There was a little pause, and I could see that they were repeating the lines over to themselves, and trying to get some meaning out of them.
“Well,” said Mrs. Chester, at last, “that is a problem!”
“I dare say this man Tunstall had a hand in devising it,” observed her husband. “He affects a kind of cryptic utterance, sometimes—it’s one of the tricks of the business. He had acquired considerable influence over your aunt, Mrs. Truman—not enough, evidently, to persuade her to cut you off entirely, but still enough to make your inheritance hang upon this slender thread—and it is a slender one.”
“Can you tell us anything more about him?” asked mother. “I scarcely looked at him to-day—I didn’t realize at the time how deeply he was concerned in all this.”
“I did,” I said; “or, rather, he looked at me, and it sent a creepy feeling all up and down my back. He has the sharpest eyes!”
“Yes,” agreed Mr. Chester, “they’re part of his stock in trade. I’ve imagined, sometimes, that they were a kind of hypnotic eye, which might affect a nervous or weak-minded person very deeply.”
“They evidently affected Aunt Nelson,” said mother. “Please tell us all you can, Mr. Chester. The more we know of the facts in the case, the better chance we shall have of solving this perplexing puzzle.”
“That’s true,” assented Mr. Chester, slowly. “It is only right that you should know; and yet I can tell you very little more than I’ve already told. I’ve said that Tunstall pretended to be a sort of disciple of the occult. I’ve been told that he calls himself a swami, whatever that may be, and pretends to believe in the transmigration of souls, in his power to recall the spirits of the dead, and I don’t know what tomfoolery besides. No doubt he’s a clever operator—he must be, or he couldn’t stay in one locality as long as he has in this. And he’s never been exposed, as most mediums are, sooner or later. I doubt if he’d have remained here as long as he has, but for the hold he got on Mrs. Nelson, and his hope of inheriting her property.”
“Did he have such a hold on her?” inquired mother.
“Oh, yes; I wouldn’t have believed he’d dare go to the lengths he did if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. I happened upon him one night—” he paused hesitatingly, and looked at his wife, “I don’t know whether I’d better tell the story,” he added.