JК
The Case of the Velvet Claws :: Гарднер Эрл Стенли
Страница: 79 из 149There are prison officials standing by the side of the trap, who look things over, and, in a little cubbyhole back of the trap, are three convicts with sharp knives. There are three strings that run across a board. The hangman puts a noose over your head, and a black bag, and then puts straps around your legs…”
She screamed.
“All right. That’s exactly what’s coming to you if you don’t tell me the God’s truth.”
Her face was white, her lips pale and quivering, and her eyes dark with panic.
“I’m ttttelling you the truth,” she said.
He shook his head. “Listen,” he told her, “you’ve got to learn to be frank and to come clean if we’re going to get you out of this jam. Now you know, and I know, that that message about the shoes was just a stall. It was a code that you had, meaning that Harrison Burke wanted you to get in touch with him. Just the same way you gave me a code to tell the maid when I wanted to get in touch with you.”
She was still shaken and white. Dumbly she nodded her head.
“All right,” said Mason, “now tell me what happened. Harrison Burke sent that message to you. He wanted you to get in touch with him. Then you told him that you would meet him some place, and you put on your things and went out. Is that right?”
“No,” she said, “he came to the house.”
“He did what?”
“It’s a fact,” she went on. “I told him not to, but he came anyway. He wanted to talk with me, and I told him that I wouldn’t, that I couldn’t see him. So he came to the house. You had told him that George was the owner of Spicy Bits. At first he wouldn’t believe it. Finally he did. Then he wanted to talk with George. He thought that he could explain to George. He was willing to do anything in order to keep Spicy Bits from going ahead with its attack.”
“You didn’t know he was coming?” he asked.
“No.”
There was a moment’s silence.
Then she said, “How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“About the shoes being the code he used.”
“Oh, he told me,” said Mason.
“And then the housekeeper told you about the message?” she asked. “I wonder if she told the police.”
Mason shook his head, and smiled.
“No,” he said, “she didn’t tell the police and she didn’t tell me. That was just a little bluff I resorted to in order to get you to give me the real facts. I knew that you must have seen Harrison Burke some time last night, and I knew that he was the kind that would be trying to get in touch with you.
She screamed.
“All right. That’s exactly what’s coming to you if you don’t tell me the God’s truth.”
Her face was white, her lips pale and quivering, and her eyes dark with panic.
“I’m ttttelling you the truth,” she said.
He shook his head. “Listen,” he told her, “you’ve got to learn to be frank and to come clean if we’re going to get you out of this jam. Now you know, and I know, that that message about the shoes was just a stall. It was a code that you had, meaning that Harrison Burke wanted you to get in touch with him. Just the same way you gave me a code to tell the maid when I wanted to get in touch with you.”
She was still shaken and white. Dumbly she nodded her head.
“All right,” said Mason, “now tell me what happened. Harrison Burke sent that message to you. He wanted you to get in touch with him. Then you told him that you would meet him some place, and you put on your things and went out. Is that right?”
“No,” she said, “he came to the house.”
“He did what?”
“It’s a fact,” she went on. “I told him not to, but he came anyway. He wanted to talk with me, and I told him that I wouldn’t, that I couldn’t see him. So he came to the house. You had told him that George was the owner of Spicy Bits. At first he wouldn’t believe it. Finally he did. Then he wanted to talk with George. He thought that he could explain to George. He was willing to do anything in order to keep Spicy Bits from going ahead with its attack.”
“You didn’t know he was coming?” he asked.
“No.”
There was a moment’s silence.
Then she said, “How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“About the shoes being the code he used.”
“Oh, he told me,” said Mason.
“And then the housekeeper told you about the message?” she asked. “I wonder if she told the police.”
Mason shook his head, and smiled.
“No,” he said, “she didn’t tell the police and she didn’t tell me. That was just a little bluff I resorted to in order to get you to give me the real facts. I knew that you must have seen Harrison Burke some time last night, and I knew that he was the kind that would be trying to get in touch with you.