The Case of the Musical Cow

Chapter 25

Dr. Herbert Dixon, closeted with Rob Trenton in the visitors’ room of the little country jail, said, “Trenton, I’d like you to have confidence in me.”

Trenton nodded.

“I want you to tell me what happened. I want you to begin at the beginning and tell me your whole story, from the time you first met Linda Carroll on the ship until you found yourself under arrest.”

Rob Trenton thought things over for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry, Doctor, but my attorney tells me I shouldn’t talk to anyone.”

“And who’s your attorney, Trenton?”

“Staunton B Irvine.”

“Do you have confidence in him?”

“Naturally.”

“You’ve known him for a long time?”

“No.”

“How did you get him?”

“A friend got him for me. That is, he put Irvine in touch with me.”

“Who’s this friend?”

“Merton Ostrander.”

“You have confidence in Ostrander?”

“Not too much.”

“Then why do you have confidence in the attorney Ostrander selected for you?”

“Because when you’re in a mess of this sort you have to hire a lawyer. Just the same as when you’re sick and need an operation, you have to consult a doctor.”

“And why doesn’t your attorney want you to say anything?”

“Well, I suppose...”

“Are you afraid that you might get tripped up, might get caught in some lie?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why shouldn’t you tell your story?”

“I think he wants it to come as a surprise when I tell it in court.”

“It may be a surprise all right, and you may be the one who gets the surprise.”

Rob said nothing.

“I’m going to tell you this,” Dr. Dixon went on. “There’s something strange about the facts in this case. They don’t tie in the way they should. I want you to tell me your story. I want you to recite every single fact, even the facts which seem to you to be utterly insignificant.”

“Why?”

“Because I think in some insignificant fact, some little thing which doesn’t seem to you to have any particular bearing or importance on the case, the key to the whole situation may be concealed.”

“When you have a lawyer you must do what he tells you.”

“Not always. Are you afraid to talk to me — afraid you’ll betray yourself?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why not talk?”

“I’ve told you that.”

“I’ll promise to keep the information as confidential as possible. I’m actually a physician, you know.”

“And you’re tied up with the State Police.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that police always hang together and in the long run you’ll try to stick me.”

“I’ll try to find the real criminal. If you’re the murderer, don’t talk with me.”

“Just what do you want to know?”

“You took that .32 automatic to the home of Linda Mae Carroll in Falthaven, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I’ll admit that. I’ll have to. They all saw the gun.”

“Where did you get that gun?”

Rob said, “I took that gun from the man I overpowered there on the houseboat. If the gun had been used to kill somebody, it had been used before I got it. And if that’s the case, the person was already dead.”

“You fired that gun?”

Rob hesitated a moment, debating whether to answer.

“Please,” Dr. Dixon said. “This may mean a lot to you.”

“Yes, I fired it,” Rob Trenton said, “but I didn’t hit anything, and I didn’t kill anyone.”

“Will you tell me the circumstances under which you fired it, Trenton?”

“Well, I got off the houseboat and got to the wharf, and then I was afraid that the others might pursue me and catch me, so I cut the lines loose that held the boat to the wharf. There was a current running past there, and the boat very gently, very slowly started out into the current.”

“It didn’t scrape against the dock?”

“No.”

“There was no bump? Nothing to warn the people aboard that they were drifting?”

“Well,” Rob said thoughtfully, “there must have been something, because someone came up on the deck and looked around. By that time the bow of the boat had drifted out and started to swing. The stern of the boat was coming in so that it would almost touch the little landing dock. The figure started to run towards the stern of the boat — I shouldn’t be telling you this.”

“I think you should, Rob. I think you’re coming to the part I want right now.”

Rob Trenton shifted his position uneasily in the stiff-backed prison chair, then said, “Well, I fired the gun.”

“How many times?”

“Twice.”

“Why?”

“To keep the man from running to the stern of the boat.”

“Did you hit him?”

“I know I didn’t hit him.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he didn’t act as though he was hit. He flung himself down.”

“He didn’t fall down?”

“It wasn’t a fall. Anyhow, I don’t think it was. I think he just flung himself flat on the deck.”

“Did you sight the gun?”

“No, I just pointed it.”

“And fired twice?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure that you didn’t hit him?”

“I... I don’t know for sure,” Rob blurted. “I wish I did. I keep kidding myself by saying that I’m sure he flung himself down. But how do I know how a man acts when he’s received a fatal bullet in the heart? I’ve seen men shot in war, but those circumstances were different. Anyhow, this man seemed to fling himself down on the deck.”

“Did he move after that?”

“I didn’t see him move. We may as well face it, Doctor, I can’t tell for sure whether I hit him. I don’t think I did, but I can’t tell.”

“Now let’s think carefully,” Dr. Dixon went on. “When you shoot a gun there’s a split second between the sound of the explosion and the sound of the hitting of the bullet, particularly with a relatively low velocity hand gun, and if the distance is great enough to allow such an appreciable interval. There were three things you might have struck with those bullets. One was the figure of the man, the other one was wood, such as the hull of the boat or the pier, and the other one was water. Now did you hear any thud that would indicate the bullet had struck wood — either of the bullets?”

“I... I can’t remember. I didn’t notice if I did.”

“Did you hear any smacking sound that would indicate the bullet had struck water?”

“The same answer. I can’t remember whether I did. If I did, I didn’t notice it at the time, and therefore don’t remember it now.”

“All right, you shot twice. Then what happened?”

“Well, the boat swung around and after the bow had swung into the current the stern came out, the current hit the boat broadside on, and it started drifting downstream.”

“So what did you do?”

“Put the safety on the gun and ran towards the shelter of some trees — because I’d heard a car coming.”

“And then what?”

“Well, when I’d gone a short distance I heard steps. I listened and then I could hear very distinctly the sound of steps. A woman’s steps.”

“So what did you do?”

“I crouched down, turned around and waited.”

“And what happened?”

“Then all at once there was a flare of light which shot up from the houseboat. The boat started to burn. A big pillar of flame shot up as though gasoline or something had been ignited. I crouched there watching, and I saw this woman standing out at the edge of the pier, her figure silhouetted by the burning boat. There was a ruddy reflection on the water, and after a moment, the sky, which was overcast, began to reflect back the flames.”

“How far was the boat from the dock at that time?”

“A little way. I can’t tell how far.”

“A hundred feet?”

“Well... it’s hard to estimate distance at night, and with a burning object. It could have been a little over a hundred feet.”

“The last you saw of this man you shot at, he was lying prone on the side of the boat that was drifting towards the current?”

“Yes.”

“Which side?”

“That would be the left side. The port side.”

“All right. And you fired while the figure was on the port side?”

“Yes.”

“Fired twice?”

“Yes.”

“Fired to frighten him?”

“Yes, sir. That’s right. So he wouldn’t run towards the rear of the boat and be able to jump ashore. I fired those two shots as a warning.”

“And the figure stopped moving?”

“That’s right, flung himself down.”

“And was then on the port side of the boat?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Lying still, the last you saw of him?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And how long was it after that when you saw the boat burst into flames?”

“Oh, I’d say it was... well, I don’t know. You lose track of time on an occasion of that sort. I think perhaps it could have been as much as two minutes. I don’t know.”

“Where were you standing when you fired the shots, Rob?”

“I guess that part of it is all right. They found the ejected shell cases where the automatic had thrown them out. I was standing about ten or fifteen feet from the shore line, from the end of the pier where it touches the land.”

“You were standing on land?”

“Yes.”

“Some ten or fifteen feet from the end of the pier?”

“Yes.”

“And how long is that pier?”

“Oh, it must be thirty or thirty-five feet.”

“And the boat was out away from the dock?”

“Yes.”

“So the distance from where you were standing, to the figure on the boat, must have been at least sixty or seventy feet?”

“Yes.”

“Sixty feet would be twenty yards. That’s some little distance to shoot and put two bullets in such a close grouping.”

“I guess so. I didn’t aim. I just pointed and shot.”

“All right,” Dr. Dixon said. “Now that you’ve told me this, I don’t want you to do any more talking. Your preliminary examination is this afternoon. Have your attorney call me as a witness.”

“My attorney isn’t going to put on any evidence,” Trenton said. “He says he’ll cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses, get all the information he can, and then let the judge bind me over. He says that’s what the judge will do anyway, and we’d be foolish to disclose our hand.”

“Nevertheless,” Dr. Dixon said, “I want you to insist that your attorney call me as a witness.”

“What can you do if we call you?”

Dr. Dixon said, “I think I can help a lot, Rob. I want to find the real murderer. I’m going to talk with your lawyer now. I’m going to give him a list of questions that I want him to ask me, and a list of questions that I want him to ask the doctor who originally examined the body and removed the bullets. But you’re going to have to help me. I want you to insist that your attorney does exactly as I have outlined.”

“He won’t want to?”

“I don’t know. I’ve tried to talk with him. He wouldn’t see me. He said he didn’t want to talk about the case. I’m going to try to see him again. I’m going to tell him that if he’s going to really help you in your case, he’s going to have to see me. I’m going to need your co-operation.”

“The way things are right now, I’ve been too credulous,” Trenton said.

“And so,” Dr. Dixon observed sarcastically, “you’ve decided now to go to the other extreme, is that right?”

Trenton thought the matter over for a moment or two, then said, “All right, go ahead. You play ball with me and I’m going to play ball with you. Where’s Linda Carroll? Do you know?”

Dr. Dixon shook his head.

“Have you tried to see her?”

“Quite a few people are trying to see her.”

“Where is she?”

“No one seems to know.”

“Her aunt knows.”

“If her aunt knows, she isn’t telling. She swears she doesn’t know.”

“Linda’s testimony should be able to help me.”

“She’s disappeared.”

“Deliberately?”

“Apparently so.”

Rob Trenton said morosely, “All right, I’ve given you what you wanted. Go ahead and do something. What are you sticking around here for?”

“To answer questions,” Dr. Dixon said smiling.

“Well,” Rob said, getting up out of the chair and walking over to the barred window, “you’ve answered them.”