to say that the expectant whitney office got a jolt is putting it mildly. on the threshold of success, to meet such a setback enraged george and made even the chief grouchy. the new developments added new complications that upset their carefully elaborated theories. there had to be a readjustment. whoever sammis was and whatever his motive could have been it was undoubtedly he who had attacked tony ford.
it was inexplicable and mysterious. the chief had an idea that there was a connection between sammis and barker, that the man now dead might have been "planted" in philadelphia to divert the search from the live man, who had stolen to safety after a rise to the surface in toronto. george scouted it; an accidental likeness had fooled them and made them waste valuable time. the devil was on the side of barker, taking care of his own.
it did look that way. investigation of the few clues we had led to nothing. the tailor, whose bill was found in sammis's pocket, remembered selling a suit and overcoat to a man called sammis on january tenth. he was a quiet, polite old party who looked poor and shabby but bought good clothes and paid spot cash for them. the typewritten letter indicated that sammis had been sent to philadelphia and well paid for some work that had not yet started. it was upon this letter the chief based his contention that sammis's appearance in the case was not a coincidence—he was another of barker's henchmen, and it was part of barker's luck that at the crucial moment he should have died.
but it was all speculation, nothing certain except that we had lost our man again. philadelphia had dropped out as a point of interest and the case swung back to new york, where it now centered round the bed of tony ford.
we were in constant communication with the hospital and on thursday received word that ford would recover. that lifted us up from the smash of wednesday night. when he was able to speak we would hear something—everything if he could be scared into a full confession. the hospital authorities refused to let anyone see him till he was perfectly fit, a matter of several days yet. that suited us, as we wanted no speech with him till he was strong enough to stand the shock of our knowledge. caught thus, with his back against the wall, we expected him to make a clean breast of it.
the enforced waiting was—to me anyway—distracting. with the hope i'd had of barker gone, i was now looking to ford. he must, he could exonerate her, there wasn't the slightest doubt of it. but to have to wait for it, to be cool and calm, to get through the next few days—i felt like a man caught in the rafters of a burning building, trying to be patient while they hacked him out.
after the news from the hospital the temperature of the office fell to an enforced normal. o'mally went back to his burrow and babbitts to his paper with his big story still in the air. that night in my place, i measured off the sitting room from eight till twelve—five strides from the bookcase to the window, seven from the fire to the folding doors.
if i could only induce her to speak, if she herself would only clear up the points that were against her, there was still a chance of getting her out of it before ford opened up. that she had something to hide, some mystery in connection with her movements that night, some secret understanding with barker, even i had to admit. but whatever it was it would be better to reveal it than to go on into the fierce white light that would break over the harland case within a week.
in that midnight pacing i tried to think of some way i could force her to tell—to tell me, but the clocks chimed on and the fire died on the hearth and i got nowhere. she knew me so slightly, might think i was set on by the office, the very fact that i was what i was might seal her lips closer. instead of breaking down her reticence i might increase it, strengthen that wall of secretiveness behind which she seemed to be taking refuge like a hunted creature.
when i went to the office on friday morning the chief asked me to go to buffalo that night, to look up some witnesses in the lytton case. it would take me all saturday and i could get back by sunday night or at the latest monday morning. a phone message sent to the hospital before i came in had drawn the information that tony ford would not be able to see the philadelphia detectives—o'mally and babbitts posed in that rôle—till monday. that settled it—better to be at work out of town than hanging about cursing the slowness of the hours.
but the questions of the night before haunted me. why, anyway, couldn't i go to see her? wasn't it up to me, whether i succeeded or not, to make the effort to break through her silence—the silence that was liable to do her such deadly damage? i had to see her. i couldn't keep away from her. at lunch time i called her up and asked her if i could come. she said yes and named four that afternoon. on the stroke i was in the vestibule, pushing the button below her name, and with my heart thumping against my ribs like a steel hammer.
she opened the door and as i followed her up the little hall told me the servant had been sent away and her mother was out. as on that former visit she seated herself at the desk, motioning me to a chair opposite. the blinds were raised, the room flooded with the last warm light of the afternoon. by its brightness i saw that she was even paler and more worn than she had been that other time—obviously a woman harassed and preyed upon by some inner trouble.
on the way up i had gone over ways of approach, but sitting there in the quiet pretty room, so plainly the abode of gentlewomen, i couldn't work round to the subject. she didn't give me any help, seeming to assume that i had dropped in to pay a call. that made it more difficult. when a woman treats you as if you're a gentleman, actuated by motives of common politeness, it's pretty hard to break through her guard and pry into her secrets.
she began to talk quickly and, it seemed to me, nervously, telling me how the owner of their old farm on the azalea woods estates had offered them a cottage there, to which they would move next week. it was small but comfortable, originally occupied by a laborer's family who had gone away. the people were very kind, would take no rent, and she and her mother could live for almost nothing till she found work. i sympathized with the idea, she'd get away from the wear and tear of the city, have time to rest and recuperate after her recent worry. she dropped her eyes to a paper on the desk and said:
"yes, i'm tired. everything was so sudden and unexpected. i once thought i was strong enough to stand anything—but all this—"
she stopped and picking up a pencil began making little drawings on the paper, designs of squares and circles.
"it's worn you out," i said, looking at her weary and colorless face. like the thrust of a sword a pang shot through me—love of a man, hidden and disgraced, had blighted that once blooming beauty.
she nodded without looking up:
"it's not the business only, there have been other—other—anxieties."
that was more of an opening than anything i'd ever heard her say. i could feel the smothering beat of my heart as i answered, as quietly as i could:
"can't you tell them to me? perhaps i can help you."
one of those sudden waves of color i'd seen before passed across her face. as if to hide it she dropped her head lower over the paper, touching up the marks she was making. her voice came soft and controlled:
"that's very kind of you, mr. reddy—but i know you're kind—i knew it when i first met you a year ago in the country. no, i can't tell you."
i leaned nearer to her. if i had a chance to make her speak it was now or never.
"miss whitehall," i said, trying to inject a simple, casual friendliness into my voice. "you're almost alone in the world, you've no one—no man, i mean—to look after you or your interests. you don't know how much help i might be able to give you."
"in what way?" she asked, with her eyes still on the paper.
for a moment i was nonplused. i couldn't tell her what i knew—i couldn't go back on my office. i was tied hand and foot; all i could do with honesty was to try to force the truth from her. like a fool i stammered out:
"in advice—in—in—a larger knowledge of the world than you can have."
she gave a slight, bitter smile, and tilting her head backward looked critically at her drawings:
"my knowledge of the world is larger than you think—maybe larger than yours. there's only one thing you can do for me, but there is one."
i leaned nearer, my voice gone a little hoarse:
"what is it?"
she turned her head and looked into my eyes. her expression chilled me, cold, challenging, defiant:
"tell me if the whitney office has found johnston barker yet?"
for a second our eyes held, and in that second i saw the defiance die out of hers and only question, a desperate question, take its place.
"no," i heard myself say, "they have not found him."
"thank you," she murmured, and went back to her play with the pencil.
i drew myself to the edge of my chair and laid a hand on the corner of the desk:
"you've asked me a question and i've answered it. now let me ask one. why are you so interested in the movements of johnston barker?"
she stiffened, i could see her body grow rigid under its thin silk covering. the hand holding the pencil began to tremble:
"wouldn't anyone be interested in such a sensational event? isn't it natural? perhaps knowing mr. barker personally—as i told you in mr. whitney's office—i'm more curious than the rest of the world, that's all."
the trembling of her hand made it impossible for her to continue drawing. she threw down the pencil and locked her fingers together, outstretched on the paper, a breath, deep taken and sudden, lifting her breast. it was pitiful, her lonely fight. i was going to say something—anything, to make her think i didn't see, when she spoke again:
"do any of you—you men who are hunting him—ever think that he may not be able to come back?"
"able?" i exclaimed excitedly, for now again i thought something was coming. "what do you mean by able?"
i had said—or looked—too much. with a smothered sound she jumped to her feet and before i could rise or stay her with a gesture, brushed past me and moved to the window. there, for a moment, she stood looking out, her splendid shape, crowned with its mass of black hair, in silhouette against the thin white curtains.
"look here, miss whitehall," i said with grim resolution, "i've got to say something to you that you may not like, may think is butting in, but i can't help it."
"what?" came on a caught breath.
"if you know anything about barker—his whereabouts, his inability to come back—why don't you tell it? it will help us and help you."
she wheeled round like a flash, all vehement denial.
"i—i? i didn't mean that i knew. i was only wondering, guessing. it's just as i told mr. whitney that day. and you seem to think i'm not open, am hiding something. why should i do that? what motive could i have to keep secret anything i might know that would bring mr. barker to justice?"
as she spoke she moved toward me, bringing up in front of me, her eyes almost fiercely demanding. mine fell before them. it was no use. with my memory of those letters, of her mysterious plot with barker clear in my mind, i could go no farther.
i muttered some sentences of apology, was sorry if i'd offended her, hadn't meant to imply anything, was carried away by my zeal to find the absconder. she seemed mollified and moved to her seat by the desk. then suddenly, as if a spring that had upheld her had snapped, she dropped into the chair, limp and pallid.
"i'm tired, i'm not myself," she faltered. "i don't seem to know what i'm saying. all this—all these dreadful things—have torn me to pieces——" her voice broke and she averted her face but not before i'd seen that her eyes were shining with tears. that sight brought a passionate exclamation out of me. i went toward her, my arms ready to go out and enfold her. but she waved me back with an imploring gesture:
"oh go—i beg of you, go—i want peace—i want to be alone. please go—please don't torment me any more. i can't bear it."
she dropped her face into her hands, shrinking back from me, and i turned and left her. my steps as i went down the hall were the only sounds in the place, but the silence seemed to thrill with unloosed emotions, to hum and sing with the vibrations that came from my nerves and my heart and my soul.
the big moments in your life ought to come in beautiful places, at least that's what i've always thought. but they don't—anyway with me. for as i went down that dingy staircase, full of queer smells, dark and squalid, the greatest moment i'd ever known came to me—i loved her!
i'd loved her always—i knew it now. out in the country those few first times, but then more as a vision, something that wove through my thoughts, aloof and unapproachable, like an inspiration and a dream. and that day in whitney's office as a woman. and every day since, deeper and stronger, seeing her beset, realizing her danger, longing with every fiber to help her. it was the cause of that burst of the old fury, of the instinct that kept me close and secretive, of this day's fruitless attempt to make her speak. all the work, the growing dread, the rush of events, had held me from seeing, crowded out recognition of the wonderful thing. i stood in the half-lit, musty little hall in a trance-like ecstasy, outside myself, holding only that one thought—i loved her—i loved her—i loved her!
presently i was in the street, walking without any consciousness of the way, toward the park. the ecstasy was gone, the present was back again—the present blacker and more terrible after those radiant moments. i don't know how to describe that coming back to the hideous reality. everything was mixed up in me—passion, pity, hope, jealousy. there was a space when that was the fiercest, gripped me like a physical pang, and then passed into a hate for barker, the man she loved who had left her to face it alone. i think i must have spoken aloud—i saw people looking at me, and if my inner state was in any way indicated on my outer envelope i wonder i wasn't run in as a lunatic.
in a quiet bypath in the park i got a better hold on myself and tried to do some clear thinking. the first thing i had to do was to rule barker out. even if my fight was to give her to him i must fight; that i couldn't do till we heard from ford. until then it was wisdom to say nothing, to keep my pose of a disinterested adherent of the theory of her innocence. if ford's story exculpated her she was out of the case forever. if it didn't i couldn't decide what i'd do till i heard where it placed her.
it was a momentary deadlock with nothing for it but to wait. that i was prepared to do—go to buffalo, get through my job there and come back. but i'd come back with my sword loose in its scabbard to do battle for my lady.
