Hasty Wedding (23 page)

“Was Mrs Locke in the room?”

“Yes,” said Dorcas. “He—Jevan had just come into the room from the kitchen. I heard the door——”

“But it was dark, you say. You couldn’t be sure——”

“I am sure,” said Dorcas. “For right after the shot we—we bumped into each other in the darkness.”

“After he left the bedroom, you mean?”

“It was someone else in the bedroom,” said Jevan. “My wife was over there near the door. She couldn’t have escaped from the bedroom and got there before I found her.”

“But you are trying to make me believe that somebody shot Elise, escaped through this room in the dark——”

“And out the kitchen way. That’s exactly what happened,” said Jevan.

Wait shook his head again and looked at Jevan with a hint of something that was almost admiration in his eyes.

“A good story,” he said. “But who did it if you didn’t? Who had the motive? Who had the opportunity? Confess, Locke.”

Again there was a little electric silence while the two men measured one another and walls and mirrors, watching them, knew a thing they could not tell.

Then Wait said slowly, almost musically: “Why did you come to find Elise if you had no thought of killing her?”

“I wanted to find out what she knew. To buy her off if I had to. To——”

Wait’s eyes flashed. A gust of impatience went over him; his eyes shone and he leaned forward and said: “I repeat that you came to silence her in another way. And you’ve done it—unless in spite of everything she lives. You murdered Drew and Pett and——”

There was a commotion in the doorway; two policemen grasping at either side someone who came reluctantly and sputtered at every step and was Willy. He went dead white when he saw Dorcas and Jevan and Sophie. He said, or tried to say: “It’s an outrage. An outrage. I’ve done nothing——”

“I found him over on Cuahanan Street. He was starting his car and it’s been parked there for some time. He was trying to get away and resisted us. We thought we’d better bring him along——”

“That’s right,” said Wait. “All right, Devany. What’s your story?”

W
ILLY RUBBED HIS FOREHEAD
and sat limply in a great white chair into which the policemen thrust him and said rather dazedly a number of times that he hadn’t any story. He wound up giving Jevan a pleading look and saying: “What’s happened? They said somebody’s been shot. You—you didn’t kill her, did you, Jevan?”

“Kill who?” demanded Wait sharply.

“Why, Elise, of course. I oughtn’t to have put the notice in the paper,” gibbered Willy. “But I thought it was a good idea. It seemed like it at the time. Good God, what are we going to do now? Is she really dead?”

“Don’t talk, Willy,” said Jevan. “You’re out of this and I’ve told them so. I didn’t kill her of course. Or Dorcas——”

“Dorcas,” cried Willy wildly. “Was she here too?”

“Willy, listen,” said Jevan desperately. “Don’t answer any questions. Don’t say anything. And get yourself a lawyer. I’m going to. I’ve got to.”

“Yes,” said Wait dryly. “He’s under a murder charge,” and watched Willy, who went from white to a sort of pea green.

“But he——”

“Shut up!” snapped Jevan. “It’s not your fight.”

“Is Elise dead?” asked Willy, paying no attention at all to Jevan and turning to Wait.

“She’s barely alive. There’s a chance. That’s all. You knew she was Drew’s wife.”

“Willy,” cried Jevan and still Willy wouldn’t listen.

“Yes, of course. I was the one that told Jevan. I learned it only accidentally.”

“How?” said Wait. It brought Willy up shortly and he gave Wait a harassed look and said:

“Friend of hers and mine. Girl named Dolly White. Dances in a night club with Elise. Anyway, she told me and as Dorcas was already engaged to be married to Jevan and Ronald was apparently out of the picture I didn’t see any use in spreading it. Drew’s own business. But all the same he was a dirty skunk, you know. Trying to marry Dorcas without divorcing his real wife. Elise wouldn’t divorce him; wanted money, I suppose. Well, anyway, I guess that’s all,” said Willy.

“So you told Locke that Drew was already married?”

“Huh?” said Willy in a startled way. “Oh. Oh yes, I told him. Had to. Drew was still after Dorcas; wouldn’t give her up.”

“Yes, I know,” said Wait. “He induced her to come to this apartment with him the night before her wedding. She has admitted that,” he said as Willy jerked anxiously around to look at Dorcas. “She’s admitted her presence here, so you may as well go on. You knew she was here that night?”

“I—no, no, of course not.”

“You saw her? Tell the truth, Devany.”

“No. I mean I——”

“You knew she was here and that’s why you went to find Locke? Isn’t that right?”

“No, no. Certainly not.”

“Oh, go ahead, Willy, if you must,” said Jevan. “I told you not to talk. I wanted to keep you out of it. But now you’ve told this much you’ll have to go on.” He turned to Wait. “Yes, he knew it. He drove past the Whipple house and saw my—my wife meet Drew and followed them to the apartment and then tried to find me. But my wife was gone before Drew was killed. I’ll swear it”

“That right, Devany?”

“I—yes,” said Willy miserably. “You see, I knew what a skunk Drew was. And the wedding was next day—and if he got Dorcas to elope with him it’d be an awful mess for Dorcas. Somebody had to do something. I couldn’t, so I went to get Jevan and finally found him and——” He stopped abruptly with an expression of absolute horror on his face.

“And you brought Locke here,” finished Wait. “That right, Devany?”

“No, no,” cried Willy.

“You brought Locke here. You waited for him while he came up here to this apartment——”

“No, no,” cried Willy again, the force of his denial making it like an admission.

Jevan stirred and said abruptly: “It’s all right, Willy. He knows…All right, Wait, you’ve won. Willy did find me and tell me Dorcas was here. Told me Drew was married and that he was afraid Drew was—well, it’s as he said. He knew what a skunk Drew was; guessed he had some scheme and knew, knowing Drew, it was crooked. Willy knew, too, that it was up to me to come. My fight——”

“That’s what you said, Jevan. I wanted to come up here too.”

“But he didn’t come. He waited in the car for me. I came up alone.”

“And found Drew already dead,” cried Willy. “Drew was already dead when he got here, so he couldn’t have——”

“Willy,” shouted Jevan. “For God’s sake, shut up! Drew was alive!”

Still Willy didn’t see, for he looked at Jevan and at Wait and cried: “Drew was dead. Jevan told me he was dead when he got here. And he rubbed off fingerprints and——”

“Willy!”
It was Jevan again. And Willy turned a puzzled face toward him and said: “I don’t see why you’re not telling the truth. You didn’t kill him. He was dead when you got here.” And his feverish blue eyes went to Dorcas. Went to Dorcas and fastened upon her and widened in anguish as he saw what he had done.

“Dorcas—Dorcas——”

“Never mind, Willy.”

“Dorcas——”

“She didn’t kill him. She——”

“Stop. All of you.” It was Wait, cutting off Willy’s shame and anguish and Jevan’s protestations. He turned to Jevan. “So Drew was dead when you arrived. And it was you that wiped those glasses clean of fingerprints and arranged the gun to look like suicide and you did it because you knew Mrs Locke had killed him.”

“My wife did not murder Drew,” said Jevan. “But I’m going to do something, Wait, that may be wrong. I don’t know. I may be making a mistake that can’t——” He stopped and then went on rather savagely. “If I’m wrong there’s always one thing I can do to right it. See here, Wait, I’ll make a trade with you. You send these policemen out of the room and I’ll tell you everything I know.”

“But you don’t want it to go on record and you don’t want a police witness. That it, Locke?”

“That’s it,” said Jevan.

“Jevan, don’t be a fool,” began Willy and Sophie gave him a look and said: “Do be still, Willy. You’ve said quite enough.”

Wait was looking thoughtfully at Jevan. Small ruby lights were in his dark eyes and his fine small hand tapped the table before him.

Jevan said: “You can’t lose by it. I can. But I’m doing you the credit of believing two things. One is that you’re above framing any one of us. The other is that you want the truth and only the truth.”

The truth. Dorcas did not know why she felt it and there was not time to dig into her mind and analyze it but she knew suddenly that she did not want the truth. She only wanted Wait to let them go, to free Jevan, to call the case closed. But the truth was—was dangerous. She felt the danger and she tried to tell Jevan not to do whatever he was going to do and it was too late. For Wait said suddenly; “All right, Locke. It’s a gamble but I’ll take it. You are protected, for my word would not hold against all four of you—at least I’d have a hard time proving that you were all lying. In the event,” said Wait rather dryly, “that you’re going to tell me who murdered Drew and murdered Pett——”

“You mean,” said Jevan grimly, “that if I tell you the truth you’ll take what I tell you and use it as you see fit. I know that, I realize it perfectly. But I still think it’s worth the chance——”

“Jevan, don’t do anything you’ll regret,” warned Sophie. “But I think, too, that if the detective knows the truth it’ll be best for us all. I think you’d better tell him everything. It’s reached a place where—where you’ve got to. Even if——”

She stopped. Dorcas’ feeling of apprehension leaped up sharper. “What do you mean, Sophie? Is there anything …?” She wouldn’t return Dorcas’ look and Wait said abruptly: “All right. You men can all wait outside. In the corridor. Close the door. But watch both doors. Don’t let anyone leave and—don’t let anyone enter.”

Dorcas put her hand on Sophie’s and made her look at her. “Sophie, what do you mean? You can’t mean——”

Sophie still wouldn’t look at her. She whispered: “Hush, Dorcas. I don’t mean anything except what I said.”

And as the blue-uniformed little exodus completed its filing out the door O’Brien, the last one to go, turned back toward Wait. The very set of his blue shoulders expressed disapproval.

“Any other orders, sir?”

“Don’t let anyone leave,” repeated Wait. But there was something subtly significant in his dark eyes and O’Brien’s disapproval changed all at once to approval.

“Oh,” he said. “Sure. Okay, sir.” He closed the door. Wait said: “Better sit down, Locke.”

Willy, in a great white chair, wriggled uncomfortably and watched Wait. Sophie, erect beside Dorcas on the white divan, reached over to clasp Dorcas’ hand and also watched Wait. Jevan sat down and took out a cigarette. He lighted it slowly while the mirrors watched them all. Just over his shoulder was the dead white door which had moved—or had it?—that other night when Dorcas had sat on that same white divan. Jevan looked at Dorcas suddenly over the smoke and said quietly: “Dorcas, if what I’m going to do is wrong, remember I can always undo it.” He did not wait for her reply but turned directly to Wait. “All right, Wait. As I said, you’ve won. Drew was dead when I reached this apartment. I did wipe off fingerprints and try to make the thing look like a suicide. That’s true. But it was only because I knew my wife had been here and naturally I wanted to keep her out of the thing if it was at all possible. I did not do it because I thought she’d murdered him. Understand that. And understand, too, that I realize that this admission I’m making could have any number of implications. The chief and most dangerous is—is that if you believe me you are almost bound to believe that my wife killed him. And that I—I appear to be trying, since you’ve actually arrested me and charged me with murder——”

“I have,” agreed Wait.

“I appear to be trying to shift the guilt from myself to my—my wife,” said Jevan. “But my wife did not kill Drew. And if you arrest her and charge her with murder I shall immediately confess to doing it myself. It’s the only thing I can do and I will, so there’s no use in your arresting her.”

Wait’s eyes and face were completely unfathomable. Jevan, too, was so still he might have been carved in rock; only the white line around his mouth and his desperately watchful eyes gave any evidence of his realization of the grim chance he was taking and making Dorcas take. She thought fleetingly, strangely, of the policemen outside who would not let anyone leave. They were caught, then, like rats in a trap and by Jevan’s own confession.

Wait said, his words dropping into that silence like stones: “Is that all?”

“That’s all. Isn’t it enough?”

“It has its importance. Oh yes——”

“All I ask you to do is to consider what might have happened if my wife did not kill Drew. I know she didn’t——”

“How do you know? You keep saying that but how——”

“I know,” said Jevan. “Listen—he was alive when she left this room at about nine o’clock. He was dead when I got here about nine-thirty. There’s a half an hour to be accounted for. Won’t you be fair? Won’t you consider——”

Wait moved restlessly. “Very well,” he said shortly. “Half an hour. If you didn’t kill him and your wife didn’t, who was the murderer? Do you know that?”

“I know,” said Jevan slowly, “that someone was in the kitchen of the apartment. My wife said that door over there moved. There were noises in the kitchen which at the time she attributed to sounds Drew made when he opened the refrig——”

“I know all that,” said Wait. “She told me. But there was nothing definite. She didn’t see anyone. Drew didn’t say any one was there——”

“I say there was somebody there. I don’t know who. It might have been Marcus, come to see whether or not Drew’s last attempt to marry Dorcas was successful. Impatient of the outcome. Waiting and listening and hoping for Drew’s success.”

“Marcus Pett was murdered.”

“I know. So probably he didn’t kill Drew. But someone was there.”

“You mean someone was here in the apartment waiting and hiding in the kitchen. Here when Drew and Mrs Locke arrived. Here with Drew’s knowledge?”

“That or had a key to the kitchen door and came into the kitchen while Drew and Dorcas were in here. Drew then went to the kitchen and Dorcas heard what she thought was whispering——”