“Are you trying to say that I killed her?” Madison Purden cried.
“Doesn’t that look like the best bet?” Frake asked. “You’ve heard all the evidence we have to date. I’m going to put you under arrest, Purden! You’re facing the electric chair!”
There was silence for a moment, save for the soft sobs of Mrs. Howard Crend. Purden’s face was white, he was trembling. Detective Sam Frake watched him closely, then glanced quickly at another person in the room. And then the silence was broken by a scream.
“He didn’t do it! He didn’t do it!” It was a woman’s cry. It came from Marie Dolge, the maid.
“He’s facing the electric chair!” Frake repeated.
“But he never did it! I— I did it, myself!” the girl cried.
“Ah!” Detective Frake exclaimed, his face lighting. “I thought possibly something would come out of a direct accusation and a threat of arrest. So you did it, did you, Miss Dolge?”
“Yes, I—”
“How do you expect us to believe that? You left before three o’clock, and Mrs. Lennek was alive then, you have told us. And she was found dead long before you returned.”
The girl was looking straight at Madison Purden. Detective Frake signaled the others to remain quiet. They realized that he was playing to get a quick, complete confession. Their surprise was depicted on their faces, but they held their tongues. Mrs. Crend ceased her sobbing and sat up, watching, listening.
“Well, Marie, tell your story,” Frake said, in a voice that told her he was not prepared to believe it. By doing this, he knew, she would tell everything, to convince him that she was guilty. “Why should you kill your mistress? Had she mistreated you?”
“It — it wasn’t that!” the girl said. “It was because of — of Mr. Purden.”
“What did he have to do with it?”
“Can’t you understand?” the girl cried. “He — he started coming to see Mrs. Lennek about the time I started working for her. And once or twice, at first, he called when Mrs. Lennek was not in. Then he — he talked to me.”
“Made love to you?” Frake asked.
“Yes. I grew to adore him! But he was all for Mrs. Lennek and her money. And I— I grew jealous.”
“What then?”
“I knew that as long as there was a chance of him marrying Mrs. Lennek, he would never be much of anything to me. And I loved him! I grew to worship him. And so I hated Mrs. Lennek, because she had beauty and a million dollars, and I was afraid she was going to take him away from me. I knew that, if he married Mrs. Lennek, it would all be over between us. And I couldn’t give him up.”
“Well—”
“And then it came to me, sir — if Mrs. Lennek was to die, I might have some chance with her out of the way.”
“So you decided to kill Mrs. Lennek?”
“Yes,” the girl replied. “I— I thought out everything. I wanted to make it look like suicide, if I could. I didn’t want to be caught, of course. I just wanted her out of the way, so she couldn’t get Madison Purden.”
“What about the poison?” Frake asked.
“I got it about two months ago and hid it away. I got it at a little drug store out in the suburbs. Then I waited. I didn’t want to use it right away, for fear they’d find out, or the drug clerk would talk. I was hoping that something would happen between Mr. Purden and that woman to separate them, so I wouldn’t have to use it at all.”
“And nothing happened?”
“No, sir,” said Marie Dolge. “She was falling in love with him, I saw, I heard her talk. She wouldn’t marry him right away, but she would have in time, and he would keep on putting me in the background. Sometimes I was afraid that he would coax her to elope. Then my chance might be gone.”
She stopped, sobbed a bit, and then raised her head again. Frake waited for her to continue, refusing to speak and break the spell. And finally she continued her gruesome recital.
“So I— I got ready,” she said. “I planned the whole thing. I didn’t want to be suspected at all, you see. Benny Ranley had been wanting me to go with him, and I wouldn’t, but I finally accepted an invitation for this afternoon.”
“Tell it to me straight, one thing after another,” Detective Frake commanded.
“Well — I decided to do it to-day, when I had an afternoon off. So I agreed to meet Benny. And then, when I got up this morning, I began hating her. I wanted to work myself into a rage, or maybe I couldn’t do what I intended.
“And she helped me in that. For she was mean this morning. She fussed at me all the time. I got to hate her fast enough. And then she wanted me to stay in for no particular reason, and I wouldn’t!
“I expected to leave about three, and to have people say afterward that she had telephoned after I had gone, to show that she was alive then. I planned to be with Benny Ranley, so he could say that I had been away all afternoon.
“So I— I fixed the poison in a little bottle; all the time my hatred against her increased. Finally I got her glass of milk ready. I didn’t want to put the poison in the milk, for fear she would taste it and not drink enough to kill her. She always sipped her milk. I thought of everything, you see.
“So I carried in the milk and put it on the end of the desk, where she was writing. After I put down the milk, I stepped behind her, like I was going to arrange the cushions on the divan.
“Then I slipped up again and threw my arm around her neck. I am a strong girl, and she couldn’t fight me off. I pulled her head back, opened her mouth, and poured the poison into it. I pressed her throat and made her swallow, and then choked her so she couldn’t cry out. And then I pulled her back and across the end of the divan.
“I suppose I choked her hard, if I left marks. I saw that she was dying, and so I went to the chest of drawers in the corner, and looked through it. I wanted to see if there were any of Mr. Purden’s letters there, and get them. I was afraid the papers would print the letters, and my friends would laugh at me.
“I didn’t find any letters from him, though she had a lot of letters there. So I put a couple of drops of poison in the glass of milk, and then threw the milk out, into the sink in the kitchen. I wanted to make it look like she had taken the poison in the milk. Then I dropped the glass on the floor.
“I hurried to my room then, put on my hat, and left the apartment; I suppose, in my hurry, I didn’t shut the door. Mr. Podd was in the hall below, and I was glad of that. I talked to him, and I was frightened once, when he said that my face was white. So I told him it was because Mrs. Lennek had made me mad. And I told him not to go up to see her for quite a time. I said she was in a tantrum. I was afraid the body would be found too quick, you see.
“I called his attention to the clock, that it was three, and then I hurried away. I went right downtown to the drug store, as I said. There I went into a telephone booth, and telephoned to Mrs. Crend and to Mr. Garder. I tried to say things that would make them think I was Mrs. Lennek and intended to commit suicide.
“When I came out, I went to the soda fountain. Benny Ranley met me there and I mentioned that he was five minutes late. I had everything fixed! I went riding with Benny and spent the afternoon in the country. And — and then I came back—”
“So it was you who telephoned?” Frake asked.
“Yes. Mrs. Lennek found that I was good at mimicking voices a long time ago, and she had me talk when people called and she didn’t want to be disturbed. People she didn’t want to make angry, but did not care to talk to. I’ll show you! I’ll imitate her voice now!”
While they waited silently, she did. Mrs. Crend gave a little cry.
“Madge’s voice!” she said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she spoke then!”