Books › Blue Book v057 n06 [1933-10], 1933 › scan 147
Scan 147
Blue Book v057 n06 [1933-10], 1933
42 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1party, making it appear that it was really Doris who was anxious to go. She got Doris to obtain Hélène's whereabouts, as I have told you. Then she 'disappeared,' going of course to Gaudio with the information.
3"Gaudio kept her there, ostensibly as an alibi for her, but actually he had no intention of letting her leave there alive. He hated her for her deceit almost as much as he hated Moridon. Then he conceived his diabolical plan of using Carlotta and Hélène as hostages to make his enemy deliver himself to him—for execution. Knowing his man, he was sure Gordon would willingly sacrifice himself for those he loved.
5"For Gaudio, that was the cream of the irony. He had planned to stage a macabre final scene, to toast them with champagne, then to tell the story of Carlotta's treachery—finally to destroy them all. Carlotta did not realize this until Gaudio had forced her into the room with the others.
7"When she did see through Gaudio's plan, she flew at him, desperately. He knocked her down. It was a case of self-preservation then. She shot him from the floor, and in blind fury, emptied the gun into his body.
9"But almost immediately she realized that she was still in danger. Suppose Hélène had caught a glimpse of her that night as she stood behind the curtains? But when she heard that Hélène had no idea who had tried to kill her, she thought she was safe at last.
11"She must have had a terrible moment, however, when she learned that Nicky had been captured, when she stood face to face with him in the foyer of the Palm Gardens. But Nicky gave no sign, and she must have felt that he would stand by the underworld code, that he would never squeal.
13"So I had to build my trap, to use my own daughter as bait, knowing that Carlotta was in too deep then to back out, knowing that if she could be convinced that Ruth would be able to identify her as Gaudio's accomplice, that she would seek to destroy Ruth as she had her husband and Hélène—and Nat.
15"The 'next step' that I spoke of, the appointment with Dr. Karasc, the sleeping-powder, the dismissal of the guards, the trip of myself and Nat to town—these were all, of course, pure fiction. Ruth and I set the trap—and Carlotta walked into it…. That's all there is to say, except this:
17"This family has been through too much. There is no need for this story to fill the columns of the newspapers as a nine-day sensation. Carlotta Gaudio is dead by her own hand. I propose that her secret be buried with her. To the public she is now a heroine who saved her family from a fiend.
19"In truth, she did save them, even though she was thinking only of herself. Shall we drag this story across the front pages of the world—or shall we let her remain a heroine?"
21"Gordon raised his face to Tyler.
22"If only we could!" he murmured.
23"Then we shall," said Tyler. He moved quickly to the telephone. Nat recognized the number of Manhattan police headquarters. Tyler asked for the reporters' room, then for Doc Crandall, of the Star. "Doc," he said, "this is Dan Tyler. I have an exclusive for you. It's about Carlotta—Mrs. Gordon. Her terrible experiences unbalanced her mind. She has committed suicide."
25THE strains of the violin came to Tyler, faintly, through the door of his room. He stared upward, muscles tensing, then relaxing. The music was soft and sweet, untroubled. Tyler smiled. Quietly he went into the living-room, up the stairs. He opened the door.
27Inside her own, near the windows which overlooked the garden, the blind girl stood, her violin under her small chin. Her great dark eyes were wet with tears. He strode toward her.
29"Ruth—Ruth! What's the matter, darling?"
31"Shhh," she said. "Shhh!" And she continued to play, softly.
33Her father came close to her.
35"It—it's just that I'm so—so happy—for Nat," she whispered.
37Tyler stared from the window. Beside the fountain which splashed gayly in the warm morning sunshine stood Nat and Doris, seemingly oblivious, locked in each other's arms.
39As they stood there thus, they were suddenly aware, as one, of the music. They raised their faces toward the window, toward the soft and languorous song, a love-song—the same, they both realized instantly, that Ruth had played in the darkness above them on that night which now seemed so long ago, the love-song which had seemed a benediction.
41END
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