Читать книгу Bright Arrows (Musaicum Romance Classics) - Grace Livingston Hill - Страница 6

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Eden looked with shy surprise at the stranger who had come with Mike. He didn't look like a policeman. He was dressed in an ordinary business suit. He was young and good looking, a gentleman; that was entirely obvious even before Mike said:

"This is Mr. Lorrimer, Miss Thurston. He's interested in this case of the young man who entered your house last night. He wants to ask you some questions. He's got a right to ask 'em. He's a federal agent as well as the lawyer representing your bank, and he's here at your Mr. Worden's request checking things over for us."

Eden gave the young man another startled glance. It sounded rather frightening. Federal agent! Lawyer! Surely she didn't know anything that a federal agent would want to question her about. But another good look at the clean-cut face, the steady, dependable, trustworthy eyes, reassured her.

"Yes?" she answered, watching his eyes keenly, trying to still the frightened beating of her heart. He didn't look dangerous.

Then the young man smiled.

"Thank you. I'm sorry to have disturbed you, but it is necessary for me to learn some facts from the head of this house, and I understand you are the head of this house."

He gave her a quick glance that sized up her youth quite accurately.

Eden answered with a grave smile and a nod of assent. She hoped her lips were not trembling, so she held to the smile rather determinedly, to keep them steady.

"Very well, then can you tell me just who this person is that calls himself Ellery Fane? Is he related to you?"

"No, he is not," she said quickly. "He was the son of my uncle's second wife by her first husband. I know my uncle, my father's brother, never knew of the boy when he married Mrs. Fane. But he was too kindhearted to turn the boy out, and so soon after my uncle died. Then my father tried to be kind to Ellery, but he was rather awful. He forged some checks in my father's bank when Father tried to give him a good job. He was a torment as long as he stayed here, and finally he ran away. Soon after that his mother disappeared. This is the first time I have seen him since Ellery was sixteen. Father took me away with him on a long business trip. When we came back, they were gone. I think that is about all I know."

"Thank you," said the young man, looking up from the quick shorthand notes he was taking. "And now, what about last night?"

"I was sitting in the library going over some letters of my mother's that Father had left for me to read, and I looked up and saw Ellery standing by the door. I don't know how he got in, or when, he just stood there and called me 'cousin' and began to talk to me. He thought I was going over business papers and offered to help me. I told him I didn't want any help from him. He said he and his mother were coming to live with me and take care of me, and that he was going to teach me how to change Father's investments and make me a rich girl. He was very insulting to my wonderful father. Then the servants appeared, and when the butler said he had sent for the police, Ellery slid out into the hall, got his hat and coat, and vanished. I think that is about all I know."

"Thank you," said the man. "And now, Mr. McGregor, where is the butler, and the serving woman, that you said had more to tell?"

"Right here, sir," responded Tabor, entering immediately, with Janet like a shadow just behind him. Janet slid quietly in, and Tabor stood at attention near the door.

Tabor told of the night's invasion and his calling for the police. He told why Ellery had been at once suspected and how his fingerprints, taken after he was caught, had corresponded with those on the library window that had been jimmied open.

Eden listened in wonder as the story unfolded, and then as Janet arose stiffly in response to her name and went on to tell of Mrs. Fane's arrival, and Mike's carrying her away protesting in his police car, she leaned forward and listened amazed.

Oh, what had been going on about her while she was asleep! How wonderfully her guardians had protected her. Bright tears flashed into her eyes.

But suddenly the stranger turned to her again and asked several direct questions. Just what had been the actions of Mrs. Fane during her first stay in town that had made Eden dislike her, and how had the matter terminated? Eden told briefly of her unpleasant and insistent attempts to get a foothold in the house. Then he asked if she knew whether her father had a financial agreement with Mrs. Fane that made her leave.

"Oh, no, I think not!" she said, very sure of her facts now. "Father didn't believe in bribes. That would have been bribing, wouldn't it? No, he simply made me pack up in a hurry one night and we went off to Europe, leaving no word behind except with Mr. Worden at the bank, Father's friend, you know, who has my affairs in charge. And, of course, Tabor and Janet knew how to get in touch with us. But they would never have told. They were our own family, you know." And she cast a grateful little flash of a smile at the two old retainers that was not lost on the lawyer.

"Yes, of course," agreed Mr. Lorrimer, with a quick glance taking in the looks that passed between Eden and her servants, and appreciating the beauty of the sentiment between them all, realizing that on the surface, at least, there was nothing suspicious here.

"And now," said Lorrimer, settling back, his pencil and notebook in hand ready for any item that needed jotting down, "Miss Thurston, I wonder if you can tell me about business matters? Was there anything valuable in that desk besides what we know about? Have you a list of what it contained?"

Eden was thoughtful for an instant and then sprang up.

"Why, yes, I think perhaps there was a list. I'll get it. It's up in my room in my desk. Father gave it to me after he was first hurt, but I was so worried about him that I'm afraid I didn't give much heed to it at the time."

"Of course," said Lorrimer sympathetically.

"Couldna I get it for ye, Miss Eden?" asked Janet, as Eden turned to hurry away.

"No, thank you, Janet. You wouldn't know where to find it. I won't be long." And Eden hurried upstairs, while Mike and Tabor conversed in low tones about the way the room had been found that morning, and Janet stood with folded hands and waited. The young lawyer poised his pencil over the notes he had already taken and seemed to be summing them up and pondering.

But Eden was back in a moment with her hands full of neatly folded papers, which she handed over to the lawyer, small groupings of them strapped with rubber bands.

"These are some properties owned by the estate. He kept most of his important papers in the bank, of course. But these are a few securities he was going to explain to me about selling, and so on."

The lawyer took them bunch by bunch, looked over the headings, glanced at them all, and jotted down something about each one.

"I'll just have these checked over with the list we have at the bank," he explained to Eden. "That way we can tell if anything has been tampered with, or if there is anything missing."

"Oh, yes," said Eden, "but I don't think my father left anything down here that would matter. He usually put valuables in the bank."

The lawyer looked at her thoughtfully and then said: "It won't do any harm to make sure, of course. Your father wasn't able to get down to the library and make any changes in the contents of his desk after the accident, was he? Might not something have been forgotten?"

It came to Eden as she listened that this young man was keen and didn't take anything for granted. But she answered still thoughtfully: "Of course, it is possible, but I don't think it likely. Dad sent me downstairs twice to get special papers for him and had me seal them in envelopes and send them to Mr. Worden at the bank at once."

"Yes? Well, now I wonder if I could look at the desk and examine the room that was broken into?"

So they went in a solemn little procession into the library, a room latterly lined with books.

"I wonder," said the lawyer after he had gone through the drawers and written down the contents carefully, "whether there is any possibility that there might be a secret compartment in this desk. Do you know, Miss Thurston? Such a place does not usually manifest its presence for a casual glance like this."

"Oh, yes, it seems to me I remember Father saying something long ago about a secret compartment, but he wouldn't likely have left anything valuable there, would he? Or I should think he would have spoken of it. Tabor, did you ever hear about that? Did you know of a secret drawer?"

"Yes, Miss Eden, I'm sure there was. I remember he spoke to me about it once when he put some papers away in it. I'm not just sure where it was, but I think it is behind some drawer."

"It's worth looking for, anyway," said Lorrimer. "Could it be possible that if there is one, that that Fane boy knew of it?"

"Oh, no, sir. I don't think he would be likely to," said Tabor. "He was not allowed in this room. I had my orders when he was about."

Then Janet spoke up.

"Don't ye be too sure!" she said heatedly. "Thet lad was a little rat, and there was no room too locked up tae keep him oot. I foond him in here once meself, and he was always fussin' aroond wi' locks an' ketches. If there was a secret drawer, he'd find it!"

The lawyer looked at her sharply and then walked over to the desk, tapping expertly in different parts of the desk, listening for hollow sounds.

"Here!" he said. "Let's try this side, behind this first drawer. Pull it, would you, Tabor? Look! That drawer is not long enough for the whole depth of the desk. That's where it would be. Behind the end of the drawer perhaps. These compartments are very cleverly hidden. Have you a flashlight, Mike?"

"Yes, sir, here!" And a fine clear light pierced the dark recess behind the drawer.

"Yes! Here!" said the lawyer. "Pull out the next drawer. The compartment must be behind both of them, or perhaps even three."

They pulled out the next two drawers, and at last they came to the hidden spring that released the little high narrow door and showed a generous space, with just a few scattering papers, none of special value but all of them mussed and looking as if they had been hastily stuffed back for a hurried departure.

"Yes," said the lawyer thoughtfully. "And here is a thought, perhaps. This place is not in the careful order that seems to have been maintained throughout the rest of the desk, or room. If we only could be sure what was originally kept in this compartment, we might be able to check up. Perhaps Mr. Worden may be able to give us some light on this when he gets back. I'm looking for him to be home to-night or perhaps sooner. I'll ask him at once. By the way, let me feel back into that compartment. I have a hunch that there is still something more in there. You didn't reach all the way to the bottom, did you, Tabor?"

"Why, yes, sir, I thought I did. But there didn't seem to be anything down there. It was all smooth. It almost seemed like it had been varnished."

The lawyer was down on his knees again beside the desk, turning on the flashlight and examining every inch of the way most carefully. Then his hand went down into the compartment again and searched around. He seemed to be lingering longer than was necessary just to make sure that there was nothing further there. It almost seemed as if he was struggling with something, and then he reached out one hand.

"Get me a screwdriver," he said from under the desk.

Tabor gravely produced one and laid it in the reaching hand, and the rest of them stood watching, wondering if he had found anything.

A moment more the lawyer worked away out of sight, and then he drew back and brought forth a white box, just the length of the lower part of the compartment.

Then he rose, dusted off his hands and knees, and sat down in front of the desk, the white box still in his hands.

"There!" he said triumphantly. "The box is covered with satin paper and feels like a smooth varnished surface. That's what fooled us. Could there possibly have been other such boxes in there?" He looked speculatively at Eden, but her eyes were full of wonder.

"I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "I don't remember Daddy ever saying anything to me about it. Isn't there some writing on that box? It looks like it. Yes! See!"

The lawyer handed her the box, and she turned it over and read, " 'For Eden. Your grandmother's pearls.' "

"Oh," she said. "And that is my mother's handwriting! She must have put this here a long time ago, and then perhaps it was forgotten."

"I remember," said Janet. "I remember weel when she writ thet an' stowed it awa' in the wee bit drawer. But I'd thought it was tuk to the bank this lang agone! Is the pearls in the bit box yet?"

"Open it, will you, Miss Thurston? This is something we must understand if we're to go searching for a possible thief."

Eden took the box in trembling hands, untied the white ribbon with which it was bound, and opened the box cautiously. The little audience watched her and the box breathlessly.

There was tissue paper folded neatly on the top, and then soft pink cotton, and more tissue paper. And at last she brought to light a double string of fine lovely pearls with a delicate clasp set with tiny diamonds.

"Oh!" said Eden with great awe upon her, and then suddenly the tears rolled down her face, and she could scarcely hold the box for trembling.

The young man leaned over and lifting her hands set them down on the desk, box and all, and Janet stepped up with a delicate handkerchief for Eden. In a moment more the young girl was smiling, in spite of her shaken emotions.

"I'm sorry I had to be such a baby," she said, half giggling, "but I'd just been reading some of my mother's letters, in this same handwriting, and it sort of broke me up. It was as if she had suddenly stepped into this room and given me these pearls, which must have been her mother's."

"They were, that," said Janet in an undertone. "She'd often spoken tae me of thim, an' once she showed thim tae me. They is rare pearls."

"It's quite understandable that you should be broken up at finding them, Miss Thurston," said the lawyer. "I'm sorry I had to be the cause, but I'm glad for your sake that we found them. And now I don't want to bother you any longer than is necessary. If you'll just answer a few more questions, we'll be done. Do you have any idea whether there were other things, more jewelry perhaps, in this drawer, and what they were? Would there be a list anywhere?"

"No," said Eden. "I wouldn't know. Perhaps Janet would, and of course the rest might be in the bank if there were other things."

"Yes," said Janet decidedly. "There was ither bits. A diamond bracelet, a lovely pin wi' rubies, an' some rings my leddy couldna wear ony mair since she got so thin they kept slipping off."

"You're sure of that?" asked the lawyer and wrote down carefully every little item Janet could remember.

"Of course, these may be in the bank. I'll check that over when Mr. Worden gets back. These things may have been the booty the young man was after. Do you know whether he knew about them? Could he have known of the secret drawer?"

"I couldna answer thet," said Janet, "boot I dontna he mightov foond it. He was thet nosey. Leave him in a room, he'd get tae the bootum ov it in no time, an' things would be missin' and naeboody to account fer thim."

The lawyer looked up at Mike.

"Better get Hiley on the phone at once. Tell him to search the boy before he gets a chance to make away with anything. Search the old lady, too. He may have managed to hand something over to her. Here's the list. Tell him to make a thorough job of it, before he gets a chance to hide anything."

Eden listened in wonder.

"Did Mrs. Fane know of the existence of this jewelry?" asked Lorrimer.

"I don't know," said Eden, and he turned toward Janet.

"She might have known," said the old nurse, "although Mrs. Thurston was thet ill after she coom thet she seldom wore jewels. Still this Fane woman was thet much of a snoop that somehoo she'd smell oot a thing an' pry aroond till she got a sight of it."

The lawyer nodded, showing that he was getting a pretty good idea of the Fane woman's character, and that of her boy also.

Eden was sitting by the desk with the fine old pearls dripping through her fingers, and the young man as he looked up could not but think how fitting such jewels were to go around a lovely throat like this young girl's.

He gave her an admiring glance and an apologetic smile.

"I hope you'll forgive me," he said, as he got up to take his departure. "This really was necessary, and I shouldn't wonder if these pearls would help a lot in solving our problems. It's been nice to have you and your servants cooperate so well. I thank you."

"Oh, I'm glad if we helped any, and I'm grateful to you for finding the pearls," said Eden. "Perhaps I never would have known about them if this hadn't happened." She smiled into his eyes, and he thought again how sweet her young eyes were.

"Well, I'm glad we could find them, and I'll find out from Mr. Worden at once how much he knows of the contents of this secret drawer. You know, it just may be that this little box fit so tightly into the bottom of the compartment that it escaped notice when the other things were taken out to go to the bank."

"Yes, of course," said Eden. "I wish I knew just what those things were, the rest of the valuables. Somehow I never took much interest in them while Father was alive and while I was in college. I just thought of them as some old family relics. But I guess I ought to go down to the bank and look the rest over. Should I do it right away?"

"Don't worry yourself now. If Mr. Worden hasn't returned yet, I think I'll call him on the telephone. This is important, to get hold of the facts in the case before anything more can happen. If I get any more information, I'll call you."

And so with a smile and a quick friendly clasp of the hand he went away with Mike, and the household settled down to what they hoped was going to be peace and quietness.

Eden, standing at the window, watching the young lawyer walk down the street, thought how very kind his voice was and how restfully dependable he seemed. Of course, she didn't know him at all, but he seemed very nice, and she felt almost comfortable knowing that he was working to protect her interests.

Then Janet suddenly appeared on the scene.

"Coom ye oof an' heve yer loonch!" she commanded. "Ye hed niver a bite o' breakfast, an' verra little dinner the night before. We didna want ye to blow awa' wi' the first little breath of air."

"Oh," laughed Eden, "I didn't realize I hadn't had my breakfast. I was just so excited over what they were talking about. Isn't it awful that anybody tried to break in? Do you really think it was Ellery, Janet?"

"Think!" sniffed Janet. "I shud say there's na doubt about it. Little snake in the grass! I only wish he would be put where he couldna be botherin' the likes of ye ony mair. An' tae think of thet old sneak of a mither of his coomin' around sayin' she was goin' tae be yer chaperone! I sure would like tae see her bashed in the face the way Mike talks aboot dooin' tae soom of the criminals."

Eden laughed a merry little ripple of a relieved sigh.

"What did she say, Janet? Did she talk to you?"

"No, but Tabor give her gude an' plenty back agin. Her wi' her sham tears and her pretenses! But noo, coom ye out tae yer loonch. It's already settin' on the table, and the cook's fair frantic fer ye tae eat afore it gets cold. Coom noo, an' I'll tell ye the rest whilst ye eat."

So Eden went to her lunch and heard the full tale of Lavira Fane's attempt to get into the house earlier in the day.

"And where do you think she went?" asked Eden, with still a bit of trouble on her brow. "Will she try to come back here to-night, do you suppose, and plead that she hasn't any place to sleep?"

"Na, she'll nae do thet. Mike said he would see thet she was safely hoosed."

"You–don't mean they've arrested her, do you, Janet?"

Janet gave a significant shrug to her shoulders.

"I canna say what they've doon wi' her, but I'm certain they'd niver let her run at large. They've places tae keep people they don't troost, ye ken. Perfec'ly respectable places, thet is, so tae speak, where they can keep an eye on her, an' ef there ever was a wumman needed an eye kep' on her, that Fane wumman's the one."

"Well, I shouldn't like to be the cause of her going to jail," said Eden with a troubled look.

"Why not, ef it's the only place ither folks is safe from her? But don't ye fret, dear cheeld. Mike's a discerin' mon ef there iver was wan, an' he can be troosted. An' besides all this, don't ye know the law has ways of findin' oot aboot folks? He's likely, as he says, 'got a line' on her an' her crooked son, by this toime. An' ye see the matter is not in yer wee hands. It's the law has it in the noo, an' ye can't do onythin' aboot it."

"But maybe I ought to telephone Mike to get them to promise to go back West where they came from and we won't say anything more about it. Wouldn't Dad have wanted me to do that?"

"No, my leddy, he would niver want thet. He was allus fer joostice. A good businessmon is allus fer joostice. And what right would ye have tae send them crooked folks back tae steal frae ither folks? No, me leddy-gurril, ye've naethin' more tae do wi' it. Just rest yer heart, my lamb. An' ef ye wantae talk wi' onyboody mair aboot the matter, go call yer feyther's friend, Mr. Worden. Be likes he knows all aboot it by now. Thet young lawyermon seemed mighty fine an' oop-coom-in'. He won't let the grass grow onder his feet. He'll get the right kind of advice, an' stan' by it. Jest ye rest."

So Eden ate her delicate lunch.

"A wee drap o' soup," to quote Janet's description of it, "a coopla crispy bits o' toost, a bit o' the brist of chicken, a cool little slice o' pineapple ice, an' a shred o' angel cake. Don't that soond gude, my lamb?"

So Eden began to plan what she would tell Mr. Worden when she called him up. Would he be at the bank now? And would that Mr. Lorrimer have talked with him yet? Somehow she felt that that young man would have a right, just view of things. He wouldn't be hard on people unless it was necessary, for the safety of others. She would wait a little before calling. Mr. Worden usually went out to lunch at 1 o'clock. Perhaps she would be able to catch him a little before one. A glance at her watch told her that there was a good half hour yet before she should try to speak with him.

Then her thoughts reverted to Caspar. How fortunate that he had changed his plans. If he had come this morning, it would certainly have complicated things. Caspar would have been impatient. Would have wanted to know what was going on. Would have recalled all his unpleasant memories of the trouble Ellery had made her father, and would probably have advocated vengeance on the Fanes to the limit. She was glad he was not there. And as for keeping it quiet, keeping Caspar in ignorance of what was going on, that would hardly have been possible. Not with police and lawyers coming to question her, especially when he was wanting to see her without any hindrances to talking.

Then she began to look forward to the evening. Would the troubles be settled by that time? Or would some more policemen come barging in and want more interviews? She hoped not.

Up in her own quiet room again she found it impossible to rest. She tried to call Mr. Worden but found he had not returned from his business trip and would probably not be back until the next day sometime. There had been a wire from him saying so, and there seemed to be nobody in the bank just then who could take his place.

She hung up the instrument and sat down perplexed. Oh, if her father were only here! How strange that all this should have to come just after he had left her! And he had tried so hard to make everything plain and straight in her little world for her so there would be no perplexities.

Just then the telephone rang again, and it was Mr. Lorrimer.

"Is that you, Miss Thurston? I'm Lorrimer, your lawyer. They told me you had just called for Mr. Worden, so you know he has not yet returned and that I have not been able to talk with him except briefly on the telephone, just as he was catching another train. But I did learn that he knew of the secret compartment in the desk and that there had been articles left there for you, things of your mother's meant for you. They were to be taken to the bank, after you had gone over them and selected what you wished to keep here. He told me where to find the list of these things, and I have gone over it carefully. None of them are in our vault. Of course, we cannot check definitely until Mr. Worden returns, but I have been comparing notes with the police headquarters, and so far they have discovered a handsome jeweled pin fastened in the coat of the young man, under the sleeve lining. He claims that his girl gave it to him when he went away to war. But so far we can find no record of his having been accepted in either the army or navy, and his mother's stories and his do not agree. We are holding them for further questioning and to give them a more thorough searching. The woman is wearing a very handsome bracelet on her upper arm under a heavy sleeve. It might be the diamond bracelet, but she claims it is rhinestones and that you gave it to her."

"No!" said Eden. "I never gave her anything."

"I have not seen it yet," went on Lorrimer. "We will have it examined, of course, by an expert. Just how she would have gotten possession of it if the young man stole it during the night we have not yet figured out, but it might have been done. The list names some unmounted jewels, three emeralds, a ruby, and four sapphires, one a star sapphire. They seem to have been a part of your grandmother's dowry. We have tried to find them in the bank, but they are not there.

They are things that can be easily hidden in clothing. I suppose there will have to be a trial, I am not sure. But be assured we will do our best to keep you out of this whole matter, so please do not worry."

Eden turned away from the telephone at last with a degree of peace in her heart. At least she was assured that her affairs were in safe hands, and she could rest on that. And after all, what were jewels? She could live without them. She had been happy before she knew of their existence. Of course, she would like to have articles of value that belonged to her family, but why should she make herself miserable over their loss? She found herself exceedingly weary of the whole matter. So telling Janet she was going to take a nap, she went up to her room and, curling up on her bed, fell into a deep sleep.