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_ CHAPTER XXI. THE CHIMNEY THAT WOULDN'T DRAW
Marsh stood for a moment in puzzled thought. Then he heard a
cheerful voice say, "Aye bane got him all right," and he recognized
his rescuer.
"Hold him for a minute," ordered Marsh, and he leaped over the pine
to the car, returning immediately with one of the robes. With Nels'
assistance Marsh wound the robe about the upper part of the man's
body, fastening his arms to his side as effectively as if he had
been placed in a straightjacket. Then he took the man's belt and
secured his feet in the same way he had tied up those of the other
man. Marsh next took the men's handkerchiefs and two of his own.
Stuffing one into each man's mouth, and tying another around his
head, Marsh effectually gagged them into silence.
"Now," he said to Nels, "we'll lay these two fellows out of sight in
the underbrush."
When this was accomplished he instructed Nels to follow him, and
they cautiously approached the house. As they crossed the lawn,
Marsh heard rapid footsteps ahead, followed by the opening of the
house door. He immediately dashed in pursuit. In the hall he paused
to listen for sounds that would indicate the direction the man had
taken. He heard the clicking of a telephone receiver hook and a
voice calling, "Hello! Hello!" Leaping through an arched and
curtained doorway at his left, Marsh discovered a dim light in a
connecting room, and darted to the doorway, drawing his automatic
and transferring it to his right hand as he ran. He found himself in
the library of the house, and in one corner he saw the driver of the
car with a telephone in his hands.
"Drop that phone!" called Marsh, leveling his automatic.
Ignoring Marsh's command, the man hastily gave a number to the
operator. It was quite clear what was happening. This man, returning
from his fruitless quest at the station, had witnessed the capture
of his companions. He was now endeavoring to warn some person;
probably the principal, who was the man Marsh particularly wanted.
There was no time for argument, so Marsh fired.
The man dropped the telephone and stumbled forward in a heap on the
floor. Marsh dashed across the room and replaced the receiver on its
hook, hoping that the connection had not been made in time for the
man at the other end of the wire to hear the shot. Though the man
had fallen, Marsh knew that he had nothing worse than a flesh wound
in the arm, because he was sure of his aim. He tied the man's hand
with a handkerchief, and his feet with his belt, and left him on the
floor. Turning quickly to Nels, who had followed him into the room,
and now stood watching, he handed the Swede the captured automatic,
saying, "Do you know how to use it?"
"Ya, Aye know;" was the smiling reply.
"All right," said Marsh. "I'm going to search the house. Follow me
and keep your eyes open." Marsh hurried back through the front room
to the hall, with the Swede at his heels, and he heard the man
murmuring, as he went, "You bane fine man."
As they climbed the stairs, feeling their way in the dark, they
heard a distant hammering. It came from the back of the house, and
Marsh and Nels speeded down the hall. The hammering ceased as they
approached the door at the end of the hall. A thin strip of light
showed beneath it and Marsh heard familiar voices.
"I tell you somebody's come after us," said one.
"Oh, hell! The man said nobody could hear a foghorn here," replied
the other. "What's the use?"
Marsh found the key in the lock, and turning it, threw the door
open. There stood Morgan and Tierney in the wreckage of what had
once manifestly been a beautifully furnished bedroom. A black
opening, through which a strong draft came when the door was opened,
showed where once had been a shuttered window. The remains of chairs
littered the floor, parts of the bed were scattered around the room,
and in the center of the floor was a pile of felt that had once been
the stuffing for the mattress.
"My God!" cried Marsh, "what has happened?"
The two men's faces lighted up at sight of him, and Tierney shouted,
"What did I tell you, Morgan? I knew that guy would find us."
"He bane fine man," added a voice from the doorway.
"Hello Svenska!" bellowed Tierney. "Who are you?"
Nels grinned as Marsh explained who he was.
"How did you get in? Where's the gang?" rapidly questioned Morgan.
"One wounded and tied downstairs, and two safely tied up by the
gate," explained Marsh. "One of the two out there is your man
Wagner. Now tell me how you got here."
Morgan gave him a brief outline of their adventures.
"But how did the room get in this state?" questioned Marsh.
"Well, you know Tierney," replied Morgan, with a laugh. "He's a
mighty restless individual when you try to shut him up. He
demolished all the chairs on the door. We found the window frame and
the shutters had been screwed tight to keep us in, so Tierney took
the bed apart and used the sides to clean out the whole business.
When we discovered it was too far to drop from the window, we tried
to make a rope with the ticking of the mattress, but when we tested
it, the stuff proved to be too rotten to hold us."
"And the worst of it is," added Morgan, "it was cold enough in here
before Tierney broke out the window. Since then we've been freezing.
If there's a fire in the house, lead us to it."
"I don't think there is," replied Marsh. "Now that you speak of it,
I noticed a damp chill in the place the minute I came in. Nels," he
added, turning to the Swede; "you're a good fellow. I saw a big,
open fireplace in the library. Build a wood fire there and we'll
warm my friends up."
Nels nodded and started off.
"We haven't any time to lose," announced Marsh, turning back to
Morgan. "I expect to find my final evidence in this house, and we've
got to get back to town pretty soon. You fellows can warm up a bit
and then we'll start a systematic search from the garret to the
cellar."
All three then went down to the library where Nels was building the
fire. Tierney loudly voiced his approval as the red and yellow
flames began to creep over the wood. A minute later, however, he was
choking and swearing as the acrid wood smoke rolled out into the
room instead of up the chimney.
"Aye fix him," explained Nels. "Chimney cover to keep out draft,
mebbe." He hurried out of the room.
A few minutes later he returned with a white face and staring eyes.
"You come," he half-whispered, from the doorway. "Aye see
somet'ing."
"What is it?" questioned Marsh.
"Aye don't know--Aye only tenk--come quick!"
"Go ahead," said Marsh, "we'll follow," and with Nels leading the
way they all climbed the stairs. Nels had turned on the electric
lights in the halls. They could now see their way clearly as he
guided them to the attic and across it to an open window which
opened on a wide gutter. They crawled out after him and worked their
way along a short distance to the big, old fashioned, outside stone
chimney from the library fireplace.
"Yust put your hand in--so," directed Nels, making a motion with his
arm.
Marsh reached up and followed the suggestion. Just below the top of
the chimney his fingers came into contact with a human head.
"My God!" he cried. "Here's our man."
"Holy Saints!" gasped Tierney.
Then Morgan asked, "What do you mean?"
"I think we've found Merton's body," replied Marsh. "You'll have to
help me get him out."
With considerable effort, and hindered by the blackness of the
night, Marsh and Morgan climbed the slanting, slate-covered roof and
perched themselves on the broad capstone of the chimney. Slowly they
loosened the wedged in body, gradually drew it out through the top
of the chimney, and passed it down to Tierney and Nels, who crept
with it along the gutter and passed it through the attic window.
Marsh and Morgan followed them, and under the glow of the one dim
electric light, the two men made a hasty examination of the body. It
was in a fair state of preservation, due probably to the cold air,
which had been made especially effective by the draft through the
chimney. The identification was made certain when Marsh extracted a
card case from the man's coat, in which they found the business and
personal cards of Richard Townsend Merton, and Morgan located the
duplicate of the cuff button he had discovered in the empty
apartment.
The examination completed, Marsh turned to Morgan.
"Do you notice that this man was stabbed, not shot?" he asked.
"Yes," returned Morgan. "That was one of the things I looked to make
certain of."
"Now," said Marsh, addressing the two detectives, "I guess this job
has warmed you fellows up. We can't lose another minute. You,
Tierney, make a careful examination of this attic. It should not
take you long, and you can then join Morgan, who will start now to
make an examination of the second and third floors. Nels and I will
look over the first floor and the basement. You join us as soon as
you get through. If you find anything worth while, bring it down."
Leaving Tierney in the attic, and dropping Morgan off at the third
floor, Marsh and Nels passed on down to the first floor of the
house. A careful inspection of this floor brought nothing of
especial interest to light except that there were no signs of its
having been used. The kitchen and the pantry were bare of food, and
Marsh could see that neither of the sinks in the pantry and the
kitchen, nor the kitchen stove, had been used for a long time.
"I thought you said those men were living in the house," he queried,
turning to Nels.
"So Aye tenk," Nels assured him.
"Queer," murmured Marsh. "No fire, no food, and no signs of
cooking."
"Mebbe in basement," suggested Nels.
"Well, we're going there now," said Marsh. "Do you know the way,
Nels?"
"Aye guess," replied the Swede, leading the way into a long hall
that led from the pantry along one side of the house. A short
distance up this hall Nels opened a door, and they discovered a
stairway leading into the basement. Marsh lit a match and located an
electric switch. When he turned this a light flashed on below and
they descended the stairs. Here they found a hall leading across the
house, with a doorway at the far end, and one on either side.
"Aye tenk," said Nels, pointing down the hall, "dat door go
outside--dis one to laundry--dat one Aye don't know."
Marsh opened the last door indicated by Nels, and lighting another
match, found it a rough basement containing the heating plant, coal
bins, and general storage space. He found the electric light and
turned it on. But little coal was left in the bins, and the thick
mantle of dust over the other things in this part of the basement
showed that it had been a long time since anything had been touched.
The last thing, Marsh looked into the firebox under the heating
plant. This was well filled with an ash that had resulted from the
burning of papers, but after poking around with a long stick, he
found that nothing remained which could in any way be used as
evidence.
Turning out the light, they crossed the hall and opened the other
door. With a match, Marsh found a wall switch close to the door, and
snapping this, the room was flooded with brilliant light from
several electric lamps pendant from the ceiling, each covered with a
green metal shade.
Here was the solution of the deserted condition of the upper part of
the house. That part of the house had been left intentionally
deserted, for all the men's activities had been centered in this
room. It was a large, square room that had been the laundry of the
house. Four cots, standing along one wall, indicated where the men
had slept, and several pots on the gas stove showed where they had
obtained their heat and done their cooking. Through the glass door
of a cupboard, in one corner, he saw cans and packages of food. The
table, in the center of the room, was littered with soiled dishes
and the remains of a meal.
Large patches of black cloth on two sides of the room marked the
probable location of windows which had been carefully covered to
keep any light from showing on the outside. But what interested
Marsh most was the complete counterfeiting equipment in one corner
of the room. A small trunk also stood in this corner, and raising
the lid Marsh discovered a large quantity of the five dollar bills
he had been tracing over the country for the last two years. What he
really sought, however, were the plates, and these were apparently
missing.
At this moment Nels spoke. "You like to see dis?" he asked.
Turning, Marsh found that Nels had the cupboard door open, and was
pointing to a suitcase, which lay on the floor. It had been
previously concealed by the lower part of the door.
"You bet I would!" exclaimed Marsh and hurried across to the
cupboard. He pulled out the suitcase, which was fairly heavy, and
tried to open it. It was locked. Nels pulled out a big knife, with a
long blade, and began to cut through the leather at the edges. He
presently laid back one side of the suitcase, exposing some clothing
to view. It was only a thin layer, however, which Marsh threw
quickly aside. Under the clothing he found a carefully wrapped
package. Tearing off the covering, he saw what he sought--the plates
for the five dollar bills. Beneath the package, laid out in a
carefully arranged row, were bundles of stocks and bonds.
Here, at last, was the evidence Marsh had sought, and the
confirmation of the theory he had carefully worked out. _
Read next: Chapter 22. Cornered
Read previous: Chapter 20. The Fallen Pine
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