The Ghost Makers

"I am telling you what the professor said, commissioner. I started a cross-examination on the spot. When you quiz excitable women, they don't begin to cook up stories. I talked to them. Nine people besides the professor all had the same story. They lay it on the ghost."

"The professor told his story first?"

"Yes, commissioner," said Cardona wisely. "That's the wrinkle. I figured just as you are figuring — that he was keeping something back. If this spook stuff is a fake, he would be the one to know it. So he would be the bird to lay it on. But that part doesn't hold."

"Why?"

"The professor couldn't have done it. He was tied to a fare-you-well. Get this, commissioner. Someone gave the alarm. There were two house detectives there inside of three minutes — good men, both of them. They pay for good men at the Dalban.

"Nobody went out of that room after they got there. They watched the professor. He was tied in his chair — and when I examined the knots, they were plenty tight. He didn't have a chance to get out of them — let alone get back in again."

"You're sure of that, Cardona?" the commissioner queried.

"Positive. It took us five minutes to get him loose. Even a wizard like Houdini was couldn't have got out of that chair, let alone this professor. He's no weakling, but he isn't husky."

"I don't like his story," persisted Weston.

"Neither do I," returned Cardona. "I think he's stalling. But it's not because he did anything — as I said before, he couldn't have."

"What is his purpose, then?"

"That spirit racket is his living, commissioner. With nine other people laying it on the spirits, is he going to say different?

"The point is this, commissioner. He knows some real person did that job— not a ghost. But he doesn't know who the party is. Get the angle? What happens to his reputation if he lets that out?"

"I understand," said Weston, nodding. "You have landed something there, Cardona. The man must be a fraud — I believe most of these mediums are fakes. But with this murder happening right beside him— while he was bound and helpless—"

"That's just it," interposed Cardona, as Weston became speculative. "But don't give me too much credit until I tell you where I got the tip. I've got something up my sleeve, commissioner."

"Yes?"

"Yes, sir. And you won't find it in the newspapers, either! With ten witnesses shouting that a ghost was the killer, there wasn't much chance for the one who said different crashing into print, was there?"

"Ah! There was another—"

"Commissioner," declared Cardona gravely, "there were twelve people in that room when I got there. Twelve, including the dead man.

"The professor had his say. All the others together or apart — said the same. At first, that was. But later on, I got one man by himself."

"Who was that?"

"Benjamin Castelle, a big-money man. His name's on the list. You've got to figure this, commissioner. All those folks believe in spooks except Castelle."

"Ah! He is a skeptic?"

"Well, he thinks the professor is pretty much of a square shooter. Castelle says he's heard him tell some mighty remarkable things.

"But when it comes to ghosts slinging daggers, Castelle draws the line. He saw something there to-night that none of the rest of them noticed."

"At the time of the murder?" asked Weston.

"No. Before. I told you that there were twelve in the room, including the dead man. Well, Castelle tells me that there were thirteen!"

"He is sure of it?" The commissioner showed his interest.

"He counted them. The time the lights came on," Cardona went on. "He said the place seemed really spooky, after they heard the first laugh. He's a bit superstitious, Castelle is. He was looking around, and just naturally he counted noses. Thirteen there — something he swears he is right about."

"Then the thirteenth person—"

"May be the murderer!"

Weston stared reflectively. He seemed to be visualizing the scene as he had read of it, and as Cardona had described it. He looked at Cardona questioningly.

"What became of the odd person?" he asked.

"He must have left," returned Cardona. "Castelle isn't sure, but he thinks there were seven men and six women in the place. There were six men and six women — Harvey included — when the house detectives got there. That makes an odd man in the crowd."

"How could he have disappeared?"

"There's a mystery," declared Cardona. "It's pretty near as bad as the ghost theory. When he went, he must have slid out the door just after the lights came on.

"He had a straight hallway ahead of him. No doors on either side. He might have slipped along to the balcony above the lobby, then down the stairs at the side.

"Castelle grabbed a telephone, and called for help right after the lights came on. The house men were there mighty quick. But when you're dealing with an uncertain time element—"

"It would have been possible, however?" interjected Weston. "Possible for a man to have left by the hall?"

"Possible, yes," agreed the detective. "That was the only way. One door to the room.