The Greatest Murder Mysteries of S. S. Van Dine - 12 Titles in One Volume (Illustrated Edition). S.S. Van Dine
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used Benson’s own gun. Benson undoubtedly had more than one; for he would have been more likely to keep a gun in his bed-room than in his living-room; and since a Smith and Wesson was found in the living-room, there probably was another in the bed-room.
Being his housekeeper, she knew of the gun upstairs. After he had gone down to the living-room to read, she secured it, and took it with her, concealed under her apron.
She threw the gun away or hid it after the shooting. She had all night in which to dispose of it.
She was frightened when asked what fire-arms Benson kept about the house, for she was not sure whether or not we knew of the gun in the bed-room.
MOTIVE
She took the position of housekeeper because she feared Benson’s conduct toward her daughter. She always listened when her daughter came to his house at night to work.
Recently she discovered that Benson had dishonorable intentions, and believed her daughter to be in imminent danger.
A mother who would sacrifice herself for her daughter’s future, as she has done, would not hesitate at killing to save her.
And: there are the jewels. She has them hidden and is keeping them for her daughter. Would Benson have gone out and left them on the table? And if he had put them away, who but she, familiar with the house and having plenty of time, could have found them?
CONDUCT
She lied about St. Clair’s coming to tea, explaining later that she knew St. Clair could not have had anything to do with the crime. Was this feminine intuition? No. She could know St. Clair was innocent only because she herself was guilty. She was too motherly to want an innocent person suspected.
She was markedly frightened yesterday when her daughter’s name was mentioned, because she feared the discovery of the relationship might reveal her motive for shooting Benson.
She admitted hearing the shot, because, if she had denied it, a test might have proved that a shot in the living-room would have sounded loudly in her room; and this would have aroused suspicion against her. Does a person, when awakened, turn on the lights and determine the exact hour? And if she had heard a report which sounded like a shot being fired in the house, would she not have investigated, or given an alarm?
When first interviewed, she showed plainly she disliked Benson.
Her apprehension has been pronounced each time she has been questioned.
She is the hard-headed, shrewd, determined German type, who could both plan and perform such a crime.
HEIGHT
She is about five feet, ten inches tall—the demonstrated height of the murderer.
Markham read this précis through several times,—he was fully fifteen minutes at the task,—and when he had finished he sat silent for ten minutes more. Then he rose and walked up and down the room.
“Not a fancy legal document, that,” remarked Vance. “But I think even a Grand Juror could understand it. You, of course, can rearrange and elab’rate it, and bedeck it with innum’rable meaningless phrases and recondite legal idioms.”
Markham did not answer at once. He paused by the French windows and looked down into the street. Then he said:
“Yes, I think you’ve made out a case. . . . Extraordinary! I’ve wondered from the first what you were getting at; and your questioning of Platz yesterday impressed me as pointless. I’ll admit it never occurred to me to suspect her. Benson must have given her good cause.”
He turned and came slowly toward us, his head down, his hands behind him.
“I don’t like the idea of arresting her. . . . Funny I never thought of her in connection with it.”
He stopped in front of Vance.
“And you yourself didn’t think of her at first, despite your boast that you knew who did it after you’d been in Benson’s house five minutes.”
Vance smiled mirthfully, and sprawled in his chair.
Markham became indignant.
“Damn it! You told me the next day that no woman could have done it, no matter what evidence, was adduced, and harangued me about art and psychology and God knows what.”
“Quite right,” murmured Vance, still smiling. “No woman did it.”
“No woman did it!” Markham’s gorge was rising rapidly.
“Oh, dear no!”
He pointed to the sheet of paper in Markham’s hand.
“That’s just a bit of spoofing, don’t y’ know. . . . Poor old Mrs. Platz!—she’s as innocent as a lamb.”
Markham threw the paper on the table and sat down. I had never seen him so furious; but he controlled himself admirably.
“Y’ see, my dear old bean,” explained Vance, in his unemotional drawl, “I had an irresistible longing to demonstrate to you how utterly silly your circumst’ntial and material evidence is. I’m rather proud, y’ know, of my case against Mrs. Platz. I’m sure you could convict her on the strength of it. But, like the whole theory of your exalted law, it’s wholly specious and erroneous. . . . Circumst’ntial evidence, Markham, is the utt’rest tommyrot imag’nable. Its theory is not unlike that of our present-day democracy. The democratic theory is that if you accumulate enough ignorance at the polls you produce intelligence; and the theory of circumst’ntial evidence is that if you accumulate a sufficient number of weak links you produce a strong chain.”
“Did you get me here this morning,” demanded Markham coldly, “to give me a dissertation on legal theory?”
“Oh, no,” Vance blithely assured him. “But I simply must prepare you for the acceptance of my revelation; for I haven’t a scrap of material or circumst’ntial evidence against the guilty man. And yet, Markham, I know he’s guilty as well as I know you’re sitting in that chair planning how you can torture and kill me without being punished.”
“If you have no evidence, how did you arrive at your conclusion?” Markham’s tone was vindictive.
“Solely by psychological analysis—by what might be called the science of personal possibilities. A man’s psychological nature is as clear a brand to one who can read it as was Hester Prynne’s scarlet letter. . . . I never read Hawthorne, by the bye. I can’t abide the New England temp’rament.”
Markham set his jaw, and gave Vance a look of arctic ferocity.
“You expect me to go into court, I suppose, leading your victim by the arm, and say to the Judge: ‘Here’s the man that shot Alvin Benson. I have no evidence against him, but I want you to sentence him to death, because my brilliant and sagacious friend, Mr. Philo Vance, the inventor of stuffed perch, says this man has a wicked nature.’ ”
Vance gave an almost imperceptible shrug.
“I sha’n’t wither away with grief if you don’t even arrest the guilty man. But I thought it no more than humane to tell you who he was, if only to stop you from chivvying all these innocent people.”
“All right—tell me; and let me get on about my business.”
I don’t believe there was any longer a question in Markham’s mind that Vance actually knew who had killed Benson. But it was not until considerably later in the morning that he fully understood why Vance had kept him for days upon tenter-hooks. When, at last, he did understand it, he forgave Vance; but at the moment he was angered to the limit of his control.
“There are one or two things that must be done before I can reveal the gentleman’s name,” Vance told him. “First, let me have a peep at those alibis.”
Markham took from his pocket a sheaf of type-written pages and passed them over.
Vance adjusted his monocle, and read through them carefully.