The Case and the Girl

by Randall Parrish

  CHAPTER XII

  AGAINST A STONE WALL

  Was this discovery anything to him? What difference could it make whetherPercival Coolidge had died by his own hand, or been treacherously shotfrom ambush? How would it benefit Natalie Coolidge to have the truthrevealed? And, if it would benefit her, why should he devote his time andlabour to such an effort? She had cast him off, thrown him aside; heraffairs had no further interest for him. Let her lawyer take care ofthem. These were West's first thoughts.

  All true, yet this state of mind brought no satisfaction. He wasinterested; he could not escape his first impressions of the girl, ordrive from him a desire to serve her, whether she wished it, or not.She might, indeed, be in equal danger from an assassin. He could notdetermine this until he learned the cause of the slaying of Percival.Then, on the other hand, suppose some one else's suspicions were alsoaroused. Who would they naturally look to as guilty of this horriblecrime? There was but one answer--Natalie Coolidge. She was seeminglythe only person to directly benefit by this sudden death. All theseconsiderations urged him on, overcame his doubt and indecision. Thenhe desired to learn the truth himself. His eyes rested on Sexton'sanxious face.

  "I've been thinking it over," he admitted quietly, "and I guess it is upto you and me to find out what this means."

  "Yes, sir," hesitatingly. "You--you don't think it was MissNatalie, sir?"

  "No, I do not, Sexton. I have my own reasons for saying that. Yetnaturally she is the one to be first suspected. Do you know anything?"

  "Only that I am sure she was in the garden, sir, when the shot was fired.I saw her there just after you drove away."

  "That is conclusive then, so far as her personal actions are concerned.But there is an odd angle to this matter, and I might as well explain itto you first as last. Perhaps you can help figure the oddness out. I wasnot engaged to Miss Natalie, Sexton; I was not even a friend. I came tothe house, employed to perform a certain task. She introduced me as herfiance merely to explain my presence there, and make the way clear. Itwas the impulse of a moment."

  "You don't say, sir! What, may I ask, was it you was expected to do?"

  "To discover who was masquerading in this city under her name."

  "Was there some one, sir?"

  "So she told me; we went into that rather thoroughly. She claimed it hadbeen going on for some months; checks had been cashed at the bank; evenher servants had been approached by some one so closely resembling her asto deceive them; and she had been reported at various places she nevervisited. She was very much exercised over it."

  "And she engaged you just to find this other woman?"

  "Yes; her lawyer and Percival Coolidge only laughed at her story."

  "But you believed it, sir?"

  "Well, perhaps not at first altogether. It seemed too strange andimpossible. I thought something must have got on her nerves and causedher to imagine things. But the first night I remained out there gave me ashock. I do not know whether I left my door unlocked, or whether apass-key was used, but I woke up suddenly to discover a woman in theroom. I only had a glimpse of her, for she slipped out instantly, anddisappeared down the hall; but it was moonlight and I would have swornthe intruder was Miss Natalie. I asked her the next day."

  "And she denied being there?"

  "Absolutely, and convinced me it was true. There is no doubt in my mind,Sexton, but what she really is being impersonated by some one whoresembles her most remarkably. Who this person is I have not the remotestidea; nor what her real object can be. Just at this moment, I am inclinedto believe it has something to do with the Coolidge estate--a criminalscheme of some kind, and that Percival Coolidge had connection with it."

  "I can hardly believe that, sir."

  "No doubt you find it difficult. You told me yourself that had alwaysbeen his room, the one I occupied."

  "Yes, sir."

  "That woman knew it; she came there to consult with him." He stoppedsuddenly. "By Gad! Sexton, maybe she came there to kill him. I hadn'tthought of that."

  "It is too much for me, sir," the other said soberly. "I don't know whyany one should want to kill him. But there's got to be a reasonsomewhere. Where was it the three of you went on Sunday in the runabout,Captain West?"

  "To a house over in the factory district; some charity case that Coolidgewas interested in--the widow of one of his employees, I believe."

  "Did you see the people?"

  "No, I didn't go in; waited outside in the car; it was no affair of mine.Why?" he asked in surprise.

  "Because, sir, Miss Natalie seemed like a different person when she gotback. Not in looks, or nothing like that I don't mean, but in the way shetalked and acted. Nothing suited her all the rest of the day. You knowhow she was to you, sir. Well she was just that snappy with all of us,even after we brought the body back to the house. And she wouldn't lookat him, sir, not even after he was dressed proper and laid out. She justwent off up stairs, and stayed there; had a bit of toast an' tea, an'that's all."

  "I hardly believe," said West thoughtfully, "you can attribute her stateof mind to anything that occurred on that trip. Indeed she was in highspirits all the way home."

  "I can't help that, sir," Sexton insisted blindly. "It was something thathappened yesterday what set her wrong, an' if I was you, sir, I'd findout what happened in that house first of all. Could you find the place?"

  "Yes, I think so. I'll look it up, although I don't have much faith inyour theory." He glanced at his watch. "I'll go out there now. You comeback here about five, and we will talk over any discoveries I may make."

  "And what shall I do, sir?"

  Both were standing, West with hand on the knob of the door. The light inhis eyes hardened.

  "Nothing occurs to me now, Sexton, unless you can find an excuse toreturn to Fairlawn, after something you have forgotten, let us say. If wecan learn what Miss Natalie proposes doing it might furnish a clue."

  "Very well, sir, and I am to be here at five o'clock?"

  "Yes, at five; I will leave word with the doorman to show you in atonce."

  West picked up a taxi-cab for the trip, bidding the chauffeur to drive toa certain section of the city, and then up and down the various streetsuntil told to stop. He had no idea that his quest would reveal anythingof importance relative to the death of Coolidge, yet no bettersuggestion occurred to him and he felt that he must do something. Hisconversation with Sexton had greatly strengthened his conviction thatthis was a murder, and he had determined to ferret out the truth ifpossible. Yet, thus far there was nothing to build upon, no clue, nomotive, no suspicion as to who had perpetrated the deed. He simply faceda blank wall, in which no entrance was apparent, yet there must be one,if he was only fortunate enough to stumble upon it. Deep down in hisheart West was conscious that he possessed a motive in this search farmore worthy than mere curiosity. That motive was Natalie Coolidge. Hesmiled at the thought, yet confessed it true. In spite of her curtdismissal, his memory of the girl centred about those earlier hours oftheir acquaintance. Something mysterious had occurred to make her changeso quickly, and he was unwilling to condemn her before learning the realreason. This murder must have some relation to the Coolidge estate; hecould conceive of no other motive for such a cold-blooded affair; andhence its solving must prove of vital importance to her and her future.Now, when the verdict of the coroner's jury had been suicide, and whenonly he, and the servant Sexton suspected otherwise, it was of theutmost importance that they endeavour to unravel the crime. For hersake he could do no less, thus serving and protecting her to the best ofhis ability.

  The chauffeur drove slowly up and down obscure streets for half an hourbefore West recognized familiar surroundings, and motioned for him todraw up against the curb. He had discovered the place sought, but fromthe street it exhibited no signs of occupancy, nor did any knocking atthe front door bring response from within. He circled the building,finding an uncurtained window at the rear, which merely revealed anunfurnished room. Every door was locke
d, but, as he passed along theother side to regain the taxi, a man emerged from the next house, andhailed him.

  "Say, what're yer snoopin' round there for? Lookin' for somebody?"

  "Yes, the parties who were here Sunday. What's become of them."

  "Hobart, you mean?"

  "Is that his name? I met him down town, and he told me to come here,"West explained rapidly. "We had a deal on."

  "Oh, yer did, hey," leaning his arms on the fence. "Well, Jim Hobart wasthe name he giv' me. That's my house, which is why I happen to knowwhat his name was. Something queer about that fellar, I reckon, but'tain't none o' my business. You ain't a detective, or nothin' likethat, are yer?"

  "Nothing at all like that," West laughed, although interested. "Why? Didyou think the police might be after him?"

  "Not for anything I know about, only he skipped out mighty sudden. Paidme a month rent, and only stayed there three days. That looks sorterqueer. Then Sunday that fellar what committed suicide out south--I readabout in the papers--came to see him in a car. I got a boy workin' in hisfactory; that's how I come to know who the guy was. The next nightHobart, an' them with him, just naturally skipped out. So I didn't knowbut what the police might want him for something."

  "I don't know anything about that. I just called on a private matter.Where did he go to?"

  "Hell, man, I didn't even know he was goin'."

  "Who did he have with him here--a family?"

  "A woman 'bout his age I should say, an' a younger one. I didn't see 'emonly from the window; didn't get no sight o' the girl's face at all, butcould tell the way she walked she was young. They didn't have nothin'with 'em; that's all my stuff in the house there."

  Feeling the uselessness of trying to learn anything more, West thankedhim, and returned to the taxi.

  "Back to the Club," he ordered briefly, and settled into his seat tothink.