Part 31 (1/2)
”Yes, thank you. What is it?”
”I didn't hear all the particulars. But Miss Brill, the young lady clerk, received an electrical shock from some wires hidden under the metal edge of one of the showcases, so Mr. Kettridge says, and she was knocked down.”
”Killed?”
”No, but her head struck on the edge of a case and she's badly cut. I sent for the ambulance. It happened when the store was crowded and made a bit of excitement.”
”I should think it would! Hidden electric wires!” and the colonel thought of a certain discovery he had made.
CHAPTER XV
A DOG
With the help of the police, and when the stricken, though not dangerously injured, girl had been taken away in the ambulance, the crowd was dispersed. It was then Colonel Ashley had a chance to speak to Mr. Kettridge.
”What's all this I hear?” asked the detective.
”I don't know,” and the manager smiled wearily. ”If you heard all of the rumors I did they would include everything from an I.W.W. plot to a combined attack by New York gunmen.”
”But what was it?”
”Well, one of our clerks, Miss Brill, was waiting on a customer at one of the silver showcases. They are arranged with electric lights inside that may be switched on when needed.
”She turned on the current to illuminate the inside of the case, so that her customer might make a selection to have spread out on top, when, in some manner, Miss Brill received a severe electrical shock.
She was thrown backward to the floor, and her head struck a projecting corner of one of the rear showcases. She was badly cut, but the hospital doctor said there was no fracture.”
”Did she get shocked from the wires that run into the interior of the case?” asked the detective.
”No, and that's the queer part of it,” said the manager. ”She was shocked while leaning against the silvered, metal edge of the gla.s.s case, and, on examination, I find some hidden electrical wires there--wires that must, in some way, have become crossed on the lighting circuit. I didn't know the wires were there.”
”I did,” said the colonel, quietly.
”You did?”
”Yes, when I tested them with an instrument I secured from an electrician here in town the wires were dead. There was not the slightest current in them. Either they have been changed lately, or some sudden jar or misplacement brought them in contact with a live circuit.”
”What were the wires for?” asked Mr. Kettridge.
”That's what I've been wanting to find out. Originally I think they were for some system of burglar alarm installed by Mrs. Darcy. But now those wires run to the work bench that was used by James Darcy.”
”To his work bench?” The manager was obviously startled.
”Yes. But don't jump at conclusions. You know he was working on an electric lathe he hoped to patent. Those wires may be merely part of his equipment,”
”Yes, and they may--wait a minute!” suddenly exclaimed the manager. ”I wonder--”
From his private office, into which he had ushered the colonel, he looked down the store. It was almost deserted now, save for a few customers and the clerks.
”It's the same place!” murmured the manager,