XII + 

The Unholy Grail + 

Owen Fitzstephan and I ate another of Mrs.┬аSchindlerтАЩs good dinners that evening, though my eating was a matter of catching bites between words. His curiosity poked at me with questions, requests to have this or that point made clear, and orders to keep talking whenever I stopped for breath or food. + 

тАЬYou could have got me in on it,тАЭ he had complained before our soup was in front of us. тАЬI knew the Haldorns, you know, or, at least, had met them once or twice at LeggettтАЩs. You could have used that as an excuse for somehow letting me in on the affair, so that IтАЩd now have firsthand knowledge of what happened, and why; instead of having to depend on what I can get out of you and what the newspapers imagine their readers would like to think had happened.тАЭ + 

тАЬI had,тАЭ I said, тАЬenough grief with the one guy I did let in on itтБатАФEric Collinson.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhatever trouble you had with him was your own fault, for selecting the wrong assistant, when such a better one was available. But come, my boy, IтАЩm listening. LetтАЩs have the story, and then I can tell you where you erred.тАЭ + 

тАЬSure,тАЭ I agreed, тАЬyouтАЩll be able to do that. Well, the Haldorns were originally actors. Most of what I can tell you comes from her, so a lot of maybes will have to be hung on it in spots. Fink wonтАЩt talk at all; and the other helpтБатАФmaids, Filipino boys, Chinese cook, and the likeтБатАФdonтАЩt seem to know anything that helps much. None of them seems to have been let in on the trick stuff. + 

тАЬAs actors, Aaronia Haldorn says, she and Joseph were just pretty good, not getting on as well as they wanted to. About a year ago she ran into an old acquaintanceтБатАФa onetime trouperтБатАФwho had chucked the stage for the pulpit, and had made a go of it, now riding in Packards instead of day-coaches. That gave her something to think about. Thinking in that direction meant, pretty soon, thinking about Aimee, Buchman, Jeddu whatтАЩs-his-name, and the other headliners. And in the end her thinking came to, why not us? TheyтБатАФor she: Joseph was a lightweightтБатАФrigged up a cult that pretended to be the revival of an old Gaelic church, dating from King ArthurтАЩs time, or words to that effect.тАЭ + 

тАЬYes,тАЭ said Fitzstephan; тАЬArthur MachenтАЩs. But go on.тАЭ + 

тАЬThey brought their cult to California because everybody does, and picked San Francisco because it held less competition than Los Angeles. With them they brought a little fellow named Tom Fink who had at one time or another been in charge of the mechanical end of most of the well-known stage magiciansтАЩ and illusionistsтАЩ acts; and FinkтАЩs wife, a big village-smith of a woman. + 

тАЬThey didnтАЩt want a mob of converts: they wanted them few but wealthy. The racket got away to a slow startтБатАФuntil they landed Mrs.┬аRodman. She fell plenty. They took her for one of her apartment buildings, and she also footed the remodeling bill. The stage mechanic Fink was in charge of the remodeling, and did a neat job. They didnтАЩt need the kitchens that were dotted, one to an apartment, through the building, and Fink knew how to use part of that scattered kitchen-space for concealed rooms and cabinets; and he knew how to adapt the gas and water pipes, and the electric wiring, to his hocus-pocus. + 

тАЬI canтАЩt give you the mechanical details now; not till weтАЩve had time to take the joint apart. ItтАЩs going to be interesting. I saw some of their workтБатАФmingled right in with itтБатАФa ghost made by an arrangement of lights thrown up on steam rising from a padded pipe that had been pushed into a dark room through a concealed opening in the wainscoating under a bed. The part of the steam that wasnтАЩt lighted was invisible in the darkness, showing only a man-shape that quivered and writhed, and that was damp and real to the touch, without any solidity. You can take my word for its being a weird stunt, especially when youтАЩve been filled up with the stuff they pumped into the room before they turned their spook loose on you. I donтАЩt know whether they used ether or chloroform or what: its odor was nicely disguised with some sort of flower perfume. This spookтБатАФI fought with it, on the level, and even thought I had it bleeding, not knowing I had cut my hand breaking a window to let air in. It was a beaut: it made a few minutes seem like a lot of hours to me. + 

тАЬTill the very last, when Haldorn went wild, there wasnтАЩt anything crude about their work. They kept the servicesтБатАФthe whole public end of the cultтБатАФas dignified and orderly and restrained as possible. The hocus-pocusing was all done in the privacy of the victimтАЩs bedroom. First the perfumed gas was pumped in. Then the illuminated steam spook was sicced on him, with a voice coming out of the same pipeтБатАФor maybe there was another arrangement for thatтБатАФto give him his orders, or whatever was to be given. The gas kept him from being too sharp-eyed and suspicious, and also weakened his will, so heтАЩd be more likely to do what he was told. It was slick enough; and I imagine they squeezed themselves out a lot of pennies that way. + 

тАЬHappening in the victimтАЩs room, when he was alone, these visions had a lot of authority, and the Haldorns gave them more by the attitude they took towards them. Discussion of these visions was not absolutely prohibited, but was discouraged. They were supposedтБатАФthese spook sessionsтБатАФto be confidential between the victim and his God, to be too sacred to be bragged about. Mentioning them, even to Joseph, unless there was some special reason for having to mention them, was considered in bad taste, indelicate. See how nicely that would work out? The Haldorns seemed to be not trying to capitalize on these spook sessions, seemed not to know what took place in them, and therefore to have no interest in whether the victim carried out his spook-given instructions or not. Their stand was that that was simply and strictly a concern of the victimтАЩs and his GodтАЩs.тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs very good,тАЭ Fitzstephan said, smiling delightedly, тАЬa neat reversal of the usual cultтАЩsтБатАФthe usual sectтАЩs, for that matterтБатАФinsistence on confession, public testimony, or some other form of advertising the mysteries. Go on.тАЭ + 

I tried to eat. He said: + 

тАЬWhat of the members, the customers? How do they like their cult now? YouтАЩve talked to some of them, havenтАЩt you?тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah,тАЭ I said; тАЬbut what can you do with people like them? Half of them are still willing to string along with Aaronia Haldorn. I showed Mrs.┬аRodman one of the pipes that the spooks came out of. When she had gasped once and gulped twice she offered to take us to the cathedral and show us that the images there, including the one on the cross, were made out of even more solid and earthly materials than steam; and asked us if we would arrest the bishop on proof that no actual flesh and bloodтБатАФwhether divine or notтБатАФwas in the monstrance. I thought OтАЩGar, whoтАЩs a good Catholic, would blackjack her.тАЭ + 

тАЬThe Colemans werenтАЩt there, were they? The Ralph Colemans?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo.тАЭ + 

тАЬToo bad,тАЭ he said, grinning. тАЬI must look Ralph up and question him. HeтАЩll be in hiding by now, of course, but heтАЩs worth hunting out. He always has the most consistently logical and creditable reasons for having done the most idiotic things. He isтАЭтБатАФas if that explained itтБатАФтАЬan advertising man.тАЭ Fitzstephan frowned at the discovery that I was eating again, and said impatiently: тАЬTalk, my boy, talk.тАЭ + 

тАЬYouтАЩve met Haldorn,тАЭ I said. тАЬWhat did you think of him?тАЭ + 

тАЬI saw him twice, I think. He was, undoubtedly, impressive.тАЭ + 

тАЬHe was,тАЭ I agreed. тАЬHe had what he needed. Ever talk to him?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo; that is, not except to exchange the polite equivalents of тАШpleased to meet you.тАЩтАКтАЭ + 

тАЬWell, he looked at you and spoke to you, and things happened inside you. IтАЩm not the easiest guy in the world to dazzle, I hope; but he had me going. I came damned near to believing he was God toward the last. He was quite youngтБатАФin his thirties: theyтАЩd had the coloringтБатАФthe pigmentтБатАФin his hair and beard killed to give him that Father Joseph front. His wife says she used to hypnotize him before he went into action, and that without being hypnotized he wasnтАЩt so effective on people. Later he got so that he could hypnotize himself without her help, and toward the last it became a permanent condition with him. + 

тАЬShe didnтАЩt know her husband had fallen for Gabrielle till after the girl had come to stay in the Temple. Until then she thought that Gabrielle was to him, as to her, just another customerтБатАФone whose recent troubles made her a very likely prospect. But Joseph had fallen for her, and wanted her. I donтАЩt know how far he had worked on her, nor even how he had worked on her, but I suppose he was sewing her up by using his hocus-pocus against her fear of the Dain curse. Anyway, Doctor Riese finally discovered that everything wasnтАЩt going well with her. Yesterday morning he told me he was coming back to see her that evening, and he did come back, but he didnтАЩt see her; and I didnтАЩt see himтБатАФnot then. + 

тАЬHe went back to see Joseph before he came up to the girlтАЩs room, and managed to overhear Joseph giving instructions to the Finks. That should have been fine, but wasnтАЩt. Riese was foolish enough to let Joseph know he had overheard him. Joseph locked Riese upтБатАФa prisoner. + 

тАЬThey had cut loose on Minnie from the very beginning. She was a mulatto, and therefore susceptible to that sort of game, and she was devoted to Gabrielle Leggett. They had chucked visions and voices at the poor girl until she was dizzy. Now they decided to make her kill Riese. They drugged him and put him on the altar. They ghosted her into thinking that he was SatanтБатАФthis is serious: they did thisтБатАФcome up from hell to carry Gabrielle down and keep her from becoming a saint. Minnie was ripe for itтБатАФpoor boogieтБатАФand when the spirit told her that she had been selected to save her mistress, that sheтАЩd find the anointed weapon on her table, she followed the instructions the spirit gave her. She got out of bed, picked up the dagger that had been put on her table, went down to the altar, and killed Riese. + 

тАЬTo play safe, they pumped some of the gas into my room, to keep me slumbering while Minnie was at work. But I had been nervous, jumpy, and was sleeping in a chair in the center of the room, instead of on the bed, close to the gas-pipe; so I came out of the dope before the night was far gone. + 

тАЬBy this time, Aaronia Haldorn had made a couple of discoveries: first, that her husbandтАЩs interest in the girl wasnтАЩt altogether financial; and second, that he had gone off center, was a dangerous maniac. Going around hypnotized all the time, what brains he hadтБатАФnot a whole lot to start with, she saysтБатАФhad become completely scrambled. His success in flimflamming his followers had gone to his head. He thought he could do anything, get away with anything. He had dreams, she says, of the entire world deluded into belief in his divinity: he didnтАЩt see why that would be anyтБатАФor muchтБатАФmore difficult than fooling the handful that he had fooled. She thinks he actually had insane notions of his own divinity. I donтАЩt go that far. I think he knew well enough that he wasnтАЩt divine, but thought he could kid the rest of the world. These details donтАЩt make much difference: the thing is that he was a nut who saw no limit to his power. + 

тАЬAaronia Haldorn had, she says, no knowledge of RieseтАЩs murder until after it was done. Joseph, using the vision-and-voice trick, sent Gabrielle down to see the corpse on the altar step. That would fit in, you see, with his original scheme to tie her to him by playing his divinity against her curse. Apparently, he intended joining her there, and putting on an act of some sort for her. But Collinson and I interrupted that. Joseph and Gabrielle heard us talking at the door, so Joseph held back, not joining her at the altar, and she came to meet us. JosephтАЩs plan was successful this far: the girl actually believed the curse had been responsible for RieseтАЩs death. She told us she had killed him and ought to be hanged for it. + 

тАЬAs soon as I saw RieseтАЩs body I knew she hadnтАЩt killed him. He was lying in an orderly position. It was plain he had been doped before being killed. Then the door leading to the altar, which I imagined was kept locked, was open, and she didnтАЩt know anything about the key. There was a chance that she had been in on the killing, but none that she had done it alone as she confessed. + 

тАЬThe place was scientifically equipped for eavesdropping: both of the Haldorns heard her confession. Aaronia got busy manufacturing evidence to fit the confession. She went up to GabrielleтАЩs room and got her dressing-gown; got the bloody dagger from where I had dropped it beside the body after taking it from the girl; wrapped the dagger in the dressing-gown, and stuck them in a corner where the police could find them easy enough. Meanwhile, Joseph is working in another direction. He doesnтАЩtтБатАФas his wife doesтБатАФwant Gabrielle carried off to jail or the booby-hatch. He wants her. He wants her belief in her guilt and responsibility to tie her to him, not take her away. He removes RieseтАЩs remainsтБатАФtucking them in one of the concealed cabinetsтБатАФand has the Finks clean up the mess. HeтАЩs overheard Collinson trying to persuade me to hush up the doings, and so he knows he can count on the boyтБатАФthe only other exactly sane witnessтБатАФto keep quiet if IтАЩm taken care of. + 

тАЬKill yourself into a hole, and the chances are a time comes when you have to kill yourself out. To this nut Joseph now, тАШtaking care ofтАЩ me is simply a matter of another murder. He and the FinksтБатАФthough I donтАЩt think weтАЩre going to prove their partтБатАФwent to work on Minnie with the spooks again. She had killed Riese docilely enough: why not me? You see, they were handicapped by not being equipped for this wholesale murdering into which they had all of a sudden plunged. For instance, except for my gun and one of the maidsтАЩтБатАФwhich they didnтАЩt know anything aboutтБатАФthere wasnтАЩt a firearm in the place; and the dagger was the only other weaponтБатАФuntil they got to dragging in carving sets and plumberтАЩs helpers. Then, too, I suppose, there were the sleeping customers to considerтБатАФMrs.┬аRodmanтАЩs probable dislike for being roused by the noise of her spiritual guides ganging up on a roughneck sleuth. Anyway, the idea was that Minnie could be induced to walk up to me and stick the dagger into me in a quiet way. + 

тАЬThey had found the dagger again, in the dressing-gown, where Aaronia had stuck it; and Joseph began suspecting that his wife was double-crossing him. When he caught her in the acting of turning on the dead-flower stuff so strong in MinnieтАЩs room that it knocked her completely outтБатАФput her so soundly asleep that a dozen ghosts couldnтАЩt have stirred her into actionтБатАФhe was sure of her treachery; and, up to his neck now, decided to kill her.тАЭ + 

тАЬHis wife?тАЭ Fitzstephan asked. + 

тАЬYeah, but what difference does that make? It might as well have been anybody else for all the sense it makes. I hope youтАЩre not trying to keep this nonsense straight in your mind. You know damned well all this didnтАЩt happen.тАЭ + 

тАЬThen what,тАЭ he asked, looking puzzled, тАЬdid happen?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know. I donтАЩt think anybody knows. IтАЩm telling you what I saw plus the part of what Aaronia Haldorn told me which fits in with what I saw. To fit in with what I saw, most of it must have happened very nearly as IтАЩve told you. If you want to believe that it did, all right. I donтАЩt. IтАЩd rather believe I saw things that werenтАЩt there.тАЭ + 

тАЬNot now,тАЭ he pleaded. тАЬLater, after youтАЩve finished the story, you can attach your ifs and buts to it, distorting and twisting it, making it as cloudy and confusing and generally hopeless as you like. But first please finish it, so IтАЩll see it at least once in its original state before you start improving it.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou actually believe what IтАЩve told you so far?тАЭ I asked. + 

He nodded, grinning, and said that he not only believed it but liked it. + 

тАЬWhat a childish mind youтАЩve got,тАЭ I said. тАЬLet me tell you the story about the wolf that went to the little girlтАЩs grandmotherтАЩs house andтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬI always liked that one, too; but finish this one now. Joseph had decided to kill his wife.тАЭ + 

тАЬAll right. ThereтАЩs not much more. While Minnie was being worked on, I popped into her room, intending to rouse her and send her for help. Before I did any rousing, I was needing some myself: I had a couple of lungfuls of the gas. The Finks must have turned the ghost loose on me, because Joseph was probably on his way downstairs with his wife at that time. He had faith enough in his divinity-shield, or he was nutty enough, to take her down and tie her on the altar before he carved her. Or maybe he had a way of fitting that stunt into his scheme, or maybe he simply had a liking for bloody theatricals. Anyway, he probably took her down there while I was up in MinnieтАЩs room going around and around with the ghost. + 

тАЬThe ghost had me sweating ink, and when I finally left him and tottered out into the corridor, the Finks jumped me. I say they did, and know it; but it was too dark for me to see them. I beat them off, got a gun, and went downstairs. Collinson and Gabrielle were gone from where I had left them. I found Collinson: Gabrielle had put him outside and shut the door on him. The HaldornsтАЩ sonтБатАФa kid of thirteen or soтБатАФcame to us with the news that Papa was about to kill Mama, and that Gabrielle was with them. I killed Haldorn, but I almost didnтАЩt. I put seven bullets in him. Hard-coated .32тАЩs go in clean, without much of a thump, true enough; but I put seven of them in himтБатАФin his face and bodyтБатАФstanding close and firing point-blankтБатАФand he didnтАЩt even know it. ThatтАЩs how completely he had himself hypnotized. I finally got him down by driving the dagger through his neck.тАЭ + 

I stopped. Fitzstephan asked: тАЬWell?тАЭ + 

тАЬWell what?тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat happened after that?тАЭ + 

тАЬNothing,тАЭ I said. тАЬThatтАЩs the kind of a story it is. I warned you there was no sense to it.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut what was Gabrielle doing there?тАЭ + 

тАЬCrouching beside the altar, looking up at the pretty spotlight.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut why was she there? What was her reason for being there? Had she been called there again? Or was she there of her own free will? How did she come to be there? What was she there for?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know. She didnтАЩt know. I asked her. She didnтАЩt know she was there.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut surely you could learn something from the others?тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah,тАЭ I said; тАЬwhat IтАЩve told you, chiefly from Aaronia Haldorn. She and her husband ran a cult, and he went crazy and began murdering people, and how could she help it? Fink wonтАЩt talk. HeтАЩs a mechanic, yes; and he put in his trick-machinery for the Haldorns and operated it; but he doesnтАЩt know what happened last night. He heard a lot of noises, but it was none of his business to go poking his nose out to see what it was: the first he knew anything was wrong was when some police came and started giving him hell. Mrs.┬аFinkтАЩs gone. The other employees probably donтАЩt really know anything, though itтАЩs a gut they could make some good guesses. Manuel, the little boy, is too frightened to talkтБатАФand will be sure to know nothing when he gets over his fright. What weтАЩre up against is this: if Joseph went crazy and committed some murders on his own hook, the others, even though they unknowingly helped him, are in the clear. The worst any of them can draw is a light sentence for taking part in the cult swindle. But if any of them admits knowing anything, then he lets himself in for trouble as an accomplice in the murder. NobodyтАЩs likely to do that.тАЭ + 

тАЬI see,тАЭ Fitzstephan said slowly. тАЬJoseph is dead, so Joseph did everything. How will you get around that?тАЭ + 

тАЬI wonтАЩt,тАЭ I said; тАЬthough the police will at least try to. My endтАЩs done, so Madison Andrews told me a couple of hours ago.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut if, as you say, you arenтАЩt satisfied that youтАЩve learned the whole truth of the affair, I should think youтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩs not me,тАЭ I said. тАЬThereтАЩs a lot IтАЩd like to do yet, but I was hired, this time, by Andrews, to guard her while she was in the Temple. She isnтАЩt there now, and Andrews doesnтАЩt think thereтАЩs anything further to be learned about what happened there. And, as far as guarding her is necessary, her husband ought to be able to do that.тАЭ + 

тАЬHer what?тАЭ + 

тАЬHusband.тАЭ + 

Fitzstephan thumped his stein down on the table so that beer sloshed over the sides. + 

тАЬNow there you are,тАЭ he said accusingly. тАЬYou didnтАЩt tell me anything about that. God only knows how much else there is that youтАЩve not told me.тАЭ + 

тАЬCollinson took advantage of the confusion to carry her off to Reno, where they wonтАЩt have to wait the Californian three days for their license. I didnтАЩt know theyтАЩd gone till Andrews jumped on my neck three or four hours later. He was kind of unpleasant about it, which is one of the ways we came to stop being client and operative.тАЭ + 

тАЬI didnтАЩt know he was opposed to Collinson as a husband for her.тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know that he is, but he didnтАЩt think this the time, nor that the way, for their wedding.тАЭ + 

тАЬI can understand that,тАЭ he said as we got up from the table. тАЬAndrews likes to have his way in most things.тАЭ + 