Benton of the Royal Mounted Part 24

And, stiff and cold, the Sergeant arose and followed him out like a child.

Wearily he returned to the detachment and, with mechanical instinct, tidied up the place. Then, duly attending scrupulously to his personal toilet, he went down to the hotel, where he forced himself to swallow a few mouthfuls of food and a cup of coffee. Later he repaired to the room of Musgrave's patient and, after subjecting that unfortunate individual to a somewhat lengthy examination, he formally placed him under arrest.

These duties despatched, he departed with a heavy heart to the station to await the incoming west-bound train, which was over an hour late.

Gradually, under the influence of his surroundings and the fresh morning air, mind and body, from constant habit, returned, naturally, to their normal state of soldierly alertness. To all outward appearance he became once more the composed, practical guardian of the Law, resourceful and ready for any duty that claimed him. Presently he was joined by the station agent, who greeted him with a sort of miserable heartiness.

"Well, Sergeant," he began, "and how are we this morning? Some doings last night, eh? What about that ear of yours? You look as if you'd sure come through a rough house, with that bandage on. What's the other feller look like?"

Ellis did not answer for a moment, but a faint grin overspread his haggard face as he regarded the other's tell-tale countenance attentively.

"_We_!" he echoed, with quiet derision. "I'm afraid _we_ doesn't feel very well this nice mornin', Carey. Ear stings like the devil. As for the other fellow-you know what _he_ looks like, all right. You look as if you were just doin' a 'walk-march' to your _own_ funeral. You'd better keep a flask on your hip for emergencies, as you an' me'll be the star witnesses when this inquest comes off. I'm expectin' the coroner an' one of our inspectors on this train."

"Oh, I don't think I'll fall off the perch just yet," said the agent, with a sheepish smile. "I've got the other key off Petersen," he continued significantly. "One or two of the curious ones came nosing around, but I warned 'em off the course, quick. h.e.l.lo! here she comes.

Well, I'll see you later, Sergeant." And he hurried away about his duties.

Inspector Purvis, a dark, heavy-set, middle-aged man, wearing the South African and Riel Rebellion campaign ribbons, acknowledged Benton's salute punctiliously and, turning, introduced his companion.

"This is Dr. Sampson, the coroner, Sergeant Benton," he said.

And Ellis shook hands with a tall, gray-mustached, pleasant-faced man, whom he knew very well by sight. The latter glanced sharply at the policeman's bandaged head.

"Looks as if you'd been in the wars, Sergeant," he said. "What's happened you?"

Ellis drew them on one side and briefly related his story, to which they listened with lively interest.

"Well, well," said the Inspector at its conclusion. "We'll wait till this train pulls out, and let these people get away, and then we'll go on down to this section hut and view this body."

Ten minutes later they stood in front of the shed, and Ellis unlocked the door and flung it open. An angry buzz greeted them, as their presence disturbed a hideous swarm of blue-bottle flies. Sharp exclamations of loathing and disgust escaped the two newcomers who, after gazing for a few seconds at the _thing_ that had once been a man, proceeded to note all details carefully, with the callous precision of men hardened to such sights.

Once the Inspector's glance traveled curiously, from the shattered head of the corpse, to the stern, bandaged face of the man beside him, who had caused this terrible transformation.

"Some shootin'!" he observed, in a low voice, to the coroner.

It seemed to be rather a doubtful compliment, though, under the circ.u.mstances, so the latter only nodded nonchalantly, and refrained from comment himself.

"There's absolutely no doubt about this being Shapiro, the man that's wanted, sir," said Ellis. "I saw the other man, Wilks, who's lying sick up at the hotel, this morning. He confirms this man's ident.i.ty, and admits everything. I'll take you up to see him later."

Presently the coroner straightened himself up.

"All right!" he said. "I guess I'm through here, if you are, Inspector.

Let's go and view the other body at the house the Sergeant speaks of."

They turned to go, and Ellis locked the door again.

"Oh, Benton!" said the Inspector, in a low tone, beckoning him aside.

"Just a minute."

With a slightly uncomfortable presentiment of what was coming, the former obeyed.

There was a moment's silence, while the Inspector eyed him keenly, but not unkindly.

"I understand this isn't the first man you've shot and killed in the execution of your duty, Sergeant, since you've been in this Division,"

he said.

Ellis bowed his head in a.s.sent.

"Well, in that case," continued the Inspector briskly, "your previous experience has no doubt enlightened you, then, in regard to the customary procedure in such cases. You are, of course, aware that the finding of a coroner's jury, while it may acquit you of all blame in causing a person's death, doesn't necessarily preclude any subsequent inquiry that the _Crown_ may see fit to inst.i.tute later, although it would naturally carry considerable weight with it in such an eventuality...."

He paused for a moment, and then went on in the slightly sententious tones of one who knows he has an unpleasant duty to perform:

"I've the O.C.'s orders to place you under 'open' arrest, and take you back to the Post with me. There will be a formal charge laid against you, and you will have to face an inquiry in regard to this man's death.

Of course, I shall remain here until these inquests, etc., are over.

That is all, Sergeant. Now we'll go on down to this other place."

With a strange, indefinable feeling of reluctance, he conducted them thither. Awed, and filled with compa.s.sion at what they beheld, they halted irresolutely, a moment, on the threshold, and bared their heads reverently in the presence of the dead. Then, entering the chamber, they made a brief examination which, to Benton, standing idly there in his dumb misery, seemed almost in the light of a sacrilege.

A whispered colloquy ensued between them for a few minutes, and then they gently withdrew and closed the door, Ellis following them out to receive his instructions.

"Inspector," began the coroner, "I would have liked, if possible, to have had this double inquest held here; but there's not enough room, I'm afraid. Could you-"

Ellis, with ready tact, broke in quietly: "I think I can arrange that, all right, doctor. I know the man who rents this cottage next door. He's the day operator at the station. His wife's away just now, so he's staying with Mr. Carey, the station agent. There wouldn't be any difficulty about obtaining the use of _his_ premises to hold the inquiry in, and I could have the other body removed down here, so as to utilize this place as the morgue."

"Ah, very well," said the coroner, with evident relief; "that will be entirely satisfactory. There's just one other thing I would like you to see to, Sergeant. Kindly get some woman to attend to the necessary arrangements in this last case-lay her out decently, and so on-you understand?"

"And afterwards," supplemented the Inspector, "of course give Dr.

Sampson all the a.s.sistance you can in empanelling a jury. Why, h.e.l.lo, doctor!" he exclaimed, turning to Musgrave, who had just joined them.

"_You_ seem to have been getting yourself mixed up in stirring events around here, according to what Sergeant Benton tells me. Whatever brings you so far away from home? I guess we'll need your evidence at these inquests."

The three men chatted awhile, then presently, the coroner and the Inspector departed for the hotel, leaving Musgrave and Benton together.

An indefinable constraint seemed to have fallen upon them, for the gloomy memory of the past night was still vivid in their minds and oppressed them greatly. The doctor was the first to break the silence.

"By gum!" he said; "I'd clean forgotten about your ear, Ellis. My bag's still here. Let's dress it again for you. Come inside again for a bit."

With deft hands he soon performed the operation and Benton, studiously avoiding the elder man's eyes, thanked him and, with a slightly overdone yawn, prepared to leave and carry out the orders that he had previously received. Throughout Musgrave had talked incessantly on irrelevant subjects. It seemed as if he were maundering with design, beating about the bush of some communication he feared to make, and just talking against time.

"Well! have you seen that patient of mine up at the hotel yet?" he inquired.

The Sergeant, with a curious, apprehensive glance at the closed bedroom door, beckoned the other outside. As if, almost, he feared that the dead might hear.

"Yes," he said. "Saw him when I went up for breakfast He's the man, all right-Herbert Wilks-admits everything. Seemed glad to get it off his chest. Told me the whole business. Sounds just like a dime novel yarn.

Well, truth's stranger than fiction, so they say. Appears he's been a dissipated young beggar, and he got fired from the Trust Company for inattention to his work. The very day he got let out he happened to pick up a paper in the manager's private office, which turned out to be nothing more or less than the combination of the safe. Suppose the manager-or whoever _had_ the combination-was scared to commit it to memory alone. Well, being, as I said before, a dissipated young scamp, he'd somehow got mixed up with this Shapiro chap in one or two dirty deals-women, I guess-an' what not. Of course, he was pretty sore about gettin' the push-went on a bust that night, an' while he was 'lit' told Shapiro all about this paper he'd found. You just bet Mister 'Harry the Mack' wasn't goin' to let a chance like that go by, an' soon got Wilks goin' ... telling him what a good opportunity it was to get back at them, an' all that. Well, they fixed everything up for two nights after, and brought in Lipinski along with them. Shapiro'd got a set of burglar's tools and soon effected an entrance. He an' Wilks crawled in, leaving Lipinski as a 'look-out.' Wilks messed with the combination for a bit an' tried to open her up, but couldn't work it. Might have been an old one that'd been changed two or three times since the scale'd been written on this paper. Anyway, there seemed nothing doin' an' 'Harry,'

being a yegg, got tired, an' suggested blowin' it. He went out to get the 'soup' ... from a pal of his who lived a short distance away, leaving Wilks still there. While he was waiting, our friend had _another_ go at it, an' this _time_ managed, somehow, to turn the trick.

"He cleaned up everything, as _he_ thought, and beat it in a hurry, leaving the safe open. Told Lipinski he'd be back in a minute-an'

skinned out. 'Honor among thieves'-what? Well, naturally, the first idea that came into his head was to go back to his home town-Hamilton-and sw.a.n.k around there for a bit with this money, thinking, of course, though, that suspicion might fall on him right away, bein' fired two days before, and the safe, not blown, but opened by the combination, he was cute enough not to attempt to get aboard the East-bound _there_. Mr.

Man gets some crooked pal of his-a chauffeur-to drive him in his automobile as far as Garstang. He laid up there till the ten-fifteen came along next morning. Then he got a bloomin' fright. He was sitting in the first-cla.s.s coach, all tickled up the back at makin' his get-away so easy when, who should come an' plank himself down on the seat alongside him but Mister '_Harry the Mack_.' This chauffeur pal of his had double-crossed him after he'd driven back-told Shapiro everything who, you bet, wasn't goin' to get left like that.