The Ghost Phone

CHAPTER VII CONFESSION

Detective Sam Frake looked at the old janitor closely, seemed to be studying him for a time, and Peter Podd grew nervous beneath the scrutiny. He twisted his cap in his fingers again, gulped, licked at his lips, tugged at his thin mustache

“Well, Podd?” the detective asked, after a silence of a couple of minutes.

“I— I don’t know just what you want me to say, sir,” the old janitor replied.

“I want you to tell the truth about everything — the whole truth, Podd.”

“Of course, I’ll do that, sir,” Peter Podd said. “But I— I don’t know where to begin. That’s what puzzles me, sir.”

“You have had some trouble with Mrs. Lennek?” Detective Frake asked.

“No, sir. No real trouble, sir. She — she was terrible to me, but I always held my tongue. We had orders to always be polite to tenants, sir. And I never said a word to her, no matter how unjust she was, Mr. Frake.”

“Um!” Frake grunted. “Now what is all this about Mrs. Lennek complaining about you?”

“She told the superintendent, sir, that I had been discourteous to her, and she wanted me discharged right away. But I hadn’t, sir. Although that didn’t make any difference to her. She didn’t care, I suppose, if an old man was kicked out of his job and left to starve. I was worried, sir. I was afraid that I could not get another good job by next winter — and I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

“What did the superintendent tell you about it?” Detective Frake asked.

“Why, he as good as said, sir, that he didn’t believe that I had been discourteous to her. But she threatened that she wouldn’t renew her lease, sir, unless I was discharged.”

“I understand, Podd. And so you were feeling pretty angry at her, were you?”

“Yes, sir,” Podd answered frankly. “But I— I decided to see her if I could, sir, and ask her to tell the superintendent to let me stay.”

“You were in the rear hall downstairs when Marie Dolge left this afternoon, weren’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” Podd replied. “I like the young woman, and I was telling her my troubles. I told her that I intended asking Mrs. Lennek to have some mercy on me, sir. And Miss Dolge told me that I’d better wait a little, because Mrs. Lennek was in a tantrum.”

“And what did you do, Podd?”

“Well, I— I waited, sir. I hated to ask her, you see, being afraid that she would use hard words to me, but I knew that I had to do it as soon as possible, or else get discharged. So I finally made up my mind to do it, sir. I went up the back stairs and forward to the door of her suite.”

“What time was this, Podd?”

“It was at half past three, sir,” Podd answered. “I remember that distinctly. I went to the door, sir. The door was open a few inches, and I wondered a bit at that And I thought that maybe Mrs. Lennek was going out, had opened the door, and then stepped back to get something she had forgotten.”

“What did you do?”

“I— I guess I lost my courage, sir. I didn’t want to speak to her if she was going some place and was in a hurry. So I turned away from the door, intending to watch and see. And then I saw Mr. Purden coming, and I went on toward the front of the hall.”

“So you didn’t go into Mrs. Lennek’s apartment at all?”

“Not at all, sir,” replied Peter Podd. “I went to the front of the hall and fussed around there for a time. One of the tenants came out and talked to me about changing some furniture, and then I started to the rear of the building again. I supposed that I’d have to wait, if Mrs. Lennek had a caller.”

“What else, Podd?”

“I passed the door, sir. It was still open about halfway. After I passed it I heard somebody come out, and I turned and saw that it was Mr. Purden.”

“He was alone?”

“Yes, sir, he was alone.”

“What did Mr. Purden do?”

“He hurried along the hall and went down the front stairs, sir. His face was white, and he looked scared. I watched him, and he went right down the stairs. I suppose he left the building, sir. I wondered if he had quarreled with Mrs. Lennek, and whether she’d have another tantrum.”

“Podd. When you passed that door as you went back, you say that it was open?”

“Yes, sir; It was open about halfway, sir.”

“Did you hear any sounds coming from the apartment?”

“No, sir,” Peter Podd replied. “I was listening, too. I was wondering whether Mrs. Lennek was going out with Mr. Purden, and whether I’d get a chance to speak to her. I didn’t hear a sound, sir.”

“What did you do then, Podd?”

“I went down the back stairs, sir, and to the servants’ entrance once more. A few minutes later I went through the hall and toward the front, thinking I might see the superintendent, and I noticed Mr. and Mrs. Crend come. Then I supposed that I’d not get a chance to speak to Mrs. Lennek at all. So I went to my own room, and I was there, sir, until I heard about the lady being found dead.”

“How did you hear that?”

“The superintendent told me first, sir, and asked me to stand by so everything could be done with as little publicity as possible. Those were the words he used, sir. I was to let the coroner’s men in. That’s all I know about it.”

Detective Sam Frake reflected silently for a time. Peter Podd still twisted his cap nervously in his hands, licked at his lips, and glanced furtively around the room at the others.

“Podd,” he asked finally, “did you really think there was hope that Mrs. Lennek would ask the superintendent not to discharge you?”

“I— I really didn’t think so, sir, but I was going to ask her a last time.”

“Are you quite certain, Podd, that you didn’t ask her, and that she refused — and that you killed her for refusing?”

“Don’t say that, sir!” Peter Podd exclaimed. “I never went into the apartment, sir — never saw her. I heard Mr. Purden coming just as I was going to ring. I never killed her, sir!”

“That will do!” Frake said. “Go back to your other seat, Podd.”

Peter Podd staggered back across the room and collapsed into a chair. Detective Sam Frake looked after him, pursed his lips, narrowed his eyes, scratched thoughtfully at his chin.

Then Detective Frake got up and faced them. “Remain as you are until I return, please,” he said.

He hurried out into the hall and closed the door after him. The fingerprint man was waiting.

“How about the milk in the bottle?” Frake asked.

“The chemist telephoned a few minutes ago. The milk in the bottle is all right. And he confirmed the coroner man’s report.”

“Um!” Frake grunted. “Anything else?”

“No, sir.”

Frake went on to the Lennek apartment, entered the boudoir, and used the telephone once more. Then he looked again at the desk and the chest of drawers in the corner, and stood back and surveyed the room. Out in the hall again, he held a whispered conversation with the finger-print man, and with another detective who was on guard in the hall and awaiting Frake’s orders.

Then Frake went back into the room where his people were waiting. He could almost feel the animosity in the air. Marie Dolge and Peter Podd sat apart from the others, evidently feeling highly uncomfortable. Mr. and Mrs. Crend were on a divan in a corner, the latter weeping softly. Madison Purden sat aloof, and Attorney Garder was in another corner acting like an interested man awaiting developments.

Frake sat down and looked them over.

“Well, you have heard one another questioned,” he said. “But there are some queer things that you do not know, and which I am going to relate to you. It is these queer things that decided us it might be a case of murder rather than suicide. From the answers you have given me, and as I look at the affair now, there are certain deductions that are reached easily.”

He stopped and glanced around at them again. They watched nervously.

“At three o’clock, according to Miss Dolge, Mrs. Lennek was alive,” Detective Frake continued. “At three-forty-five, Mr. and Mrs. Crend found her dead. Mr. Purden admits that he called at three-thirty, and that Mrs. Lennek was dead then, and so we know there need be no suspicion of either Mr. or Mrs. Crend committing the murder between three and three-thirty, when, it would appear, Mrs. Lennek died.”

“Then that Madison. Purden —” Mrs. Crend began.

Detective Frake stopped her with a motion of his hand and a glare.

“Between three and three-thirty, as far as we know, two persons only could have entered the apartment. I refer to Madison Purden and Peter Podd. Of course, some one could have entered immediately after the maid left, committed the crime, and got away before Podd or Mr. Purden called in the neighborhood of three-thirty. But Podd declares he was at the front door about three-thirty, and Mr. Purden admits he celled at that hour.”

“She telephoned to me and to Mr. Garder almost on the tick of three-thirty, so she was alive then,” Mrs. Crend interrupted. “Somebody must have killed her right after she telephoned.”

“Very well, we’ll consider those phone messages again,” Frake said. “There is a great deal peculiar about them. You are certain, Mrs. Crend, that it was half past three when you received your telephone message?”

“Yes,” Laura Crend replied.

“And she said that she had called up to tell you good-by?”

“Yes. I supposed she meant an elopement. Possibly she meant that she was going to take her own life.”

“It would be plausible, if we considered the suicide theory, that she took poison as soon as she telephoned, and that Mr. Purden came into the apartment a moment later. The poison she swallowed would cause death instantly. But we are not considering the suicide theory, but one of murder. You are certain when she telephoned?”

“Yes.”

“And what about you, Mr. Garder,” Detective Frake asked the attorney.

“It was a minute or two after half past three when she telephoned me,” the attorney replied. “I touched the button immediately to call my chauffeur, and I stepped right out into the hall, and glanced at my watch. It was a little after half past three.”

“Sure of it?”

“Yes, sir!”

“And both you and Mrs. Crend feel certain that it was Mrs. Lennek’s voice you heard?”

“I’m sure of it!” Mrs. Crend said, “Do you suppose I wouldn’t know my sister’s voice?”

“It was Mrs. Lennek’s voice,” Attorney Garder declared.

“This is the first puzzle,” Detective Frake declared. “If she telephoned at half past three, and Mr. Purden found her dead an instant later, it stands to reason that she must have done the telephoning from her boudoir, doesn’t it?”

“Certainly!” Attorney Garder said.

“Very well. And the switchboard girl in the office downstairs, who came on duty at noon, has declared to me that no call came from the apartment of Mrs. Lennek after she came on duty at twelve o’clock! How are we to explain that?”

There was silence for a moment.

“Why, that is not possible!” Mrs. Crend cried then. “Madge certainly telephoned to me at half past three.”

“And she telephoned to me,” Attorney Garder said.

“The switchboard girl is sure that she did not telephone from the apartment at all,” Detective Sam Frake said. “Nobody called from Mrs. Lennek’s apartment, and no call came in from the outside after noon, she says. She would know, of course. And she tells me that she is certain, because she was not so busy as usual. And she always watched — for Mrs. Lennek’s calls, she says, because Mrs. Lennek had such a sweet, low voice, and she liked to hear it! You all know that Mrs. Lennek did have a peculiarly sweet voice.”

“And I heard that voice at half past three!” Mrs. Crend declared. “Do you suppose my sister could have telephoned from outside the apartment?”

“If she had telephoned from some other apartment in the building, the switchboard girl would have noticed it,” Frake replied. “And she could not have telephoned from outside the building at half past three and then returned to her apartment and been dead at almost the same moment. Moreover, nobody saw her go out or come in.”

“It puzzles me,” Attorney Garder declared. “I am sure that it was Mrs. Lennek’s voice I heard. Yet it seems she was dead at that time, or within a couple of minutes afterward. And if the switchboard girl says she did not telephone from the apartment — Oh, I give it up!”

“There is another little shock due you,” said Detective Frake. “Miss Dolge says her mistress was alive at three. You two persons declare she telephoned at half past three. Mr. Purden admits that he found her dead a couple of minutes after half past three. The Crends were here at a quarter of four, and the coroner’s physician came here at four o’clock precisely. According to all that, she had been dead no longer than half an hour when the coroner’s physician had his first look at the body.”

“Yes,” said Attorney Garder.

“And the coroner’s physician, ladies and gentlemen, declares that Mrs. Lennek had been dead for more than an hour when he arrived at four o’clock.”

“Preposterous!” Attorney Garder exclaimed.

“The doctor’s judgment is not infallible, of course,” Detective Frake said. “But he understands perfectly the action of the poison that was used in this case. And he declares on his professional reputation that Mrs. Lennek had been dead an hour. If she was dead at three o’clock, she could not have telephoned at half past three.”

“Then she wasn’t dead at three o’clock,” Garder said. “She certainly telephoned to me as three-thirty. And the maid did not leave until three, did she?”

“I— I left a few minutes before that,” Marie Dolge stammered. “It was when I was talking to Peter Podd in the back hallway that we noticed by the wall clock that it was three. I must have left the apartment five or ten minutes before three.”

“Then,” said Garder, “I’d say that Mrs. Lennek killed herself, or was murdered, as soon as the maid departed. But those telephone calls remain.”

Detective Frake turned to Marie Dolge again.

“You say that you did not see her drink the milk?”

“No, sir. I put it on the end of the desk and then hurried away to get ready to go downtown.”

“And what was she doing at the time?”

“Writing, sir. I did not notice particularly.”

“There had been no callers during the morning?”

“No, sir,” the maid replied.

“Had the front door of the apartment been opened?”

“Yes, sir. I opened it and took in the Sunday papers the boy from the office had left.”

“Close the door again?”

“Yes, sir.”

“There’s a spring catch inside the door?”

“Yes, sir,” said Marie. “It cannot be opened from the outside without using a key.”

“Now are you sure, when you closed the door, that the catch worked properly?”

“I— I couldn’t say, sir.”

“When you hurried out a little before three o’clock, did you close the door behind you?”

“I thought that I did, sir.”

“But you are not sure?”

“No, sir. I meant to, of course. Possibly the spring lock did not catch.”

“If it did not catch, the door would have swung open a few inches?”

“It probably would have, sir. There were windows open in the living room, and that would cause a draft through the hall.”

“Um!” Detective Frake grunted. “Is it possible that some one might have been hiding in the apartment; and, as soon as you had gone, came out, committed the crime and then hurried away, neglecting to close the hall door?”

“It — I suppose it would have been possible, sir. But there would be no place to hide except in a closet or under the divan in the boudoir. And how could the person have got in, in the first place?”

“But what about those telephone messages?” Attorney Garder wanted to know. “How could a dead person telephone? Is there such a thing as a ghost message? The thing is ridiculous. In my opinion, Mrs. Lennek telephoned from her boudoir at half past three, to Mrs. Crend and to me, the telephone switchboard girl to the contrary notwithstanding! I’ve known telephone girls who didn’t have their minds on their work continually.”

“Even granting that, how about the statement of the doctor that Mrs. Lennek must have been dead before half past three?” Detective Frake asked.

“With all due respect to the profession and the individual mentioned, physicians make mistakes now and then,” Attorney Garder said. “I’m a lawyer. I’ve seen two eminent physicians get up in court and dispute each other as to some pertinent fact in the testimony. Poison does not act the same on all persons.”

“You believe, then, just what?” Frake asked.

“Honestly I believe that Mrs. Lennek telephoned and then committed suicide.”

“But there are things to show that she was murdered.”

“Very well,” said Garder. “Then I am of the opinion that she was killed immediately after she telephoned.”

“That would place the murder between three-thirty, say, and three-forty?”

“Yes, sir.”

“In that case, matters are simplified,” Detective Frake said. “We know of two persons who had the opportunity to commit the crime. The first is Peter Podd. Perhaps he did call on Mrs. Lennek. Perhaps she opened the door, he stepped inside and made his request, she denied it — possibly using strong language — and in a fit of rage and despondency at thought of losing his position, Peter Podd killed her.”

“I didn’t! Don’t you say it!” Podd cried.

“Quiet!” Detective Frake commanded. “There is another possibility, of course. Mr. Purden arrived at three-thirty or a couple of minutes later. He could have killed Mrs. Lennek when he was in the apartment.”

“Why should I have done such a thing?” Purden cried.

Frake whirled to face him.

“Purden,” he cried, “isn’t it a fact that you asked Mrs. Lennek to marry you, and she refused?”

“Why, I— I—”

“Isn’t it?” Frake demanded.

“She — she said her memory was true to her husband — that for a few years, at least—”

“She refused you!” Frake said sharply.

“But — but I still had hopes. We were to continue friends—”

“Um!” the detective grunted. “You had the opportunity, Purden — and you had the motive!”

“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!”

“So you did it!” Frake said. “A good little scheme, my girl, and it almost succeeded, too. There wasn’t a thing to point the finger of suspicion at you except the doctor’s statement that Mrs. Lennek had been dead for an hour when he arrived. That — and the telephone girl’s evidence. You were as good as safe, except from your own conscience and sense of guilt. Yet you confessed—”

“Oh, I had to!” she cried. “Don’t you understand? You were going to fix it on Mr. Purden. You were going to send him to the electric chair. I had to save him. I love him, you see!”

“I see!” Detective Frake said.

“And I— I don’t care what becomes of me — if he is saved.”

Marie Dolge looked for a moment at Madison Purden. His face had gone white, but there was no love in his eyes as he looked at her.

“Well, young woman —” Frake began.

“Just one moment,” she begged. “I— I’ve told you everything, I guess.”

“Enough, at least.”

“Then — you see, I didn’t use all the poison, and so —”

Frake sprang toward her, the others uttered a cry of horror. But Detective Frake was too late. The little vial she held in her hand was emptied down her throat. Frake knew that deadly poison. It was an acid that killed almost as soon as it touched the tongue. Marie Dolge had imposed and paid the penalty.

Frake walked through the hall later with Attorney Garder.

“Matter of fact,” Frake said, “I thought Purden did it. The criminal’s sense of guilt is the detective’s greatest ally.”