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Four-Pools Mystery, The

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<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> <h3>THE JURY'S VERDICT</h3> My first glance about the room the next morning, showed me only too plainly what direction the inquiry was going to take. In the farther corner half hidden by Mattison's broad back sat Clancy, the Washington detective. I recognized him with an angry feeling of discouragement. If we were to have his version of the stolen bonds, Radnor's last hope of gaining public sympathy was gone. Radnor was the first person to be called to the stand. He had not noticed the detective, and I did not have a chance to inform him of his presence. The coroner plunged immediately into the question of the robbery and the ha'nt, and it was only too evident from Radnor's troubled eyes that it was a subject he did not wish to talk about. "You have recently had a robbery at your house, Mr. Gaylord?" "Yes." "Please describe just what was stolen." "Five bonds—Government four per cents—a bag of coin—about twenty dollars in all—and two deeds and an insurance policy." "You have not been able to trace the thief?" "No." "In spite of every effort?" "Well, we naturally looked into the matter." "But you have been able to form no theory as to how the bonds were stolen?" "No, I have no theory whatever." "You employed a detective I believe?" "Yes." "And he arrived at no theory?" Radnor hesitated visibly while he framed an answer. "He arrived at no theory which successfully covered the facts." "But he did have a theory as to the whereabouts of the bonds, did he not?" "Yes—but it was without any foundation and I prefer not to go into it." The coroner abandoned the point. "Mr. Gaylord, there has lately been a rumor among the negroes working at your place, in regard to the appearance of a ghost, has there not?" "Yes." "Can you offer any light on the subject?" "The negroes are superstitious and easily frightened, when the rumor of a ghost gets started it grows. The most of the stories existed only in their own imaginations." "You believe then that there was no foundation whatever to any of the stories?" "I should rather not go into that." "Mr. Gaylord, do you believe that the ghost had any connection with the robbery?" "No, I do not." "Do you think that the ghost had any connection with the murder of your father?" "No!" said Radnor. "That is all, Mr. Gaylord.—James Clancy." At the name Radnor suddenly raised his head and half turned back as if to speak, but thinking better of it, he resumed his chair and watched the approach of the detective with an angry frown. Clancy did not glance at Radnor, but gave his evidence in a quick incisive way which forced the breathless attention of every one in the room. He told without interruption the story of his arrival at Four-Pools and his conclusions in regard to the ha'nt and the theft; he omitted, however, all mention of the letter. "Am I to understand that you never made your conclusions known to Colonel Gaylord?" the coroner asked. "No, I had been employed by him, but I thought under the circumstances it was kinder to leave him in ignorance." "That was a generous stand to take. I suppose you lost something in the way of a fee?" The detective looked slightly uncomfortable over the question. "Well, no, as it happened I didn't. There was a sort of cousin—Mr. Crosby"—he nodded toward me—"visiting in the house and he footed the bill. He seemed to think the young man hadn't intended to steal, and that it would be pleasanter all around if I left it for them to settle between themselves." "I protest!" I cried. "I distinctly stated my conviction that Radnor Gaylord knew nothing of the bonds, and I paid him to get rid of him because I did not wish him troubling Colonel Gaylord with any such made-up story." "Mr. Clancy is testifying," observed the coroner. "Now, Mr. Clancy, as I understand it, you discovered as you supposed the guilty man, and instead of going to your employer with the story and receiving your pay from him, you accepted it from the person you had accused—or at least from his friend?" "I've explained the circumstances; it was a mere matter of accommodation." "I suppose you know what such accommodation is called?" "If you mean it was blackmail—that's false! At least," he added, quickly relapsing into good nature, "it was a mighty generous kind of blackmail. I could have got my pay fast enough from the Colonel but I didn't want to stir up trouble. We all know that it isn't the innocent who pay blackmail," he added parenthetically. "Do you mean to insinuate that Mr. Crosby is implicated?" "Lord no! He's as innocent as a lamb. Young Gaylord was too smart for him; he hoodwinked him as well as the Colonel into believing the bonds were stolen while he was out of the house." A smile ran around the room and the detective was excused. I sprang to my feet. "One moment!" I said. "I should like to ask Mr. Clancy some questions." The young man was turned over to me, plainly against his wishes. "What proof have you, Mr. Clancy, that the bonds were not stolen while Mr. Gaylord was out of the house?" "Well, my investigations led me to the belief that he stole them, and that being the case, it must have been done before he left the house." "I see! And your investigations concerned themselves largely with a letter which you filched from Mr. Gaylord's coat pocket in the night, did they not?" "Not entirely—the letter merely struck me as corroborative evidence, though I have since learned—" "Mr. Clancy," I interrupted sternly, "did you not tell me at the time, that that letter was absolute proof of his guilt—yes or no?" "I may have said so but—" "Mr. Clancy, will you kindly repeat what was in that letter." "It referred to some bonds; I don't know that I can recall the exact words." "Then I must request you to read it," I returned, picking it out from a bundle of papers on the table and handing it to him. "I am sorry to take up so much time with a matter that has nothing to do with the murder," I added to the coroner, "but you yourself brought up the subject and it is only fair to hear the whole story." He nodded permission, and ordered Clancy to read the letter. The detective did so amidst an astonished hush. It struck everyone as a proof of guilt, and no one could understand why I had forced it to the front. "Now Mr. Clancy," said I, "please tell the jury Mr. Gaylord's explanation of this letter." Clancy with a somewhat sheepish air gave the gist of what Radnor had said. "Did you believe that story when you first heard it?" I asked. "No," said he, "I did not, because—" "Very well! But you later went to the office of Jacoby, Haight & Co., and looked over the files of their correspondence with Radnor Gaylord and verified his statement in every particular, did you not?" "Yes, I did, but still—" "That is all I wish to ask, Mr. Clancy. I think the reason is evident," I added, turning to the jury, "why I was willing to pay in order to get rid of him. Nobody's character, nobody's correspondence, was safe while he was in the house." The detective retired amidst general laughter and I could see that feeling had veered again in Radnor's favor. The total effect of the evidence respecting the ha'nt and the robbery was good rather than bad, and I more than fancied that I was indebted to the sheriff for it. Radnor was not called again and that was the end of the testimony in regard to him. The rest of the time was taken up with a consideration of Cat-Eye Mose and some further questioning of the negroes in regard to the ha'nt. Old Nancy created considerable diversion with her account of the spirited roast chicken. It had changed materially since I heard it last. She was emphatic in her statement that "Marse Rad didn't have nuffen to do wif him. He was a sho' nuff ha'nt an' his gahments smelt o' de graveyard." The evidence respecting Mose brought out nothing of any consequence, and with that the hearing was brought to a close. The coroner instructed the jury on two or three points of law and ended with the brief formula: "You have heard the testimony given by these witnesses. It remains for you to do your duty." After an interminable half hour the jury-men filed back to their seats and the clerk read the verdict: "We find that the said Richard Gaylord came to his death in Luray Cavern on the 19th day of May, by cerebral hemorrhage, the result of a wound inflicted by some blunt weapon in the hands of a person or persons unknown. We recommend that Radnor Fanshaw Gaylord be held for trial before the Grand Jury." Rad appeared dazed at the verdict; though in the face of the evidence and his own stubborn refusal to explain it, I don't see how he could have expected any other outcome. As for myself, it was better than I had feared. <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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