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Read Ebook: Chronique de 1831 à 1862 Tome 1 (de 4) by Dino Doroth E Duchesse De Radziwill Marie Dorothea Elisabeth De Castellane F Rstin Editor
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Ebook has 455 lines and 13035 words, and 10 pages
"Then you believe he's been kidnapped?" Penny asked.
"I don't know. There's been no ransom demand."
"Perhaps he absconded with the 0,000 in bonds."
"Don't quote me as making such a statement even if it should prove true! Mr. Rhett is a wealthy man--or rather, he acquired a fortune when he married a rich widow who set him up here as bank president. But don't quote me on that either!" he exclaimed as Penny jotted down a few notes. "Leave my name out of it entirely!"
"Let's have a look at Mr. Rhett's office," proposed Sergeant Gray.
"Follow me, please."
His poise regained, Albert Potts led the way down the gallery to a large, spacious office room. On the polished mahogany desk rested a picture of an attractive woman in her early forties whom Penny guessed to be Mrs. Rhett. A door opened from the office into a directors' room, and another onto a narrow outdoor balcony overlooking Front Street.
Sergeant Gray and the patrolman made a thorough inspection of the two rooms and Mr. Rhett's desk.
"When last I saw the bonds, Mr. Rhett had them in the top drawer," the secretary volunteered eagerly. "He should have returned them to the vault, but he failed to do so. Now they're gone."
"Then you examined the desk?"
"Oh, yes, I considered it my duty."
While Penny remained in the background, Sergeant Gray asked Mr. Potts a number of questions about the bank president's habits, and particularly his recent visitors. The secretary, whose fund of information seemed inexhaustible, had ready answers at the tip of his tongue. He even produced a memo pad upon which the names of several persons had been written.
"These were Mr. Rhett's visitors on his last day here," he explained. "So far as I know, all were business acquaintances."
Writing down the names for future checking, Sergeant Gray inquired if Mr. Rhett had disagreed with any of the callers.
"A quarrel, you mean?" Mr. Potts hesitated, then answered with reluctance. "Only with his wife."
"Mrs. Rhett came to the bank the day your employer last was seen?"
"Yes, they were to have had lunch together. She came late and they quarreled about Mr. Rhett's work here in the bank. Finally she went away alone."
"You heard the conversation between them?"
"Well, no," Albert Potts said quickly. "Naturally I tried not to listen, but I did hear some of it."
"Mrs. Rhett may be able to explain her husband's absence," commented Sergeant Gray.
"She refused me any information when I telephoned. That was one reason I decided to notify the police. The loss of 0,000 could be very embarrassing to the bank."
"Who owns the bonds?"
"They belong to the Fred Harrington estate, 2756 Brightdale Avenue. If they aren't produced soon, there will be trouble. I've worked here for 15 years. You don't think anyone could possibly blame me, do you?"
The sergeant gave him a quick glance, but made no reply as he reexamined the mahogany desk. Finding nothing of interest, he slammed the top drawer shut.
From the back of the desk, a piece of paper fluttered to the floor, almost at Penny's feet. Evidently it had jarred from the rear side of an overflowing drawer, or had been held between desk and plaster wall.
Without thinking, Penny stooped to retrieve the sheet. She glanced at it carelessly, and then with a shock of surprise, really studied it. Drawn across the center of the paper in black and red ink was a crude but sinister-looking winged serpent.
Raising her eyes, Penny saw Albert Potts' cold gaze upon her. Was it imagination or did his shriveled face mirror fear?
"What have you there?" he demanded.
Penny gave the paper to Sergeant Gray. Mr. Potts moved quickly forward, to peer over the man's shoulder.
"A plumed serpent!" he exclaimed.
"And read the words beneath it," directed Penny.
Sergeant Gray studied the strange drawing for a moment and then said to Albert Potts: "Can you explain the meaning of this picture? And the words written beneath it?"
For the first time since the start of the interview, the bank secretary seemed at a loss for words. Finally he stammered: "Why, no--I've never seen the drawing before. I don't know how it got into Mr. Rhett's desk."
"You seemed to recognize the picture," interposed Penny. "At least you called it a plumed serpent."
"It is the symbol of an ancient cult, or at least that is what I take it to be. I've seen similar drawings in library books."
"And the writing beneath it?" probed the sergeant.
"I am not sure," the secretary murmured, ill at ease. "It slightly resembles Mr. Rhett's writing."
"You say you can't explain how the paper came to be in Mr. Rhett's desk?"
"My employer's private life is none of my concern."
"What do you mean--his private life?"
"Well, I hadn't intended to tell you this," Potts said unwillingly. "The truth is, Mr. Rhett was a strange man. He had queer interests and hobbies. I have been told he collects weird trophies of ancient cults."
"Then this drawing probably has a connection with your employer's hobby?"
"I wouldn't know," shrugged Potts. "If it weren't for the handwriting, I might think someone had sent a warning to him. As it is, I'm completely in the dark."
"Mr. Rhett had enemies?"
"He was a ruthless man and many persons disliked him. His friends were queer too. He preferred low class persons to people of culture and refinement. Why, only two days before his disappearance, he deliberately kept one of our largest stockholders waiting an hour while he chatted with a building porter! It was very humiliating! I had to tell Mrs. Biggs he was in conference, but I think she suspected the truth."
"Do you have a photograph of Mr. Rhett?" the sergeant asked.
"I deeply regret I haven't. For that matter, I never have seen a picture of him."
"But you can describe the man?"
"Oh, yes. He is forty-five, though he looks older. His hair is gray at the temples. He wore an expensive tailored suit--brown, I believe. One of the most distinguishing marks I should say, is a scar on his left cheek."
"I'll send one of the detectives around," Sergeant Gray promised. He had completed his investigation and with the other patrolman, started to leave the office.
Albert Potts drew a deep breath and seemed to relax. Only then did it occur to Penny that throughout the greater part of the interview he had stood in front of the outside balcony door, as if to shield it from attention.
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