Chapter 15:
The next day started as always, almost; because that morning, the detectives were both unconvinced to finish their early encounter. The delay was justified entirely this time by the supposed real boss, and the real but not supposed one.
Laura arrived at the office late, and Mildred gave her a funny worried look. "As things were evolving, I supposed you were the one trying to convince him to arrive at a respectable hour, Miss Holt. But I see he had an ace under his sleeve…"
"Good morning to you too, Mildred!" told her Laura, taking the mail from the secretary's desk. "Straight to business, please. Anything new?" she asked.
"No news, Miss Holt. How did things go with the Collières?"
"Well, it seems that they haven't seen each other since a long time ago, which leave us without a big part of the case resolved, Mildred." Laura grabbed the mail in her hands and walked to her office.
After a half an hour, Mr. Steele opened the agency doors. "Morning, morning, morning," he said.
"Good morning chief, or should I say: good afternoon…You are pretty late today. I'm starting to think that I should change my check-in time, and start my day playing some kind of sport by myself… It's so boring to be here alone all morning…"
"By all means Mildred, seriously? I knew that we were going to agree about the disgusting schedule Miss Holt has settled for the agency staff at some point. Perhaps we could suggest her to delay the agency opening schedule more in the line of… afternoon hours..."
"I don't think that would be a good idea, Mr. Steele," answered Laura coming from her office. She left some files over Mildred's desk, "Just be aware that if we delay the check-in time, we should have to delay the check-out either. No more fun after work, Mr. Steele…"
"Forgot what I said, Mildred…" he turned and continued on his way to his office.
"Sure chief…"
Sometime later, the detectives were at his office trying to figure out who could be involved in the robbery, if the Collières weren't. They started a review about the facts already discovered, the most important ones being reviewed again for an umpteenth time.
"Let's start at the beginning," said Laura. "Stanhope's manuscripts were stolen on July 13th. His most private feelings were written in those papers. The name Rose Gilroy popped up. They'd started a relationship, but she wasn't eager to follow it. Mr. Stanhope got into a depression. Some detectives found Rose, but she didn't want to see him again…" he stood up and interrupted her then.
"How deep was Mr. Stanhope affected by that depression, Laura? Was he in such a dreadful state to be in seclusion at home and needing a nurse to take care of him?" asked her Mr. Steele. He was pacing around the whole office by then.
She looked at him with that known look, telling him that he had opened the secret door. "Why do I suspect that if there was a nurse, her name was Margot? If she'd been working at the mansion, she would know everybody working there! Remember that the staff had been the same for a long time."
"But who was her accomplice? If Paul Collière is not involved, who else would be interested in Stanhope writings, and at the same time, having the possibility to steal them?" asked Mr. Steele. At that point, he was moving fast with all around the place.
"Mr. Steele, would you stop pacing?" asked Laura, starting to feel herself a little dizzy. "We will have our sports session later in the evening, I promise. Just focus on the case now and stop moving, please."
"I knew the first day I saw you, you'd have the ability to make myself a real sportsman, Miss Holt."
She rolled her eyes and sat on his desk. "Where were we?" She asked.
"You were guessing who was with the real possibility to steal the writings…" He said. Then, just at this very moment, they looked at each other, and at the same time said: "Lehman!"
They went to the mansion driving the Rabbit, Laura behind the wheel. It was not the safest way to go, but it was indeed the fastest. They went directly to the stables, where they were supposed to meet Mr. Stanhope in a secret meeting, as Mildred had suggested him to wait there for the detectives. It was the safest way to alert him without arousing suspicions from Lehman. Once there, the detectives shared with him their previous deductions.
"Was Margot Collière your personal nurse when you suffered depression, Mr. Stanhope?" asked Laura.
"Yes, she was. She is our sôus chef niece. He recommended her," said Stanhope.
"We think that she stole your manuscript with someone else's help. Someone very close to you," said Miss Holt.
"I can't believe what you are implying, Miss Holt," said an incredulous Mr. Stanhope. "She was such a lovely lady…And who do you think would be her accomplice?"
Mr. Steele took the hint then, "We suspect her accomplice is Lehman, Mr. Stanhope."
The man closed his eyes, and his face showed how painful was the discovery for him. "How can that be? Are you sure?" he asked.
"We are not sure yet. Lehman and Miss Collière met at the time you were under a depression treatment. We suspect that Miss Collière took your keys from you when you were under the anesthesia effect on your dentist appointment. She made a mold, a copy of your drawer key, and gave it to Lehman. He had all the time to steal your manuscripts while he was at the house. Even with you there too. He knew all your movements in advance, Mr. Stanhope," said Mr. Steele.
"Why do you think he would need to do that?" asked Stanhope.
"You'll have to help us to find an answer for that question, Mr. Stanhope," said Laura.
"How can I help you?"
"We need to know if Lehman had access to your will," told him, Mr. Steele.
"No, he hadn't. He is in my will as one of the heirs, but he doesn't know it. The document it's safe at my attorney's office."
"Well, that gives him a motive. He stole the writings just in case, to have something juicy to sell to the highest bidder..."
"I thought he was different…I appreciate him very much… To be in my position, Mr. Steele, is hard. Everybody stays beside you not because of you, but giving importance to what they could take from you…" said a sad Mr. Stanhope.
"It seems he wasn't different after all," said Miss Holt.
"Yes, it seems he wasn't. Let's go to talk with Lehman," Said Stanhope.
After a brief but ugly discussion, Lehman confessed he had the writings and that he'd stolen them with Margot's help. Mr. Stanhope assured him he wasn't going to throw them to the authorities if the stolen things were returned. But of course, he was not going to keep his job. Lehman agreed and brought the hidden volumes from its secret place at the library, between the less consulted books. He had never taken them outside the room, although he was the only one knowing that they were still there.