CHAPTER XXV THE WHOLE TRUTH
The two went straight down to the office of the district attorney. "Imust send a message to Mr. Whiting at once," Fleming Stone said to asecretary there.
"Mr. Whiting is in the Court of General Sessions, just below this officehere, and I'd rather not disturb him. Can your business wait?"
"It cannot," declared Stone, "not an instant. Please send this messageimmediately. Mr Whiting will not be annoyed at the interruption."
As Fleming Stone and Fibsy entered the courtroom District AttorneyWhiting was reading the note in which the detective asked the privilegeof speaking to him a moment, and partially told why.
At that instant also, the jury were filing into the box prepared to givetheir verdict.
"Gentlemen of the jury," said the clerk of the court, "have you arrivedat a verdict?"
"We have," replied the foreman.
"What is it?"
"We find the defendant guilty, as charged in the indictment, of--"
"Excuse me, your Honor," said the district attorney, hurriedly, to thejudge on the bench, "I would like to interrupt here," and he walkedtoward the bench.
A strange and expectant hush fell over the courtroom, as the judge andthe district attorney conferred in whispers. The conference continued afew moments, and then the judge said suddenly, "This is a matter thatshould be discussed with the lawyer for the defense. Judge Hoyt, will youplease step to the bench?"
The three held a short parley, and then the judge on the bench said, "Mr.Fleming Stone, will kindly come here?"
"If it please your Honor, I ask to be heard."
Leslie Hoyt looked round angrily, and as Stone's calm, clear voice wasfollowed by the appearance of his stalwart figure, there was a stirthroughout the room.
"As a detective recently employed on this case," Stone said, "I wish totell of my discoveries."
"Tell your story in your own way, Mr. Stone," instructed the judge, andStone began.
"As you are all aware, the dying words of Mr. Trowbridge are said to be,'Cain killed me!' implying, it was at first supposed, an allusion to thefirst murderer of Scripture history. Later, it was adjudged to mean areference to Kane Landon. But I submit a third meaning, which is that Mr.Trowbridge was killed by a cane in the hands of his assailant, said canebeing of the variety know as a dirk or sword cane. This type ofwalking-stick, the carrying of which is forbidden by law, has a daggerconcealed in it, which may be drawn forth by the handle. An imprint hasbeen found of a cane near the place of the crime, and to this print hasbeen fitted a cane of the dirk or sword variety. The ownership of thiscane has been traced to a man, who is known to have benefited by thedeath of the victim. I refer to Judge Leslie Hoyt, the counsel for thedefense!"
A sudden commotion was followed by an intense hush. Hoyt's face was likecarved marble. No emotion of any sort did he show, but waited, as if forStone to proceed.
And Stone did proceed. "Here is the cane," he said, taking a long parcelfrom a messenger. "Is it yours, Mr. Hoyt?"
Hoyt glanced at it carelessly.
"No, I never saw it before," he said.
"It was found in the closet of your dressing-room," went on Stone.
"By whom?"
"Terence McGuire."
A look of hatred dawned on Hoyt's face, also the first expression of fearhe had shown.
"That self-avowed liar!" he said, contemptuously.
"His word is not in question now," said Stone, sternly. "This cane wasfound in your apartments. It is a dirk, as may be seen."
Stone drew out the slender, sharp blade, and the audience shivered.
Disregarding Hoyt, Stone continued his address to the court.
"Additional evidence is a shoe button picked up at the scene of thecrime. It is proved to be from one of Mr. Hoyt's shoes. True, these donot connect Mr. Hoyt directly with this murder, but I can produce awitness who will do so."
Stone then proceeded to tell of the Italian woman and her story.
"The connecting link is this," he said; "the day after the murder, duringthe coroner's inquest, our bright young friend, McGuire, noticed on Mr.Hoyt's coat an odor familiar to him as a remedy used to burn forwhooping-cough. The scent is strong and unmistakable and clingsineradicably to a garment that has been worn, even for a few momentswhere the remedy is used. Mrs. Robbio's children had the whooping-cough;she was using the remedy the day the murderer stopped in at her littleshop and threatening her with this very dirk, forced her to deliver themessage he dictated to the police station.
"It was a clever ruse and would have remained undetected, but for thequick-witted youth who noticed the odor, and remembered it whenwhooping-cough was mentioned."
"A string of lies," sneered Hoyt. "Made up by the notorious street gaminwho glories in his sobriquet of liar!"
Still unheeding, Stone went on.
"In search for a motive for the murder of Rowland Trowbridge by LeslieHoyt, I examined the will of the deceased, and discovered, what I amprepared to prove, that it is, in part, a forgery. The instrument wasduly drawn up by Judge Hoyt, as lawyer for the testator. It was dulywitnessed, and after,----"
Fleming Stone paused and looked fixedly at Hoyt, and the latter at lastquailed before that accusing glance.
"And after, at his leisure, the lawyer inserted on the same typewriter,and with greatest care, the words, '_and herself become the wife ofLeslie Hoyt_.' This clause was not written or dictated by Mr. Trowbridge,it was inserted after his death, by his lawyer."
"You can't prove that!" cried Hoyt springing to his feet.
"I can easily prove it," declared Stone; "It is written on a new ribbonknown to have been put into the typewriter, the afternoon the murder tookplace. And, too, it is of slightly different slant and level from therest. Of course, it was only by microscopic investigation I discoveredthese facts, but they are most clearly proven."
"Gee! he's goin' to brash it out!" exclaimed Fibsy, under his breath, asHoyt rose, with vengeance in his eye.
But the judge waved him back as Stone proceeded.
"I understand Mr. Hoyt claims as an alibi, that he was in Philadelphiathat day."
"I was," declared the accused; "I brought home an afternoon paper fromthat city."
"The paper was from that city, but you bought it at a New York news standto prove your case, should it ever be necessary."
"What rubbish! I wrote Mr. Trowbridge the day before, that I was going.The letter was found in his pocket."
"Where you placed it yourself after the murder!" shot back Stone.
"Ridiculous! I also telegraphed to----"
"The telegram was faked. I have examined it myself, and it is typewrittenin imitation of the usual form, but it never went through the company'shands. That, too, you placed in Mr. Rowland's pocket after,--after thecane killed him! You remember, Mr. District Attorney, a lead pencil wasfound on the ground at the scene of the crime. I am prepared to provethis pencil the property of Judge Hoyt. And this is my proof. Until theday of the crime, Judge Hoyt had been in the habit of using a patentsharpener to sharpen his lead pencils. I have learned from Judge Hoyt'sJapanese servant, that the day after the murder, Judge Hoyt discardedthat sharpener, and used a knife. This was to do away with any suspicionthat might rest on him as owner of the pencil. On that very date, heresharpened, with a penknife, all his pencils and thus cleverly turnedthe tide of suspicion."
"Also a clever feat, the finding of this out," murmured Whiting.
"The credit for that is due to the lad, McGuire," said Stone. "At thetime of the inquest, the boy noticed the pencil, particularly; andafterward, telling me of his surmises, I looked up the matter and foundthe proof. Again, the man I accuse, secured a handkerchief from Stryker'sroom, and carried it away for the purpose of incriminating the butler. Itseems, owing to a past secret, the butler was in the power of Judge Hoyt.However, circumstances led suspicion in other directions. The tell-talehandkerchief seemed to point first t
o the Swedish couple. Later it seemedto point to the butler, Stryker, and later still, was used as a pointagainst Kane Landon. But it is really the curse that has come home toroost where it belongs, as a condemnation of Judge Leslie Hoyt. This archcriminal planned so cleverly and carried out his schemes so carefully,that he overreached himself. His marvelously complete alibi is _too_perfect. His diabolical skill in arranging his spurious letter, telegram,newspaper, and finally a picture postcard, which I shall tell of shortly,outdid itself, and his excessive care was his own undoing. But, inaddition to these points, I ask you to hear the tale of young McGuire,who has suffered at the hands of Judge Hoyt, not only injustice andinconvenience, but attempted crime."
Fibsy was allowed to tell his own story, and half shy, half frightened,he began.
"At first, Judge Hoyt he wanted me to go to woik in Philadelphia, an' Ithought it was queer, but I went, an' I discovered he was payin' me wageshimself. That was funny, an' it was what gimme the foist steer. So I cameback to New York an' I stayed here, makin' b'lieve me aunt needed me. Sothen one day, Judge Hoyt, he took me to dinner at a restaurant, sayin' hetook a notion to me, an' wanted me to learn to be a gent'man. Well, whenwe had coffee, he gimme a little cup foist, an' then he put some sugar init fer me. Well, I seen the sugar was diffrunt--"
"Different from what?" asked Whiting.
"From the rest'rant sugar. That was smooth an' oblong, and what the judgeput into my cup, was square lumps, and rougher on the sides. So Is'picioned sumpin was wrong, an' I didn't drink that coffee. I left it onthe table. An' soon's I reached the street I ran back fer me paper, whatI'd left on poipose, and I told the waiter to save that cup o' coffee ferevidence in a moider trial. An' he did, an' Mr. Stone he's had itexamined, an' it's full of--of what, Mr. Stone?"
"Of nitro-glycerine," asserted Stone, gravely.
"Yes, sir, Judge Hoyt tried to kill me, he did." Fibsy's big blue eyeswere dark with the thrill of his subject rather than fear now. He wasabsorbed in his recital, and went steadily on, his manner and tone,unlettered and unschooled though they were, carrying absolute convictionof truth.
"When I seen that queer sugar goin' in me cup, me thinker woiked likelightnin' an' I knew it meant poison. So I thunk quickly how to nail thejob onto him, and I did. Then soon after that, I was kidnapped. Atelephone call told me Mr. Stone was waitin' fer me in a taxi, and when Iflew meself to it, it wasn't Mr. Stone at all, but a Japanese feller,name o' Kite. He took me to a swell house, and locked me in. If I triedany funny business he gave me a joo jitsy, till I quit tryin'. Well, Ididn't know whose house it was, but I've sence found out it was JudgeHoyt's. He lived with his sister an' she's away, but the Jap told me itwas another man's house. Well, in that house, I found one o' thempostcard pictures o' Judge Hoyt in the Philadelphia station. I didn'tthink even then, 'bout me bein' in his house, I just thought maybe it wasa friend o' hisen. But when I 'zamined that picture, I saw the judge hadpertended it was took a diffrunt date from what it was. Now, I thought hekinda lugged it in by the ears when he showed it to me anyway, an' Ibegan to s'picion he meant to make me think sumpin' what wasn't so.'Course that could only be that he wasn't in Phil'delphia when he said hewas. An' he wasn't."
Fibsy's quietly simple statements were more dramatic than if he had beenmore emphatic, and the audience listened, spellbound.
Judge Hoyt sat like a graven image. He neither denied nor admittedanything, one might almost say he looked slightly amused, but a tremblinghand, and a constant gnawing of his quivering lip told the truth to aclose observer.
"And you were held prisoner in Judge Hoyt's house, how long?"
"Nearly a week."
"And then?"
"Then I jumped down a clothes chute, and ran out on the basement door."
"A clothes chute? You mean a laundry slide?"
"Yes, sir. I'm told it's that. I didn't know what it was. Only it was away out."
"You jumped?"
"Well, I sorter slid. I threw down pillers and mattresses first, so itwas soft."
"You are a clever boy."
"No, sir, it ain't that," and Fibsy looked embarrassed. "You see, I gotthat detective instick, an' I can't help a usin' of it. You see, it wasme what got Miss Trowbridge to send for Mr. Stone, an' then Judge Hoyt hetried to head him off."
"How?"
"Well, I jest knew for pos'tive certain sure, that this case was too bigfer anybody to sling but Mr. Stone. Well, I got Miss Trowbridge to sendfer him, and Judge Hoyt he told Miss Avice, Mr. Stone was outa town. ThenI said I seen him on the street the day before, an' we called him up, an'he was right there on the spot, but said he'd had a telegram not to come.Well, Judge Hoyt, he sent that telegram. But the way I got Miss Avice todo it in the first place, was to get me Aunt Becky to go to her an' tellher she'd had a revelation, and fer Miss Avice to go to a clairvoyant.Well, an' so Miss Avice did, an' that clairvoyant she told her to get Mr.Stone. You see, the clairvoyant, Maddum Isis, she's a friend of me AuntBecky's, so we three fixed it up between us, and Miss Avice went an' gotMr. Stone. If I'd a tried any other way, Judge Hoyt he'd found a way toprevent Mr. Stone from comin' 'cause he knew he'd do him up."
"This is a remarkable tale,--"
"But true in every particular," averred Fleming Stone. "This boy has donefine work, and deserves great credit. The final proof, I think, of theguilt of Judge Hoyt, is the fact that the cane found in his room exactlyfits a round mark found in the soil at the scene of the crime and cutfrom the earth, and carefully preserved by McGuire. Also, a shoe buttonfound there corresponds with the buttons on shoes found in Judge Hoyt'sdressing room. And it seems to me the most logical construction is putupon the dying words of Rowland Trowbridge, when we conclude that hemeant he was killed by a cane, thus describing the weapon. Judge Hoytalso is conversant with the Latin names of the specimens of naturalhistory which Mr. Trowbridge was in the habit of collecting, and it washe, of course, who telephoned about the set trap and the Scaphinotus.And, as his motive was to win the hand of Miss Trowbridge by means of aforged clause in her uncle's will, we can have no further doubts."
"You have done marvelous work, Mr. Stone," said the judge on the bench."And you say this young lad helped you?"
"No, your Honor, I helped him. He noticed clues and points about the caseat once. But he could persuade no one to take him seriously, and finally,Judge Hoyt, for reasons of his own, sent the boy to a lucrative positionout of the town."
There were many details to be attended to, much business to betransacted, and many proofs to be looked up. But first of all the name ofKane Landon was cleared and the prisoner set free.
Leslie Hoyt was arrested and held for trial.
As Avice passed him on her way out of the courtroom, he detained her tosay: "_You_ know why I did it! I've told you I would do anything for you!I'm not sorry, I'm only sorry I failed!" His eyes showed a hard glitter,and Avice shrank away, as if from a maniac, which indeed he looked.
"Brave up, Miss Avice," whispered Fibsy, who saw the girl pale andtremble. "You orta be so glad Mr. Landon is out you'd forget Judge Hoyt!"
"Yes, brave up, darling," added Landon, overhearing. "At last I can loveyou with a clear conscience. If I had known that clause about yourmarriage was not uncle's wish, how different it would have been! But Icouldn't ask you for yourself, if by that you lost your fortune!"
"Why wouldn't you straightforwardly tell me you were innocent, Kane?"asked Avice as they rode home together.
"I couldn't, dear. I know I was foolish, but the fact of your doubting meeven enough to ask me, made me so furious, I couldn't breathe! Didn't you_know_ I _couldn't_ kill Uncle Rowly?"
"I _did_ know it, truly I did, Kane; but I was crazy; I wasn't myself allthose dreadful days!"
"And you won't be now, if you stay here! I'm going to marry you all up,and take you far away on a long trip, right now, before we hear anythingmore about Leslie Hoyt and his wickedness!"
"I'd love to go away, Kane; but I can't be married in such a hurry. Let'sgo on a
trip, and take Mrs. Black for chaperone, and then get marriedwhen I say so!"
This plan didn't suit Landon so well as his own, but he was coerced intosubmission by the love of his liege lady, and the trip was planned.
Fibsy was greatly honored and praised. But the peculiar character of theboy made him oblivious to compliments.
"I don't care about bookays, Miss Avice," he said, earnestly; when shepraised him, "just to have saved Mr. Landon an' you is enough. An' toknock the spots out o' Judge Hoyt! But it's the game that gets me. Thewhole detective business! I'm goin' to be a big one, like Mr. Stone. Gee!Miss Avice, did you catch on to how he ran Judge Hoyt down, the minute Igave him the steer? That's the trick! Oh, he's a hummer, F. Stone is! An'he's goin' to let me work with him, sometimes!"
Fibsy spoke the last words in a hushed, rapt tone, as if scarcely daringto believe them himself.
"But I say," he went on suddenly; "what about that guy as telephoned andcalled Mr. Trowbridge 'Uncle'?"
"It wasn't I," said Landon; "I called up uncle that afternoon, butcouldn't get him."
"Then I know," said Avice. "It was Judge Hoyt. You see," and she blushedas she looked at Landon, "he was so sure he would marry me, he frequentlysaid 'uncle' to my uncle. And Uncle Rowly sometimes called him, 'nephew'.They used to do it to tease me."
"Your uncle really wanted you to marry him, then?" and Landon lookedanxious.
"Yes, he did. But not to the extent of putting it in his will! Uncleoften said to me, that as I didn't seem to care for any one else I mightas well marry Leslie."
"And now, you do care for somebody else?"
Landon had forgotten the presence of the boy. But Avice had not, and shelooked around.
"Sure, Miss Avice," said Fibsy, politely, as if in response to her spokenword, and he slid swiftly from the room.
And then Avice answered Kane Landon's question.