The Roman Hat Mystery (16 page)

The District Attorney nodded slowly. Queen sat still, his eyes vaguely troubled.

“
Let us for a moment consider what the hat could possibly have contained,
”
resumed Ellery, as he vigorously polished his glasses.
“
Due to its size, shape and cubic content our field of speculation is not a broad one. What could be hidden in a tophat? The only things that present themselves to my mind are: papers of some sort, jewelry, banknotes, or any other small object of value which could not easily be detected in such a place. Obviously, this problematical object would not be carried merely in the crown of the hat since it would fall out whenever the wearer uncovered his head. We are led to believe therefore that, whatever the object was, it was concealed in the lining of the hat. This immediately narrows our list of possibilities. Solid objects of bulk must be eliminated. A jewel might have been concealed; banknotes or papers might have been concealed. We can, I think, discard the jewel, from what we know of Monte Field. If he was carrying anything of value, it would probably be connected in some way with his profession.

“
One point remains to be considered in this preliminary analysis of the missing tophat. And, gentlemen, it may very well become a pivotal consideration before we are through. It is of paramount importance for us to know whether the murderer knew in advance of his crime that it would be necessary for him to take away Monte Field
’
s tophat. In other words, did the murderer ha
foreknowledge
of the hat
’
s significance, whatever it may prove to be? I maintain that the facts prove deductively, as logically as facts
can
prove deductively, that the murderer had no foreknowledge.

“
Follow me closely . . . . Since Monte Field
’
s tophat is missing, and since no other tophat has been found in its place, it is an undeniable indication that it was essential that it be taken away. You must agree that, as I pointed out before, the murderer is most plausibly the remover of the hat. Now! Regardless of
why
it had to be taken away, we are faced with two alternatives: one, that the murderer knew in advance that it had to be taken away; or two, that he did
not
know in advance. Let us exhaust the possibilities in the former case. If he knew in advance, it may be surely and logically assumed that he would have brought with him to the theatre a hat to replace Field
’
s, rather than leave an obvious clue by the provocative absence of the murdered man
’
s hat. To bring a replacement hat would have been the safe thing to do. The murderer would have had no difficulty in securing a replacement hat, since knowing its importance in advance, he could certainly have armed himself with a further knowledge of Field
’
s head-size, style of tophat, and other minor details.
But there is no replacement hat.
We have every right to expect a replacement hat in a crime so carefully concocted as this one. There being none, our only conclusion can be that the murderer did not know beforehand the importance of Field
’
s hat; otherwise he would assuredly have taken the intelligent precaution of leaving another hat behind. In this way the police would never know that Field
’
s hat had any significance at all.

“
Another point in corroboration. Even if the murderer didn
’
t desire, for some dark reason of his own, to leave a replacement hat, he certainly would have arranged to secure what was in the hat by cutting it out. All he had to do was to provide himself in advance with a sharp instrument
―
a pocket knife, for example. The
empty
hat, though cut, would not have presented the problem of disposal that the
missing
hat would. Surely the murderer would have preferred this procedure, had he foreknowledge of the hat
’
s contents. But he did not do even this. This, it seems to me, is strong corroborative evidence that he did not know before he came to the Roman Theatre that he would have to take away a hat or its contents.
Quod erat demonstrandum.
’’

The District Attorney gazed at Ellery with puckered lips. Inspector Queen seemed sunk in a lethargy. His hand hovered midway between his snuffbox and his nose.

“
Just what
’
s the point, Ellery?
”
inquired Sampson.
“
Why is it important for you to know that the murderer had no foreknowledge of the hat
’
s significance?
”

Ellery smiled.
“
Merely this. The crime was committed after the beginning of the second act. I want to be sure in my own mind that the murderer, by not knowing in advance of the hat
’
s significance, could not have used the first intermission in any manner whatsoever as an essential element of his plan . . . . Of course, Field
’
s hat may turn up somewhere on the premises, and its discovery would invalidate all these speculations. But
―
I don
’
t think it will
”

“
That analysis of yours might be elementary, boy, but it sounds quite logical to me,
”
said Sampson approvingly.
“
You should have been a lawyer.
”

“
You can
’
t beat the Queen brains,
”
chuckled the old man suddenly, his face wreathed in a wide smile.
“
But I
’
m going to get busy on another tack that ought to jibe somewhere with this puzzle of the hat. You noticed, Ellery, the name of the clothier sewed into Field
’
s coat?
”

“
No sooner said than done,
”
grinned Ellery. Producing one of the small volumes which he carried in his topcoat pocket, he opened it and pointed to a notation on the flyleaf.
“
Browne Bros., gentlemen
―
no less.
”

“
That
’
s right; and I
’
ll have Velie down there in the morning to check up,
”
said the Inspector.
“
You must have realized that Field
’
s clothing is of exceptional quality. That evening-suit cost three hundred dollars, if it cost a penny. And Browne Bros, are the artists to charge such fashionable prices. But there
’
s another point in this connection: every stitch of clothing on the dead man
’
s body had the same manufacturer
’
s mark. That
’
s not uncommon with wealthy men; and Browne
’
s made a specialty of outfitting their customers from head to foot. What more probable to assume
―”

“
Than that Field bought his hats there, too!
”
exclaimed Sampson, with an air of discovery.

“
Exactly, Tacitus,
”
said Queen, grinning.
“
Velie
’
s job is to check up on this clothing business and if possible secure an exact duplicate of the hat Field wore tonight. I
’
m mighty anxious to look it over.
”

Sampson rose with a cough.
“
I suppose I really ought to get back to bed,
”
he said.
“
The only reason I came down here was to see that you didn
’
t arrest the Mayor. Boy, that friend of mine was sore! I
’
ll never hear the end of it!
”

Queen looked up at him with a quizzical smile.
“
Before you go, Henry, suppose you tell me just where I stand on this thing. I know that I used a pretty high hand tonight, but you must realize how necessary it was. Are you going to put one of your own men on the case?
”

Sampson glared at him.
“
When did you get the idea I wasn
’
t satisfied with your conduct of the investigation, you old canary bird!
”
he growled.
“
I
’
ve never checked you up yet, and I
’
m not going to start now. If you can
’
t bring this thing to a successful conclusion, I certainly don
’
t think any of my men can. My dear Q, go ahead and detain half of New York if you think it
’
s necessary. I
’
ll back you up.
”

“
Thanks, Henry,
”
said Queen.
“
I just wanted to be sure. Add now, since you
’
re so nice about it, watch my smoke!
”

He ambled across the room into the anteroom, stuck his head past the doorway into the theatre, and shouted,
“
Mr. Panzer, will you come here a moment?
”

He came back smiling grimly to himself, the swarthy theatre manager close on his heels.

“
Mr. Panzer, meet District Attorney Sampson,
”
said Queen. The two men shook hands.
“
Now, Mr. Panzer, you
’
ve got one more job and you can go home and go to sleep. I want this theatre shut down so tight a mouse couldn
’
t get into it!
”

Panzer grew pale. Sampson shrugged his shoulders, as if to indicate that he washed his hands of the entire affair. Ellery nodded sagely in approval.

“
But
―
but Inspector, just when we
’
re playing to capacity!
”
groaned the little manager.
“
Is it absolutely necessary?
”

“
So necessary, my dear man,
”
answered the Inspector coolly,
“
that I
’
m going to have two men here patrolling the premises all the time.
”

Panzer wrung his hands, looking furtively at Sampson. But the District Attorney was standing with his back to them, examining a print on the wall.

“
This is terrible, Inspector!
”
wailed Panzer.
“
I
’
ll never hear the end of it from Gordon Davis, the producer . . . . But of course
―
if you say so, it will be done.
”

“
Heck, man, don
’
t look so blue,
”
said Queen, more kindly.
“
You
’
ll be getting so much publicity out of this that when the show reopens you
’
ll have to enlarge the theatre. I don
’
t expect to have the theatre shut down more than a few days, anyway. I
’
ll give the necessary orders to my men outside. After you
’
ve transacted your routine business here tonight, just tip off the men I
’
ve left and go home. I
’
ll let you know in a few days when you can reopen.
”

Panzer waggled his head sadly, shook hands all around and left. Sampson immediately whirled on Queen and said,
“
By the Lord Harry, Q, that
’
s going some! Why do you want the theatre closed? You
’
ve milked it dry, haven
’
t you?
”

“
Well, Henry,
”
said Queen slowly,
“
the hat hasn
’
t been found. All those people filed out of the theatre and were searched
―
and each one had just one hat. Doesn
’
t that indicate that the hat we
’
re looking for is still here somewhere? And if it
’
s still here, I
’
m not giving anybody a chance to come in and take it away. If there
’
s any taking to be done, I
’
ll do it.
”

Sampson nodded. Ellery was still wearing a worried frown as the three men walked out of the office into the almost deserted orchestra. Here and there a busy figure was stooping over a seat, examining the floor. A few men could be seen darting in and out of the boxes up front. Sergeant Velie stood by the main door, talking in low tones to Piggott and Hagstrom. Detective Flint, superintending a squad of men, was working far to the front of the orchestra. A small group of cleaning women operated vacuum cleaners tiredly here and there. In one corner, to the rear, a buxom police matron was talking with an elderly woman
―
the woman Panzer had called Mrs. Phillips.