The Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln (best way to read e books txt) 📕

Grimes, with his head swathed in bandages, was a woe-begone object. He greeted Colonel McIntyre and the detective with a sullen glare, but his eyes brightened at sight of Kent, and he moved a feeble hand in welcome.

“Sit down, sirs,” he mumbled. “There’s chairs for all.”

“Don’t worry about us,” remarked McIntyre cheerily. “Just tell us how you got that nasty knock on the head.”

“I dunno, sir; it came like a clap o’ thunder,” Grimes tried to lift his head, but gave over the attempt as excruciating pain followed the effort.

“What hour of the morning was it?” asked Ferguson.

“About one o’clock, as near as I can tell, sir.”

“And what were you doing in the library at that hour, Grimes?” demanded McIntyre.

“Trying to find out what your household was up to, sir,” was Grimes’ unexpected answer, and McIntyre started.

“Explain your meaning, Grimes,” he commanded sternly.

“You can do it better than I can, sir,” retorted Grimes. “You know the reason every one’s searching the room with the seven doors.”

“The room with the seven doors!” echoed Ferguson. “Which is that?”

“Grimes means the library.” McIntyre’s tone was short. “I have no idea, Grimes, what your allegations mean. Be more explicit.”

The butler eyed him in no friendly fashion. “Wasn’t Mr. Turnbull arrested in that very room?” he demanded. “And what was he looking for?”

“Mr. Turnbull’s presence has been explained,” replied McIntyre. “He came here disguised as a burglar on a wager with my daughter, Miss Barbara.”

“Ah, did he now?” Grimes’ rising inflection indicated nervous tension. “Did a man with a bad heart come here in the dead of night for nothing but that foolishness?” Grimes glared at his three visitors. “You bet he didn’t.”

Ferguson, who had followed the dialogue between McIntyre and his servant with deep attention, addressed the excited man.

“Why did Mr. Turnbull enter Colonel McIntyre’s library on Monday night disguised as a burglar?” he asked.

Grimes, by a twist of his head, managed to regard the detective out of the corner of his eye.

“Aye, why did he?” he repeated. “That’s what I went to the library last night to find out.”

“Did you discover anything?” The question shot from McIntyre, and both Ferguson and Kent watched him as they waited for Grimes’ reply. The butler took his time.

“No, sir.”

McIntyre threw himself back in his chair and his eyebrows rose in interrogation as he touched his forehead significantly and glanced at Grimes. That the butler caught his meaning was evident from his expression, but he said nothing. The detective was the first to speak.

“Did you hear any one break into the house when you were prowling around, Grimes?” he asked.

“No, sir.”

The detective turned to Colonel McIntyre. “After finding Grimes did you search the house?” he inquired.

“Yes. The patrolman, O’Ryan, and my new footman, Murray, went with me through the entire house, and we found all doors and windows to the front and rear of the house securely locked,” responded McIntyre; “except the window of the reception room on the ground floor. That was closed but unlatched.”

Kent wondered if the grimace which twisted the butler’s face was meant for a smile.

“That there window was locked when I went to bed,” Grimes stated with slow distinctness. “And I was the last person in this house to go to my room.”

McIntyre started to speak when Ferguson stopped him.

“Just let me handle this case,” he said persuasively. “You have called in the police,” and as McIntyre commenced some uncomplimentary remark, he added with sternness. “Don’t interfere, sir. Now, Grimes, your statements imply one of two things - some member of the household either went downstairs after you had retired, and opened the window in the reception room to admit the person who afterwards attacked you in the library, or” - Ferguson paused significantly, “some member of this household knocked you senseless in the library. Which was it?”

There was a tense silence. McIntyre, by an obvious effort, refrained from speech as they waited for Grimes’ answer.

“I dunno who hit me.” Grimes avoided looking at the three men. “But some one did, and that window in the reception room was locked when I went upstairs to my bedroom after every one had retired. I’m telling you God’s truth, sir.”

McIntyre eyed him in wrathful silence, then turned to his companions.

“The blow has knocked Grimes silly,” he commented. “There is certainly no motive for any of us to attack Grimes, nor has any trace of a weapon been found such as must have been used against Grimes. O’Ryan and I looked particularly for it, after removing Grimes from the Venetian casket, where my daughter Helen, Mrs. Brewster and I discovered him lying unconscious.”

“What’s this Venetian casket like?” asked Ferguson before Kent could question McIntyre.

“It is a fine sample of carving of the Middle Ages,” replied McIntyre. “I purchased the pair when in Venice years ago. They are over six feet in length, about three feet wide, and rest on a carved base. There is a door at the end through which it was customary in the Middle Ages to slide the body, after embalming, for the funeral ceremonies, after which the body was removed, placed in another casket and buried. There is a square opening or peep hole on the top of the casket through which you can look at the body; a cleverly concealed door covers this opening. In fact,” added McIntyre, “the door at the end is not at first discernible, and is hard to open, unless one has the knack of doing so.”

“Hum! It looks as if whoever put Grimes inside the casket was familiar with it,” remarked Ferguson dryly, and McIntyre bit his lip. “Guess I’ll go and take a look at the casket. I’ll come back, Grimes.”

Kent rose with the others and started to follow them to the door, but Grimes beckoned him to approach the bed. The butler waited until he heard McIntyre’s heavy tread and the lighter footfall of the detective recede down the hall before speaking.

“I was only going to say, sir,” he whispered as Kent, at a sign from him, stooped over the bed, “I got a box of aconitine pills for Mrs. Brewster on Sunday - the stuff that poisoned Mr. Turnbull,” he paused to explain.

“Yes, go on,” urged Kent, catching the man’s excitement. “You gave it to Mrs. Brewster -”

“No, sir; I didn’t; I left the box on the hall table,” Grimes cleared his throat nervously. “I dunno who picked up that box o’ poison, Mr. Kent; so help me God, I dunno!”

Kent thought rapidly. “Have you told any one of this?” he asked.

Grimes nodded. “Only one person,” he admitted.” I spoke to Miss Barbara last night as she was going to bed.” Grimes laid a hot hand on Kent’s and glanced fearfully around the room. “Bend nearer, sir; I don’t want none other to hear me. Just before I got that knockout blow in the library last night, I heard the swish o’ skirts - and Miss Barbara was the only living person who knew I knew about the poison.”

Kent stared in stupefaction at the butler. He was aroused by a cold voice from the doorway.

“We are waiting for you, Kent,” and Colonel McIntyre stood aside to let him pass from the room ahead of him, then without a backward glance at the injured butler, he closed and locked the bedroom door.