Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Careless Kitten

White-lipped she came up out of the creaking rattan chair, started running toward the door of the reception room.

The steps turned into the door. A long, overcoated figure smiled reassuringly at her. “Hello, Miss Kendal. I guess you remember me.”

Her eyes widened. “Why, Lieutenant Tragg! Tell me, have you heard... anything...”

Tragg shook his head. “They’re operating on him. They had some delay getting donors for blood transfusions. They should be finished about now,” Tragg said. “I’ve been talking on the telephone with the nurse.”

“Oh, tell me, how’s he standing it? How’s he coming? Is it going to be...”

Tragg placed a hand on her quivering shoulder. “Take it easy,” he said. “Take it easy. Things are going to be all right.”

“They... they aren’t sending for you because it’s the last chance he’ll have to tell...”

“Now listen,” Tragg said, “take this thing like a soldier. You’ve been through so much tonight you’re all unstrung. They’re operating on him, and the last I heard was that he’s taking it all right. I’m here right now to get just one thing.”

“What?”

“That bullet — and a statement from him if he’s able to talk.”

“Not what they call a dying declaration?”

Tragg grinned. “You’ve been here all alone fighting your nerves, and you’re jumpy.”

She said, “I can take it! I want to know how he is — that’s natural. And I’d be lying to you if I tried to tell you I wasn’t frightened. But I’m not getting any heebie jeebies over it. I guess we used to think we were entitled to happiness as a matter of right. Now, people are dying all over the world and... well, I’ve got to learn how to take it — and so has everyone else.”

Tragg’s eyes were sympathetic. “You haven’t been crying?”

“No — and don’t you make me — either. Don’t sympathize with me, and don’t look at me like that. But, for heaven’s sake, if you can really find out how he’s coming and what his chances are, go to it.”

“You engaged?” Tragg asked abruptly.

Helen’s eyes dropped and she flushed. “I... I... honestly don’t know. He never — quite — asked me, but on the way over here in the taxi— Well, I guess I let him see how much I cared. I didn’t mean to, but I was so frightened that everything broke down. He was so game — and brave — I shouldn’t have, of course.”

“Shouldn’t have what? You love him, don’t you?”

Helen raised her head and looked at him defiantly. “Yes, I love him. And I told him so. I belong to him, and always shall, no matter what happens. I told him that, too, Lieutenant Tragg. And I told him I wanted to marry him now. ”

“What did he say to that?”

Helen turned away. “He didn’t say anything,” she replied dully. “He fainted.”

Tragg controlled his twitching mouth. “Jerry lost a lot of blood, you know. I’m not surprised. Tell me, Miss Kendal, how long had you been home last night before Jerry arrived?”

“I don’t know. Not very long.”

“How did he happen to call — so late?”

Helen laughed nervously. “He said he tried to telephone me earlier, but of course I was out. He was passing and saw the house all lit up, so he just dropped in for a minute. We were talking, and then we heard this sound from Aunt Matilda’s bedroom...”

“You said the noise sounded as though someone had knocked something over. The room was dark?”

“Yes.”

“You’re certain about that?”

“Yes. Unless whoever was in there had a flashlight. That may have been it, because the lovebirds started chirping.”

“But there was no sign of a flashlight when you opened the door?”

“No.”

“And the lights were on in the hall?”

“Yes. I never thought about not putting them on. I guess it would have been better if we’d kept the hallway dark and turned on the lights in the bedroom.”

“It would,” Tragg said, “but that’s all done now. No use bothering about it. What I’m getting at is that the lights were on in the hall and there were no lights on in your aunt’s bedroom.”

“That’s right.”

“And who opened the door? You or Jerry?”

“Jerry.”

“And then what?”

“We knew, of course, someone was in there. Jerry was groping for the light switch and didn’t know where it was, and I suddenly realized how terribly important it was to get the light on, so I ducked under his arm and reached for the light switch. It was then it happened.”

“Two shots?”

“Yes.”

“You never did get the lights on?”

“No.”

“Was your hand near the light switch when the first shot was fired?”

“I think it was, but I can’t be certain. That bullet whizzed right past my head, and smacked into the woodwork around the door. It threw splinters or plaster or something into my face, little stinging particles. I jumped back.”

“And the next shot came how soon?”

“Almost at once.”

“What happened after that?”

White-faced, she shook her head. “There’s just a lot I can’t remember. I heard that peculiar sound of the bullet — hitting Jerry.”

Tragg said, “You’re a brave kid. Don’t think about Jerry. Just think of facts. Remember that’s all we’re interested in. That second shot came right after the first one, with hardly any interval in between, and it hit Jerry.”

“Yes.”

“Did he fall down immediately?”

“He seemed to spin right around as though something had hit him, you know, a blow.”

“Then he fell?”

“I felt his knees buckle; then he was a dead weight against me. I tried to ease him to the floor, but he was too heavy. We both went down in a heap.”

“What happened to the person who was in the room?”

“I don’t know. All I can remember is seeing that awful pallor on Jerry’s face. I put my hand down to his side, and it came away all bloody. He was unconscious. I thought he was dead. Naturally, I didn’t think much about anything else. I talked to him — and told him things — and then his eyelids fluttered — after a while, then he smiled up at me and said, ‘Let’s see if I can get my legs under me, Babe.’”

Tragg frowned. “Has it occurred to you that the person who was standing in that room wasn’t shooting at Jerry?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Tragg said, “he was shooting at you. He shot at your head the first time, and almost hit it; then you jerked back, and in jerking back, you swung around so that your body was behind Jerry’s; and when he took that second snap shot at you, he hit Jerry. Remember, the person who was there in the room could see you very plainly.”

Her eyes were wide and startled. “I hadn’t thought of that. I just thought that someone was in the room and didn’t want to be discovered, and...”

“And you haven’t any idea who that someone might have been?”

“No.”

“Anyone who would find it to his advantage to have you out of the way?”

She shook her head.

“Not even if your aunt should die?”

“What makes you ask that?”

“Someone had made an attempt to poison your aunt earlier in the evening. He perhaps had reason to think he’d been successful, and that she was dying or dead. He might have come to the house to get you out of the way.”

“No, I can’t imagine anything like that.”

“You can’t think of anyone who would have stood to gain if...”

“No.”

The efficient tread of rubber heels sounded just outside the door. The rustle of a stiffly starched uniform brought a nurse to the doorway, smiling. “He’s down from the operating room, Miss Kendal. You are Miss Kendal, aren’t you?”