raspingly.
“Someone what?”
“Yes, sir. That’s why I’m down here. I’ll begin at the beginning. I couldn’t sleep last night, after all that had happened. After you and your lady friend went away I lay in my bed, listening to that parrot of Gran’s chattering up on the floor above. The house seemed to be full of noises. My room as you know is on the front of the house, and I lay there in bed and waited for the first signs of daylight to show on the Jersey shore across the river. Then I heard somebody coming stealthily along the hall …”
“Heavy or light tread? Sound like a man or a woman?”
There was a little hesitation. “Honestly, I can’t say, Inspector. It was very light and cautious, just a hush-hush sound along the carpet. That was what made me suspicious. The sounds stopped just outside my door.”
“Which was locked?”
“Yes, sir. The locks in that house are all old-fashioned, however, and they can be opened with any skeleton key. So I’d pushed a chair against the knob on the inside. Well, I lay there for what must have been fifteen minutes, waiting for whatever it was to go on past. But it didn’t. I tried to keep myself from dozing off, and then something happened that will keep me from dozing off for a week. I swear that I hadn’t heard a key turn in the lock, nor a squeak from the chair back that was against the door. But as I lay there, staring into the darkness, I saw that the door was ajar, perhaps eight inches. My chair back didn’t fit tightly enough under the knob, I guess. Anyway, I could see a dim panel of light which must have come from the lamp at the head of the stairs.”
“But there was the Sergeant down in the lower hall! Why didn’t you call out to him?”
“You forget, Inspector. I didn’t know he was there. You sent me to my room, and you said nothing about leaving an operative on duty. I thought that I was the only man in the house, except for Lew.”
“Oh, yes, of course. So what did you do?”
“I sat on the edge of the bed and said, Who’s there?’ There wasn’t any answer. I thought I saw something in the air, like a bat flying, but then I lost it. And then I saw that the door had closed again. I got up and moved a bureau in front of it. Then I came back to bed and found the pillow pinned against the headboard of the bed with … this!”
There was a metallic rattle as something was laid on the Inspector’s desk. Miss Withers realized for the first time the disadvantages of her listening post. Television would have helped. Because she was curious to know what it was had pinned the pillow of Hubert Stait to the headboard of his bed.
“Very nice,” came the Inspector’s voice. “A nasty little toadsticker, this. Ever see it before you saw it sticking through your pillow?”
“I … I don’t like to say!”
“Come, come. You’ll have to answer. Where did you see it before?”
“It was part of the camping outfit that Laurie took west with him last summer. He was figuring on making an expedition into the Tetons alone with a frying pan and a book and a dog that he picked up out there, he wrote us. I don’t know whether he ever did or not.”
“Did he bring this knife back with him?”
“I think so … though I don’t remember seeing it after he returned.”
“Very well. Now Hubert, tell me one thing more. Have you any idea who it was who stood outside your door and tossed cold steel at you last night?”
“I … no, sir.”
“Not even a suspicion?”
“No, sir.”
“Man or woman?”
“I’m not sure … but I think it must have been a man. To throw that hard.”
“You say the only other man in the house, besides the Sergeant, was your cousin Lew?”
“Yes sir.”
“Do you think it was Lew who threw that knife at you?”
“Don’t make me answer that, Inspector. I don’t know. I just want to be protected, that’s all.”
“Against Lew Stait?”
“Well … yes.”
“Tell me, do you think your cousin Lew was
“Someone what?”
“Yes, sir. That’s why I’m down here. I’ll begin at the beginning. I couldn’t sleep last night, after all that had happened. After you and your lady friend went away I lay in my bed, listening to that parrot of Gran’s chattering up on the floor above. The house seemed to be full of noises. My room as you know is on the front of the house, and I lay there in bed and waited for the first signs of daylight to show on the Jersey shore across the river. Then I heard somebody coming stealthily along the hall …”
“Heavy or light tread? Sound like a man or a woman?”
There was a little hesitation. “Honestly, I can’t say, Inspector. It was very light and cautious, just a hush-hush sound along the carpet. That was what made me suspicious. The sounds stopped just outside my door.”
“Which was locked?”
“Yes, sir. The locks in that house are all old-fashioned, however, and they can be opened with any skeleton key. So I’d pushed a chair against the knob on the inside. Well, I lay there for what must have been fifteen minutes, waiting for whatever it was to go on past. But it didn’t. I tried to keep myself from dozing off, and then something happened that will keep me from dozing off for a week. I swear that I hadn’t heard a key turn in the lock, nor a squeak from the chair back that was against the door. But as I lay there, staring into the darkness, I saw that the door was ajar, perhaps eight inches. My chair back didn’t fit tightly enough under the knob, I guess. Anyway, I could see a dim panel of light which must have come from the lamp at the head of the stairs.”
“But there was the Sergeant down in the lower hall! Why didn’t you call out to him?”
“You forget, Inspector. I didn’t know he was there. You sent me to my room, and you said nothing about leaving an operative on duty. I thought that I was the only man in the house, except for Lew.”
“Oh, yes, of course. So what did you do?”
“I sat on the edge of the bed and said, Who’s there?’ There wasn’t any answer. I thought I saw something in the air, like a bat flying, but then I lost it. And then I saw that the door had closed again. I got up and moved a bureau in front of it. Then I came back to bed and found the pillow pinned against the headboard of the bed with … this!”
There was a metallic rattle as something was laid on the Inspector’s desk. Miss Withers realized for the first time the disadvantages of her listening post. Television would have helped. Because she was curious to know what it was had pinned the pillow of Hubert Stait to the headboard of his bed.
“Very nice,” came the Inspector’s voice. “A nasty little toadsticker, this. Ever see it before you saw it sticking through your pillow?”
“I … I don’t like to say!”
“Come, come. You’ll have to answer. Where did you see it before?”
“It was part of the camping outfit that Laurie took west with him last summer. He was figuring on making an expedition into the Tetons alone with a frying pan and a book and a dog that he picked up out there, he wrote us. I don’t know whether he ever did or not.”
“Did he bring this knife back with him?”
“I think so … though I don’t remember seeing it after he returned.”
“Very well. Now Hubert, tell me one thing more. Have you any idea who it was who stood outside your door and tossed cold steel at you last night?”
“I … no, sir.”
“Not even a suspicion?”
“No, sir.”
“Man or woman?”
“I’m not sure … but I think it must have been a man. To throw that hard.”
“You say the only other man in the house, besides the Sergeant, was your cousin Lew?”
“Yes sir.”
“Do you think it was Lew who threw that knife at you?”
“Don’t make me answer that, Inspector. I don’t know. I just want to be protected, that’s all.”
“Against Lew Stait?”
“Well … yes.”
“Tell me, do you think your cousin Lew was
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