ALM06 Who Killed the Husband? Read Online Free PDF Page A

an inconspicuous get-away.

    The Gartrey apartment occupied the entire eighth floor of one of the finest buildings on the avenue. A manservant admitted Lee to a stately foyer. An immense music room opened off on his left and in front of him a salon as big as a museum. Today the very rich have more space in their city apartments than they once had in a whole house. Mrs. Gartrey presently came swimming to meet him in something pink that set off her cunningly dressed chestnut hair. She looked like a girl and was, perhaps, thirty years old. She was beautiful but not so beautiful in the flesh as in her photographs. It was because hers was a beauty of feature rather than expression. The touch of gentleness that makes a woman wholly adorable was lacking. It was clear that she had suffered dreadfully during the past few days, but it had not softened her.
    "How good of you!" she murmured.
    "I was glad to come if you think I can be of the least use," said Lee.
    She led him to a settee by the fireplace. She was alone in the vast room. Lee reflected that rich people were apt to be lonelier than the poor. They sat down.
    "Will you have a drink, Mr. Mappin?"
    "Thanks, no. I have just come from a too-hospitable house."
    A bitter expression crossed her face. "I expect I was well discussed around the table."
    He wasn't going to lie to her. "You were," he said candidly.
    "What did they say?"
    "Oh, come, Mrs. Gartrey, you didn't ask me here to repeat silly gossip. I assure you you did not lack defenders at the table."
    She put a handkerchief to her lips. "It's so hard to know where to begin my story!" she murmured.
    "Tell me why you chose to send for me instead of somebody else."
    "That's easy," she said. "One reads your books; one reads in the newspaper how extraordinarily clever you are in bringing the truth to light in baffling cases. I want you to find out the truth of this case."
    Lee waited for more. It was obvious that the woman was suffering intensely, but did she really want the truth? He doubted it.
    "You understand," she went on, "I am asking you to accept me for a client. I expect to pay for your services."
    Lee waved his hand. That didn't commit him to anything.
    Her voice scaled up. "The newspapers are like a pack of dogs, like a pack of dogs yapping at Mr. Yohe's heels!" she cried. "He is innocent of any wrongdoing. He was out of the house before my husband came home. I want you to prove that to the world."
    "How can I without his co-operation?" said Lee.
    She put a hand over her eyes. "Oh, I know! I know! It was suicidal for him to run away and to stay away. I wish to God I could reach him. I could soon persuade him to come back."
    Lee said, to see what kind of reaction he would get: "It has been suggested that you do know where he is."
    "That's a lie," she said scornfully. "Would I be suffering this horrible uncertainty? Would I stay here if I knew? This place has become a nightmare to me. Every time I cross the foyer I can see my husband lying there."
    "Why do you stay here?"
    "Because I think that Al...Mr. Yohe may try to get in touch with me here. By telephone. Even the telephone is risky, but he might take a chance. I am listening for it day and night!"
    Lee thought: Okay, she does not know where he is.
    He said: "Until he does come back, Mrs. Gartrey, I don't see what I can do."
    "Oh, you must, you must help me!" she cried, clasping her hands. "Ask me whatever you like and I'll gladly pay it!"
    "Believe me, it's not a question of a fee," he said mildly. "I have sufficient for my modest wants. I have no family."
    "All you have to do is to come out in his favor," she pleaded. "Then, wherever he is, he would see that he had a friend and a powerful one; that would bring him back."
    Lee said firmly: "I can't come out in his favor until I see some reason to doubt his guilt."
    "He's innocent!" she wailed. "Who should know that better than I?"
    "If Alastair Yohe didn't shoot your husband, who did?" asked Lee bluntly.
    "Oh, I don't