Part 27 (2/2)
Maloney answered quickly: ”Because he thought I was dead, and I let him think so. If I had made any noise, sir, he would have finished me. I did not move until I knew help was near.”
”Good!” said Oakes; ”you had presence of mind. Let us see the revolver; the men left it here, did they not?”
Hallen stepped forward with the weapon.
Oakes examined it; but his look informed us that it was not the _old_ one taken from the wall in the Mansion.
Further questioning failed to reveal anything of importance, but it seemed clear from what Maloney said that the a.s.saulter escaped on horseback after he was seen by his intended victim, for Maloney insisted that he had heard a galloping horse afterwards.
”He was wounded, you said?” queried the detective.
”Yes, sir, quite badly, I thought.”
Moore examined Maloney's injury and took careful note of his condition; then the gardener was told to go, and he was soon joined outside by the two laborers--his new found friends. Together they went for the hotel bar across the street. As they disappeared, Oakes exchanged glances with the doctor, and I knew that something was wrong. There came a long silence, which Hallen finally broke.
”This is a queer story, Oakes; I don't understand it. Is it the murderer at work again--and O'Brien accused? You say the Mansion mysteries are the work of the same hand that shot Mr. Mark, and possibly Mr. Smith.
But those mysteries are old, and O'Brien is a recent arrival here and knows very little of the Mansion. I cannot see his guilt. How do you explain it, Oakes?”
The keen man addressed faced the Chief, and we all knew the words that were coming were valuable.
”Chief, I have just told you of Mr. Stone's adventures with me this morning--of my proof that Maloney lied to us. Well, he has lied again.”
”Yes,” chimed in Dr. Moore, ”the man's a fake. He was not seriously injured, if at all.”
”I saw through Maloney's story instantly,” continued Oakes. ”He said he was a.s.saulted by O'Brien, who was, according to his own story, a badly wounded man. He said O'Brien hid the revolver afterwards, while he, Maloney, was shamming death, and that O'Brien sought to escape. It is nonsense.”
”Why? I fail to see!” I asked excitedly.
Oakes turned to me: ”Why, Stone, don't you see the flaws? Would a seriously injured man attempt deliberate murder? What show would he have to escape? Then, again, if able to get away himself, would he hide the revolver near the scene of the crime, behind a rock? No, he would take it with him as a defensive weapon, or else hide it where it never could be found; in the Hudson, for instance, or the brook--both near at hand.”
”True enough,” cried Hallen, his face showing his admiration; ”but what's your idea, then, Oakes?”
”Just this, gentlemen. Maloney _himself_ shot O'Brien, and seeing the latter escape knew that his game was up, for he had been identified by O'Brien. So he hid the revolver that he himself used, and then pretended to have been sand-bagged and shot at. He relied on the weight of his word against O'Brien's, not knowing anything of the evidence collected against him or that we were anything but agents and workmen about the Mansion?”
The Chief looked long and half sceptically at Oakes, then asked: ”Does Maloney meet your requirements? Does he fill the bill?”
”Well, he has a strong wrist and long arms,” answered Oakes--”that places him among the _possibles_; he also has a comparatively narrow chest, such as the man had who wore the robe--you remember we reasoned that out. Those three things cover much ground. Then, again, he is an old resident, knows all about the Mansion, was here when Smith was murdered.”
Elliott now spoke up: ”Oakes, you said the murderer was a good shot. Is Maloney a good shot with a revolver?”
”Yes, he was; he used to belong to the National Guard years ago. He was a splendid shot then, according to evidence procured by my men.”
”But the revolver to-day was not the old one?” queried the Chief.
”No,” answered Oakes; ”but he can easily have two.”
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