percy lyon had a natural gift for human nature, as some people have for music or for mechanics. unconsciously and instinctively, he could read character, and as with all instinctive knowledge, he was utterly unable to say how he reached his conclusions. his judgment had so often proved to be truer than appearances that it had surprised even himself. his success in his newspaper work depended almost wholly upon this gift. in news as news he had little interest, and he often chafed at the routine drudgery of his assignments, but when his work was to "write up" some one, whether it was a drunken tramp arrested for disorderly conduct, a visiting diplomat surrounded with mystery and red tape, a famous actress or an infamous trust-president, he was in his element. he would sit and look at his victim with quiet, dreaming eyes, listen with sympathetic attention to whatever he might say, and then go away and write up a sketch that would reveal the inner life of his subject's mind in a manner that was sometimes startling to the man himself.
"who told you that?--how did you find that out?" was frequently asked.
and lyon would laugh and pass it off as a joke, or if pressed, would probably answer, "why, i don't know; that's what i should do, or feel, or think, if i were in his place.--i got that impression about him, that's all." but the point was that the impressions he received were so apt to be psychologically correct that it seemed almost uncanny. it was something like clairvoyance.
as he turned away from the inquest to carry out the mission that had so unexpectedly been entrusted to him, he felt perfectly convinced, in his own mind, of lawrence's innocence.
in spite of the quarrel in the morning with its proof of lawrence's temper and fullerton's self-control, in spite of the damning fact that lawrence's cane, broken and hidden, would appear to be the instrument with which the fatal blow was struck, in spite of the curious fact that lawrence had held his peace when he must have recognized the dead man, lyon found himself inwardly committed to the faith that lawrence was not directly involved. he faced and set aside as simply unexplained the fact of lawrence's presence in the neighborhood. by donohue's testimony, lawrence was going in the direction of the tragedy about half an hour before the body was discovered. by lyon's own knowledge, lawrence must have been behind him on hemlock avenue as he came down that block, else how had he, too, seen the running girl? in other words, he had spent half an hour loitering on the street of a winter night within a compass of two blocks. of course the mystery involved the girl, for whose good name he was so deeply concerned.
how she was involved he could not even hazard a guess--until he should have seen her. did lawrence entertain the thought that she was involved in the affair in any other way than as a possible witness? if she was merely a disinterested witness, would he have felt bound, at such cost, to keep her from being called upon? lyon felt that was a forced explanation. no, lawrence must either know or believe that the girl was vitally connected with the murder. nothing else would explain his anxiety on her behalf. now, who was the girl? it was luck and great luck that he had so good a justification for calling, as otherwise he would have been forced to invent an occasion. it was beyond all reason to expect him to relinquish the pursuit of such a clue.
he made his way at once to the house where he had seen lawrence call. his ring was answered by an elderly servant, slow and stiff in her movements. lyon recalled with a smile his fancy that the running girl might possibly be the maid, hurrying to conceal a tardy return to the house. this woman could not run for a fire.
"is miss wolcott at home?" he asked.
the woman looked dubious and discouraging. "i'll see," she said.
"please tell her that i will detain her only a moment, but that i have a very important message for her," lyon said, giving the girl his card and quietly forcing his way past her into the reception room.
the old servant went slowly up-stairs, and lyon took a swift survey of the room in which he was left, striving to guess the character of the owners. books, pictures, flowers, all betokened refined and gentle ways of living. unpretentious as it was, this was evidently the home of cultured people.
a slow step was heard in the hall, and an old man came to the door of the drawing room and looked in at lyon with a mingling of mild dignity and child-like friendliness that was peculiarly attractive.
"i thought i heard some one come in," he said, with obvious pleasure at finding his guess right. "did you come to see my granddaughter?"
"i have sent up my card to miss wolcott," lyon answered.
"she is my granddaughter. didn't you know?" the old gentleman asked, in surprise. "i am aaron wolcott, you know. maybe you are a stranger in wayscott."
"yes, i am a good deal of a stranger yet."
"what is your name, may i ask?"
"percy lyon."
the old gentleman took a chair opposite and regarded him with cheerful interest. "i am pleased to meet you, mr. lyon. my granddaughter will be down soon. eliza, our old servant, is slow because she has rheumatism. she's getting old,--but that isn't a crime, is it? i'll be getting old some time myself, i suppose. but i've got all my faculties yet, thank heaven."
"have you lived in this house long?" lyon asked.
"i built this house twenty-five years ago for my son,--edith's father, you know. there have been many changes, many changes. he died when he was thirty, and his young wife followed him and left the baby edith and me alone together. there's something wrong when young people die and old people are left. we should not outlive our children."
"do you mean that you live here entirely alone with your granddaughter?" asked lyon, quickly. this was significant.
"except for eliza. eliza is a good servant. edith isn't much of a housekeeper. she doesn't care for anything but her music. but she's a good girl, edith is."
"did you wish to see me?" a cool, low voice asked at the door.
lyon rose to his feet and bowed. "if you are miss wolcott, i have a message for you," he said, and by a pause he conveyed to her the idea that the message was for her alone.
miss wolcott regarded him for a moment with an observant scrutiny which she made no attempt to disguise, and then she turned to her grandfather.
"it is time for your walk, dandy," she said. she got him his overcoat, hat, and stick from the hall, and herself buttoned his coat up to his throat.
"you see how she spoils me," mr. wolcott said, with evident pride in his voice. "i'm old enough to look out for myself."
edith did not speak. in grave silence she gave him his gloves, and watched him put them on while lyon as intently watched her. she was a tall girl of perhaps twenty-five, with eyes of midnight blackness, broad black eyebrows that drooped in straight heavy lines toward her temples, and black hair that was drawn in smooth, broad bands at the side of her head to repeat the drooping line of her brows. her mouth drooped too, in lines too firm to be called pensive, too proud to be sad. altogether it was a face of mystery,--a face not easily read, but not the less powerful in its attraction. lyon had a swift comprehension of lawrence's feeling.
if this woman was in any way connected with the murder, the matter was serious as well as delicate. lyon's pulses began to tingle as a hunter's do when he sees a mysterious "track" which he does not understand.
she let her grandfather out at the front door, and then came back to the room where lyon was waiting. calmly seating herself, she bent an inquiring and unsmiling look upon him. it struck him that she had shown nothing of her grandfather's tendency to unnecessary words.
"i have come at the request of mr. lawrence, who wished me to bring you a message," lyon said.
there was something like a flash of light in her shadowy eyes, but whether it meant eagerness or anger, love or hate, lyon could not say. she bent that same intent, unsmiling regard upon him, with only a deepening of its intentness, as though waiting for his next word with held breath.
"mr. lawrence considered it important that i should see you personally and at once, since he could not come himself to explain his reasons for what may sound like an extraordinary request," he went on deliberately.
she moved restlessly. "i have not seen mr. lawrence since--"
lyon interrupted. "pardon me, may i give you the message before you say anything more? mr. lawrence has been arrested on the charge of killing warren fullerton--"
"oh, heavens, has it come to that?" the girl gasped, with horror on her face.
lyon raised a warning hand. "and his urgent request to you is that you refrain from giving any information which, you may possess in regard to the matter to any one. that of course includes myself."
miss wolcott was holding fast to the arms of the chair and her pallor seemed to have deepened visibly, but she did not lose her self-control for a moment.
lyon would have given much to be able to tell whether the feeling which she obviously held back from expression was fear or concern or contempt.
"you of course saw the account of the murder in the morning papers," he continued, deeming it advisable to put her in possession of the situation as fully as possible. "the inquest was held today, and mr. lawrence has been taken into custody,--merely on suspicion, of course. it is known that he had had a quarrel with mr. fullerton, and his broken cane was found in the neighborhood."
miss wolcott's intense eyes seemed trying to drag out his words faster than he could utter them, but she asked no questions.
"this means that he will be held for the action of the grand jury, which will meet in about two weeks. of course he will have an attorney to present his case. you are not to think that his arrest necessarily means anything worse than the necessity of making his innocence as obvious to the world at large as it is now to his friends. but in the meantime his great and immediate anxiety was that you should be warned to say nothing about the whole matter. frankly, miss wolcott, i don't know whether your silence is to protect him or to protect some one else, but i do know that he was profoundly in earnest in hoping that you would preserve that silence unbroken as long as possible."
"what do you mean by as long as possible?" she asked, slowly.
"if you should be summoned as a witness at the trial, you will of course have to tell everything within your knowledge connected with the affair."
she frowned thoughtfully. "am i likely to be summoned as a witness?" she asked.
"that will depend on whether the prosecuting attorney or mr. lawrence's attorney gets an idea that you have any information in your possession which will help his side of the case."
she sat very still, with downcast eyes, for a long moment. lyon made a movement of rising, and she checked him.
"one moment. when the trial comes off, will there be any way of my knowing how it is going?"
"it will be fully reported in the papers. you could be present in the court room if you think it advisable."
"i will think of it," she said quietly. then her splendid self-control wavered for a moment. "if i should feel that i had to talk to some one, to understand things,--would you--might i--"
"may i come occasionally to tell you of any new developments?" lyon asked, simply.
"thank you. it will be kind of you."
"i shall be very glad to keep you informed." and then he added deliberately, intending that however much she might veil her own sympathies there should be no doubt in her mind as to his position, "i am a friend of mr. lawrence's. that is why he entrusted me with this word for you."
she bowed, somewhat distantly, without speaking, and lyon left.
when he got outside, he allowed himself to indulge in a moment of puzzled and half-reluctant admiration. what superb nerve! her connection with this mysterious case was evidently a close and vital one, yet she had held herself so well in hand that it was impossible for him to say now, after this momentous interview, whether her sympathies were with lawrence or not. she had most completely understood and heeded his injunction to keep silence, at any rate. was the injunction needed, in the face of such self-control? what was it that lay behind that shield? lyon felt as though his hands were being bound by invisible bands, and he had a frantic desire to break his way clear and force a way to an understanding of things. turning a corner he came upon the old grandfather taking his leisurely constitutional in the sun, and instantly he realized that providence had placed in his hands the means of removing some of his assorted varieties of ignorance,--if it is providence who helps a man when he is trying to peer into his neighbor's business. there may be a difference in the point of view as to that. with a surreptitious glance at his watch, he fell into step beside mr. wolcott.
"your quiet neighborhood has made itself rather notorious," he began, at a safe distance from his objective point. "i suppose you first learned of the murder through the papers this morning. or did you hear the excitement last night?"
"i heard the grocer boy telling eliza this morning," mr. wolcott answered. "i don't read the paper very much. my eyesight is all right,--my faculties are all as good as ever,--but they print the papers in such fine type nowadays, i don't care to read them."
"well, miss wolcott would surely have read it and noticed about the murder."
"she wouldn't talk about it."
"of course it is not a pleasant thing to talk about."
"that isn't all. you see, edith was engaged to marry that mr. fullerton at one time."
"really?" this was so startling a piece of information that lyon stopped short in his surprise, trying to fit it into its place with the other things he knew or guessed. "really!"
"don't let on i told you," said the old gentleman, confidentially. "edith doesn't like to have me talk about her affairs. but that's the reason she is so strange to-day. maybe you didn't notice, but she was very quiet all day."
"do you think that she cared for him still?" demanded lyon.
"oh, no, no! that's all past. but it must have given her a queer feeling to have him killed so near her own door. no, she didn't care for him. if he had died in some other way, i think she would have been glad. i'm not sure she isn't glad as it is, though maybe she was a little scared to have her wish come true.--it is kind of awful to have something up there take you at your word."
"what makes you think that she would be glad?"
"oh, i see things, if i am old. edith doesn't think i notice, but i know more about things than she guesses. she said once that she wished he was dead.--i heard her."
"really? how was that?"
"i had gone to sleep on the couch in the library,--not really asleep, of course, but i was lying down to rest my eyes for a moment,--and edith didn't know i was there. i woke up and saw her standing by the window looking out, and she was so excited that she was talking aloud to herself. she threw up both hands, like this, and said aloud,--'i wish to heaven you were dead, dead, dead!' then she ran out of the room like a whirlwind, and i got up and looked out of the window. mr. fullerton was standing on the sidewalk, looking up at the house. he touched his hat when he saw me, and smiled a nasty, sarcastic kind of a smile, and walked off."
"when was this?"
"maybe two weeks ago."
"did you ever speak of it to anyone?"
"never, not a word. not to anybody except lawrence."
"oh, you told arthur lawrence?"
"yes, you see i like lawrence, and i thought it was just as well to let him know that there wasn't anything between edith and fullerton any longer. i haven't forgotten about such things, even if i am getting to be an old man. you see, if lawrence heard about that old engagement of edith's it might make him hold off, so i just thought i'd let him know there wasn't anything to it now. it was all off."
"what did mr. lawrence say?"
"not much. but he made me tell him again just what she said, and what she did. i guess he was glad to have the old man tell him, all right."
"you know arthur lawrence pretty well, don't you?" lyon asked abruptly.
the old gentleman chuckled. "oh yes, i don't have much chance to forget mr. lawrence. of course it isn't me that he comes to see, but still he's very civil to the old grandfather! a deal more civil than mr. fullerton ever was, by the same token. edith was well off with that old love before she was on with the new."
lyon was certainly getting more than he had expected. there was not much mystery now about the significance of fullerton's slur on lawrence for following in his footsteps, or about lawrence's resentment. he was so absorbed in his own speculations on the subject that mr. wolcott had twice repeated a question before he heard it.
"do you know if mr. lawrence is out of town?"
"no, he is here."
"he said sunday he would bring me some new cigars the next time he came. i thought he might come last night, but he didn't. for that matter, edith wasn't at home last night. maybe he knew she wouldn't be. but she didn't tell me she was going to be out."
"indeed?"
"no, she didn't. but i found it out. even if my own eyes are not as young as they were, i can see things that are right under my nose. edith said she had a headache and would have to go to her room instead of playing cribbage with me. so i had to play solitaire, and i don't like to play solitaire of an evening. when i was young the evening was always the time for society, and i'm not so old that i want to be poked off in a corner to play solitaire. so i went to her room about ten o'clock to see if her head was better. we could have had a game of cribbage yet. well, she wasn't there. she had gone out without saying a word to me. and while i was looking around she came in by the side door and came up the back stairs. i asked her where in the world she had been at that time of the night, and she never answered,--just went in to her room and locked the door. now, do you think that is a proper way for a young woman to treat her elders? when i was young, we didn't dare to treat our elders in that way."
"i am sure you didn't," said lyon, soothingly.
"and do you think it was proper for her to be out so late at night without saying anything to anyone in the house?"
"i am sure miss wolcott will be worried if you stay out so long," said lyon, evasively. "she'll blame me for keeping you talking. good-by. i am very glad to have met you. some evening you must let me come and play a game of cribbage with you."
he turned to leave him, and then, with a sudden second thought, he came back. "tell miss wolcott that i fell in with you, and that we had a pleasant chat," he said.
he had sufficient confidence in miss wolcott's discretion by this time to feel sure the message would set her to investigating the nature of the conversation, and possibly she would know how to sequestrate or suppress her garrulous relative until the peculiar circumstances of that evening should have faded out of his memory. the circumstances were so peculiar that lyon could not help feeling it was fortunate that he, and not some police officer for instance, had received the old gentleman's confidences.
