Part 18 (2/2)

Britz, in the darkness of his cell, indulged in an amused smile. So this man was endeavoring to draw the fire of the police in order to save the guilty person! Here was a pretty drama of cross-purposes. Had Beard been sufficiently shrewd to see through the purpose of his detention, he would have submitted to his imprisonment with less complacency.

”You mean that you are offering yourself as a target in order to s.h.i.+eld the guilty person?” she inquired incredulously.

”Precisely.”

”But why?” she demanded.

”Because I conceive it to be Mr. Whitmore's wish.”

”Mr. Whitmore!” exclaimed she, obviously puzzled. ”You mean he asked you to?”

”No,” acknowledged he. ”But I know what must have been in his mind when he died. I know what he would have done, had he lived to do it. Dearest, I shouldn't have hesitated to sacrifice my own life for him. I was more like a son to him than a secretary. And had I been with him when he died, I know he would have imposed silence on me.”

”Then the men in his office--they know the murderer and he asked them not to tell?” An expression of astonishment overspread her face.

”No,” he answered. ”They don't know. They've told the truth.”

”Horace,”--her voice grew persuasive--”Horace, you mustn't think of yourself alone now. I can't bear to think of you imprisoned in this place. For my sake you must leave it and clear yourself of this accusation.”

He shook his head sadly.

”If you knew all the circ.u.mstances you'd approve my course.”

”But I don't know them--and it's torturing me.” For the first time her features showed the anguish she was suffering. He saw and was moved.

”Listen!” His eyes searched the corridor and the adjoining cells. Seeing no one but the indifferent trusty who was too far away to overhear, Beard continued: ”Mr. Whitmore loved Mrs. Collins, as you already know.

Were scandal to break over her head--if I did not sacrifice myself to prevent it--it would be the vilest ingrat.i.tude to an employer whose memory I venerate.”

”Then you are protecting Mrs. Collins?” Her frame throbbed with the conflict of agonized emotions. ”Mrs. Collins!” she repeated, as if afraid that he had misunderstood.

”Yes,” he answered resignedly. ”I know I am doing precisely what Mr.

Whitmore would have asked, me to do. And now, dear, please don't press me farther. I can't tell you more--not at this time. When all this shall have been forgotten, when Mr. Whitmore's death ceases to occupy the public and the police, then I'll tell you everything.”

When two hearts charged with love begin to exchange confidences, it is impossible to foretell what revelations will be forthcoming. And the chances are that had Beard been allowed sufficient time, he would have unburdened himself of the heavy load that was pressing on his heart. But unfortunately for Britz, the hour for exercising the prisoners confined on the tier had arrived, and a deputy warden cut short the interview between Beard and Miss Burden. She was escorted to the street, while Beard joined the other inmates for a half hour of exercise and fresh air in the courtyard.

With Beard's intimation of Mrs. Collins's complicity in the murder reiterating itself in his mind, Britz left the Tombs and proceeded toward the Federal Building. The detective had seen, had interviewed Mrs. Collins. It was impossible to reconcile her artless, engaging personality with an impulse so base as to lead to murder.

Besides, Beard's remarks were open to more than one interpretation. It was entirely possible that he was endeavoring to s.h.i.+eld her name from the befouling suspicion of having yielded to Whitmore, a suspicion which the general public would be quick to convert into an unalterable belief, once it learned that she had transferred her love from her husband to the slain merchant. Should the murderer be discovered and brought to trial the dissensions in the Collins household would be paraded unsparingly in the public press. Innocent as the relations between Whitmore and Mrs. Collins were, they would take on a guilty aspect in the eyes of a world that is ever ready to discern its own debasing impulses reflected in the conduct of one who has been regarded hitherto as unstained.

Reviewing all the circ.u.mstances of the case, Britz concluded that Beard's statement was not to be accepted as an intimation of Mrs.

Collins's guilt. For, had he not accused Collins in even stronger terms in the very presence of his murdered employer?

It was not to be forgotten, too, that a favorite dodge of guilty persons is to adopt the pose of a martyr. And, in lieu of an adequate defense, to create a favorable doubt by insinuating that they are accepting punishment in order to s.h.i.+eld a woman. When artfully worked, this deceit may always be relied upon to create undeserved sympathy.

Were there nothing else to absolve Mrs. Collins from the suspicion that she was responsible for Whitmore's death, the absence of motive would have proclaimed her innocence. She loved him. She was ready to discard her husband for him. She and her brother were looking to him to save them from financial ruin. No, she had nothing to gain and everything to lose by the merchant's death.

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