The act of a fool or a lunatic, and the man who made those prints was neither.”
“Have you told the District Attorney all this, Inspector?”
“He wants an indictment.
That’s his business.” And he added:
“A man who’s been indicted by the Grand Jury has a pretty hard time of it.
His trial may prove him innocent, but he’s got the stigma anyhow.”
He picked up a pencil from my desk, examined it, laid it down.
“Let’s go back still farther,” he said, “to when Blake first talked to you about Sarah Gittings’ disappearance.
When was that, and where?”
“In this room, the next day.
When she did not come back I sent for him.
He was uneasy, but that was all.”
“You recall nothing else?”
“Nothing important.
I remember now that he asked about Howard.”
“What did he ask?”
“It was something about his health, and if he was able to travel; if he had been here lately.”
The Inspector slid forward on his chair.
“That’s an interesting point.
Now why would he ask such a question?
The talk, I gather, had been about Sarah Gittings?”
“Entirely.”
“And he knew Mr. Somers’ condition, of course.
Did you understand from that that he had reasons for thinking that Somers had been in town?”
“Yes.
I remember that it surprised me.
He asked me if I was certain that Howard had not been in town.
I thought it unlikely, myself.”
“I suppose you have no reason to think that he had been here?”
And when I shook my head,
“Don’t answer that too quickly.
Think it over, Miss Bell.
Sometimes we think we know all about certain individuals, only to find that we know nothing at all.
Why did Howard Somers secretly alter his will last summer while he was here?
What is this secret fund of fifty thousand dollars?
And what made Mr. Blake ask if he had been here recently?”
“I don’t believe Howard was here.
He was ill, and his wife seldom left him.”
“But it would be possible?
Some night when his wife had retired early?
Or was out to dinner?
He had a fast car, of course, and a dependable chauffeur.”
“Possibly?
Yes, I daresay.
But why?”
“That’s the point, exactly.
If you can induce Mr. Blake to tell his attorneys why he asked you that question it might be helpful.”
He moved impatiently.
“If people only told all they knew, there would be no miscarriages of justice.
But out of fear or self-interest or the idea of protecting somebody they keep their mouths shut, and so we have these mysteries.