Minute Mysteries [Detectograms] Chapter 5: Part 5

Fordney, ‘but you’ll have to be a better liar than that, Fellows, to fool me.’ Where did the Professor detect the lie? 21 _A Modern Knight_ ‘There was hardly a breath of air as we sat on the terrace enjoying tea,’ reminisced Professor Fordney. ‘Rocca excused himself, saying he wished to telephone. Shortly after he entered the house, we heard a shot. I rushed into the drawing-room and found Rocca, smoking gun in hand, staring dumbly at the chair in front of the open window which held the huddled body of Chase. ‘A hasty examination disclosed the telephone receiver off the hook, a single cigarette stub of Rocca’s brand in the ash-tray, a bullet-hole in the gauze curtain six inches below the window-sill, and Rocca’s open cigarette-case in Chase’s lap. His replies to my hastily put questions were evasive. Inspector Kelley arrived while I was talking and took up the questioning.’ ‘“Did you use the telephone?” ‘“Yes.” ‘“You came directly to this room and did not leave it?” ‘“Yes.” ‘“Chase was engaged to your sister?” ‘“Yes, he was.” ‘“Did you offer Chase a cigarette?” ‘“I did.” ‘“How did that dent get in your cigarette-case?” ‘“I dropped it about a week ago.” ‘“Did you shoot Chase?” ‘“I refuse to answer that question.” ‘At this point the doctor arrived and located the bullet in Chase’s body. Rocca then admitted Chase had been shot with the gun found in his own hand, but stubbornly refused to say anything more. ‘“What’s your opinion, Professor?” Kelley asked. ‘“Well,” I replied, “Rocca is obviously shielding someone. We have positive proof he came directly here and has not left this room. That, combined with the other evidence discovered, absolutely exonerates Rocca."’ How did the Professor know Rocca had not shot Chase? 22 _The Jewel Robbery_ ‘You say that as your butler called for help, a stranger, by the name of Dudley, was passing the house and rushed in?’ ‘That’s right,’ Owings corroborated, as the two men sat in Fordney’s study. ‘It was rather late last Friday evening before I was ready to leave town for the week-end, and as Stuben, the butler, wasn’t feeling well, I told him to stay upstairs and that I would lock up when I left. ‘I had some diamonds in the safe, so he said he wouldn’t leave the house until I returned,’ continued Owings. ‘About eleven that night, he heard a humming noise and, having the diamonds in mind, ran downstairs to investigate. Finding the wall safe open and the jewels gone, he let out a scream for help. ‘Stuben has been with me for years, Professor, and I have implicit faith in him.’ ‘Did Dudley see anyone leave?’ asked Fordney. ‘No; the robber or robbers must have left by the back door, as Dudley was right in front of the house when he heard Stuben’s call for help,’ replied Owings. ‘Both men say the room smelled of cigarette smoke, so the burglars must have just left.’ ‘Was the back door unlocked?’ inquired the Professor. ‘No, it was closed. It has a device which locks it automatically from the outside when it’s pulled to.’ ‘Well, you’d better swear out a warrant for your butler and Dudley,’ said Fordney. ‘I’m sure they know where your diamonds are. Long service, you know, isn’t necessarily a pledge of loyalty.’ Why did Fordney so advise Owings? 23 _Before the Coroner’s Inquest_ ‘Let’s run over your testimony before the inquest opens,’ said Fordney. ‘All right,’ replied Curry. ‘About three-thirty on Thursday, I got into the boat in front of my cottage and rowed upstream. About fifty yards below the bridge, I looked up and saw Scott and Dawson going across it in opposite directions. As the two men passed, Scott reached out, grabbed Dawson, and hit him in the jaw. Then he pulled a gun, and, in the scuffle that followed, Scott fell off the bridge. He dropped into the water, but, as the current was strong, by the time I reached the spot, he had sunk. When I finally pulled him into the boat, he was dead.’ ‘Was it a clear day?’ asked Fordney. ‘Well, it had been showering early in the afternoon, but the sun was shining then.’ ‘Are you positive Scott got that bruise by hitting his head on the rocks when he fell? The prosecution, you know, is going to claim that Dawson hit him on the head with something, then deliberately pushed him off the bridge,’ commented Fordney. ‘I _know_ he got that bruise on the rocks,’ stated Curry emphatically. ‘All right,’ said the Professor, ‘but I don’t think the jury will believe you. Personally, I’m sure Dawson didn’t intentionally kill Scott, but we’ll have to have better proof than that if we hope to acquit him. ‘By the way,’ he continued, ‘be sure to state you knew of the grudge Scott bore Dawson.’ Why was the Professor doubtful the coroner’s jury would believe Curry’s testimony? 24 _The Fifth Avenue Hold-Up_ ‘What’s the hurry?’ asked Professor Fordney, as Baldwin collided with him in the doorway of the office at the back of the exclusive Cross Jewelry Store. ‘I—I—was going to help search for the robbers,’ stammered Baldwin as he backed into the office. ‘Well, tell me what happened first,’ said Fordney, as Dr. Lyman, police surgeon, knelt beside Mr. Cross. ‘There’s the special safe for the emerald behind that miniature portrait. I was in here when Mr. Cross entered with two gentlemen,’ exclaimed Baldwin nervously. ‘He asked me to bring in a tray of diamonds. I set it on the table—both men pulled guns and as Cross protested, one of them knocked him unconscious with a blow on the head. The other forced me into that chair saying, “All right, buddy. We’ll wait on ourselves.” Then he put the diamonds in his pocket. I’m thankful I’m alive. I telephoned Headquarters, then rushed out into the store, but they had escaped,’ concluded Baldwin. ‘So they got away with the famous Cross emerald, eh?’ ‘Yes. The safe door was slightly open. Mr. Cross tried to call my attention to it with a jerk of his thumb as the robber pocketed the diamonds. Otherwise they wouldn’t have discovered it.’ ‘How is he, Doctor?’ asked Fordney. ‘He’ll never come to, I’m afraid. Those two blows on the head were a bit too much for him.’ ‘Two blows!’ ejaculated Fordney. ‘Are you sure, Baldwin, you weren’t hurrying away with the emerald? I’m not!’ Why did Fordney think Baldwin had stolen the emerald? 25 _Behind Locked Doors_ At the Collingham home Professor Fordney found Clive Kingston, the Judge’s nephew, and Watkins, the butler, greatly excited. Forcing the library door, locked for three months, they saw the Judge seated in front of the fireplace opposite the door, apparently dead. ‘Wait!’ called Professor Fordney to Watkins, who had rushed into the room. ‘He’s all right,’ said Kingston, as he and Fordney halted over the threshold. ‘Perhaps, but I don’t want any clues obliterated. Come back carefully and get us a couple of small rugs, Watkins,’ commanded Fordney. Walking only on the rugs placed over the thick, plain carpet, Fordney and Kingston reached the Judge’s side and found him dead—shot through the heart. Kingston called the Professor’s attention to footprints in the carpet near the fireplace. As he fitted his shoe to an impression, he said, ‘These are mine, and those, of course, must be Watkins’s.’ ‘Throw me your shoe,’ called Fordney to the butler, standing in the doorway. ‘Yes, these are yours all right, and I can see the third set was made by the Judge—notice the impression left by his peculiarly constructed right shoe.’ ‘There’s the gun under the table,’ called the butler. ‘Pretty sharp eyes, Watkins,’ said the Professor, picking up and critically examining the gun. ‘No finger-prints, of course,’ he mused. ‘Look!’ exclaimed Kingston, ‘the glass in that picture is broken. Were two shots fired?’ ‘Only one,’ said Fordney, as with great care he picked the Judge’s nose-glasses from his lap where they had fallen, unbroken. ‘I think I know now who murdered your uncle.’ Whom did Fordney suspect, and why? 26 _Lost at Sea_ ‘Tell us exactly what happened,’ said Professor Fordney as he sat in his study with Mrs. Rollins. ‘It was a dark, moonless night. ‘At twelve o’clock, when we were about ten miles off Point Breeze, I retired to my cabin, leaving my husband on deck. We were alone on the boat. ‘In a few minutes, hearing loud shouts, I joined him again. We could hear a boat approaching, running without lights, as were we. My husband told me to return to the cabin, which I did. ‘Soon after doing so a bump, tramping feet, and loud swearing told me our visitors had come aboard. I went up and, just as I stepped on deck, a man put a gun against my ribs and told me to keep quiet. My husband was engaged in a terrific fight with two others. ‘They must have known he always carried that leather bag of loose diamonds because, when he dropped it in the fight, one of them picked it up from the deck. ‘They finally knocked him unconscious and took him to their boat after binding and gagging me. As you know, I was found drifting next morning by that fisherman.’ ‘How was your husband dressed?’ inquired Fordney. ‘It was very hot—he had no shirt on, but wore dark trousers.’ ‘Shoes or tennis slippers?’ ‘Why—shoes, of course,’ replied Mrs. Rollins with noticeable hesitation. ‘Well,’ said Fordney tersely, ‘it’s amazing to me that you expect to collect insurance on your diamonds on such a flimsy yarn. You and your husband will be lucky if you aren’t prosecuted.’ Where did the elaborate story fall down? 27 _A Suave Gunman_ ‘Can you describe this fellow?’ asked Professor Fordney of Henry Taylor, manager of the National Theater. ‘Yes. He was a tall, well-dressed, good-looking chap. Wore a panama hat, turned-down brim, blue coat, smart blue tie, natty white flannels with silver belt-buckle, black-and-white sport shoes, and had a general air of culture and refinement.’ ‘Just what did he do?’ ‘As I was counting the receipts, he came into the office, gun in hand, and commanded me to get up from the desk and move over by that table. ‘After putting the money in a brief-case he carried, he took out a cigarette and asked me to light it for him, still covering me, of course. ‘Then he gagged me and tied me to the chair, after which he opened the door, looked cautiously about, came back and, with a quiet “sorry” and a warning, turned and left. As he passed through the door, he unbuttoned his coat and slipped the revolver into his back pocket. The show was just