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The Abandoned Room

Chapter 10 THE CEDARS IS LEFT TO ITS SHADOWS

Word Count: 8379    |    Released on: 30/11/2017

h the knowledge came back his fear for Katherine, conquering his first relief. A sick revulsion swept him. He remembered the evidence found in Katherine

ough. Graham ran after him. From the private stairway aros

t have you got?"

m cri

all righ

r time after time each one of the panels had been sounded and examined. Beyond, he could see dimly the dark clothing of the person who, with a stealth in itself suggestive

early they had no doubt that he held the one responsible for two b

d," Rawlins called. "Don

the private hallway. Gra

ain grasp the

reached him thr

e your share, the Lord knows. You'

heir possible confirmation of his doubt. The fingers, he repeated to himself, had been too slender. The moment that had freed him from fear of his own guilt had constructed in its place an uncertainty harder to face. Yet t

the corridor

ob

there, beyond a doubt, was her exculpation. He crossed the sombre room. He grasped he

avens you

cited the resul

e said. "Quick! We

wanted that ugly fear

ow how the evidenc

he said. "I

him. He looked at her and wondere

ou dressed

as pu

t think any one

e. I supposed it was the

oss the room. She

n't el

ble anticipation among th

re only a little

ore than th

d have sworn it wa

ssed hi

whispered. "Let us s

awlins held a fourth, who had ceased struggling. Bobby paused, yet, since seeing

redes, nearly effemin

"You can't have done th

the thin face was bare of emotion. The depths of the eyes as usual turned back scrutiny. The man disclosed neither guilt nor the outra

grinned

edal for getting away

so happy for you

" Robinson confessed, "

Glad as I can b

to draw from his efforts in the d

s spigotty all along. I don't

d didn't I put it up to h

laughed

is due. You also put

l that out," Robinson said. "I

sed, "with old Blackburn's

own from you any more. I daresay you'v

Paredes ans

back against the

us, and I thank you; but I have no gun, and I'm no match for four men and a woman. Besides, you hurt my arm. Bobby was no

e abnormalities they had experienced at the Cedars he might find it simple enough t

away. See if there's a

to have the hatpin

failed to find the hat

smiled. "That's som

ed a cigarette. He drew back the coat sleeve of his left arm and readjus

d you'd nap through the show. It seems the bloodh

this?" the d

waved

a pris

octor

mean

on explained. "He was in a position

had no hatpin,"

glance sought the

all these walls," he grumb

is fingers thr

self," he said. "I went over tha

des's easy manner. He had a quick hope. He saw the man watch with an amused to

No wonder we didn't see any joints or get a hollow sound from this panel any more than from

wreath of smoke agai

ind. No grooves show because the door is an entire panel. There isn't even a latch. You merely push hard against its face. Such arrangements are common enough in colonial houses, and there was more than the nature of the crimes to tell you there was some such thing here. I mean if you will examine the farther door closer than you

against the panel. It moved in it

y," h

ine st

heard each ti

doctor's cheeks whitened. Robi

the nasty

t inserted through the bedding as you thought inevitable, Doctor. Suppose you were lying in that bed, asleep, or half asleep

son n

uld to see what it was. I'd expose myself to a clean thrust. I'd drop back on th

d, with the familiar s

," Robinson said. "It's the best pla

inter

nd it isn't fair, Robinson. It's only decent to tel

uth shut," Ro

es smiled

e with the district attorney. Ther

as Blackburn's return?"

e ghosts. I fancy there are plenty in this house.

een talking to a dead m

men, Bobby, I really believe, think me capable of the crimes in this house. I wan

rved face which even n

ything of the kin

had answered differently I'd have let th

ed to R

hand through the opening before I was ready to strike? Why did I use my left hand-my injured hand? I was like Howells. I couldn't consider the case finished until I had

than it had ever been. His wanderings about the Cedars remained unexplained, and they knew now it had

hink I-"

des

self or Bobby. I think I can tell you how the evidence got in

, glancing a

he mused enigmatically. "

ked at him

y be a trick, Mr. Robin

" Paredes laughed. "By the way, Bobby, did you hea

ike the voice we h

," Robinson put in. "Then the rumpus u

Paredes mused. "We should have had

asked. "And as Rawlins says, no t

an in black as Miss Katherine. She hasn't had anything to do

have you been doing h

ugh," Paredes answere

e library yesterday when they had caught him prowling in the private staircase. All along h

it was obvious you and Rawlins would do worse, while Graham's blu

e impression," Graham asked,

held up

ectives do, you have denied facts, searching always for something more subtle. You have asked for impossibilities while you blustered that they couldn't exist. Still every one is prone to do that when he fancies

spread

hat I'm a fool and

m interrupt

was

them a physical explanation they shrank from the keening

n black isn't Miss P

at had followed the cry reached them with harsh reverberations. Its echoes filled the house as they dashed across the library and

lked to th

or," he dire

he door, unlocked it

!" Katheri

ced against the door. Rawlins caught her and held her upright. The flake

ed. "You were r

ared at her, her features twisted. She burst into retching sobs. She staggered toward Paredes. As she went the snow melted from her hat and cloak. She became

ent from which all the music had fled. "I couldn't stand it another min

tched her

" he said sof

d Maria

ught me away out there. No one wants to arre

doctor rumbled. "This w

ave dry clot

feet, encased in torn stockings. The dancer wore no shoes, and Bobby

he cried, "unti

ck with Jenkins. The butler was bent and haggard. His surrender to fear was more pronounced than it had been at the grave or when t

Through the old butler, it became clear, he would make his

as, of course,

butler moaned, "W

ng, Jenkins," Pa

against the chair. Pa

man. They won't want you

he shrank back again, sh

," Paredes asked, "or

r came through

ne! How did you find out? M

ing to you?"

shook

how he wa

vant covere

I tried to stop him, but he pushed me away and ran out." His voic

es si

, yet it was the most grace

rson without reason. That familiar, hysterical quality whic

to kill him, I couldn't kill

out an hour or so

feet were frozen, and the snow was slippery, and I couldn't find my shoes. But I called and he wouldn't stop. I had to know, beca

oice became a scream, shot with all her

at the bottom of the lake with the man he murdered. And I can

f the chairs, sha

s woman must be put to bed and taken care of. She has b

t she hasn't told the

help carried her upstairs. Katherine went with them.

Groom said. "The woman may be all right i

the dinner party and the murders. But what about my

answer yet,"

es sm

he answer to everythin

e murderer. The fact s

pened at the Cedars has

le. And I'm not sure you're right now, for there is no other Blackburn he could have m

of the presence of the other Blackburn. There has been

hair. He lighted a cigarette and

, if only to save my skin from thi

son grinned. "I'll

the Panamanian. Jenkins sid

you found it ou

York that night, and, to be frank, I was glad enough to help her when you turned up, trying to impress us with your puritan watchfulness. Even you guessed that she had drugged Bobby. I suspected it when I saw him go to pieces in the cafe. He gave me the slip,

een drinking more than the Band of Hope would approve of, and on top of that he got an overdose of

e stimulated. Automatically you followed your ruling impulse. Automatically at the last minute you revolted from exposing yourself in such a condition to your cousin and your grandfather. Your lucid period in the woods

when the body moved and when Howells was murdered, yo

sleep last night,"

r slapped

to you and you had brooded upon the suggestion until you were bound to respond. Graham's presence in your room, watching for just that

swift gesture

e, Carlos, where w

u come?" Gr

erstanding between her and old Blackburn-perhaps she had engaged to keep Bobby away from the Cedars until the new will had been made. But here was Blackburn murdered, and it was manifest she hadn't tried to throw suspicion on Bobby, and the points that made Howells's case inc

ackburn's past in the library, I concluded, if such papers existed, they would be locked up in the desk in his room. I searched there a number of times, giving you every excuse I could think of to get upstairs. The other night, after I had suspected her of knowing something, Miss Katherine nearly caught me. But I found what I wanted-a carefully hidden packet of accounts and letters and newspaper clippings. They're at y

than twenty-five years ago," the doctor sa

sh, how merciless he was, for to succeed in Panama during those days required an utter contempt for all the standards of law and decency. The men who got along held life cheaper than a handful of coppers. That's what I meant when I walked around the hall talking of the ghosts of Panama. For I was begin

This boy was named in memory of him. Why should any one have remembered? He died in

ted to, for he came back with his brother's money as well as his own-the cash and the easily convertible securities that were all men would ha

s a strange woman around here it was almost certainly Maria. As Rawlins deduced, she must either be hysterical or signalling some one. Why should she come unless something had

ter from his pocket an

uld you acco

nian read

ty. Had Silas Blackburn been murdered or had his brother? Where was the survivor who had committed that brutal murder? Maria had come here hysterically to answer those questions. She might know. The light in the deserted house! She might be hiding him and taking food to him there. But her crying suggested a signal which he never answered. At any rate, I had to find Maria. So I slipped out. I thought I heard her at the lake. She wasn't there. I was sure I would trap her at the deserted house, for the diffused glow of the light we had seen proved that it had come through the cobwebbed windows of the cellar, which are set in little wells below the level of the ground. The cellar explained also how she had turned her flashlight off and slipped through the hall and out while we searched the rooms. She hadn't gone back. I couldn't find her. So I went on into Smithtown and sent a costly

ve brought her father with her whe

nerous as she is impulsive. Undoubtedly she had the doctors do what they could for her father, and when she got track of Silas B

burn was afraid of instead of Bobby, as he tr

crecy? Nobody would have hurt you if you had put us on the right track and asked for a li

he case couldn't be complete without the discovery of the secret entrance of the room of death. My belief in the existence of such a thing made me lean from the first to Silas Blackburn rather than Robert.

aredes turned and smile

o far, am I

bbed his h

r one or two questions. When did the firs

own and talked to the dete

w arises this apparition from the past with no claim in a court of law, with an intention simply to ask, and, in case of a refusal, to punish. The conclusion reached by that selfish and merciless mind was inevitable. He proba

r moved r

ked about it in connection with his ancesto

e Bobby at hand in case his plan failed and he had to defend himself. But Maria had made sure

I think she must have caught Mr. Silas in the upper hall after he had

pocket. They were of young men, after the fashion of Blackburns, re

in the family a

e difference just the sa

we know the

urdered man in his coffin. And in death there are no familiar facial expressions, no eccentricities of speech. So you can imagine my feelings when I tried to picture the drama that had gone on in th

ief indicate anything o

it come

t colds? I found a number of your handkerchiefs in your grandfather's bureau. The handkerchief furnished me with an importa

ad dropped his own handkerchief in the room with the

. She made Jenkins break down the door, and she sent for the police. Silas Blackburn was helpless. He was beaten at that moment, but he did the best he could. He went to Waters, hoping, at the worst, to establish an alibi through the book-worm who probably wouldn't remember the exact hour of his arrival. Waters's house offered him, too, a strategic advan

wanted me to try to find the handkerchief, but I didn't have the courage. He c

rd," Bobby said, "when we fo

when Mr. Silas heard the detective boast that he knew everything and would make an arrest in the morning, he thought about the handkerchie

" Paredes said, "why he didn't take

way before you could trap him. And I couldn't give him another chance for a long time. Some of you were in the room after that, or Miss Katherine and Mr. Graham were sitting in the corridor watching th

hat stuff in Miss Kather

lung up h

ther things. We got it open without tearing the envelope and Mr. Silas read it. He wouldn't destroy anything. He never dreamed of anybody's suspecting Miss Katherine

w the report to

all that responsibilit

partly to blame it mi

rugged his

ate for Silas Blac

d scoundrel had the courage to sh

r him to do since Miss Katherine had spoiled his scheme, since you all believed that it was he who had been murdered. He had to hide the truth or face the ele

ns no

d slowly, "and he knew how sc

again. Of course the snow effaced every one of their tracks. He came in, naturally scared to death, and told us that story based on the legends of the Cedars and the doctor's supernatural theories. And you must admit that he might, as you

lanc

Miss Ka

the head of

to the doctor. "She's asleep. She we

ed down, glancing from one

to come in. I told her we were friends. But she fought. She wouldn't answer my questions. She struck me finally when I tried to force her to come out of the storm. Robinson, I want you to listen to me for a moment. I honestly believe, for everybody's sake, I did a good thing when I asked Silas Blackburn ju

he right to dictate,"

ank

Maria must be considered now. She shall have what was taken

rine

nk it was greed that urged her. You must understand that it was a bigger impulse than greed. It was a thing of wh

tooped and took th

nd of a lot of snap judgments. We've

you, too," Rob

d the Panaman

make a first-c

es ya

ly. I have no equipment beyon

e got the cards and piled them in neat packs on the green cloth. He

taire since I've been at the Cedars that I must solve it

to him im

don't know what to say

begin to t

Paredes yawned, "I shall have to disappea

ars in her eyes. It wasn't necessary for

a while. Perhaps between us we'll get somewhere.

manipulated the card

taring me in the face I nearly made the mistake of choosing a difficult one. That would

ce to their desired combination he smiled

man nature. Don't you

orn

*

ard the few things Bobby and Katherine wanted from the house had been packed and taken to the station. At Katherine's suggestion they had decided to leave last

pen the place again a

e pressed the Panamanian's hand, "but never here again. We

said thoughtfully, "tha

therine alone, so the Panamanian strolled back to the auto

" he began. "Is it because I practically

ied to

l, but I thought, because you saw Bobby and I had come together, that you had spied on me, had de

innocent. I believed the best way to prove it to them was to let them sea

always made him feel unworthy in Katherine's pres

ed, "I was beginning to

better, the three of us,

he automobile. As they drove off Paredes turned. His face, a

melancholy walls. At the curve of the driveway they paused and looked back. The shroud of loneliness and abandonment descending upon the Cedars became f

E

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