Murder at Bridge Part 16

Judge Marshall glanced about the room, as if he could not recall the face of everyone present.

"Yes, all of us--except Mr. Sprague and--Penny, my dear, did you join us at all?"

The girl who had once been in on every sport that this crowd of Hamilton's socially elect indulged in, flushed a painful red.

"No, Hugo. I--I have to stay with Mother on Sunday mornings, you know."

"Your target practice was a Sunday morning diversion, then, Judge Marshall?" Dundee asked.

"Yes. We usually have an hour of the sport--between eleven and noon, on Sundays. We've been having a sort of tournament--quite sharply compet.i.tive--"

"When did you and your friends practise last?" Dundee asked.

"Last Sunday. Tomorrow was to mark the end of the 'tournament'," the Judge answered.

"And when did you last see your gun and silencer?" Dundee persisted.

"Last Sunday, of course.... Why, Good Lord!" Marshall e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed. _"It was Nita herself who put the gun away!_"

There was a collective gasp of relief. Eyes could meet eyes--now. But it was Flora Miles who voiced the thought or hope that seemed apparent on every face.

"That's why I didn't hear anyone talking when I was in the closet!" she cried, her voice almost hysterical in its vehemence. "_There wasn't anybody but Nita in the room!_ She committed suicide! She stole poor Hugo's gun and the silencer and committed suicide!"

"At a distance of from ten to fifteen feet?" Dundee asked with ill-concealed sarcasm. "And when she was powdering her face? And just after entering the room, blithely singing a Broadway hit?"

"Maybe the lady is right, boy," Captain Strawn interposed mildly. "I've heard of people rigging up contrivances--"

"Which make the gun and the silencer disappear by magic?" Dundee demanded. "No, folks, I'm afraid the suicide theory is no good.... Now, Judge Marshall," and he turned again to the creator of the biggest sensation since the investigation into Nita Selim's death had got under way, "you say that Mrs. Selim herself put the gun away.... Will you explain the circ.u.mstances?"

The elderly man's face had gone yellowish again. "Certainly! Nita Selim and I were the last to leave the back garden. She was particularly poor at the sport--never made a bull's eye during the four or five Sunday mornings after Lois--Mrs. Dunlap--drew her into our set. She begged for a few more shots, and I stayed with her, after the others had gone into the house for--er--refreshment. She fired the last bullet in the chamber of the Colt's, and together we walked to the house, entering the little room at the rear where all sorts of sports equipment are kept--fis.h.i.+ng rods and tackle, golf clubs, bows and arrows, skis, etc. She was carrying the gun, uns.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the silencer as we walked. It is my habit to keep the pistol and the silencer in a drawer in a little corner cupboard--"

"Locked, up?" Dundee asked sharply.

"Usually locked, but not always, I am afraid," Judge Marshall answered reluctantly.

"And you saw Mrs. Selim place the gun and the silencer in the drawer?"

"I--thought I did, but I was really not watching closely. As a matter of fact, I stopped to look over a fis.h.i.+ng rod, with a view to trying it out the first good fis.h.i.+ng weather--"

"Was Mrs. Selim wearing a coat or cloak?" Dundee cut in impatiently.

"Why, I don't know--"

"Yes, she was, Hugo!" Karen cried out eagerly. "It was quite chilly last Sunday morning. Remember? We all had on coats or sweaters. Nita wore a dark-green leather jacket with big pockets--"

"And she left in a great hurry, without even waiting for a drink," Flora Miles contributed triumphantly. "I tell you, she took them away in her pockets."

"Your guess may be correct, Mrs. Miles," Dundee agreed, "but I think we had better not come to any definite conclusion until we know that Judge Marshall's automatic and silencer are really missing.... Is there anyone at your house now, Judge, whom you can ask to look for it?"

"Certainly. The butler.... Shall I telephone him?"

Accompanied by Captain Strawn, the ex-judge went to the telephone in the little foyer between Nita Selim's bedroom and the main hall. And within five minutes he was back, nodding his head gravely.

"Hinson tells me that the Colt's and the silencer are both missing, sir.... May I express my profound regret that my possession of--"

"Some other time, Judge Marshall!" Dundee interrupted curtly, and hurried from the room, followed by Strawn, who nodded to Sergeant Turner, still lounging wearily in a far corner of the living room, to stand guard vigilantly.

"Well, Bonnie, here's the devil to pay," Strawn gloomed, but Dundee made for the telephone without answering.

He called a number, then curtly demanded: "Dr. Price, please!... Yes, I know he's busy on an autopsy. Just tell him that Dundee, of the district attorney's office, wants to speak to him."

There was a long pause, then: "h.e.l.lo, Dr. Price!... Dundee.... What are the caliber and type of bullet that killed Nita Selim?... Thanks much, doctor.... Anything new?... Fine! Thanks again!"

He hung up the receiver and faced Strawn. "Bullet from a Colt's .32," he said grimly. "I suggest you send one of your men around to the Marshall home to pick up a bullet that was shot in their d.a.m.ned target practice.

If you send the two bullets tonight, registered mail, to Wright, the ballistics expert in Chicago, he can probably wire you tomorrow morning as to whether the same gun was used to fire both."

"Sure, Bonnie," Strawn agreed lugubriously. "I was going to do just that.... Say, this town is getting to be worse than Chicago!"

When he re-entered the living room Dundee began upon the judge again, regardless of the fact that the elderly husband was murmuring consolatory endearments to his young wife.

"Judge Marshall, how many keys are there to the cupboard drawer in which your gun and silencer were kept?"

"Just one. I have it with me," the old man answered wearily.

"Then when Hinson, your butler, looked for them, he found the drawer unlocked?"

"He did. I confess to almost criminal negligence--"

"Then so far as you know, the gun and silencer could have been removed at any time by any guest of yours between noon last Sunday and--today?"

Dundee went on relentlessly.

"I--suppose so. But these people have been my close friends for years,"

the judge answered. "Not one of them, sir--"

"After Mrs. Selim's departure last Sunday, did your other guests remain for any length of time?"

"For an hour or more, I think. Lois and Peter Dunlap remained for our two o'clock Sunday dinner, but the others drifted away to various engagements."

"Did any of you return to the room where the gun was kept?"

"I can speak only for myself and Peter--Mr. Dunlap," Judge Marshall answered, flus.h.i.+ng with indignation. "The two of us went down just before dinner was served. I wanted to show him some new flies for trout casting."

"Your home is a popular rendezvous for your intimates, is it not?"

"I pride myself that it is, sir!"

"And guests run in and out, having the freedom of the place?"