The Last Woman

  CHAPTER XIX

  RODERICK DUNCAN SEES LIGHT

  The police department of the city of New York did not earn thethousand dollars reward offered by Roderick Duncan. The mystery of theabandoned car, owned by Jack Gardner, was not explained. PatrickO'Toole did not return to his duties at Cedarcrest. The story of thewreck of the White Steamer on the rocks under the derrick remaineduntold. Patricia Langdon did not reappear among her friends andacquaintances in the city. The mysteries born of that party atCedarcrest continued unsolved.

  Roderick Duncan, having arrived at a conclusion about all thosematters which was quite satisfactory to himself, declined to concernhimself farther about them; he believed that he perfectly understoodthe situation, and he let it go at that--although he engaged theservices of every clipping-bureau in the city, in an effort to findannouncement somewhere of the marriage of Patricia Langdon to RichardMorton. But no such record was discovered, nor was any evidence foundthat suggested such a possibility. He withdrew very much into himself,shunned his clubs, avoided his friends, and could not himself tell whyhe did not go away somewhere, to the other side of the world, seekingto forget what he had lost. He went so far in his studied aloofness asto keep entirely away from Stephen Langdon, and was perhaps all themore surprised when, as time elapsed, Patricia's father did not sendfor him. The utter silence of Stephen Langdon, and his entireinactivity concerning the absence of his daughter convinced Duncan, asit did also Patricia's, friends, generally, that he knew perfectlywell where she was. It was a logical conclusion, too, for, if StephenLangdon had not known, it is safe to say that he would have movedheaven and earth to find his daughter.

  Jack and Sally Gardner went to Europe and took Beatrice with them.Nesbit Farnham followed them, on the next steamer. The Misses Houston,also, disappeared. The newspapers had contained merely a mention ofthe wreck, nothing more of consequence. The destruction of the machinewas told, and it was hinted that the chauffeur was slightly injured;nothing was said to suggest that Richard Morton had been hurt at all.The police, to whom Duncan had telephoned, made no bones ofpooh-poohing the entire matter, and laughing in their sleeves aboutit. The police had their own ideas about the whole thing--and speedilyforgot them all.

  Stephen Langdon was strangely grim and silent, those days; he was alsounusually dangerous to his rivals in "the street." Every energy thathe possessed seemed bent upon ruining somebody, anybody. It did notoccur to Duncan that the old man avoided him, because he was guilty ofthe like avoidance himself; but, had he been less concerned with hisown sorrows, and given some thought to Stephen Langdon's, he wouldhave been quick enough to discover that the old financier dodged him,studiously.

  There was no gossip about the disappearance of Patricia, becausenothing was known about it. She was out of town, as were most of herassociates; traveling somewhere, doubtless, or was passing the timeamong her numerous friends.

  The first week after the beginning of the mystery was lived through ina state of unrest by Duncan, and the second and third weeks brought nochange to him. With the beginning of the fourth week, he encounteredBurke Radnor, and the mere sight of the newspaper man recalled to theyoung millionaire that bitterly unpleasant episode in which his nameand that of Beatrice Brunswick were coupled. Radnor was seated in thelobby of the Hotel Astor, when Duncan entered the place. The man hadbeen drinking just enough to render him a bit boisterous and a trifleloud in his talk and demeanor, when Duncan saw him. He was seated withseveral other men, and all of them were talking and laughing togetherat the moment when Duncan passed them on his way to the desk toinquire for a guest whom he desired to see. He took no notice whateverof Radnor, and was passing on, when a remark dropped noisily by thenewspaper writer arrested him. It brought him to a halt so suddenly,that he sank at once upon a chair near at hand, and remained therewithout realizing that he did so, for the sole purpose of hearing whatelse Radnor might have to say upon this particular subject. He wouldhave passed on, even then, had he not been convinced that Radnor hadnot seen him, and did not suspect his nearness. As he listened, hegathered that Radnor was boasting of a prospective news story which hehad in prospect, and for the publication of which he needed only a fewadditional facts.

  "--elopement in high life, with an automobile wreck, a broken head--abroken heart also, only that was quickly mended--and a bunch of otherlittle details thrown in, you know," was the remark that was overheardby Duncan, as he strolled past the group; was his reason for droppingdown upon a convenient chair and remaining there, to listen. "The ladyin the case is a swell who is away up in the top rank of the'two-hundred-and-fifty;' and the man--well, he is up in high C, too,for that matter. One of the newly-rich, you know, lately materializedout of the wild and woolly. Fine stunt, that story; only, I can't seemto nail the few additional facts I need," Radnor continued, whileDuncan listened with all his ears. "There are certain elementsconnected with the story that make it especially attractive to me,for, in addition to getting a clear scoop in the biggest sensation ofthe year, I can clean up an old grudge of mine, bee-eautifully. Andwon't I clean it up, when I get my hooks fairly into it! Well! You cantake it from me."

  "Oh, go on, Radnor, and tell us about it!" urged one of hiscompanions--another newspaper writer, evidently. "How'd you get nextto it in the first place?"

  "Oh, that was an accident--a series of accidents, it might be called.I don't mind telling you that part of it, without names. I mentioneda broken head, just now. Well, I had a line on a dandy story that waslocated out of town, and so I borrowed Tony Brokaw's automobile to goafter it, because the story was located some distance off of the mainline of travel. I was bowling along quite merrily, all alone in a carthat is made to carry seven. It was just in the shank of the evening,and--"

  "All this happened out of town, didn't it, Radnor?"

  "Yes--a little way out. I came to a place where there had been awreck, and--well--seated on the ground at the scene of the disaster,was the lady in the case, holding the head of the man in the case, inher lap, and moaning over it to beat the band. Standing beside them,like a big dog on guard, was a 'faithful servant.' It made a picturethat couldn't be beaten, for suggestive points, provided thelikenesses were made good enough. I took the whole thing in, at aglance, and sized the situation up rather correctly, too. The youngwoman was rattled clean out of her senses, and kept moaning somethingabout it's being all her fault--I wasn't able to get just the gist ofthat part of it. She knew me by sight, and remembered my name. Ioffered my assistance, and then fell to examining the injured man. Idiscovered that he wasn't dead by a long shot, although he had beenhurt quite badly, and he'd bled a lot. But I've been a warcorrespondent; I know all about first aid to the injured; I have seenwounds of all kinds, and it didn't take me long to estimate 'mistermagusalem's' chances at about a thousand to one, for recovery. I madethe chauffeur help me, and together we toted the wounded man to mycar, and put him in the tonneau. The lady climbed in beside him--andordered her chauffeur to follow her, and help her with the injuredman. All the time, I was keeping up a devil of a thinking, wonderingwhat it was all about. You see, I knew who the man and the woman were,but I couldn't fix the facts of the case sufficiently clear to satisfyme. I knew it would be a dandy sensation for the morning papers, butthere was yet plenty of time to get it in, over a wire--besides, Iwanted it to go in late, so that other papers than the one I gave itto, couldn't get a line on it. I got into my car--that is, the one Ihad borrowed, you understand--wondering where I would take the bunch,when another car stopped alongside of us, and a man, also alone, askedwhat was the matter. I found out that he was a doctor, and got him totake a look at the wounded man. To make a long story short, hedressed the wound then and there, said there wasn't any immediatedanger--and a lot more--and went on his way. That decided me. I knewof a place about twenty miles away where I could take them, where theman would have the best of care, and--best of all--where I could fixthings up to keep everything quiet till I found out all the facts. Yousee, I scented the greatest sensationa
l story of my career--and Iwasn't far out, either, if ever I get all of it."

  "But, great Scott, man, didn't you have it then?"

  "You'd have had it, Sommers; but not I. I knew there was more to it.When the doctor pulled his freight out of there, I didn't lose anytime in getting a move on me, too. And the girl never asked aquestion; not one; I had told her that I would take them to a placewhere the man could get well, and she seemed satisfied. The chauffeurnever peeped a word. I let the motor skim along at a good rate, andwasn't long in bringing the bunch to the place I had thought of, whichhappens to be a small, private sanatorium, which isn't known to be oneat all, save by those who patronize it and who want to put their lovedones away for a time, secretly. But the doc who runs it, is a goodfellow, a good friend of mine, and when I told him that we didn'twant a word said about the affair--and particularly when he discoveredwho the parties were and that there was a heap of dough in it forhim--he fell into my plans without a dissenting vote."

  "Say, Radnor, that's a long winded yarn, all right, but it'sinteresting. I wish, though, that you'd open up with the names."

  "Not I, Sommers. I haven't got to the real mystery of theaffair--yet."

  "You don't say! What is it?"

  "Well, when I had fixed things to suit me, and had received the thanksof the lady, when I had also satisfied myself that she was just asanxious for secrecy about the thing as I was, although I couldn't tellexactly why she was so, I hiked it back for town. It was too late,then, to get the other story I had been after, and I had ceased tocare much about it, anyhow; and then, when I was ready to leave, outcame the chauffeur, and he said, if I didn't mind, he'd ride part ofthe way back with me. He and the woman had been whispering together,just before that, and I sized it up that she had given him certaininstructions to carry out. Anyhow, when we arrived at the scene of theaccident, the chauffeur got down, and I came on, to the city, alone.I'm not going to tell you why the chauffeur left me, at the scene ofthe accident, because that would give you a pointer which I don't wishyou to have. He had a certain duty to perform which I did not guessat, just then, but which was all plain to me the next A. M., ifanybody should ask you. It amazed me, and it added immensely to themystery. And now, brace yourself, fellows, for the real mystery--theone I am chasing at the present time."

  "We're all ears, Radnor."

  "I telephoned to my friend the doc, the next morning. He reported thatthe man was doing well, and that the lady was hanging over him like apossum over a ripe persimmon. I telephoned again that afternoon, againthe next morning, and every day after that, but the doc kept tellingme that, although the man was doing well, and the lady was still therewith him, I had better not butt in until he tipped me the wink--andI'll give you my word that he managed to keep me on the hooks for tendays before I tumbled."

  "Tumbled to what?"

  "You shall hear. I got leary about things on the tenth day, for thistelephoning was getting monotonous, and borrowed Brokaw's car again,but when I got to the little hidden sanatorium, my birds had flown,and--"

  "Your birds had flown! What do you mean, Radnor?"

  "Just what I say. The man and the woman had gone, and the doc wouldn'ttell me when they went away, or anything at all about them. He said hehad been well paid for keeping quiet, and I couldn't get any moreinformation out of him than you could dig out of a clam. What is more,that chauffeur hadn't been seen by anybody since I dropped him out ofthe machine, at the scene of the accident--and that is the story. Idon't know whether the doc lied to me, or not. He wouldn't let me gothrough his place, and, for all I know, the man and the girl were boththere when I went back. On the other hand, they might have been gone aweek, already. I've been unearthing every clue I could think of, sincethen, to get trace of them, but you might as well look for saw dust inhades, as for clues about those two--or rather the three of them, forI am satisfied that the chauffeur returned to the sanatorium after hehad performed the errand he was sent to do."

  "What gets me," said Sommers, "is how people as prominent as you saythey were could fade out of sight like that, and leave no trace behindthem. I should have thought there would be a hue and cry after themthat would have stirred every newspaper in town."

  "Well--all that rather gets me, too. Of course, I could make a bigstory out of it, as it stands; but that isn't all of the story, and Iwant it all."

  "There is a scandal in the thing, too, Radnor."

  "Of course, man! The fellow wasn't so badly hurt but what he must havebeen around again, by the time I went back to the sanatorium. The girlwas certainly in her right senses. She remained there with him,hanging over him and helping to take care of him--and there wasn't athing said about any marriage-ceremony. Oh, it's a big story allright, no matter how it turns out. You see, there are some remarkablecircumstances associated with the case. For instance, there are twomen in town now, both of whom should be very greatly concerned overthe mystery. I have had them both watched, and, while both seemanxious about something, neither one seems to give a hang about anaffair which I know they would have broken their necks to haveprevented. There's a nigger in the fence, somewhere; and those two menavoid each other as if one had the smallpox and the other was downwith yellow fever. Whenever I have asked any of the intimate friendsabout the principals in the case, I have been told enough to informme that the intimate friends know as little as I do, and don't guessanything about it, at all. Oh, it's a fine mix-up! But just where thetrouble is located, I can't make out."

  "Put me wise, Radnor, and let me help you. Then, we'll do the storytogether," said the man called Sommers.

  "Not much. It's my story, and I'm going to hang to it. If you can makeanything out of what I have told you, you're welcome. You can't! Theyoung woman in the case has got more brains than half the businessmen, down-town. The man and the woman have both got millions to burn;and there you are. Come on; let's have something. I'm dry as a bone."

  The members of Radnor's party marched past Roderick Duncan withoutseeing him; and he, totally forgetful of the errand that had taken himto the hotel, passed swiftly out of it, hailed a taxi, and gave theaddress of Malcolm Melvin, the lawyer; and then he was whirled away asswiftly as the driver of the cab dared to take him through the streetsof the teeming city.