The Silver Leopard Read online

  There were things she had to know before he went. She said, “You were going to marry Hat because—”

  “Because I was responsible for her, and she hated you. If we were married, I could keep an eye on her.”

  “Did you know she had killed Uncle John?”

  “I suspected it. I was never sure. Then, that last day, I saw Angela Ward well on her way across the fields. She had been at the cottage. That sent me up in the air again. That’s why I refused to say what I’d done with the money I drew out of the bank.”

  “What did you do with it?”

  “Gave it to Mrs. Dykes, the poor woman for whom I was also partially responsible, the widow of the man Hat killed. It was an obligation. John Wardwell sent for me on the evening of the day he died. When I got there at about a quarter past seven, the house was dark, and there was no answer to my ring. But we had talked over the phone. I think your uncle was going to tell you the truth about Hat and myself. He was also going to take care of the dead man’s widow. I couldn’t wait. I had to leave for camp. Then we were shipped out. After I heard John Wardwell was dead, I kept thinking of Dykes’s widow. When I got back—”

  “That was what you were going to ask Mike about on the night he was killed?”

  “Yes. I couldn’t get any information out of Hat. I wanted to know whether John Wardwell had had time to do something for Dykes’s widow and the kids—there are four. I thought of that quite a lot while I was in the East, so when I was up there in Brookfield, while I couldn’t give her much, I did give her the eleven hundred on my way from town.”

  A log in the fire toppled with a soft crash.

  “You’re going back out there, to the Philippines?”

  A pause. Stephen said quietly, “That depends on you.”

  “On me?”

  “Yes.”

  She didn’t pretend to misunderstand him. He was asking her to marry him. In another world, the world she had once known, if she was as she had been then, it would have been heaven to have been Stephen Darrell’s wife—but not as she was now. She had nothing to give him or anyone else.

  “I’m sorry, Stephen.”

  The atmosphere of the room changed. The quiet went.

  The air crackled. Stephen got mad. His scorn was lashing. She didn’t feel it at first, then she did. She cowered away from him, sitting with her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

  He told her that she was an egotist, little, selfish, meager-hearted, that there was no largeness in her, no strength, no courage. She had made a mistake. Everyone made mistakes. She wasn’t big enough to acknowledge it.

  The wall of stone that kept her safe, secure in her own small core of gray ness where she didn’t need to feel any more, began to crumble, leaving her defenseless.

  Stephen moved. She didn’t look up. She thought he was on his way to the door. He wasn’t. He was in front of her chair, was drawing her up out of it. Shivering, weak, exposed to all the winds that blew, she gazed at him sightlessly.

  He put an end to it. His arms were around her and he was holding her and talking again, not harshly and savagely now but gently and healingly. Her shivering stopped and gradually she was quiet and warmth began to flow back into her and a quiet content and the beginning of peace.

  “Biscuits?” That was the first coherent word that got through to her conscious mind.

  Stephen was wiping her eyes with a handkerchief, smoothing her hair back from her forehead.

  “Biscuits?” She looked at him through wet lashes. Had he gone slightly mad?

  “Biscuits,” he repeated firmly. “You were making biscuits when I came here Sunday night. I haven’t had a real biscuit in the Lord knows when. I don’t believe you can do it, myself.”

  Laughing, crying, with fresh tears on her cheeks, Catherine started for the kitchen with Stephen behind her, close behind, a hand on her shoulder. Then his arms were around her again, more strongly this time, and he said, “Not this evening. I’ll settle for cocktails and dinner out this evening. We’ll be married soon,” he held her close, “and from that day on, you can prepare to make biscuits, frequently.”

  FIN

  About Helen Reilly

  Helen Reilly was an American crime author best known for her long running novels featuring New York detective Christopher McKee.

  She was born in 1891, daughter of doctor James Kieran and sister of naturalist John Kieran. Born and raised in New York she moved to Westport, Connecticut when she married the cartoonist Paul Reilly. She had four daughters, two of which became crime authors themselves: Ursula Curtiss and Mary McMullen. Paul Reilly died in 1944 and the same year, Helen Reilly moved back to New York. In 1960, she moved to New Mexico.

  She began her literary career on the advice of a family friend. After publishing an unsuccessful literary novel, The Thirty-First Bullfinch (1930) she decided to try her luck with a detective novel. But instead of writing, like many female authors of her generation a "Had-I-But-Known" crime novel, she turned to writing a police procedural. Because of the direct and precise style and lack of sentimentality, some readers believed that the book was the work of a man hiding behind a female pseudonym.

  Her second novel The Diamond Feather (1930) featured Reilly's recurring hero, Inspector Christopher McKee, for the first time. This small man of Scottish descent with brown eyes and a lined face, is the prototypical meticulous policeman. Together with his assistant Todhunter, he is the hero of 31 novels that were very popular in their time. Because of the success of the McKee books, the author was invited to the NYPD headquarters and given authorization to consult actual crime files. There she came upon the idea of The File on Rufus Ray (1937). This was not a novel but an oversized cardboard folder containing a crime file with every clue and item of evidence preserved in its original, physical form, exactly as it might have been received at Police Headquarters. Included were facsimiles of “evidence” such as letters, confetti, cigar ashes, button, photographs, telegrams, etc. The solution to the crime was in a sealed envelope.

  After this one-off, Helen Reilly resumed writing books in the McKee series. After World War II, the books turned to the suspense genre, often depicting young girls in danger.

  Bibliography

  US Editions Only

  * = Inspector Christopher McKee

  The Diamond Feather*. Doubleday Crime Club, 1930; hardcover reprint: Grosset & Dunlap, n.d. Magazine appearance: Triple Detective, Summer, 1950.

  The Thirty-First Bullfinch. Doubleday Crime Club; 1930. Magazine appearance: Thrilling Mystery Novel Magazine, March 1946.

  Man with the Painted Head. Farrar & Rinehart, 1931. Magazine appearance: Detective Novel Magazine, Spring, 1948.

  Murder in the Mews*. Doubleday Crime Club, 1931; hardcover reprint: Collier, n.d. Paperback reprints: Detective Novel Classic #23, ca.1943; Popular Library #259, ca.1950; Macfadden, 1966; Manor, 1974. Advance magazine appearance: serialized in Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine, June 20, June 27, July 4, July 11, July 18, July 25, 1931.

  The Doll’s Trunk Murder. Farrar & Rinehart, 1932; hardcover reprint: Grosset & Dunlap; n.d. Paperback reprint: Popular Library #211, 1949. Magazine appearance: Triple Detective, Winter, 1948. Comment: The notorious “bondage” cover on the paperback edition was done by well-known pulp artist Rudolph Belarski.

  McKee of Centre Street*. Doubleday Crime Club, 1934; hardcover reprint: Sun Dial Press, 1943. Paperback reprint: Popular Library #33; ca.1944.

  The Line-Up*. Doubleday Crime Club; 1934; hardcover reprint: Sun Dial Press, 1942. Paperback reprints: Macfadden, 1967; Manor, 1977.

  Dead Man Control*. Doubleday Crime Club, 1936; hardcover reprint: Sun Dial Press: 1937. Paperback reprints: Macfadden, 1964; Manor, 1974.

  Mr. Smith’s Hat*. Doubleday Crime Club, 1936; hardcover reprint: Sun Dial Press, n.d. Paperback reprints: Popular Library #48, ca. 1945; Macfadden, 1968; Manor, 1977.

  File on Rufus Ray. William Morrow & Co., 1937. Oversized cardboard folder. Crimefile #2: “This file con
tains the complete dossier of a crime, with every clue and item of evidence preserved in its original, physical form, exactly as it might have been received at Police Headquarters. The crime was a murder. The police solved it. Can You?” Included are facsimiles of “evidence” such as letters, confetti, cigar ashes, button, photographs, telegrams, etc. The solution is included in a sealed envelope.

  All Concerned Notified*. Doubleday Crime Club, 1939; hardcover reprint: Sun Dial Press, 1940. Paperback reprints: Century #29, 1945; Macfadden, 1964; Manor, 1974. Advance magazine appearance: Cosmopolitan, May, 1939.

  Dead for a Ducat*. Doubleday Crime Club,1939. Paperback reprint: Popular Library #56, 1945.

  Death Demands an Audience*. Doubleday Crime Club, 1940; hardcover reprint: Sun Dial Press, 1941. Paperback reprints: Popular Library #7, ca.1943; Macfadden, 1967; Manor, 1974.

  Murder in Shinbone Alley*. Doubleday Crime Club, 1940; hardcover reprint: Sun Dial Press, 1941. Paperback reprints: Popular Library #20, ca.1944; Macfadden, 1964; Manor, 1974.

  The Dead Can Tell*. Random House, 1940. Paperback reprint: Dell #17, ca.1943, mapback.

  Mourned on Sunday*. Random House, 1941. Paperback reprint: Dell #63, ca.1944, mapback.

  Three Women in Black*. Random House, 1941. Paperback reprints: Dell #114, ca.1946, mapback; Dell #709, 1953.

  Name Your Poison*. Random House, 1942; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprint: Dell #148, ca.1947, mapback.

  The Opening Door*. Random House, 1944. Paperback reprints: Dell #200, ca.1947, mapback; Dell #917, ca.1956; Ace Double #G518, ca.1965, bound with Follow Me. Advance magazine appearance: serialized in The Saturday Evening Post, Sept 25, Oct 2, Oct 9, Oct 16, Oct 23, Oct 30, Nov 6, Nov 13, 1943.

  Murder on Angler’s Island*. Random House, 1945; hardcover reprints: Grosset & Dunlap, n.d.; Collier [Front Page Mystery], n.d.; Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprint: Dell #228, ca.1948, mapback. Magazine appearance: Detective Novel Magazine, June 1946.

  The Silver Leopard*. Random House, 1946; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprint: Dell #287, ca.1949, mapback. Magazine appearance: Mystery Book Magazine, Jan 1947.

  “The Phonograph Murder*.” Short story, Collier’s, Jan 25, 1947. Reprinted: The Saint Mystery Magazine, March 1955.

  The Farmhouse*. Random House, 1947; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprint: Dell #397, ca.1950, mapback.

  “Dark Exit.” Novelette, Mystery Book Magazine, Fall 1948. Note: See the entry for “Black Reminder” below.

  “Perilous Escort.” Novelette, Short Stories, October 25, 1948. Reprinted as “The Perilous Journey,” Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, May 1962.

  “Black Reminder.” Story, Mystery Book Magazine, Spring 1949. Note: Both this story and “Dark Entry” may have been expanded to later novels, but which, if any, is not known. Whether Inspector McKee appears in either or both is also unknown.

  Staircase 4*. Random House, 1949; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprint: Dell #498, ca.1951, mapback.

  Murder at Arroways*. Random House, 1950; hardcover reprint: Mystery Guild [book club], n.d. Paperback reprint: Dell #576, ca.1952, mapback. Appeared serially in several newspapers as “The Black Ring.”

  Lament for the Bride*. Random House, 1951; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprint: Dell #621, ca.1952, mapback.

  The Double Man*. Random House, 1952; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprint: Dell #732, ca.1953.

  The Velvet Hand*. Random House, 1953; hardcover reprint: Mystery Guild, n.d. [book club]. Advance newspaper appearance: Star Weekly [Toronto], Dec 20, 1952. No paperback edition.

  Tell Her It’s Murder*. Random House, 1954; hardcover reprints: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]; Walter J. Black, n.d. Paperback reprint: Bestseller Mystery #B-201, n.d. [unabridged].

  Compartment K*. Random House, 1955; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprints: Ace #G-546, ca.1963; Macfadden, 1971; Manor, n.d.

  The Canvas Dagger*. Random House, 1956; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprints: Bantam #1858, 1959; Ace Double #G-531, ca.1965, abridged, bound with Not Me, Inspector; Macfadden, 1970; Manor, 1974.

  Ding Dong Bell*. Random House, 1958; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprints: Ace Double #G-528, ca.1965, bound with Certain Sleep; Macfadden, 1971, Manor, 1974.

  Not Me, Inspector*. Random House, 1959; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprint: Ace Double #G-531, ca.1965, abridged, bound with The Canvas Dagger; Macfadden, 1971.

  Follow Me*. Random House, 1960; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in1volume]. Paperback reprints: Ace ca. #G518, 1965, bound with The Opening Door; Macfadden, 1971. Advance newspaper appearance: Star Weekly [Toronto], May 21, 1960.

  Certain Sleep*. Random House, 1961; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprints: Ace Double #G-528, ca.1965, bound with Ding Dong Bell; Macfadden, 1971; Manor , 1974. Advance newspaper appearance: Star Weekly [Toronto], June 17, 1961.

  The Day She Died*. Random House, 1962; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprints: Ace #G-536, ca.1965; Macfadden, 1970.

  Books written as by Kieran Abbey.

  Run with the Hare. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1941. Comment: Extremely scarce. The two copies listed on ABE are priced at $175 and $300 respectively.

  And Let the Coffin Pass. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1942. Comment: Also very scarce, but the three copies listed on ABE range in price from $49.50 to only $70.

  Beyond the Dark. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1944; hardcover reprint: Detective Book Club, n.d. [3-in-1 volume]. Paperback reprint: Dell #93, ca.1945, mapback.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One - An Old Love Comes Calling

  Chapter Two - A Momentous Announcement

  Chapter Three - Christopher McKee Takes Over

  Chapter Four - A Missing Bloodstained Envelope

  Chapter Five - A Perfect Fit

  Chapter Six - Who Took the Leopard?

  Chapter Seven - A Plausible Explanation

  Chapter Eight - A Seemingly Unimportant Matter

  Chapter Nine - Two for the Price of One

  Chapter Ten - Stephen Has a Plan

  Chapter Eleven - Too Much Police Vigilance

  Chapter Twelve - A Telltale Green Scarf

  Chapter Thirteen - A Murderer in Their Midst

  Chapter Fourteen - Heiress on Paper Only

  Chapter Fifteen - A Discovery About the Leopard

  Chapter Sixteen - Time Turns Back Two Years

  Chapter Seventeen - Two Murders to Solve

  Chapter Eighteen - A Nocturnal Footstep

  Chapter Nineteen - Dutch Pete Appears Again

  Chapter Twenty - Murder at the Cottage

  Chapter Twenty-One - Fourth Attempt at Murder

  Chapter Twenty-Two - Fitting the Pieces Together

  About Helen Reilly

  Bibliography