CHAPTER III MALCOLM SAGE'S MYSTERIOUS MOVEMENTS

I

Malcolm Sage found that Dawkins had completed his work, and the bodyof Mr. Challoner had been removed.

Seating himself at the table, he took the automatic pistol in hishand and deliberately removed the cartridges. Then placing themuzzle against his right temple he turned his eyes momentarily onDawkins, who, having anticipated his wishes, had already adjustedthe camera. He removed the cap, replaced it, and then quicklyreversed the plate.

Pulling the trigger, Malcolm Sage allowed his head to fall forward, his right hand, which held the pistol, dropping on the table beforehim. Dawkins took another photograph.

"Now," said Malcolm Sage to Sir James. "You shoot me through theright temple, approaching from behind. Grip my head as if youexpected me to resist."

Sir James did as he was requested, Dawkins making another exposure.

Malcolm Sage motioned Thompson to draw the curtains. Then droppingon to his knees by the library door, he took the small mirror he hadborrowed from Miss Norman and, placing it partly beneath the door, carefully examined the reflection by the aid of an electric torch.

When he rose it was with the air of a man who had satisfied himselfupon some important point. He then turned to Sir James.

"You might get those finger-prints," he said casually. "Get everyonetogether in the dining-room. See that no one leaves it for at leasta quarter of an hour. Thompson will go with you."

"Then you think it was murder?" questioned Sir James.

"I would sooner say nothing just at the moment," was the reply.

Whilst Sir James Walton and Thompson were occupied with a room-fullof domestics, talking in whispers as if in the presence of death,Malcolm Sage was engaged in a careful examination of the bottoms ofall the doors in the house by means of a mirror placed upwardsbeneath each. He also removed the keys and gave a swift look at thewards of each.

He moved quickly; yet without haste, as if his brain had entirecontrol of the situation.

One door in particular appeared to interest him, so much so that heentered the room and proceeded to examine it with great thoroughness, taking the utmost care to replace everything as he found it.

From the middle-drawer of the chest-of-drawers, he extracted fromunder a pile of clothes a thin steel object, some five or six inchesin length, wound round with a fine, strong twine. This he slippedinto his pocket and, going down into the hall, rang up the managerof the Lewes branch of the Southern Counties and Brown's Bank.

Passing into the library, he searched the drawers of the table atwhich Mr. Challoner had been found. In one of them he discovered thepass-book. Seating himself at the table, he proceeded to examine itcarefully. Turning to the pockets at either end, where cancelledcheques are usually placed, he found both were empty.

When a few minutes later Sir James and Thompson entered with thefinger-prints, Malcolm Sage was seated at the table smoking, hisgaze concentrated upon the nail of the fourth finger of his righthand. With him a contemplation of his finger-nails in generalindicated thoughtful attention; when, however, he raised the handand began to subject some particular finger-nail to a thorough andelaborate examination, it generally meant the germination of someconstructive thesis.

Taking the sheets of paper from Thompson, he went through themrapidly, then drawing a sheet of note-paper from the rack before himhe scribbled a hasty note, enclosed it with one of the fingerprintsin an envelope, which he sealed, addressed, and handed to Thompsonwith instructions to see that it was delivered without delay. Healso told him to send Peters and Dane to the library.

Three minutes later Tims swung down the drive, his face beaming. Hewas to drive to Scotland Yard and "never mind the poultry on theroad," as Thompson had phrased it.

"Have you the key of the safe, Mr. Dane?" enquired Malcolm Sage asthe young man entered, followed by Peters. Dane shook his head andlooked at Peters.

"Mr. Challoner always wore it on his key-chain, sir," said thebutler.

"Have you any objection to the safe being opened?" enquired Malcolm

Sage to Dane.

"None whatever."

"Then perhaps you will open it?" said Malcolm Sage, turning to Sir

James.

In the safe were found several bundles of letters andshare-certificates, and an old cash-box containing some loosestamps; but nothing else.

Malcolm Sage dismissed Peters and Dane, saying that he would bereturning to town after dinner. In the meantime he and Sir Jamesstrolled about the grounds, discussing the remarkable rise in thechess-world of Capablanca, whilst Dawkins was busily occupied in adarkened bath-room.

Dinner proved a far less sombre meal than luncheon. Malcolm Sage andSir James between them succeeded in placing young Dane more at hisease. The haunted, shell-shock look left his eyes, and the twitchingdisappeared from the corners of his mouth.

It was nearly nine o'clock when the distant moan of a hooterannounced to Malcolm Sage's alert ears the return of Tims. He rosefrom the table and walked slowly to the door, where for some secondshe stood with his hand upon the knob.

As the car drew up he slipped into the hall, just as Peters openedthe door.

A moment later the butler started back, his right hand seemed to flyto his left breast pocket. At the same moment Malcolm Sage sprangforward. There was a flash, a report, and two bodies fell at thefeet of Inspector Wensdale, of Scotland Yard, and another manstanding beside him.

In a second, however, they had thrown themselves upon the strugglingheap, and when Malcolm Sage rose to his feet it was to look downupon Peters pinned to the floor by the inspector, with the strangeman sitting on his legs.

II

"There is no witness so sure as the camera," remarked Malcolm Sageas he gazed from one to the other of two photographs before him, onerepresenting him holding an automatic pistol to his own head, andthe other in which Sir James was posing as a murderer.

"It is strange that it should be so neglected at Scotland Yard," headded.

Silent and absorbed when engaged upon a problem, Malcolm Sageresented speech as a sick man resents arrowroot. At other times heseemed to find pleasure in lengthy monologues, invariably of aprofessional nature.

"But we use it a lot, Mr. Sage," protested Inspector Wensdale.

"For recording the features of criminals," was the retort. "No,Wensdale, you are obsessed by the finger-print heresy, quiteregardless of the fact that none but an amateur ever leaves such athing behind him, and the amateur is never difficult to trace."

He paused for a moment; but the inspector made no comment.

"The two greatest factors in the suppression of crime," continuedMalcolm Sage, "are photography and finger-prints. Both are in use atScotland Yard; but each in place of the other. Finger-prints areregarded as clues, and photography is a means of identification, whereas finger-prints are of little use except to identify pastoffenders, and photography is the greatest aid to the actual tracingof the criminal."

Malcolm Sage never failed to emphasise the importance of photographyin the detection of crime. He probably used it more than all otherinvestigators put together. He contended that a photographic printestablished for all time what the eye could only dimly register forthe moment, with the consequent danger of forgetfulness.

As the links in a chain multiplied, it was frequently necessary torefer to the scene of a crime, or tragedy, and then probably someimportant point would crop up, which the eye had not considered ofsufficient importance to dwell upon. By then, in the case of amurder, the body would have been removed, and everything about iteither re-ordered or obliterated.

Malcolm Sage proceeded to stuff his pipe with tobacco which he drewfrom the left-hand pocket of his jacket. He had discovered that arubber-lined pocket was the best and safest pouch.

He picked up a third photograph and laid it beside the others. Itwas a print of Mr. Challoner's head, showing, marked in ink, thecourse of the bullet towards the left of the frontal bone.

"A man shooting himself," began Malcolm Sage, "places the pistol ina position so that the muzzle is directed towards the back of thehead. On the other hand, anyone approaching his victim from behindwould have a tendency to direct the muzzle towards the front of thehead. That is why I got Dawkins to take a photograph of me holdingthe pistol to my head and of you holding it from behind. Thesephotographs will constitute the principal evidence at the trial."

Sir James nodded. He was too interested to interrupt.

"On this enlargement of the wound," continued Malcolm Sage, "youwill see an abrasion on the side nearer the ear, as if the head hadsuddenly been jerked backwards between the time of the muzzle beingplaced against the temple and the actual firing of the shot."

Thompson leaned across to examine the photograph.

"If the eyes of someone sitting at a table are suddenly andunexpectedly covered from behind, the natural instinct is to jerkbackwards so that the head may be turned to see who it is. That isexactly what occurred with Challoner. He jerked backwards, and thebarrel of the pistol grazed the skin and was deflected still moretowards the frontal bone."

Sir James and Thompson exchanged glances. Dawkins stood by, a lookof happiness in his eyes. His beloved camera was justifying itselfonce more. Inspector Wensdale breathed heavily.

"Apart from all this, the position of the head on the table, and theway in which the hand was holding the pistol, not to speak of thecurve of the arm, were unnatural. You get some idea of this from thephotograph that Dawkins took of me, although I could only simulatedeath by relaxing the muscles. Again, the head would hardly belikely to twist on to its side."

"The doctor ought to have seen that," said the inspector.

Another thing against the theory of suicide was that the secondjoint of the first finger was pressing against the trigger. Mr.Challoner was an expert shot, and would instinctively have used thepad of the finger, not the second joint.

"The next step," continued Malcolm Sage, "was how could anyone getinto the room and approach Challoner without being heard or'sensed.'"

"He must have been very much absorbed in what he was doing,"suggested Sir James.

Malcolm Sage shook his head, and for a few seconds gazed at thephotographs before him.

"You will remember there was nothing on the table in front of him. Ishall come to that presently. It is very unlikely that a man sittingat a table would not be conscious of someone approaching him frombehind, no matter how quietly he stepped, unless that man'spresence in the room were quite a normal and natural thing. Thatgave me the clue to Peters. He is the only person who could be inthe library without Challoner taking any notice of him. Consequentlyit was easy for him to approach his master and shoot him."

"But the locked door, sir," said Thompson.

"That is a very simple matter. An ordinary lead-pencil, with a pieceof string tied to one end, put through the ring of the key to act asa lever, the cord being passed beneath the door, will lock any doorin existence. The pencil can then be drawn under the door. This willshow how it's done." Malcolm Sage reached across for a sheet ofpaper, and drew a rough sketch.

[Illustration]

"That is why you examined the under-edge of the door?" suggested Sir

James.

Malcolm Sage nodded. "The marks of the cord were clearly defined andreflected in the mirror. Had the key not been touched, it would havehelped."

"How?" asked Inspector Wensdale.

"By means of the string the key is turned only just to the pointwhere the lever falls through the hole to the floor. The fingerswould turn beyond that point, not being so delicate."

"Mr. Sage, you're a wonder," burst out the inspector.

"I then," proceeded Malcolm Sage, "examined all the other doors inthe house, and I found that of one room, which I after discovered tobe Peters', was heavily scored at the bottom. He had evidentlypractised fairly extensively before putting the plan into operation.He had also done the same thing with the library door, as there weremarks of more than one operation. Furthermore, he was wiser than totake the risk of so clumsy a tool as a lead-pencil. He used this."

Malcolm Sage drew from his pocket the roll of twine with the thinsteel instrument down the centre. It was a canvas-needle, to the eyeof which the cord was attached.

"This was absolutely safe," he remarked. "Another thing I discoveredwas that one lock, and only one lock in the house, had recently beenoiled – that of the library-door."

Sir James nodded his head several times. There was something ofself-reproach in the motion.

"Now," continued Malcolm Sage, "we come back to why a man should besitting at a table absorbed in gazing at nothing, and at a time whenmost of the household are either in bed or preparing for bed."

"Peters said that he was checking his pass-book," suggested Sir

James.

"That is undoubtedly what he was doing," continued Malcolm Sage,"and Peters removed the passbook, put it in a drawer, firstdestroying the cancelled cheques. He made a blunder in not replacingthe pass-book with something else. That was the last link in thechain," he added.

"I don't quite see – " began Sir James.

"Perhaps you did not read of a case that was reported from New Yorksome eighteen months ago. It was very similar to that of Mr.Challoner. A man was found shot through the head, the door beinglocked on the inside, and a verdict of suicide was returned; butthere was absolutely no reason why he should have taken his life.

"What actually happened was that Mr. Challoner went to his bank todraw five hundred pounds with which he hoped to bribe his nephew'sfiancée. He trusted to the temptation of the actual money ratherthan a cheque. When he was at the bank the manager once more askedhim to return his pass-book, which had not been balanced for severalmonths. He was very dilatory in such matters."

"That is true," said Dane, speaking for the first time.

"That evening he proceeded to compare it with his cheque-book. Isuspect that Peters had been forging cheques and he saw here whatwould lead to discovery. Furthermore, there was a considerable sumof money in the safe, and the quarrel between uncle and nephewto divert suspicion. This, however, was mere conjecture – thattrouser-pocket photo, Dawkins," said Malcolm Sage, turning to thephotographer, who handed it across to him.

"Now notice the position of those keys. They are put in headforemost, and do not reach the bottom of the pocket. They hadobviously been taken away and replaced in the pocket as Challonersat there. Had he gone to the safe himself and walked back to hischair, the position of the keys would have been quite different."

Instinctively each man felt in his trousers pocket, and found in hisown bunch of keys a verification of the statement.

"The whole scheme was too calculated and deliberate for an amateur,"said Malcolm Sage, knocking the ashes out of his pipe on to a brassashtray. "That is what prompted me to get the fingerprints of Peters,so that I might send them to Scotland Yard to see if anything wasknown of him there. The result you have seen."

"We've been on the look-out for him for more than a year," saidInspector Wensdale. "The New York police are rather interested inhim about a forgery stunt that took place there some time ago."

"I am confident that when Challoner's affairs are gone into therewill be certain cheques which it will be difficult to explain.

"Then, again, there was the electric light," proceeded Malcolm Sage."A man about to blow out his brains would certainly not walk acrossthe room, switch off the light, and then find his way back to thetable."

"That's true enough," said Inspector Wensdale.

"On the other hand, a murderer, who has to stand at a door for atleast some seconds, would not risk leaving on the light, which wouldattract the attention of anyone who might by chance be in the hall,or on the stairs."

Inspector Wensdale caught Thompson's left eye, which deliberatelyclosed and then re-opened. There was a world of meaning in themovement.

"Well, I'm glad I didn't get you down on a fool's errand, Sage,"said Sir James, rising. "I wonder what the local inspector willthink."

"He won't," remarked Malcolm Sage; "that is why he assumed it wassuicide."

"Did you suspect Peters was armed?" enquired Sir James.

"I saw the pistol under his left armpit," said Malcolm Sage. "It'swell known with American gunmen as a most convenient place for quickdrawing."

"If it hadn't been for you, Mr. Sage, he'd have got me," said

Inspector Wensdale.

"There'll be a heavy car-full for Tims," remarked Malcolm Sage, ashe walked towards the door.