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."Perfectly all right," Bell assured him."It's just that I get cramped lyingin one position.""Maybe you could raise yourself up a little if I- Here." Bert was beside thebed."I'll move the pillows for you." Carefully he inserted an arm behindBell's back, eased him slightly forward, and then with the other hand swiftlyplumped up the pillows and replaced them in a new position.chris bell's story 65Page 28ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"Thanks, Bert.That's much better," Bell said gratefully."I seem to remember you doing the same thing for me more than once," Bert saidgruffly.Bell flashed him a swift smile and then he sobered."Unfortunately that's notwhat we're here to talk about, Bert." His gaze shifted to Dewald."O.K.Now,where was I?""Before you go on," Dewald suggested, "will you tell us whether there wasanything unusual about the pre-Christmas conditions in the store four yearsago? Were there any squabbles among the employees-or between any employee andBalfour? Were there any new clerks hired for the Christmas rush? You know, Ipresume," Dewald added calmly, "that you are suspected of having stolen twohundred thousand dollars' worth of merchandise.Was there that muchstuff-stuff that could easily be carried away-in the store at that time?""The answer to your last question is definitely yes," Bell told him quietly."Business was good that season.All the farmers in the area around Hilldalehad had a good year, and all the merchants were feeling the results of it.Ourmail-order business had gone way up.So had our business over the counter.Yes, we had a lot of expensive watches on hand- and a lot of bracelets andrings and earrings, all of them small enough, and valuable enough, to be putinside the vault every night.And I suppose if things were small enough to goin the vault, they'd be small enough, as you say, to be carried away easily.So far as your other questions are concerned-" He broke off apologetically."What else was it you asked me?"Ken flipped back a sheet and read from his notes.66 THE MYSTERY OF THE VANISHING MAGICIAN" Was there anything unusual about the pre-Christ-mas conditions in the storethen?'""Nothing that I can remember," Bell said, after a moment's thought."I toldyou that business was especially good, but even that wasn't so much differentfrom other years as to be called unusual."Again Ken flipped back to his earlier notes." Were there any squabbles amongthe employees or between any employee and Balfour?'"Bell moved his head slowly back and forth against the pillows."Not that I canremember-and I think I'd remember something like that.You see, I never heardany employee express a complaint against Mr.Balfour.He was a good boss,considerate and fair.Besides, he always paid everybody on the staff aChristmas bonus, and since business was good that year, everybody expected thebonus to be larger than usual.No-none of us were squabbling with him, as yousay.And we always worked well together, even in rush times when we all gottired, we weren't squabbling among ourselves."This time Bell looked directly at Ken when he finished, and Ken read off thelast unanswered question." 'Were there any new clerks hired for the Christmasrush?'"Again Bell made the slight movement that they all understood was meant as ashake of the head."Extra rush-season employees were never practical atBalfour's.We had too much valuable stuff on hand then to make it feasible totake on strange clerks.Of course," he added as an afterthought, "Mrs.Balfouralways came down to the store and helped out when we were busy.She'd helpedher husband build up the business.They'd run it together for several years inthe beginning, before itchris bell's story 67was big enough to support extra help, and she'd always kept her hand in.""That's that, then." Dewald looked so thoughtful that nobody else spoke.Belltoo seemed to be waiting for the lawyer's signal before he went on."You've given us a good background of the whole picture," Dewald said after amoment."Now, if you'll just tell us about your relationship with Chet Rogersand Pete Wright, I think we'll be ready to get on to the night of the theftitself."Bell's hands, which had been lying flat on the bedcover, clenched swiftlyshut.With what appeared to be an effort he opened them again, uncurling thePage 29ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmllong fingers until they once more lay pressed against the hospital-whitefabric."My relationship with Rogers and Wright," he said slowly, in a coldvoice they had not heard him use before, "began and ended that night.I hadnever seen them before.I have never seen them since."Dewald leaned forward abruptly in his chair.Ken looked up from his notes andmet Sandy's eyes in a brief startled glance.Somehow, Chris Bell's last wordsseemed the most hopeful of any they had yet heard.Both boys then looked atBert.Like Dewald, he had leaned forward."I see." Dewald's voice had a new warmth in it."Let's have the whole story ofthat night then.Better begin earlier in the day-in the morning, say- and runright through."Bell nodded."It was a Saturday," he began."Like all Saturdays that close toChristmas, we were busy.Mrs.Balfour was helping out.Mr.Bal-four was behindthe counter all day too-scarcely stepped into his office for more than aminute at a time-because Jim Turney was jammed up with a68 THE MYSTERY OF THE VANISHING MAGICIANflock of mail orders and I had to be out in the back room with him most of thetime helping to get them filled." Slowly, as he talked, Bell's voice lost itsqueer chill.But he no longer seemed to be speaking directly to his listeners.It was as if he were reciting a story to himself-a story he knew by heart."We were so rushed all day that none of us had time to go out for lunch," Bellwent on."I remember Mrs.Balfour telephoned for sandwiches, and how carefulshe was to get the kind each one of us liked.I helped Jim most of the day,right up until about six.Then there was such a rush of customers -peoplecoming in to town for a movie, and stopping first to do some Christmasshopping-that Jim and I had to leave the rest of the mail orders and come outfront to help.The rush was over by eight thirty.By nine we began to closeup."Dewald slipped in a quiet question."Did all the most valuable stock go intothe vault when you got ready to close?""Yes, of course-all the rings, some of the better watches, and a lot of othersmall jewelry.Mr.Balfour always put in as many of the trays as the vaultwould hold.It took about a half an hour to straighten up and close thatnight.Mr.Balfour locked up the vault the last thing, while Jim and I checkedthe back door and the windows-they're all protected by the same burglar alarmthat covers the front of the store.Then Mr.Balfour asked me if I would mindgoing past the bank on my way home and depositing the money that had come induring the day.""Was that an unusual request for him to make of you?" Dewald wanted to know."Not unusual, exactly," Bell answered."Jim usu-chbis bell's story 69ally made the deposits, but I had made them before.""Why wasn't Turney asked to do it that night?""Because Mr.Balfour knew how tired he was [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]