Detective Fiction Weekly. Vol. 36, No. 4, October 20, 1928

“I’ve always had a feeling that man would come to a bad end,” commented Miss Gilchrist at this juncture, “although I cannot believe murder of him.”

“I have not said he is guilty of murder — exactly, Miss Gilchrist,” rejoined MacCray hopefully. “I merely said that he is in a bad position.”

“What’s your name, young man?” she went on sharply. “Who are you?”

“Hush, Aunt Edwina,” cautioned the young woman, tightening her embrace about her relative’s waist. “This is Detective Chief MacCray.”

“I won’t hush,” stated that lady positively. “I intend getting at the bottom of this matter.”

“Which sentiment does you honor,” put in MacCray gallantly. “And such is my own desire.”

“No, I see you do not resemble Jim Rindawn in the least,” murmured the old lady, peering at him and shaking her head. “Your eyes are too gray, you are too young. No wonder you stood at a distance with the light behind you. But you are very clever.”

“Thank you,” he bowed. “Now, if I may resume, allow me to suggest that your niece answer my questions truthfully and fully.

“I have already learned from her own lips that she is not criminally guilty of any misdemeanor. For the sake of justice, for the sake of the Lethrop family that she seems to honor, for the sake of her invalid aunt, for her own sake, I ask her to be frank with me.

“To be silent will not shield James Rindawn. I already have enough on him to send him to the penitentiary for the rest of his natural life. If you refuse to talk, I will be put to the necessity of arresting you, Miss Boatwright, and I will have to let Detective Grady make that arrest of Rindawn he is so anxious to do. I am not bluffing, believe me.”

The four men waited. The elderly lady stroked her niece’s hand encouragingly, silently urging her to meet MacCray halfway. At last the girl raised her head and gazed at the detective chief.

She rose slowly to her feet — she was fully as tall as he — and revealed to him the full splendor of her widely opened eyes. It was difficult to maintain a sense of superiority, or even of equality, face to face with this vibrant creature.

“I... I believe you and trust you, Mr. MacCray,” she said wearily. “Oh, I know you too well to doubt. But you seem to know all there is to know about me. What on earth can I reveal to a man like you?”

Chapter XVI Judge Lethrop Remembers

MacCray took her hand and pressed it gently. Then he placed a chair for her.

“Thank you for your faith,” he said simply. “Please sit down. Your nerves are as taut as fiddle strings. Not only do I need your help; I see that you need mine, and you are going to have it. While you compose yourself I will explain how and why I come to be here in this manner.

“I got the first clew to the identity of the mysterious woman who called the Robey Street station from Sergeant Brill. He had been so strongly impressed by the voice that he was able to give me a very good description. Particularly did he stress the accent of the lady’s ‘a.’

“Then I learned from the Duke housekeeper of the veiled woman who came there between eleven and eleven-thirty that fateful morning. That evening I saw the veiled lady at Harry Lethrop’s hearing and shadowed her. She proved to be none other than Miss Edna Boatwright.

“Don’t start in such surprise, my dear; you left a trail as broad as a boulevard. After that, at Judge Lethrop’s office, you yourself informed me that you came from Boston. That tallied with the accent of the mysterious veiled lady. The conclusion was obvious.

“However, a guilty person — one criminally involved, I mean — would never have risked so much as to appear at the hearing. But you had lied about your aunt’s health twice. At least, I knew that your second excuse to leave the office was a lie. That is why I said before you that I would order the arrest of this Signor Vincennes if he did not appear to set up a howl about his missing daughter. Since then I have checked up on your first story.

“From the moment you left the judge’s office that night up to this very moment you have been shadowed. I was watching to see if there was any connection between you and this missing gentleman, or between you and the man who signs his name as Carlos Fernandez. And I found nothing except the initial connection between you and James Rindawn.

“As I was almost persuaded of your innocence, I arranged this little business this afternoon to get to the meat of the matter. I really did not need Brill’s presence in the next room to identify your voice, but it is always best to cover everything possible.

“So that, Miss Edna, is the reason I passed myself off as James Rindawn. And I flatter myself that I was getting along in an excellent fashion, feeling my way along on what I already knew and what you were letting drop, until our impetuous friend, Mr. Grady over there, rushed in and spoiled the proceedings.