A Husband by Proxy | Page 6

the meaning of what had
occurred, then tore the envelope and drew forth the contents.
He had barely spread the letter open when a knock on the door startled
every thought in his brain.
His first conclusion was that Mrs. Fairfax had returned to repudiate her
bargain and ask the surrender of her money. With a smile for any fate,
he crossed the room and opened the door.
In the hallway stood a man--a little, sharp-faced, small-eyed, thin-nosed
person, with a very white complexion, and a large, smooth-shaved
mouth, open as if in a smile that never ceased.
"Garrison?" he said sharply. "Wicks--I'm Wicks."
"Wicks?" said Garrison. "Come in."
Mr. Wicks stepped in with a snap-like alacrity. "Read your letter," he
said--"read your letter."
Obediently Garrison perused the missive in hand, typed on the
steel-plate stationery of the New York Immutable Life Insurance
Company:
"DEAR SIR:
"At the recommendation of our counsel, Mr. Sperry Lochlan, who is
still abroad, we desire to secure your services in a professional capacity.
Our Mr. Wicks will call upon you this afternoon to explain the nature
of the employment and conclude the essential arrangements.
"Respectfully yours, "JOHN STEFFAS, "Dep't of Special Service."
A wave of gratitude toward Lochlan, the lawyer who had first
employed him, and advised this New York office, surged with another,
of almost boyish joy, through Garrison's being. It seemed almost absurd
that two actual clients should thus have appeared within the hour. He
looked up at the little man with a new, keen interest.

"I am glad to meet you, Mr. Wicks," he said. "Will you please sit down?
I am at your service."
Mr. Wicks snatched a chair and sat down. It was quite a violent
maneuver, especially as that sinister grin never for a moment left his
features. He took off his hat and made a vicious dive at a wisp of long,
red hair that adorned the otherwise barren top of his head. The wisp lay
down toward his left ear when thus adjusted. He looked up at Garrison
almost fiercely.
"Obscure, ain't you?" he demanded.
"Obscure?" inquired Garrison. "Perhaps I am--just at present--here in
New York."
"You are!" stated Mr. Wicks aggressively.
Garrison was not enamored of his manner.
"All right," he said--"all right."
Mr. Wicks suddenly leaned forward and fetched his index finger almost
up against the young man's nose.
"Good at murder?" he demanded.
Garrison began to suspect that the building might harbor lunatics,
several of whom had escaped.
"Am I good at murder?" he repeated. "Doing murder or----"
"Ferreting murder! Ferreting murder! Ferreting murder!" cried the
visitor irritably.
"Oh," said Garrison, "if you wish to employ me on a murder case, I'll
do the best I can."
"You worked out the Biddle robbery?" queried Mr. Wicks.

Garrison replied that he had. The Biddle robbery was the Lochlan
case--his first adventure in criminology.
"Take the case!" commanded Mr. Wicks in his truculent manner. "Two
hundred and fifty a month as long as you work. One thousand dollars
bonus if you find the murderer. Accept the terms?"
"Yes, I'll take the case," he said. "What sort of----"
Mr. Wicks made a sudden snatch at his wisp of hair, adjusted it quite to
the other side of his head, then as abruptly drew a paper from his
pocket and thrust it into Garrison's hand.
"Statement of the case," he interrupted. "Read it."
Garrison accepted the document, spread it open, and read as follows:
STATEMENT: Case of John Hardy.
Name--John Hardy.
Age--57.
Occupation--Real estate dealer (retired).
Residence--Unfixed, changed frequently (last, Hickwood, two days,
boarding).
Family--No immediate family (no one nearer than nephews and
nieces).
Rating in Bradbury's--No rating.
Insured in any other companies--No.
Insured with us for what amount--Twenty thousand dollars.
Name of beneficiary--Charles Scott.

Residence--Hickwood, New York (village).
Occupation--Inventor.
Date of subject's death--May 27th.
Place of death--Village of Branchville (near Hickwood).
Verdict of coroner--Death from natural causes (heart failure or
apoplexy).
Body claimed by--Paul Durgin (nephew).
Body interred where--Shipped to Vermont for burial.
Suspicious circumstances--Beneficiary paid once before on claim for
similar amount, death of risk having been equally sudden and
unexplained.
Remarks--The body was found on the porch of an empty house (said by
superstitious neighbors to be haunted). It was found in sitting posture,
leaning against post of porch. No signs of violence except a green stain
on one knee. Deceased uncommonly neat. There is no grass growing
before the empty house, owing to heavy shade of trees. No signs of
struggle near house. Details supplied by old woman, Mrs. Webber,
whose son found deceased. Our company not represented, either at
inquest or afterward, as no notification of subject's death was filed until
the 31st inst.
At the bottom, written in pencil, appeared the words:
"Quiet case. Steffas."
That was all. Garrison turned the paper. There was