donтАЩt bother her afterwards. IтАЩve got her covered. Just stir her up and beat it.тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩll turn her white,тАЭ OтАЩGar promised. + 

Dick Foley was in the operativesтАЩ room, writing his report on a warehouse robbery that had kept him up all night. I chased him out to help Mickey with the mulatto. + 

тАЬBoth of you tail her if she leaves her joint after the police are through,тАЭ I said, тАЬand as soon as you put her in anywhere, one of you get to a phone and let me know.тАЭ + 

I went back to my office and burned cigarettes. I was ruining the third one when Eric Collinson phoned to ask if I had found his Gabrielle yet. + 

тАЬNot quite, but IтАЩve got prospects. If you arenтАЩt busy, you might come over and go along with meтБатАФif it so happens that there turns out to be some place to go.тАЭ + 

He said, very eagerly, that he would do that. + 

A few minutes later Mickey Linehan phoned: тАЬThe high yellowтАЩs gone visiting,тАЭ and gave me a Pacific Avenue address. + 

The phone rang again before I got it out of my hand. + 

тАЬThis is Watt Halstead,тАЭ a voice said. тАЬCan you come down to see me for a minute or two?тАЭ + 

тАЬNot now. What is it?тАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩs about Edgar Leggett, and itтАЩs quite puzzling. The police brought some jewelry in this morning, asking whether we knew whose it was. I recognized a string of pearls and a brooch that Edgar Leggett bought from us for his daughter last yearтБатАФthe brooch in the spring, the pearls at Christmas. After the police had gone, I, quite naturally, phoned Leggett; and he took the most peculiar attitude. He waited until I had told him about it, then said: тАШI thank you very much for your interference in my affairs,тАЩ and hung up. What do you suppose is the matter with him?тАЭ + 

тАЬGod knows. Thanks. IтАЩve got to run now, but IтАЩll stop in when I get a chance.тАЭ + 

I hunted up Owen FitzstephanтАЩs number, called it, and heard his drawled: тАЬHello.тАЭ + 

тАЬYouтАЩd better get busy on your book-borrowing if any goodтАЩs to come of it,тАЭ I said. + 

тАЬWhy? Are things taking place?тАЭ + 

тАЬThings are.тАЭ + 

тАЬSuch as?тАЭ he asked. + 

тАЬThis and that, but itтАЩs no time for anybody who wants to poke his nose into the Leggett mysteries to be dillydallying with pieces about unconscious minds.тАЭ + 

тАЬRight,тАЭ he said: тАЬIтАЩm off to the front now.тАЭ + 

Eric Collinson had come in while I was talking to the novelist. + 

тАЬCome on,тАЭ I said, leading the way out towards the elevators. тАЬThis might not be a false alarm.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhere are we going?тАЭ he asked impatiently. тАЬHave you found her? Is she all right?тАЭ + 

I replied to the only one of his questions that I had the answer to by giving him the Pacific Avenue address Mickey had given me. It meant something to Collinson. He said: тАЬThatтАЩs JosephтАЩs place.тАЭ + 

We were in the elevator with half a dozen other people. I held my response down to a тАЬYeah?тАЭ + 

He had a Chrysler roadster parked around the corner. We got into it and began bucking traffic and traffic signals towards Pacific Avenue. + 

I asked: тАЬWho is Joseph?тАЭ + 

тАЬAnother cult. HeтАЩs the head of it. He calls his place the Temple of the Holy Grail. ItтАЩs the fashionable one just now. You know how they come and go in California. I donтАЩt like having Gabrielle there, if thatтАЩs where she isтБатАФthoughтБатАФI donтАЩt knowтБатАФthey may be all right. HeтАЩs one of Mr.┬аLeggettтАЩs queer friends. Do you know that sheтАЩs there?тАЭ + 

тАЬMaybe. Is she a member of the cult?тАЭ + 

тАЬShe goes there, yes. IтАЩve been there with her.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat sort of a layout is it?тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, it seems to be all right,тАЭ he said somewhat reluctantly. тАЬThe right sort of people: Mrs.┬аPayson Laurence, and the Ralph Colemans, and Mrs.┬аLivingston Rodman, people like that. And the HaldornsтБатАФthatтАЩs Joseph and his wife AaroniaтБатАФseem to be quite all right, butтБатАФbut I donтАЩt like the idea of Gabrielle going there like this.тАЭ He missed the end of a cable car with the ChryslerтАЩs right wheel. тАЬI donтАЩt think itтАЩs good for her to come too much under their influence.тАЭ + 

тАЬYouтАЩve been there; what is their brand of hocus-pocus?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬIt isnтАЩt hocus-pocus, really,тАЭ he replied, wrinkling his forehead. тАЬI donтАЩt know very much about their creed, or anything like that, but IтАЩve been to their services with Gabrielle, and theyтАЩre quite as dignified, as beautiful even, as either Episcopalian or Catholic services. You mustnтАЩt think that this is the Holy Roller or House of David sort of thing. It isnтАЩt at all. Whatever it is, it is quite first-rate. The Haldorns are people ofтБатАФofтБатАФwell, more culture than I.тАЭ + 

тАЬThen whatтАЩs the matter with them?тАЭ + 

He shook his head gloomily. тАЬI honestly donтАЩt know that anything is. I donтАЩt like it. I donтАЩt like having Gabrielle go off like this without letting anybody know where sheтАЩs gone. Do you think her parents knew where she had gone?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo.тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt think so either,тАЭ he said. + 

From the street the Temple of the Holy Grail looked like what it had originally been, a six-story yellow brick apartment building. There was nothing about its exterior to show that it wasnтАЩt still that. I made Collinson drive past it to the corner where Mickey Linehan was leaning his lopsided bulk against a stone wall. He came to the car as it stopped at the curb. + 

тАЬThe dark meat left ten minutes ago,тАЭ he reported, тАЬwith Dick behind her. Nobody else that looks like anybody you listed has been out.тАЭ + 

тАЬCamp here in the car and watch the door,тАЭ I told him. тАЬWeтАЩre going in,тАЭ I said to Collinson. тАЬLet me do most of the talking.тАЭ + 

When we reached the Temple door I had to caution him: тАЬTry not breathing so hard. Everything will probably be oke.тАЭ + 

I rang the bell. The door was opened immediately by a broad-shouldered, meaty woman of some year close to fifty. She was a good three inches taller than my five feet six. Flesh hung in little bags on her face, but there was neither softness nor looseness in her eyes and mouth. Her long upper lip had been shaved. She was dressed in black, black clothes that covered her from chin and earlobes to within less than an inch of the floor. + 

тАЬWe want to see Miss Leggett,тАЭ I said. + 

She pretended she hadnтАЩt understood me. + 

тАЬWe want to see Miss Leggett,тАЭ I repeated. тАЬMiss Gabrielle Leggett.тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know.тАЭ Her voice was bass. тАЬBut come in.тАЭ + 

She took us not very cheerfully into a small, dimly lighted reception room to one side of the foyer, told us to wait there, and went away. + 

тАЬWhoтАЩs the village-blacksmith?тАЭ I asked Collinson. + 

He said he didnтАЩt know her. He fidgeted around the room. I sat down. Drawn blinds let in too little light for me to make out much of the room, but the rug was soft and thick, and what I could see of the furniture leaned towards luxury rather than severity. + 

Except for CollinsonтАЩs fidgeting, no sound came from anywhere in the building. I looked at the open door and saw that we were being examined. A small boy of twelve or thirteen stood there staring at us with big dark eyes that seemed to have lights of their own in the semidarkness. + 

I said: тАЬHello, son.тАЭ + 

Collinson jumped around at the sound of my voice. + 

The boy said nothing. He stared at me for at least another minute with the blank, unblinking, embarrassing stare that only children can manage completely, then turned his back on me and walked away, making no more noise going than he had made coming. + 

тАЬWhoтАЩs that?тАЭ I asked Collinson. + 

тАЬIt must be the HaldornsтАЩ son Manuel. IтАЩve never seen him before.тАЭ + 

Collinson walked up and down. I sat and watched the door. Presently a woman, walking silently on the thick carpet, appeared there and came into the reception room. She was tall, graceful; and her dark eyes seemed to have lights of their own, like the boyтАЩs. That was all I could see clearly then. + 

I stood up. + 

She addressed Collinson: тАЬHow do you do? This is Mr.┬аCollinson, isnтАЩt it?тАЭ Her voice was the most musical I had ever heard. + 

Collinson mumbled something or other and introduced me to the woman, calling her Mrs.┬аHaldorn. She gave me a warm, firm hand and then crossed the room to raise a blind, letting in a fat rectangle of afternoon sun. While I blinked at her in the sudden brightness, she sat down and motioned us into chairs. + 

I saw her eyes first. They were enormous, almost black, warm, and heavily fringed with almost black lashes. They were the only live, human, real things in her face. There was warmth and there was beauty in her oval, olive-skinned face, but, except for the eyes, it was warmth and beauty that didnтАЩt seem to have anything to do with reality. It was as if her face were not a face, but a mask that she had worn until it had almost become a face. Even her mouth, which was a mouth to talk about, looked not so much like flesh as like a too perfect imitation of flesh, softer and redder and maybe warmer than genuine flesh, but not genuine flesh. Above this face, or mask, uncut black hair was tied close to her head, parted in the middle, and drawn across temples and upper ears to end in a knot on the nape of her neck. Her neck was long, strong, slender; her body tall, fully fleshed, supple; her clothes dark and silky, part of her body. + 

I said: тАЬWe want to see Miss Leggett, Mrs.┬аHaldorn.тАЭ + 

She asked curiously: тАЬWhy do you think she is here?тАЭ + 

тАЬThat doesnтАЩt make any difference, does it?тАЭ I replied quickly, before Collinson could say something wrong. тАЬShe is. WeтАЩd like to see her.тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt think you can,тАЭ she said slowly. тАЬShe isnтАЩt well, and she came here to rest, particularly to get away from people for a while.тАЭ + 

тАЬSorry,тАЭ I said, тАЬbut itтАЩs a case of have to. We wouldnтАЩt have come like this if it hadnтАЩt been important.тАЭ + 

тАЬIt is important?тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah.тАЭ + 

She hesitated, said: тАЬWell, IтАЩll see,тАЭ excused herself, and left us. + 

тАЬI wouldnтАЩt mind moving in here myself,тАЭ I told Collinson. + 

He didnтАЩt know what I was talking about. His face was flushed and excited. + 

тАЬGabrielle may not like our coming here like this,тАЭ he said. + 

I said that would be too bad. + 

Aaronia Haldorn returned to us. + 

тАЬIтАЩm really very sorry,тАЭ she said, standing in the doorway, smiling politely, тАЬbut Miss Leggett doesnтАЩt wish to see you.тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩm sorry she doesnтАЩt,тАЭ I said, тАЬbut weтАЩll have to see her.тАЭ + 

She drew herself up straight and her smile went away. + 

тАЬI beg your pardon?тАЭ she said. + 

тАЬWeтАЩll have to see her,тАЭ I repeated, keeping my voice amiable. тАЬItтАЩs important, as I told you.тАЭ + 

тАЬI am sorry.тАЭ Even the iciness she got into her voice didnтАЩt keep it from being beautiful. тАЬYou cannot see her.тАЭ + 

I said: тАЬMiss LeggettтАЩs an important witness, as you probably know, in a robbery and murder job. Well, weтАЩve got to see her. If it suits you better, IтАЩm willing to wait half an hour till we can get a policeman up here with whatever authority you make necessary. WeтАЩre going to see her.тАЭ + 

Collinson said something unintelligible, though it sounded apologetic. + 

Aaronia Haldorn made the slightest of bows. + 

тАЬYou may do as you see fit,тАЭ she said coldly. тАЬI do not approve of your disturbing Miss Leggett against her wishes, and so far as my permission is concerned, I do not give it. If you insist, I cannot prevent you.тАЭ + 

тАЬThanks. Where is she?тАЭ + 

тАЬHer room is on the fifth floor, just beyond the stairs, to the left.тАЭ + 

She bent her head a little once more and went away. + 

Collinson put a hand on my arm, mumbling: тАЬI donтАЩt know whether IтБатАФwhether we ought to do this. GabrielleтАЩs not going to like it. She wonтАЩtтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬSuit yourself,тАЭ I growled, тАЬbut IтАЩm going up. Maybe she wonтАЩt like it, but neither do I like having people running away and hiding when I want to ask them about stolen diamonds.тАЭ + 

He frowned, chewed his lips, and made uncomfortable faces, but he went along with me. We found an automatic elevator, rode to the fifth floor, and went down a purple-carpeted corridor to the door just beyond the stairs on the left-hand side. + 

I tapped the door with the back of my hand. There was no answer from inside. I tapped again, louder. + 

A voice sounded inside the room. It might have been anybodyтАЩs voice, though probably a womanтАЩs. It was too faint for us to know what it said and too smothered for us to know who was saying it. + 

I poked Collinson with my elbow and ordered: тАЬCall her.тАЭ + 

He pulled at his collar with a forefinger and called hoarsely: тАЬGaby, itтАЩs Eric.тАЭ + 

That didnтАЩt bring an answer. + 

I thumped the wood again, calling: тАЬOpen the door.тАЭ + 

The voice inside said something that was nothing to me. I repeated my thumping and calling. Down the corridor a door opened and a sallow thin-haired old manтАЩs head stuck out and asked: тАЬWhatтАЩs the matter?тАЭ I said: тАЬNone of your damned business,тАЭ and pounded the door again. + 

The inside voice came strong enough now to let us know that it was complaining, though no words could be made out yet. I rattled the knob and found that the door was unlocked. Rattling the knob some more, I worked the door open an inch or so. Then the voice was clearer. I heard soft feet on the floor. I heard a choking sob. I pushed the door open. + 

Eric Collinson made a noise in his throat that was like somebody very far away yelling horribly. + 

Gabrielle Leggett stood beside the bed, swaying a little, holding the white foot-rail of the bed with one hand. Her face was white as lime. Her eyes were all brown, dull, focused on nothing, and her small forehead was wrinkled. She looked as if she knew there was something in front of her and was wondering what it was. She had on one yellow stocking, a brown velvet skirt that had been slept in, and a yellow chemise. Scattered around the room were a pair of brown slippers, the other stocking, a brown and gold blouse, a brown coat, and a brown and yellow hat. + 

Everything else in the room was white: white-papered walls and white-painted ceiling; white-enameled chairs, bed, table, fixturesтБатАФeven to the telephoneтБатАФand woodwork; white felt on the floor. None of the furniture was hospital furniture, but solid whiteness gave it that appearance. There were two windows, and two doors besides the one I had opened. The door on the left opened into a bathroom, the one on the right into a small dressing-room. + 

I pushed Collinson into the room, followed him, and closed the door. There was no key in it, and no place for a key, no lock of any fixable sort. Collinson stood gaping at the girl, his jaw sagging, his eyes as vacant as hers; but there was more horror in his face. She leaned against the foot of the bed and stared at nothing with dark, blank eyes in a ghastly, puzzled face. + 

I put an arm around her and sat her on the side of the bed, telling Collinson: тАЬGather up her clothes.тАЭ I had to tell him twice before he came out of his trance. + 

He brought me her things and I began dressing her. He dug his fingers into my shoulder and protested in a voice that would have been appropriate if I had been robbing a poor-box: + 

тАЬNo! You canтАЩtтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬWhat the hell?тАЭ I asked, pushing his hand away. тАЬYou can have the job if you want it.тАЭ + 

He was sweating. He gulped and stuttered: тАЬNo, no! I couldnтАЩtтБатАФitтБатАФтАЭ He broke off and walked to the window. + 

тАЬShe told me you were an ass,тАЭ I said to his back, and discovered I was putting the brown and gold blouse on her backwards. She might as well have been a wax figure, for all the help she gave me, but at least she didnтАЩt struggle when I wrestled her around, and she stayed where I shoved her. + 

By the time I had got her into coat and hat, Collinson had come away from the window and was spluttering questions at me. What was the matter with her? OughtnтАЩt we to get a doctor? Was it safe to take her out? And when I stood up, he took her away from me, supporting her with his long, thick arms, babbling: тАЬItтАЩs Eric, Gaby. DonтАЩt you know me? Speak to me. What is the matter, dear?тАЭ + 

тАЬThereтАЩs nothing the matter except that sheтАЩs got a skinful of dope,тАЭ I said. тАЬDonтАЩt try to bring her out of it. Wait till we get her home. You take this arm and IтАЩll take that. She can walk all right. If we run into anybody, just keep going and let me handle them. LetтАЩs go.тАЭ + 

We didnтАЩt meet anybody. We went out to the elevator, down in it to the ground-floor, across the foyer, and into the street without seeing a single person. + 

We went down to the corner where we had left Mickey in the Chrysler. + 

тАЬThatтАЩs all for you,тАЭ I told him. + 

He said: тАЬRight, so long,тАЭ and went away. + 

Collinson and I wedged the girl between us in the roadster, and he put it in motion. + 

We rode three blocks. Then he asked: тАЬAre you sure homeтАЩs the best place for her?тАЭ + 

I said I was. He didnтАЩt say anything for five more blocks and then repeated his question, adding something about a hospital. + 

тАЬWhy not a newspaper office?тАЭ I sneered. + 

Three blocks of silence, and he started again: тАЬI know a doctor whoтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩve got work to do,тАЭ I said; тАЬand Miss Leggett home now, in the shape sheтАЩs in now, will help me get it done. So she goes home.тАЭ + 

He scowled, accusing me angrily: тАЬYouтАЩd humiliate her, disgrace her, endanger her life, for the sake ofтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬHer lifeтАЩs in no more danger than yours or mine. SheтАЩs simply got a little more of the junk in her than she can stand up under. And she took it. I didnтАЩt give it to her.тАЭ + 

The girl we were talking about was alive and breathing between usтБатАФeven sitting up with her eyes openтБатАФbut knowing no more of what was going on than if she had been in Finland. + 

We should have turned to the right at the next corner. Collinson held the car straight and stepped it up to forty-five miles an hour, staring ahead, his face hard and lumpy. + 

тАЬTake the next turn,тАЭ I commanded. + 

тАЬNo,тАЭ he said, and didnтАЩt. The speedometer showed a 50, and people on the sidewalks began looking after us as we whizzed by. + 

тАЬWell?тАЭ I asked, wriggling an arm loose from the girlтАЩs side. + 

тАЬWeтАЩre going down the peninsula,тАЭ he said firmly. тАЬSheтАЩs not going home in her condition.тАЭ + 

I grunted: тАЬYeah?тАЭ and flashed my free hand at the controls. He knocked it aside, holding the wheel with one hand, stretching the other out to block me if I tried again. + 

тАЬDonтАЩt do that,тАЭ he cautioned me, increasing our speed another half-dozen miles. тАЬYou know what will happen to all of us if youтБатАФтАЭ + 

I cursed him, bitterly, fairly thoroughly, and from the heart. His face jerked around to me, full of righteous indignation because, I suppose, my language wasnтАЩt the kind one should use in a ladyтАЩs company. + 

And that brought it about. + 

A blue sedan came out of a cross-street a split second before we got there. CollinsonтАЩs eyes and attention got back to his driving in time to twist the roadster away from the sedan, but not in time to make a neat job of it. We missed the sedan by a couple of inches, but as we passed behind it our rear wheels started sliding out of line. Collinson did what he could, giving the roadster its head, going with the skid, but the corner curb wouldnтАЩt cooperate. It stood stiff and hard where it was. We hit it sidewise and rolled over on the lamppost behind it. The lamppost snapped, crashed down on the sidewalk. The roadster, over on its side, spilled us out around the lamppost. Gas from the broken post roared up at our feet. + 

Collinson, most of the skin scraped from one side of his face, crawled back on hands and knees to turn off the roadsterтАЩs engine. I sat up, raising the girl, who was on my chest, with me. My right shoulder and arm were out of whack, dead. The girl was making whimpering noises in her chest, but I couldnтАЩt see any marks on her except a shallow scratch on one cheek. I had been her cushion, had taken the jolt for her. The soreness of my chest, belly, and back, the lameness of my shoulder and arm, told me how much I had saved her. + 

People helped us up. Collinson stood with his arms around the girl, begging her to say she wasnтАЩt dead, and so on. The smash had jarred her into semiconsciousness, but she still didnтАЩt know whether there had been an accident or what. I went over and helped Collinson hold her upтБатАФthough neither needed helpтБатАФsaying earnestly to the gathering crowd: тАЬWeтАЩve got to get her home. Who canтБатАФ?тАЭ + 

A pudgy man in plus fours offered his services. Collinson and I got in the back of his car with the girl, and I gave the pudgy man her address. He said something about a hospital, but I insisted that home was the place for her. Collinson was too upset to say anything. Twenty minutes later we took the girl out of the car in front of her house. I thanked the pudgy man profusely, giving him no opportunity to follow us indoors. + 

VI + 

The Man from DevilтАЩs Island + 

After some delayтБатАФI had to ring twiceтБатАФthe LeggettsтАЩ door was opened by Owen Fitzstephan. There was no sleepiness in his eyes: they were hot and bright, as they were when he found life interesting. Knowing the sort of things that interested him, I wondered what had happened. + 

тАЬWhat have you been doing?тАЭ he asked, looking at our clothes, at CollinsonтАЩs bloody face, at the girlтАЩs scratched cheek. + 

тАЬAutomobile accident,тАЭ I said. тАЬNothing serious. WhereтАЩs everybody?тАЭ + 

тАЬEverybody,тАЭ he said, with peculiar emphasis on the word, тАЬis up in the laboratory;тАЭ and then to me: тАЬCome here.тАЭ + 

I followed him across the reception hall to the foot of the stairs, leaving Collinson and the girl standing just inside the street door. Fitzstephan put his mouth close to my ear and whispered: + 

тАЬLeggettтАЩs committed suicide.тАЭ + 

I was more annoyed than surprised. I asked: тАЬWhere is he?тАЭ + 

тАЬIn the laboratory. Mrs.┬аLeggett and the police are up there. It happened only half an hour ago.тАЭ + 

тАЬWeтАЩll all go up,тАЭ I said. + 

тАЬIsnтАЩt it rather unnecessary,тАЭ he asked, тАЬtaking Gabrielle up there?тАЭ + 

тАЬMight be tough on her,тАЭ I said irritably, тАЬbut itтАЩs necessary enough. Anyway, sheтАЩs coked-up and better able to stand the shock than she will be later, when the stuffтАЩs dying out in her.тАЭ I turned to Collinson. тАЬCome on, weтАЩll go up to the laboratory.тАЭ + 

I went ahead, letting Fitzstephan help Collinson with the girl. There were six people in the laboratory: a uniformed copperтБатАФa big man with a red mustacheтБатАФstanding beside the door; Mrs.┬аLeggett, sitting on a wooden chair in the far end of the room, her body bent forward, her hands holding a handkerchief to her face, sobbing quietly; OтАЩGar and Reddy, standing by one of the windows, close together, their heads rubbing over a sheaf of papers that the detective-sergeant held in his thick fists; a gray-faced, dandified man in dark clothes, standing beside the zinc table, twiddling eyeglasses on a black ribbon in his hand; and Edgar Leggett, seated on a chair at the table, his head and upper body resting on the table, his arms sprawled out. + 

OтАЩGar and Reddy looked up from their reading as I came in. Passing the table on my way to join them at the window, I saw blood, a small black automatic pistol lying close to one of LeggettтАЩs hands, and seven unset diamonds grouped by his head. + 

OтАЩGar said, тАЬTake a look,тАЭ and handed me part of his sheaf of paperтБатАФfour stiff white sheets covered with very small, precise, and regular handwriting in black ink. I was getting interested in what was written there when Fitzstephan and Collinson came in with Gabrielle Leggett. + 

Collinson looked at the dead man at the table. CollinsonтАЩs face went white. He put his big body between the girl and her father. + 

тАЬCome in,тАЭ I said. + 

тАЬThis is no place for Miss Leggett now,тАЭ he said hotly, turning to take her away. + 

тАЬWe ought to have everybody in here,тАЭ I told OтАЩGar. He nodded his bullet-head at the policeman. The policeman put a hand on CollinsonтАЩs shoulder and said: тАЬYouтАЩll have to come in, the both of you.тАЭ + 

Fitzstephan placed a chair by one of the end windows for the girl. She sat down and looked around the roomтБатАФat the dead man, at Mrs.┬аLeggett, at all of usтБатАФwith eyes that were dull but no longer completely blank. Collinson stood beside her, glaring at me. Mrs.┬аLeggett hadnтАЩt looked up from her handkerchief. + 

I spoke to OтАЩGar, clearly enough for the others to hear: тАЬLetтАЩs read the letter out loud.тАЭ + 

He screwed up his eyes, hesitated, then thrust the rest of his sheaf at me, saying: тАЬFair enough. You read it.тАЭ + 

I read: + 

тАЬTo the police:тБатАФ + 

тАЬMy name is Maurice Pierre de Mayenne. I was born in F├йcamp, department of Seine-Inf├йrieure, France, on March 6, 1883, but was chiefly educated in England. In 1903 I went to Paris to study painting, and there, four years later, I made the acquaintance of Alice and Lily Dain, orphan daughters of a British naval officer. I married Lily the following year, and in 1909 our daughter Gabrielle was born. + 

тАЬShortly after my marriage I had discovered that I had made a most horrible mistake, that it was Alice, and not my wife Lily, whom I really loved. I kept this discovery to myself until the child was past the most difficult baby years; that is, until she was nearly five, and then told my wife, asking that she divorce me so I could marry Alice. She refused. + 

тАЬOn June 6, 1913, I murdered Lily and fled with Alice and Gabrielle to London, where I was soon arrested and returned to Paris, to be tried, found guilty, and sentenced to life imprisonment on the ├Оles du Salut. Alice, who had had no part in the murder, no knowledge of it until after it was done, and who had accompanied us to London only because of her love for Gabrielle, was also tried, but justly acquitted. All this is a matter of record in Paris. + 

тАЬIn 1918 I escaped from the islands with a fellow convict named Jacques Labaud, on a flimsy raft. I do not knowтБатАФwe never knewтБатАФhow long we were adrift on the ocean, nor, toward the last, how long we went without food and water. Then Labaud could stand no more, and died. He died of starvation and exposure. I did not kill him. No living creature could have been feeble enough for me to have killed it, no matter what my desire. But when Labaud was dead there was enough food for one, and I lived to be washed ashore in the Golfo Triste. + 

тАЬCalling myself Walter Martin, I secured employment with a British copper mining company at Aroa, and within a few months had become private secretary to Philip Howart, the resident manager. Shortly after this promotion I was approached by a cockney named John Edge, who outlined to me a plan by which we could defraud the company of a hundred-odd pounds monthly. When I refused to take part in the fraud, Edge revealed his knowledge of my identity, and threatened exposure unless I assisted him. That Venezuela had no extradition treaty with France might save me from being returned to the islands, Edge said; but that was not my chief danger: LabaudтАЩs body had been cast ashore, undecomposed enough to show what had happened to him, and I, an escaped murderer, would be under the necessity of proving to a Venezuelan court that I had not killed Labaud in Venezuelan waters to keep from starving. + 

тАЬI still refused to join Edge in his fraud, and prepared to go away. But while I was making my preparations he killed Howart and looted the company safe. He urged me to flee with him, arguing that I could not face the police investigation even if he did not expose me. That was true enough: I went with him. Two months later, in Mexico City, I learned why Edge had been so desirous of my company. He had a firm hold on me, through his knowledge of my identity, and a greatтБатАФan unjustifiedтБатАФopinion of my ability; and he intended using me to commit crimes that were beyond his grasp. I was determined, no matter what happened, no matter what became necessary, never to return to the ├Оles du Salut; but neither did I intend becoming a professional criminal. I attempted to desert Edge in Mexico City; he found me; we fought; and I killed him. I killed him in self-defense: he struck me first. + 

тАЬIn 1920 I came to the United States, to San Francisco, changed my name once moreтБатАФto Edgar LeggettтБатАФand began making a new place for myself in the world, developing experiments with color that I had attempted as a young artist in Paris. In 1923, believing that Edgar Leggett could never now be connected with Maurice de Mayenne, I sent for Alice and Gabrielle, who were then living in New York, and Alice and I were married. But the past was not dead, and there was no unbridgeable chasm between Leggett and Mayenne. Alice, not hearing from me after my escape, not knowing what had happened to me, employed a private detective to find me, a Louis Upton. Upton sent a man named Ruppert to South America, and Ruppert succeeded in tracing me step by step from my landing in the Golfo Triste up to, but no farther than, my departure from Mexico City after EdgeтАЩs death. In doing this, Ruppert of course learned of the deaths of Labaud, Howart and Edge; three deaths of which I was guiltless, but of whichтБатАФor at least of one or more of whichтБатАФI most certainly, my record being what it is, would be convicted if tried. + 

тАЬI do not know how Upton found me in San Francisco. Possibly he traced Alice and Gabrielle to me. Late last Saturday night he called upon me and demanded money as the price of silence. Having no money available at the time, I put him off until Tuesday, when I gave him the diamonds as part payment. But I was desperate. I knew what being at UptonтАЩs mercy would mean, having experienced the same thing with Edge. I determined to kill him. I decided to pretend the diamonds had been stolen, and to so inform you, the police. Upton, I was confident, would thereupon immediately communicate with me. I would make an appointment with him and shoot him down in cold blood, confident that I would have no difficulty in arranging a story that would make me seem justified in having killed this known burglar, in whose possession, doubtless, the stolen diamonds would be found. + 

тАЬI think the plan would have been successful. However, RuppertтБатАФpursuing Upton with a grudge of his own to settleтБатАФsaved me from killing Upton by himself killing him. Ruppert, the man who had traced my course from DevilтАЩs Island to Mexico City, had also, either from Upton or by spying on Upton, learned that Mayenne was Leggett, and, with the police after him for UptonтАЩs murder, he came here, demanding that I shelter him, returning the diamonds, claiming money in their stead. + 

тАЬI killed him. His body is in the cellar. Out front, a detective is watching my house. Other detectives are busy elsewhere inquiring into my affairs. I have not been able satisfactorily to explain certain of my actions, nor to avoid contradictions, and, now that I am actually suspect, there is little chance of the pastтАЩs being kept secret. I have always knownтБатАФhave known it most surely when I would not admit it to myselfтБатАФthat this would one day happen. I am not going back to DevilтАЩs Island. My wife and daughter had neither knowledge of nor part in RuppertтАЩs death. + 

VII + 

The Curse + 

Nobody said anything for some minutes after I had finished reading. Mrs.┬аLeggett had taken her handkerchief from her face to listen, sobbing softly now and then. Gabrielle Leggett was looking jerkily around the room, light fighting cloudiness in her eyes, her lips twitching as if she was trying to get words out but couldnтАЩt. + 

I went to the table, bent over the dead man, and ran my hand over his pockets. The inside coat pocket bulged. I reached under his arm, unbuttoned and pulled open his coat, taking a brown wallet from the pocket. The wallet was thick with paper moneyтБатАФfifteen thousand dollars when we counted it later. + 

Showing the others the walletтАЩs contents, I asked: + 

тАЬDid he leave any message besides the one I read?тАЭ + 

тАЬNone thatтАЩs been found,тАЭ OтАЩGar said. тАЬWhy?тАЭ + 

тАЬAny that you know of, Mrs.┬аLeggett?тАЭ I asked. + 

She shook her head. + 

тАЬWhy?тАЭ OтАЩGar asked again. + 

тАЬHe didnтАЩt commit suicide,тАЭ I said. тАЬHe was murdered.тАЭ + 

Gabrielle Leggett screamed shrilly and sprang out of her chair, pointing a sharp-nailed white finger at Mrs.┬аLeggett. + 

тАЬShe killed him,тАЭ the girl shrieked. тАЬShe said, тАШCome back here,тАЩ and held the kitchen door open with one hand, and picked up the knife from the drainboard with the other, and when he went past her she pushed it in his back. I saw her do it. She killed him. I wasnтАЩt dressed, and when I heard them coming I hid in the pantry, and I saw her do it.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett got to her feet. She staggered, and would have fallen if Fitzstephan hadnтАЩt gone over to steady her. Amazement washed her swollen face empty of grief. + 

The gray-faced dandified man by the tableтБатАФDoctor Riese, I learned laterтБатАФsaid, in a cold, crisp voice: + 

тАЬThere is no stab wound. He was shot through the temple by a bullet from this pistol, held close, slanting up. Clearly suicide, I should say.тАЭ + 

Collinson forced Gabrielle down to her chair again, trying to calm her. She was working her hands together and moaning. + 

I disagreed with the doctorтАЩs last statement, and said so while turning something else over in my mind: + 

тАЬMurder. He had this money in his pocket. He was going away. He wrote that letter to the police to clear his wife and daughter, so they wouldnтАЩt be punished for complicity in his crimes. Did it,тАЭ I asked OтАЩGar, тАЬsound to you like the dying statement of a man who was leaving a wife and daughter he loved? No message, no word, to themтБатАФall to the police.тАЭ + 

тАЬMaybe youтАЩre right,тАЭ the bullet-headed man said; тАЬbut supposing he was going away, he still didnтАЩt leave them anyтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬHe would have told themтБатАФeither on paper or talkingтБатАФsomething before he went, if he had lived long enough. He was winding up his affairs, preparing to go away, andтБатАФMaybe he was going to commit suicide, though the money and the tone of the letter make me doubt it; but even in that case my guess is that he didnтАЩt, that he was killed before he had finished his preparationsтБатАФmaybe because he was taking too long a time. How was he found?тАЭ + 

тАЬI heard,тАЭ Mrs.┬аLeggett sobbed; тАЬI heard the shot, and ran up here, and heтБатАФhe was like that. And I went down to the telephone, and the bellтБатАФthe doorbellтБатАФrang, and it was Mr.┬аFitzstephan, and I told him. It couldnтАЩtтБатАФthere was nobody else in the house toтБатАФto kill him.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou killed him,тАЭ I said to her. тАЬHe was going away. He wrote this statement, shouldering your crimes. You killed Ruppert down in the kitchen. ThatтАЩs what the girl was talking about. Your husbandтАЩs letter sounded enough like a suicide letter to pass for one, you thought; so you murdered himтБатАФmurdered him because you thought his confession and death would hush up the whole business, keep us from poking into it any further.тАЭ + 

Her face didnтАЩt tell me anything. It was distorted, but in a way that might have meant almost anything. I filled my lungs and went on, not exactly bellowing, but getting plenty of noise out: + 

тАЬThere are half a dozen lies in your husbandтАЩs statementтБатАФhalf a dozen that I can peg now. He didnтАЩt send for you and his daughter. You traced him here. Mrs.┬аBegg said he was the most surprised man she had ever seen when you arrived from New York. He didnтАЩt give Upton the diamonds. His account of why he gave them to Upton and of what he intended doing afterwards is ridiculous: itтАЩs simply the best story he could think of on short notice to cover you up. Leggett would have given him money or he would have given him nothing; he wouldnтАЩt have been foolish enough to give him somebody elseтАЩs diamonds and have all this stink raised. + 

тАЬUpton traced you here and he came to you with his demandтБатАФnot to your husband. You had hired Upton to find Leggett; you were the one he knew; he and Ruppert had traced Leggett for you, not only to Mexico City, but all the way here. TheyтАЩd have squeezed you before this if they hadnтАЩt been sent to Sing Sing for another trick. When they got out, Upton came here and made his play. You framed the burglary; you gave Upton the diamonds; and you didnтАЩt tell your husband anything about it. Your husband thought the burglary was on the level. Otherwise, would heтБатАФa man with his recordтБатАФhave risked reporting it to the police? + 

тАЬWhy didnтАЩt you tell him about Upton? DidnтАЩt you want him to know that you had had him traced step by step from DevilтАЩs Island to San Francisco? Why? His southern record was a good additional hold on him, if you needed one? You didnтАЩt want him to know you knew about Labaud and Howart and Edge?тАЭ + 

I didnтАЩt give her a chance to answer any of these questions, but sailed ahead, turning my voice loose: + 

тАЬMaybe Ruppert, following Upton here, got in touch with you, and you had him kill Upton, a job he was willing to do on his own hook. Probably, because he did kill him and he did come to you afterwards, and you thought it necessary to put the knife into him down in the kitchen. You didnтАЩt know the girl, hiding in the pantry, saw you; but you did know that you were getting out of your depth. You knew that your chances of getting away with RuppertтАЩs murder were slim. Your house was too much in the spotlight. So you played your only out. You went to your husband with the whole storyтБатАФor as much of it as could be arranged to persuade himтБатАФand got him to shoulder it for you. And then you handed him thisтБатАФhere at the table. + 

тАЬHe shielded you. He had always shielded you. You,тАЭ I thundered, my voice in fine form by now, тАЬkilled your sister Lily, his first wife, and let him take the fall for you. You went to London with him after that. Would you have gone with your sisterтАЩs murderer if you had been innocent? You had him traced here, and you came here after him, and you married him. You were the one who decided he had married the wrong sister, and you killed her.тАЭ + 

тАЬShe did! She did!тАЭ cried Gabrielle Leggett, trying to get up from the chair in which Collinson was holding her. тАЬSheтБатАФтАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett drew herself up straight, and smiled, showing strong yellowish teeth set edge to edge. She took two steps toward the center of the room. One hand was on her hip, the other hanging loosely at her side. The housewifeтБатАФFitzstephanтАЩs serene sane soulтБатАФwas suddenly gone. This was a blonde woman whose body was rounded, not with the plumpness of contented, well-cared-for early middle age, but with the cushioned, soft-sheathed muscles of the hunting cats, whether in jungle or alley. + 

I picked up the pistol from the table and put it in my pocket. + 

тАЬYou wish to know who killed my sister?тАЭ Mrs.┬аLeggett asked softly, speaking to me, her teeth clicking together between words, her mouth smiling, her eyes burning. тАЬShe, the dope fiend, GabrielleтБатАФshe killed her mother. She is the one he shielded.тАЭ + 

The girl cried out something unintelligible. + 

тАЬNonsense,тАЭ I said. тАЬShe was a baby.тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, but it is not nonsense,тАЭ the woman said. тАЬShe was nearly five, a child of five playing with a pistol that she had taken from a drawer while her mother slept. The pistol went off and Lily died. An accident, of course, but Maurice was too sensitive a soul to bear the thought of her growing up knowing that she had killed her mother. Besides, it was likely that Maurice would have been convicted in any event. It was known that he and I were intimate, that he wanted his freedom from Lily; and he was at the door of LilyтАЩs bedroom when the shot was fired. But that was a slight matter to him: his one desire was to save the child from memory of what she had done, so her life might not be blackened by the knowledge that she had, however accidentally, killed her mother.тАЭ + 

What made this especially nasty was the niceness with which the woman smiled as she talked, and the careтБатАФalmost fastidiousтБатАФwith which she selected her words, mouthing them daintily. She went on: + 

тАЬGabrielle was always, even before she became addicted to drugs, a child of, one might say, limited mentality; and so, by the time the London police had found us, we had succeeded in quite emptying her mind of the last trace of memory, that is, of this particular memory. This is, I assure you, the entire truth. She killed her mother; and her father, to use your expression, took the fall for her.тАЭ + 

тАЬFairly plausible,тАЭ I conceded, тАЬbut it doesnтАЩt hang together right. ThereтАЩs a chance that you made Leggett believe that, but I doubt it. I think youтАЩre trying to hurt your stepdaughter because sheтАЩs told us of seeing you knife Ruppert downstairs.тАЭ + 

She pulled her lips back from her teeth and took a quick step toward me, her eyes wide and white-ringed; then she checked herself, laughed sharply, and the glare went from her eyesтБатАФor maybe went back through them, to smolder behind them. She put her hands on her hips and smiled playfully, airily, at me and spoke playfully to me, while mad hatred glowed behind eyes, smile, and voice. + 

тАЬAm I? Then I must tell you this, which I should not tell you unless it was true. I taught her to kill her mother. Do you understand? I taught her, trained her, drilled her, rehearsed her. Do you understand that? Lily and I were true sisters, inseparable, hating one another poisonously. Maurice, he wished to marry neither of usтБатАФwhy should he?тБатАФthough he was intimate enough with both. You are to try to understand that literally. But we were poverty-ridden and he was not, and, because we were and he wasnтАЩt, Lily wished to marry him. And I, I wished to marry him because she did. We were true sisters, like that in all things. But Lily got him, firstтБатАФtrapped himтБатАФthat is crude but exactтБатАФinto matrimony. + 

тАЬGabrielle was born six or seven months later. What a happy little family we were. I lived with themтБатАФwerenтАЩt Lily and I inseparable?тБатАФand from the first Gabrielle had more love for me than for her mother. I saw to that: there was nothing her Aunt Alice wouldnтАЩt do for her dear niece; because her preferring me infuriated Lily, not that Lily herself loved the child so much, but that we were sisters; and whatever one wanted the other wanted, not to share, but exclusively. + 

тАЬGabrielle had hardly been born before I began planning what I should some day do; and when she was nearly five I did it. MauriceтАЩs pistol, a small one, was kept in a locked drawer high in a chiffonier. I unlocked the drawer, unloaded the pistol, and taught Gabrielle an amusing little game. I would lie on LilyтАЩs bed, pretending to sleep. The child would push a chair to the chiffonier, climb up on it, take the pistol from the drawer, creep over to the bed, put the muzzle of the pistol to my head, and press the trigger. When she did it well, making little or no noise, holding the pistol correctly in her tiny hands, I would reward her with candy, cautioning her against saying anything about the game to her mother or to anyone else, as we were going to surprise her mother with it. + 

тАЬWe did. We surprised her completely one afternoon when, having taken aspirin for a headache, Lily was sleeping in her bed. That time I unlocked the drawer but did not unload the pistol. Then I told the child she might play the game with her mother; and I went to visit friends on the floor below, so no one would think I had had any part in my dear sisterтАЩs demise. I thought Maurice would be away all afternoon. I intended, when I heard the shot, to rush upstairs with my friends and find with them that the child playing with the pistol had killed her mother. + 

тАЬI had little fear of the childтАЩs talking afterwards. Of, as I have said, limited mentality, loving and trusting me as she did, and in my hands both before and during any official inquiry that might be made, I knew I could very easily control her, make sure that she said nothing to reveal my part in theтБатАФahтБатАФenterprise. But Maurice very nearly spoiled the whole thing. Coming home unexpectedly, he reached the bedroom door just as Gabrielle pressed the trigger. The tiniest fraction of a second earlier, and he would have been in time to save his wifeтАЩs life. + 

тАЬWell, that was unfortunate in that it led to his being convicted; but it certainly prevented his ever suspecting me; and his subsequent desire to wipe from the childтАЩs mind all remembrance of the deed relieved me of any further anxiety or effort. I did follow him to this country after his escape from DevilтАЩs Island, and I did follow him to San Francisco when Upton had found him for me; and I used GabrielleтАЩs love for me and her hatred of himтБатАФI had carefully cultivated that with skilfully clumsy attempts to persuade her to forgive him for murdering her motherтБатАФand the necessity of keeping her in ignorance of the truth, and my record of faithfulness to him and her, to make him marry me, to make him think that marrying me would in some sense salvage our ruined lives. The day he married Lily I swore I would take him away from her. And I did. And I hope my dear sister in hell knows it.тАЭ + 

The smile was gone. Mad hatred was no longer behind eyes and voice: it was in them, and in the set of her features, the pose of her body. This mad hatredтБатАФand she as part of itтБатАФseemed the only live thing in the room. The eight of us who looked at and listened to her didnтАЩt, for the moment, count: we were alive to her, but not to each other, nor to anything but her. + 

She turned from me to fling an arm out at the girl on the other side of the room; and now her voice was throaty, vibrant, with savage triumph in it; and her words were separated into groups by brief pauses, so that she seemed to be chanting them. + 

тАЬYouтАЩre her daughter,тАЭ she cried; тАЬand youтАЩre cursed with the same black soul and rotten blood that she and I and all the Dains have had; and youтАЩre cursed with your motherтАЩs blood on your hands in babyhood; and with the twisted mind and the need for drugs that are my gifts to you; and your life will be black as your motherтАЩs and mine were black; and the lives of those you touch will be black as MauriceтАЩs was black; and yourтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬStop!тАЭ Eric Collinson gasped. тАЬMake her stop.тАЭ + 

Gabrielle Leggett, both hands to her ears, her face twisted with terror, screamed onceтБатАФhorriblyтБатАФand fell forward out of her chair. + 

Pat Reddy was young at manhunting, but OтАЩGar and I should have known better than to stop watching Mrs.┬аLeggett even for a half-second, no matter how urgently the girlтАЩs scream and fall pulled at our attention. But we did look at the girlтБатАФif for less than half a secondтБатАФand that was long enough. When we looked at Mrs.┬аLeggett again, she had a gun in her hand, and she had taken her first step towards the door. + 

Nobody was between her and the door: the uniformed copper had gone to help Collinson with Gabrielle Leggett. Nobody was behind her: her back was to the door and by turning she had brought Fitzstephan into her field of vision. She glared over the black gun, burning eyes darting from one to another of us, taking another step backward, snarling: тАЬDonтАЩt you move.тАЭ + 

Pat Reddy shifted his weight to the balls of his feet. I frowned at him, shaking my head. The hall and stairs were better places in which to catch her: in here somebody would die. + 

She backed over the sill, blew breath between her teeth with a hissing, spitting sound, and was gone down the hall. + 

Owen Fitzstephan was first through the door after her. The policeman got in my way, but I was second out. The woman had reached the head of the stairs, at the other end of the dim hall, with Fitzstephan, not far behind, rapidly overtaking her. + 

He caught her on the between-floors landing, just as I reached the top of the stairs. He pinned one of her arms to her body, but the other, with the gun, was free. He grabbed at it and missed. She twisted the muzzle in to his body as IтБатАФwith my head bent to miss the edge of the floorтБатАФleaped down at them. + 

I landed on them just in time, crashing into them, smashing them into the corner of the wall, sending her bullet, meant for the sorrel-haired man, into a step. + 

We werenтАЩt standing up. I caught with both hands at the flash of her gun, missed, and had her by the waist. Close to my chin FitzstephanтАЩs lean fingers closed on her gun-hand wrist. + 

She twisted her body against my right arm. My right arm was still lame from our spill out of the Chrysler. It wouldnтАЩt hold. Her thick body went up, turning over on me. + 

Gunfire roared in my ear, burnt my cheek. + 

The womanтАЩs body went limp. + 

When OтАЩGar and Reddy pulled us apart she lay still. The second bullet had gone through her throat. + 

I went up to the laboratory. Gabrielle Leggett, with the doctor and Collinson kneeling beside her, was lying on the floor. + 

I told the doctor: тАЬBetter take a look at Mrs.┬аLeggett. SheтАЩs on the stairs. Dead, I think, but youтАЩd better take a look.тАЭ + 

The doctor went out. Collinson, chafing the unconscious girlтАЩs hands, looked at me as if I were something there ought to be a law against, and said: + 

тАЬI hope youтАЩre satisfied with the way your work got done.тАЭ + 

тАЬIt got done,тАЭ I said. + 

VIII + 

But and If + 

Fitzstephan and I ate one of Mrs.┬аSchindlerтАЩs good dinners that evening in her low-ceilinged basement, and drank her husbandтАЩs good beer. The novelist in Fitzstephan was busy trying to find what he called Mrs.┬аLeggettтАЩs psychological basis. + 

тАЬThe killing of her sister is plain enough, knowing her character as we now do,тАЭ he said, тАЬand so are the killing of her husband, her attempt to ruin her nieceтАЩs life when she was exposed, and even her determination to kill herself on the stairs rather than be caught. But the quiet years in betweenтБатАФwhere do they fit in?тАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩs LeggettтАЩs murder that doesnтАЩt fit in,тАЭ I argued. тАЬThe rest is all one piece. She wanted him. She killed her sisterтБатАФor had her killedтБатАФin a way to tie him to her; but the law pulled them apart. There was nothing she could do about that, except wait and hope for the chance that always existed, that he would be freed some day. We donтАЩt know of anything else she wanted then. Why shouldnтАЩt she be quiet, holding Gabrielle as her hostage against the chance she hoped for, living comfortably enough, no doubt, on his money? When she heard of his escape, she came to America and set about finding him. When her detectives located him here she came to him. He was willing to marry her. She had what she wanted. Why should she be anything but quiet? She wasnтАЩt a troublemaker for the fun of itтБатАФone of these people who act out of pure mischief. She was simply a woman who wanted what she wanted and was willing to go to any length to get it. Look how patiently, and for how many years, she hid her hatred from the girl. And her wants werenтАЩt even very extravagant. You wonтАЩt find the key to her in any complicated derangements. She was simple as an animal, with an animalтАЩs simple ignorance of right and wrong, dislike for being thwarted, and spitefulness when trapped.тАЭ + 

Fitzstephan drank beer and asked: + 

тАЬYouтАЩd reduce the Dain curse, then, to a primitive strain in the blood?тАЭ + 

тАЬTo less than that, to words in an angry womanтАЩs mouth.тАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩs fellows like you that take all the color out of life.тАЭ He sighed behind cigarette smoke. тАЬDoesnтАЩt GabrielleтАЩs being made the tool of her motherтАЩs murder convince you of the necessityтБатАФat least the poetic necessityтБатАФof the curse?тАЭ + 

тАЬNot even if she was the tool, and thatтАЩs something I wouldnтАЩt bet on. Apparently Leggett didnтАЩt doubt it. He stuffed his letter with those ancient details to keep her covered up. But weтАЩve only got Mrs.┬аLeggettтАЩs word that he actually saw the child kill her mother. On the other hand, Mrs.┬аLeggett said, in front of Gabrielle, that Gabrielle had been brought up to believe her father the murdererтБатАФso we can believe that. And it isnтАЩt likelyтБатАФthough itтАЩs possibleтБатАФthat he would have gone that far except to save her from knowledge of her own guilt. But, from that point on, one guess at the truth is about as good as another. Mrs.┬аLeggett wanted him and she got him. Then why in hell did she kill him?тАЭ + 

тАЬYou jump around so,тАЭ Fitzstephan complained. тАЬYou answered that back in the laboratory. Why donтАЩt you stick to your answer? You said she killed him because the letter sounded enough like a pre-suicide statement to pass, and she thought it and his death would ensure her safety.тАЭ + 

тАЬThat was good enough to say then,тАЭ I admitted; тАЬbut not now, in cold blood, with more facts to fit in. She had worked and waited for years to get him. He must have had some value to her.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut she didnтАЩt love him, or there is no reason to suppose she did. He hadnтАЩt that value to her. He was to her no more than a trophy of the hunt; and thatтАЩs a value not affected by deathтБатАФone has the head embalmed and nailed on the wall.тАЭ + 

тАЬThen why did she keep Upton away from him? Why did she kill Ruppert? Why should she have carried the load for him there? It was his danger. Why did she make it hers if he had no value to her? Why did she risk all that to keep him from learning that the past had come to life again?тАЭ + 

тАЬI think I see what youтАЩre getting at,тАЭ Fitzstephan said slowly. тАЬYou thinkтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬWaitтБатАФhereтАЩs another thing. I talked to Leggett and his wife together a couple of times. Neither of them addressed a word to the other either time, though the woman did a lot of acting to make me think she would have told me something about her daughterтАЩs disappearance if it had not been for him.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhere did you find Gabrielle?тАЭ + 

тАЬAfter seeing Ruppert murdered, she beat it to the HaldornsтАЩ with what money she had and her jewelry, turning the jewelry over to Minnie Hershey to raise money on. Minnie bought a couple of pieces for herselfтБатАФher man had picked himself up a lot of dough in a crap game a night or two before: the police checked thatтБатАФand sent the man out to peddle the rest. He was picked up in a hock-shop, just on general suspicion.тАЭ + 

тАЬGabrielle was leaving home for good?тАЭ he asked. + 

тАЬYou canтАЩt blame herтБатАФthinking her father a murderer, and now catching her stepmother in the act. WhoтАЩd want to live in a home like that?тАЭ + 

тАЬAnd you think Leggett and his wife were on bad terms? That may be: I hadnтАЩt seen much of them lately, and wasnтАЩt intimate enough with them to have been let in on a condition of that sort if it had existed. Do you think he had perhaps learned somethingтБатАФsome of the truth about her?тАЭ + 

тАЬMaybe, but not enough to keep him from taking the fall for her on RuppertтАЩs murder; and what he had learned wasnтАЩt connected with this recent affair, because the first time I saw him he really believed in the burglary. But thenтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬAw, shut up! YouтАЩre never satisfied until youтАЩve got two buts and an if attached to everything. I donтАЩt see any reason for doubting Mrs.┬аLeggettтАЩs story. She told us the whole thing quite gratuitously. Why should we suppose that sheтАЩd lie to implicate herself?тАЭ + 

тАЬYou mean in her sisterтАЩs murder? SheтАЩd been acquitted of that, and I suppose the French systemтАЩs like ours in that she couldnтАЩt be tried again for it, no matter what she confessed. She didnтАЩt give anything away, brother.тАЭ + 

тАЬAlways belittling,тАЭ he said. тАЬYou need more beer to expand your soul.тАЭ + 

At the Leggett-Ruppert inquests I saw Gabrielle Leggett again, but was not sure that she even recognized me. She was with Madison Andrews, who had been LeggettтАЩs attorney and was now his estateтАЩs executor. Eric Collinson was there, but, peculiarly, apparently not with Gabrielle. He gave me nods and nothing else. + 

The newspapers got hold of what Mrs.┬аLeggett had said happened in Paris in 1913, and made a couple-day fuss over it. The recovery of Halstead and BeauchampтАЩs diamonds let the Continental Detective Agency out: we wrote тАЬDiscontinuedтАЭ at the bottom of the Leggett record. I went up in the mountains to snoop around for a goldmine-owner who thought his employees were gypping him. + 

I expected to be in the mountains for at least a month: inside jobs of that sort take time. On the evening of my tenth day there I had a long-distance call from the Old Man, my boss. + 

тАЬIтАЩm sending Foley up to relieve you,тАЭ he said. тАЬDonтАЩt wait for him. Catch tonightтАЩs train back. The Leggett matter is active again.тАЭ + 