The Egyptian Cross Mystery
- Автор: Куин (Квин) Эллери
- Серия: Ellery Queen #5
- Год: 1932
- Язык: английский
- Год: Frederick A. Stokes Company
- Жанр: Классические детективы
Электронная книга - «The Egyptian Cross Mystery». Краткое содержание книги:
“Stallings,” said Isham without preliminary, “I want you to repeat for the benefit of these gentlemen some of the information you gave me this morning.”
“I’ll be glad to, sir,” said the butler. He had a soft, pleasant voice.
“First, how do you explain the fact that Mr. Brad played with these cheap checkers?”
“Very simple, sir, as I told you before. Mr. Brad” — Stallings sighed and rolled his eyes ceilingward — “always used only, the best. He had this table and the chairs made to order, and the wall was hollowed out for them to fit into. At the same time he purchased a very expensive set of ivory checkers, all very intricately carved, you might say, and he has used them for years. Then not long ago Dr. Temple admired the set so much that Mr. Brad, as he said to me one day” — Stallings sighed again — “meant to surprise him by giving him a set just like it. Only two weeks ago he sent his set to some private carver in Brooklyn to have the twenty-four pieces duplicated, and they haven’t come back yet. He couldn’t get anything but these cheap ones at the moment, so he used them in the meantime.”
“And, Stallings,” said the District Attorney, “now tell us about what happened yesterday evening.”
“Yes, sir,” Stallings ran the tip of a red tongue along his lips. “Just before leaving the house last night, as Mr. Brad had ordered—”
“Hold on,” said Ellery sharply. “You were instructed to leave the house last night?”
“Yes, sir. When Mr. Brad got home from the city yesterday, he called Fox, Mrs. Baxter, and myself into this very room.” Stallings swallowed hard at some tender memory. “Mrs. Brad and Miss Helene had already left — they were going to the theater, I believe; Mr. Lincoln didn’t come home for dinner at all... Mr. Brad looked very tired. He took out a ten-dollar bill and gave it to me, and told Fox, Mrs. Baxter, and me to take the evening off after dinner. He said he wanted to be alone for the entire evening, and told Fox he might take the small car. So we went.”
“I see,” muttered Ellery.
“What’s the story about the checkers, Stallings?” prompted Isham.
Stallings bobbed his long head. “Just before I left the house — Fox and Mrs. Baxter were already in the car in the driveway outside — I went into the library to see if there was anything I could do for Mr. Brad before we left. I asked him, and he said no, and he told me, rather nervously, I thought, to go out with the others.”
“An observant chap, aren’t you?” said Ellery, smiling.
Stallings looked gratified. “I try to be, sir. Anyway, as I told Mr. Isham this morning, when I came in here last evening Mr. Brad was sitting at the checker table playing with himself, so to speak.”
“Then he wasn’t playing with somebody,” muttered Inspector Vaughn. “Why the devil didn’t you tell me, Isham?”
The District Attorney spread his hands, and Ellery said: “Just what do you mean, Stallings?”
“Well, sir, he had all the pieces spread out, blacks and reds, and he was playing both sides. It was the beginning of a game. First he moved a piece from the side where he was sitting, then he thought a while and moved a piece from the opposite side. I saw only two moves.”
“So,” said Ellery, with pursed lips. “In which chair was he sitting?”
“In that one, near the secretary. But when he made the red move he got up and sat in the opposite chair, studying the board as he always does.” Stallings smacked his lips. “A very good player, Mr. Brad was, very careful. He used to practice alone that way very often.”
“And there you are,” said Isham wearily. “The checker business doesn’t mean a curse.” He sighed. “Now about yourselves, Stallings.”
“Yes, sir,” replied the butler. “We all drove to the city. Fox dropped Mrs. Baxter and me off at the Roxy Theater, and said he’d come back for us after the picture let out. I don’t know where he went.”
“And did he come back for you?” asked Inspector Vaughn, suddenly alert.
“No, sir, he did not. We waited a full half-hour for him, but we thought he must have had an accident or something, so we took the train back and cabbed from the station.”
“Cabbed, hey?” The Inspector looked pleased. “Boys at the station did a rushing business last night. What time was it you got back?”
“Around midnight, sir, maybe a little after. I’m not sure.”
“Was Fox back when you got here?”
Stallings looked prim. “I’m afraid I can’t say, sir. I don’t know. He lives in the little cabin in the woods near the Cove, and even if there was a light we couldn’t see it because of the trees.”
“Well, we’ll attend to that. You haven’t had much of a talk with Fox, have you, Isham?”
“I haven’t had the opportunity.”
“One moment,” said Ellery. “Stallings, did Mr. Brad say anything to you last night about expecting a visitor?”
“No, sir. He just said he wanted to be alone for the evening.”
“Did he often send you, Fox, and Mrs. Baxter off that way?”
“No, sir. It was the first time.”
“One thing more.” Ellery went to the circular reading table and tapped the humidor with the tips of his fingers. “Know what’s in this jar?”
Stallings looked astonished. “Certainly, sir! Mr. Brad’s tobacco.”
“Very good! Is this the only pipe tobacco in the house?”
“Yes, sir. Mr. Brad was fussy about his tobacco, and that’s a special blend he had made up and imported from England. He never smoked anything else. In fact,” said Stallings in a burst of confidence, “Mr. Brad often said there wasn’t an American pipe tobacco worth its salt.”
For no reason at all an incongruous thought flashed into Ellery’s mind. Andrew Van and his caviar; Thomas Brad and his imported tobacco... He shook his head. “There’s another thing, Stallings. Inspector, would you mind showing that Neptune’s-head pipe to Stallings?”
Vaughn produced the carved pipe again. Stallings looked at it for a moment, and then nodded. “Yes, sir, I’ve seen that pipe around.”
The three men sighed in concert. Luck seemed to be working in the interests of crime rather than punishment. “Yes, that’s the way it goes... It was Brad’s, eh?” grunted Isham.
“Oh, I’m sure of it, sir,” said the butler. “Not that he’d smoke any one pipe for very long. He always said that a pipe, like a human being, needs a vacation every once in a while. His drawer is full of very good pipes, sir. But I recognize that one, sir. I’ve seen it many times before. Although not lately, come to think of it.”
“All right, all right,” said Isham irritably. “Beat it, now,” and Stallings, with a stiff little bow, became the butler again and marched out of the study.
“That settles the checker business,” said the Inspector grimly, “and the pipe business, and the tobacco business. Just a lot of wasted time. Gives us an interesting lead on Fox, though.” He rubbed his hands. “Not so bad. And with that Oyster Island bunch to look over, we’re going to have a busy day.”
“Days, don’t you think?” smiled Ellery. “This is quite like old times!”
Someone tapped on the door, and Inspector Vaughn crossed the room to open it. A man with a saturnine face stood there. He whispered for some minutes to Vaughn, and Vaughn nodded repeatedly. Finally, the Inspector closed the door and returned.
“What’s up?” demanded Isham.
“Nothing much. A lot of blanks, I’m afraid. My men report that they haven’t found a damned thing on the grounds. Not a thing. Cripes, it’s unbelievable!”
“What were you looking for?” asked Ellery.
“The head, man, the head!”
No one said anything for a long time, and the chill wind of tragedy crept into the room. It was hard to believe, looking out into the sunny gardens, that the master of all this peace and beauty and luxury lay, a stiff headless corpse, in the County Morgue, like any nameless vagrant fished out of Long Island Sound.