The Deep Lake Mystery
site. Clean, wind-swept, cheerful with flowers and only pleasantly shaded by the wavi
o awaited our coming were not at all re
n come along," admonis
oo, there was no real discussion, until we were, later, seated in th
ssing waistcoats," Kee
s the watch in the water
formed me. "The work of the same hand a
e going to be
ar in my own mind. I'm sorry Doctor Rogers went away-he could read the messa
n't help you, as you
rtance, but it surely isn't all there is of it. Nor the waistcoats, either. To me, those things see
ternoon, and left them in the boathouse where they were found. Griscom says they were in their place on Wedn
"what point are you making, Gray? These stor
ut she didn't carry the waistcoats away with her, Tuesday afternoon-that we know. So, what conclusion is there, but that, as the old nurse said, it is all a plant? Somebody came in the night, killed Mr. Tracy, an
criminating to Miss Remsen with a Lick telescope! Now, that's all right, and I'm not cavilling, b
admire Miss Remsen, but that's all the more reason
Gray be in it all, and that we pay
ot, and I at once recovered my balance, my self-respect and an adde
l daunted by their
d up all the rubbishy evidence to mislead the investigators. But, perhaps on purpose, perhaps accide
into the ash tray, "I'm ready to talk. So, call a halt o
were gazing directly at her husband, as she concent
I'm ready to say right out that I'm all
t once to a conclusion that somehow incriminated Al
There's the nail, of course, but what about the hammer or mal
ooked
n't either. How abou
responded. "Know o
is court at Whistling Reeds
t I hoped I d
oves?" I sai
but pos
isn't
assed. "But a lot of little bits of
jibed. "All right,
s more about this matt
ore than his words, struck a
I did, I was tempted to tell him everything, but c
ed at me,
know anything, do you?" I w
k out. But I do believe that there is a deep, dark, underlying my
confidently, and I could only re
king for a moment or
iss Remsen's sudden change of ba
base?" I sa
police would come to interview her. That seemed to spur her or stir her up in some w
at the idea of a police interview, and it brought out her natural bravery and courage. Sh
rch. March is a good man, but I
lared. "But you're going to
First of all, we have the collection of properties
not necessarily the
nclined to think a waggish-minded visitor follo
Lora, very
ned, "except in an effort to direct s
ould d
hful person, determined
," suggested Maud. "Say, Mr
"why should she kill the m
. "But there may have been reasons. Suppose Mr. Tr
iefly, as Maud looked
ell, suppose Mrs. Dallas did it-killed him, I mean-and suppose somebody saw her who cared for her, Mr. Ames or Mr. E
s a germ of thought in your theory. Granting two people concerned, there's no reason to
ed on fact," Lora put in. "It's only ima
or imagination?" I
in a fairy story or a romance. But imaginati
ora's usually right. Now what facts ha
"The relationships between the peo
a glance of approval. "Take the househo
as," I sai
t in the
hkey, so that makes her
msen is in th
ed, knowing better
on. What's the
ke suggestions that he could accept or discard
. A personal interview with her is needed, and then she would probably, or at l
ate him," said M
ve hated him," Kee declared
. "It was horrible, of course, but to my mind
urderer get his
las or Alma Remsen coming to the house armed with a hammer and nail! They might bring a pistol or a dagger,
e story Maud told of, the Spanis
o see a copy of that book in a suspect's posses
spects, and I suppose they include all who were qu
vants?"
that they run across, though the
tends, and there's no question of his opportunity. Say he read that gruesome tale, and concluded it would be a fine way to get his money quickly. Then, a
ay all be true, but you've no atom of proof, nor even an atom of e
Griscom's accomplice. Is
ove with the butler? Is Mrs. Dallas in love with the secretary? Is Harper Ames in love wit
way. I hate to acknowledge it, but he may know more, in his ordinary police way,
o see the stolid-looking man
s, there was a sort of power in the way he carr
to the ladies in a preoccupied way, and sea
"I've been to see
ut her?"
e's trying to hide something, I'm sure it's nothing of real importance. I mean, she think
ou know i
She gets embarrassed
ay more a
er relations with her uncle, or her feeling towards Mrs. Dallas, she's as unconcerned and un-self-conscious
gather fr
ave put them in her boathouse to incriminate her, and that scares her. Whi
said, looking at him with a sort of adm
I saw all that in Miss Remsen's face and attitude. It isn't imagination a detective nee
rderer surely ha
round the dead man. Sometimes I think he was, and
hy
ve chosen shooting or stabbing as a method. But granting a mentality that could think of and carry out a killing like
t done with int
even the crucifix-all right. But the exaggeration. The superfluity. The piling o
e," Keeley broke in, as if unable longer to keep st
unt for a nature, a temperament, that is extravagant
acclaim merit, and he thought the detective showed real insight.
but she had no hand in the crime. She had no hand in the decoration of the deathbed in that
whole-souled acquittal of Alma, and I b
ur pet suspect?
wered, frankly. "Mr. Ames, Mrs.
u care to detail your reasons? Or do you
o weigh his words as he spoke them. "No, Mr. Moore, I'm only too glad to tell you all I kno
. Motives first, for all f
I will tell you the gist of it. It's really no secret, but
ed, and Ma
ral heir. There is a gift of fifty thousand dollars to Mrs. Dallas and twenty-five t
big fortune for Mis
h the servants' bequests and charities included, that only runs to, say, tw
nts ge
. Fenn about the same. The other servants in proport
e will to work on. Now, granting greed as the motive, we have y
I mean they all had equal motive and the same oppo
itive that Moore as
ts had the ingenuity, the imagination, to cook up this way of doing th
n't
llars, garage and every such place, and I know every nail and hammer in the whole place.
er?" Moore lo
itimately there. This isn't proof positive, but it's fairly so, when you take it in connection with the absence of any such nails as we're searching for, and the unlikelihood of any
inside the house, but Mrs. Dallas was n
se unheard. I've tried it, and the door latch and lock are so slick and so well oiled that they move with absolute silence. Then the thick, soft rugs in the hall and on the stairs ar
osely
guarded against it. But that doesn't matter; the fact remains, anybody
ent intruder from outside, how did he get away from Mr. Tracy's sui
eley Moore squa
no idea?
?" counte
ve. He went ou
the
the