“He laid his hat and stick on the hatrack, and we walked into the living room. He sat down by the table, and I stood up and said—what I had to say. Then I drew my gun and shot him.”
Vance was closely watching the man, and Markham was leaning forward tensely.
“How did it happen that he was reading at the time?”
“I believe he did pick up a book while I was talking.… Trying to appear indifferent, I reckon.”
“Think now: you and Mr. Benson went into the living room directly from the hall, as soon as you entered the house?”
“Yes.”
“Then how do you account for the fact, Captain, that when Mr. Benson was shot, he had on his smoking jacket and slippers?”
Leacock glanced nervously about the room. Before he answered, he wet his lips with his tongue.
“Now that I think of it, Benson did go upstairs for a few minutes first.… I guess I was too excited,” he added desperately, “to recollect everything.”
“That’s natural,” Vance said sympathetically. “But when he came downstairs, did you happen to notice anything peculiar about his hair?”
Leacock looked up vaguely. “His hair? I—don’t understand.”
“The color of it, I mean. When Mr. Benson sat before you under the table lamp, didn’t you remark some—difference, let us say—in the way his hair looked?”
The man closed his eyes, as if striving to visualize the scene. “No—I don’t remember.”
“A minor point,” said Vance indifferently. “Did Benson’s speech strike you as peculiar when he came downstairs—that is, was there a thickness, or slight impediment of any kind, in his voice?”
Leacock was manifestly puzzled.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he said. “He seemed to talk the way he always talked.”
“And did you happen to see a blue jewel case on the table?”
“I didn’t notice.”
Vance smoked a moment thoughtfully.
“When you left the room after shooting Mr. Benson, you turned out the lights, of course?”
When no immediate answer came, Vance volunteered the suggestion: “You must have done so, for Mr. Pfyfe says the house was dark when he drove up.”
Leacock then nodded an affirmative. “That’s right. I couldn’t recollect for the moment.”
“Now that you remember the fact, just how did you turn them off?”
“I—” he began, and stopped. Then, finally: “At the switch.”
“And where is that switch located, Captain?”
“I can’t just recall.”
“Think a moment. Surely you can remember.”
“By the door leading into the hall, I think.”
“Which side of the door?”
“How can I tell?” the man asked piteously. “I was too—nervous.… But I think it was on the right-hand side of the door.”
“The right-hand side when entering or leaving the room?”
“As you go out.”
“That would be where the bookcase stands?”
“Yes.”
Vance appeared satisfied.
“Now, there’s the question of the gun,” he said. “Why did you take it to Miss St. Clair?”
“I was a coward,” the man replied. “I was afraid they might find it at my apartment. And I never imagined she would be suspected.”
“And when she was suspected, you at once took the gun away and threw it into the East River?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose there was one cartridge missing from the magazine, too—which in itself would have been a suspicious circumstance.”
“I thought of that. That’s why I threw the gun away.”
Vance frowned. “That’s strange. There must have been two guns. We dredged the river, y’ know, and found a Colt automatic, but the magazine was full.… Are you sure, Captain, that it was your gun you took from Miss St. Clair’s and threw over the bridge?”
I knew no gun had been retrieved from the river and I wondered what he was driving at. Was he, after all, trying to involve the girl? Markham, too, I could see, was in doubt.
Leacock made no answer for several moments. When he spoke, it was with dogged sullenness.
“There weren’t two guns. The one you found was mine.… I refilled the magazine myself.”
“Ah, that accounts for it.” Vance’s tone was pleasant and reassuring. “Just one more question, Captain. Why did you come here today and confess?”
Leacock thrust his chin out, and for the first time during the cross-examination his eyes became animated. “Why? It was the only honorable thing to do. You have unjustly suspected an innocent person; and I didn’t want anyone else to suffer.”
This ended the interview. Markham had no questions to ask; and the deputy sheriff led the captain out.
When the door had closed on him, a curious silence fell over the room. Markham sat smoking furiously, his hands folded behind his head, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. The major had settled back in his chair, and was gazing at Vance with admiring satisfaction. Vance was watching Markham out of the corner of his eye, a drowsy smile on his lips. The expressions and attitudes of the three men conveyed perfectly their varying individual reactions to the interview—Markham troubled, the major pleased, Vance cynical.
It was Vance who broke the silence. He spoke easily, almost lazily. “You see how silly the confession is, what? Our pure and lofty captain is an incredibly poor Munchausen. No one could lie as badly as he did who hadn’t been born into the world that way. It’s simply impossible to imitate such stupidity. And he did so want us to think him guilty. Very affectin’. He prob’bly imagined you’d merely stick the confession in his shirtfront and send him to the hangman. You noticed, he hadn’t even decided how he got into Benson’s house that night. Pfyfe’s admitted presence outside almost spoiled his impromptu explanation of having entered bras dessus bras dessous with his intended victim. And he didn’t recall Benson’s semi-négligé attire. When I reminded him of it, he had to contradict himself and send Benson trotting upstairs to make a rapid change. Luckily, the toupee wasn’t mentioned by the newspapers. The captain couldn’t imagine what I meant when I intimated that Benson had dyed his hair when changing his coat and shoes.… By the bye, Major, did your brother speak thickly when his false teeth were out?”
“Noticeably so,” answered the major. “If Alvin’s plate had been removed that night—as I gathered it had been from your question—Leacock would surely have noticed it.”
“There were other things he didn’t notice,” said Vance: “the jewel case, for instance, and the location of the electric light switch.”
“He went badly astray on that point,” added the major. “Alvin’s house is old-fashioned, and the only switch in the room is a pendant one attached to the chandelier.”
“Exactly,” said Vance. “However, his worst break was in connection with the gun. He gave his hand away completely there. He said he threw the pistol into the river largely because of the missing cartridge, and when I told him the magazine was full, he explained that he had refilled it, so I wouldn’t think it was anyone else’s gun that was found.… It’s plain to see what’s