The problem of Cell 13
"Then Mr. Hatch told me another important thing," he went on. "At the
moment it appeared a coincidence, later it assumed its complete
importance. This was that Dr. Leonard did not actually see the face of
the 'girl--only the chin; that the hair was covered by a veil and the
mask covered the remainder of the face. Here for the first time I saw
that it was wholly possible that the woman _was not Miss Melrose at
all_. I saw it as a possibility; not that I believed it. I had no
reason to, then.
"The dress of the young woman meant nothing; it was that of thousands
of other young women who go automobiling--handsome tailor-made gown,
tan dust coat. Then I tricked Mr. Curtis--I suppose it is only fair to
use the proper word--into telling me his story by making him believe
he made compromising admissions while unconscious. I had, I may say,
too, examined his head minutely. I have always maintained that the
head of a murderer will show a certain indentation. Mr. Curtis's head
did not show this indentation, neither does Mr. Reid's.
"Mr. Curtis told me the first thing to show that the knife which
killed the girl--I still believed her Miss Melrose then--could have
passed out of his hands. He said when he leaped from the automobile he
thought he dropped something, searched for it a moment, failed to find
it, then, being in a hurry, went on. He called back to Mr. Reid to
search for what he had lost. That is when Mr. Curtis lost the knife;
that is when it passed into the possession of Mr. Reid. He found it."
Every eye was turned on Reid. He sat as if fascinated, staring into
the upward turned face of the scientist.
"There we had a girl--presumably Miss Melrose--dead, by a knife owned
by Mr. Curtis, last in the possession of Mr. Reid. Mr. Hatch had
previously told me that the medical examiner said the wound which
killed the girl came from her right, in a general direction. Therefore
here was a possibility that Mr. Reid did it in the automobile--a
possibility, I say.
"I asked Mr. Curtis why he tried to recover the knife from Dr.
Leonard. He stammered and faltered, but really it was because, having
recognized the knife, he was afraid the crime would come home to him.
Mr. Curtis denied flatly that the knife was his, and in denying told
me that it was. It was not Mr. Reid's I was assured. Mr. Curtis also
told me of his love for Miss Melrose, but there was nothing there, as
it appeared, strong enough to suggest a motive for murder. He
mentioned you, Mr. MacLean, then.
"Then Mr. Curtis named Miss Dow as one whose hand had been sought by
Mr. Reid. Mr. Hatch told me this girl--Miss Dow--had eloped the night
before with Morgan Mason from Monarch Inn--or, to be exact, that her
family had received a letter from her stating that she was eloping;
that Mason had taken out a marriage license. Remember this was the
girl that Reid was in love with; it was singular that there should
have been a Monarch Inn end to that elopement as well as to this
tragedy.
"This meant nothing as bearing on the abstract problem before me until
Mr. Curtis described Miss Melrose as having golden hair. With another
minor scrap of information Mr. Hatch again opened up vast
possibilities by stating that the medical examiner, a careful man, had
said Miss Melrose had dark hair. I asked him if he had seen the body;
he had not. But the medical examiner told him that. Instantly in my
mind the question was aroused: Was it _Miss Melrose_ who was killed?
This was merely a possibility; it still had no great weight with me.
"I asked Mr. Curtis as to the circumstances which caused his collapse
in Winter Street. He explained it was because he had seen a woman whom
he would have sworn was Miss Melrose if he had not known that she was
dead. This, following the dark hair and blonde hair puzzle, instantly
caused this point to stand forth sharply in my mind. Was Miss Melrose
dead at all? I had good reason then to believe that she was _not_.
"Previously, with the idea of fixing for all time the ownership of the
knife--yet knowing in my own mind it was Mr. Curtis's--I had sent for
Mr. Reid. I told him Mr. Curtis had said it was his knife. Mr. Reid
fell into the trap and did the very thing I expected. He declared
angrily the knife was Mr. Curtis's, thinking Curtis had tried to
saddle the crime on him. Then I turned Mr. Curtis over to the police.
When he was locked up I was reasonably certain that he did not commit
any crime, because I had traced the knife from him to Mr. Reid."
There was a glitter in Reid's eyes now. It was not fear, only a
nervous battle to restrain himself. The Thinking Machine went on:
"I saw the body of the dead woman--indeed, assisted at her autopsy.
She was a pronounced brunette--Miss Melrose was a blonde. The mistake
in identity was not an impossible one in view of the fact that each
wore a mask and had her hair tied up under a veil. That woman was
stabbed from the right--still a possibility of suicide."
"Who was the woman?" demanded Curtis. He seemed utterly unable to
control himself longer.
"Miss Elizabeth Dow, who was supposed to have eloped with Morgan
Mason," was the quiet reply.
Instant amazement was reflected on every face save Reid's, and again
every eye was turned to him. Miss Dow's maid burst into tears.
"Mr. Reid knew who the woman was all the time," said The Thinking
Machine. "Knowing then that Miss Dow was the dead woman--this belief
being confirmed by a monogram gold belt buckle, 'E. D.,' on the
body--I proceeded to find out all I could in this direction. The
waiters had seen Mr. Reid in the inn; had seen him talking to a masked
and veiled lady who had been waiting for nearly an hour; had seen him
go into a room with her, but had not seen them leave the inn. Mr. Reid
had recognized the lady--not she him. How? By a glimpse of the
monogram belt buckle which he knew because he probably gave it to
her."
"He did," interposed Hatch.
"I did," said Reid, calmly. It was the first time he had spoken.
"Now, Mr. Reid went into the room and closed the door, carrying with
him Mr. Curtis's knife," went on The Thinking Machine. "I can't tell
you from _personal observation_ what happened in that room, but I
know. Mr. Reid learned in some way that Miss Dow was going to elope;
he learned that she had been waiting long past the time when Mason was
due there; that she believed he had humiliated her by giving up the
idea at the last minute. Being in a highly nervous condition, she lost
faith in Mason and in herself, and perhaps mentioned suicide?"
"She did," said Reid, calmly.
"Go on, Mr. Reid," suggested The Thinking Machine.
"I believed, too, that Mason had changed his mind," the young man
continued, with steady voice. "I pleaded with Miss Dow to give up the
idea of eloping, because, remember, I loved her, too. She finally
consented to go on with our party, as her automobile had gone. We came
out of the inn together. When we reached the automobile--The Green
Dragon, I mean--I saw Miss Melrose getting into Mr. MacLean's
automobile, which had come up meanwhile. Instantly I saw, or imagined,
the circumstances, and said nothing to Miss Dow about it, particularly
as Mr. MacLean's car dashed away at full speed.
"Now, in taking Miss Dow to The Green Dragon it had been my purpose to
introduce her to Miss Melrose. She knew Mr. Curtis. When I saw Miss
Melrose was gone I knew Curtis would wonder why. I couldn't explain,
because every moment I was afraid Mason would appear to claim Miss Dow
and I was anxious to get her as far away as possible. Therefore I
requested her not to speak until we reached the next inn, and there I
would explain to Curtis.
"Somewhere between the Monarch Inn and the inn we had started for Miss
Dow changed her mind; probably was overcome by the humiliation of her
position, and she used the knife. She had seen me take the knife from
my pocket and throw it into the tool kit on the floor beside her. It
was comparatively a trifling matter for her to stoop and pick it up,
almost from under her feet, and----"
"Under all these circumstances, as stated by Mr. Reid," interrupted
The Thinking Machine, "we understand why, after he found the girl
dead, he didn't tell all the truth, even to Curtis. Any jury on earth
would have convicted him of murder on circumstantial evidence. Then,
when he saw Miss Dow dead, mistaken for Miss Melrose, he _could_ not
correct the impression without giving himself away. He was forced to
silence.
"I realized these things--not in exact detail as Mr. Reid has told
them, but in a general way--after my talk with the waiters. Then I set
out to find out _why_ Mason had not appeared. It was possibly due to
accident. On a chance entirely I asked the man in charge of the
gasoline tank at the Monarch if he had heard of an accident nearby on
the night of the tragedy. He had.
"With Mr. Hatch I found the injured man. A monogram, 'M.M.,' on his
watch, told me it was Morgan Mason. Mr. Mason had a serious accident
and still lies unconscious. He was going to meet Miss Dow when this
happened. He had two railroad tickets to New York--for himself and
bride--in his pocket."
Reid still sat staring at The Thinking Machine, waiting. The others
were awed into silence by the story of the tragedy.
"Having located both Mason and Miss Dow to my satisfaction, I then
sought to find what had become of Miss Melrose. Mr. Reid could have
told me this, but he wouldn't have, because it would have turned the
light on the very thing which he was trying to keep hidden. With Miss
Melrose alive, it was perfectly possible that Curtis _had_ seen her in
the Winter Street store.
"I asked Mr. Hatch if he remembered what store it was. He did. I also
asked Mr. Hatch if such a story as the murder of Miss Melrose would be
telegraphed all over the country. He said it would. It did not stand
to reason that if Miss Melrose were in any city, or even on a train,
she could have failed to hear of her own murder, which would instantly
have called forth a denial.
"Therefore, where was she? On the water, out of reach of newspapers? I
went to the store in Winter Street and asked if any purchases had been
sent from there to any steamer about to sail on the day following the
tragedy. There had been several purchases made by a woman who answered
Miss Melrose's description as I had it, and these had been sent to a
steamer which sailed for Halifax.
"Miss Melrose and Mr. MacLean, married then, were on that steamer. I
wired to Halifax to ascertain if they were coming back immediately.
They were. I waited for them. Otherwise, Mr. Hatch, I should have
given you the solution of the mystery two days ago. As it was, I
waited until Miss Melrose, or Mrs. MacLean, returned. I think that's
all."
"The letter from Miss Dow in Chicago?" Hatch reminded him.
"Oh, yes," said The Thinking Machine. "That was sent to a friend in
her confidence, and mailed on a specified date. As a matter of fact,
she and Mason were going to New York and thence to Europe. Of course,
as matters happened, the two letters--the other being the one mailed
from the Monarch Inn--were sent and could not be recalled."
* * * * * *
This strange story was one of the most astonishing news features the
American newspapers ever handled. Charles Reid was arrested,
established his story beyond question, and was released. His principal
witnesses were Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, Jack Curtis and
Mrs. Donald MacLean.
THE FLAMING PHANTOM
I.
Hutchinson Hatch, reporter, stood beside the City Editor's desk,
smoking and waiting patiently for that energetic gentleman to dispose
of several matters in hand. City Editors always have several matters
in hand, for the profession of keeping count of the pulse-beat of the