Ashton-Kirk, Criminologist
Page 24
CHAPTER XXIII
A WOMAN!
When Danny made this declaration, Scanlon leaned back in his chair anddrew a long breath of mingled surprise and satisfaction. So that hadbeen the subject of Fenton's excited consultation with Hutchinson--adiamond necklace, pawned, or sold, by a woman. And from Fenton's ownwords, it was a thing he had been expecting.
Bat was about to break into a detailed account of all he had seen andheard since his last conversation with the investigator; but Ashton-Kirkwas closely questioning Danny, so the big man held his peace. Finallythe office boy had told all he knew and departed; then Bat, comfortablysettled back in his chair, spoke.
"A flat-nosed fellow, eh?" said he. "Name of Fenton, I think."
He saw the keen eyes of the other flash him a look; it was the firstsurprise Scanlon had noted in Ashton-Kirk since the hunt began, and itfilled him with immense satisfaction. He reached for a cigar and lightedit carefully.
"Lives in a tenement house, off on the other end of town," said he,after he had the cigar going well. "The same house where I ran acrossyou--remember?"
Ashton-Kirk laughed.
"You are coming on," said he.
"Maybe," nodded the big athlete, "a little faster than you think, evennow. I've had a few things happen to me in the last twenty-four hoursthat have lots of ginger in them."
And so, pausing now and then to draw at his cigar, he related all thathad occurred both on that night and the night before. Ashton-Kirklistened with careful attention, and when Bat had finished, he said:
"You appear to have had quite a time of it. I am obliged to you for someof the points you have made; they throw light upon corners which up tonow have been rather obscure."
"What worries me," said Bat, "is that----"
But the investigator stopped him.
"To worry in a matter like this is to admit that you are jumping atconclusions," said Ashton-Kirk. "And that only, so to speak, clouds thewater; it makes it almost impossible to see any distance ahead, andspoils one's judgment of what is already in one's hand."
There was a short pause, and then the speaker went on:
"I grew somewhat interested in Gaffney's place at once upon hearingDennison speak of it that afternoon at the Polo Club. After assuming thedisguise you saw me in, I went there and engaged in a game at one of thetables. Inside of an hour I had the information that the Bounder hadoccasionally visited the place, and always to meet a man of the name ofFenton. Fenton was in the rooms at the time, and when he went home Itrailed him. I rented the room almost across the hall from his, with thesame idea in my mind as that of your friend the burglar's."
"I got that at the time," spoke Bat Scanlon. "But what _was_ the idea?"
"There were diamonds in question," said Ashton-Kirk. "The diamonds TomBurton took from Nora Cavanaugh. It occurred to me, after consideringthe matter carefully, that Fenton might have them in his possession. Butmy search of his room, just finished as Bohlmier and Big Slim arrived,showed me that they were not kept there, at least."
"This whole business about those diamonds sounds kind of funny to me,"said Bat. "Nora told her maid she put them away in a bank vault; how doyou know she didn't recover them in some way and do just that verything?"
Ashton-Kirk pressed one of the series of call bells.
"That brings us to a point upon which I think we can expect definiteintelligence," said he.
In a few moments Fuller appeared, dapper and alert.
"How soon will you be ready to make a report upon the matter you havebeen working up?" asked the investigator.
"Right away," replied Fuller, as he spread some typewritten papers uponthe table. "I put it on the machine while I was waiting to speak toyou."
Ashton-Kirk took up the sheets, and his eyes ran quickly over them.
"This is about what I expected," said he, finally. "You are sure youmissed no one?"
"Quite sure. I first called on those banks and trust companies which Ifancied Miss Cavanaugh did business with. She had an account in several.But she had no box in the safety deposit vault, and she had depositednothing save money. I went from one bank to another; some of them weredisinclined to give any information, but when they were convinced it waspolice business, they answered my questions."
"The result, then, is that Miss Cavanaugh did _not_ deposit anything inthe vaults of any bank in the city."
"She did not," replied Fuller, positively.
The investigator looked at Scanlon, and the big man nodded his head,gravely.
"All right," said he; "that's settled. And now what comes next?"
"From what you have told me and from what Danny has said," repliedAshton-Kirk, "I rather think a little talk with Fenton would not be outof place."
"Good!" said Bat.
"First," continued the investigator, "we'll see what's to be had fromhis friend, Hutchinson. I'm rather of the opinion that he has someinformation which would be of use to us."
They rose, and as they put on hats and coats, Ashton-Kirk said toFuller:
"Perhaps you'd better come along, Fuller. If things go as I think theywill we are in for a rather busy night and may need your help."
The three boarded a street car not far from the investigator's house;after they had alighted, a walk of ten minutes brought them to Gaffney'splace.
"Remain within call," said Ashton-Kirk to his aide. "We may need you atany moment."
"Right," said the young man, readily. "I'll be somewhere about."
Scanlon pushed open Gaffney's door and entered, followed by Ashton-Kirk.The place was crowded; the air was thick with the smoke of poor tobacco;the fox-like young men still made the skilful strokes at the tables, andthe walls were lined, as usual, with men who either stared vacantly, orscowled with predatory longing.
Hutchinson, with his striped sleeves and his carefully waved hair, wasin the back room engaged with an exceptionally clever gentleman who madeshot after shot of almost miraculous character. Ashton-Kirk and Scanlonwaited until the game was run through, then the former touchedHutchinson upon the arm.
"Could we have a word with you?" asked the investigator.
"Certainly." Hutchinson smiled agreeably. "Of course."
They took him aside, and Ashton-Kirk looked him steadily in the facewhile he said:
"We'd like to ask a question or two about a friend of yours--Fenton."
Hutchinson smiled once more, still agreeably, but with a little lessgenuineness.
"Oh, Joe," said he. "Yes, an old pal of mine. What about him?"
"He comes in to see you quite frequently, doesn't he?"
"Why, yes; pretty often." Hutchinson's hand smoothed at the waves ofhair, and through the smile showed evidences of trouble. "But, then,most of the boys come in often. It's quite a hang-out for most of them."
But Ashton-Kirk refused to consider this last.
"Fenton often met people here, I think," said he, his keen eyes stillfixed upon the other. "People who wanted to see him in the way ofbusiness."
"Why, no," said Hutchinson; "no; I never knew Joe to meet a soul----"
"There was an acquaintance of his named Burton--Tom Burton--sometimescalled the Bounder, who called here at times to talk to him."Hutchinson's smile disappeared completely, and a glassy look came intohis eyes. "One night, just a week ago, Burton came here; he had sometrouble with Fenton; some hours later he was found murdered."
Hutchinson gasped brokenly; reaching out one trembling hand he touchedAshton-Kirk's sleeve.
"I didn't have anything to do with that," he said. "I didn't knowanything about it, even, until I saw it in the papers on the day after."
"You _do_ know something about it," said Ashton-Kirk; "so suppose youtell us--but wait," a new thought apparently occurring to him. "Firstcall up Fenton, and get him here; we'll want to talk to him, too."
"But I don't know where he----"
"He's at home," said Ashton-Kirk, briefly; "and there is a telephone inthe hall, not a dozen yards from his room."
"I want to speak to Fenton," said Hutchinson. "Get him on the 'phone,will you?"
The small, far-off voice seemed protesting, but Hutchinson urged,persistently:
"Well, what if he is in bed? This is important. Kick on his door; tellhim Hutchinson wants to speak to him right away."
There was a delay much longer than the first, then another small voicecame over the wire.
"Get a move on you," said Hutchinson. "I want you here right away. Acouple of people want to meet you. Important? Of course it is. Would Ibe dragging you out of bed if it wasn't?"
After a little more of the same style of urging, Hutchinson hung up andturned to Ashton-Kirk.
"He'll be here in ten minutes," said he.
"Very good," said the investigator. The three walked to theout-of-the-way corner they had occupied before, and the speaker went on:"I see you understand this is a serious matter, and so nothing butstraightforward answers are expected of you."
"Joe's a pal of mine," said the pool-room manager, "but I don't knownothing about his affairs. If he's in on croaking this guy, I don't knowanything about it. I'm on the level, and----"
"We are not greatly interested in that," said Ashton-Kirk. "What we wantjust now is information as to what happened on the night of the murder."
"I tell you I don't know anything----"
"You were here when the Bounder came to see Fenton, were you not?"
"Yes--I was." The man made the answer with the greatest reluctance, andhis manner said plainly that he'd gladly have lied had he been sure asto the extent of his questioner's knowledge. "Joe had been outsomewhere, and when he came in he said he had a date with a party. Itwas then ten o'clock and after. We talked a while, and then this manBurton came in. Joe took him to one side and they began to talk. Ididn't pay much attention to them, except that they were having a littleargument over something. Then I heard a kind of a smack, and I looked upand saw Joe standing with his hand to his face, and the other fellowturning his back on him just as cool as anything you'd want to put youreyes on. For a second I thought Joe was going to take the thing and saynothing; and then----"
The man paused here, and Ashton-Kirk said:
"And then he was about to draw a revolver, but you stopped him."
Hutchinson stared at the speaker; the desire to deny this was strong inhis face, but the certainty of the keen eyes was so great that he said,weakly:
"Joe was only a little wild, that's all. He didn't mean any harm. When Ispoke to him, he was as quiet as a baby."
Ashton-Kirk asked a dozen more questions regarding the relationshipbetween the Bounder and Fenton; Hutchinson answered them allhesitatingly and with many qualifications. Finally, the front door swungopen and Scanlon, who was watching it, said:
"Here's your man now."
Fenton, frowning and evidently in bad humor, entered the back room.Hutchinson greeted him with:
"Hello, Joe. A couple of people who want to talk to you."
Ashton-Kirk nodded to the broken-nosed man, who looked at him,inquiringly.
"What do you want?" asked he. "It ought to be something bright to rout aman out of bed."
"I'd like to ask you one or two questions," said Ashton-Kirk, smoothly.
"Questions!" Fenton's eyes narrowed. "What kind of questions?"
"About Tom Burton," replied Ashton-Kirk. "I'd like to know whathappened after he left this place with you on his track."
Fenton gave a quick, hunted look around; for an instant his eyes restedupon the street door, but Scanlon's big body was between him and it in atwinkling.
"It'll be easier to answer the questions," said Bat, unconcernedly."We'd get you in a minute or two."
The man's glance went to Hutchinson accusingly, and the manager of thepool room at once began to protest.
"Honest, Joe, I didn't say a word. They came in here and wanted to seeyou, and I thought it best to get it over with."
"You followed Tom Burton to Stanwick," said Ashton-Kirk. "A person whosaw you there has made a direct accusation against you."
The face of the broken-nosed man went white.
"What did they say?" he demanded. "They're liars. What did they say? Ididn't do a thing!"
"Well, if you didn't, the best thing to do is to clear yourself ofsuspicion by telling all you know. I have had it from two differentsources that you had business with the Bounder that night. What was itsnature?"
Fenton hesitated a moment; his furtive mind was working desperately fora way to avoid admitting light upon his doings; but apparently he couldthink of none, for he said, slowly:
"I'd been acquainted with Tom Burton for years; sometimes I wouldn't seeanything of him for a long time; and then," bitterly, "I'd know he wasflush. He never came near me unless he was broke and wanted somethingdone. A couple of weeks ago he showed up and handed me the details of alittle game that looked like easy money; I was to work it and we were tosplit the proceeds, fifty-fifty."
"And this, I suppose, is the matter he came to see you about on thenight he was killed?"
"Yes," answered Fenton, and he laughed as he said it. "That's the thing.He came around like a lord and put his mitt out for his cut of theplunder. He had an easy way of doing things--so easy that he often tookpeople by surprise and got by with it. But this time he was in wrong;I'd been dumped by him so often that I was cagy. I'd looked over thegame he'd handed me--give it a good, careful look, mind you, and I foundthere was about twenty per cent. profit and eighty per cent danger. Hewas to cut the twenty with me, but I was to take all of the eighty."
"Just like them kind of people," said Hutchinson. "They're alwayslooking for somebody to take their chances and feed them pap."
"So I called off on the thing," said Fenton; "and when he came aroundon the night he said he would, I laid him out--strong--for trying to getme into such a thing. When he found I'd side-stepped him and there wasno easy money for him, he pulled back and hit me, and then walked out,expecting to get away with it. I dipped for my gun, I was so sore, butHutchinson, here, stopped me. Then I knew that to gun him would be aboob play; but I meant to get back at him, so I followed him for achance to lay him out."
The man paused for a moment or two; the balls clicked about the tables;the clouds of tobacco smoke drifted among the bright white lightsoverhead; the players talked monotonously among themselves.
"He went to an old-fashioned part of the town," said Fenton, "and beforeI had a chance had gone into a swell-looking house. He was inside forabout half an hour and I waited for him. When he came out he'd no soonerhit the sidewalk than I knew something had happened to him. And it wassomething good. Before he'd gone in he pulled along pretty slow with hishead down; but now he was chipper and feeling good. As he passed where Iwas hid I heard him laugh. I wondered what it was that was doing it, andin a couple of minutes I found out. He stopped under a light and tooksomething out of his overcoat pocket. I was near enough to get a slantat it, and saw he had a whole handful of diamonds."
Hutchinson drew in a long breath; Ashton-Kirk looked at Scanlon, andthat gentleman nodded his satisfaction with the apparentstraightforwardness of the story.
"So, after he had flashed a thing like that," said Fenton, "I altered mymind a little; I wouldn't do any strong-arm stuff; I'd try and stand iton the sparks. At first Burton didn't seem to know what to do; hestopped a couple of times as if he was thinking; then he seemed to grabat an idea and started off for the railroad station. He bought a ticketand boarded a local train, and I followed him. He got off at Stanwickand went at once to the house on Duncan Street.
"I walked into the side yard, for it was pretty dark there at first; butthen the moon came out from behind
some buildings and flooded all overthe place, and I had to stick close to the side of the house where theshadows were."
"Didn't you go to the other side at all?" asked Ashton Kirk.
"Yes; a couple of times, but I couldn't stay long, for I was afraid someone would see me. Once I looked in at a window that was lighted up, andthere was the Bounder talking to some one, and he was laughing andshowing her diamonds."
"Is that all you saw?"
Fenton shook his head.
"No," said he, "it wasn't. I saw a woman a little while later; she wassnooping around in the dark, and then she hid behind a kind of a thingthat they grow vines over and watched the window."
"What else did you see?" There was a silence after this question; asFenton squirmed and shifted his eyes like a trapped tiger, Ashton-Kirkwent on: "Remember, there has been a direct charge against you--that youkilled the man you followed from this place."
"That's a lie," said Fenton. "It's a lie! I didn't! It was that womankilled him. And I saw her do it!"