She opened a drawer in the table, took out a key and unlocked a door which opened from the parlor into a little den.
There was a roll-top desk, a bookcase and a home-made vertical file. Everything about the room was scrupulously neat. There were no loose papers on the desk. On the walls were two enlarged photographs.
“Will took those,” she said with pride, as Selby looked up at the photographs. “He enlarged them himself and made the frames.”
Selby nodded and said slowly, “I want to go through his file of correspondence, Mrs. Larrabie. I’m very anxious to find carbon copies of some of the letters which your husband wrote before he made this trip.”
“He never kept carbon copies of his letters.”
“He didn’t?”
“No. He did a lot of typing but I don’t think he made carbon copies of anything. You see, it adds to the expense, and, really, there’s no reason for it. Most of the stuff in that filing case is sermons he’s written and notes on sermons, also stories. He wrote stories and scenarios. Not very many of them, but a few.”
“Did he ever sell any?”
“No, they all came back.”
Selby said slowly, “We’re going back to Madison City, Mrs. Larrabie. I presume, under the circumstances, you’ll want to go back to... to take charge of things, I think perhaps it’ll be necessary for you to answer some questions before the grand jury, and I’m going to give you a subpoena. It’s just a formality, but it will enable you to get your traveling expenses.”
When she made no answer, Selby turned from his survey of the room to look at her. Her tear-filled eyes were fastened upon the vacant chair in front of the roll-top desk. Apparently its full significance was just dawning on her.
The district attorney caught Sylvia’s eyes and nodded. Together, they tiptoed from the room.
Chapter XI
They returned to Madison City by train. As the rumbling Pullman clicked smoothly over the rails, nearing the familiar environs of, the city, Sylvia Martin went forward to the vestibule, where Selby, standing braced against the motion of the car, was moodily regarding the scenery while he smoked a cigarette.
“Listen,” Sylvia said, “I know the wife of a Methodist minister here quite well. Don’t you think it would be a good plan, under the circumstances, to have her go there?”
Selby nodded.
“Why so pensive?” she asked him.
“I’m just thinking,” Selby said, “that I may have overlooked a bet.”
“How?”
“About that Brower angle. I should have made arrangements to locate him and have him subpoenaed as a witness. He knows more about this thing than we do.”
“You think that he knew Larrabie was going to Madison City?”
“Of course he did. What’s more, he must have known that Larrabie was going to register under his name.”
“Why? What makes you think that?”
“Because Brewer gave Larrabie his cards and his driving license.”
“Unless Larrabie... No, he wouldn’t have done that.”
The district attorney smiled and said, “No, I would hardly gather that Larrabie was one who would knock his friend on the head with a club in order to get possession of an automobile which was probably worth less than fifty dollars.”
“I wonder if they didn’t come here together.”
“Perhaps.”
“But why?”
Selby shrugged his shoulders and said, “This is too deep for me, and I have a hunch it’s going to be a humdinger — one of those everyday sort of cases where everything seems to be so confoundedly simple that all you have to do is to pick up the pieces and put them together. But when you pick up the pieces you find they just don’t go together. None of them fit. It’s like solving a jig-saw puzzle where you can’t get any single piece to fit into any other piece. You’ve got no toe-hold, no starting point. Perhaps we’ve got the pieces of half a dozen separate jig-saw puzzles all scrambled together.”
“Listen, Doug,” she said, “I’m going to get horribly commercial.”
“What do you mean?”
“I got a swell story out of that trip to Riverbend. The city editor is simply wild over it.”
“Well?” he asked.
“All those little touches,” she said — “for instance, did you notice that the door on her house wasn’t locked? She was staying there at night all alone, with her husband out of the city, but she didn’t even lock the door. That’s the kind of people they are and that’s the kind of community Riverbend is.”
He nodded and said, “But it isn’t everyone who would have noticed that about the door not being locked, and not very many would have realized its significance. It was a good story and you’re entitled to the credit, Sylvia.”
“You gave me the breaks.”
He smiled down at her and patted her shoulder.
The train whistled for Madison City, started to slow to a stop.
“What I’m getting at,” Sylvia said, “is that this is good for another story. I’d like to get an exclusive on it.”
“Well?” he asked.
“Well,” she said, “suppose you turn Mrs. Larrabie over to me?”
“Why?”
“I’d like to keep her where... well, to be frank, where reporters for The Blade couldn’t get at her.”
“How would she feel about that?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to explain things to her and see how she feels about it. In that way I can get her living expenses paid. The paper would stand the expense.”
Selby nodded slowly and said, “I can’t give any official sanction to it, Sylvia. You’d better leave me standing here while you make your arrangements directly with Mrs. Larrabie. I’ve subpoenaed her to appear before the grand jury next week. I don’t care what she does in the meantime.”
She nodded, smiled and left him.
Selby finished his cigarette. The train ground slowly to a stop. The porter opened the vestibule door. Selby stepped to the platform, helped the two women to alight. Sylvia bent toward him and whispered, “It’s all right. She understands, and she’s grateful. She’s going to stay with me. Suppose you go on to your office and leave us to shift for ourselves?”
“Very well,” he said, “she has her subpoena. My duty’s discharged when I’ve given her that. She’ll want to see the body. There has, of course, been a post-mortem. You’d better prepare her for the shock of that. I’m going to my apartment and get a bath and get into some clean clothes. Also, I’ll want to get in touch with Brandon and have a conference.”
She grabbed his hand, gave his fingers a quick squeeze.
“Thanks, Doug,” she said.
He took a cab to his apartment, realized that he’d need to go to Los Angeles to retrieve the automobile he’d left at the airport. He felt a swift thrill of anticipation and realized that it was due to the fact he’d remembered his promise to Shirley Arden.
He turned hot water into his bathtub, telephoned the courthouse and asked for the sheriff. When he heard Rex Brandon’s voice on the line he said, “Okay, Rex, we’re back.”
“You brought the woman with you?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“Sylvia Martin has her in tow. Just between you and me, Sheriff, I think she’s worked out some deal with her for exclusive story privileges.”
“Okay by me,” Brandon said. “The Clarion stuck up for us during the election. You didn’t see last night’s Blade, did you, Doug?”
“No.”
“Better take a look at it. They’ve got a pretty good roast in there. What’s this about the motion picture actress you’re shielding having told you the man’s name?”
Selby gripped the receiver so tightly that his knuckles ached.
“What’s that? Something in The Blade about that?”