Many times in his life, Sidney Prale had been greatly surprised, astonished, shocked. But never had he experienced such a feeling as he did at this bald announcement of a police detective.
The statement was like a blow between the eyes. Prale stared at the two detectives for an instant, his face flushed, and then he began to laugh.
"It isn't a laughing matter, Mr. Prale," one of the detectives told him.
"Pardon me, but it is so utterly preposterous," Prale replied. "I fail to see how I can be accused of such a crime. I am not a cut-throat, and Rufus Shepley was a man I met on shipboard casually, and have seen him only once since."
"You can do your talking at headquarters, Mr. Prale," the officer said. "I'll have to ask you to come along with us. I'll leave my partner here to look through your rooms."
"The sooner I get to headquarters, the sooner this thing will be straightened out," Prale said. "Murk, you will remain here in the rooms until you hear from me. Let the officer look at anything he wishes to inspect."
"Yes, sir," said Murk, glaring at the two detectives.
Prale faced the detective who had been speaking to him.
"Be with you as soon as I get my hat and coat," he said. "It'll not be necessary, I hope, to put handcuffs on me."
"We can go to headquarters in a taxi, and I guess I can handle you if you try any tricks," the detective replied.
"There are going to be no tricks tried," Prale said.
"Nevertheless, I think I'll keep a close eye on you."
"Do so, by all means!" Prale retorted.
"Ain't there anything I can do, sir?" Murk asked.
"Nothing except to remain in the rooms until you hear from me," Prale told him. "If I should--er--be detained, I'll probably send for you."
"Very well, sir."
One of the detectives left the suite with Prale and walked down the hall to the elevator. The second officer remained behind to go through Prale's things in an effort to find evidence.
Prale said nothing regarding the crime as they journeyed in the taxicab to police headquarters. His mind was busy, though. This appeared to be a culmination of the annoyances to which he had been subjected.
At headquarters he was ushered into a room where a captain of detectives awaited him.
"Don't have to talk unless you want to, Mr. Prale, but it probably will be better for you to do so, and have an end of it," the captain said. "Why did you kill Rufus Shepley?"
"That's a fool question. I didn't kill him. I had no idea he was dead until the officer arrested me for his murder. I scarcely know the man, captain. I made his acquaintance aboard a ship coming from Central America, and I met him but once after leaving the ship. He told me his business and gave me his card, and that is all. I'm ready to answer any questions you may ask. This is some terrible mistake. I want to talk about it--have an end of it, as you say."
"Very well, Prale," the captain said.
"Mr. Prale, if you please. I have not been convicted yet and am entitled to some courtesy, it seems to me."
"All right, if you're going to be nasty about it," the captain said. "But you won't gain anything by taking a high-and-mighty attitude with me."
"I simply object to being addressed in the tone you used," Prale replied. "I am no crook. Let's get down to business. Ask me any questions you like, and I'd like to ask a few myself."
"That is fair enough," the captain said, a shrewd expression coming into his face.
"Suppose you take it for granted, for a few minutes, that I am innocent, and tell me when Rufus Shepley was killed, and where, and just how."
"Very well, Mr. Prale. A hotel attendant found the body at an early hour this morning. It was in Mr. Shepley's room. The man was fully dressed. The physicians say that he was killed about eleven o'clock last night."
"I understand; go on, please."
"He had been stabbed through the heart," said the captain. "Death had been instantaneous."
"But why suspect me of the crime?" Prale asked.
"This was found beside the body," the captain replied.
From the desk before him he picked up a fountain pen. It was an elaborate pen, chased with gold, and on one side of it was a tiny gold plate, upon which Prale's name had been engraved.
"You recognize it?" the captain asked.
"Certainly; it is mine."
"Oh, you admit that, do you?"
"Naturally. But I fail to see how it came to be beside the body of Rufus Shepley."
"A man who has committed a murder generally is in a hurry to get away," said the captain. "It is easy to drop a fountain pen from a pocket, especially if a man is bending over."
"I don't even know where Shepley's rooms were located," Prale said. "I didn't know the pen was missing until this minute----"
"Possibly not," replied the captain of detectives.
"And I am quite sure I do not know how it came to be beside the body, but of one thing I am certain--I did not drop it there."
"Naturally, you would say that."
"And where is the motive?" Prale demanded. "Suppose you tell me what you have against me, and then I'll proceed to tear your shabby evidence to pieces."
"We have this particular case so well in hand that I can afford to do that," the captain said. "Attend me closely and you'll see the futility of denying your guilt."
"I am waiting to hear the evidence," Prale said.
"Very well. In the first place, you have recently spent some years in Central America."
"Ten years in Honduras," said Prale.
"You made a fortune down there. We have communicated with the authorities there and have learned many things about you. We have learned that you have a hot temper and know how to handle men. You have been known to beat natives terribly----"
"Rot! I was kinder than nine out of ten men of affairs. I have punished a few natives caught stealing, for instance."
"Recently, Mr. Prale, you cashed in on all your properties down there and announced that you were about to leave the country."
"That is correct," said Prale. "I made the million I went down there to make. Honduras is all right in some ways, but a man likes to live with his own kind. My home was in New York, and so, naturally, I decided to return here."
"Did you not tell some of your friends and acquaintances, before you left, that you were returning to New York for a certain purpose."
"I suppose that I did. My purpose was no secret. I had my pile and wanted to enjoy life a bit and perhaps I wanted to show off a bit, too. That was only natural, I suppose. I am proud of my success."
"Did you not hint that the purpose was something sinister--that you were going to have revenge, or something like that?"
"Certainly not."
"Very well; let us get on," said the captain of detectives. "You say that you first met Rufus Shepley aboard the Manatee?"
"Never saw him in my life until I met him in the smoking room on the ship, and never had heard his name before."
"That is peculiar. Mr. Shepley was a man of large affairs."
"But I had been in Honduras for ten years, out of touch with men of affairs in the United States," Prale replied. "I did the most of my business with firms in South America."
"Just how did you happen to meet Mr. Shepley?"
"In the smoking room. We spoke, as passengers are liable to speak to each other on a boat or a train. We talked of ordinary things and exchanged cards."
"Did you happen to play cards?"
"One evening, for a short time. But the game did not amount to anything, and we quit early. Are you trying to insinuate that I killed the man as the outcome of a gambling quarrel?"
"Nothing of the sort," said the captain, "Let us get on. You had no trouble with Mr. Shepley on the ship--no trouble of any sort?"
"Not the slightest. We parted good friends just before the ship docked. I went to my stateroom for my things and I suppose that he did the same."
"When did you see him next?" the captain asked.
"Last evening, in the lobby of a hotel on Broadway," said Prale.
"What happened then?"
"Ah, I see where you are trying to get the motive," Prale said. "But I think that you will agree with me, before we are done, that it is a slim thing upon which to hang a serious charge of murder. I saw Mr. Shepley sitting in the lobby and went up and spoke to him. We had been friendly on the ship, I was feeling lonesome, and was glad to find somebody with whom I could talk. Besides, he had expressed a desire to see me again."
"Well, what happened?"
"Something I am at a loss to understand. He berated me for daring to address him. He acted like a maniac. I rebuked him for his manner, and the hotel detective advised us to leave the place until we cooled off, or something like that."
"Who left first?" the captain asked.
"I did. I was angry because there was a crowd around and I hated the scene that had been caused. I went through the main entrance and stepped to the curb."
"Shepley follow you?"
"Almost immediately."
"And you went up to him and threatened him, didn't you?"
Prale thought a moment. "I told him that I didn't know why he had insulted me, but I didn't want him to do it again."
"What else?" the captain demanded.
"I believe I said that I ought to settle with him for what he had said already."
"And then----"
"And then I went on down the street. The hotel detective, I think, heard me speak to Mr. Shepley."
"Yes, I know that he did," said the captain. "And the hotel detective also says that you were white with anger, and that you went off down Broadway like a man with murder in his mind. Do you care to say anything more?"
"Of course," said Prale. "I went down to Madison Square, and there I sat down on a bench."
"Meet anybody there?"
"I did. I met an old friend, Jim Farland, who used to be on your detective force, and who now runs a private agency."
"I know Farland well, and I'll send for him."
"I talked with Jim for some time," Prale went on. "I told him, I believe, that I seemed to have enemies working in the dark. I told him about the scene with Shepley."
"Um! What did Farland have to say?"
"Nothing, except that he couldn't understand why Shepley had acted so. We talked the matter over for a while and then we separated."
"Very well. And where did you go next?"
"I walked up Fifth Avenue," said Prale. "It was after nine o'clock by that time."
"Go straight to your hotel?"
"I did not," Prale said.
"Care to tell me where you went and what you did?"
"I have no objections. I walked up the Avenue, and met my cousin, George Lerton, the broker."
"Meet him accidentally?"
"He overtook me--called to me."
"How long did you talk to him?"
"For only a few minutes," said Prale. "You must understand that, while George Lerton is my cousin, we are not exceptionally friendly, and never have been. We worked for the same firm ten years ago, and after I went to Honduras, George made some money and got into business for himself; at least he told me so last night."
"So you merely shook hands and renewed your acquaintance?" the captain asked.
"There was something peculiar about the meeting," Prale replied.
"In what way?"
"Lerton urged me to leave New York and remain away. He said that I had powerful enemies."
"What about that?"
"It is what has been puzzling me. So far as I know, I haven't a powerful enemy on earth. I suppose I have a few business foes in Central America; a man can't make a million without acquiring some enemies at the same time. But I don't know of a single influential person who is my enemy."
"Didn't Lerton explain to you?"
"He refused to do so," said Prale, "and I told him to go his way and that I'd go mine."
"Doesn't that story seem a bit weak to you, Mr. Prale?"
"It may, but it is a true story. Get Lerton and question him if you wish. I couldn't make him talk--maybe you can. I'd like to know the names of these enemies of mine, if I really have them."
"Anything else lead you to believe you might have enemies?"
"Yes. I have received several anonymous notes, some on board ship and some since landing, that say something about retribution about to be visited upon me."
"Why?"
"I don't know, captain. I never did anything in my life to merit such retribution. I am sure of that."
"What time was it when you parted from Lerton?"
"It must have been about nine thirty or a quarter to ten."
"Go to your hotel then?"
"No; I turned east and went to the river."
"Wasn't that a peculiar thing to do at that hour of the night?"
"It may seem so to you," said Prale, "and I scarcely can tell why I did it. I suppose it was because I wanted to think over what George Lerton had told me, and down in Honduras I always used to walk along the beach when I was thinking."
"Well?"
"I went out on a dock and sat down in the darkness to think."
"How long did you remain there?"
"For more than half an hour; and I had an experience. Another man came on the dock. He was going to jump into the river, but I convinced him that suicide was folly, and said I'd give him a job."
"Did you?"
"I did," said Prale. "I took him downtown and bought him some clothes, and then took him to a barber shop, and afterward to the hotel. I registered him as my valet. I call him Murk. I can prove by him that I could not have killed Rufus Shepley about eleven o'clock, because I was in Murk's company at that time."
"What time did you get back to your hotel with him?"
"It was a few minutes of midnight. We spent considerable time buying the clothes and visiting the barber shop."
"Um!" the captain said. "We'll have to question a few of these people. It seems peculiar to me that a millionaire would pick up a tramp and turn him into a trusted servant."
"Perhaps it was peculiar. I can read men, I believe, and I decided that Murk needed only a chance, and he would make good. He was broke and friendless, and I was a millionaire and almost as friendless. That's the only way I can explain it."
"I'm going to send you to another office under guard, Mr. Prale," the captain said. "I'll have these people here in a short time, and we'll question them. Just tell me where you bought the clothes for this man, and what barber shop you visited."
Sidney Prale did so, and the captain of detectives made notes regarding the addresses.
"That will be all for the present, Mr. Prale," he said. "I don't want to cause any innocent man annoyance, but I can tell you this much--things look very bad for you!"
