Vicky Van | Page 8

see, desirable to
keep them in ignorance of what had happened.
After calling the police, Doctor Remson returned to his post just inside
the dining-room door. He answered questions patiently, at first, but
after being nearly driven crazy by the frantic women, he said, sharply,
"You may all do just as you like. I've no authority here, except that the
ethics of my profession dictate. That does not extend to jurisdiction
over the guests present. But I advise you as a matter of common
decency to stay here until this affair is investigated."
But they didn't. Many of them hastily gathered up their wraps and went
out of the house as quickly as possible.

Cassie Weldon came to me in her distress.
"I must go, Mr. Calhoun," she said. "Don't you think I may? Why, it
would interfere greatly with my work to have it known that I was
mixed up in a--"
"You're not mixed up in it, Miss Weldon." I began to speak a little
sternly, but the look in her eyes aroused my sympathy. "Well, go on," I
said, "I suppose you will testify if called on. Everybody knows where
to find you."
"Yes," she said, slowly, "but I hope I won't be called on. Why, it might
spoil my whole career."
She slipped out of the door, in the wake of some other departing guests.
After all, I thought, it couldn't matter much. Few, if any, of them were
implicated, and they could all be found at their homes.
And yet, I had a vague idea that we ought all to stay.
"I shall remain and face the music," I heard Mrs. Reeves saying.
"Where is Vicky? Do you suppose she knows about this? I'm going up
in the music room to see if she's there. You know, with all the
excitement down here, those upstairs may know nothing of it."
"I shall remain, too" said Ariadne Gale. "Why should anyone kill Mr.
Somers? Did the caterer's people do it? What an awful thing! Will it be
in the papers?"
"Will it!" said Garrison, who was standing near. "Reporters may be
here any minute. Must be here as soon as the police come. Where is
Miss Van Allen?"
"I don't know," and Ariadne began to cry.
"Stop that," said Mrs. Reeves, gruffly, but not unkindly. "Stay if you
want to, Ariadne, but behave like a sensible woman, not a silly
schoolgirl. This is an awful tragedy, of some sort."

"What do you mean, of some sort?" asked Miss Gale.
"I mean we don't know what revelations are yet to come. Where's
Norman Steele? Where's the man who brought this Somers here?"
Sure enough, where was Steele? I had forgotten all about him. And it
was he who had introduced Somers to the Van Allen house, and no one
else present, so far as I knew, was previously acquainted with the man
now lying dead the other side of that closed door.
I looked over the people who had stayed. Only a handful--perhaps half
a dozen.
And then I wondered if I'd better go home myself. Not for my own sake,
in any way; indeed, I preferred to remain, but I thought of Aunt Lucy
and Win. Ought I to bring on them any shadow of trouble or
opprobrium that might result from my presence in that house at that
time? Would it not be better to go while I could do so? For, once the
police took charge, I knew I should be called on to testify in public.
And even as I debated with myself, the police arrived.

CHAPTER III
THE WAITER'S STORY
Doctor Remson's police call had been imperative, and Inspector Mason
came in with two men.
"What's this? What's wrong here?" the big burly inspector said, as he
faced the few of us who had remained.
"Come in here, inspector," said the doctor, from the dining-room door.
And from that moment the whole aspect of the house seemed to change.
No longer a gay little bijou residence, it became a court of justice.
One of the men was stationed at the street door and one at the area door

below. Headquarters was notified of details. The coroner was
summoned, and we were all for the moment under detention.
"Where is Miss Van Allen? Where is the lady of the house?" asked
Mason. "Where are the servants? Who is in charge here?"
Was ever a string of questions so impossible of answers!
Doctor Remson told the main facts, but he was reticent. I, too, hesitated
to say much, for the case was strange indeed.
Mrs. Reeves looked gravely concerned, but said nothing.
Ariadne Gale began to babble. That girl didn't know how to be quiet.
"I guess Miss Van Allen is upstairs," she volunteered. "She was