Read Online The King is Dead by Ellery Queen - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ellery Queen
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Residence.
The Inspector, however, had developed a pugnacious jaw. âIâm going to see how far theyâll let me go. Where do you suppose the royal garage is?â
âGarage?â
âIâm borrowing a car.â
He went out, his jaw preceding him, and Ellery did not see him until late afternoon.
Ellery prowled about the five-armed building alone. It took him all morning to make its acquaintance. Certainly he made the acquaintance of nothing more animate, for he saw none of the Bendigo family during his tour and the servants in livery and minor officials of the household whom he ran across ignored him with suspicious unanimity.
He was stopped only once, and that was on the top floor of the central building. Here there were armed guards in uniform, and their captain was politely inflexible.
âThese are the private apartments of the family, sir. No one is allowed to enter except by special permission.â
âWell, of course I shouldnât want to blunder into anyoneâs bathroom, but I was given to understand by Mr. Abel Bendigo that I could go anywhere.â
âI have received no orders to admit you to this floor, Mr. Queen.â
So Ellery meekly went back to the lowlier regions.
He looked in on the state dining-room, the grand ballroom, salons, reception rooms, trophy rooms, galleries, kitchens, wine cellars, servantsâ quarters, storerooms, even closets. There was an oak-and-leather library of twenty thousand volumes, uniformly bound in black Levant morocco and stamped with the twin-globes-and-crown, which more and more took on the colour of a coat-of-arms. The standardization of the books themselves, many of them rare editions raped of their original bindings, made Ellery cringe. None that he sampled showed the least sign of use.
Shortly before noon Ellery found himself in a music salon, dominated by a platform at one end large enough to accommodate a symphony orchestra. In the centre of this stage glittered a concert grand piano sheathed in gold. Wondering if this splendid instrument was in tune, Ellery climbed to the platform, opened the piano, and struck middle C. An unmusical clank answered him. He struck a chord in the middle register. This time the horrid jangle that resulted impressed him as far too extreme to be accounted for by mere neglect, and he raised the top of the piano.
Six sealed bottles, identical in every respect, lay in a neat row on the strings.
He took one out with curiosity. It was bell-shaped, with a slender neck, and of very dark green glass, so dark as to be opaque. The antiqued label identified the contents as Segonzac V.S.O.P. Cognac . The heavy seal was unbroken, as were the seals of its five brothers, at which Ellery sighed. He had never had the good fortune to savour Segonzac Very Special Old Pale Cognac, for the excellent reason that Segonzac Very Special Old Pale Cognac was priced â where it could be found at all â at almost fifty dollars the bottle. He replaced the heavy glass bell on its harmonious bed and lowered the top of the grand piano with reverence.
A man who cached six bottles of cognac in a grand piano was an alcoholic. The middle Bendigo brother, Judah, had been reported by the Inspectorâs military tête-à -tête as an alcoholic. It seemed a reasonable conclusion that this was Judah Bendigoâs cache. The incident also told something of the musicality of the Bendigo household, but since this was of a piece with the evidence of the library, Ellery was not surprised.
Apparently Judah Bendigo scorned his brotherâs vineyards. Unless the Segonzac label was another possession of the all-powerful King ⦠It was a point Ellery never did clear up.
The discovery in the music salon led Ellery to poke and pry. An alcoholic who hides bottles in one place will hide them in another. He was not disappointed.
He found bottles of Segonzac V.S.O.P. hidden everywhere he looked. Seven turned up in the
The Inspector, however, had developed a pugnacious jaw. âIâm going to see how far theyâll let me go. Where do you suppose the royal garage is?â
âGarage?â
âIâm borrowing a car.â
He went out, his jaw preceding him, and Ellery did not see him until late afternoon.
Ellery prowled about the five-armed building alone. It took him all morning to make its acquaintance. Certainly he made the acquaintance of nothing more animate, for he saw none of the Bendigo family during his tour and the servants in livery and minor officials of the household whom he ran across ignored him with suspicious unanimity.
He was stopped only once, and that was on the top floor of the central building. Here there were armed guards in uniform, and their captain was politely inflexible.
âThese are the private apartments of the family, sir. No one is allowed to enter except by special permission.â
âWell, of course I shouldnât want to blunder into anyoneâs bathroom, but I was given to understand by Mr. Abel Bendigo that I could go anywhere.â
âI have received no orders to admit you to this floor, Mr. Queen.â
So Ellery meekly went back to the lowlier regions.
He looked in on the state dining-room, the grand ballroom, salons, reception rooms, trophy rooms, galleries, kitchens, wine cellars, servantsâ quarters, storerooms, even closets. There was an oak-and-leather library of twenty thousand volumes, uniformly bound in black Levant morocco and stamped with the twin-globes-and-crown, which more and more took on the colour of a coat-of-arms. The standardization of the books themselves, many of them rare editions raped of their original bindings, made Ellery cringe. None that he sampled showed the least sign of use.
Shortly before noon Ellery found himself in a music salon, dominated by a platform at one end large enough to accommodate a symphony orchestra. In the centre of this stage glittered a concert grand piano sheathed in gold. Wondering if this splendid instrument was in tune, Ellery climbed to the platform, opened the piano, and struck middle C. An unmusical clank answered him. He struck a chord in the middle register. This time the horrid jangle that resulted impressed him as far too extreme to be accounted for by mere neglect, and he raised the top of the piano.
Six sealed bottles, identical in every respect, lay in a neat row on the strings.
He took one out with curiosity. It was bell-shaped, with a slender neck, and of very dark green glass, so dark as to be opaque. The antiqued label identified the contents as Segonzac V.S.O.P. Cognac . The heavy seal was unbroken, as were the seals of its five brothers, at which Ellery sighed. He had never had the good fortune to savour Segonzac Very Special Old Pale Cognac, for the excellent reason that Segonzac Very Special Old Pale Cognac was priced â where it could be found at all â at almost fifty dollars the bottle. He replaced the heavy glass bell on its harmonious bed and lowered the top of the grand piano with reverence.
A man who cached six bottles of cognac in a grand piano was an alcoholic. The middle Bendigo brother, Judah, had been reported by the Inspectorâs military tête-à -tête as an alcoholic. It seemed a reasonable conclusion that this was Judah Bendigoâs cache. The incident also told something of the musicality of the Bendigo household, but since this was of a piece with the evidence of the library, Ellery was not surprised.
Apparently Judah Bendigo scorned his brotherâs vineyards. Unless the Segonzac label was another possession of the all-powerful King ⦠It was a point Ellery never did clear up.
The discovery in the music salon led Ellery to poke and pry. An alcoholic who hides bottles in one place will hide them in another. He was not disappointed.
He found bottles of Segonzac V.S.O.P. hidden everywhere he looked. Seven turned up in the
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