Part 26 (1/2)
”At two in the morning?”
”No; there'd probably be no servants around then.”
”So she could have done that, and waited, say, outside,----”
”Oh, nonsense! Waited out in the street at that hour?” Gibbs demurred; ”that's too much to swallow!”
”But she may have known just about the hour Sir Binney expected to return. Anyway, suppose she did do that, and then, having succeeded, she slipped back to the servants' entrance and hid the knife where it was found and then scuttled back upstairs the way she came.”
”But the paper said, 'women,'” mused Moore.
”That companion person was with her,” declared Corson, triumphantly.
”Those two are great in team-work. Miss Gurney doubtless acted as scout and kept a lookout and Miss Prall did the deed.”
”Oh, Mr Corson, I can't think it!” exclaimed Moore.
”Because you know Miss Prall only as a tenant of this house. You know nothing of what she may be capable of when her spirit is fired. And as far as I'm concerned, it's far easier to believe that she did it, than that it was the work of some foolish little girls scarcely out of their teens! Miss Prall is not only a strong-minded woman, and a strong-muscled woman, but she has a strong personality with practically illimitable powers of loving and hating. For her the sun rises and sets in young Bates, and in the other direction she is all wrapped up in her hatred of Mrs Everett.
”What's Mrs Everett got to do with the murder?” growled Moore.
”Nothing, that I know of, but she works in this way. Her daughter is in love with Richard Bates, and neither of the women will stand for the marriage of the two young people. Why, I think Mrs Everett and Miss Prall would see their young charges dead rather than married to one another. Now, Sir Herbert Binney favored the match. Therefore Miss Prall wanted him out of the way. Again, he favored young Bates going into the Bun business instead of sticking to his inventions. Therefore, again, Miss Prall wanted Binney out of the way. So, what would a woman of her caliber and her determination do, but put him out of the way?”
”Plausible enough,” and Gibbs thought deeply.
”And so, I'm asking Moore,” Corson went on, ”how he thinks Miss Prall could have compa.s.sed her awful plan and he's solved any uncertainty by suggesting the servants' staircase at an hour so late that it was almost certain to be unused.”
”I don't say I believe she did do it,” Moore began, ”but I have to say she could have done it that way. She must have known just about the time he'd come home----”
”That's not difficult to a.s.sume,” Corson defended his theory, ”he probably told her that. And she could have waited around some time,--it was a mild night.”
”But how could she be sure she'd have the chance in the lobby?” asked Gibbs, his incredulity fast dwindling.
”Oh, she wasn't sure. She took a chance. I mean, she may have waylaid him outside, don't you see, and kept him there talking until she saw Moore go up in the elevator with somebody. This place is so brightly lighted that any one outside could see that. Or they could have been inside, standing in the shadow of the big pillars for a long time,--unnoticed.”
”Have you any clews?” asked Bob Moore of the detectives.
”Dropped handkerchiefs and such like?” asked Gibbs, mockingly. ”No; and if there were footprints, they're washed away now. But those things are only for story-books,--such as you're eternally reading, Moore.”
”I do read a lot of 'em, and it's astonis.h.i.+ng, but most always a criminal leaves some trace.”
”In the stories,--yes. In real life, they're not so obliging. But let's look at the spot. We might get an idea,--if nothing more tangible.”
The three went along the lobby till they reached the place where Sir Herbert had breathed his last. Marks had been drawn to indicate the blood spots that were so quickly washed off, and these still showed clearly. The body had been found crumpled on the floor, in the angle made by the great square base of an onyx pillar and the wall.
They saw, of course, no traces of any personality, but as they looked each began to reconstruct the scene mentally.
”I think they were concealed here for some time,” Corson said. ”If they stood here talking, the pillar would partly s.h.i.+eld them from view of others entering. Nor could they be easily seen by Moore, in the back of the lobby.”
”Maybe,” Moore agreed hesitantly, ”but if Miss Prall and Sir Herbert had come in together I bet I'd seen 'em.”
”Not if you were up in the elevator,” said Corson.