Priam showed his teeth. “You’re a bluffer after all. Even if it was true ― which it ain’t ― how could you know it?”
“Because Wallace told me so.”
The skin above Priam’s beard changed color again.
“You see,” said Ellery, “I took Wallace into my confidence when I saw the danger he was in. I told him just what to expect at your hands and I told him that if he wanted to save his skin he’d be wise to play ball with Lieutenant Keats and me.
“Wallace didn’t need much convincing, Priam. I imagine you’ve found him the sort of fellow who can turn on a dime; or, to change the figure, the sort who always spots the butter side of the bread. He came over to me without a struggle. And he promised to keep me informed; and he promised, when the time came, to follow not your instructions, Priam, but mine.
“When you told him on the intercom tonight to sneak down here with the loaded revolver, Wallace immediately phoned me. I told him to hold up going downstairs for just long enough to allow the lieutenant and me to get here. It didn’t take us long, Priam, did it? We’d been waiting nightly for Wallace’s phone call for some time now.
“I’m pretty sure you expected someone to be outside on guard, Priam, although of course you didn’t know it would be Keats and me in person on Wallace’s notification. You’ve put up a good show about not wanting police guards, in line with your shrewd performance all along, but you’ve known from the start that we would probably disregard your wishes in a crisis, and that was just what you wanted us to do.
“When Alfred stole into this room armed with a gun, you knew whoever was on guard ― you hoped actually watching from the terrace ― would fall for the illusion that Wallace was trying to kill you. If no one was watching, but a guard on the grounds heard the shot, within seconds he’d be in the room, and he’d find Wallace dead ― in your room, with you obviously awakened from sleep, and only your story to listen to. With the previous buildup of someone threatening your life, he’d have no reason to doubt your version of what happened. If there were no guards at all, you would phone for help immediately, and between your version of the events and the fact that the gun was bought by Wallace you had every reason to believe the matter would end there. It was a bold, even a Bonapartist plan, Priam, and it almost worked.”
Priam stirred, and with the stir a fluidity came over him, passing like a ripple. Then he said in a perfectly controlled voice, “Whatever Wallace told you was a damn lie. I didn’t tell him to buy a gun. I didn’t call him down here tonight. And you can’t prove I did. You yourself saw him sneak in here a while back with a loaded gun, you saw me fight for my life, you saw him lose, and now he’s dead.” The bearded man put the lightest stress on the last word, as if to underscore Wallace’s uselessness as a witness.
“I’m afraid you didn’t listen very closely to what I said, Priam,” said Ellery. “I said it almost worked. You don’t think I’d allow Alfred to risk death or serious injury, do you? What he brought downstairs with him tonight, on my instructions, was a gun loaded with blanks. We’ve put on a show for you, Priam.” And Ellery said, “ Get up, Wallace.”