10 - Malcolm Sage, Detective by Herbert George Jenkins

Delve into the intriguing world of Malcolm Sage as this collection of short stories unravels his first year at the helm of his own Detective Bureau. This captivating series serves as a sequel or companion piece to the gripping tale of John Dene of Toronto.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter ten of Malcolm Sage, Detective by Herbert George Jenkins.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Annossimon,
Chapter ten, a lesson in deduction. One mister Grimwood of
the firm of Grimwood, Golden and Davy Insurances Asss looked
up from the list in his hand. He was a

(00:20):
shrewd little man with side whiskers, pins ney that would
never sit straight upon his aquiline nose and an impressive cough.
He glanced from Malcolm Sage to young Glendale, then back
again to Malcolm's Age. Finally he coughed. The three men
were seated in Sir Roger Glendale's library awaiting the coming
of Lady Glendale. And yet mister Glendale heard nothing, remarked,

(00:43):
mister Grimwood, musingly strange, very strange. Are you in the
habit of sitting smoking at your bedroom window? Inquired Malcolm
Sage of Glendale. His eyes averted er, No, not exactly,
was the hesitating response. Can you remember when last you

(01:04):
did such a thing? Was the next question. I am
afraid I can't, said Glendale with an uneasy laugh. Perhaps
you had seen something that puzzled you continued Malcolm Sage,
his restless fingers tracing an imaginary design upon the polished
surface of the table before him. Glendale was silent. He
fingered his mustache with a nervous hand. Mister Grimwood looked

(01:27):
across at Malcolm Sage curiously. And you are watching in
the hope of seeing something more, continued Malcolm Sage. I
began Glendale, starting violently, Then he stopped. Don't you think
you had better tell us exactly what it was you saw,
said Malcolm Sage, raising a pair of gold rimmed eyes
that mercilessly beat down the uneasy gaze of the young man.

(01:51):
I I didn't say I saw anything. It is for
you to decide, mister Glendale, said Malcolm Sage, with an
almost imperceptible rug of his shoulders, whether it is better
to tell your story now or under cross examination in
the witness box. There you will be under oath and
the proceedings will be public. At that moment, lady Glendale

(02:13):
entered and the three men rose. I am sorry to
interrupt you, she said coldly, but Sir Roger has just
telephoned and wishes to speak to mister Glendale. I fear
we shall have to keep Sir Roger waiting, said Malcolm Sage,
walking over to the door and closing it. Lady Glendale
looked at him in surprise. I do not understand she began.

(02:37):
You will immediately, said Malcolm Sage quietly. We were just
discussing the robbery. He slightly stressed. The word robbery really began,
Lady Glendale. Mister Glendale was sitting at his window, smoking,
continued Malcolm Sage evenly. He cannot remember ever having done

(02:58):
such a thing before. I suggested that something unusual had
attracted his attention, and that he was waiting to see
what would follow. I was just about to tell him
what had attracted his attention when you entered, Lady Glendale.
Glendale looked across at his step mother and then at
Malcolm's age. His misery was obvious. Last night, soon after twelve,

(03:20):
continued Malcolm Sage. Mister Glendale happened to look out of
his window and with surprise to see a figure moving
along towards the left. It was not the figure of
a man with a handkerchief tied across his face as
a mask, but a woman. He watched. He saw it
pause beneath the second window of your bedroom, Lady Glendale,
not the one by which the burglar entered. Then it

(03:42):
stood down. Malcolm Sage's fingers seemed to be tracing each
movement of the mysterious figure upon the surface of the table.
Lady Glendale gazed at his long, shapely hands as if hypnotized.
Presently he continued. It returned to the first window, where
it was occupied for some minutes. Mister Glendale could not
see this, but the figure was engaged in making footprints

(04:05):
and marking the side of the water pipe with a
shoe or boot as high up as it could reach it.
How dare you make such an accusation, cried Lady Glendale,
making an effort to rise, but she sank back again
in her chair, her face plaster white. I have made
no accusation, said Malcolm Sage quietly. I am telling what

(04:26):
mister Glendale saw. A hunted look sprang to Lady Glendale's eyes.
She tore her eyes from those magnetic fingers and gazed
about her wildly, as if meditating flight. Her throat seemed
as if made of leather. Would you be prepared to
deny all this in the witness box under oath, mister Glendale,
inquired Malcolm Sage. Glendale looked at him with unseeing eyes,

(04:49):
then across at his stepmother. The woman had put on
a pair of men's boots that the footprints might be masculine.
They were so much too large for her that she
had to drag her feet along the ground. The boots
were those of a man weighing, say, about eleven and
a half stone. The weight inside those boots, shown by
the impression the mold, was little more than seven stone.

(05:11):
Lady Glendale put out her hand as if to ward
off a blow, but Malcolm's Age continued mercilessly, addressing Glendale.
The length of a man's stride is thirty inches. Between
these steps, the space was less than fifteen inches. Skirts
are worn very narrow. He paused. Then, as Lady Glendale
made no reply, he turned to Glendale. I asked you

(05:34):
this morning, he said, to climb the other pipe, for
the double purpose of examining the impress of your boots
on the mold as you left the ground, and when
you dropped back again on to the mold. Also to
see what sort of marks a pair of leather boots
would make upon the weather worn paint of the pipe.
As you sprang from the ground and clutched the pipe,
there was a deep impress on the mold of the

(05:56):
soles of both boots, deep at the toes and tapering
off towards the heel. On their return you made distinct
heel marks as well. Lady Glendale had buried her face
in her hands. She must blot out the sight of
those terrible hands. Glendale sat with his eyes upon Mackam's
sage as if hypnotized. There was a shower of rain

(06:16):
last night, about twelve, an hour before the alleged burglar arrived.
Yet the footprints were made before the rain fell. In
two cases, leaves had been trodden into the footprints. Yet
on these leaves were drops of rain, just as they
had fallen. The hands seemed to draw the leaves and
indicate the spots of water as if they had been blood.

(06:37):
Glendale shuddered involuntarily. In the center part of the pipe,
there were no marks, although there were slight scratches for
as high up as the arm of a short person
could reach, and as far down from the bedroom window
as a similar arm could stretch. These scratches were quite
dissimilar from those made on the other pipe. Lady Glendale
moaned something unintelligible, although there had been a shower and

(07:01):
the mold was wet, proceeded Malcolm Sage. There were no
marks of mud or mold on the pipe, on the
window sill, or in Lady Glendale's bedroom, which I understand
had purposely not been swept. A man had slid down
that water pipe, yet he had done so without so
much as removing the surface dust from the paint. He'd
reached the grounds lightly as a ferry, without making any

(07:24):
mark upon the mold. The footprints were merely those of
someone approaching and walking from the pipe. Glendale drew a
cigarette case from his pocket, opened it, took out a cigarette, then,
hesitating a moment, replaced it and returned the case to
his pocket, his eyes all the time on Malcolm's age,
I think, continued Malcolm Sage. We shall find that the

(07:46):
burglar has buried the jewel case a few yards to
the right of the pipe. He supposed to have climbed.
His forefinger touched the spot on the extreme right of
the table. There are indications that the mold has been disturbed. Incidentally,
a trowel is missing. Glendale suddenly sprang to his feet,
just as Lady Glendale fell forward in her chair. She

(08:08):
had fainted two. It's a very unpleasant business, remarked mister Gooch,
the general manager of the Twentieth Century Insurance Company, as
he looked up from reading a paper that Malcolm Sage
had just handed to him. In it, Lady Glendale confessed
the fraud she had sought to practice upon the corporation.
A very unpleasant business, he repeated. Malcolm Sage gazed down

(08:32):
at his finger nails, as if the matter had no
further interest for him. When his brain was inactive, his
hands were at rest. I don't know what view the
board will take, continued mister Gooch, as Malcolm Sage made
no comment. They will probably present me with another walking stick,
he remarked indifferently. Mister Gooch laughed. Malcolm Sage's walking stick

(08:54):
had been a standing joke between them. What made you
first suspect, Lady Glendale, he inquiredard she had omitted to
rehearse the episode of the burglary, and consequently, when it
came to reconstructing the incident, she failed in a very
important particular. Malcolm Sage, she paused, what was that inquired

(09:14):
mister Goog with interest, as he pushed a box of
cigars towards Malcolm Sage, who, however, shaking his head, proceeded
to fill his pipe. She had already told me that
the key of the safe was always kept beneath a
pile of handkerchiefs in one of the drawers of her
dressing table. Yet when I asked her to go through
exactly the same movements and actions as when the burglar

(09:36):
entered her room, she rose direct from the bed and
went to the safe. The dressing table was at the
other end of the room, and to get to it
she would have had to pass the spot where she
said the man was standing. Mister Gooch nodded his head appreciatively.
The next point was that I discovered it was Lady
Glendale who suggested to the police inspector that means should

(09:57):
be taken to prevent any one approaching the water pipe
by which the man was supposed to have climbed. She
was anxious that the footprints should be preserved. Another point
was that young Glendale happened to remark that his stepmother
was much addicted to bridge, and that the stakes were
too high to admit of his joining in also that
men who have themselves accumulated their wealth know the value

(10:20):
of money. Sir Roger disliked Bridge and probably kept his
lady short, and most likely agreed mister Gooch. He has
the reputation of being a bit shrewd in money matters.
When did you begin to suspect Lady Glendale from the first?
Was the reply? Everything rang false lady Glendale's story. He
suggested that it had been rehearsed until she had it

(10:43):
by heart, continued Malcolm Sage. It was too straightforward, too
clearly expressed, for the story of a woman who had
just lost eight thousand pounds worth of jewels. When I
put questions to her, she hesitated before replying, as if
mentally comparing her intended answer with what she had already told.
Then she was so practical in preparing a list of

(11:03):
the lost jewels at once, and in warning her stepson
not to go near the spot beneath her window, as
there might be footprints. This at a time when she
was supposed to be in a state of great excitement.
Did you suspect young Glendale at all? Queried mister Grimwood. No,
said Malcolm Sage. But to make quite sure, I cast

(11:23):
doubt upon the possibility of any one climbing the pipe.
If he had been concerned, he would not have volunteered
to prove I was wrong, true, said mister Gooch as
he examined critically the glowing end of his cigar. Lady
Glendale seems to have done the job very clumsily, now
that you have explained everything. Even the professional criminal frequently

(11:44):
underrates the intelligence of those whose business it is to
frustrate him. But lady Glendale's efforts in marking the water
pipe would not have deceived a child. A powerful magnifying
glass will show that on all such exterior pipes there
is an accumulation of dust which would be removed from
a large portion of the surface by any one climbing,
either up or down. Lady Glendale had thought marks made

(12:07):
by a boot or a shoe would be sufficient confirmation
of her story. She's rather a stupid woman, he added,
as he rose to go I suppose she got the
idea from the commings of her undoubtedly, was the response.
But as I say, she is a stupid woman. Vanity
and crime is fatal. It leads the criminal to underrate

(12:28):
the intelligence of others. Lady Glendale, as intensely vain the
board doll. Probably want to thank you personally, said mister
Gooch as he shook hands. But I'll try and prevent
them from giving you another walking stick, he laughed as
he opened the door. End of Chapter ten.