Tower of Death

CHAPTER X JARVIS RALEIGH SPEAKS

TWO days had passed since the strange disappearance of Reeves Lockwood. Another evening was approaching. All seemed quiet about Montgard. Stokes Corvin, as he stood beside the parapet of the veranda, felt a placid lull as he gazed across the lawn.

The sun had set and long streaks of blackness showed upon the grass. Puffing a cigarette, Corvin stared toward the empty kennel that showed some fifty yards away. The hound, Rox, had not been found. Jerome had reported that fact to Jarvis Raleigh.

A footstep sounded on the veranda. Stokes Corvin turned to face Barbara Wyldram. He had not seen the girl since two nights ago. Barbara had been ill and Maria had carried her meals to her room.

In the dusk, Barbara seemed very beautiful. The pallor of her face, increased by her brief illness, was not apparent. Stokes Corvin bowed as he greeted the girl. When Barbara joined him on the parapet, he flicked his cigarette out to the grass.

It was apparent that the girl was troubled. She glanced back toward the open door, then spoke in a low and cautious tone.

“I must talk to you, Stokes,” she said. “Is it true — what Sidney has just told me — about Reeves Lockwood?”

“His disappearance?” Corvin’s tone was also guarded. “Yes. It was a very strange incident, Barbara. One which has puzzled me ever since it occurred.”

“He vanished from the entry in the turret?”

“Yes.”

“What has been done about it?”

“Nothing, Barbara.” The man’s voice denoted puzzlement. “That is, nothing tangible. Sidney and I have searched the entry, unbeknown to either Jarvis Raleigh or Quarley. That is all.”

“You found no trace?”

“None. We chose a time while Jarvis was upstairs and Quarley was busy. We unlocked the inner door and went into the entry. We studied the tiling inch by inch and even tapped the walls. Cautiously, of course.”

“You did not go beyond the outer door?”

“No. It was at night. In the evening, Jerome might have been outside with the dogs. Sidney also feared that Jarvis might be on his upstairs balcony.”

Barbara Wyldram nodded. It was plain that the girl was apprehensive. She seemed to be drinking in the free air of the veranda, dreading the moment when she would have to return to the stifling atmosphere of the house. Stokes Corvin spoke in reassuring tones.

“Sidney has alarmed you, Barbara,” he said. “He chatters about the strange secret which exists here. He talks of legend almost as if it were fact.

“Jarvis Raleigh is eccentric; Quarley is an odd sort also. Their behavior is to be expected. But Sidney should have more common sense than he has shown.”

“I UNDERSTAND Sidney’s oddity,” agreed Barbara. “Nevertheless, he has real cause to be terribly disturbed. He wants to know what has happened to Reeves Lockwood!”

“I admit,” declared Corvin, “that the case is perplexing. Nevertheless, we have not obtained sufficient evidence to warrant the panic-stricken attitude that Sidney has taken. Personally, I am on the alert. Nevertheless, I have not yet classed Lockwood’s supposed disappearance as an unexplainable mystery.”

“You have a theory?”

“Yes. A slim one, I must admit; yet a theory quite as good as Sidney’s secret or Maria’s ghosts. I have a very definite notion that Reeves Lockwood never entered that turret.”

“But Quarley admitted him—”

“Quarley announced him. Since then, Quarley has preserved strict silence. Neither Sidney nor I have had the opportunity to question Jerome. How do we know, for a certainty, that Reeves Lockwood came here two nights ago?”

“But there must be something behind all this.”

“Certainly. That is precisely what I have set out to determine. Here, Barbara, is the theory which I have formed. I have not yet expounded it to Sidney. I intend to do so, however.

“Sidney has been chafing at the rules which Jarvis Raleigh has imposed. He had practically threatened to complain to Reeves Lockwood, the man whom Jarvis Raleigh detests. Sidney is also impressed by the tales of strange disappearances at Montgard.

“Suppose that letter from Lockwood was a hoax. Suppose that Quarley, by order from Jarvis Raleigh, pretended that Lockwood had arrived. That would explain all would it not?”

“It would,” admitted Barbara.

“And it would surely cow Sidney,” added Corvin. “More than that, it would be calculated to have an effect upon you and myself.”

“You reassure me,” sighed Barbara. “This is helpful, Stokes. I would prefer to feel that we were the victims of a hoax than to believe that Reeves Lockwood was the victim of murder.”

Stokes Corvin laid a light hand on the girl’s arm. Barbara stood close, feeling new confidence from the grasp.

“Be brave,” whispered Corvin. “I shall help you, Barbara. You may rely upon me; if my theory is correct, there is nothing to fear. On the contrary.”

“You mean that Reeves Lockwood may actually have disappeared?”

“Yes. Yet, in that case, there is no need to fear. I am on constant watch. Last night, Quarley did not bolt the door of my room. I am trusted now — much as Sidney and yourself.”

“You are right, Stokes,” nodded Barbara. “We should have nothing to fear. I have lived here for some time; no harm has befallen me.”

“Nor will it,” assured Corvin. “We can do more, Barbara, by quietly watching than by worrying the way Sidney is. If there is trouble here, I shall learn the truth concerning it.”

There was possessiveness in Stokes Corvin’s tones. Barbara Wyldram smiled with new reassurance.

“Jarvis Raleigh,” concluded Corvin, thoughtfully, “is an eccentric man. So, for that matter, is Quarley. It is possible that one or the other is playing a game of his own. There may be very little contact between master and servant.”

“That is possible,” agreed Barbara. “Quarley was one of old Windrop Raleigh’s servants. He was part of the legacy, so to speak. I can readily see why—”

The girl stopped speaking as Corvin gripped her arm in warning. The man had heard a footstep in the library. He turned to see Quarley standing there.

“Dinner is served,” declared the cadaverous servant. “Mr. Raleigh expects you at once.”

Stokes Corvin and Barbara Wyldram entered the library. Quarley bolted the big door to the veranda while man and girl followed the passage to the central point. They took the other angled passage and entered the dining room — an apartment much like the library in size and shape. There they found Jarvis Raleigh and Sidney Richland seated at the table.

DINNER was a gloomy meal. No comment passed between host and guests. Ice, clinking in glasses; the clatter of knives and tableware — these were the only sounds that disturbed the deathly stillness.

While dessert was being eaten, Jerome’s weird call sounded outside the house. Quarley left the dining room and returned several minutes later to pass a packet of mail to Jarvis Raleigh.

“Has Jerome found the hound?” demanded Raleigh.

“No, sir,” replied Quarley. “No trace of the dog has been discovered.”

“Humph.”

With this ejaculation, Jarvis Raleigh went through the envelopes, he passed one to Sidney Richland; another to Stokes Corvin. Both guests opened their letters; their actions showed that the mail was not important. As they pocketed envelopes and letters, Jarvis Raleigh uttered another grunt.

“Two letters tonight,” he declared. “Two visitors are coming here tonight. One is a man whom I want to see; another is a man who would do better to stay away.

“Lamont Cranston, a New York millionaire, has written that he has learned about my chemical experiments. He is anxious to see the new extractor which I have devised for removing gold from sea water. He is coming here tonight. He will be welcome.

“Merton Helmsford, a private detective, has also written me from New York. He states that Reeves Lockwood has been missing since he left New York to visit me on business. He will not be welcome, although I shall receive him.”

Rising, the master of Montgard tore one letter to pieces and threw the bits of paper on the table. His voice rose to a maddened pitch.

“Lockwood!” He screamed. “Lockwood! Am I always to be annoyed because of that man? I have no idea what has become of him! Let the detectives investigate elsewhere; not at Montgard!”

While Sidney Richland and Barbara Wyldram were staring, awed, at Jarvis Raleigh, Stokes Corvin looked across the dining room to study Quarley. He fancied that he saw a changed expression upon the old servant’s face.

Sidney Richland caught the direction of Corvin’s gaze. Barbara Wyldram did the same. This word concerning Reeves Lockwood had aroused the girl’s former fears. It damaged the assuring theory that Stokes Corvin had propounded.

WHO knew the truth of Reeves Lockwood’s disappearance? Barbara saw a lack of concord between Jarvis Raleigh and his servant Quarley. She felt that suspicion could well be directed to one, yet not to the other.

Which one?

That was the perplexing question. The others were again looking at Jarvis Raleigh as he stamped toward the door of the dining room. Barbara did the same. She saw Raleigh wheel as he reached the door.

“Remember my orders!” thundered Jarvis Raleigh. “My visitors are not to meet my guests. I want no talk between any of you and these two men who are coming here tonight.

“Do you hear that, Quarley? See that my orders are obeyed. Announce each visitor when he arrives and keep him waiting in the turret entry.”

With that, Jarvis Raleigh turned upon his heel. His footsteps echoed heavily along the passage while his three guests sat in silence.

New visitors to Montgard! All who sat there felt the tenseness of events that were to come.