ALM06 Who Killed the Husband? by Hulbert Footner

shot my husband?"
    Lee shook his head. "The poor fellow was all at sea. That is why he insists on remaining in hiding."
    "Did he...did he by any chance suggest that I might have had a hand in it?"
    Lee deliberately paused a moment before answering. "He did not."
    "Oh, God, what perfidy!" she breathed.
    "My dear lady!" Lee assured her, "you are disturbed without cause. Al Yohe never said a word that would lead me to suppose such a thing. On the contrary, his thought was all of you...I am merely trying to get a clear picture of what happened...If you did not start to dress until after he left, how  could  you have been fully dressed a moment or two after the shot was fired?"
    "I was not completely dressed," she said sullenly. "For an obvious reason my servants were not telling the truth. They wished to protect my good name."
    Lee struck his forehead. "Of course! How stupid of me not to have perceived that at once!"
    She drank off the rest of her highball. Slowly she recovered her self-possession. "You must have patience with me," she said with a return of her caressing manner. "My nerves are gone! Sometimes I scarcely know what I am saying!"
    "Naturally," said Lee soothingly. "I am so sorry that I have to trouble you at such a time."
    "Such a charge could never touch me!" she said with proud confidence.
    Lee was reminded of something Al Yohe had said the night before.
    "And if it should be brought, it would fall," Agnes continued, "because at the moment the shot was fired my maid and I were together."
    Lee inwardly resolved to talk to Eliza Young without the knowledge of her mistress.
    He rose and opened the door into the corridor. "I am trying to fix the layout of this building in my mind," he explained deprecatingly. "On the other side of the corridor wall must be the public hall and passenger elevator."
    "That's right," she said carelessly. "Will you have another drink?"
    "No more, thank you." Lee returned to his chair leaving the door open. "What did you and Mr. Yohe talk about while he was here?"
    Again suspicion made her eyes narrow. "Didn't you ask him that question?" she countered.
    "I did ask him," said Lee with an innocent air, "and his answer was evasive. That made me think that perhaps it had some bearing on what happened later."
    "You're wrong," she said. "Our talk was completely unimportant--so unimportant that it has passed out of my mind...I suppose we talked about the Polish Relief Ball in which we are both interested. We discussed mutual friends--just such talk, in fact, as you would expect between old friends."
    Lee thought: That is a little too good to be true, my lady.
    While he sat with her he heard from the other side of the corridor wall a slight rumble and, after a pause, a click. Insignificant sounds, but unmistakable to apartment dwellers. It was the elevator door opening and closing again. It was important to Lee to know that these sounds could be heard from where he sat. Either Al Yohe or Agnes Gartrey could have had warning that Gartrey was about to return. Lee heard the distant sound of the doorbell.
    "Bother!" said Agnes with an intimate smile. "I hope we're not going to be interrupted."
    "Well, I've told you all I know," said Lee. "Have you anything more to tell me?"
    "Oh, I'm so stupid, Mr. Mappin. I don't know what are the important things. You must question me."
    "Can't think of any more questions now. But we'll meet again."
    "We must."
    The manservant entered. "Mr. Coler, Madam." Lee felt a little uneasy. It might be difficult to explain this visit.
    Agnes said: "I'll see him directly. Did you show him into the living room?"
    "Yes, Madam."
    "Did you close the door?"
    "I...I think so, Madam."
    "That means you didn't," she said sharply. "Close it on your way out. How many times must I tell you to close doors, all doors!"
    "Yes, Madam." He went out.
    "It's just as well not to advertise the fact that you and I are friends," Agnes said to Lee. Agnes was keeping certain things from Coler, then.