20 - Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln

Dive into a world where nothing is as it seems, as the thrilling mystery of Red Seal, penned by Natalie Sumner Lincoln, unfolds. Overflowing with red seals and red herrings, this enthralling narrative will keep you on the edge of your seat, guessing and second-guessing until the very last chapter! (summary by J. M. Smallheer)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twenty of The Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The unknown
equation No, No, protested Helen vehemently. You shall not give
the envelope to Margaret. You must not. It is mine,
insisted the widow. With equal vehemence, Missus Brewster Kent withheld

(00:24):
the envelope from both women. Will you tell me the
contents of the envelope? No, curtly, it is not your affair.
It is my affair, retorted Kent, with equal shortness of manner.
I insist on an answer to my questions in the
limousine this morning. How came your handkerchief in Jimmy's possession?
And why did you go to the police court and

(00:45):
yet keep your presence there a secret Jimmy must have
picked up the handkerchief when in the MacIntyre house, she answered, sullenly.
I presume he forgot to provide himself with one in
his make up as burglar. As regards your second question,
I admit I'd go to the police court out of curiosity.
I wanted to find out what was going on. You,

(01:05):
with a resentful glance at Helen treated me as an outsider,
and I was determined to find out for myself how
the Burglar farce would end. Ah, you term it a farce?
Is that why you laughed in court? Asked Kent. Quickly.
Missus Brewster changed color. I feel badly about that, she stammered.
I meant no disrespect to Jimmy, but I have a

(01:27):
nervous inclination to laugh, almost hysteria when excited and overwrought,
I see, answered Kent slowly. He was distinctly puzzled. Missus
Brewster's air of candor disarmed suspicion. But you saw and
talked with Jimmy Turnbull on Monday night, I did not.
Her denial was firm. Then how did you learn of

(01:47):
his arrest? Asked Kent swiftly. I overheard him conversing with
whom Kent demanded eagerly. As she paused as if to
reconsider her confidences. Helen, one hand on the desk and
the other on the arm of her chair, tried to rise,
but her strength had deserted her. With whom repeated Kent,
as the widow remained silent. Jimmy was talking with Grimes,

(02:11):
missus Brewster stated, slowly, From what I overheard he paid
Grimes to let him inside the house. Kent looked perplexed
as he gazed first at the widow and then at Helen,
who had sunk back in her chair. Missus Brewster, he began,
after a pause, Who gave Jimmy your aconatene pills which
Grimes left on the hall table? The murderer? Yes, of course,

(02:35):
Kent was watching her closely, and he detected the tiny
beads of perspiration which were gathering on her upper lip.
And who, in your opinion, was the murderer? Missus Brewster's
expression changed. She looked hunted, and her eyes fell before Kent's. Abruptly,
she turned her back on him to find Colonel McIntyre
at her elbow and Barbara just entering the room. Her

(02:58):
eyes traveled past the girl until they rested stood on
Philip Rochester and Detective Ferguson hovering behind him. Her face altered.
I saw Philip Rochester, pointing dramatically toward him, crawl out
of the reception room window and dart into the street
just as Orion came in the front door with Helen.
Detective Ferguson could not restrain a joyful exclamation so that

(03:22):
was it, He cried, You were at the MacIntyre house
and gave the poison to Turnbull there and not in
the court room, four hours before he died. You'll swing
for that crime, my buck, in spite of your glib
tongue and slippery ways. As he ceased speaking, Ferguson's ever
ready handcuffs swung suggestively from his hand, but Helen's agonized

(03:42):
cry checked his approach toward Rochester, who stood stolidly waiting
for him. Father, you cannot permit this monstrous injustice. Philip
should not suffer for another No, Barbara, as her sister
strove to quiet her, We must tell the truth. Suppose
I tell it for Colonel McIntyre. Rochester advanced as the
door opened, and Sylvester ushered in. Benjamin Clymber, you have

(04:06):
come in time, climber. His voice deepened, the voice of
a man accustomed to present a case and sway a cord. Wait, Sylvester,
sit at that table and take down these charges, charges,
questioned Kent, watching his partner narrowly. He tossed a stenographic
pad to Sylvester and made a place for him at
his desk. Go on, Rochester, charges against whom charges against

(04:30):
the man who, occupying a position of trust, planned to
swindle the Metropolis Trust Company through forged notes and checks.
Rochester stated, with slow emphasis, Jimmy Turnbull learned that you, Climber,
were to visit Colonel McIntyre on Monday night, and he
went there in disguise to find out if his suspicions
were correct. The investigation cost him his life. Climber, who

(04:53):
had followed Rochester's statement first with bewilderment and then with
rising wrath, found his voice. Hugh drunken scoundrel. He roared,
how dare you tare? Rochester laughed recklessly, and Jimmy kept
his wits to the last. His mind was clear. He
recognized you in the prisoner's pen, and he tried to

(05:14):
call you, but his palsy tongue could not say ben,
but stuttered boh, booh boh. And what did he wish
to tell me? Gasped Climber down, whose colorless face perspiration trickled.
I what broke in kent significantly? Jimmy may not have
gotten the information he wished at your house, Colonel McIntyre,
but his presence there on Monday night showed the forger.

(05:36):
He was in danger, and like the human snake he is,
he poisoned without warning. Don't move, Sylvester. With a backward spring,
Kent caught his clerk as he sped for the door.
Don't make any mistakes in putting on the handcuffs this time. Ferguson,
he shouted, A forger and a contortionist, make a bad
customer to reckon with. End of chapter twenty