Part 36 (2/2)
”What occurred after that, Lieutenant Britz has guessed pretty accurately,” Beard continued in a voice of diminis.h.i.+ng strength. ”I sent for Mr. Whitmore's personal physician. He dressed the wound and told Mr.
Whitmore he could not live more than forty-eight hours. Mr. Whitmore had remained conscious all the time, and when he learned there was no hope for him, he showed the most remarkable self-possession I have ever seen a human being display.
”'We must hide the scandal!' he said. 'The doctor will remain with me. I want all you folks to go home and act as if nothing had occurred.
To-night, I want you to go to the opera--all of you.'
”Mrs. Collins and Ward protested but Mr. Whitmore insisted that he be obeyed to the letter. And he sent me home with the Collinses and Mr.
Ward to see that his orders were carried out.
”Oh, it was a delightful opera party that night!” A wan smile appeared on Beard's face at the recollection of it. ”While we were gone Mr.
Whitmore consulted with Mr. Luckstone. I have no personal knowledge of what transpired between them, but I presume that Mr. Luckstone outlined the plan which was subsequently followed and by which it was meant to establish an alibi for everyone present at the shooting.
”At any rate, Mr. Whitmore appeared in our box at the opera toward the end of the performance. He must have been suffering terribly, but he hid his sufferings from us. While I didn't know it then, I know now that he appeared at the opera in order to make it seem that he must have been shot sometime after he parted from us.
”I believe the doctor remained with him all night. In antic.i.p.ation of Mr. Whitmore's homecoming I had sent the servant away. We had deemed it best that no one, except Mrs. Collins and Ward, should see him when he arrived. It was at Mr. Whitmore's request that I spent the night at Mr.
Ward's house and the following morning Mr. Luckstone telephoned instructions to us.
”The fact that Mr. Whitmore took a pistol to the office with him leaves no doubt that he meant to make it appear he had committed suicide. He was a man of enormous vitality, but I suppose that once the spleen has been punctured it is only a question of hours when the strongest man must die! But I only surmise Mr. Whitmore's intentions from the facts of the case, for I never saw him alive after I left him in front of the opera house.”
Beard sat down, wearied and worn from the strain of his recital. Miss Burden joined him and pressed a hand against his cheek. She did not repel the arm he slipped about her waist.
[Ill.u.s.tration: She did not repel the arm he put around her waist]
Now that Beard had finished, everyone experienced a welcome sense of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off their minds.
”I've come across many cases of wonderful nerve, but nothing to equal the pluck of that man Whitmore!” exclaimed Manning, unable to contain his growing admiration for the dead merchant.
”And he was one of the mildest-mannered men I ever met!” joined Beard.
The coroner, who had been making notes, now looked up at Britz. The detective's face had relaxed into an expression of mingled pity and contentment. Through the sorrow which the suffering of Mrs. Collins aroused in him, shone the satisfaction which he could not but feel at having finally squeezed all the mystery out of the Whitmore case.
”You believe Mr. Beard's statement, don't you?” the coroner inquired.
”I do.”
”Then let us end this harrowing scene. I suppose my first duty is to discharge Mrs. Collins from custody?”
”There is no longer any reason for holding her,” said Britz.
”As for Ward, I shall have to hold him for the formal inquest,” the coroner announced.
”I don't believe he'll try to evade us,” said Britz. ”In view of all the circ.u.mstances I believe we're justified in permitting him to go on his own recognizance. Since Mr. Beard's story will undoubtedly be substantiated by the others, Ward's acquittal is a foregone conclusion.
How soon can you hold the inquest?”
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