“Not quite so fast,” interrupted the Phantom. “How did Granger get into Gage’s bedroom?”
“Through the tunnel connecting with Bimble’s residence.”
The Phantom looked puzzled. “But I satisfied myself that the revolving frame could not be manipulated from the outside.”
“It wasn’t,” said Culligore. “Gage himself admitted his murderer. It wasn’t the first time that he had received a visit from one of the gang that way, and he did not know that the organization had condemned him to death. So when Granger gave the customary signal, Gage thought somebody who didn’t care to be seen was bringing him an important message.”
“I might have guessed it,” murmured the Phantom. “Evidently I was not cut out for a detective. Granger, of course, made his escape through the tunnel after committing the murder?”
“He did, and that’s what made the crime look so mysterious. It was part of the plan, for it convinced everybody that no one but the Phantom could have committed it. But Granger had no sooner committed the murder than he began to be nervous. Somehow he got it into his head that the housekeeper was wise to him. Maybe she was; we will never know that for sure, though I have a private hunch that Mrs. Trippe had guessed the truth. Anyhow, Granger decided that he wouldn’t be safe unless the housekeeper was put out of the way. He locked her up in the bedroom; then went out for a drink. He was bent on murder, and he needed a bracer for his nerves. When he came back——”
“In the meantime,” interrupted the Phantom, “Mrs. Trippe tried to escape by way of the revolving window frame. Probably she knew there was a hidden exit somewhere in the room. At any rate, she had discovered how to open it just before Granger returned. I was in the aperture in the wall and saw the murderer’s hand as he drove the knife into her body. Granger either knew or guessed that I was there. He did not see me, but he heard the housekeeper addressing someone just before the blow was struck, and he probably surmised who it was. To make sure I wouldn’t get him into trouble, he ran around to the Bimble residence and blocked the other end of the tunnel. But there is one thing I don’t understand. How did it come about that Granger was suspected of treachery?”
“You have just told us that he tried to kill you,” said Culligore. “Well, that was the reason. The doc had given strict orders that you were to be taken alive and were not to be killed under any circumstances. Granger violated those orders when he tried to smother you to death in the tunnel. Shortly after that he disappeared, and that made it look all the worse for him. The ‘doc’ didn’t know that you had kidnaped him. All he knew was that Granger had vamoosed, and he thought he was doing the gang dirt and pulling some kind of treacherous stuff.”
“That explains the note Dan the Dope handed me,” observed the Phantom. “Everything is clear except Pinto’s part in the affair. His statement cleared up a good many things, but not all. For instance, he was startled when I showed him the ducal coronet. Tell me,” and the Phantom lowered his voice as a new thought occurred to him, “is, or was, Pinto a member of the Duke’s crowd?”
“Not exactly.” Culligore spoke with a hesitant drawl. “I’ll tell you something if you promise to let it go in one ear and out the other. For some time I’ve had a private tip to the effect that the Duke’s outfit wanted someone on the inside of the police department. They made Pinto a pretty attractive offer, and Pinto nibbled at the bait. He might have swallowed it if the Gage murder hadn’t happened along.”