(1988) The Golden Room

by Irving Wallace

  Agitated, Minna held up her hand. ‘Don’t tell me any

  more. Do you think he murdered all those people who disappeared?’

  ‘What do you think, Miss Everleigh?’

  Minna was more agitated than ever. Her voice quavered. ‘I … I think I’ve made a horrible mistake. I allowed my niece Cathleen and her friend Karen Grant to move in with Dr Holmes yesterday, until I could find them adequate hotel lodgings.’

  Pinkerton’s frown deepened. ‘Your niece and Miss Grant are staying with Dr Holmes?’

  ‘Yes, I’m afraid so. The Everleigh Club was temporarily closed down, and I was having trouble finding accommodation for Cathleen and Karen. Dr Holmes volunteered to take them in. How could I know that he might be a monster, a - ?’

  ‘You didn’t know,’ said Pinkerton. ‘Now we must try to get them back, if it’s not too late.’

  ‘I’ve already sent Cathleen’s fiance and my nephew to Dr Holmes’s residence to bring them back here.’

  Pinkerton shook his head. ‘I’m sure he’ll turn them away. He’ll say the women left and he doesn’t know where they went. The young men won’t get anywhere. Miss Everleigh, this is a matter for the police. Let me use your telephone immediately.’

  Minna nodded dumbly, and Pinkerton reached for the phone and told the operator to connect him with the main police station.

  Once connected, Pinkerton told Captain Zubukovic, who answered, that he had to speak to Chief of Police Francis O’Neill at once.

  ‘I’m sorry, sir. The chief is out for the next few hours. Can I help?’

  ‘This is an emergency,’ said Pinkerton. ‘I’m sure you can help.’

  ‘What’s on your mind?’

  Quickly, after introducing himself, Pinkerton told Captain Zubukovic what he had learned about Dr Herman Holmes,

  and about the two women whose lives might be endangered. ‘I think you should rush a squad of police to the Holmes residence - Holmes might do something homicidal.’

  ‘Do you have evidence that Dr Holmes is a murderer?’

  ‘Circumstantial evidence, but extremely convincing.’

  ‘Not enough for me to act on just on the basis of a telephone call,’ said the captain. ‘I suggest you come right over and show me your evidence. I’d have to see for myself before I could order a raid.’

  ‘The delay might make it too late.’

  ‘Mr Pinkerton, I can’t do any more without a go-ahead from the chief. I suggest you come right over here with your file.’

  ‘I’m on my way,’ said Pinkerton, hanging up. He came to his feet with surprising agility. ‘Miss Everleigh, there’s not a minute to lose. I can only pray your Alan and Bruce have some luck with Dr Holmes. Otherwise, I can’t vouch for the lives of Cathleen and Karen.’

  With that, Pinkerton rushed out of the room.

  Minna remained immobilized in her chair, paralysed with fear.

  In his bedroom in the Castle, Dr Holmes awakened late in the morning.

  His bedside clock told him it was just before eleven o’clock. Lying in bed, he wondered if his guests were awake yet.

  Yesterday evening, after taking them from the Everleigh Club, Holmes had driven Cathleen and Karen in his Packard to the Saratoga Restaurant and Oyster House for a lavish dinner.

  A lavish dinner because he wanted to soften them, fatten them up, for the following day.

  Now it was that day, and Holmes felt euphoric, relishing the possibilities the day offered.

  Leaving his bed, he contemplated the joys immediately

  ahead. He would make love to each of them separately, two virgins he was sure. That would be memorable. If rejected by them, he would gas and kill them, and dismember each, which was a sexual thrill in itself.

  Having finished his dressing, and touching up his attire, he reached into a drawer of the bedside table, where his Colt .45 lay always loaded. He did not think he would need it, but just in case one of the women panicked or resisted, the gun would be useful to have on hand.

  Shoving the Colt into a pocket of his jacket, he left his room and headed for Cathleen’s bedroom on the second floor. He had decided that Cathleen would be the first. He guessed that she was more pliant and would give in more quickly.

  The night before, he had locked her door from the outside — just to be sure she would not go wandering about, getting into trouble.

  Now he unlocked her door and went inside.

  Cathleen was buttoning the waist of her skirt.

  ‘Oh,’ she gasped. ‘I didn’t expect you to walk in like this.’

  ‘I was sure you’d be up and about,’ he said, taking a chair. He observed her. She was small, dainty, genteel. He was positive that she would be a delightful bed companion. ‘Cathleen,’ he said. ‘You needn’t bother to finish dressing.’

  She seemed startled, and paused in her buttoning. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean that I know your wedding is off. You don’t have a man. You should have one to pleasure you. You’re a free woman now, and you can do whatever you want. I thought you might want me.’

  Her hands dropped limply to her sides as she stared at him. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘I’m talking about having you undress and get back into bed. I’ll join you. A man of my experience can make you very happy.’

  ‘How dare you!’ she burst out.

  ‘You were going to give yourself to that young Armbruster boy-‘

  ‘He was going to marry me.’

  ‘I’m ready to marry you too,’ said Holmes.

  ‘Are you insane? I don’t want to marry you. I don’t even know you. I only know what my Aunt Minna told me, that you were a gentleman. I see she was wrong.’

  ‘Well, you don’t have to marry me. Just go to bed with me.’

  ‘No, never! Not in a million years! Wait till Aunt Minna hears this.’

  Calmly, Dr Holmes came to his feet. ‘Your Aunt Minna is never going to hear this. If you reject me, you’re going to be dead.’

  ‘Dead?’ Cathleen whispered hollowly. ‘Surely you’re teasing me, joking.’

  ‘Dead,’ Holmes repeated, ‘unless you comply. I’ll give you a few minutes to think about it. I’m going to see Karen next. I’m sure she’s more sensible.’

  Turning his back on Cathleen, he left the bedroom, shut the door, and carefully locked it.

  He walked down the hall to the other bedroom. He unlocked it and stepped inside.

  Karen was seated in an easy chair, fully dressed, legs crossed, tapping one foot angrily. ‘So here you are,’ she said. ‘What in the devil do you mean locking me into this bedroom? I wanted to get out for a breath of fresh air. I thought you were our host, not our warden.’

  Holmes smiled. ‘I’m not your host, whatever Minna Everleigh may think.’

  ‘Just tell me what you want and let me out of here.’

  ‘You, I want you,’ said Dr Holmes. ‘That’s what I want. You’ve been a virgin too long. I want to make you a woman.’

  Karen came to her feet. ‘You’d have to rape me to accomplish that.’

  Dr Holmes rose slowly, clearly offended. ‘I’ve never contemplated rape, never. I can’t imagine forcing myself on a female. I’ve never done that in my life.’

  ‘Then let me out of here immediately!’

  ‘I couldn’t do that either,’ said Holmes softly. ‘I want you. If I can’t have you, no one else shall. What I’m offering you, Karen, is an affirmation of life. Otherwise I can offer you only death.’

  She met his burning eyes. ‘I think you actually mean that.’

  ‘I’ve meant it before.’

  ‘You’re an absolute madman! I’m getting out of here!’

  As she tried to pass him, Dr Holmes roughly grabbed her and spun her around in a violent lurch.

  She looked at him, frightened.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Colt .45. ‘You’re going nowhere except where I tell you to go. Right now we’re going to Cathleen’s room t
o join her. She’s expecting me. Get out into the hall and turn left.’

  Waving his gun at Karen, he forced her out of the room. Then, prodding her with the metal gun, he marched her up the hall to Cathleen’s bedroom. There, gun trained on Karen, he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

  Cathleen was seated on the foot of the bed, very still, stricken. The sight of the gun at Karen’s back made her recoil.

  Holmes gestured Karen into the bedroom, and commanded her to sit beside Cathleen.

  ‘All right, the two of you,’ Dr Holmes said in a low voice, ‘last chance.’

  ‘Why are you doing this?’ Karen asked weakly.

  ‘Because I made a proposal to the two of you,’ he answered, ‘and if I freed you - well, you could be witnesses against me and ruin me.’

  ‘What if we gave in to you?’ Karen asked. ‘How would that protect us?’

  ‘I’d find a way,’ said Holmes mysteriously. ‘I could make you happy - one at a time - after I tied the other up. What do you say?’

  Cathleen glanced at Karen. ‘I couldn’t,’ she said.

  Karen gazed at Holmes directly. ‘Neither could I,’ she said emphatically.

  Dr Holmes snorted. ‘Stupid,’ he said, ‘but your choice.’ He aimed the gun first at one, then the other. ‘Both of you, on your feet.’

  He backed out of the bedroom, signalling them to walk through the doorway, past him.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Karen wanted to know.

  ‘Down the hall, that way. Then down the staircase. I’ll be right behind you. Try to get away and you’re dead. At the bottom, turn to the right and go to the blank wall.’

  In a single file they crossed the hallway and descended the stairs, with Holmes pointing his gun at their heads.

  They turned right and continued to the blank wall. They stopped and waited for his next command.

  Holmes, still holding the gun on them, went to the far side of the wall and pressed a button.

  A portion of wall slid open. The women stared into the eerie, partially illuminated room, barren except for the examination table.

  ‘Go inside,’ Holmes commanded. ‘Step up to the table and wait. Don’t try to escape. There is no escape.’

  ‘What — what’s going to happen?’ Karen wanted to know.

  ‘You’ll see,’ said Holmes.

  He pressed the button and the wall slid closed on the airtight room.

  Satisfied, chuckling, Dr Holmes pocketed the Colt, pivoted, and started for his office. As he entered the room and strode over to the gas lever panel, there was the sound of the front doorbell.

  This was unexpected, and Holmes halted in his tracks. He peered over his shoulder at the entry as the doorbell rang again and again, more persistently.

  Should he answer the doorbell?

  Or should he continue to the lever and turn on the gas?

  He remained where he was standing, unable to make up his mind.

  TEN

  Still hesitating, Dr Holmes tried to make up his mind if he should continue to the lever or turn around and find out who was so insistently ringing the doorbell. Holmes told himself it could be no one important. He expected no one. At most, this could be a patient without an appointment, or possibly someone with a minor complaint.

  If the visitor was indeed someone with a minor complaint, Holmes felt that he could dispose of the patient quickly. On the other hand, if it was a true emergency, the bell ringer might not cease in the effort to gain admittance.

  Wanting to be alone and unhurried to savour the elimination of Cathleen and Karen, Holmes decided to answer the doorbell. Better to get his caller out of the way before indulging himself in the pleasures ahead.

  Dr Holmes turned away from his office, went back into the entry hall, crossed to his front door, took the knob firmly and pulled the door open.

  He was surprised to find himself facing two young men, both well-dressed and seemingly in the best of health. One was tall, husky, while the other was slightly smaller, but wiry.

  The husky young man spoke first. ‘Dr Herman Holmes?’

  ‘Yes, I’m Dr Holmes,’ the physician said, wondering who they were.

  ‘I’m Bruce Lester,’ he said with a tinge of Southern accent. ‘This is Alan Armbruster.’

  Holmes recognized neither one, and because of his tense state, their names were only dimly familiar.

  ‘What can I do for you?’ asked Holmes impatiently.

  ‘We’ve been sent here by Minna Everleigh —’

  ‘By Minna Everleigh?’

  ‘Yes. The mayor has lifted his ban on the Everleigh Club. The Club is to be reopened today. Minna - my Aunt Minna

  - is frantically trying to get her place in shape. She’s giving a banquet for the prince of Prussia tonight. All her servants, musicians, and girls are back. I am very grateful to you for taking care of Cathleen and Karen. My Aunt Minna told us to borrow her car to bring them back to the Club as soon as possible - especially since my friend Alan is going to marry Cathleen this evening. Sorry to disturb you, but here we are to take your guests off your hands.’

  Dr Holmes was momentarily confused. ‘Well, I don’t know

  - I mean, I’m afraid you’re too late,’ he said finally. ‘Cathleen and Karen did spend the night in my house, but they’re no longer here.’ Holmes gestured behind him. ‘You can see, I’m quite alone now.’

  Suddenly suspicious of the doctor’s manner, Bruce went through the doorway past Holmes to see for himself. He was immediately followed by Alan.

  As Bruce and Alan turned towards the doctor’s open office door, Holmes caught up with them.

  His hand swept the office. ‘You can see it’s empty. They left an hour ago. It’s strange they didn’t let Minna know they were leaving.’

  Alan shook his head. ‘They left just like that? It makes no sense.’ His eyes continued to rove about the office.

  Holmes, having recovered his poise, feeling easier about the intrusion, took Alan by the arm and led him to the desk. ‘Sit down for a moment, both of you, and let me explain.’

  Alan sat down alongside the desk, and Bruce reluctantly seated himself across from the doctor, who had taken his swivel chair.

  Briefly, Bruce considered the doctor’s office. On the surface, it appeared average enough - the flat oak desk, the examination table, the fireplace, the square table that was heaped with medical journals. Yet, Bruce’s intuition told him,

  it did not have the feel of a real doctor’s office. It seemed somehow staged. There was something indefinably creepy about it, as there was about Dr Holmes himself.

  Bruce’s eyes met Alan’s, and he sensed that Alan was having the same reaction.

  Nevertheless, here was Dr Holmes and here was his office, and there was actually nothing wrong with either.

  Bruce concentrated his attention on Dr Holmes once more.

  ‘You say they left an hour ago?’ repeated Bruce.

  ‘Give or take a few minutes,’ said Holmes.

  ‘They were supposed to stay here,’ Bruce persisted. ‘They were to wait for Minna to contact them. Why did they leave?’

  ‘I suppose it was uncomfortable for them,’ said Holmes, fully composed. ‘Perhaps they wanted privacy. They simply said they were leaving. I urged them to remain until they heard from Miss Everleigh. But no, they refused. Uh, maybe you will find them back at the Everleigh Club. Perhaps they wished to help your aunts with the packing.’

  Alan shook his head again, more vigorously. ‘That’s quite impossible, Dr Holmes. You were acting as their host because the Everleigh Club had been shut down. They’d have had no way to know that it was ordered reopened this morning.’

  Dr Holmes shrugged helplessly. ‘Then I have no idea -not the faintest idea - where they went. Unless they were seeking you out, Mr Armbruster, because of the wedding.’

  ‘Not in a hundred years,’ said Alan. ‘For all they knew, the wedding was cancelled.’

  ‘Well, then it’s all beyond me,’ sai
d Holmes.

  ‘And beyond me too,’ agreed Bruce, rising. Alan came to his feet, and together they went into the hallway, still casting about, mystified, eyes on the blank wall.

  Holmes was hurriedly beside them. ‘You can see - and hear - that I am quite alone. I have no idea where Miss Lester and Miss Grant went. I’m sorry you were put to all this trouble. You’ll just have to look for the young ladies some place else.’

  ‘We’re certainly going to,’ said Bruce with determination. ‘I don’t know where we’ll begin, but we are going to find them.’

  Holmes started walking the two young men to the door. ‘Maybe Miss Everleigh gave the young ladies a means of contacting her, before she sent them off with me. At least I hope so. Anyway, neither of them told me where they were heading.’ He opened the massive door. ‘If I should hear of their whereabouts, I’ll telephone Miss Everleigh instantly.’

  Bruce nodded. ‘Sorry to have bothered you this long, Dr Holmes.’ ‘Good day and good luck,’ murmured Holmes.

  Once they were gone, he shut the door.

  Outside the Castle, Bruce and Alan stood on the sidewalk before Minna’s car.

  ‘What now?’ Bruce said. ‘Where do we go from here?’

  ‘Nowhere else,’ said Alan enigmatically.

  Beckoning Bruce closer, Alan held a clenched fist in front of him. Slowly unclenching his fingers, he revealed a ring of keys in the palm of his hand.

  Puzzled, Bruce asked, ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Dr Holmes’s keys, I hope. They were dangling from a hook under the edge of his desk. While we were talking, my knee bumped against them. When he turned his head, I slipped my hand under his desk and pocketed them. My guess is that his front door key is among them.’

  ‘Front door key?’ said Bruce, bewildered.

  ‘To get us back in the house for a thorough look around.’

  ‘But what for?’