Danger Zone and Other Stories by Erle Stanley Gardner

Author:Erle Stanley Gardner [Gardner, Erle Stanley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1932009221
Publisher: Crippen & Landru Publishers
Published: 2004-05-31T21:00:00+00:00

VI Brokay Entertains the Law

Grigsby, the butler, coughed apologetically as George Brokay latchkeyed the front door of his residence. “I beg your pardon, sir,” he said, “but —”

A gruff voice from the shadows of the corridor interrupted. “Stow that stuff,” said the voice, “we’ll do our own talking.”

Two men stepped forward.

“You’re Brokay?” asked one of the men.

“Yes,” said George Brokay.

“We’ve got some questions to ask you.”

“All right,” said Brokay, “I’ll be glad to answer them.”

“How does it happen that there was a roadster in your garage with a bullet hole in the back of the body? How does it happen that your hat was found in the grounds of the John C. Ordway residence? How does it happen that you were running away from the police last night, when the police radio car tried to stop you? How does it happen that there was a monkey clinging to your neck, and fingerprints that have been developed in the room where Gladys Ordway was murdered show that there had been a monkey sitting on the head of the bed?”

Brokay nodded.

“Gentlemen,” he said, “come in. Sit down and have a drink. It happens that you gentlemen are just a little bit behind the times. I can explain those points very readily, but, before I do so, you might be interested in learning something about the murder of Miss Gladys Ordway.”

“Yes,” said one of the men, “we’d be interested in learning a lot about it.”

They followed Brokay into the library.

“Highballs, Grigsby,” said Brokay.

“Go ahead and talk, guy,” one of the men said.

“It happens,” said Brokay, “that Gladys Ordway had been blackmailed by a man named Charles Giddings. She had been rather indiscreet. Some of the high-powered stuff, that is indulged in at times by the younger set. There were photographs, and, altogether, it would have made a nasty scandal. Giddings had been blackmailing her; she finally decided that she was going to report to the police; she told Giddings that she was finished and that she was going to tell everything.

“Giddings had an accomplice, a Thelma Grebe. They tried to keep Gladys Ordway from telling her father, or reporting to the police. She had reached her decision, however, and the decision was final as far as she was concerned. Thelma Grebe had been cultivating Rhoda Koline, the social secretary of Glady’s Ordway’s father. Giddings had a cane, the lower portion of which was rubber made to represent wood. There was a steel blade inside of the cane. While Thelma Grebe was talking with Rhoda Koline, Giddings entered Gladys Ordway’s bedroom and stabbed her in the back, simply reaching out and stabbing her with the cane.

“He had been drinking some that night, and, acting upon impulse, had purchased a pet monkey. The monkey was clinging to his shoulder. When the monkey saw the blood, and saw what had happened, it became terrified.

“Rhoda Koline didn’t know that Thelma Grebe had been accompanied by a man. Thelma had entered the house, using Rhoda’s latchkey which Rhoda had given her, because Thelma Grebe said she didn’t want to face the servants.

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