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Page 44
Phelps meanwhile had been listening to us impatiently. Finally he
turned to Mackay.
"Was that all you called me out here for? Did you just want to
show me the pinholes in those portieres?"
"Not exactly," Mackay replied, eyeing him sharply. "Some one
forced his way into this library last night. My guard saw him,
and also saw a second man who remained out in the shrubbery and
seemed to be watching the first. One shot was fired, but both men
got away. An automobile was waiting, perhaps two of them."
"How does this concern me?" Phelps's voice rose in anger. He
strode into the library and over to the French windows,
inspecting the damage to the fine woodwork with steadily rising
color. Then he hurried back to the side of Mackay.
"It's up to you, District-Attorney Mackay," he said, with a great
show of his ill feeling. "You practically forced me out of my own
house. You sent my servants away. You put your own guards in
charge, young, inexperienced deputies who don't know enough to
come in when it's wet. Now you have me make this trip out here in
business hours just to show me where a needle has been stuck in a
curtain and where a pair of imported window sashes have been
ruined."
Mackay was unruffled. "It is necessary, Mr. Phelps, that you look
over this room and see that nothing else has been disturbed; that
there is no further damage. Moreover, I thought you might be
interested, might wish to help us determine the identity of the
intruder."
"If there's any way I can really help you to do that"--
sarcastically--"I'll be delighted."
"Were you here the night before the murder?" Mackay asked.
"You know I seldom spend the night in Tarrytown. I have quarters
in New York, at the club, and recently I have been spending all
my time in New York, on account of the situation in the picture
business."
"You were not here the night before the murder, then?"
"No!"
"But you were out here yesterday before the actors arrived,
before Manton or any of his technical staff and crew came?"
"I was out very early, to make sure the servants had the house
ready." Phelps was red now. "Are you insinuating anything,
Mackay?"
The little district attorney was demonstrating a certain quality
of dogged perseverance. "Some one put the needle in the curtain
before the company arrived. You probably were in the house at the
time; or at the least your servants were. Whoever did was the one
who murdered Stella Lamar."
"And also," rejoined Phelps, tartly, "was the intruder who broke
in here last night and ruined my window sash. If you had had
better guards you might have caught him, too!"
"Are you sure of your servants? Are they reliable--"
"I never anticipated a murder and so I didn't question them as to
their poisoning proclivities when I engaged them. But you know
where they are and you can examine them. If I were you, Mackay--"
"Gentlemen!" Kennedy hastened to stop the colloquy before it
became an out-and-out quarrel. Then he faced the banker.
"Mr. Phelps," Kennedy's voice was soft, coaxing, "I don't think
Mr. Mackay quite understands. It would be a great service to me
if you would give the house a quick general inspection. You are
familiar with the things here, enough to state whether they have
been disturbed to any appreciable degree. You see, we do not know
the interior arrangements as they were before this unfortunate
happening."
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