The Case Of The Lamp That Went Out Part 7

Again the commissioner turned his head and another smile went through the room. This Hietzing murderer had a sense of humour.

"Well, then, we'll go to Hietzing again, in our minds at least," said the commissioner, turning back to Knoll when he had controlled his merriment. "You went there on Monday, then--and the day was coming to an end. What did you do when you reached Hietzing?"

"I looked about for a place to sleep."

"Where did you look for a place to sleep?"

"Why, in Hietzing."

"That is not definite enough."

"Well, in a garden."

"You were trespa.s.sing, you mean?"

"Why, yes, sir. There wasn't anybody that seemed to want to invite me to dinner or to give me a place to sleep. I just had to look out for myself."

"You evidently know how to look out for yourself at the cost of others, a heavy cost." The commissioner's easy tone had changed to sternness.

Knoll felt this, and a sharp gleam shot out from his dull little eyes, while the tone of his voice was gruff and impertinent again as he asked: "What do you mean by that?"

"You know well enough. You had better not waste any more time, but tell us at once how you came into possession of this purse."

"It's my purse," Knoll answered with calm impertinence. "I got it the way most people get it. I bought it."

"This purse?" the commissioner emphasised both words distinctly.

"This purse--yes," answered the tramp with a perfect imitation of Riedau's voice. "Why shouldn't I have bought this purse just like any other?"

"Because you stole this purse from the man whom you--murdered," was the commissioner's reply.

There was another moment of dead silence in the room. The commissioner and Muller watched intently for any change of expression in the face of the man who had just had such an accusation hurled at him. Even the clerk and the two policemen at the door were interested to see what would happen.

Knoll's calm impertinence vanished, a deadly pallor spread over his face, and he seemed frozen to stone. He attempted to speak, but was not able to control his voice. His hands were clenched and tremors shook his gaunt but strong-muscled frame.

"When did I murder anybody?" he gasped finally in a hoa.r.s.e croak.

"You'll have to prove it to me that I am a murderer."

"That is easily proved. Here is one of the proofs," said Riedan coldly, pointing to the purse. "The purse and the watch of the murdered man are fatal witnesses against you."

"The watch? I haven't any watch. Where should I get a watch?"

"You didn't have one until Monday, possibly; I can believe that. But you were in possession of a watch between the evening of Monday, the 27th, and the morning of Wednesday, the 29th."

Knoll's eyes dropped again and he did not trust himself to speak.

"Well, you do not deny this statement?"

"No, I can't," said Knoll, still trying to control his voice. "You must have the watch yourself now, or else you wouldn't be so certain about it."

"Ah, you see, I thought you'd had experience with police courts before,"

said the commissioner amiably. "Of course I have the watch already.

The man whom you sold it to this morning knew by three o'clock this afternoon where this watch came from. He brought it here at once and gave us your description. A very exact description. The man will be brought here to identify you to-morrow. We must send for him anyway, to return his money to him. He paid you fifty-two gulden for the watch. And how much money was in the purse that you took from the murdered man?"

"Three gulden eighty-five."

"That was a very small sum for which to commit a murder."

Knoll groaned and bit his lips until they bled.

Commissioner von Riedau raised the paper that covered the watch and continued: "You presumably recognised that the chain on which this watch hung was valueless, also that it could easily be recognised. Did you throw it away, or have you it still?"

"I threw it in the river."

"That will not make any difference. We do not need the chain, we have quite enough evidence without it. The purse, for instance: you thought, I suppose, that it was just a purse like a thousand others, but it is not. This purse is absolutely individual and easily recognised, because it is mended in one spot with yellow thread. The thread has become loosened and hangs down in a very noticeable manner. It was this yellow thread on the purse, which he happened to see by chance, that showed the dealer Goldstamm who it was that had entered his store."

Knoll stood quite silent, staring at the floor. Drops of perspiration stood out on his forehead, some of them rolling like tears down his cheek.

The commissioner rose from his seat and walked slowly to where the prisoner stood. He laid one hand on the man's shoulder and said in a voice that was quite gentle and kind again: "Johann Knoll, do not waste your time, or ours, in thinking up useless lies. You are almost convicted of this crime now. You have already acknowledged so much, that there is but little more for you to say. If you make an open confession, it will be greatly to your advantage."

Again the room was quiet while the others waited for what would happen.

For a moment the tramp stood silent, with the commissioner's right hand resting on his shoulder. Then there was a sudden movement, a struggle and a shout, and the two policemen had overpowered the prisoner and held him firmly. Muller rose quickly and sprang to his chief's side. Riedau had not even changed colour, and he said calmly: "Oh, never mind, Muller; sit down again. The man had handcuffs on and he is quite quiet now. I think he has sense enough to see that he is only harming himself by his violence."

The commissioner returned to his desk and Muller went back to his chair by the window. The prisoner was quiet again, although his face wore a dark flush and the veins on throat and forehead were swollen thick. He trembled noticeably and the heavy drops besprinkled his brow.

"I--I have something to say, sir," he began, "but first I want to beg your pardon--"

"Oh, never mind that. I am not angry when a man is fighting for his life, even if he doesn't choose quite the right way," answered the commissioner calmly, playing with a lead pencil.

Knoll's expression was defiant now. He laughed harshly and began again: "What I'm tellin' you now is the truth whether you believe it or not. I didn't kill the man. I took the watch and purse from him. I thought he was drunk. If he was killed, I didn't do it."

"He was killed by a shot."

"A shot? Why, yes, I heard a shot, but I didn't think any more about it, I didn't think there was anythin' doing, I thought somebody was shootin'

a cat, or else-"

"Oh, don't bother to invent things. It was a man who was shot at, the man whom you robbed. But go on, go on. I am anxious to hear what you will tell me."

Knoll's hands, clenched to fists and his eyes glowed in hate and defiance. Then he dropped them to the floor again and began to talk slowly in a monotonous tone that sounded as if he were repeating a lesson. His manner was rather unfortunate and did not tend to induce belief in the truth of his story. The gist of what he said was as follows:

He had reached Hietzing on Monday evening about 8 o'clock. He was thirsty, as usual, and had about two gulden in his possession, his wages for the last day's work. He turned into a tavern in Hietzing and ate and drank until his money was all gone, and he had not even enough left to pay for a night's lodging. But Knoll was not worried about that. He was accustomed to sleeping out of doors, and as this was a particularly fine evening, there was nothing in the prospect to alarm him. He set about finding a suitable place where he would not be disturbed by the guardians of the law. His search led him by chance into a newly opened street. This suited him exactly. The fences were easy to climb, and there were several little summer houses in sight which made much more agreeable lodgings than the ground under a bush. And above all, the street was so quiet and deserted that he knew it was just the place for him. He had never been in the street before, and did not know its name.

He pa.s.sed the four houses at the end of the street--he was on the left sidewalk--and then he came to two fenced-in building lots. These interested him. He was very agile, raised himself up on the fences easily and took stock of the situation. One of the lots did not appeal to him particularly, but the second one did. It bordered on a large garden, in the middle of which he could see a little house of some kind.

It was after sunset but he could see things quite plainly yet for the air was clear and the moon was just rising. He saw also that in the vacant lot adjoining the garden, a lot which appeared to have been a garden itself once, there was a sort of shed. It looked very much damaged but appeared to offer shelter sufficient for a fine night.

The shed stood on a little raise of the ground near the high iron fence that protected the large garden. Knoll decided that the shed would make a good place to spend the night. He climbed the fence easily and walked across the lot. When he was just settling himself for his nap, he heard the clock on a near-by church strike nine. The various drinks he had had for supper put him in a mood that would not allow him to get to sleep at once. The bench in the old shed was decidedly rickety and very uncomfortable, and as he was tossing about to find a good position, a thought came into his mind which he acknowledged was not a commendable one. It occurred to him that if he pursued his investigations in the neighbourhood a little further, he might be able to pick up something that would be of advantage to him on his wanderings. His eyes and his thoughts were directed towards the handsome house which he could see beyond the trees of the old garden.

The moon was now well up in the sky and it shone brightly on the mansard roof of the fine old mansion. The windows of the long wing which stretched out towards the garden glistened in the moonbeams, and the light coloured wall of the house made a bright background for the dark mask of trees waving gently in the night breeze. Knoll's little shed was sufficiently raised on its hillock for him to have a good view of the garden. There was no door to the shed and he could see the neighbouring property clearly from where he lay on his bench. While he lay there watching, he saw a woman walking through the garden. He could see her only when she pa.s.sed back of or between the lower shrubs and bushes.

As far as he could see, she came from the main building and was walking towards a pretty little house which lay in the centre of the garden.

Knoll had imagined this house to be the gardener's dwelling and as it lay quite dark he supposed the inmates were either asleep or out for the evening. It had been this house which he was intending to honour by a visit. But seeing the woman walking towards it, he decided it would not be safe to carry out his plan just yet awhile.