The Holladay Case | Page 3

you returned."
I could see our junior's face crimson with pleasure.
"You didn't think it necessary to confine her, I trust?" he asked.

"Oh, no; she wasn't disturbed. She spent the night at home--under
surveillance."
"That was right. Of course, it's simply absurd to suspect her."
Goldberg looked at him curiously.
"I don't know, Mr. Royce," he said slowly. "If the evidence turns out as
I think it will, I shall have to hold her--the district attorney expects it."
Mr. Royce's hands were clutching a chair-back, and they trembled a
little at the coroner's words.
"He'll be present at the examination, then?" he asked.
"Yes, we're waiting for him. You see, it's rather an extraordinary case."
"Is it?"
"We think so, anyway!" said the coroner, just a trifle impatiently.
I could see the retort which sprang to our junior's lips, but he choked it
back. There was no use offending Goldberg.
"I should like to see Miss Holladay before the examination begins," he
said. "Is she present?"
"She's in the next room, yes. You shall see her, certainly, at once. Julius,
take Mr. Royce to Miss Holladay," he added to the clerk.
I can see her yet, rising from her chair with face alight, as we entered,
and I saw instantly how I had misjudged her. She came a step toward
us, holding out her hands impulsively; then, with an effort, controlled
herself and clasped them before her.
"Oh, but I'm glad to see you!" she cried in a voice so low I could
scarcely hear it. "I've wanted you so much!"
"It was my great misfortune that I could come no sooner," said my

chief, his voice trembling a little despite himself. "I--I scarcely
expected to see you here with no one----"
"Oh," she interrupted, "there was no one I cared to have. My friends
have been very kind--have offered to do anything--but I felt that I
wanted to be just alone and think. I should have liked to have my maid,
but----"
"She's one of the witnesses, I suppose," explained Mr. Royce. "Well,
now that I'm here, I shall stay until I've proved how utterly ridiculous
this charge against you is."
She sank back into her chair and looked up at him with dark, appealing
eyes.
"You think you can?" she asked.
"Can! Certainly I can! Why, it's too preposterous to stand for a moment!
We've only to prove an alibi--to show that you were somewhere else,
you know, at the time the crime was committed--and the whole
business falls to pieces in an instant. You can do that easily, can't you?"
The color had gone from her cheeks again, and she buried her face in
her hands.
"I don't know," she murmured indistinctly. "I must think. Oh, don't let
it come to that!"
I was puzzled--confounded. With her good name, her life, perhaps, in
the balance, she wanted time to think! I could see that my chief was
astonished, too.
"I'll try to keep it from coming to that, since you wish it," he said
slowly. "I'll not be able to call you, then, to testify in your own
behalf--and that always hurts. But I hope the case will break down at
once--I believe it will. At any rate, don't worry. I want you to rely on
me."

She looked up at him again, smiling.
"I shall," she murmured softly. "I'm sure I could desire no better
champion!"
Well, plainly, if he won this case he would win something else besides.
I think even the policeman in the corner saw it, for he turned away with
a discretion rare in policemen, and pretended to stare out of the
window.
I don't know what my chief would have said--his lips were trembling so
he could not speak for the moment--and just then there came a tap at
the door, and the coroner's clerk looked in.
"We're ready to begin, sir," he said.
"Very well," cried Mr. Royce. "I'll come at once. Good-by for the
moment, Miss Holladay. I repeat, you may rely on me," and he
hastened from the room as confidently as though she had girded him
for the battle. Instead, I told myself, she had bound him hand and foot
before casting him down into the arena.
CHAPTER II
In the Grip of Circumstance
The outer room was crowded from end to end, and the atmosphere
reeked with unpleasant dampness. Only behind the little railing before
the coroner's desk was there breathing space, and we sank into our seats
at the table there with a sigh of relief.
One never realizes how many newspapers there are in New York until
one attends an important criminal case--that brings their people out in
droves and swarms. The reporters took up most of the space in this
small room, paper and pencils