"What was that?
"Evidently to assault, perhaps kill John Dashwood and secure the twenty thousand dollars, which he had forced Luke Filbon to give up. The sudden appearance of Dashwood, coming down the elevator, prevented the carrying out of this murderous scheme. Dashwood took a car; she did not do so. Where she went, what she did, are matters which may be considered later on. What is requisite now to know is: Are she and Leonard the possessors of some secret; is Leonard in her power, and did she mean Leonard when she said 'the old fool may after all fail to come to time'?
"The story told by the janitress shows that she and Leonard are acquainted, and it shows also that she has some hold on the manufacturer. Her words spoken to the janitress imply as much, the demeanor of Leonard, when he left her room a few days ago, supports the implication. Therefore, in attempting to probe the mystery of last night's doings, I must consider Madame Ree. She is mixed up in this strange affair, as well as Gabriel Leonard and John Dashwood, but as she has probably left the city in accordance with her announcement, there is not much chance of obtaining any information through her agency.
"If Gabriel Leonard came up here last night," Nick's reflections ran on, "having no suspicion that he had been robbed by Filbon, and for the purpose of acting in accordance with some arrangement made with Madame Ree, it probably had relation to a matter of money. He may have wanted to obtain the money in the safe, money received after banking-hours. Perhaps the sum may have been a respectable one. He says the books were open upon the desk—and that means that the desk was open, showing that Dashwood had left in a hurry—and that from certain marked entries he discovered that Filbon had been robbing him. In that respect he may have spoken the truth. I am inclined to think he did. But he says further that he did not open the safe. He may not have done so, he may have found something which put the idea of opening the safe out of his head. Leonard was terribly upset this morning. There was something weighty on his mind, the nature of which he did not see fit to reveal to me. I obtained only a part of his story. The suppressed part holds a secret that may prove to be of terrible significance. If John Dashwood does not turn up to-day, the work upon which I have entered must include a rigid investigation of the case of Mr. Leonard.
"Now for his movements last night. He came here to get something, money, let me say. He saw the open desk and the books upon it. Did he see anything else? He says he did not learn from the marked entries how much money Filbon had stolen, yet he did not exhibit either surprise or concern when I told him that the amount was twenty thousand dollars. Now, twenty thousand dollars is not a small amount of money. Leonard is not so well off, in a pecuniary sense, as to be able to consider twenty thousand a bagatelle. His unconcern, not assumed, for I was watching him closely, is evidence to me that he knew the amount Filbon had filched. And if he knew it the knowledge must have come to him when he visited the office last night. How did he learn it? Not from going over the books, for he did not remain, according to the barkeeper's story, more than five minutes in the office. When he came down he was greatly agitated, and the barkeeper heard him mutter something about there being the devil to pay. What must I infer from this remark, from his state of mind?
"One thing, and one thing only: He had learned, without opening the safe, that Filbon had returned the money, and that John Dashwood had gone off with it. And why did Dashwood take the money with him? I can imagine a good reason, but first I must endeavor to discover what it was that gave Leonard his information. A note from Dashwood, of course, and that note was on the desk, probably lying upon one of the books. What became of it? Did Leonard tear it up, or did he put it in his pocket? The fact that he has lied to me shows that he wishes to conceal his knowledge of the note's contents. What would be the action of a man, agitated, confused, beset by troubles, some of which I think I can divine, others of which I can only guess at, upon reading the note which John Dashwood, under last night's conditions, would write?
"Common sense would not prevail, for common sense would suggest the pocketing of the note and its destruction, if destruction should be deemed necessary, afterward, and in a spot where the fragments would not be found. My judgment is that he tore it into bits here in this room. But the bits did not go into the waste-basket, for I have examined it. They were not likely thrown on the floor. Where could they have been thrown?"
Nick's eyes were glued on the large roller-top desk. The open floor space in the middle had not a speck upon it. The back showed the wall-paper and baseboard. The drawer sides of the desk concealed the wall back of them. Nick stepped to the desk and rolled it away from the wall. If the janitor had done his full duty that morning he would find nothing. But the janitor had been amiss, for, partly on the rim of the baseboard and partly on the floor, on one side back of one of the sets of drawers, were torn bits of paper.
The detective quickly gathered the bits, placed them in his pocketbook, and then left the office. Before attempting to make a sequential arrangement of the bits, upon which writing had been observed, Nick went to the office of the chief of police in the Four Courts, on Clark Avenue. He had not given his name to the patrolman on the night before, when announcing his discovery of the suicide of Luke Filbon, but had simply said that he was a friend of the chief and would report to that official in the morning. The patrolman was a new hand, and the quiet, authoritative manner of the great detective had its effect. Besides, he was excited over the announcement Nick had made, and was off for the nearest signal-box as soon as Nick had finished his statement.
When the detective entered the office he found the chief in earnest conversation with the chief of detectives, and he was heartily greeted by each of them. In a few words Nick stated that, while looking for John Dashwood, he had come upon Luke Filbon, just before the taking of the dose of poison.