American Sherlocks by Nick Rennison (reading like a writer .TXT) 📕

in New York. Inspector O’Connor – ah, I see you know him – has promised to secure the attendance of anyone whom I can show to be a material witness in the case. Come on, gentlemen: I’ll answer your other questions on the train.’

As we settled ourselves in the smoker, Whitney remarked in a low voice, ‘You know, someone has said that there is only one thing more difficult to investigate and solve than a crime whose commission is surrounded by complicated circumstances and that is a crime whose perpetration is wholly devoid of circumstances.’

‘Are you so sure that this crime is wholly devoid of circumstances?’ asked Craig.

‘Professor,’ he replied, ‘I’m not sure of anything in this case. If I were I should not require your assistance. I would like the credit of solving it myself, but it is beyond me. Just think of it: so far we haven’t a clue, at least none that shows the slightest promise, although we have worked night and day for a week. It’s all darkness. The facts are so simple that they give us nothing to work on. It is like a blank sheet of paper.’

Kennedy said nothing, and the district attorney proceeded: ‘I don’t blame Mr Nott, the coroner, for thinking it an accident. But to my mind, some master criminal must have arranged this very baffling simplicity of circumstances. You recall that the front door was unlocked. This person must have entered the house unobserved, not a difficult thing to do, for the Wainwright house is somewhat isolated. Perhaps this person brought along some poison in the form of a beverage, and induced the two victims to drink. And then, this person must have removed the evidences as swiftly as they were brought in and by the same door. That, I think, is the only solution.’

‘That is not the only solution. It is one solution,’ interrupted Kennedy quietly.

‘Do you think someone in the house did it?’ I asked quickly.

‘I think,’ replied Craig, carefully measuring his words, ‘that if poison was given them it must have been by someone they both knew pretty well.’

No one said a word, until at last I broke the silence. ‘I know from the gossip of the Star office that many Williston people say that Marian was very jealous of her sister Laura for capturing the catch of the season. Williston people don’t hesitate to hint at it.’

Whitney produced another document from that fertile green bag. It was another affidavit. He handed it to us. It was a statement signed by Mrs Wainwright, and read:

‘Before God, my daughter Marian is innocent. If you wish to find out all, find out more about the past history of Mr Templeton before he became engaged to Laura. She would never in the world have committed suicide. She was too bright and cheerful for that, even if Mr Templeton had been about to break off the engagement. My daughters Laura and Marian were always treated by Mr Wainwright and myself exactly alike. Of course they had their quarrels, just as all sisters do, but there was never, to my certain knowledge, a serious disagreement, and I was always close enough to my girls to know. No, Laura was murdered by someone outside.’

Kennedy did not seem to attach much importance to this statement. ‘Let us see,’ he began reflectively. ‘First, we have a young woman especially attractive and charming in both person and temperament. She is just about to be married and, if the reports are to be believed, there was no cloud on her happiness. Secondly, we have a young man whom everyone agrees to have been of an ardent, energetic, optimistic temperament. He had everything to live for, presumably. So far, so good. Everyone who has investigated this case, I understand, has tried to eliminate the double-suicide and the suicide-and-murder theories. That is all right, providing the facts are as stated. We shall see, later, when we interview the coroner. Now, Mr Whitney, suppose you tell us briefly what you have learned about the past history of the two unfortunate lovers.’

‘Well, the Wainwrights are an old Westchester family, not very wealthy, but of the real aristocracy of the county. There were only two children, Laura and Marian. The Templetons were much the same sort of family. The children all attended a private school at White Plains, and there also they met Schuyler Vanderdyke. These four constituted a sort of little aristocracy in the school. I mention this because Vanderdyke later became Laura’s first husband. This marriage with Templeton was a second venture.’

‘How long ago was she divorced?’ asked Craig attentively.

‘About three years ago. I’m coming to that in a moment. The sisters went to college together, Templeton to law school, and Vanderdyke studied civil engineering. Their intimacy was pretty well broken up, all except Laura’s and Vanderdyke’s. Soon after he graduated he was taken into the construction department of the Central Railroad by his uncle, who was a vice-president, and Laura and he were married. As far as I can learn he had been a fellow of convivial habits at college, and about two years after their marriage his wife suddenly became aware of what had long been well known in Williston, that Vanderdyke was paying marked attention to a woman named Miss Laporte in New York.

‘No sooner had Laura Vanderdyke learned of this intimacy of her husband,’ continued Whitney, ‘than she quietly hired private detectives to shadow him, and on their evidence she obtained a divorce. The papers were sealed, and she resumed her maiden name.

‘As far as I can find out, Vanderdyke then disappeared from her life. He resigned his position with the railroad and joined a party of engineers exploring the upper Amazon. Later he went to Venezuela. Miss Laporte also went to South America about the same time, and was for a time in Venezuela, and later in Peru.

‘Vanderdyke seems to have dropped all his early associations completely, though at present I find he is back