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The Case of Jennie Brice, a novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart |
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Chapter 11 |
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_ CHAPTER XI Eliza Shaeffer went back to Horner, after delivering her chicks somewhere in the city. Things went on as before. The trial was set for May. The district attorney's office had all the things we had found in the house that Monday afternoon--the stained towel, the broken knife and its blade, the slipper that had been floating in the parlor, and the rope that had fastened my boat to the staircase. Somewhere--wherever they keep such things--was the headless body of a woman with a hand missing, and with a curious scar across the left breast. The slip of paper, however, which I had found behind the base-board, was still in Mr. Holcombe's possession, nor had he mentioned it to the police. Mr. Holcombe had not come back. He wrote me twice asking me to hold his room, once from New York and once from Chicago. To the second letter he added a postscript:
H."
But she came herself, on foot, late one afternoon, and the school-teacher being out, I took her into the parlor bedroom. She looked thinner than before, and rather white. My heart ached for her. "I have been away," she explained. "I thought you might wonder why you did not hear from me. But, you see, my mother--" she stopped and flushed. "I would have written you from Bermuda, but--my mother watched my correspondence, so I could not." No. I knew she could not. Alma had once found a letter of mine to Mr. Pitman. Very little escaped Alma. "I wondered if you have heard anything?" she asked. "I have heard nothing. Mr. Howell was here once, just after I saw you. I do not believe he is in the city. "Perhaps not, although--Mrs. Pitman, I believe he is in the city, hiding!" "Hiding! Why?" "I don't know. But last night I thought I saw him below my window. I opened the window, so if it were he, he could make some sign. But he moved on without a word. Later, whoever it was came back. I put out my light and watched. Some one stood there, in the shadow, until after two this morning. Part of the time he was looking up." "Don't you think, had it been he, he would have spoken when he saw you?" She shook her head. "He is in trouble," she said. "He has not heard from me, and he--thinks I don't care any more. Just look at me, Mrs. Pitman! Do I look as if I don't care?" She looked half killed, poor lamb. "He may be out of town, searching for a better position," I tried to comfort her. "He wants to have something to offer more than himself." "I only want him," she said, looking at me frankly. "I don't know why I tell you all this, but you are so kind, and I _must_ talk to some one." She sat there, in the cozy corner the school-teacher had made with a portiere and some cushions, and I saw she was about ready to break down and cry. I went over to her and took her hand, for she was my own niece, although she didn't suspect it, and I had never had a child of my own. But after all, I could not help her much. I could only assure her that he would come back and explain everything, and that he was all right, and that the last time I had seen him he had spoken of her, and had said she was "the best ever." My heart fairly yearned over the girl, and I think she felt it. For she kissed me, shyly, when she was leaving. With the newspaper files before me, it is not hard to give the details of that sensational trial. It commenced on Monday, the seventh of May, but it was late Wednesday when the jury was finally selected. I was at the court-house early on Thursday, and so was Mr. Reynolds. The district attorney made a short speech. "We propose, gentlemen, to prove that the prisoner, Philip Ladley, murdered his wife," he said in part. "We will show first that a crime was committed; then we will show a motive for this crime, and, finally, we expect to show that the body washed ashore at Sewickley is the body of the murdered woman, and thus establish beyond doubt the prisoner's guilt." Mr. Ladley listened with attention. He wore the brown suit, and looked well and cheerful. He was much more like a spectator than a prisoner, and he was not so nervous as I was. Of that first day I do not recall much. I was called early in the day. The district attorney questioned me. "Your name?" "Elizabeth Marie Pitman." "Your occupation?" "I keep a boarding-house at 42 Union Street." "You know the prisoner?" "Yes. He was a boarder in my house." "For how long?" "From December first. He and his wife came at that time." "Was his wife the actress, Jennie Brice?" "Yes, sir." "Were they living together at your house the night of March fourth?" "Yes, sir." "In what part of the house?" "They rented the double parlors down-stairs, but on account of the flood I moved them up-stairs to the second floor front." "That was on Sunday? You moved them on Sunday?" "Yes, sir." "At what time did you retire that night?" "Not at all. The water was very high. I lay down, dressed, at one o'clock, and dropped into a doze." "How long did you sleep?" "An hour or so. Mr. Reynolds, a boarder, roused me to say he had heard some one rowing a boat in the lower hall." "Do you keep a boat around during flood times?" "Yes, sir." "What did you do when Mr. Reynolds roused you?" "I went to the top of the stairs. My boat was gone." "Was the boat secured?" "Yes, sir. Anyhow, there was no current in the hall." "What did you do then?" "I waited a time and went back to my room." "What examination of the house did you make--if any?" "Mr. Reynolds looked around." "What did he find?" "He found Peter, the Ladleys' dog, shut in a room on the third floor." "Was there anything unusual about that?" "I had never known it to happen before." "State what happened later." "I did not go to sleep again. At a quarter after four, I heard the boat come back. I took a candle and went to the stairs. It was Mr. Ladley. He said he had been out getting medicine for his wife." "Did you see him tie up the boat?" "Yes." "Did you observe any stains on the rope?" "I did not notice any." "What was the prisoner's manner at that time?" "I thought he was surly." "Now, Mrs. Pitman, tell us about the following morning." "I saw Mr. Ladley at a quarter before seven. He said to bring breakfast for one. His wife had gone away. I asked if she was not ill, and he said no; that she had gone away early; that he had rowed her to Federal Street, and that she would be back Saturday. It was shortly after that that the dog Peter brought in one of Mrs. Ladley's slippers, water-soaked." "You recognized the slipper?" "Positively. I had seen it often." "What did you do with it?" "I took it to Mr. Ladley." "What did he say?" "He said at first that it was not hers. Then he said if it was, she would never wear it again--and then added--because it was ruined." "Did he offer any statement as to where his wife was?" "No, sir. Not at that time. Before, he had said she had gone away for a few days." "Tell the jury about the broken knife." "The dog found it floating in the parlor, with the blade broken." "You had not left it down-stairs?" "No, sir. I had used it up-stairs, the night before, and left it on a mantel of the room I was using as a temporary kitchen." "Was the door of this room locked?" "No. It was standing open." "Were you not asleep in this room?" "Yes." "You heard no one come in?" "No one--until Mr. Reynolds roused me." "Where did you find the blade?" "Behind the bed in Mr. Ladley's room." "What else did you find in the room?" "A blood-stained towel behind the wash-stand. Also, my onyx clock was missing." "Where was the clock when the Ladleys were moved up into this room?" "On the mantel. I wound it just before they came up-stairs." "When you saw Mrs. Ladley on Sunday, did she say she was going away?" "No, sir." "Did you see any preparation for a journey?" "The black and white dress was laid out on the bed, and a small bag. She said she was taking the dress to the theater to lend to Miss Hope." "Is that all she said?" "No. She said she'd been wishing her husband would drown; that he was a fiend." I could see that my testimony had made an impression. _ |
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