Chapter VI

WHAT THE STRANGE WOMAN SAW FROM ACROSS THE STREET.

The janitor was the next person called and questioned.

“You take charge of the offices every evening to clean them out and lock them up, do you not?” asked Nick.

“I do, sir.”

“What time do you generally begin that work?”

“Usually right after five o’clock, when Mr. Redway leaves.”

“But you did not come to these offices at five o’clock to-day, nor yet as early as half-past five?”

“True, sir. I had been asked to wait till six o’clock.”

“Asked to wait till six? By whom?”

“By Miss Langdon, God rest her soul!”

“Did she say why she wanted you to wait?”

“She said she would be busy till that time.”

Nick’s mind instantly reverted to the type-written message which had summoned him to the place of the tragedy.

“Besides sir,” continued the janitor, “Mr. Redway did not leave at five o’clock as usual.”

“How do you know that?”

“I saw him go downstairs five minutes after the elevator stopped, and it stopped at five o’clock.”

“This is important information. Did you see him come up again?”

“No, sir; but somebody came up about five minutes after he went down, for I heard the man’s steps. I was busy in an office two floors below, however, and didn’t look out to see who it was.”

“Were there any other persons in the building at that time?”

“Only the three persons out there in that room. They occupy offices two flights above, and are here every day till six o’clock.”

“Did you hear a pistol shot?”

“No, sir, I did not.”

“Isn’t that strange?”

“It does seem so, sir.”

“Was there any unusual noise about the time the shot may have been fired?”

“Only once, sir.”

“What was the noise?”

“A wagon loaded with bar iron passed on the street below and made a great clatter.”

“About what time was that?”

“Near five o’clock.”

“Before or after Redway went downstairs?”

“Just before, if I remember rightly.”

Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Grote and Miss Lucas were then called in together and questioned concerning what they knew of the affair.

Neither had any knowledge which at first could throw light on the subject in hand.

They had been at work in their offices, two floors above, and neither heard a pistol shot.

“Do any of you remember the noise of a heavily loaded wagon which passed through the street below about five o’clock?” inquired Nick.

Mr. Grote remembered it distinctly, and for a good reason.

When questioned for the reason, he replied that at the time Miss Lucas was standing at the window looking down the street. He had called to her, and the din was so great he was compelled to raise the pitch of his voice and call three times before she heard him.

Miss Lucas then remembered the circumstance, but was not aware of any unusual noise at the time. There might have been such a noise, however, but her attention was wholly engrossed just then by something else.

“What was it that interested you so much?” asked Nick. “Something you saw in the street?”

“No, something I saw in a window across the street.”

“What did you see?”

“A woman.”

“Why did the woman prove so interesting?”

“Because from her actions I thought she was watching something which was going on in this building.”

“Ah! now we are getting at something important. What made you believe she was watching this building?”

“Because when she first came to that window she looked out boldly, fearlessly and carelessly; suddenly she drew back and hid her face behind the edge of the window, seemingly on the watch and anxious not to be noticed herself.”

“Well?”

“She sat thus probably five minutes. Then, springing to her feet, she almost ran away from the window and disappeared.”

“What window was it through which she looked?”

Miss Lucas pointed directly across the street and answered:

“That one.”

She had designated the window which Nick had previously noticed to be on a line with the open window of Redway’s private office and the desk of the dead girl.

Miss Lucas supplemented her information by saying:

“Our offices are directly above these, and I was looking down at the woman--or rather at the place from which she had disappeared a minute before when Mr. Grote called me.”

“Could you see the woman’s features?”

“Distinctly when she first came to the window.”

“Had you ever seen her before?”

“Only once.”

“When?”

“To-day--this afternoon as I was going out to lunch.”

“Where was she?”

“She got into the elevator as I got out.”

“What time was that?”

“About half-past two o’clock.”

Nick had no doubt that the woman at the window was Redway’s mysterious visitor.

Mr. Kennedy and Miss Lucas were dismissed with a caution to repeat none of their information to any one else.

Nick requested Mr. Grote to remain a few minutes.

After Kennedy and the typewriter had gone back to the private office Nick whispered to the coroner:

“Make a pretense of trying to get some further information from Grote, just to keep up the hum of conversation, while I take a look in the private office of Mr. Byke.”

So, while the coroner engaged Mr. Grote in further conversation, Nick silently used his pick-lock, entered the private office of Mr. Byke and remained for nearly ten minutes.

When he returned to Redway’s office he locked the communicating door behind him, and then said:

“Mr. Grote, as a representative of Superintendent Byrnes, I ask you to mention to no one the fact that you saw me enter that room just now. It may be of great concern to innocent parties who are in danger at this time that my visit to Mr. Byke’s office shall not be known to any one save our three selves for the present.”

“You can rely on me, sir, to be mum on the subject.”

“Thank you, and that is all.”

Nick himself accompanied Mr. Grote to the large office, and, addressing the two policemen, said:

“Mr. McCarthy, all these good people, except Mr. Redway, of whom we wish to ask a few more questions, may go. Mr. Brown, you will see that they have free access to their offices or the street.”

Then, turning to Redway, the detective said:

“I would like to get a little more information from you, Mr. Redway. Will you be so kind as to step back into your office with me once more?”

“Nobody could refuse a gentleman so polite as you,” was the sarcastic reply.

Once inside, and the door locked, Nick proceeded without delay to his task.

“Mr. Redway, you told me that you had been on the street, and when you came back you found Miss Langdon dead.”

“You have stated the case correctly, sir.”

“What time was it when you left Miss Langdon here alive and went down to the street?”

“I cannot give you the exact time.”

“Was it before or after five?”

“Before.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I rode down in the elevator, and the elevator boy never makes a trip after five o’clock.”

“You are sure you rode down in the elevator?”

“Why, certainly I am.”

“Do you know where the elevator boy lives?”

“No, but the janitor can tell you. He has his address.”

The response was so feebly made that Nick was somewhat puzzled.

“Where was your office boy when you went out?”

“I had just sent him to the jeweler’s with my watch.”

“How long before?”

“Only a few minutes.”

“How long did you remain on the street?”

“Ten or fifteen minutes, probably.”

“Why did you come up, go down and return the second time?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you say you rode down in the elevator a little before five and came back ten or fifteen minutes later. Why did you go down almost directly afterward and return the second time?”

“I did not.”

“But the janitor saw you going down the stairs about a quarter past five.”

“I beg the janitor’s pardon, but he saw nothing of the kind.”

“You deny, then, that you walked downstairs about that time?”

“Most emphatically. I have not walked downstairs in this building to-day.”

“When you were coming up did you have occasion to retrace your steps for a short distance?”

“No, sir.”

“You came straight up without turning back once?”

“Yes.”

“Is the janitor a truthful man?”

“So far as I know, he is.”

“If he declares, then, that he saw you go down the stairs at ten or fifteen minutes after five, or at any time after five o’clock, what would you say?”

“That he either lied or was mistaken.”

“Now, Mr. Redway, you refused to tell me why you went to the street on that last trip down and where you were. Do you still refuse to answer?”

“I do.”

“A lady visited you in this office this afternoon.”

Redway’s face flushed and then grew pale. A cold, desperate gleam came into his gray eyes and his lips closed tightly.

“Do you deny that, too?” asked Nick, after Redway showed no intention of replying to the statement of fact.

“I do not.”

“Who was she?”

“That I refuse to tell.”

“And the nature of her business here?”

“Is my affair solely--and hers.”

“Are you sure it was not also Miss Langdon’s affair?”

“Quite sure.”

“After she went away you and Miss Langdon had a quarrel?”

“No, sir, we had not.”

“But Miss Langdon’s voice was heard in a highly pitched and exciting key talking to you in here?”

“Miss Langdon was mistress of her own voice. I repeat, we had no quarrel.”

“What was she saying to you while she was so excited?”

“I surely cannot tell you.”

“Why?”

“It concerned only herself, and she is dead. Her affairs are sacred so far as I am concerned.”

“You left the building with your lady visitor?”

“Yes.”

“Where did you take her?”

“To the elevated railroad station.”

“Where does she live?”

“You will have to get that information from her.”

“Have you seen the lady since you left her at the elevated railroad station?”

“Mr. Carter, there is no use in your asking me any further questions or of my answering any more.”

“Then I presume, Mr. Redway, you are lawyer enough to understand your position,” remarked Nick.

“Oh, yes! I must submit to arrest on suspicion. But I have no fears. There is nothing in the case to fix the crime on me.”

“Do you know how Miss Langdon died?”

“I believe you asked me that question before, and I answered it. I do not.”

“Then, till we find out, you will have to submit to detention.”

“Imprisoned, you mean. Well, I am ready.”

Nick, accompanied by Officer Brown, took Redway to the nearest police justice, where a commitment was sworn out, and Redway was lodged in the Tombs.

Before he left the Borden Building, however, Nick questioned the janitor again about the person who went down the stairs shortly after five o’clock.

“Are you positive it was Mr. Redway?”

“Sure as I live I am.”

“No mistaking some one else for him?”

“How could I? There’s no one else wears such a sky-blue suit, such a straw hat with a black band or has such a long blonde mustache.”

When Nick heard this answer, calling up Redway’s peculiar dress and appearance, he couldn’t doubt the janitor’s word. Then he got the address of the elevator boy, and turned the case over to the coroner with this personal request:

“Postpone your inquest from day to day, until I have had a little more time to look into this affair.”

Redway once safely in the Tombs, Nick went straight to the home of the elevator boy. He found the lad at supper, and knew the news of the tragedy in the Borden Building could not yet have reached him.

“I am trying to find Mr. Redway,” explained Nick, “and I thought you might tell me where he is.”

“Why, he has rooms somewhere on Fifty-fifth street, I believe. Did you look in the directory?”

“Yes! He isn’t there. Was he in the office to-day?”

“Sure!”

“You saw him?”

“Why, yes, several times. He rode up and down with me.”

“How many times?”

“Oh, four or five, maybe!”

“Was any one with him on any of the trips?”

“There was a stunning-looking young lady with him once when he went down.”

“Was that the last time he went down?”

“No, he came back half an hour later and went down with me on my last trip at just five o’clock.”

This information confirmed Redway’s statement, and was a puzzler for Nick. He had reason now to know that if the janitor was correct in his testimony Redway must have come up almost immediately by the stairs, gone down the second time by the same way and returned a second time by the stairs.

The case had a very puzzling complexion at this particular place.

“When did you see Mr. Gay last?” asked Nick.

“Mr. Gay left the office about eleven o’clock and didn’t come back any more.”

“Did anybody inquire of you during the day for the offices of Bridgely & Byke?”

Nick expected the boy to say that the strange lady did. The reply was rather disappointing.

“Only one old fellow--an old man who rode up about half-past two or three o’clock.”

“How long did he stay?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t go down with me. Guess he must have walked.”

“Half-past two or three o’clock,” said Nick to himself. “The office boy told me that several parties came in while the strange woman was closeted with Redway and that he sent them all away. This old man was one of them, I suppose.”

Then, for the time being, Nick dismissed all thoughts of the old man from his mind. But the existence of that personage was destined soon to be recollected with startling force.