The Mystery of the Sycamore

“I don’t have to tell you anything except that I did it. Do I, Jeffrey? Do I, Mr. Keefe?” She looked at these two for help.

“No, Miss Wheeler,” Keefe assured her, “you needn’t say a word without legal advice.”

“But, Maida,” Jeffrey groaned, “you didn’t do it – you know! You couldn’t have!”

“Yes, I did, Jeff.” Maida’s eyes were glittering, and her voice was steady. “Of course I did. I’d do anything to save father from any more persecution by that man! And there was to be more! Oh, don’t let me talk! I mustn’t!”

“No, you mustn’t,” agreed Keefe. “Now, Burdon, you’ve got three confessions! What are you going to do with them?”

“Going to find out which is the true one,” answered Burdon, with a dogged expression. “I knew all the time it was one of the three, and I’m not surprised that the other two are willing to perjure themselves to save the criminal.”

“Also, there may have been collusion,” suggested Hallen.

“Of course,” the other agreed. “But we’ll find out. The whole thing rests among the three. They must not be allowed to escape – ”

“I’ve no intention of running away!” said Maida, proudly.

“No one will run away,” opined Hallen, sagaciously. “The criminal will stand by the other two, and the other two will stand by him.”

“Or her, as the case may be,” supplemented Burdon.

“Her,” Maida assured him. “In the first place, my mother was upstairs in her own room, and my father was not in the den at the time. I was there alone.”

“Oh, yes, your father was in the den,” cried Jeffrey, imploringly.

“No,” said Maida, not catching his meaning.

But Hallen caught it.

“Where was Mr. Wheeler?” he asked.

“I – I don’t know,” Maida said.

“Well, if he wasn’t in the den, and if he wasn’t upstairs, maybe he was in the big living-room, looking out at the fire.”

“Yes – yes, I think he was!” Maida agreed.

“Then,” Hallen went on, “then, Mr. Wheeler broke his parole – and is due for punishment.”

“Oh, no,” Maida moaned, seeing where her statements had led. “I – I guess he was in the den – after all.”

“And I guess you’re making up as you go along,” opined Mr. Hallen.

CHAPTER IX

COUNTER-CONFESSIONS

Before Keefe went away, young Allen had a serious talk with him.

“I want to ask your advice,” Allen said; “shall I confess to that crime?”

“Man alive, what are you talking about?” Keefe cried, astounded at the suggestion.

“Talking sense,” Jeffrey stoutly asserted. “I don’t believe any one of those three did it – they’re saying they did to shield one another – and so – ”

“And so, you want to get into the game!” Keefe smiled at him. “You’re very young, my boy, to think such crude methods would get over, even with such muffs as those two booby sleuths! No, Allen, don’t add another perjury that can be of no possible use. You didn’t do the killing, did you?”

“Of course not! But neither did the Wheelers!”

“No one of them?”

“Certainly not.”

“Who did, then?”

“I don’t know; but you yourself insisted on some marauder.”

“Only to get suspicion away from the family. But there’s no hope of finding any evidence of an outside job. You see, I’ve made some inquiries myself, and the servants’ tales make it pretty sure that no intruder could have been here. So, the Wheelers are the only suspects left.”

“And am I not as good for a suspect as they are – if I make due confession?”

“No, Allen, you’re not. You’re in love with Miss Maida – ”

“I’m engaged to her!”

“All right; don’t you see, then, the absurdity of expecting any one to believe that you, a decent, law-abiding young citizen, would commit a murder which would positively render impossible a marriage with the girl you love?”

“I didn’t think of that!”

“Of course you didn’t. But that would make it unlikely that those detectives would believe your tale for a moment. No, it’s ridiculous for any more people to confess to this murder. Three avowed criminals are quite enough for the crime!”

“But none of them really did it.”

“How you harp on that string! Now, look here, Allen, I’m as loath to believe it as you are, but we must face facts. Those three people had motive and opportunity. Moreover, they’re a most united family, and if any one thought either of the other two guilty, that one is quite capable of falsely avowing the crime.”

“Yes – I see that” – Allen spoke impatiently. “What I want to know is, what we’re going to do about it?”

“There I can’t advise you. I have to get away now, but, as I said, I’ll return. I’ve more than a little taste for investigation myself, and when I come back, I’ve no doubt I can hel – ”

“But – Keefe – I don’t want you to help – to investigate – if it’s going to prove anything on any of the Wheelers.”

“But you believe them innocent!”

“Yes; but crime has been fastened on the innocent.”

“Look here, Allen, you do believe them innocent – but you fear your belief is a mistaken one!”

“God help me, I do fear that, Keefe! Oh, what can we do?”