At the summerhouse Tanner hesitated, vainly searching for an avenue of escape, seeming to realize, for the first time, that he was trapped. Suddenly, with a despairing cry, followed by a mocking, hysterical laugh, the actor-crook deliberately hurled himself against the frail railing, and as Klein darted forward with a cry of horror on his lips, Tanner disappeared over the edge of the cliff.
“Good Lord!” exclaimed the chief, reaching Klein’s side. “The man must have been mad!”
The two men peered over the cliff’s edge. The white surf dashed at the rock base, thundering its eternal song, and the curling foam glistened in the moonlight like lace. That was all.
The men retraced their steps. As they reached the porch the chief said:
“There’s a strong undertow along here, but I’ll have my men look for the body.”
When the news was given to those inside the house, Jarge’s cloak of indifference dropped. Tanner’s death broke his nerve. He huddled back in his chair, as if fear had come to him for the first time.
“I—I guess there’s little use—in playing the game—to win, now,” he murmured, his voice all but a whisper. “Let me congratulate you, Mr. Klein. You’ve whipped me at my own game. Tanner and I overheard you that night in Delmar’s room. We were both pretty well down and out. We decided to get the engagement in Hudson, and——” He stopped, and was silent for a moment. “Well, you see how it has all turned out. Tanner hit Delmar, but he didn’t intend to kill him. All he wanted was the suit; his own was in rags. I saved you—later in the evening—because I thought if you were caught your story would set the police on a new trail. As long as you were suspected, and kept out of sight, suspicion would not be turned our way. I did the same trick on the boat. I stole Miss Lydecker’s jewels and returned them to Mr. Lydecker, passing myself off as a ship detective. I did this so that I might win his friendship. Tanner and I had long planned to rob this house.”
“Bless my soul!” was all that Mr. Lydecker could say.
“And what about this suit?” questioned Klein.
“I pawned it in Fall River.”