The Case and the Girl

  CHAPTER VII

  A VISIT TO THE INDIGENT

  The guests had either retired to their rooms, or were wandering aboutthe spacious grounds; at least none were in evidence when West emergedon to the side terrace, where Miss Natalie and Percival Coolidgewaited. The car was an electric runabout, the single broad seat amplefor the three, and West found himself next to the girl who took charge.Few words were exchanged until they turned into the main high-way,headed toward the city. Even then conversation scarcely touched on thespecial object of their trip. Indeed, Coolidge seemed inclined to avoidthe subject entirely, turning the conversation into other channelswhenever the matter was broached. This was so persistently done as toarouse West's notice, but Natalie appeared indifferent, interested onlyin her guidance of the car. It was not a long ride, the point soughtbeing a short submerged street in the southwestern section of thecity. To West this district was entirely unknown, even the street namesbeing unfamiliar, but he learned through the conversation of the othersthat they were in the neighbourhood of some of the Coolidge factories,many of the surrounding houses being the homes of employees. Percivalcalled his attention to a few of these, more substantial than theothers, as evidence of the wages paid in their establishments, and alsoexpatiated to some extent upon the benevolent oversight shown theirworkmen. The girl, however, remained quiet, her attention concentratedupon the street.

  Indeed it needed to be if they were to escape accident, for the streetstraversed were, on this Sunday morning, evidently filled from curb tocurb with children engaged in all manner of games, with their eldersmassed on the steps in front of the houses, watching them apathetically.The runabout felt its way cautiously forward through the jostling throngof screaming youngsters, and finally turned into Arch Street, only twoblocks in length, with low, two storied, wooden cottages on either side.Percival, plainly nervous at the surroundings, indicated the placesought in the middle of the first block, and Natalie ran the car upagainst the curb.

  "Is this the place?" she asked doubtfully, eyeing the ratherdisreputable cottage, which seemed deserted. "I have never beenhere before. What a mass of kids! Do they always play like that inthe street?"

  Coolidge unfastened the door, and stepped out.

  "Yes, it's all right," he answered sharply. "You might wait here, West;we'll only be gone a few minutes. Come along, Natalie,"

  The girl hesitated, evidently not altogether satisfied.

  "Is it necessary that I go in?" she asked.

  "That was why I asked you to come," impatiently. "Because you understandthese matters, and, being a woman, can judge better what steps should betaken. Come; it will only require a few moments--West won't mind."

  "Certainly not," the younger man said heartily, "I shall be verycomfortable; don't bother about me."

  He had a distinct impression that Coolidge did not desire his company anyfurther, yet this suspicion aroused no resentment. This was a matter withwhich he was in no way concerned, and the only interest he felt wasstrictly impersonal. His eyes followed the two as they advanced up theboard walk to the front door of the cottage, and he felt a measure ofsurprise at seeing Coolidge calmly open the door without knocking. Bothdisappeared amidst the darkness within, and he dismissed the whole affairfrom his mind almost instantly. Sinking comfortably back in the seat, hisgaze centred on the maze of children playing in the street. Their anticsamused him for some time, but, at last, he began wondering at the delayof those within, and his mind drifted to the peculiar conditions withwhich he was confronted. Over and over again he reviewed the facts toldhim, and compared these with his own observations. That something waswrong was beyond doubt; he could no longer question this, but nosatisfactory clue to the mystery had yet presented itself. If someconspiracy was on foot against Natalie, what could be its object? and whowere directly involved? There was apparently no way to settle this,except to wait patiently for some move on the part of the others. Anyattempt at guessing would only lead him astray. Seemingly, PercivalCoolidge was the only person who could be directly interested shouldmisfortune occur to his niece; he was the guardian of her inheritance,and responsible for what remained of her father's estate. Undoubtedly healso was the next heir at law. His interest in the matter was thereforeeasily figured out. Yet there was nothing to prove that the fellow was avillain at heart, or had any reason to attempt desperate methods. Themere fact that some other woman amused herself in pretending to beNatalie proved nothing criminally wrong. It might be a mere lark, with novicious object in view. Indeed, but for the deep interest West alreadyfelt in the girl herself, he would have dismissed this angle of theproblem entirely from consideration. It seemed far too melodramatic andimprobable to be taken seriously, although, from mere curiosity, hepurposed to round up this masquerader, and satisfy himself as to why shewas thus publicly impersonating the girl. Yet this appeared a matter ofminor importance, his real task being to learn the condition of theSteven Coolidge estate, and whether or not, Percival had administered itjustly. Once satisfied upon that point, he would know better what furthersteps to take. His whole mind had unconsciously centred upon a distrustof the man. He believed him to be a sneaking scoundrel, at presentengaged in seeking some means for gaining possession of the trust fundsleft in his care. And yet, West had to confess to himself that thisbelief was largely founded upon prejudice--confidence in Natalie, and apersonal dislike of the man himself. He possessed no proof of thefellow's perfidy, nor had he even determined in his own mind the means tobe employed for learning the truth. He had nothing to build upon but thestatement of the girl, which was extremely vague in detail, and largelymere suspicion. The more thoroughly he analyzed the situation the morecomplicated it became, and the less confident he felt regarding an earlysolution. If Coolidge was engaged in some criminal scheme the man wascertainly shrewd enough to carefully cover his trail. It was no suddentemptation to which he had yielded, but a deeply laid plan, formed,perhaps, as long ago as his brother's death, and now just coming to ahead. Even the books of the estate might have been so carefullymanipulated as to leave no clue. Besides West possessed no authority bywhich to examine the books, or even question the bankers in whose handsthe funds were supposed to be. The only immediate hope of striking atrail apparently lay in his discovery of the strange woman who wasimpersonating Natalie Coolidge, and learning her object in carrying onsuch a masquerade. Of course, even that might lead nowhere in particular,as she might be merely amusing herself, and have no connection withPercival whatever; yet such an investigation offered a chance not to beneglected.

  His glance took in the surroundings, but with no conception that theywould have any direct bearing upon the mystery he was endeavouring tosolve. It was a block of irregular houses, a tenement on the corner, adirty looking brick, the other houses of wood, mostly two stories inheight, rather disreputable in appearance, but the one before which themachine waited, was a frame cottage, well back from the street, andrather respectable in appearance, although it must have been some yearssince last painted. Its original white was dingy, and the tightlyclosed blinds gave an appearance of desertion. The door was shut. Thechimney indicated no sign of smoke, the front yard gave every evidenceof long neglect.

  An urchin, chasing a ball, plunged recklessly beneath the auto, emergingwith the sphere in his grimy fist. West stopped him with a question.

  "Who lives in there?"

  "I do' know."

  "You don't know? Live 'round here, don't you?"

  "Sure; but these folks just come in. They ain't got no kids. G'wn; whatyer asking me fer? Here ye are, Micky!"

  "Wait a minute. Here's a dime for you. You say these people justmoved in?"

  "Yep."

  "When?"

  "Couple days maybe. Shucks, mister, I do' know. Hooligans moved out 'bouta week ago, an' then, a while after that, these guys moved in. I ain'tseen nobody round, but a sorter middlin' ol' woman. Maybe Micky knows whothey be--he lives in that next house. Hey, Micky; here's a guy wants toask you som'thin'!"

  But
Micky refused to be interested, beyond a derisive wiggling of hisfingers at his nose, and West, having abstracted all the informationpossible, made no further effort. The knowledge thus obtained as to thepresent occupants of the cottage did not exactly coincide with the storyCoolidge had told. He had spoken of a widow with three children indestitute circumstances following the father's death. The boy assertedthere were no children in the family. And they had just moved in, withina very few days, during which time the neighbourhood had only glimpsed a"middling old" woman. It was strange at least, adding distinctly to thepuzzle of the whole affair. West grew nervous, wondering why the twoshould remain so long within, out of sight and hearing. If this wasmerely a charitable visit, it surely did not need require such a lengthof time. He had been waiting now for three-quarters of an hour. He openedthe door of the car, and stepped out upon the curb, almost tempted toinvestigate the cause of delay. As he stood there undecided, the twoemerged from the cottage, and descended the steps together. Through theopened door he caught no glimpse of any one within, yet some unseen handclosed it quickly behind them.