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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9796-8.txt b/9796-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3742917 --- /dev/null +++ b/9796-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11179 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Master Detective, by Percy James Brebner + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Master Detective + Being Some Further Investigations of Christopher Quarles + +Author: Percy James Brebner + +Posting Date: December 5, 2011 [EBook #9796] +Release Date: January, 2006 +First Posted: October 17, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASTER DETECTIVE *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + + THE MASTER DETECTIVE + + _Being Some Further Investigations of Christopher Quarles_ + + + + BY PERCY JAMES BREBNER + + AUTHOR OF "CHRISTOPHER QUARLES." + + 1916 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE STRANGE CASE OF SIR GRENVILLE RUSHOLM + II. THE KIDNAPING OF EVA WILKINSON + III. THE DELVERTON AFFAIR + IV. THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE IN MANLEIGH ROAD + V. THE DIFFICULTY OF BROTHER PYTHAGORAS + VI. THE TRAGEDY IN DUKE'S MANSIONS + VII. THE STOLEN AEROPLANE MODEL + VIII. THE AFFAIR OF THE CONTESSA'S PEARLS + IX. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MADAME VATROTSKI + X. THE MYSTERY OF THE MAN AT WARBURTON'S + XI. THE STRANGE CASE OF DANIEL HARDIMAN + XII. THE CRIME IN THE YELLOW TAXI + XIII. THE AFFAIR OF THE JEWELED CHALICE + XIV. THE ADVENTURE OF THE FORTY-TON YAWL + XV. THE SOLUTION OF THE GRANGE PARK MYSTERY + + + + +THE MASTER DETECTIVE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE STRANGE CASE OF SIR GRENVILLE RUSHOLM + + +Sir Grenville Rusholm, Baronet, was dead. The blinds were down at the +Lodge, Queen's Square. For the last few days lengthy obituary notices had +appeared in all the papers, innumerable wreaths and crosses had arrived +at the house, and letters of sympathy and condolence had poured in upon +Lady Rusholm. The dead man had filled a considerable space in the social +world, although politically he had counted for little. Politics were not +his metier, he had said. He had consistently refused to stand for +parliament, his wealth had supported neither party, and perhaps his +social success was due more to his wife's charm than to his own +importance. + +To-day the funeral was to take place. By his own desire his body was not +being taken to Moorlands, the family seat in Gloucestershire, but was to +be buried at Woking. The family chapel did not appeal to him. Indeed, he +had never spent much of his time at Moorlands, preferring his yacht or +the Continent when he was not at Queen's Square. + +Last night the coffin had been brought downstairs and placed in the large +drawing-room, the scene of many a brilliant function, although by day it +was a somewhat dreary apartment. The presence of the coffin there added +to the depression, and the scent of the flowers was almost overpowering. + +Many of the mourners were going direct to Woking, but there was a large +number of guests at the house who were received by the young baronet. +Naturally, Sir Arthur was of a sunny disposition, and his personality and +expectations had made him a favorite in society since he had left +Cambridge a year ago. To-day his face was more than grave. It was drawn +as if he were in physical pain, and it was evident how keenly he felt his +father's death. Lady Rusholm did not appear until the undertakers entered +the house. She came down the wide stairs, a pathetic figure in her deep +mourning, heavier than present-day fashion has made customary. She spoke +to no one, but went straight to the drawing-room and, standing just +inside the doorway, watched the men whose business is with death, as if +she feared some indignity might be offered to her dear one. In a few +moments her husband must pass out of that room for ever, and it was +hardly wonderful if she visualized for an instant the many occasions on +which he had been a central figure there. + +The bearers stooped to lift the coffin from the trestles on to their +shoulders, then they straightened themselves under their burden, but they +did not move, at least only to start slightly, while their faces changed +from gravity to horror. Lady Rusholm uttered a short cry, and there was +consternation in the faces of the guests in the hall. There could be no +mistake; the sound, though dull and muffled, was too loud for that. It +was a knock from inside the coffin. + +The man in charge whispered to the bearers. No, none of them had +inadvertently caused the sound. The coffin was replaced on the trestles, +and for a moment there was silence. No one moved; every one was waiting +for that knock again. It did not come. + +The chief man stood looking at the coffin, then at the carpet, and, after +some hesitation, he crossed the room to Sir Arthur, who stood in the +doorway beside his mother. + +"Was--was anything put into the coffin?" he whispered. "Something which +Sir Grenville wished buried with him, something which may have slipped?" + +"No." + +"I think--I think the coffin should be opened," whispered Dr. Coles, the +family physician. + +"But he is dead! You know he is dead, doctor!" + +"A trance--sometimes a mistake may happen, Sir Arthur. It was a distinct +knock. The coffin should certainly be opened." + +"And quickly--quickly!" + +It was Lady Rusholm who spoke, in a strained and unnatural voice. + +Sir Arthur tried to persuade his mother to leave the room while this +was done, but she would not go. With a great effort she calmed herself +and remained with her son, the doctor, and two or three guests while +the coffin was unscrewed. The lid was lifted off, and for a moment no +one spoke. + +"Empty!" the doctor cried. + +As he spoke Lady Rusholm swayed backwards, and would have fallen had not +her son caught her. + +There were two masses of lead in the coffin. There was no body. + +Sir Arthur Rusholm immediately communicated with Scotland Yard, and the +utter confusion which followed this gruesome discovery had only partially +subsided when I, Murray Wigan, entered the house to enquire into a +mystery which was certainly amongst the most remarkable I have ever had +to investigate. + +Some of those invited to the funeral had left the house before I +arrived, but the more personal friends were still there, and the story +as I have set it down was corroborated by different people with a wealth +of detail which seemed to leave nothing unsaid. Besides interviewing Sir +Arthur and the doctor, I saw Lady Rusholm for a few moments. She was +exceedingly agitated, as was natural, and I only asked her one or two +questions of a quite unimportant nature, but I was glad to see her. I +like to get into personal touch with the various people connected with +my cases as soon as possible. + +I was in the house two hours or more, questioning servants, examining +doors and windows, and, to be candid, my investigations told me little. +When I left Queen's Square I knew I had a complex affair to deal with, +and it was natural my thoughts should fly to the one man who might help +me. If I could only interest Christopher Quarles in the case! + +I remember speaking casually of a well-known person once and being met +with the question: Who is he? It may be that some of you have never heard +of Christopher Quarles, professor of philosophy, and one of the most +astute crime investigators of this or any other time. It has been my +privilege to chronicle some of our adventures together, and his help has +been of infinite benefit to me. Without it, not only should I have failed +to elucidate some of those mysteries the solving of which have made me a +power in the detective force, but I should never have seen his +granddaughter, Zena, who is shortly to become my wife. + +For some months past the professor had given me no assistance at all. +He would not be interested in my cases, and would not enter the empty +room in his house in Chelsea where we had had so many discussions. It +was a fad of his that he could think more clearly in this room, which +had only three chairs and an old writing table in it, yet perhaps I +ought not to call it a fad, remembering the results of some of our +consultations there. + +Months ago we had investigated a curious case in which jewels had been +concealed in a wooden leg. The solution had brought us a considerable +reward, and upon receiving the money Quarles had declared he would +investigate no more crimes. He had kept his word, had locked up the empty +room, and although I think I had sorely tempted him to break his vow on +more than one occasion, I had never quite succeeded. + +As I got into a taxi I considered how very seldom it is that the ruling +passion ever dies. The Queen's Square mystery ought to shake Quarles's +resolution if anything could. + +Zena was out when I got to Chelsea, but the professor seemed pleased +to see me. + +"Are you out of work, Wigan?" he asked, looking at the clock. + +I did not want him to think I had come with any deliberate intention, so +I answered casually: + +"No. As a fact I am rather busy. I came out to Chelsea to think. Chelsea +air is rather good for thinking, you know." + +"It used to be," he answered. "I'm glad I have given up criminal +hunting, Wigan." + +"I still find excitement in it," I answered carelessly, "and really I +think criminals have grown cleverer since your time." + +He looked at me sharply. I thought the remark would pique his curiosity. + +"That means you have had some failures lately." + +"On the contrary, I have been remarkably successful." + +"Glad to hear it," he returned. "What makes you say criminals are more +clever then?" + +"The Queen's Square Mystery." + +"I don't read the papers as carefully as I did," he remarked. + +"It only happened this morning," I answered. "I daresay you noticed that +Sir Grenville Rusholm died the other day. Some one has stolen his body, +that is all." + +"Stolen his--" + +"Yes, it is rather a curious case, but we won't talk about it. I know +that sort of thing doesn't interest you now." + +I talked of other things--anything and everything--but I noted that he +was restless and uninterested. + +"What did Sir Grenville die of?" he asked suddenly. + +"A sudden and most unexpected collapse after influenza." + +"And the body has been stolen?" + +"Yes." + +"I should like to hear about it, Wigan." + +I hesitated until he began to get angry, and then I told him the story as +I have told it here. I had just finished when Zena came in. + +"You, Murray! What has brought you here at this hour of the day?" she +asked in astonishment. + +"Two pieces of lead," murmured Quarles. + +"A case! Have you got interested in a case, dear? I am glad. What is the +mystery, Murray?" + +"Where is the key of my room, Zena?" Quarles asked. + +She took it from the drawer in a cabinet. + +"I am not going to begin again," said the professor, "but this--this +is an exception. Come with us, Zena. Come and ask some of your absurd +questions. I wonder whether my brain is atrophied. There are cleverer +criminals than there used to be in my time, are there, Wigan? We +shall see." + +He led the way to the empty room at the back of the house, muttering to +himself the while, and Zena and I smiled at each other behind his back as +we followed him. He was like an old dog on the trail again, and I did not +believe for a moment this case would be an exception. + +"Tell the story, Wigan," he said when we were seated. "All the details, +mind, great and small." + +So I went through the facts again. + +"I made a careful study of the house and garden," I went on. "The Lodge +is a corner house, the garden is small, and a garage with an opening into +the other road--Connaught Road--has been built there. A 'Napier' car was +in the garage." + +"Did you see the chauffeur?" asked Quarles. + +"Yes. The car had not been used for a week. I could find no trace of an +entry having been made from the garden, but the latch of one of the +French windows of the drawing-room was unfastened. When I saw it this +window could be pushed open from outside. No one seems to have undone it +that morning, so the fact is significant." + +Quarles nodded. + +"Besides the servants only five people slept in the house that +night--Lady Rusholm, her son, two elderly ladies--cousins of Sir +Grenville's who had come from Yorkshire for the funeral--and a Mr. +Thompson, a friend of the family who was staying in the house when Sir +Grenville died." + +"Who closed the windows after the body was taken to the drawing-room?" +asked Quarles. + +"One of the undertaker's men." + +"Is he positive he fastened them?" + +"He is, but under the circumstances he is not anxious to swear to it." + +"And the door of the room, had that been kept locked?" + +"Yes. The key was in Sir Arthur's possession." + +"Who first entered the room this morning?" + +"Sir Arthur when he took in two or three wreaths which arrived late last +night. The room was just as it had been left on the previous day. The +wreaths and crosses were not disarranged in any way." + +"And there were only two pieces of lead in the coffin when it was +opened?" queried Zena. + +"A large lump and a small one," I answered. + +"Couldn't they have been packed in such a way that they would not +have slipped?" + +"Of course they could. No doubt that was the intention, but the work was +badly done because the thieves did it hurriedly," I answered. + +"One of your foolish questions, Zena," said Quarles, looking keenly at +her. He always declared that her foolish inquiries put him on the +right road. + +"It is a good thing the lead did slip, or the gruesome theft might never +have been discovered," she said. + +"Was the coffin a very elaborate one?" Quarles asked, after nodding an +acquiescence to Zena's remark. + +"No, quite a plain one." + +"Has the drawing-room more than one door?" + +"Only one into the hall. There is a small room out of the +drawing-room--a small drawing-room in fact. Lady Rusholm does her +correspondence there. It can only be reached by going through the large +room, and the door between the rooms was locked. Sir Arthur got the key +from his mother and opened the door for me." + +"What could any one want with a dead body?" asked Zena. + +"If we could answer that question we should be nearing the end of the +affair," said Quarles. "Years ago there were two men--Burke and +Hare--who--" + +"Oh, the day of resurrectionists is past," I said. + +"Don't be so dogmatic," returned Quarles sharply. "A corpse has been +stolen; can you suggest any use a corpse can be put to if it is not to +serve some anatomical or medical purpose? Remember, Wigan, that mentally +and materially there is always a tendency to move in a circle. What has +been will be again--altered according to environment--but practically the +same. Always start with the assumption that a similar case has happened +before. Our difficulties would be much greater if Solomon had been wrong, +and there were constantly new things under the sun. Undoubtedly there are +some interesting points in this case. Have you arrived at a theory?" + +"No, at least only a very vague one. Sir Arthur seems certain that his +father had no enemies, and my theory would require an enemy; some one +who, having failed to injure him in life, had found an opportunity of +wreaking vengeance on the dead clay by preventing the body having +Christian burial." + +"That is a very interesting idea, Wigan; go on." + +"I daresay you remember that the Rusholm baronetcy caused some excitement +about twenty years ago. The papers have recalled it in connection with +Sir Grenville's death. Sir John Rusholm--the baronet at that time--was a +very old man, and during the two years before his death several relations +died. He had no son living, so the heir was a nephew, the son of a much +younger brother who had gone to Australia and died there. This nephew had +not been heard of for a long time, and as soon as he became the heir, Sir +John advertised for him in the Australian papers. There was no answer, +and the Yorkshire Rusholms, who are poor, expected to inherit. Then at +the very time when Sir John was on his death-bed news came of the nephew. +He had been in India for some years, had proposed there, had married and +had a son. There had been so many lives between him and the title that he +had thought nothing about it until a chance acquaintance had shown him +the advertisement in an old Australian paper. He wrote that he was +starting for England at once, but Sir John was dead when he arrived. That +is how Sir Grenville came into the property." + +"Was his claim disputed?" asked Zena. + +"Oh, no, there was no question about it. He had family papers which only +the nephew could possibly have, and you may depend the Yorkshire Rusholms +would have found a flaw in the title if they could. Their disappointment +must have been great, and if I could discover that Sir Grenville had an +enemy amongst them--some relation he had refused to help, for instance--I +should want to know all about him." + +"Yours is a very interesting idea," said Quarles. "Do you happen to know +who Lady Rusholm was?" + +"The daughter of a tea planter in Ceylon. Her social success here has +been very great, as you know." + +"A very charming woman I should say," said the professor. "I saw her +once--not many months ago. She was distributing the prizes at a technical +institute in North London. I remember how well she spoke, and what an +exceedingly poor second the chairman was in spite of his being a Member +of Parliament. You have got a constable at The Lodge, I suppose?" + +"Two. I have given instructions that no one is to be allowed in the room, +on any pretext whatever." + +"Good. You and I will go there to-morrow. I'll be your assistant, +Wigan--say an expert in finger prints. I'll meet you outside The Lodge at +ten o'clock. There are so many clues in this case, the difficulty is to +know which one to follow, I must have a few quiet hours to decide." + +I smiled. It was like Quarles to make such a statement, especially after +I had declared that criminals were becoming cleverer. Never were clues +more conspicuous by their absence, I imagine. I was, however, delighted +to have the professor's help. It was like old times. + +The next morning I met Quarles in Queen's Square, and his appearance was +proof of his enthusiasm. He posed as rather a feeble, inquisitive old man +who could talk of nothing but finger prints and their significance. Sir +Arthur was evidently not impressed with his ability to solve any mystery. +When we entered the drawing-room he seemed lost in admiration of the +apartment, and did not even glance at the open coffin which stood on the +trestles. He walked to the window, drew aside the blind, and looked into +the garden. Then he looked into the small room. + +"No other exit here but the window. An entrance might have been made by +that window." + +"The door between the two rooms was locked," said Sir Arthur. "I had to +get the key from my mother when Mr. Wigan wanted to go in. It is my +mother's special room, but she had been so occupied in nursing my father +that she had not used it for more than a week." + +Then Quarles looked at the wreaths, wanted to know which ones had been +left near the coffin when the room was locked for the night, and the +wreaths which Sir Arthur pointed out he examined carefully. Then he +pointed to a large cross lying on an armchair. + +"Has that one been there all the time?" + +Sir Arthur explained that two or three wreaths had come late in the +evening. He had himself brought them into the room on the morning of the +funeral. That cross was one of them. + +"Ah, it is a pity you didn't bring them in that night. You might have +surprised the villains at work." + +"We were in bed by eleven. Do you imagine they began before that?" + +"Possibly," said Quarles, as he turned his attention to the coffin. He +examined the lid with a lens, for the finger marks, he said, which one +might expect to find near the screw holes. Then he studied the sides of +the coffin. The two pieces of lead did not appear to interest him very +much, but he asked me to push the smaller piece from the foot of the +coffin. He examined the lining, felt the padding, tried its thickness +with the point of a penknife, and in doing so he slit the lining. + +"Sorry," he said. "My old hands are not as steady as they used to be. +Quite a thick padding, and quite a substantial coffin." + +He had brought out some of the padding with his knife, and this left part +of the floor of the coffin near the foot visible. This he tapped with the +handle of his penknife to test its thickness. + +"Quite an ordinary coffin--plain but good," he went on, looking at the +brass fittings. + +"It was my father's wish that it should be so," said Sir Arthur. + +"Strange what a lot of trouble some men take about their funerals, +while others never trouble at all," said the professor, looking round +the room again. "I suppose, Sir Arthur, like the rest of us your father +had enemies." + +"Not that I know of." + +"An old rival, for instance, in your mother's affections." + +"There was nothing of the kind. Mr. Thompson, who is still in the +house--you saw him yesterday, Mr. Wigan--will endorse this. He knew my +mother before her marriage." + +"Still, some people must have envied your father. But for him, another +branch of the family would have inherited the estates, I understand. Has +he always been on friendly terms with this branch of the family?" + +"Always, and has helped them considerably." + +"Experience teaches us that it is often the most difficult thing to +forgive those who do us favors," said Quarles sententiously. + +"Do you believe that some one out of wanton cruelty has stolen the body +with no purpose beyond mere revenge?" + +"It looks like it, Sir Arthur. The body will probably be discovered +presently. Possibly the thief will furnish you with a clue so that you +may know he or she has taken revenge. I am afraid there is nothing to be +done but to wait. I feel greatly for Lady Rusholm." + +"The waiting will be dreadful. I am trying to persuade my mother to go +away at once." + +"Why not? You will remain in London, of course. Your father's papers may +throw some light on the mystery." + +"I have interviewed lawyers, and I have already gone through some of his +private papers. I do not think any light will come that way. Do you want +to look at anything else in the house?" + +"I think not," I said. + +"My specialty is finger prints," said Quarles, "nothing else. In this +case my specialty has proved useless." When we left the house Quarles +turned toward Connaught Road. + +"Is it your real opinion that the only thing to do is to wait?" I asked. + +"Let's go and see if we can find any more finger prints," he chuckled. + +The garage was shut. Cut into the big gates was a small door. + +"Not a difficult lock," said Quarles. "I may have a key that will fit it. +We must get in somehow." + +"There is a door into the garage from the garden. We could have gone +that way." + +"And advertised ourselves to the servants. I wanted to avoid that." + +He found a key to open the door, and he made no pretense of looking for +finger prints now. He examined the car. It was a big one--open--with a +cape hood--capable of carrying five or six persons besides the driver. +He was interested in the seating accommodation, and the make of the car +generally. There was a window which had a shutter to it high up in the +garage looking into the side road, and a small window at the back +looking into the garden which had no shutter. Quarles got on a stool to +examine the frame of this window, and then inspected the cloths for +cleaning and the towels which were in the garage. + +"Come on. The interest of this place is soon exhausted," he said. + +In less than a quarter of an hour we were walking along Connaught +Road again. + +"By the way, what is Dr. Coles's address?" asked Quarles. + +I gave it to him. It was a turning off Connaught Road. + +"I shall go and see him, and then I have a call to make elsewhere. Come +to Chelsea to-night, Wigan. Take my word for it, criminals are no +cleverer than they used to be." + +When I went to Chelsea that evening I found the professor and Zena +waiting for me in the empty room. He was evidently impatient to talk. + +"My brain may possibly require oiling, Wigan, but Zena's questions are +just as absurd as they ever were," he began. "She wanted to know why the +lead had been packed so carelessly, and what use a dead body could be to +any one. No bad points of departure for an inquiry. Now, when the coffin +was opened after the knock had been heard, a little sawdust from the +screw holes fell on the carpet. It was there when we went into the room +this morning. We may reasonably argue that some sawdust must have fallen +when the coffin was opened during the night. But no one seems to have +noticed it." + +"It might easily have escaped casual notice even if the thieves neglected +to remove it, which is unlikely," I returned. + +"It would not be so easy to remove, for the carpet is a thick one, and +the thieves would be in a hurry, you know. Also there were wreaths about +and I could find no trace of sawdust in them. But further, the screw +holes show a clear, perfect thread which one would hardly expect if the +coffin had been opened and closed again. Small points, but they promote +speculation. Yesterday, before I met you in Queen's Square, I went to see +the undertakers, and the man who was in charge of the arrangements says +emphatically that there was no sign of the coffin having been opened. A +little sawdust was the first thing he looked for." + +"Are you trying to prove that the lead was already in the coffin when it +was taken to the drawing-room?" I asked. + +"No. I am only trying to show that it is doubtful whether the coffin was +opened in the drawing-room." + +"The change could not have been made in the bedroom, or the lead would +have slipped during the journey downstairs," I said. + +"I agree, and we are therefore forced to the assumption that the body was +actually carried to the drawing-room, yet we are doubtful whether the +coffin was opened there." + +"I have no doubt," I returned. + +"That is a mistake on your part, Wigan. Doubts are often the forerunners +of convictions. My doubt led me to a curious discovery. When I went to +the undertaker's I saw the men who actually made the coffin. It was a +very plain coffin, less expensive than might have been expected for a man +in Sir Grenville's position. Now one of the men, in answer to a careful +question or two, mentioned a curious fact. In the floor of the coffin, +close to the foot of it, there was a wart in the wood. This morning you +saw me slit the lining and remove some of the padding. There was no wart +in the floor of the coffin, Wigan." + +"You mean the coffins were changed?" said Zena. + +"I do. One with the body in it was removed, and another with lead in it +was placed on the trestles in its stead. The plainer the coffin the +easier it would be to duplicate it by description. The makers of the +second coffin would not have the original before them to copy, you must +remember." + +"But only Lady Rusholm and her son could possess the necessary knowledge +to give such a duplicate order," I said. + +"You forget Mr. Thompson. He was an intimate friend, and staying in the +house at the time." + +"I do not understand why the lead was not packed securely," said Zena. + +"It puzzles me," said Quarles. "I could only find one answer. It was such +an obvious blunder that it must have been intentional. The lumps of lead +endorsed this idea. Whilst the large piece was flat and difficult to +move, the small piece was like a ball and meant to roll and strike the +side the moment the coffin was moved. It was presumably necessary that +the theft should be discovered, and your ingenious idea of a revengeful +enemy appealed to me, Wigan. I elaborated the idea to Sir Arthur, you +will remember." + +I had nothing to say--no fault to find with his argument so far. Quarles +rather enjoyed my silence, I fancy. + +"Sir Arthur unconsciously gave me a great deal of information," he went +on. "First, it was curious that the wreaths which came that night should +be left in the hall. It would have been more natural to place them in +the drawing-room. Why were they not put there? It looked as if there were +a desire not to open the room again. Another wreath might have come later +when it would have been very inconvenient to open the door, and not to +have put the other wreath into the room might have caused comment in the +light of after events. Again, influenza is a fairly common complaint, and +Sir Grenville died of a sudden and unexpected collapse; yet Sir Arthur +said it was by his father's desire that the coffin was plain. A man +suffering from influenza does not expect to die, and it seemed strange to +me that he should arrange details of his funeral. By itself it is not a +very important point, since Sir Grenville's wishes may have been known +for a long time, but almost in the same breath, emphasis was laid on the +fact that Lady Rusholm had not used the small room out of the +drawing-room for more than a week. Why not? There was absolutely no +reason why she should not continue to do her correspondence there, since +her husband was not seriously ill and could not require constant nursing. +I think an excuse was wanted for locking up that room, and I believe you +will find that none of the servants have entered the room during this +period, and that the blind has been down all the time. I believe the +duplicate coffin was hidden there." + +"But how was the duplicate coffin got into the house?" asked Zena. + +"In much the same way as the real coffin was got out of it, I imagine. +You remember the arrangement of the motor, Wigan; its size and swivel +seats give ample room to put the coffin on the floor of the car. In the +dead of night the coffin was carried across the garden, placed in the car +and driven away. On some previous night the same car had driven away and +brought back the duplicate coffin." + +"The chauffeur said the car had not been out for a week," I said. + +"So far as he knew," Quarles returned. "It was cleaned afterwards. There +is a shutter to the window in Connaught Road, and over the window looking +into the garden one of the towels had been nailed, clumsily, and with +large nails which were still on a shelf. I found the towel with the nail +holes in it." + +"Where was the body taken?" asked Zena. + +"That I do not know." + +"And what was the use of it to any one?" + +"Ah, I think I can answer that," said Quarles. "I had an interesting talk +with Dr. Coles after I left you to-day, Wigan. He told me he was not +altogether surprised at Sir Grenville's sudden collapse. The attack of +influenza was comparatively slight, but when Mr. Thompson arrived +unexpectedly from India it was evident to the doctor that he had brought +bad news. Both Sir Grenville and his wife were worried. Coles says Sir +Grenville was a man of a nervous temperament, who would have been utterly +lost without his wife. The doctor believes the sudden worry occasioned +the collapse." + +"He had no suspicion of suicide, I suppose?" + +"As a matter of form I put the question to him. I even suggested the +possibility of foul play. He scouted both ideas, and enlarged upon the +affectionate relations which existed between husband and wife. He +imagined the trouble had something to do with financial affairs. To-day, +you will remember, Wigan, Sir Arthur spoke about his mother going away. +That is not quite in keeping with the rest of her actions. We have ample +testimony and proof that Lady Rusholm is courageous and resourceful. Dr. +Coles is greatly impressed with her character; her personality appealed +to me when I heard her speak at the technical institute. She would be +present when the undertakers were removing the body, which is not +customary. She remained while the coffin was opened, and although she +apparently fainted--it was her son who caught her, remember--she saw you +soon afterwards. It seems to me two questions naturally ask themselves. +What was the ill news Mr. Thompson brought from India? Was Lady Rusholm +prepared for that knock from the coffin?" + +"We are becoming speculative, indeed," I said. + +"Are we? Consider for a moment the amount of evidence we have that the +theft of the body could only be contrived with the knowledge and help of +Lady Rusholm, her son, or Mr. Thompson; or, which is more likely, by the +connivance of all three. Then try to imagine their purpose. What use +could they make of a dead body? Why take such trouble that the theft +should be discovered?" + +"We have not accumulated enough facts to tell us," I answered. + +"I think we may indulge in a guess," said Quarles. "Sir Grenville, on his +own showing, had not expected to come into the title. Has it occurred to +you, Wigan, how exceedingly complete his claim was? Every possible doubt +seems to have been considered and arranged for. It was almost too +complete. Now, supposing Sir Grenville was not really Sir Grenville +Rusholm, supposing he had acquired the family knowledge and papers from +the real man--when that man was dying, perhaps--and in due time used +them to claim the estates. For about twenty years he has enjoyed the +result of his fraud, his intimate friend, Mr. Thompson, being in his +confidence, and very likely receiving some of the spoil. Suddenly Mr. +Thompson learns that some one else knows the secret, and hurries to +England to warn Sir Grenville." + +"But why steal the body?" asked Zena. + +"On leaving Dr. Coles, Wigan, I went to see Professor Sayle, who, with +the exception of the German physician Hauptmann, probably knows more +about oriental diseases and medicine than any man living. He proved to me +that it is possible by means of a certain vegetable drug to produce +apparent death. Fakirs often use it. The ordinary medical man would +certainly be deceived. Ultimately actual death would ensue were not the +antidote to the drug administered, but the suspension of life will +continue for a considerable time." + +"It is pure speculation," I said. + +"We have got to explain the theft of a dead body. I explain it by saying +there was no dead body," said Quarles sharply, as if I were denying a +self-evident fact. "I go still further. Judging by Coles's description of +the man calling himself Sir Grenville, I doubt his courage for carrying +through either the original fraud or the plan of escape. I believe his +wife was the moving spirit throughout, and it is quite possible the drug +was administered without her husband's knowledge." + +"And where is the body now?" asked Zena. + +"I do not know, but you tempt me to guesswork. Sir Grenville was a keen +yachtsman, and probably he is on board his yacht still resting in his +coffin, waiting for his wife to bring the antidote to the drug. His son +and Mr. Thompson took the body that night in the car. There must have +been two of them to deal with the burden, for I imagine the yacht had no +crew on her at the time. They would hardly take others into their +confidence. As everything had to be accomplished between eleven o'clock +at night and before dawn the next day, I imagine the yacht was lying +somewhere in the Thames estuary. I grant this is guesswork, Wigan." + +"I do not see why it was necessary the theft should become known," I +said. + +"It would occasion delay in the settlement of the estate. It placed +difficulties in the way of the rightful heir, It would help to throw a +distinct doubt whether, in spite of all the evidence that might be +forthcoming, Sir Grenville had committed fraud. There was even a +possibility that the son might be left in possession after all. I daresay +we shall learn more when we tackle Lady Rusholm and her son to-morrow." + +When we went to Queen's Square next morning we found that Lady Rusholm +was gone. She had, in fact, already gone when her son told us he was +trying to persuade her to go. Mr. Thompson had left later in the day. + +We found that even Quarles's guesswork was very near the actual facts, +although he had hardly given Lady Rusholm sufficient credit for the +working out of the scheme. The real heir, Sir John's nephew, had died in +Ceylon before Baxter--that was Sir Grenville's real name--had married. On +his death-bed he had entrusted his papers to Baxter to send to England, +and Baxter had shown them to his future wife. The scheme came full grown +into her head. They left Ceylon to meet again in India, and there they +were married, Baxter giving his name as Grenville Rusholm. Thompson was +their only confidant. He could not be left out because he had known all +about Rusholm. There was one other who knew, but they believed him to be +dead. He was a wanderer, somewhat of a ne'er-do-well, and to Thompson's +consternation, after twenty years, he had turned up in Calcutta very much +alive. He was going to England to expose the fraud. He did not suspect +Thompson, who came to England first. + +All this we heard from the son who for a short hour or two had called +himself Sir Arthur Rusholm. He was able to prove quite conclusively that +he was in entire ignorance of the fraud until Thompson's arrival. His +mother confessed everything to him then. It was she who had planned how +to get out of the difficulty. The duplicate coffin had been made at +Harwich, for a yachtsman who was to be taken abroad to be buried, they +had explained, but it was brought to Queen's Square and hidden in the +small drawing-room as Quarles had surmised. It was only to spare his +mother and father that the son had entered into the scheme, and I fancy +Quarles was a little annoyed that he had not suspected this. + +Mrs. Baxter was not caught. Indeed, there were many people who +disbelieved the whole story of the fraud, even when the man who knew +arrived from India--a very strong proof of Mrs. Baxter's charm and +personality. I have heard from her son that she is in South America, and +that her husband is not dead. So far as I am aware the new baronet has +taken no steps to bring them to justice. + +As Quarles says, she is a genius, and it would be a thousand pities if +she were in prison. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE KIDNAPING OF EVA WILKINSON + + +The Queen's Square affair seemed to have exhausted Quarles's enthusiasm. +I tried to interest him in several cases without success, and I began to +think we really had done our last work together, when on his own +initiative he mentioned Ewart Wilkinson to me. He had a personal interest +in the man; I had only just heard his name. + +The multi-millionaire is not such a figure in this country as he is in +America, but Ewart Wilkinson was undoubtedly on the American scale. He +had made his money abroad, how or exactly where remained matters of +uncertainty, and if one were inclined to believe the stories told in +irresponsible journals, there must have been much in the past which he +found it wiser not to talk about. With such tales I have nothing to do. I +never met the millionaire, was, in fact, quite uninterested in him until +his wealth was concerned in a case which came into my hands. + +With Christopher Quarles it was different. For a few days on one occasion +he had stayed in the same house with the millionaire in Scotland, and had +been impressed with him. Wilkinson was rough, but a diamond under the +rough, according to Quarles. He may have had his own ideas of what +constituted legitimate business, but whatever his shortcomings, the +professor found in him a vein of sentiment which was attractive. He had +a passion for his only daughter which appealed to Quarles, partly, no +doubt, because it made him think of Zena, and there was a strain of +melancholy in him which made him apprehensive that his wealth would not +be altogether for his daughter's good. He had talked in this way to +Quarles. For all we knew to the contrary, conscience may have been +pricking him, but the fact remained that he was prophetic. + +Wherever and in whatever way Ewart Wilkinson made his money, he +undoubtedly had it. He rented a house in Mayfair, and purchased +Whiteladies in Berkshire. The Elizabethan house, built on to the partial +ruins of an old castle, has no doubt attracted many of you when motoring +through South Berkshire. Having bought a beautiful home, he looked for a +beautiful wife to put in it. Perhaps she was in the nature of a purchase, +too, for he married Miss Lavory, the only daughter of Sir Miles Lavory, +Bart., who put his pride in his pocket when he consented to an alliance +with mere millions. It was said that Miss Lavory was driven into the +match, but however this may be, Ewart Wilkinson proved a devoted husband, +and his wife had ten years of a happy married life in the midst of +luxury. She died when her daughter was eight. + +For ten years after her mother's death Eva Wilkinson and her father were +hardly ever separated, and then Ewart Wilkinson died suddenly. He left +practically the whole of his vast fortune to his daughter; and her uncle, +Mrs. Wilkinson's brother Michael, who had recently succeeded his father +in the baronetcy, was left her guardian. There was a curious clause in +the will. Wilkinson, possibly because one or two cases had happened in +America at the time the will was made--half a dozen years before his +death--seemed particularly afraid that the heiress might be kidnaped, +and her guardian was enjoined to watch over her in this respect +especially. Within six months of his death the very thing he feared +happened. Eva Wilkinson was at Whiteladies at the time with her +companion, Mrs. Reville. After dinner one evening she went alone on to +the terrace, and from that moment had entirely disappeared. A telegram +was sent that night to Sir Michael, who was in London, Scotland Yard was +informed, and the mystery was given me to solve. + +I had commenced my inquiries when on going to Chelsea in the evening +Quarles told me he had met Ewart Wilkinson about three years before, and +under the circumstances he was very interested in the mystery. + +"The fact that he was afraid of something happening to his daughter +suggests that he had some reason for his fear," I said. + +"It does, Wigan--it does! He mentioned this very thing to me three +years ago, and I thought then there was some one in his past of whom he +was afraid." + +"And his past seems to be a closed book," I returned. + +"Eva Wilkinson must be between eighteen and nineteen," Zena +remarked. "Kidnaping a girl of that age is a different thing from +kidnaping a child." + +"True!" said Quarles. + +"Isn't it more probable that she went away willingly?" said Zena. + +"You don't help me, my dear," said the professor with a frown, and the +suggestion seemed to irritate him. It stuck in his mind, however, for +when we went to see Sir Michael the idea was evidently behind his +first question. + +"Is there any love affair?" asked Quarles. "Any reason which might +possibly induce the girl to go away of her own accord?" + +The suggestion seemed to bring a ray of hope into Sir Michael's despair. + +"I think she is too sensible a girl to do anything of the kind, but there +was a little affair, not very serious on her side, I fancy, and there was +probably a desire for money on the man's part. Young Cayley has seen Eva +at intervals since they were children, but in her father's lifetime there +was no question of love. Directly after Wilkinson's death, however, +Edward Cayley came prominently on the scene. I talked to Eva about him, +and although she was inclined to be angry, I think it was rather with +herself than at my interference." + +"Cayley is quite a poor man, I presume?" said Quarles. + +"Yes; but that did not influence me. He is not the kind of man I should +like my niece to marry. Oh! I have nothing definite against him." + +"May I ask whether, as guardian, you have control over your niece's +choice?" I asked. + +"Until she is twenty-one, after that none at all," he answered. "If she +marries without my consent before she is of age, I am empowered to +distribute a million of money to certain specified hospitals and +charities. She has only to wait until she is twenty-one to do exactly as +she likes. It was my brother-in-law's way of ensuring that his daughter +should not act with undue haste. Perhaps, for my own sake, I ought to +explain that in no way, nor under any circumstances, can I benefit under +the will. When my sister married Mr. Wilkinson, he behaved very +generously to my father, paying off the mortgages on our estate; in +short, delivered us from a very difficult position. Naturally, we never +expected any place in the will, but I hear the omission has caused some +people to speculate, and now that this has happened there may be people +who will speculate about me personally." + +"You certainly have a very complete answer," I returned. "What is your +own opinion of your niece's disappearance?" + +"I think she has been kidnaped, possibly for the sake of ransom, possibly +because--" and then he paused for a moment. "You know Mr. Wilkinson was +afraid of this very thing?" + +"Three years ago he mentioned it to me," said Quarles. + +"You knew him, then?" + +"I was staying in the same house with him in Scotland; his daughter was +not there. Such a fear, Sir Michael, suggests something in the past, +something Mr. Wilkinson kept to himself." + +"I do not know of anything," was the answer. "Of course, I have seen +paragraphs in scandalous journals concerning his wealth, but I knew Ewart +Wilkinson extremely well. He was, and always has been, I am convinced, a +perfectly straightforward man." + +This conversation took place early on the morning following the night of +Eva Wilkinson's disappearance, and afterwards Sir Michael journeyed down +with us to Whiteladies. The local police were already scouring the +country, and under intelligent supervision had accomplished a great deal +of the spade work. I may just state the facts as far as they were known. + +Mrs. Reville, who was in the drawing-room when the girl went out on the +terrace, had heard nothing. A quarter of an hour or twenty minutes later +she went out herself with the intention of telling Eva that she ought to +put on a wrap. The girl was nowhere to be seen, and calling brought no +answer. Becoming alarmed, Mrs. Reville summoned the servants, and their +search proving fruitless, she had a telegram sent to Sir Michael. When I +questioned her with regard to Cayley, she was sure there was nothing +serious in the affair. He certainly could have had nothing to do with +Eva's disappearance, she declared, for he had gone to Paris two days +before. Since Sir Michael had spoken to Eva about him he had hardly +visited Whiteladies at all. + +The servants had searched everywhere--in the house, in the grounds, and +in the ruins, and later the police had gone over the same ground, and +had searched everywhere on the estate; not a sign of the missing girl +had been found. A footman, however, said he had heard a motor-car in the +road about the time of the disappearance. He had listened, wondering who +was coming to Whiteladies at that hour. The house stood in one corner of +the estate, and there was a public road quite close to it, but it was a +road little frequented. The marks of a car, which had stopped and turned +at a point near the house, were plainly visible, and so far this was the +only clue forthcoming. It proved an important one, because a tramp was +found by the police who had seen a closed car traveling at a great speed +toward the London road. The time, which he was able to fix very +definitely, was about a quarter of an hour after Eva Wilkinson had gone +on to the terrace. + +"Has the tramp been detained?" Quarles asked, and being answered in the +negative, said he ought to have been. + +The professor examined the marks of the car minutely. There were two cars +at Whiteladies, but neither of the tire markings were those of the car +which had turned in the road. + +It is only natural, I suppose, that when a number of persons are brought +in contact with a mystery their behavior should tend to become unnatural. +It is one of a detective's chief difficulties to determine between +innocent and suspicious actions, the latter being often the result of +temperament or of a desire to emphasize innocence. I never found a +decision more difficult than in the case of Eva Wilkinson's maid, a girl +named Joan Perry; and because I could not decide in her case I was also +suspicious of her young man Saunders, a gamekeeper on the estate. Joan +Perry, a little later in the day, claimed to have made a remarkable +discovery. A coat and skirt and a pair of walking shoes had been removed +from her mistress's wardrobe. + +"What made you inspect her wardrobe?" I asked. + +The question seemed to confuse her, but she finally said it was because +she wondered whether Miss Eva had gone away on purpose. According to +Perry the affair with Edward Cayley was a serious one. To some extent her +young mistress had confided in her, she declared. + +"Then she would hardly have gone away without letting you into the +secret," I said. + +"That is what I cannot understand," she answered. + +Quarles agreed with me that this lent color to the idea that Eva +Wilkinson had gone of her own accord. + +"It is possible--even probable," he said, "but if she did, I take it she +has been deceived and walked into a trap. If we can find that car we +shall be on the right road." + +When we set out on this quest in one of the motors at Whiteladies we had +considerable success. The car had taken the direct road to London. We +heard of it at an inn on the outskirts of Beading. It had stopped there, +and a man had had his flask filled with brandy. A lady who was with him +was not very well, he said. Chance helped us farther. The car had stopped +by a roadside cottage. A man had come to the door full of apologies, but +seeing a light in the window he ventured to ask if they could oblige him +with a box of matches. He was quite a gentleman--young, dark, and very +merry--the woman told us. He had led her to suppose that he and a lady +were making a runaway match of it, because he had declared that there +would certainly be a chase after them, but they had got a good start. The +car had been drawn up on the side of the road at a little distance from +the cottage, and it was undoubtedly the car we were after. The tire +markings were quite distinct in the damp ground. At Hounslow we found the +car itself. There had been an accident. Two men had walked into a garage, +saying they had left the car on the roadside. Would the garage people +have it brought in and repaired? The car should be sent for in a day or +two. One man made a payment on account, and gave his name as Julius +Hoffman, staying at the Langham Hotel. + +The car was of an old type, but the man at the garage said the engines +were in good condition. The tires were burst, otherwise there was nothing +much the matter with the car beyond its age. + +"Was anything found in the car?" I asked. + +"An old glove and a handkerchief," and the man took them out of a drawer. + +The glove told us nothing, but the handkerchief was a lady's, and had "E. +W." embroidered on it. + +"This is a police matter," I told the man. "A watch will be kept on the +premises in case the car is claimed, which is very unlikely, I fancy." + +Quarles was perplexed. + +"I don't understand it, Wigan. That car looks to me as if it had been +purposely abandoned. Had they another car waiting, or was Hounslow their +destination? Of course you must warn the police here, but--well, I do not +understand it. I am going straight back to Chelsea." + +"I will see the Hounslow police, and then go on to the Langham," I +returned. + +"Of course, that's just ordinary detective work, and out of my line," +Quarles said somewhat curtly, "but I don't suppose your inquiries will +lead anywhere." + +In this surmise he was perfectly correct. No one of the name of Julius +Hoffman was known at the Langham. The Hounslow police made no discovery, +and the car was not claimed. + +Later, the press circulated a description of Eva Wilkinson, with the +result that scores of letters were received, most of them obviously +written by amateur detectives, or by those peculiar kind of imbeciles +whose imagination is so vivid that any person seems to fit the +description of the person missing. The information in a few of these +letters seemed definite enough to follow up, but in every case I drew +blank. I gave my chief attention to learning the recent movements of +known gangs who might be concerned in an enterprise of this sort, and at +the end of two days this persistency brought a result. I received a +letter posted in the West-central district, written, or rather scrawled, +in printed letters. It was as follows: + +"You may be on the right scent or you may not, but take warning. If you +got to know anything, it would be the worse for E.W. We are in earnest, +and our advice is, leave the job alone. No harm will come to the old +devil's daughter, if you mind your own business. She'll turn up again all +right. If you don't mind your own business you'll probably find her +presently, and can bury her. You'll find her dead,--THE LEAGUE." + +With this letter I went to Chelsea, and the professor met me with a +letter in his hand. He had received a like communication--word for +word the same. + +"An exact copy shows a barrenness of ideas," said I. + +"But they have begun to move, Wigan. That is a great thing, and what I +have been waiting for. Come and talk it over. For once Zena is no help. +All she says is that this is not an ordinary case of kidnaping. Well, it +certainly is a little out of the ordinary. That car, Wigan, the tramp who +saw it, the stoppages it made, the handkerchief in it--does anything +strike you?" + +"Since we picked up the trail so easily to begin with, I do not quite +understand the subsequent difficulty," I said. "From Hounslow a much more +astute person must have taken charge of the enterprise." + +"A booby trap, Wigan. It was prepared for us, and we walked into it, I am +a trifle sick at having done so, but perhaps it will serve us a good turn +in the end. The tramp no doubt was in the business. His definite +information to the police started us. If that car had wanted to escape +notice, do you suppose it would have pulled up outside Reading, or at a +cottage, where it obligingly left its imprint on the roadside? Why should +the man explain the filling of a flask at a public house? Why should he +talk of a runaway match to the woman at that cottage? He was laying a +trail. Miss Wilkinson's handkerchief was found in that car, but I wager +she was never in the car herself." + +"I think you are right, but it doesn't help us to the truth, does it?" + +"Every possibility proved impossible helps us," Quarles answered. "This +is a case for negative argument, so we next ask whether Eva Wilkinson +left the terrace willingly. I think we must say 'no.'" + +"Do not forget the missing coat and skirt," I said. + +"That is one of the reasons why I say 'no,'" he returned. "If she had +intended to go away she would have arranged to take more than a coat and +skirt. Besides, Eva Wilkinson is evidently not a fool. The only person +one can imagine her going away with is Cayley, and why should she go away +with him? If she married him before she was twenty-one, she forfeited a +million of money; well, she knew the penalty. Even if she would not wait +until she was of age, there is still no conceivable reason why she should +run away. We are forced, therefore, to the assumption that she was +kidnaped." + +"I have never doubted it," I answered. + +"I confess to some uncertainty," said Quarles, "but these letters put a +new complexion on the affair, I admit. Some one is out for money, Wigan, +and that fact is--" + +He stopped short as a servant entered the room saying that I was wanted +on the telephone. I had left word that I was going to Chelsea. I was +informed that Sir Michael Lavory had telephoned for me to go and see him +at once. He said he had received a letter which was of the gravest +importance. + +"Similar to ours, no doubt," said the professor when I repeated the +message to him. "We will go at once, Wigan, but I do not think there is +anything to be done until the scoundrels have made a further move. It +won't be many hours before they do so." + +In the taxi he did not continue his negative arguments, and he was not +restless, as he usually was when upon a keen scent. No doubt he had a +theory, but I was convinced he was not satisfied with it himself. + +Sir Michael, who had a flat in Kensington, was not alone. A young man was +with him, and Sir Michael introduced Mr. Edward Cayley. + +"He has just arrived--came in ten minutes after I had received +this letter." + +Cayley's presence there was rather a surprise, but I noted that his +appearance did not correspond with the woman's description of the young +man who had asked for a box of matches. + +"I came as soon as I heard the news about Miss Wilkinson," Cayley said in +explanation. + +"How did you hear it?" Quarles asked. + +"There was a paragraph in _Le Gaulois_. I left Paris at once and came to +Sir Michael, thinking it a time when any little disagreement between us +would be easily forgotten." + +"You can quite understand that I agree with Mr. Cayley," Sir Michael +said, "especially in the face of this letter." + +"I can guess the contents of it," I said. "We have had letters too." + +But I was mistaken. This communication was scrawled in the same printed +letters, was signed in the same way, but its purport was entirely +different. + +"Sir,--Your niece is in our hands, and you may be sure that she is +securely hidden. Every move you take on her behalf increases her danger. +There is only one means of rescue--ransom. Within forty-eight hours you +shall pay to the credit of James Franklin with the Credit Lyonnais, +Paris, the sum of a quarter of a million sterling, a small sum when +Wilkinson's wealth is considered, and the means he used to amass it. The +moment the money is in our hands, and you may be sure we have left open +no possibility of your tricking us, your niece shall be set at liberty. +Delay or refuse, and your niece dies. In case you should deceive yourself +and think this is not genuine, that we are powerless to carry out our +threat, your niece herself has endorsed this letter." + +Quarles looked at the endorsement. + +"Is that Miss Wilkinson's signature?" he asked. + +"It is," Sir Michael answered. + +"I could swear to it anywhere," said Cayley. "The money is a small matter +when Eva has to be considered. We may succeed in tricking the scoundrels +later, but the money must be paid." + +"If it is, you may depend they will get clear off," said Quarles. "They +have made their arrangements cleverly enough for that." + +"But you forget--" + +"I forget nothing, Mr. Cayley." + +"I feel that it must be paid," said Sir Michael. "If you can devise any +way of tripping up the villains, do, but Eva's signature--" + +"Look at it, Sir Michael," said Quarles. "I do not doubt that it is her +signature, but I think it was scribbled on that piece of paper before the +letter was written, and certainly a different ink was used." + +Sir Michael took the letter and looked at it carefully. + +"Yes--yes, I think you are right," he said after a pause. "What do +you advise?" + +"Delay," said the professor promptly. "They are out for money, for a +quarter of a million. They will not hurt Miss Wilkinson while there is +any chance of their getting the money." + +"How long would you make the delay?" Cayley asked. + +"At least until after Mr. Wigan and I have visited Whiteladies again. We +propose to go there to-morrow." + +"I was going down to-morrow after seeing the solicitors about this +money," said Sir Michael. + +"That will be excellent," said Quarles. "You will be able to assist us in +a little investigation we want to make at Whiteladies. May I suggest that +you should arrange preliminaries with the solicitors so as not to waste +time, but tell them to await your instructions before taking final steps? +There may be nothing in our idea, but there may be a great deal in it." + +"You do not wish to tell me what it is?" + +"Not until to-morrow evening." + +I was watching Cayley. I saw the ghost of a smile on his lips for a +moment. He evidently saw through Quarles's reticence, and knew that the +professor would not speak before him. + +"It will be evening before we reach Whiteladies," Quarles went on, +"because there is an important inquiry we must make in London first." + +"Very well," said Sir Michael. "I will delay until to-morrow night." + +"There can be no harm in that," Cayley said. "We are given forty-eight +hours. I should like to do the scoundrels, but I cannot forget that +revenge may be as much a motive as money." + +"I am not losing sight of that fact," said Quarles, "but I have little +doubt it is the money." + +As we drove back to Chelsea the professor was silent, but when we were in +the empty room he began to talk quickly. + +"I am puzzled, Wigan. Before we went out I was saying some one was out +for money, and the letter Sir Michael has received proves it. We were +engaged upon a negative argument, and I should have gone on to show why +it was unlikely Cayley had had anything to do with the affair. I confess +that his sudden appearance to-night tends to knock holes in the argument +I should have used. He comes from Paris, the money is to be paid to the +Credit Lyonnais, Paris. He is keen that the money should be paid, had +evidently been persuading Sir Michael that it ought to be paid. This +tends to confuse me, and I cannot forget Zena's remark about the girl's +age and that this is not an ordinary kidnaping case. If Cayley had met +her on the terrace she would naturally stroll away with him if he asked +her to do so. At a safe distance from the house he, and a confederate, +perhaps, may have secured her." + +"But why?" I asked. + +"He may want a quarter of a million of money and yet have no desire to +marry. It is a theory, but unsatisfactory, I admit. One thing, however, +we may take as certain. Eva Wilkinson was not driven away in that car. We +have no news of any suspicious car being seen in any other direction, nor +of any suspicious people being seen about, and it seems obvious that a +false trail was laid for us. Wigan, it is quite possible that the girl +never left Whiteladies at all, that she is hidden there now, in fact. +Doesn't the disappearance of that coat and skirt tend to corroborate +this? She was in evening dress at the time. It would be natural to get +her another dress." + +"That would mean confederates in the house," I said. + +"Exactly. This girl Perry, perhaps, in league with her lover, the +gamekeeper; or it may be Mrs. Reville herself. We are going down to +Whiteladies to-morrow to try and find out, and we are going circumspectly +to work, Wigan. You shall go to the house in the ordinary way, while I +stroll across to the ruins. They are a likely hiding place. It will be +dark, and I may chance upon some one keeping watch. In a few words you +can explain our idea to Sir Michael, and then, without letting the +servants know, you can come and find me in the ruins." + +It was nearly dark when we arrived at Whiteladies on the following day, +and as arranged, I left Quarles before we reached the lodge gates--in +fact, helped him over a fence into the park before I went on to the house +alone. Near the front door I found Mrs. Reville giving a couple of pug +dogs a run. She told me Sir Michael was expecting me, and led the way +into the hall. + +"I think he is in the library," she said, and opened a door. "Oh, I am +sorry, I thought you were alone, Sir Michael. It is Mr. Wigan." + +He called out for me to enter. He was standing by a writing table, +talking to a young farmer, apparently a tenant on the estate because Sir +Michael was dismissing him with a promise to consider certain repairs to +some outbuildings. As the farmer passed me on his way to the door Sir +Michael held out his hand. + +"You are later than I expected, and I thought Mr. Quarles--" + +Then he laughed. I had been seized from behind, a rope was round me, +binding my arms to my side, a sudden jerk had me on my back. In that +instant Sir Michael was upon me, and I was gagged and trussed almost +before I realized what had happened. Never did the veriest tyro walk more +innocently into a trap. + +"That's well done," said Sir Michael to the farmer. "You had better go +and see that the other has been taken as successfully." + +Alone with me, he removed the revolver from my hip pocket and placed it +in a drawer, which he locked. + +"Rather a surprise for you, Mr. Wigan. I am afraid Scotland Yard is +likely to lose an officer, and your friend Quarles is an old man who has +had a very good inning. I do not know exactly where he is at the present +moment, but somewhere about the grounds he has been caught and is in a +similar condition to yourself. You have both been very carefully shadowed +to-day. The quarter of a million will be paid, Mr. Wigan, and my niece +will reappear. She will be none the worse for her adventure--will thank +me for all the trouble I have taken to rescue her from the kidnapers her +father dreaded so much--and she will never suspect that the bulk of the +ransom money has gone into my pocket. It is money sorely needed, I can +assure you. I shall probably give my consent to her marriage with Cayley; +her marriage will make my guardianship less irksome. He will be as +unsuspicious of me as Eva. I prevailed upon him not to come to +Whiteladies until to-morrow by suggesting that you were foolish enough to +suspect him. I think it has all been rather cleverly managed. The only +regrettable thing will be the death of two--two brilliant detectives. It +may interest you to know that you will be found dead--shot--which will +account for my having waited for you in vain at Whiteladies to-night. You +have helped me greatly by being secretive to-day and not arriving here +until after dark. Your death will be a nine days' wonder, but it will be +a mystery which will not be solved, I fancy." + +His cold-blooded manner left no doubt of his sinister intention, and I +felt convinced that Quarles had been trapped just as I had been. Sir +Michael laughed again as he bent over me to make sure that my bonds were +secure. Then he stood erect suddenly. + +"Don't move," said a voice, "or I shall fire." + +He did move, and a bullet ripped into a picture just behind him. With an +oath he stood perfectly still. A door had opened across the room and a +girl stood there. It was Joan Perry. + +"I missed you on purpose," she said. "I shall not miss a second time. Cut +those ropes." + +For a moment he stood still, then he moved again, but not with the +intention of setting me free; the next instant he stumbled, as if his leg +had suddenly given way, and he let out a savage oath. + +"To show you I do not miss," said the girl. "Cut those ropes, or the +third bullet finds your heart." + +Sir Michael took a knife from his pocket, and the girl came a little +closer, but not near enough to give him a chance of grabbing at her. Her +calm deliberation was wonderful. + +"Do more than cut the ropes and you are a dead man," she said. + +The instant my arms were free I had the gag from my mouth and could do +something in my own defense. I was quickly on my feet. + +"Keep him covered," I said to Perry. "I think we change places, +Sir Michael." + +Physically he was not a powerful man, and with Joan Perry near him he +seemed to have lost his nerve. Her courage had shaken him badly, and he +made no resistance. I was not long in having him bound and handcuffed. + +"I have to thank you," I said, turning to the girl. + +"Not yet. There is more to do. Mrs. Reville is in it, and Mr. Quarles has +no doubt been caught in the grounds, as he said. I will ring. The +servants are honest, and I expect Mr. Saunders is in the house by now. He +usually comes up in the evening." + +Fortunately Mrs. Reville had not heard the revolver shots, or she might +have given the alarm to the two men who had secured the professor in the +ruins, and they would very probably have killed him. I took the lady by +strategy. I sent a servant to tell her that Sir Michael wished to speak +to her, a summons which she had evidently been expecting, and I secured +her as she came down the stairs. Then, leaving her and Sir Michael in +charge of Perry and Saunders and a footman, I went with other servants to +rescue Quarles. We took the confederates in the ruins by surprise, but in +my anxiety that no harm should come to the professor, who was bound just +as I had been, they managed to get away. + +Now that he was captured, Sir Michael Lavory's pluck entirely deserted +him, and he told us where to find his niece. She was in a secret chamber +under a tower in the ruins. She had been caught that night at the end of +the terrace by Sir Michael's accomplices, had been rendered unconscious +by chloroform, and taken to the tower. + +Quarles's deductions so far as they went were right, but they had not +gone nearly far enough. Neither of us had thought of Sir Michael as the +criminal, and had it not been for the maid Perry I have little doubt that +this would have been our last case. Perry herself had not suspected Sir +Michael until that day, but she had always been suspicious of Mrs. +Reville. That morning, however, when Sir Michael arrived at Whiteladies, +she had chanced to overhear a conversation. She heard Sir Michael tell +Mrs. Reville there would be visitors that evening, and suggested that she +should be near the front door at the time to admit them, as it would be +well if they were not seen by the servants. Perry did not understand who +the visitors were to be, but she thought such secrecy might be connected +with her young mistress, and she had hidden herself earlier in the +evening in the small room adjoining the library. + +"It is fortunate Saunders taught me how to use a revolver," she said, +when Quarles thanked and complimented her. + +"A narrow escape, Wigan," the professor said to me. "One of our failures, +eh? The fear expressed in the will, the fact that Sir Michael could not +benefit by the death of his niece, confused me. He is a very clever +scoundrel, making no mistake, making no attempt to implicate any one. His +treatment of Cayley on his sudden return from Paris was a masterpiece of +diplomacy; so was his handling of us from the first. He concocted no +complicated story, so ran no risk of contradicting himself. He was simple +and straightforward, and when a villain is that a detective is +practically helpless. I was thoroughly deceived, Wigan, I admit it, and +it is certain that had it not been for Joan Perry I should not be alive +to say so, and you would not be here to listen. Do you know, I should not +be surprised if it was the fear expressed in the will which gave Sir +Michael the idea of kidnaping his niece and putting the ransom into his +own pocket." + +At his trial Sir Michael confessed that the will had given him the idea. +Personally I think he got far too light a sentence. + +As I hear that Cayley and Miss Wilkinson are to be married shortly, I +suppose her guardian's consent to her marriage has been obtained; at any +rate, it will be a good thing for her to have a husband to protect her +from such a guardian. I hear, too, that Saunders and Perry are to be +married on the same day as their mistress, and I am quite sure of one +thing, two of the handsomest wedding presents Joan Perry receives will +come from Christopher Quarles and myself. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE DELVERTON AFFAIR + + +After our experience at Whiteladies Christopher Quarles went into +Devonshire. He declared that excitement of that kind was a little too +much for a man of his years and he must take a long rest to recuperate +and get his nerves in order. Under no circumstances whatever was I to +bother him with any problems. Had I been able to do so I should have gone +away too. Sir Michael Lavory had succeeded in giving me the jumps. In her +letters Zena told me the professor was playing golf, and knowing +something of him as a golfer, I rather pitied the men he induced to play +with him. It was not so much that he was a very bad player, it was the +peculiar twist in his brain which convinced him that he was a good one. +To give him a hint was to raise his anger at once. + +One morning I received a letter from him, two pages of golf talk, in +which he opined he was playing at about five handicap--pure imagination, +of course, because he never kept a card and didn't count his foozled +shots--and then he came to the _raison d'être_ of his letter. + +"I want you to look up a case," he wrote. "It happened about three years +ago. A man named Farrell, partner in the firm of Delverton Brothers of +Austin Friars, was found dead in his office. An open verdict was +returned. It may have been a case of suicide. Get all the facts you can. +If you can obtain any information from some who were interested in the +tragedy, do. I am not sure that the result of your inquiries will +interest me, but it may. Send me along a full report, it may bring me +back to Chelsea, but I am so keen to put another fifty yards on to my +drive that I may remain here for three months. Why live in Chelsea when +there is such a place as Devonshire?" + +I remembered that the Delverton case had caused a considerable amount of +excitement at the time, and had remained an unsolved mystery, but I knew +no more than this. Three years ago I had been away from London engaged on +an intricate investigation, with neither time nor inclination to think of +anything else. + +As it happened there was little difficulty in getting a very full account +of the affair. It had been in the hands of Detective Southey, since +retired, and it was a persistent grievance with him that this case had +beaten him. He was delighted to talk about it when I went to see him in +his little riverside cottage at Twickenham. + +Delverton Brothers were foreign bankers, and at the time of the tragedy +consisted of three partners, John and Martin Delverton, who were +brothers, and Thomas Farrell, their nephew. John Delverton was an +invalid, and for a year past had only come to the office for an hour once +or twice a week. He had died about six months after the tragedy. + +One day during a Stock Exchange settlement Thomas Farrell left the office +early, and Martin Delverton was there until seven o'clock. When he left +the only clerks remaining in the outer office were Kellner, the second in +seniority on the staff, and a junior named Small. + +These two left the office together ten minutes after Mr. Delverton had +gone. Next morning when the housekeeper went to the offices he found +Thomas Farrell sitting at the table in his private room, his head fallen +on his arms, which were stretched across the table. He had died from the +effects of poison, yet the tumbler beside him showed no traces of poison. + +Medical evidence proved that he had been dead some hours, but there was +nothing to show at what time he had returned to the office. + +"In view of the doctor's statement it must have been between ten minutes +past seven and midnight," Southey told me. "The poison would produce +intense drowsiness, then sleep from which there was no waking. The time +of its action would vary in different individuals. I am inclined to think +it was late when he returned. He was a well-known figure in Austin Friars +and Throgmorton Street, and had he been about earlier in the evening some +one would almost certainly have seen him. That part of the world is alive +to a late hour during a Stock Exchange settlement. The offices consist of +a large outer room, which accommodates seven or eight clerks, and two +private rooms opening into one another, but opening into the outer office +only from the first room. This first room, which is the larger of the +two, the brothers Delverton occupied, Farrell having the smaller inner +room. From this there is a side door which gives on to a short passage +leading into Austin Friars. The partners used this side door constantly, +each of them having a key to the Yale lock, and we know from Mr. +Delverton that Farrell went out by the side door that afternoon. +Presumably he returned by it. Everything seemed to point to suicide, and +possibly had there been a shadow of a motive for Farrell taking his own +life, a verdict of suicide would have been returned. Apparently there was +no motive. His affairs were in perfect order, he was shortly to be +married, and the only person who suggested that he had looked in any way +worried recently was the junior clerk, Small." + +"What of the woman he was to have married?" + +"She was a Miss Lester, and she introduces a complication. Her people +were comparatively poor, her father being a clerk in a City bank. Mr. +Farrell, according to Miss Lester, had helped her father out of some +difficulty, and it was undoubtedly parental persuasion which had arranged +the marriage. It was a case of gratitude rather than love. But that is +not all. At the Lesters' house there was another constant visitor, a +young doctor named Morrison, and he and Farrell became friends in spite +of the fact that they were two angles of a triangle, Ruth Lester being +the third angle. The position was this: Morrison was in love with the +girl, but remained silent because he was too poor to marry; the girl +loved him, but, thinking that he was indifferent, consented to marry +Farrell. Whether Farrell was aware of this it is impossible to say. Now +on the very day of Farrell's death, Dr. Morrison called and asked for him +at the offices in Austin Friars. The clerk took in his name, and was told +by Mr. Delverton that Mr. Farrell had left for the day. This was the +first intimation the clerks had that he had left, and seems an indirect +proof that no one in the office could have had anything to do with the +tragedy. Farrell had been gone about an hour then. Morrison left no +message, merely asked that Mr. Farrell should be told he had called." + +"What was Morrison's explanation?" I asked. + +"He said Farrell had requested him to call. He was going to give him a +tip for a little flutter in the mining market." + +"Is it known where Farrell went that afternoon?" + +"I see you think the doctor's explanation thin, just as I did. Farrell +told his partner that he had an appointment with Miss Lester; Miss +Lester says there was no appointment. Naturally I at once speculated +whether Farrell and Morrison had met later in the afternoon. I followed +that trail every inch of the way. The doctor was poor and somewhat in +debt, and--" + +"And Farrell, who died by poison, which is significant, was his +rival?" I said. + +"I thought of all that," Southey returned. "Fortunately for him the +doctor could account for every hour of his time. Of course, the man in +the street was suspicious of him--is still, perhaps, to some extent, but +it hasn't prevented his getting on. He married Ruth Lester, and I hear is +getting a good practise together." + +"What conclusion did you come to?" + +"I am inclined to think there was some international reason at the back +of the mystery, some difficulty with a foreign government, it may be. If +Farrell had become mixed up in such an affair suicide might be the way +out. I suggested this to Mr. Delverton, and he did not scout it as +altogether a ridiculous idea. These foreign bankers are sometimes very +much behind the scenes in European politics." + +"Do you know whether the invalid brother was at the office that +day?" I asked. + +"He was not. He was quite incapacitated at the time." + +I hunted up one or two points which occurred to me, and then went to +Austin Friars to call upon Mr. Delverton. + +He was out of town, yachting, but his partner came into the clerks' +office to see me. I told him that my business with Mr. Delverton +was private. + +This partner, I discovered, was Kellner, who had formerly been a clerk in +the firm. He was the man who, with the junior, had been the last to leave +the office on the night of the tragedy. He was worth a little attention, +and I spent two days making inquiries about him. He was as smart a man of +business as could be found within a mile radius of the Royal Exchange, I +was informed, a wonderful linguist, with a profound knowledge of +financial matters. Now he was a wealthy man, but three years ago he had +been in very low water. + +This discovery sent me to Twickenham again. I said nothing about Kellner +having become a partner in Delverton Brothers'; I merely asked Southey +whether he had satisfactorily accounted for his time on the fatal night. + +"Didn't I tell you?" said Southey. "Oh, yes, he had an absolute alibi; so +had the youth Small. I made them my first business." + +I did not call on Dr. Morrison, but I went to his neighborhood, and asked +a few questions. Everybody spoke well of the doctor, which, of course, +might mean much or little, and I was fortunate enough to see him with his +wife in a motor. He looked like a doctor, a forceful and self-reliant +man, not one to lose his head or give himself away. He would be likely to +carry through any enterprise he set his mind to. His wife, without being +beautiful, was attractive, the kind of woman you begin to call pretty +after you have known her a little while. + +That night I wrote a full report to Christopher Quarles with my own +comments in the margin, and three days later I had a wire from Zena, +saying they were returning to Chelsea at once. + +There was no need to ask the professor whether the case interested him or +not. He began by being complimentary about my report, praised my +astuteness in not calling upon the doctor, and he made me give him a +verbal description of Morrison and his wife. + +"Of course, Wigan, looks count for nothing, but they are often misleading +evidence, and we are told to beware of that man of whom every one speaks +well. The most saintly individual I ever knew had a strong likeness to a +notorious criminal I once saw, and on a slight acquaintance you and I +would probably have trusted Cleopatra or Helen of Troy, neither of them +very estimable women, I take it. Now apparently this doctor and his wife +are near the center of this mystery." + +"It seems so, but--" + +"Believe me, I am making no accusation," he interrupted; "indeed, I am +more inclined to argue that they occupy an eccentric point within the +circle rather than the true center. Still, we must not overlook one or +two facts which you have duly emphasized in your report. The rivalry +between Morrison and Farrell does supply, as you say, a motive for the +crime, if crime it was, and it is the only motive that is apparent. +Again, a doctor could obtain and make use of poison with less risk than +most men. And, again, it is curious the doctor should call on Farrell on +that particular day. The visit might be a subtle move to establish his +innocence. True, according to Southey, his time after the visit was +accounted for, but how about the time before the visit? Farrell had +already left the office an hour, and might have met Morrison." + +"Do you suggest he was poisoned then, and came back hours afterwards to +die in the office?" + +"You think that unlikely?" + +"I do." + +"Still, we must recollect the action of this particular poison," said +Quarles. "It produces drowsiness, the time necessary to get to this +condition varying in different persons, and the doctor, knowing Farrell, +might be able to gage how long it would take in his case. Of course, we +labor under difficulties. Three years having passed, we cannot rely on +direct investigation. Purposely I gave you no bias when I asked you to +gather up the known facts, and from your report I judge you have come to +the conclusion that Farrell committed suicide, possibly driven into a +corner by some international complication." + +"Yes, on the whole, I lean to that idea." + +"It is not the belief of Mr. Delverton himself." + +"How do you know?" I asked. + +"I met Martin Delverton in Devonshire. He was yachting round the coast +and came ashore for golf. We played together several times, and became +quite friendly. It was not until he began to talk about it that I +remembered there had ever been a Delverton mystery. Practically he gave +me the same history of the case as your report does, missing some points +certainly, but enlarging considerably on others. That the villain had +escaped justice seemed to rankle in his mind, and he was contemptuous of +the intelligence of Scotland Yard. The tragedy, he said, had hastened his +brother's end, and I judged he had no great love for the Morrisons." + +"He knew who you were, I suppose?" + +"Oh, yes; and included my intelligence in the sneer at Scotland Yard. He +argued the point with me until he forced me to admit that there was a +large element of luck in most of my successes." + +"You admitted that?" I exclaimed. + +"I did. I had just beaten him three up and two to play, so was in an +angelic frame of mind. Even then he would not let me alone. He wanted to +know how I should have gone to work had the case been in my hands. To +his evident delight I gave him arguments on the lines of our empty room +conferences, making one thing especially clear, that I should have +enquired far more closely about the Morrisons than had been done. This +interested him immensely, and he did not attempt to hide from me the fact +that his suspicions lay in the same direction. He became keen that I +should look into the mystery; indeed, he challenged my skill. I am taking +up that challenge, and I am going to tell the world the truth about +Farrell's death." + +"You know it?" + +"Not yet, but the key to it is in this report of yours. Do you know what +has become of the junior clerk, Small?" + +"No. He left the firm to go abroad, I understand." + +"I should like to have asked him whether John Delverton, the invalid +partner, had seemed worried when he was last at the office." + +"He was not at the office that day. I asked that question, and Southey is +certain upon the point." + +"Farrell might have left early to see him." + +"Of course, we might question Kellner," I suggested. + +"Kellner has the interests of the firm at heart, and is not personally +connected with the affair. I don't suppose he will be pleased to have the +old mystery raked up; naturally he will fear damage to the firm. I do not +think he would be inclined to help us in any way, and I can imagine his +being angry with Delverton for mentioning the affair to me." + +"Still, I think there is something that wants explaining about Mr. +Kellner," said Zena, "You evidently thought so too, Murray, since you +made such minute inquiries about him." + +"I do not think there is anything against him," I answered. + +"I am not very interested in Kellner's past," said the professor, "and as +we cannot get hold of Small we must do a little guessing." + +"Is there anything further for me to do?" I asked. + +"One thing. I want you to get hold of some stockbroker you know, and get +him to tell you whether there was any kind of panic here, or on the +Continent, with regard to any foreign securities between three and four +years ago. Find out, if you can, the names of any members of the House +who were hammered during that period, and the names of any firms +considered shaky at the time. I am not hoping for much useful +information, but we may learn something to assist our guesswork." + +The information I obtained on the following day amounted to little. As my +friend in Threadneedle Street said, three years on the Stock Exchange are +a lifetime. In the different markets there had been several crises during +the period I mentioned, and certain men, chiefly small ones, had gone +under. As for shaky firms, it was impossible to speak unless you were +closely interested. A good firm, under temporary stress, would probably +be bolstered up, and a week or two might find it in affluence again. + +I went to Chelsea with the information, such as it was, but only saw +Zena. Quarles was out, and I did not see him for nearly a week. Then he +'phoned to me to call for him one evening and to come in evening dress. + +"I am dining with Mr. Delverton to-night," he said, "and I asked him if I +might bring you. He returned to town at the beginning of the week, and I +have seen him two or three times, once at the office in Austin Friars. I +did not see Kellner, he happened to be away that day." + +Martin Delverton lived in Dorchester Square, rather a pompous house, and +he was rather a pompous individual. Of course he wasn't a bit like +Quarles in appearance, yet I was struck by a certain characteristic +resemblance between them. They both had that annoying way of appearing to +mean more than they said, and of watering down their arguments to meet +the requirements of your inferior intellect. + +I had become accustomed to it in Quarles, but in a stranger I should have +resented it had not the professor told me of the peculiarity beforehand, +and warned me not to be annoyed. + +He gave us an excellent dinner, and our conversation for a time had +nothing to do with the mystery. + +"Well, Mr. Quarles, have you brought this affair to a head?" Mr. +Delverton asked at last. + +"I think so." + +"Sufficiently to bring the criminal to book?" + +"If not, I could hardly claim success, could I?" + +"You might claim it," laughed Delverton, "but I should not be satisfied. +Possibly I have my own opinion, but I trust nothing I have said has +influenced you and led you to a wrong conclusion. I do not want you to +get me into trouble by saying that I suggested who the criminal was." + +"Not if I could prove that the solution was correct?" + +"That might be a different matter, of course." + +"It would prove your astuteness, Mr. Delverton," said Quarles. "Mine +would be only the spade work which any one can do when he has been told +how. Perhaps you will let me explain in my own way, and I will go over +the old ground as little as possible, since we three are aware of the +main facts and the investigations which originally took place. First, +then, the manner of Mr. Farrell's death. Now, since he was found in his +own private office, sitting at his own desk, with a tumbler beside him, +it is evident that if he did not commit suicide it was intended that it +should appear as if he had done so. To believe it a case of suicide is +the simplest solution. He could enter the office by the side door at his +will, he could poison himself there at his leisure, and it would never +occur to him to imagine that any one would afterwards suspect he had met +his death in any other way. The one thing missing is the motive. The only +person even to suggest that Farrell had looked worried was the junior +clerk, Small, and his uncorroborated opinion does not count for much. +Besides, his affairs were in order, and he was about to be married. You +must stop me, Mr. Delverton, if I make any incorrect statements." + +"Certainly. So far you have merely repeated what every one knows." + +"Except in one minor particular," said Quarles. "I lay special emphasis +on the desire of some one to show that it was a case of suicide. If we +deny suicide this becomes an important point, for we have to enquire when +and how the poison was administered. Did Farrell at some time before +midnight bring some one back to the office with him? For what purpose was +he brought there? How was the poison administered? We have evidence that +it was not drunk out of the glass on the table, no trace of poison being +found, and we can hardly suppose that Farrell would swallow a tablet at +any one's bidding. Since there was an evident desire to make it appear a +case of suicide, we should expect to find traces of poison in the glass; +it would have made it appear so much more like suicide. But we are +denying that it was suicide, so we are forced to the conclusion that some +one was present with Farrell in the office, and also that the somebody +ought to have allowed traces of the poison to remain in the glass. That +innocent tumbler is a fact we must not lose sight of. You see, Mr. +Delverton, I am not working along quite the same line as the original +investigation took." + +"No; and I am very interested. Still, I think a man might take a tablet +were it offered by one he looked upon as a friend. It might be for +headache." + +"Did Mr. Farrell suffer from headaches?" Quarles inquired. + +"Not that I am aware of. I am only putting a supposititious case." + +"Ah, but we are bound to stick to what we know, or we shall find +ourselves in difficulties," the professor returned. "Now, I understand +that when you left the office that evening only two of the clerks were +there, and they left the office together about ten minutes afterwards. +The junior clerk we may dismiss from our minds, but Kellner merits some +attention. It appears that his subsequent movements that evening are +accounted for; still, it is a fact that he directly profited by Mr. +Farrell's death. Shortly afterwards he became a partner in the firm." + +"He had no reason at the time to suppose he would be a partner," said +Delverton. + +"And would not have become one but for Farrell's death, I take it?" + +"He might. It is really impossible to say. Left alone, I took in Kellner +because he was the most competent man I knew. I may add that I have not +regretted it." + +"Had the detective who had the case in hand known that Kellner was to +become a partner, he would undoubtedly have given him more attention," +said Quarles. "He does not seem to have discovered that Kellner was in +financial straits at the time." + +"Was he?" said Delverton. + +"I have found that it was so," I answered. + +"I am surprised to hear it; but, after all, a clerk's financial +difficulties--" And he laughed as a man will who always thinks in +thousands. + +"We come to another person who profited by Farrell's death, Dr. +Morrison," said Quarles. "He married Miss Lester not long afterwards. +It is known that he was friendly, or apparently friendly, with his +rival, for such Farrell was, although he may not have been aware of the +fact; and, curiously enough, Morrison called at the office in Austin +Friars on the fatal day, and wanted to see Farrell an hour or so after +he had left." + +"Yes; I thought it was curious at the time." + +"He was able to account for his subsequent doings that day," Quarles went +on; "so it seems impossible that he could have been the person Farrell +brought back to the office that night. I think we must say positively he +was not. At the same time we must not overlook the fact that in his case +there was a motive for the crime. Forgetting for a moment our conclusion +that some one must have been in the office with Farrell in order to make +the death appear like suicide, we ask whether in any way it was possible +for Morrison to administer poison to Farrell. Supposing Farrell had met +Morrison immediately upon leaving the office, could the doctor possibly +have given him poison in such a manner that it would not take effect for +hours after?" + +"Stood him a glass of wine somewhere, you mean?" + +"Or induced him to swallow a tablet," said Quarles. + +"It is really a new idea," said our host. + +"It is a possibility, of course," Quarles answered; "but not a very +likely one, I fancy. It might account for the tumbler. Farrell might have +felt ill and drunk some plain water, but why was he in the office at all? +I find the whole crux of the affair in that question. Why should he come +back when he had left for the day?" + +"Then you are inclined to exonerate Morrison?" + +"On the evidence, yes." + +"You speak with some reservation, Mr. Quarles." + +"I want to bring the whole argument into focus, as it were," the +professor went on. "It was a settlement day on the Stock Exchange. I +believe a point was made three years ago that it was curious no one had +seen Farrell return, since many people who knew him would be about Austin +Friars late that night. This does not seem to me much of an argument. If +he returned between nine and ten he might easily escape notice. What does +seem to me curious is that he should choose such a day to leave the +office early, and tell a lie about it into the bargain. He said he had an +appointment with Miss Lester, and we know he had not." + +"Ought we not to say that we know she says he had not?" Delverton +corrected. "I do not wish to be captious, but--" + +"You are quite right," said Quarles; "we must be precise. You knew Miss +Lester, of course?" + +"I did not see her until after Farrell's death, then I saw her several +times. She seemed rather a charming person." + +"You have not seen her since her marriage?" + +"No." + +"I saw her the other day," said Quarles, "and I quite endorse your +opinion. She is charming, and I do not think she is the kind of woman to +tell a deliberate falsehood. If Farrell had had an appointment with her I +think she would have said so." + +"I am making no accusation against her," was the answer. "I was only +sticking to the actual evidence." + +"And that does not tell us where Farrell went that day," said Quarles. +"It seems strange that he did not meet any of the scores of people who +knew him as he left the office that afternoon." + +"Undoubtedly he did meet many." + +"They didn't come forward to say they had seen him." + +"I can see no reason why they should do so. There was no question of +fixing the time he left. I was able to give definite information on +that point." + +"Well, we seem to have used up our facts," said Quarles, "and are forced +to theorize." + +Delverton smiled. + +"You must not jump to the conclusion that I have failed," said the +professor quickly. "I did not promise to tell you the name of the +murderer to-night. Let me theorize for a few moments. You told me you +believed that Farrell's tragic end had hastened your brother's death. Did +your brother chance to come to the office that day?" + +"No." + +"Perhaps he came that night after you had left. I suppose you cannot +bring evidence that he did not?" + +"No; but--" + +"Or it might have been with him that Farrell had an appointment that day, +which was connected with some affair you were not intended to know +anything about. That would account for his telling you a lie." + +"I assure you--" + +"Let me follow out my idea to the end," said Quarles, leaning over the +table, and emphasizing his words by patting the cloth with his open hand. +"Three years ago things were rather bad on the Stock Exchange, one or two +men in the House were hammered, and several respected firms were shaky. +Now supposing Farrell had been playing with the firm's money unknown to +his partners, or perchance unknown only to one of them--yourself. Your +brother may have--" + +"Really, Mr. Quarles, you are getting absurd." + +"I was going to say--" + +"Oh, please, let me stop you before you say anything more foolish," said +Delverton. "At that time my brother was very ill and as weak as a rat. +How could he have administered poison to Farrell?" + +"It requires no strength to administer poison, only subtlety," said +Quarles. "A glass of wine, perhaps by your brother's bedside, and the +thing would be accomplished. Or there is another alternative. Your +brother may have been playing with the firm's credit, and Farrell may +have found him out." + +"Any other alternative, Mr. Quarles? Your fertile brain must hold +others." + +"Yes, one more, and two opinions which lead up to it," was the +quick reply. + +Delverton laughed. + +"It is not so absurd as the others, I trust." + +"The two opinions may lead you to change your ideas concerning this +mystery. First, I believe Kellner was made a partner because he knew +too much." + +"I am inclined to think the discussion of a glass of my best port will +be more profitable than these speculations," said our host with a smile, +and he took up the cradle which the servant had placed beside him. "I +offered you a glass in the office the other day, but it was not such +good wine as this." + +"And I was shocked at the idea of port in the middle of the morning," +said Quarles. + +"But not now, eh?" And Delverton filled our glasses and his own. + +"Of course not. My second belief is that Farrell did not leave the office +at all that day. We have only your word for it, you know." + +"Shall we drink to your clearer judgment?" said Delverton. + +I had raised my glass when Quarles cried out and tossed a spoon across +the table at me. + +"So you don't drink, Mr. Quarles," said Delverton, putting down his +emptied glass. + +"Not this vintage. It is too strong for me, and also for my friend +Wigan." + +"Your judgment of a vintage leaves something to be desired. That glass of +port has made me curious to hear the other alternative." + +"I think it was you who had been playing with the firm's money, and your +nephew found you out," said Quarles very deliberately. "That Stock +Exchange settlement was a crisis for you. I think you induced Farrell to +drink a glass of port with you, which was so doctored that he soon fell +into a sleep from which he never woke. Perchance you smiled at his +drowsiness, and suggested he should have half an hour's sleep in his +room. You would look after things in the meanwhile. You did so, and when +a clerk came in to say Dr. Morrison had called, you said Mr. Farrell had +left for the day. You took care to wash the wine glass, but it seemed a +good point to you to leave a tumbler with a little water in it on the +table. You did not leave the office until you knew that the last of the +clerks was ready to leave, and I imagine you waited somewhere in Austin +Friars to see them safely off the premises. You had no doubt that a +verdict of suicide would be returned. Later you were surprised to find +that your clerk, Kellner, knew of your money difficulties, and to silence +him he was taken into partnership. Whether the firm of Delverton +Brothers is running straight now I have no means of knowing, nor can I +say whether Mr. Kellner has any suspicion that the death of Mr. Farrell +was more opportune than natural. You are the kind of man who is much +impressed by his own cleverness, and when you met me in Devonshire it +occurred to you to throw down a challenge, to pit your wits against mine. +I suspected you then, for you overdid certain things, and a sinister +intention had entered into your head. You confessed yourself charmed with +Miss Lester, yet your whole attitude suggested that you believed Dr. +Morrison guilty of murder. You became something more than an ordinary +criminal who takes life to save himself from the consequence of his +actions, you crossed the line and became devilish. Mrs. Morrison believes +you would have asked her to marry you almost directly after Farrell's +death had she not very plainly shown you her loathing of such a union. So +you planned to be revenged when you threw down the challenge to me, and +having failed, you now attempt to be wholesale in your destruction." + +"I end by cheating you," said Delverton. + +"Not me, but the hangman. I will warn your butler that the port is +poisoned, and tell him to telephone for the doctor." + +"You can go to the devil," said Delverton. + +He died that night, and the following day the Delverton mystery filled +columns of the papers. It was a dull season, and the press made the most +of it. It is only right to say that Kellner was not generally believed to +have known that Farrell had been done to death by his uncle. Quarles +believes he was absolutely innocent in this respect. I am doubtful on the +point, I admit. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE IN MANLEIGH ROAD + + +The dramatic suicide of Martin Delverton, and the solution of a mystery +which had been relegated to the list of undiscovered crimes produced a +sensation. The public clamored for intimate particulars concerning +Christopher Quarles, the house in Chelsea was besieged by hopeful +interviewers, and the professor could only escape their attentions by +going out of town. It was an excellent excuse for golf, he declared, and +an opportunity to improve on his five handicap. I am bound to say that +while I was with him he never went round in less than twenty over bogey, +and when he only took twenty over he had luck. + +This sudden enthusiasm on the part of the public was the cause of some +difficulty and not a little annoyance so far as I was personally +concerned. + +As I have said elsewhere, I have constantly received the credit of +unmasking a scoundrel simply because Quarles chose to remain in the +background, but I have never claimed any credit to which I was not +entitled. It was distinctly hard, therefore, when all the praise for +bringing a series of crimes to light was given to him when justly it +should have been accorded to me. I had been engaged on the work at the +time the case of Eva Wilkinson had cropped up, my investigations had +prevented my accompanying Quarles and Zena to Devonshire. He would be the +first to deny that he had any part in solving these problems. I daresay I +mentioned certain points about them to him, he may possibly have made a +suggestion or two, but it is only because he had really nothing to do +with them that they have found no place in his chronicle. I admit I was +much annoyed, because I rather prided myself on the astuteness I had +displayed. + +Curiously enough, it was not only the public who persisted in giving him +the credit, but the victims of my ingenuity as well, and the mistake was +destined to bring peril to both of us in a most unexpected manner. + +I was at breakfast one morning about a week after our little golfing +holiday, when Quarles telephoned for me to go to him at once. He would +give me no information, except that it was an urgent matter, and it was +like him to ignore the possibility that I might have another +engagement. As it happened I was free that morning, and was soon on my +way to Chelsea. + +I found him studying some pamphlets and letters which had apparently come +altogether in the big envelope which was lying on the table. + +"Have you seen the paper this morning?" he asked. + +"I had just opened it when you 'phoned to me." + +"Did you read that?" + +He pointed to a paragraph headed, "Strange Affair in Savoy Street," and I +read as follows: + +"Last night, just after twelve o'clock, an elderly gentleman was walking +down Savoy Street, and was approaching the Embankment end, when a man +stepped from a doorway and deliberately fired at him. This was the old +gentleman's story told to half a dozen pedestrians who came running to +the spot. He seemed rather dazed, as well he might be, at the sudden +attack, and his assailant had disappeared. None of those who were first +upon the scene saw him, and although there is no doubt that a revolver +was fired, and that the gentleman's description of the assailant's +position was so exact that the bullet was found embedded in a door on the +opposite side of the street, the denouement casts some doubt on the +story. Quite a small crowd had collected by the time the police arrived, +and then the old gentleman was not to be found. In the excitement he had +slipped away without any one seeing him go. We understand that the police +theory is that there was no attempt at murder, but that the old +gentleman, having fired a revolver for a lark, or perhaps for a wager, +told a tale to save himself from the consequences of his folly, and then, +seizing his opportunity, quietly slipped away. Those who were first upon +the spot say his dazed condition may have been the result of too much to +drink. We cannot say the explanation is altogether satisfactory to us." + +"Well?" said Quarles when he saw I had finished. + +"I agree with the writer of the paragraph," I answered. "The explanation +is far from satisfactory. Such a story and such a smart disappearance do +not suggest drunkenness." + +"Perhaps not, although it is wonderful how Providence seems to watch over +the drunken man. However, the elderly gentleman was not drunk and his +story was strictly true. I was the elderly gentleman." + +"You! And your assailant?" + +Quarles got up and walked slowly to the window and back again. + +"It was a very near thing, Wigan, and it has got on my nerves a bit. You +know that I am held chiefly responsible for the solution of these robbery +cases with which you have been busy lately. That belief is at the bottom +of this attempt, I fancy. You remember the fellow who got off over the +first affair. There was little doubt of his guilt, but you had +insufficient evidence to bring it home to him. He was the man who fired +at me last night." + +"Had you no chance of capturing him?" + +"No, and the moment I saw his face clearly by the light of a street +lamp as he turned to run away, I made up my mind not to give +information. I should have got away at once, only people were on the +spot too quickly; so I told the simple truth, and slipped away at the +first opportunity to avoid being recognized by the police. It was +rather neatly done, I think." + +"But I do not see why you should withhold information," I said. + +"I didn't want my name mentioned in connection with the affair, and I +did not want the man to know I had recognized him. I think there is +bigger game to go for. All along I have believed that in these cases of +yours there was a connecting-link, a subtle personality in the +background. I believe you have only succeeded in bringing some of the +tools to justice." + +"And you want to get at the central scoundrel?" + +"I must, or he will get at me. Without knowing it I have probably escaped +other traps he has set. The fact that I am only your scapegoat does not +alter the position. He means to have me if he can. We, or rather you, +have come very near to unmasking him, I imagine, and his fear has made +him desperate." + +"What is to be done?" + +"I want you to go very carefully through those cases, treating them as +though they were all part of one problem. If necessary, you could get an +interview with one or two of the men who are doing time. When a man is +undergoing punishment, and believes that an equally guilty person has +got off scot-free, he is likely to become communicative." + +"All this will take time, and in the meanwhile--" + +"I am chiefly concerned with the meanwhile," said Quarles, "and it +happens rather fortunately that I have something to interest me and take +my mind off the matter. These letters and pamphlets were sent to me a few +days ago by Dr. Randall. You have heard of him, no doubt." + +"I don't think so." + +"He is a specialist in nervous diseases, so is naturally interested in +psychological matters. An article of mine in a psychological review +attracted his attention, and through a mutual friend--a barrister in the +Temple--we were introduced last night. To-night I am dining with Randall +at a little restaurant in Old Compton Street, and--well, I want you to +come too, Wigan." + +"But--" + +"Oh, I can make it all right. I shall send him a note, asking if I can +bring a friend who is much interested in these matters." + +"But I am not, and directly I open my mouth I shall show my ignorance." + +"Then obviously you must keep your mouth shut," said Quarles. "The fact +is, Wigan, last night has got on my nerves. I am--I may as well be quite +honest--I am a little afraid of going about alone. I want you to call for +me and go with me." + +"Of course I will. But surely, with your nerves on edge, it would be +wiser to keep away from psychological problems. What is the +particular problem?" + +"Randall will explain to-night, and you must at least pretend to be +interested. As regards my nerves, I can assure you this kind of thing is +a relief after the other. I do not think I am a coward as a rule, but I +am afraid of this unknown scoundrel. I have a presentiment that I am in +very real danger." + +"You probably exaggerate it," I said. + +"Maybe. But I never ignore a strong presentiment, and I--I slept with a +loaded revolver under my pillow last night, Wigan." + +There was no doubt as to his nervous condition; he showed it in his +restlessness, in his acute consciousness of sounds in the house and in +the street. He expected to be brought suddenly face to face with danger, +and was afraid he would not be ready to meet it. + +He certainly was not himself. Zena had gone to stay with friends in the +country for a few days, or I should have got her to persuade the old man +to give up this psychological business--at least until he was in a normal +condition again. + +The restaurant, where we found Dr. Randall waiting for us, was one of +those excellent little French places which cannot be beaten until they +have become too successful and popular, when they almost invariably +deteriorate. Randall said he was delighted the professor had brought me, +and dinner was served at once at a cozy table in a corner. + +"A patient of mine originally brought me here," said the doctor. "It is +rather a discovery, I think, and personally I prefer dining where I am +unlikely to come in contact with a lot of people I know. In recent years +we have improved, of course; but in England we still eat, while in France +they dine. Here we are practically in France." + +Certainly more French was spoken than English, and the doctor spoke in +French to the waiter. Quarles's nervousness, which had been apparent +during the drive from Chelsea, disappeared as dinner progressed, and I +did not suppose a stranger like Randall would notice it. He would +probably form rather a wrong impression of the professor, would look upon +him as a highly-strung man, and would not realize that he was not in a +normal condition this evening. Randall carried his profession in his +face, but for the time being his medical manner was laid aside; nor did +he speak of the business which had brought us together until we had got +to the coffee and liqueur stage. + +"I suppose you read the papers I sent you, Professor?" + +"Yes, but rather cursorily," Quarles answered. "I think if you told the +whole story I should understand it better; besides, my friend here knows +nothing of it, and will bring an unbiased mind to bear upon it." + +"And may give us a new idea," said the doctor. "I don't know whether you +are acquainted with Manleigh Road, Bayswater. There are about fifty +houses in it--a terrace, in fact, on either side. The houses are sixty or +seventy years old, I daresay, ugly but roomy, and some few years ago a +lot of money was spent in bringing them up to date, putting in +bath-rooms, modernizing them, and redecorating them thoroughly. In spite +of this, however, they have not attracted the kind of tenant they were +intended for. Many of them have apartments to let. The house we have to +do with is No. 7. The even numbers are on one side of the road, the odd +on the other. No. 5 is a boarding-house of a very respectable kind, +frequented by young fellows in business chiefly. No. 9 is occupied by a +man who, after retiring from business comparatively wealthy, had +financial losses. His four daughters have had to go out and work. I +mention these facts to show that the surroundings are entirely +commonplace. The owner of No. 7 went abroad some years ago, owing to the +death of his wife, I understand, and left the house in the hands of an +agent. It was to be let furnished, but, except for a caretaker, it +remained empty for several months. It was then taken by a newly-married +couple. They could not remain in it. The house was haunted, they said, +and I believe the agent threatened them with legal proceedings if they +spread such an absurd report. He seemed to think they said so only to +repudiate their bargain. It was then let to a man named Greaves, about +whom nothing was known. He paid the rent in advance, and lived there +alone with a housekeeper and a young servant. One morning he was found +dead in his bed, in the large room on the first floor at the back. A +piece of cord was fastened tightly round his neck. There seemed little +doubt that he had committed suicide, for when he did not come down to +breakfast the housekeeper went to his room and found the door locked on +the inside. It had to be broken open. Perhaps you heard of the case?" + +Quarles shook his head. + +"Well, the door was locked on the inside, the window was shut and +fastened, there was no sign that any one had entered the room, and +nothing was missing. Foul play was out of the question, but the doctor +who was called in was troubled about the affair. It was from him that I +had these particulars. Dr. Bates had become acquainted--not +professionally, I believe--with the young couple who had lived in the +house for a time, and they had told him the place was haunted. In +bringing his judgment to bear upon Greaves' death, it is only right to +remember that his mind had received a bias." + +"I take it he did not believe it was a case of suicide," said Quarles. + +"His reason told him it must be, yet something beyond reason told him +it wasn't." + +"He thought it was murder?" I asked. + +"No, not ordinary murder," Randall answered. "He thought it was a +supernatural death." + +"I have read the letter he wrote to you; there is nothing very definite +in it," said Quarles. + +"It was his indefinite state of mind which caused him to relate the whole +story to me. When the police failed to make any discovery, he thought +some one interested in psychological research might solve the mystery." + +"What, exactly, were the experiences of this young couple?" I asked. + +"Chiefly noises, footsteps echoing through a silent house. Once the +shadow of a man, or so it seemed, was thrown suddenly upon the wall by a +ray of moonlight, and once the curtains and sheets of a bed were found +torn, as if hands, finding nothing else to destroy, had taken vengeance +upon them. Of course, this all comes second-hand from Dr. Bates." + +"And is probably unconsciously exaggerated," said Quarles. "The ordinary +man is almost certain to overstate and to emphasize unduly one part of +the evidence." + +"That was my feeling exactly," returned Randall, "so I spent a night in +that haunted room myself. The result was disappointing." + +"Did nothing happen?" I asked. + +"There was no direct manifestation--at least I saw nothing, and I do not +think I heard anything, but I am sure that I felt something. It was very +vague. You know it is my theory," Randall went on, addressing me, "that +different individuals are sensitive to different influences. For example, +let us suppose a certain spot is haunted, a spot where something +particularly desperate has taken place in the past. Now I believe that A, +B, and C, all sensitive to supernatural influences, may watch there and +seeing nothing, but that D, being sensitive to that particular influence, +or moving on that particular plane, may be successful. In another case, +where D fails, A, B, or C may be successful. I think it is this fact +which accounts for the comparatively small number of experiences which we +are able to authenticate. It was an article of the professor's, setting +forth similar views, which made me anxious to make his acquaintance." + +"Are you suggesting that he should spend a night in this house?" I asked. + +"I do not think I suggested such a thing," said Randall with a smile, +"but I believe that is the professor's intention." + +"It is," said Quarles. + +"When?" I asked. + +"On Friday night." + +"Greaves died on a Friday night," said Randall. "It is a small point, +perhaps, but, like myself, the professor believes in small details." + +"I suppose the agent will let me have the key," said Quarles. + +"I do not know the agent. I got the key through Dr. Bates, and I can give +you a card of introduction to him." + +"It will be a very interesting experiment," I said, looking as learned as +I could. I thought I had kept my end up very well, and far from having to +pretend to be interested, as Quarles had suggested, I was profoundly +interested, not in the psychological discussion, but in the Bayswater +mystery. I had heard of it before, and remembered that Martin, one of the +oldest members of the force, had said that it was no more a case of +suicide than he was a raw recruit. I am far from saying that no mystery +is to be accounted for by the supernatural, but I always want to test it +in every other way first. + +Quarles was pleased to jeer at me for a skeptic as we drove back to +Chelsea. He did not consider me altogether a fool as a detective, but he +had no use for me as a psychological student. + +"Anyway, it is a pity you are undertaking this business in your present +nervous state," I said. "At least let me be with you on Friday night." + +"Nonsense, that would make the experiment useless. You clear up the +mystery of this subtle scoundrel who has tried to get me shot and my +nervous state will soon disappear." + +As a matter of fact, I couldn't settle to a careful study of my recent +cases, as the professor had suggested. I tried and failed. I could not +forget the experiment which was to be made on Friday night, and on +Wednesday morning I took action. First of all, I arranged that a special +constable should be on duty in Manleigh Road, and from his appearance no +one would have supposed that anything in the way of a genius had been +introduced into the neighborhood. He looked a fool; he was one of the +smartest men I knew. Strangely enough, on the Thursday night No. 7 was +burgled quite early in the evening as soon as it was dusk. Two men got in +at a basement window, and the constable was quite close at the time. He +had instructions, in fact, to give warning to the burglars if there was +any danger of their being seen. + +I had not burgled the house alone; I had taken a young detective named +Burroughs with me. Of course, I might say it was because I wanted to give +him a chance, or because I thought we might encounter desperate +characters in the house; but as a fact, it was the supernatural element +which decided me. I do not like the idea of the supernatural; my nerves, +excellent in their way and in their own sphere, are inclined to get jumpy +under certain conditions. + +We went up from the basement cautiously, and it would have needed keen +ears to have heard our movements. + +Without showing a light, we went into every room in the house. Those in +front had some light in them from a street lamp outside, but those at the +back were dark, although, after a while, we got accustomed to the dark, +and could see to some extent. None of the blinds was drawn, and although +there was no moon, it was a clear, starlit night. + +Our special attention was devoted to the room where Greaves had been +found dead. It was substantially furnished, mid-Victorian in character. +The lock on the door, which had been broken open, had been mended, and +the window was fastened. Systematically we examined every article of +furniture and the innocent-looking cupboard. The walls were substantial, +but we did not subject them to tapping. I did not want to arouse the +neighbors to the fact that No. 7 was not empty to-night. + +"We have a long vigil before us, Burroughs," I said. + +"What do you expect to discover, sir?" + +"I don't know, nothing most likely; but if anything does happen it is +going to happen in this room. I am going to take up my position in this +chair by the bed, and I want you to keep watch on the landing. If you +hear any one about the house come in to me at once, but if you only hear +me move don't come in unless I call. I shall not fasten the door, but I +shall put it to. If in some way it is possible to find out that this room +is occupied, I want to appear as if I were quite alone. Do you +understand?" + +"Perfectly." + +I saw Burroughs settled in a chair on the landing; then I entered the +room and closed the door without latching it, and there was a certain +feeling down my spine, in spite of the knowledge that I had a comrade +near at hand. + +It was quite beyond me how Quarles could undertake to stay there all +alone. I could have done it had I been convinced that danger could only +come from a material foe; it was the idea of the supernatural which beat +me. I was not skeptic enough to be unmoved. + +I had determined to sit beside the bed; but remembering that Greaves had +been found on the bed I first of all lay down for a minute or two. The +bed was not made up, but the mattresses were there with blankets over +them, and the hangings were in place. The key to the mystery might lie in +some hidden mechanism in the bed. Then I settled myself in the chair +beside the bed, my hand in my pocket on my revolver. + +This kind of waiting is always a trial. The silence, the bodily +inactivity while the mind is strained to be keenly alert, have a sort of +hypnotic influence. An untrained man will certainly fancy he hears and +sees things, and even a trained man has to light hard against the desire +to sleep. There comes a longing for something, anything, to happen. I +think I got into a condition at last in which I should have welcomed a +ghost. There was no church clock near to break the monotony with its +striking; time seemed non-existent. + +Once I thought I heard Burroughs shift his position on the landing +outside, and there presently came to me an uncontrollable desire to move. +I stood up. Just to walk to the window and back would make all the +difference. + +My journey across the room was noiseless, and, coming back, I +stopped suddenly. + +To my left there was movement, movement without sound. In an instant my +revolver was ready, and then I felt a fool. In a recess there was a glass +fixed to the wall, we had noticed it when we examined the room, and I had +caught the dim reflection of my head and shoulders in it. The glass was +just at that height from the floor. + +I went to it and called myself a fool to my reflection. I could only see +myself very dimly, so I cannot say whether the incident had driven any +color from my face. + +It had the effect of quieting my restlessness, at any rate. I returned to +my chair refreshed, feeling capable of keeping a vigil, however long it +might last. + +Almost unconsciously I began to consider how many deceptions +looking-glasses were responsible for, and remembered some of the +illusions I had seen at the Egyptian Hall. No doubt looking-glasses had +played a large part in some of them. + +And then I began to wonder why the mattresses had been left upon the bed. +Was the agent expecting to let the house again at once, or had they been +put there for Quarles's convenience to-morrow night? + +How long my mind slid from one thing to another I cannot say; but +gradually my ideas seemed to dwindle away into nothingness, and it is +easy to imagine that I slept. I do not think I did, however. + +Although my mind was a blank for a time, I am convinced I never lost +consciousness of that room or of the business I had in hand. There was +absolutely no sensation of waking, only another sudden desire to move. + +Again I walked to the window, and as I came back I glanced in the +direction of the glass. This time my own reflection did not startle me; +not because I was ready for it, but because I did not see it. + +I must have crossed the room at a different angle, or my eyes-- + +I went to the glass, and then I started. There was no reflection. I was +not in the glass. + +In a moment the knowledge that this room was haunted came to me in full +force. There was the glass, plainer than I had seen it before, my eyes +were not at fault. Indeed, as I stared into it, there was a dim outline +of images in the glass, the furniture of the room, but of me no +reflection at all. Was I bewitched? Surely I must be in my chair, +sleeping, dreaming, for suddenly in the glass, moving as in a mist, there +were shadows--a bed and a man lying on it, and bending over him was +another man whose hands were twisting about his companion. + +I tried to call out to stop him, then I drew back, and the next moment I +was at the door, speaking to Burroughs in a whisper. + +"What is it?" he asked, coming swiftly into the room. + +"Look!" and I seized him by the arm and drew him to the looking-glass. + +"Well, what is it?" he asked again. + +His reflection and mine were looking out at us, one scared face, mine; +one full of questioning, his. + +I told him what I had seen. + +"You dropped off to sleep, Mr. Wigan, that's what it was." + +Had I? It couldn't have been a dream, and yet faith in myself was shaken. +It was possible I had only walked across the room a second time in my +dreams. One thing is certain, I did not fall asleep again that night. + +I had arranged with the constable in Manleigh Road that he should keep a +careful watch at dawn. We should leave then by the same way as we had +entered, and he was to signal to us if the coast was clear. + +It was an essential part of my plan that no one should know the house had +been occupied that night. I had kept watch, thinking that if harm were +intended to Quarles the trap would be made ready previously. How and by +whom I had not fully considered. Now I determined not to leave the house +during the day. + +I would be there when Quarles came that night. + +I scribbled a note to him, explaining what I was doing, and I said that +if the agent should accompany him to the house I would remain hidden +until the agent had gone. This note I gave to Burroughs, and instructed +him to explain matters to the constable. + +I had provided myself with a flask and some dry biscuits in case of +contingencies, and prepared to pass the day as comfortably as I could. It +is needless to say that in daylight I examined that haunted room again, +especially the looking-glass. + +It was in an ornamental wooden frame fixed on the wall, formed, in fact, +a finish to a wooden dado. It was like the fixed overmantel one finds +sometimes in small modern villas, only it wasn't over the mantelpiece. + +I think there was nothing in the room which I did not examine carefully, +but I did not sit there; I preferred the front room. + +It was an immense relief when I saw Quarles and another man, the agent, +come through the gate. + +It was between eight and nine, and I retired to the basement to be out of +the way. The agent stayed about half an hour, and they were chiefly in +the haunted room together. + +"I sincerely hope your report will set at rest this silly idea that the +house is haunted," I heard the agent say as they came down to the hall. +"When my client returns he will be pretty mad about it." + +"When does he return?" asked Quarles. + +"I don't know. I haven't had a line from him since he went away, but +the sum I have received for him in rent doesn't amount to much, I can +tell you." + +I expected to find the professor rather ill-tempered at my interference, +but I found him inclined to raillery. + +"Are you hunting a murderer or a ghost, Wigan?" he asked. + +"I am not quite sure, but I think at the back of my mind there is an idea +to keep you out of the clutches of the subtle personality of whom you are +afraid. Come up to the haunted room; we will talk there, but it must be +in whispers. If I have had any success it is believed that you are in +this house alone to-night." + +"A foolish old man alone, eh?" + +"In this instance I am inclined to answer yes." + +"You are quite right to say exactly what you think," he returned. + +"Have you considered the possibility that some one is trading on your +known enthusiasm for psychological research?" I asked. + +"Surely you do not mean Randall?" + +"No, but he may have been used as a tool. Frankly now, would you have +undertaken this business just at the present time had it not been for +Dr. Randall?" + +"Probably not." + +"So if you are being deceived it is being managed very subtly." + +"You are full of supposition. Let us get to work. You speak in your +letter of an experience you had last night. What was it?" + +"You will say no doubt that my fear of the supernatural got the +better of me." + +I told him the story of the looking-glass as we stood in front of it, our +two faces looking out at us dimly. + +"Come away from it now, Wigan," he said when I had finished. "Burroughs +thought you had fallen asleep, did he? You are convinced you were not +dreaming, I presume?" + +"At the time I confess Burroughs rather shook my faith in myself, but +during the day I have become certain that I did not sleep." + +Sitting on the other side of the bed--Quarles was very particular where +he sat in the room--he questioned me closely about the actions of the +shadows, and I answered him as well as I could. Only a very vague picture +was in my mind. + +"It may astonish you to know, Wigan, that it was only your note this +morning which brought me to this house at all to-night, I 'phoned to you +at least a dozen times yesterday." + +"Why?" + +"I was afraid of to-night. Perhaps for the time being I have lost my grip +a little on account of my nervous condition. I have had a long talk with +Dr. Bates, and he tried to persuade me to give up the idea of spending a +night here alone. He was rather doubtful about a supernatural solution to +the mystery. Then I didn't like the agent when I went to him to arrange +about the key. I shouldn't have entered the house with him to-night had I +not known you were here." + +"Anything else?" I asked. + +"Always that strong presentiment of danger," he answered. "Were these +hangings on the bed last night?" + +"It was exactly as you see it now." + +"The agent said the mattress and blankets had been put here for my +convenience." + +"Did he say when they were put here?" + +"I thought he meant to-day," said Quarles. + +"No one has entered the house to-day," I answered. + +"Yet, if Greaves was murdered, some one must have gained access to this +room somehow, in spite of the locked door and fastened window." + +"You have dropped the idea of the supernatural, then?" + +"I am keeping an open mind." + +"Shall we give it up and go, Professor?" + +"Certainly not. I am supposed to be alone in the house, so we will +await events. On the other side of that wall where the glass hangs is +No. 5, I suppose?" + +"Yes." + +"That is the boarding-house. Keep still a minute while I get an idea of +the furniture against this opposite wall. Randall said a man and his four +daughters lived at No. 9, didn't he?" + +I whispered an affirmative, and could dimly see the professor going +slowly along the wall. He began tapping things, apparently with a +pocket knife. + +I warned him not to make a noise. + +"I am known to be here," he answered, coming back to me. "A man who +undertakes to investigate the supernatural would be expected to take +precautions that no tricks were likely to be played upon him. It would be +suspicious if I didn't make a little noise. Now we will settle ourselves. +I shall lie on the bed. You move a chair under that glass and sit there. +I have an electric torch with me. Don't fall asleep to-night, Wigan." + +"I didn't last night," I answered. + +After that we were silent, and the vigil began. In one way it was a +repetition of the previous night. I lost count of time, and had sudden +desires to move, but managed to control them. + +Certainly I did not sleep, and I fought successfully against the hypnotic +influence which silence and darkness exert. Not a sound of movement came +from Quarles, not a murmur from the world outside. + +More than once I wanted to ask the professor whether he was all right, +but did not do so. + +It seemed that this utter silence had lasted for hours, when it was +broken, not suddenly, but gradually. It was not a sound so much as a +movement which broke it. Some one or something was near us. At first it +did not seem to be in the room, but as if it were trying to get in. I +could not tell where it was, but for a time it was outside, and then just +as certainly I knew that it was in. + +I cannot say positively that I heard a footfall on the carpet, but I +think I did, and then came an unmistakable sound; the swish of the bed +hangings suddenly drawn back. + +"Quarles!" + +Whether I shouted his name or whispered it, I do not know, but the next +moment a ray from the electric torch cut the darkness like a long sword. + +There was a low, almost inarticulate cry, then a light thud upon the +floor--so light it might have been some clothes falling from the bed. + +"Don't move, Wigan!" Quarles said, and a second afterwards he +fired--downwards it must have been, although he had warned me to keep +still, in case he should hit me. + +There was an unearthly yell, and something rushed past my feet--a man on +all fours, a little man, a-- + +"The glass, Wigan! Quick!" + +I sprang up. For just an instant I saw my own reflection, then it was +gone; instead, I was looking into a luminous mist out of which there +suddenly flashed a face looking into mine. + +I saw it quite clearly, and then it went as quickly as it had come. It +appeared to have been jerked away. + +"Look!" + +Quarles was behind me, and in the glass, almost as I had seen them last +night, were the shadows, only now they struggled and twisted first; it +was afterwards that one lay still across the bed. + +"An ape, Wigan!" Quarles said excitedly. "An ape, trained to imitate, and +now--did some one look through the glass?" + +"Yes." + +"Was it Dr. Randall?" + +Directly he asked the question I knew that it was the doctor's face which +had been there. + +"The subtle personality, Wigan." + +"When did you guess?" + +"I didn't guess--I didn't think it possible. Bates' disbelief in the +supernatural made me a little suspicious, but I didn't think it possible. +To-night--that ape--the whole plot--I could only think of Randall. There +was no one else." + +We left the house at once, both of us in an excited state. + +The constable I had on special duty soon had several others with him, and +before dawn No. 5 Manleigh Road was raided. + +It was only a garbled statement which got into the papers, and +probably the whole truth will never be known; but I gradually gathered +the main facts, partly from the doctor's confederates, partly from +some of his victims. + +Dr. Randall, posing as a nerve specialist, and fully qualified to do so, +had lived a double life. As a doctor he was respected and was fairly +successful; as the head and organizer of a small army of miscreants he +had been eminent for years. + +Under the guise of a respectable boarding-house, No. 5 had been used +as the headquarters of the gang, and the operations had been so +widespread, so all-embracing in the field of crime, that after the +raid many mysteries which the police had failed to unravel were +credited to Randall. Many of these he could have had nothing to do +with, but he had quite enough to answer for. He seems to have +exercised a kind of terrorism over his subordinates, or he would +surely have been betrayed before. + +Exactly at what point my investigations had jeopardized his secret I +could not find out, but he evidently thought it was in danger, and +believing Quarles was responsible, he determined to get rid of him. + +I was told that he had made two attempts upon his life before the night +he was introduced to him in the Temple. That night Quarles was followed +when he left the Temple, and, as we know, was shot at in Savoy Street. + +This attempt failing, the doctor, who had already asked Quarles to dinner +on the following night as an extra precaution, determined to use a method +which had already proved successful. + +Quarles's enthusiasm for psychological research could hardly fail to +tempt him into the trap. + +No. 7 Manleigh Road belonged to a man in the doctor's employment. It had +been prepared for eventualities some time before--probably tragedies had +occurred in the house which had never been heard of. The house agent was +one of the gang, and when, either by mistake or because he could not help +himself without causing undesirable comment, he let the house to the +young married couple, they were frightened away. The house was then let +to Greaves, a man who had become a danger to the doctor, and in due +course he was found dead in his bed. + +Between the fireplace of the haunted room and that of the corresponding +room in No. 5 part of the chimney wall had been removed, so that there +was sufficient space for the ape to get from one room to the other. + +This ape, some four feet in height, was exceedingly powerful and more +than usually imitative, but was not naturally vicious. Any action done in +its presence the animal would be certain to repeat at the first +opportunity; but having done so, it did not repeat it again unless the +action was performed again. The action of strangling a man in his sleep +by means of a cord was performed before the ape, and afterwards the +animal was allowed to steal through the hole in the chimney. The result +was that Greaves was found dead. + +It was intended that Quarles should die in a like manner, and special +pains were taken with the ape to insure success. The action was performed +before the animal in every detail more than once, and it was kept in +strict confinement until the right moment came. + +The ape was out of my sight, but I chanced to see the imitation in +progress on the Thursday night through the glass, which had unaccountably +been left open for some minutes after it had been tried to see that it +was in working order. I saw only dimly because the imitation was being +done by the light of a single candle, and that shaded as much as +possible, to suggest to the ape the gloomy conditions of the room in +which it was to repeat its lesson. Let into the wall of the room in the +boarding-house there was a glass backing on to the one in the haunted +room. A small handle swung aside the back, which was common to both, and +the looking-glass became a window from one room to the other. + +When he fired Quarles evidently hit the ape. Mad with pain, the animal +dashed back through the hole in the chimney and attacked the doctor, who +was probably taken entirely unawares, as he was looking through the glass +to see what the revolver shot might mean. + +The ape went through its part of the performance, and the doctor fell a +victim to his own diabolical ingenuity. The wounded animal had to be +shot before any one could get near the body. + +Some people have declared that Dr. Randall was a madman, but I think +Quarles' answer hit the truth. + +"Of course, in a sense, all criminals are mad," he said, "but Randall was +the sanest criminal I ever came in contact with." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE DIFFICULTY OF BROTHER PYTHAGORAS + + +Whether it was my statement that criminals had grown cleverer than they +used to be which aroused Quarles's interest so effectually, or whether it +was that success made him thirst for further fields to conquer, I do not +know. I do know, however, that he grew restless if any considerable time +elapsed without my having a clue worthy of his powers. + +As it happened we had two or three cases close together which stretched +his powers to the utmost, and the extremely subtle manner in which he +solved them shows him at his best. + +When I sent him a telegram from Fairtown, merely requesting him to join +me there, I felt certain he would come by the first available train, and +was at the station to meet him. + +"Fine, invigorating air this, Wigan," he remarked. "Is there really a +case for us to deal with, or did you merely telegraph for the purpose of +giving me a holiday?" + +"The case is for you rather than for me. I am still--" + +"Still waiting for something to turn up in the Beverley affair?" he +asked. + +"Were I answering a layman, or even a rival detective, I should look very +wise and talk indefinitely of clues; to you I will admit a blank ten +days, not a forward step in any direction whatever." + +"So you send for me." + +"Upon a different matter altogether," I returned. + +I had come to Fairtown ten days ago on the lookout for a man named +Beverley. His friends were anxious about him, and said they believed he +was suffering from a loss of memory; the police had reason to suspect +that he was implicated in some company-promoting frauds, and thought the +family only wanted to find him to get him out of the country. His people +were certainly not aware that I was looking for him in Fairtown, and I +need not go into the reasons which made me expect to run my quarry to +earth in this particular spot; they were sound ones, or I should not have +spent ten days on the job. + +To describe Fairtown would be superfluous. Every one knows this popular +seaside resort. This year, I believe for the first time, a large tent had +been erected behind the sea-baths building, which was occupied each week +by a different company of entertainers. In my second week a troupe of +pierrots was there, the "Classical P's," they were called, and hearing +from some one in the hotel that they were quite out of the ordinary, I +went on the Thursday evening. At the opening of the performance the +leader of the troupe announced that Brother Pythagoras, after the +performance on the previous evening, had been obliged to go to town, and +unfortunately had not yet returned, so they would be without his services +that night. There was some disappointment; he had a charming tenor voice, +my neighbor told me. The full troupe numbered six, described on the +program as Brothers Pluto, Pompey, and Pythagoras, and Sisters Psyche, +Pomona, and Penelope; that night, of course, they were only five, but the +entertainment was excellent. + +Sister Pomona was altogether an exceptional pianist, her interpretation +of items by Schumann and Mendelssohn being little short of a revelation. +She was pretty, too, and her scarlet dress with its white pompons, and +her pierrot's hat to match, suited her to perfection. + +I was amongst the last left in the tent after the performance, partly +owing to the position of my seat, partly, at least so Zena would have it +later, and I did not contradict her, because I was lingering in the hope +of getting another glimpse of Pomona. As I moved toward the exit there +came a short scream, a terrified scream it seemed to me, from behind the +stage. I turned back and waited, and in a minute or two Brother Pluto +came from behind the curtains. + +"Are you a doctor?" he asked. + +"No, but--" + +"I am a doctor," said a voice behind me. + +I was not invited, but I followed the doctor. The space available for +the artistes was very small. There was little more than passageway +between the tent wall and the stage built up some three feet from the +ground, and we had to step over the various paraphernalia which was +necessary for the performance. What had happened was this. A projecting +piece of woodwork had caught Pomona's dress as she passed, tearing off +one of the white pompons, which had rolled underneath the platform. She +saw it, as she supposed, lying in a dark corner, and stooped to reach +it. What she had caught sight of, and what she caught hold of, was a +man's hand, a cold hand. Brothers Pluto and Pompey were beside her a +moment afterwards, and had dragged a body from under the stage. It was +Brother Pythagoras, the performer who was supposed to have gone to +London on the previous night. He was dressed in his pierrot costume, +but had been dead some hours, the doctor said, death being due to a blow +on the head, from a stick, probably. + +I told the story to Quarles as we walked to the hotel. + +"Does the doctor suggest an accident?" he asked. + +"No." + +"How long, in his opinion, had the man been dead?" + +"Some hours." + +"Twenty-four?" + +"I particularly asked that question," I answered. "He thought death had +taken place that day." + +"It may be an interesting case," said Quarles doubtfully. "I suppose I +can see the body." + +"I have arranged that." + +"Who are these brothers and sisters?" + +"Pluto and Psyche are husband and wife, a Mr. and Mrs. Watson. She is a +Colonial, and he has been in the Colonies for a year or two. It is their +second season of entertaining in this country. Pompey, whose name is +Smith, and Penelope, otherwise Miss Travers, have been with them from the +first. Pomona, otherwise Miss Day, only joined them this season, and is +evidently a lady. The dead man, Henley by name, joined them after the +season had commenced, taking the place of a man who fell ill. He has been +very reticent about himself." + +"According to Watson, I suppose?" said Quarles. + +"They were all agreed upon that point," I answered. + +"On what points were they not agreed?" Quarles asked quickly. + +"Well, although they all spoke in the warmest terms of their comrade, it +struck me they were not all so fond of him as they made out." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"The way they looked at the dead man. Naturally, I was watching them +rather keenly as the doctor made his examination." + +"That is rather an interesting idea, Wigan, and has possibilities in it; +still, a murdered man is not a pleasant sight, and the artistic +temperament must be taken into consideration." + +We went to the mortuary that afternoon. The dead man was still in the +pierrot's dress--I had arranged this should be so, wishing to afford the +professor every facility in his investigation. He was more interested in +the dress than in the man, examining it very carefully with his lens. The +stockings and shoes came in for close inspection, also the comical +pierrot's hat, which he fitted to the dead man's head for a moment. + +"Had he his hat on when he was pulled from under the platform?" he asked. + +"No. It was found after the doctor's examination, close to where the body +had been." + +"Who found it?" + +"Watson--Brother Pluto." + +"Who first thought of looking for it?" Quarles asked. + +"I think Watson just stooped down and saw it. He would naturally think of +it, since it was part of the dress." + +The professor nodded, as if the explanation satisfied him. Then he looked +at the head, neck, and hands. + +"He was a singer, you say?" + +"Yes--a tenor." + +"What instrument did he play?" + +"I don't know." + +"Ah, a sad end. Henley, you say his name was--I see there is 'H' marked +in pencil in his hat." + +"He called himself Henley," I answered; "it may not have been his real +name. As I said, his companions know very little about him." + +"So his friends, if he has any, cannot be advised of the tragedy. This +company of mummers is alone in its mourning for him. I should like to +examine this hat more closely, Wigan. Can I take it away with me?" + +I arranged for him to do so, and we went back to the hotel. + +"Do you find it an interesting case, Professor?" I asked. + +"It certainly presents some difficulties which are interesting. The clue +may lie in Henley's unknown past, and that might be a difficulty not to +be overcome; or we may find the clue in jealousy." + +"You surely are not thinking that--" + +"Oh, I have not got so far as suspecting Watson or any of his +companions," said Quarles, "but certain facts force us to keep an open +mind, Wigan. To begin with, there was apparently no struggle before +death. The blow was not so severe that a comparatively weak arm might not +have delivered it, a woman's, for the sake of argument. We may, +therefore, deduct two theories at once. He probably had no suspicion or +fear of the person in whose company he was, and I think the doctor will +endorse our statement if we affirm that he was not in a healthy +condition. Personally, I should credit Henley with a fairly rapid past, +which may account for his companions not looking upon the body with any +particular kindness, as you noticed." + +"You seem to have built more on that idea of mine than I +intended," I said. + +"I have built nothing at all on it," he answered. "I argue entirely from +the appearance of the dead man. Another point. I looked for some sign +that the dress had been put on after the man was dead. The signs all +point to an opposite conclusion." + +"The dress puzzles me," I said. + +"Of course, if the doctor were not so certain that death had occurred +during the day, we might place the murder at some time on the previous +night, after the performance, when Henley would naturally be in his +pierrot's dress, but why should he put it on during the day. There was no +rehearsal, I suppose?" + +"Nothing was said about it; besides, Henley was supposed to be in town." + +"Yes, I know. That is one of our difficulties. I take it that +neither Watson nor any of his company have offered any explanation +of the tragedy?" + +"I believe not. I saw the local inspector this morning, and he said +nothing further had transpired, nor had any clue been found amongst the +dead man's effects. Of course, if his companions had any guilty knowledge +they would have made some explanation." + +"Why?" + +"To mislead us." + +"My dear Wigan, there are times when you jump as far to a conclusion +as a woman." + +"I am arguing from a somewhat ripe experience," I retorted +somewhat hotly. + +"Strengthened by an interest in Sister Pomona, eh? Something of the +old-fashioned school lingers about you, which is picturesque but always a +handicap in these days. The methods of crime have changed just as the +methods of other enterprises have changed. Your bungling villain has no +chance nowadays; to succeed a criminal must be an artist, a scientist +even, and he does not fall into the error of accusing himself by +excusing himself. And since increased knowledge tends to simplify those +explanations with which we have sought to explain away difficulties in +the past, I think we shall be wise to apply modern methods to any +difficulty with which we are confronted." + +Naturally, I argued the point, endeavoring to justify myself, and in the +process we nearly quarreled. + +That night we went to the entertainment. It was an exceedingly full +house, showing the commercial wisdom of the proprietors of the sea-baths +in not canceling the engagement. The verve and go in the performance +astonished me. One would not have supposed that a tragedy had happened in +this little company of players. I felt that they ought to be horribly +conscious of the ghastly thing which had been found under that platform +only a few hours since. I said something of the kind to Quarles. + +"Don't forget the artistic temperament," he answered. + +"Surely it would be the very temperament to be influenced," I said. + +"Presently we shall find out, perhaps," he whispered as Sister Pomona +went to the piano. + +It was Chopin she played to-night, and Quarles, who had been more +interested in her than in the rest of the company, immediately lost +himself in the music. He applauded as vociferously as any one in the +audience, and after the performance would talk of nothing but music. It +pleased him to become learned on harmony and counterpoint; at least, I +suppose it was learned; I could not understand him. + +I had suggested that he should make the acquaintance of the pierrots as +soon as the curtain was down, but this he would not do. + +"To-morrow will be time enough; besides, I want to see them with the +paint off." + +We called on them on the following morning. They had rooms in a quiet +street in Fairtown. The landlady was accustomed to have strolling +companies as lodgers, and evidently had the knack of making them +comfortable. Quarles had a word or two with her before seeing her +visitors, and learnt that they were the nicest and quietest people +she had ever had. The poor gentleman who was dead was the quietest of +the company. + +"Perhaps he was in love," laughed Canaries. + +"I shouldn't be surprised," the landlady answered. + +"With whom?" + +"He seemed to spend most of his time looking at Miss Day when he +didn't think she would notice him. I don't wonder. She is well worth +looking at." + +"Admiration is not necessarily love," remarked the professor. "By the +way, have you been to the mortuary to see the body?" + +"Me!" exclaimed the landlady in horror. "No. I am not one of those +who take a morbid pleasure in that kind of thing. Nothing would +induce me to go." + +"Very sensible of you," Quarles said. + +We were then taken to the Watsons' sitting-room, and I explained the +reason of our call, speaking of Quarles as a brother detective. He did +not at once act up to his part. Mr. and Mrs. Watson were alone when we +first entered, but the others joined us almost at once, and I fancy they +were prepared for a visit from me; the local inspector may have said it +was likely. Quarles began to talk of music, and judging by Miss Day's +interest I concluded that he knew what he was talking about; in fact, all +of them were immensely interested in the old man, and for at least half +an hour the real reason of our being there was not mentioned. + +"Bach, no, I am not an admirer of Bach," said the professor, in answer to +a question from Miss Day. "Bad taste, no doubt, but I always think +musical opinion is particularly difficult to follow. By the way, I +suppose Mr. Henley played some instrument?" + +The sudden question seemed to change the whole atmosphere. Watson, I +fancy, had been ready to enter upon a defense of Shaw, and Miss Day to +convert Quarles to Bach worship; in fact, I firmly believe that every one +except myself had forgotten all about the dead man until that moment. + +"Why do you ask!" Watson inquired after a pause. + +"You are such a musical set, it would be strange if one of your company +could not play any instrument at all. I am told he sang tenor songs, and +was wondering whether that was all he could do." + +"As a fact he played the banjo and the guitar," said Watson, "but he has +not done so in Fairtown. The people here are high-class people, and we +have to vary our performance to suit our audiences. At Brighton, where we +go next week, Henley's banjo playing might have been the most popular +item on the program." + +"I can understand that. You know very little about Mr. Henley, I am +told," and he waved his hand in my direction to show where he had got his +information. + +"Very little," Watson replied. "He told us he had no relations, and he +received very few letters, which seemed to be from agents and business +people. I did not question him very closely when he applied to me. I +judged that he was down on his luck, but he fitted my requirements, and +my wife was favorably impressed with him." + +"And you have no reason to regret taking him into your company?" + +"On the contrary, he proved a great acquisition, a far better man than +the one whose place he took." + +"That is not quite what I meant," said Quarles. "Companies of +entertainers vary, not only in ability, but in individual tastes, in +personnel. By engaging Mr. Henley you were obliged to admit him into your +private circle, and I imagine--" + +"That is what I meant by saying my wife approved of him," said Watson. "I +wouldn't engage the finest tenor in the world unless he were a decent +fellow. It wouldn't be fair to the rest of us." + +Quarles nodded his appreciation of such an attitude. + +"Of course, as long as he behaves decently I am satisfied," Watson went +on. "I don't make my enquiries too particular. For instance, I shouldn't +bar a man because he had got into trouble." + +"Have you any reason to suppose that Henley had done so?" Quarles asked. +"That might account for his mysterious death." + +"I have no such suspicion," Watson answered; "indeed, he was not that +kind of man. It is my way--my clumsy way of explaining what I mean by +decent. Many a decent man has seen the inside of a prison. By being there +he pays his debt, and afterwards, in common justice, he should be free, +really free, free from his fellow-man's contempt." + +"You have started my husband on his pet hobby," laughed Mrs. Watson. "He +always declares that our prisons hold some of the best men in the world." + +"Some of the strongest and most potential," corrected her husband. + +"I am inclined to agree with him," said Quarles. + +"But I am taking up your time and not asking the one or two +questions I came especially to ask. You dress for the performance in +the tent, I suppose?" + +"The men do. The ladies dress here and go down with cloaks over their +costumes." + +Quarles undid a small brown paper parcel--I had wondered what he had +brought with him--and produced the pierrot's hat. + +"That is Henley's, I suppose?" + +Watson looked at it. + +"Undoubtedly. There is an 'H' in it, you see. We all put our initial in +like that so that we should know our own." + +"Now, can you suggest why Henley was wearing his dress?" asked Quarles. + +"That has puzzled us all," Watson answered. "I am inclined to think the +doctor is wrong as regards the time he had been dead. The last we saw of +Henley was when we left the tent that night. He was not coming back with +us, he was going straight to the station. He was a long time changing, +and I told him he would have to hurry to catch his train." + +"Is there such a late train up?" + +"Only during the summer." + +"And none of you went down to the tent until the evening of the +next day?" + +They all replied in the negative. + +"We are perhaps fortunate in being able to substantiate the denial," said +Watson. "We all drove to Craybourne and spent the day there, starting +soon after ten and not getting back until six." + +"And in the ordinary way Henley would have gone with you?" + +"Certainly. It was only just before the performance that evening that he +announced his journey to town. He said it was a matter of business." + +"One more question," said Quarles, "a delicate one, but you will forgive +it because you are as desirous of clearing up this mystery as any one. +Have you any reason to suppose poor Henley was in love?" + +"I have no reason to think so," said Watson. + +"Nor you, Miss Travers?" said Quarles, turning to Sister Penelope. + +"He certainly was not in love with me." + +"I ask the question just to clear the ground," said the professor after a +short pause, and rising as he spoke. "The man whose place Henley took +might have fallen in love with one of you young ladies, and if he thought +Henley had supplanted him he might have taken a mad revenge. Such things +do happen." + +"There was nothing of that sort," said Mrs. Watson. "Russell, that was +the other man, has gone on a voyage for his health. Only a week ago I had +a picture postcard from him from a port in South America." + +"That absolutely squashes the very germ of the theory," said the +professor with a smile. "Sometime I hope to enjoy your charming +entertainment again, and to hear you play, Miss Day. I hope it won't be +Bach. Good-by." + +As we walked back to the hotel I asked Quarles why he had not suggested +that Henley might be in love with Miss Day instead of Miss Travers. + +"My dear Wigan, you have yourself said she is undoubtedly a lady. Can +you imagine her allowing a man like the dead man to have anything to do +with her?" + +"Circumstances have thrown them into each other's company," I answered. +"In such a small circle she could hardly avoid him." + +"I am inclined to think the company will get on better without him," +he answered. + +To my astonishment the professor insisted on going back to town that +afternoon. No, he was not giving up the case, but he wanted to be in +Chelsea to think it out, and to see if Zena had got any foolish questions +to ask. This was Saturday, and on Monday I received a telegram from him, +requesting me to come to town. It was important. Of course I went, and +the three of us adjourned to the empty room. + +"I am sorry to bring you off the Beverley affair, Wigan, but I think we +ought to settle this pierrot business." + +"Then you have formed a theory?" + +"Oh, yes, and it is for you to prove whether I am right or wrong. If my +theory be correct, it is rather a simple case, although it appears +complicated. We will accept the doctor's statement that the man had been +murdered that day, and not on the previous night. He was done to death, +therefore, during the morning probably, when for some reason he had +visited the tent, and for some reason had put on his pierrot's dress. +Watson is inclined to think that the doctor is wrong as regards time, but +we may dismiss his opinion. The dead man's face had no make-up on it; had +the murder been committed on the previous night before he had got out of +his costume, the grease paint would have been still on him." + +"I think that conclusion is open to argument," I said. + +"I base the conclusion rather on the doctor's opinion than on the +paint," said Quarles. "Now, it seems to follow that Henley's tale about +being called to town was false, was apparently told for the purpose of +getting out of the excursion with his comrades; and we may fairly assume +that his visit to the tent was for some purpose which he did not want his +companions to know anything about." + +"Why did he put on the dress?" said Zena. + +"That is her persistent question, Wigan, and she also asks another almost +as persistently: Why, in spite of friendly words concerning Henley, +should they look upon the dead body with such repugnance?" + +"You make too much of that idea of mine, as I have said before," I +objected. + +"Let me put it another way," said Quarles. "How was it possible for +them to show so little concern about a comrade they liked! They might +screw themselves up to go through their performance and hide their +sorrow from the public, but in private one would have expected to find +them depressed. I hardly think they showed great sorrow while we were +with them." + +"They did not, certainly." + +"May I say that Watson and Miss Day seemed the least concerned, and even +venture a step further and guess that they were the two who seemed to you +to look upon the dead man with repugnance?" + +I admitted that this was the case, and it was then that Zena, having +heard the whole story from her grandfather, accused me of lingering in +the tent that night for the purpose of seeing Sister Pomona again. + +"Now, two points as we go," said Quarles, interrupting our little +side-spar. "Miss Day volunteered no statement when I talked of love. +Could she have made an unqualified denial I think she would have done so. +I did not ask her a direct question on purpose; I thought she would be +more likely to answer an indirect one. Her silence, I fancy, was the +answer. In view of what the landlady told us, I think we are safe in +assuming that Henley admired her, and that she was aware of the fact. The +second point is Watson's defense of the men who had been in prison, his +hobby, as his wife called it. We will come back to both these points in a +moment. Let us consider the dead man first. The face was evidently that +of a fast liver, not that of a decent man such as Watson spoke of; the +throat and neck were not of the kind one expects in a singer, but, of +course, we must not argue too much from this; the hands showed breed, +certainly, but they had never been used to twang the strings of a banjo +or guitar." + +"But Watson distinctly said--" + +"And the hat with 'H' in it had never fitted the dead man," said Quarles. +"Oh, I remember perfectly what Watson said, and, moreover, I believe I +heard a good many of his thoughts which were not put into words--you can +hear thoughts, you know, only it is with such delicacy that the very idea +of hearing seems too heavy and materialistic to describe the sensation. +Watson said the hat was Henley's, he also said that Henley played these +instruments; but the pierrots all wore hats that fitted, well-made hats, +and for this reason each of them marked his hat, and the skin at the +finger tips of a banjo player always hardens. The dead man was certainly +not Brother Pythagoras, and so far the deduction is simple." + +I made no comment. + +"Now it is obvious since these entertainers agreed that it was the body +of their comrade, they are in a conspiracy to deceive. Why? More than one +complicated reason might be found, but let us remain simple. They knew +who the dead man was, and because of what they knew of him concluded that +their comrade was responsible for his death. Have you any fault to find +with that deduction, Wigan?" + +"I don't think it follows," I said. + +"If they did not know the dead man, if they had nothing to conceal, why +did they allow it to be supposed that the dead man was Henley?" said +Queries. "There would be no object. They were running a risk for nothing. +As it was, their action protected Henley. No one was likely to question +their identification. The dead man would be buried as Henley, and there +would be an end of the matter." + +"But the dead man might be identified by his friends," I said. + +"Evidently they thought it worth while to run that risk, knowing perhaps +that it was not a very great one. Apparently it was not, for up to now no +one has made anxious inquiries for the dead man." + +"But some of the people about the sea-baths and the tent attendants would +know it was not Henley," said Zena. + +"We have evidence that he was a very quiet, reticent man," said Quarles. +"They probably hardly saw him in the daytime, and at night he would have +a painted face, and the fact that he was wearing the dress would go a +long way to convince any one who chanced to see him in the dim light at +the back of the stage that night." + +"And who do you suppose he was?" I asked. + +"We will go back to Watson and Miss Day," said Quarles. "Miss Day was +silent on the question of love, fearful, I take it, that her natural +repugnance to the man might serve to betray the conspiracy. I believe +the conspiracy was formed on the spur of the moment, just before Watson +came from behind the curtains that evening and asked whether you were a +doctor. I should say the dead man had pestered her, and that she was +relieved by his death. I find some confirmation of this in Watson's +attitude. He talks of some of the best men having been in prison, in such +a way, in fact, that his wife hastens to laugh at his hobby, afraid that +he will betray himself. Now he could hardly have been referring to the +dead man; he declared himself that he was not thinking of Henley; I +suggest that he was thinking of himself." + +"And you accused me of jumping to a conclusion!" I exclaimed. + +"I haven't finished yet," answered the professor. "Here is my complete +theory. The dead man knew something of Watson's past, and was holding +that knowledge over him, blackmailing him, in fact, and I think the +company knew it. At the same time he pesters Miss Day with his +attentions, which Henley, more than half in love with Miss Day himself, +resents and determines to rid the troupe of a blackguard. He begins by +pretending some friendship for his victim, and after giving out that he +is going to town, suggests to the dead man that his absence may be an +opportunity for the other to get into Miss Day's good graces. Why should +he not dress up and take his place on the following evening? I have +little doubt that Henley expected him to come to try on the dress that +night after the performance, which would account for his being such a +long time changing. The victim did not come; by the look of him in death +I should say he had not been sober, which would account for his not +coming. Next morning Henley goes to find him, takes him to the tent, not +through the door, which would be fastened probably in some way, but +surreptitiously, through some weak spot in the pegging down very likely." + +"But why should he wait until the man had got into the pierrot's dress +before murdering him?" said Zena. + +"Because, my dear, he hoped the body would not be discovered until +another troupe took possession of the tent. A dead pierrot would be +discovered, and the troupe at Brighton would be communicated with. In the +meanwhile Henley would have warned them, and the same tale would have +been told, and the body been identified as Henley's. There would be no +hue and cry after the murderer. Had it not been for Miss Day's pompon +being torn off, I have no doubt this would have been the course of +events. You will have to travel to Brighton, Wigan, and put one or two +questions to our friend Watson." + +"And who was the man?" I asked. + +"Since no one seems to have missed him I should say he was a man not too +anxious to have inquiries made about him, one careful to cover up his +tracks, perhaps one not altogether unknown in criminal circles, a man of +the type of your Beverley, for instance. By the way, have you ever seen +Beverley?" + +"No." + +"How were you to know him, then?" + +"By the man in whose company he would be." + +"And you have good reasons for expecting to run him to earth at +Fairtown?" + +"Excellent reasons," I answered. + +"Wigan, get some one who knows Beverley to go and look at the dead +pierrot. The result might be interesting." + +It was. Quarles admitted that the idea was a leap in the dark, but he +pointed out that the dead man was the type he imagined Beverley to be. +The fact remains he was right. The dead man was Beverley. And, moreover, +the professor's deduction was right throughout as far as we were able to +verify it. Watson had been in prison, quite deservedly he admitted, but +having paid the debt for his fall, he was facing the world bravely. Then +came Beverley, who knew of the past, and Watson admitted that his death +was a thing that he could not help rejoicing over. He had heard nothing +from Henley, who had no doubt read of the discovery in the paper, and +thought it wiser to obliterate himself altogether. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE TRAGEDY IN DUKE'S MANSIONS + + +I believe Beverley's exit from this life was a relief to his family. +Whether any very strenuous efforts were made to find Henley, I do not +know. Possibly the "Classical P's" are interrogated concerning him from +time to time, for they are still appearing at well-known watering places, +though whether Miss Day is still of the company, I cannot say. + +I quickly forgot all about Henley, being absorbed in a new case, which +created considerable attention. At the outset it brought me in contact +with rather a fascinating character, a man whose personality sticks in +your memory. + +He was an Italian by birth, cosmopolitan by circumstances, and by nature +something of an artist. Fate had ordained that he should be man-servant +to an English M.P.; he would have looked more at home in a Florentine +studio or in a Tuscany vineyard, but then Fate is responsible for many +incongruities. + +In well-chosen words, and in dramatic fashion, he drew the picture for +me. + +"The little dinner was over," he said, using his hands to illustrate his +speech. "I had removed everything but the wine. It had not been a merry +party, no; it was all business, I think, and serious. When I enter the +room to bring this or take that, they pause, say something of no +consequence--evidently I am not to hear anything of what they are +talking. They talk English, though only my master was English. One of his +guests was German, the other a countryman of my own, but not of Tuscany, +no, I think of the South. So there was only the wine on the table, and +cigars, and the silver box of cigarettes. My master had in his hand a +sheet of paper, and the German had taken a map from his pocket, and my +countryman was laughing at something which amused him. I can see it all +just as it was." + +He paused, closed his eyes, as if he would impress for ever on his memory +what he had seen. + +"And now--this," he said, throwing out his arms. "This, and not two hours +afterwards." + +This was certainly tragic enough. A shaded electric light hanging over +the table left the corners of the room in shadow. The wine, the cigars, +the silver cigarette box were still on the table, the smoke was heavy in +the atmosphere. A tray contained cigar and cigarette ends. On either side +of the table was a chair pushed back as it would be by a man rising from +it. At the end was a chair, with arms, also pushed back a little, but it +was not empty. In it was a man in evening dress, leaning back, his head +fallen a little to one side, his arms hanging loosely. But for the arms +of the chair he would have fallen to the floor. He was dead. How he had +died was uncertain. A casual examination told nothing, and I had not +moved him. I had arrived first and was expecting the doctor every moment. +I happened to be in my office when the telephone message came through +that Arthur Bridwell, M.P., had been found dead under suspicious +circumstances in his flat at Duke's Mansions, Knightsbridge. I went there +at once and found a constable in possession. It was barely half-past +nine now, and the Italian manservant said he had last seen his master +alive at seven o'clock. + +"He dined early to-night?" I said. + +"Yes, at six. He was going to the House afterwards. It was important, I +heard him say so to his guests." + +"And you went out at seven?" + +"About seven. It is my custom to go for a walk after serving my master," +was the answer. "I came back just before nine. I looked into this room, +not expecting to find any one here, but to put the wine away and take the +glasses, and I find this. I have moved nothing, I have touched nothing. I +called to the porter, and he fetched the police, and the policeman used +the telephone to call you." + +The Italian, whose name was Masini, was the only servant. Duke's +Mansions, as you probably know, is a set of flats, varying in +accommodation, with a central service. There is a general dining-room, +and there are smoking rooms and lounges which all the tenants may use; +or meals are served in the various flats from the central kitchen. +To-night Mr. Bridwell had had dinner served for three at an early hour +in his flat. + +The telephone was in the corner of the room, and I was going to it to +call up Christopher Quarles, convinced this was a case in which I should +need all the assistance I could get, when the telephone bell rang. + +"Hallo!" I said. "Who's that?" + +"I left my bag on the Chesterfield," came the answer. "Better not send +it. Keep it until I come again." + +"When?" I asked. + +There was a pause. + +"Is that you, Arthur?" came the question. + +"About the bag," I said, then paused. "Are you there?" + +No answer. My voice had evidently betrayed me. The woman at the other +end had discovered that she was speaking to the wrong man. I looked at +the Chesterfield. There was no bag of any kind upon it now. Then I +telephoned to Quarles, telling him there was a mysterious case for him to +investigate. + +"Had your master any other visitors to-day?" I asked casually, turning +to Masini. + +"Not to my knowledge. All the afternoon I was out." + +"Where were you?" + +"Out for my master. I took a parcel to a gentleman at Harrow." + +"To whom?" + +"It was to a Mr. Fisher. It was a small parcel, a big letter rather, for +it was in an envelope that--that size. There was no answer. I just told +my master that Mr. Fisher said it was all right." + +"So Mr. Bridwell might have had visitors while you were out?" + +"Certainly." + +"Did he have many visitors as a rule?" + +"Sometimes from what you call his constituency." + +"Any ladies?" + +"Ah, no, signore; my master was of the other kind. He did not like the +vote for women." + +"And you say you have moved nothing in this room?" + +"Nothing at all." + +Quarles arrived soon after the doctor had begun to examine the dead man, +so I could not then give him the particulars as far as I knew them. It +chanced that the doctor, a youngish man, was acquainted with the +professor, and was quite ready to listen to his suggestions. + +"What do you make of it, Professor?" he asked. + +"Is it poison!" said Quarles interrogatively. + +The doctor had already examined the glasses on the table. + +"I can find no signs of poison," he said. "And two hours ago the man +was alive." + +"That is according to the servant," I said. Masini was not in the room at +this time. + +"There is no reason to doubt the statement, is there?" the doctor asked. + +"No, but we have not yet corroborated it," I returned. + +Quarles was already busy with his lens examining the dead man's +shirt front. + +"You, have begun trying to find out who killed him before I have +pronounced upon the cause of death," said the doctor. "I am inclined to +think it is poison, but--" + +"He didn't inject a drug, I suppose!" said Quarles. + +"Not in his arm, you can look and satisfy yourself on that point. It is +just possible that he made an injection through his clothes. It requires +a more careful investigation than I can make to-night before I can give a +decided opinion." + +"Quite so, but you do not mind my looking at the body rather closely? A +little thing so often tells a big story, and the little things are +sometimes difficult to find once the body has been moved." + +The doctor watched Quarles's close investigation with some amusement. The +shirt front came in for a lot of attention, and the collar was examined +right round to the back of the neck. It was a long time before Quarles +stood erect and put the lens in his pocket. I got the impression that he +had prolonged the investigation for the purpose of impressing the doctor. + +"It would be virulent poison which would kill a man so quickly and while +he sat in his chair," Quarles said reflectively. + +"It would, indeed," the doctor returned. + +"You have formed no idea what the poison was?" + +"Not yet." + +"No hypodermic syringe has been found, I suppose?" said Quarles, +turning to me. + +"No." + +"You see, doctor," he went on, "if the glasses there show no evidence of +poison, and nothing has been moved, and you decide that poison was the +cause of death, one might jump to the conclusion that it had been +self-administered with a syringe; that is why I ask about a syringe." + +"There are such things as tablets," said the doctor, "or the poison may +have been in the food he has eaten to-night." + +"Exactly," Quarles snapped irritably. + +The doctor smiled; he had certainly scored a point and was +evidently pleased. + +"Besides, Professor, you are a little previous with your questions. This +isn't the inquest, you know; we haven't got through the post-mortem yet." + +"I generally form an opinion before the inquest," said Quarles as he +looked at each glass in turn and stirred the contents of the ash-tray +with a match. + +"You must often make mistakes," remarked the doctor. "I propose having +the body moved to the bedroom; there is nothing else you would like to +look at before I do so?" + +"Thanks, doctor, nothing," said Quarles with a smile which showed that he +had recovered his lost temper. + +After the removal of the body the doctor departed, fully convinced, I +believe, that the professor was a much overrated person. + +"Well, Wigan, shall I tell you what the result of the post-mortem is +likely to be?" said Quarles. + +"If you can. Remember you have not heard what I have to say yet." + +"No sign of poison will be found. No sign of violence will be discovered +anywhere upon the body. Sudden heart failure--that will be apparent. The +cause obscure. Organs seemingly healthy; no discernible disease. Muscular +failure. Death from natural causes. A case interesting to the medical +world, perhaps, but with no suggestion of foul play about it. Now let me +have your tale." + +"But surely you--" + +"I assure you I have formed no definite theory yet. How can I until I +have your story!" + +I repeated what Masini had told me, and I told him about the +telephone message. + +"It was a woman. You are quite sure it was a woman?" + +"Quite certain." + +He went to the telephone. + +"There is a directory here, I see; did you touch it?" + +"No." + +"It wasn't open?" + +"It was just as you see it now." + +He took a piece of paper and made one or two notes. + +"I imagine that particular call would be difficult to trace," he said. +"Duke's Mansions has a number, and from the office in the building the +particular flat required is switched on. There must have been scores of +calls during the evening. I don't remember anything particular about +Arthur Bridwell's parliamentary career, do you?" + +"No, beyond the fact that he is Member for one of the divisions +of Sussex." + +Quarles looked slowly round the room. + +"A bag," he mused; "one of those small chain or leather affairs which +women carry, I suppose; a purse in it, a handkerchief, perhaps a letter +or two. Bridwell would see it in all probability after the lady had +left, and he would--he would put it on a side table or slip it into a +drawer out of the way. Shall we just have Masini in and ask him a +question or two?" + +Instead of questioning the Italian the professor got him to repeat the +story as he had told it to me. It was exactly the same account. + +"You know nothing about these two visitors?" + +"Nothing, signore. I had never seen them before, but I should know +them again." + +"No names were mentioned in your presence?" + +"No." + +"Have you ever taken parcels to this Mr. Fisher before?" asked Quarles. + +"Never." + +"Was the parcel hard; something of metal or leather?" + +"Oh, no, signore; it was papers only." + +"And you saw Mr. Fisher?" + +"Yes." + +"What was he like? Was he English?" + +Masini said he was, and gave a description which might have fitted any +ten men out of the first dozen encountered in the street. He also +described the two visitors, but the portraits drawn were not startling. + +"What did Mr. Fisher say when you gave him the packet? What were his +exact words, I mean?" + +"He said: 'All right, tell Mr. Bridwell I shall start at once'." + +"How long have you been in Mr. Bridwell's service?" + +"Three years," was the answer. "He was traveling in Italy, and I +was a waiter in an hotel at Pisa. He liked me and made me an offer, +and I became his servant. I have traveled much with him in all +parts of Europe." + +"Are you sure you never saw either of the men who dined here to-night +while you were traveling with your master in Italy?" + +"I am sure, but on oath--it would be difficult to take an oath. His +friends were of a different kind. My master was writing a book on Italy; +he is still at work on it. Ah, signore, I should say he was at work on +it. Shall I show you his papers in the other room?" + +The voluminous manuscripts proved that Bridwell was engaged upon a +monumental work dealing with the Italian Renaissance. + +"Most interesting," said Quarles. "I should like to sit down at once and +spend hours with it. This is valuable. Mr. Bridwell's business man ought +to take charge of these papers. Do you know the name of his solicitors?" + +"Mr. Standish, in Hanover Square," Masini answered. + +The Italian declared he knew nothing about a lady's bag, and we searched +for it in vain. Then Quarles and I interviewed the hall porter. He knew +that Bridwell had had two gentlemen to dine with him that evening, but he +had not taken any particular notice of them. They left soon after eight, +he said. He corroborated the Italian's statement that he had gone out at +seven, and had returned just before nine. + +"You didn't see a lady go up to Mr. Bridwell's flat?" + +"No, sir, but I was not in the entrance hall at the time from eight to +nine. It is usually a slack time with me." + +"I did not mean then," said Quarles. "I meant at any time during the +day." + +"I do not remember a lady calling on Mr. Bridwell at anytime." + +It was early morning when the professor and I left Duke's Mansions. + +"There are two obvious things to do, Wigan," said Quarles. "First, we +must know something of this man Fisher. I think you should go to Harrow +as soon as possible. Then we want to know something of Bridwell's +parliamentary record. You might get an interview with one or two of his +colleagues, and ask their opinion of him as a public man and as a private +individual. Come to Chelsea to-night. You will probably have raked up a +good many facts by then, and we may find the right road to pursue. I will +also make an inquiry or two. At present I confess to being puzzled." + +"You told the doctor that you usually formed an opinion before the +inquest," I reminded him with a smile. + +"And he immediately talked of tablets and poisoned foods, and looked +horribly superior. He is a young man, and I knew his father, who once did +me a good turn. I shall have to repay the debt and prevent the son making +a fool of himself." + +"You have no doubt that it was murder?" I asked. + +"Why, you told me it was yourself when you rang me up on the 'phone," +he answered. + +As had often happened before, Quarles's manner of shutting me up annoyed +me, but when you have to deal with an eccentric it is no use expecting +him to travel in an ordinary orbit. + +To obviate unnecessary repetition I shall give the result of my +inquiries as I related it to Quarles and Zena when I went to Chelsea +that night. + +"You look satisfied and successful, Wigan," said the professor. + +"I am both," I answered. "Whether we shall catch the actual criminal is +another matter. We may at least lay our hands on one of his accomplices. +Will it surprise you to learn that I am having the Italian Masini +carefully watched?" + +"It is a wise precaution." + +"I am inclined to adopt the method you do sometimes, professor, and begin +at the end," I went on. "First, as regards Mr. Bridwell's parliamentary +friends and acquaintances, and his political career. Although he is a +Member whose voice is not often heard in the House, his intimate +knowledge of Europe, its general history and politics, gives him +importance. He is constantly consulted by the Government, and his opinion +is always considered valuable. His colleagues are unanimous on this +point, and generally he seems to be respected." + +"But the respect is not unanimous, you mean?" + +"It is not." + +"And in his private life?" + +"I have not found any one who was intimate with him in private." + +"I see; kept politics and his private life entirely separate," +said Quarles. + +"I am not prepared to say that," I answered. "I have not had time to hunt +up anybody on the private side yet, and I do not think it will be +necessary. One of the men I saw was Reynolds, of the War Office. I was +advised to go and see him, as he was supposed to know Bridwell well. He +did not have much good to say about him. It seems that for some time past +there has been a leakage of War Office secrets, that in some +unaccountable way foreign powers have obtained information, and suspicion +has pointed to Bridwell being concerned. So far as I can gather, nothing +has been actually proved against him, and I pointed out that his intimate +knowledge of European affairs made him rather a marked man. Reynolds, +however, was very definite in his opinion, spoke as if he possessed +knowledge which he could not impart to me. He was not surprised to hear +of Bridwell's death. When I spoke of murder he was rather skeptical, +remarked that in that case Bridwell must have been double-dealing with +his paymasters, and had paid the penalty; but it was far more likely to +be suicide, he thought, and said it was the best thing, the only thing, +in fact, which Bridwell could do. I have no doubt Reynolds knew that some +action had been taken which could not fail to show Bridwell that he was +suspected." + +Quarles nodded, evidently much interested. + +"This view receives confirmation from the movements of Fisher," I went +on. "He left Harrow last night--must have gone almost directly after he +received the packet. He only occupies furnished rooms in Harrow, and the +landlady tells me that during the year he has had them he has often been +away for days and even weeks at a time. Announcing his return, or giving +her some instructions, she has received letters from him from Berlin, +Madrid, Rome, and Vienna. That is significant, Professor." + +"It is. Did she happen to mention any places in England from which she +has heard from him?" + +"Yes, several--York, Oakham, Oxford, and also from Edinburgh." + +"She did not mention any place in Sussex?" + +"No, I think not." + +"It would appear then that Fisher could have had nothing to do with +Bridwell's legitimate political business or he would certainly have +spent some time in the constituency. Well, Wigan, what do you make of +the case?" + +"I think it is fairly clear in its main points," I answered. "Bridwell +has been selling information to foreign powers, and would naturally deal +with the highest bidders. Fisher is a foreign agent, and having received +valuable information yesterday, left England with it at once. The two men +who came to dinner represented some other power, came no doubt by +appointment to receive information, but probably knew that their host was +dealing doubly with them. Bridwell's commercial ingenuity in the matter +has been his undoing, hence his death. Whether Masini was attached to +Fisher, or to the schemes of the other two, it is impossible to say, but +I believe he was an accomplice on one side or the other." + +"I built up a similar theory, Wigan; not with the completeness you have, +of course, because I knew nothing of the suspicions concerning Bridwell, +but when I had made it as complete as I could, I began to pick it to +pieces. It fell into ruins rather easily, and you do not help me to build +it again." + +"It seems to me the main facts cannot be got away from," I said. + +"Zena assisted in the ruining process by saying, 'Cherchez la femme.'" + +"You see, Murray, you do not account for the woman and the bag," +said Zena. + +"They are extraneous incidents belonging to his private life. It is +remarkable how distinct he kept his private from his political life." + +"Very remarkable," Quarles said. "Yet the woman is also a fact, and she +seems to me of the utmost importance. We must account for her, and your +explanation brings me no sense of satisfaction. Let me tell you how I +began to demolish my theory, Wigan. I started with Masini. Now, he seemed +honest to me. He was very ready to repeat Fisher's exact words, and the +very fact of my asking for them would have made him suspicious and put +him on his guard had he possessed any guilty knowledge, whether it +concerned Fisher or the two visitors. Further, had he been in league with +the two visitors and knew they had murdered his master, he would hardly +have been so ready to block suspicion in other directions. He would not +have said his master's visitors came chiefly from his constituency, and +he certainly would not have scouted the idea of a woman caller. He would +have welcomed such a suggestion, fully appreciating how valuable a woman +would be in starting an inquiry on a false trail." + +"But you mustn't attribute to an Italian servant all the subtlety you +might use under similar circumstances," I said. + +"I am showing you how I picked my own theory to pieces," he answered. "I +next considered the visitors. I assumed they were there for an unlawful +purpose--your facts go to show that my assumption was right--and I asked +myself why and how they had murdered Bridwell. If he were a schemer with +them, there would be no need to murder him, no need to silence him; were +he to talk afterwards he would only injure himself, not them. If they +were there to force papers from their host, it seems unlikely that he +would be so unsuspicious of them that he would have asked them to dinner, +and, even if he were, a moment must have come during, or after dinner, +when they must have shown their hand. A man who deals in this kind of +commerce does not easily trust people. Bridwell's suspicions would +certainly have been aroused; he would in some measure, at any rate, have +been prepared, and we should have found some signs of a struggle." + +"I admit the soundness of the argument," I answered. "For my part I +incline to Reynolds' opinion that it was suicide after all." + +"Oh, no; it was murder," said Quarles. + +"A tablet--" I began. + +"I know it was murder," returned the professor sharply, "and the manner +of it has presented the chief difficulty I have found in demolishing my +theory altogether. Bridwell was poisoned by an injection. The hypodermic +needle was inserted under the hair at the back of the head, here in the +soft part of the base of the skull, the hair concealing the small mark it +made. I believe the secret of the poison used is forgotten, but you may +read of it in books relating to the Vatican of old days and concerning +the old families of Italy. I might mention the Borgias particularly. So +you see my difficulty, Wigan. The crime literally reeked of Italy, and we +had two Italians amongst our dramatis personæ." + +"A significant fact," I said. + +"Of course I am letting the doctor know of my discovery; that is the good +turn I shall do him. He will be considered quite smart over this affair. +Now consider this point. It would surely have been very difficult, once +the host's suspicions had been aroused, to make the injection without a +struggle on the victim's part." + +"No suspicion may have been aroused," I said. "Masini has told us of a +map. The murderer might have been leaning over his victim examining it." + +"That is true. You pick out the weak point," said Quarles. + +"Even then there would have been some sort of struggle, surely," said +Zena. "The poison can hardly act instantaneously." + +"Practically it does," Quarles answered. "I have read of it, of the +different methods of its administration, and of its results, and no doubt +any one acquainted with old Italian manuscripts would be able to get more +detailed information than I have; but it produces almost instant +paralysis, acts on the nerve centers, and stops the heart's action, +leaving no trace behind it. What straggle there was could be overcome by +the pressure of a man's hand upon the victim's chest, to keep him from +rising from his seat, for instance. I found signs of such a detaining +hand on Bridwell's shirt front. Of course, Wigan, while pulling my theory +to pieces I knew nothing of your facts about Bridwell, but now that I do +know them, the theory is not saved from ruin. Have you ever watched +trains rushing through a great junction--say Clapham Junction?" + +"Yes; often." + +"And haven't you noticed how the lines, crossing and recrossing one +another, seem to be alive, seem to be trying to draw the train to run +upon them, to deviate it from its course, until you almost wonder whether +the train will be able to keep its right road? There seems to be great +confusion; yet we know this is not so. We know those many lines are +mathematically correct. If you want to keep your eye on the main line, +you mustn't be misled by the lines which touch and cross it, which seem +to belong to it, until they suddenly sweep off in another direction. In +this Bridwell affair we have to be careful not to be misled by cross +lines, and I grant there are many. You say the woman is an extraneous +episode; but is she? She left a bag, which is not to be found. Had Masini +known of her existence I do not think he would have denied all knowledge +of her, for the reasons I have already given, and I argue that her visit +to the flat was timed to occur when the servant was out, so that he +should know nothing about her. The hall porter knew nothing; about a lady +visiting the flat at any time, so we must assume the woman was not a +constant visitor. Moreover, we know that she had something to hide, some +secret, or she would not have ceased speaking directly she found she was +addressing a stranger. She probably belonged to Bridwell's private life. +Now Zena says, 'Cherchez la femme,' but there is no need to look for her; +she forces herself upon our notice. We know that Bridwell was alive at +seven o'clock: we know his visitors did not leave him until eight. It is +hardly conceivable that the woman came to the flat after that to commit a +crime, impossible to believe that she would leave her bag there to be +evidence against her, and then telephone about it to a man she knew to be +dead. We may dismiss from our minds any idea that she committed murder." + +"I can see a possibility of immense subtlety on her part," I said. + +"That is to be deceived by a crossing line, which ought not to deceive +you, which leads only into a siding," said Quarles. "We have to remember +that there was a bag, and that it has disappeared" + +"She may have made a mistake and left it somewhere else," said Zena. + +"I think we may be sure it was left there, because she states distinctly +where it was left--on the Chesterfield. There was something in her mind +to fix the place. Moreover, she says, 'Better not send it.' Very +significant, that. Bridwell is to keep it until she comes again. +Therefore there was some person she would not have know of her visit to +the flat, some person who might possibly find out if the bag were +returned. I suggest that person was her husband." + +"I think you have struck the side line," I remarked. + +"Let me continue to build on the private life of Mr. Bridwell," Quarles +went on. "I find a foundation in his literary work--no mean work, +absorbing a great part of his life. There would be constant need to refer +to libraries, to pictures and other works of art, some of them in private +collections. A great deal of this work could be done by an assistant. +Shall we say the name of this assistant was Fisher? I observe you do not +think it likely." + +"I certainly do not." + +"But a secret agent engaged in stealing Government information would +hardly advertise his movements to his landlady; he would surely have been +more secret than that. On the other hand, the places Fisher mentions have +famous libraries and picture galleries. What would a secret agent want at +Oxford? A man bent on research would be going to the Bodleian. Country +seats with famous works of art in their galleries would account for +Fisher's presence in other places mentioned by the landlady." + +"Is it not strange the Italian servant knew nothing about this wonderful +assistant?" I said. + +"No doubt Bridwell usually saw him in town, at his club, or elsewhere, or +communicated with him through the post; but on this occasion Masini was +purposely sent to be out of the way when the lady came. We know there +was some need for secrecy, and I suggest that Bridwell was in love with +another man's wife. In passing, I would point out that the answer Fisher +sent back bears out my idea of the assistantship." + +"It may," I answered. + +"Now Bridwell's work on the Italian Renaissance no doubt has much +information concerning the Vatican, and much to say about the prominent +Italian families. As a student, Bridwell would be likely to know all +about the romances of poisoned bouquets, gloves, prepared sweetmeats, and +the rest of the diabolical cunning which existed." + +"But we know that he didn't kill himself," I said. + +"Exactly. We have to find some one who shared the knowledge with him. Let +me go back to the missing bag for a moment. Since it was on the +Chesterfield, Bridwell must have seen it. What would he do with it? What +would you have done with it, Wigan? I think you would have just put it on +a side table or in a handy drawer; yet it had gone. The fact of its +disappearance stuck in my mind from the first, although I did not at once +see the full significance of it. On the cover of the telephone directory +there were two or three numbers scribbled in pencil; I made a note of +them with the idea that the woman might be traced that way. However, +arguing that a man would be likely to know the telephone number of a +woman he was in love with, and have no necessity to write it down, I took +no trouble in this direction. I went to see Bridwell's solicitor instead. +I led him to suppose that I was interested in the study of the +Renaissance, and asked him if Bridwell had had a companion during his +wanderings in Italy three years ago. For part of the time, at any rate, +he had--a partner rather than a companion, a man named Ormrod--Peter +Ormrod. I knew the name at once, because Ormrod has written many +articles for the reviews, and all of them have been about Italy in the +thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Ormrod's telephone number is 0054 +Croydon, and he is married, and I think it was his wife who spoke to you +over the telephone. My theory is that Ormrod had discovered that his wife +was in love with his friend, and used his knowledge of this poisoning +method, which could not be detected, remember, to be revenged. I think he +came to the flat that evening after Bridwell's guests had gone, perhaps +he expected to find his wife there. I do not think he quarreled with his +false friend. I think he showed great friendliness, talked a little of +the past perhaps; and then, in examining some book or paper, leant over +his friend as he sat at the table, and the deed was done. If the bag was +lying on a side table he saw it and took it away; if it was lying in a +drawer no doubt he found it while he was looking for letters from his +wife to Bridwell, or for her photograph--anything which would connect her +name with Bridwell. Somehow, he found it and took it away. There is no +one else who would be likely to take it." + +This was the solution. It was proved beyond all doubt that Bridwell had +been dealing in Government secrets, and changes had to be made to ensure +that the information he had sold should be useless to the purchasers; but +this crime had nothing to do with his murder. The dénouement was rather +startling. When we went to Ormrod's house next day we found that he had +gone. His wife, after fencing with us a little, was perfectly open. She +had arranged to go away with Bridwell and had visited him that day to +talk over final arrangements. It was the first time she had ever been to +the flat. Yesterday, a telegram had come for her husband. He opened it +in her presence, and told her he was going away at once, and for good. +Then he gave her the bag, saying he had found it in Bridwell's rooms on +the previous evening. Bridwell was dead, that was why he was going away. + +The solicitor Standish was a friend of Ormrod's, and after Quarles had +gone had suddenly realized what the inquiry might mean, so had +telegraphed a warning. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE STOLEN AEROPLANE MODEL + + +It was probably on account of the acumen he had shown in solving the +mystery of Arthur Bridwell's death that the government employed Quarles +in the important inquiry concerning a stolen model. For political reasons +nothing got into the papers at the time, but now there is no further need +of secrecy. + +You would have been astonished, I fancy, had you chanced upon us in the +empty room at Chelsea on a certain Friday afternoon. No trio of sane +persons could have looked more futile. On a paper pad the professor was +making odd diagrams which might have represented a cubist's idea of an +aeroplane collision; Zena was looking at her hands as if she had +discovered something new and unfamiliar about them; and I was turning the +leaves of my pocket book, hoping to get an inspiration. + +"The man-servant," said Zena, breaking the silence, which had lasted a +long time. + +"You have said that a dozen times in the last twenty-four hours," Quarles +returned rather shortly, adding after a moment's pause, as if he were +giving us valuable information, "and to-day is Friday." + +"It is simply impossible that the servant should know so little," she +persisted. "His ignorance is too colossal to be genuine. He doesn't know +whether he was attacked by one person or by half-a-dozen; he is not sure +that it wasn't a woman who seized him; he has no idea what his master +kept in the safe or in the cupboard. Well, all I can say is, I do not +believe him." + +I was inclined to agree with her, but in silence I went on looking +through the notes I had made concerning the extraordinary case which +must be solved quickly if the solution were to be of any benefit to +the country. Quarles was also silent, continuing his work as an +amateur cubist. + +He had expressed no definite opinion since the case had come into his +hands, nor had he laughed at any speculation of mine, a sure sign that he +was barren of ideas. I had never known him so reticent. + +It was his case entirely, not mine, and the fact that the government had +considered he was the only man likely to get to the bottom of the mystery +was a recognition of his powers, which pleased him no doubt. Twenty-four +hours had elapsed since he had been put in possession of the facts, and +although they had been spent in tireless energy by both of us--for he had +immediately sent for me--we seemed as far from the truth as ever. + +On the previous Tuesday Lady Chilcot had given a dance in her house in +Mayfair. Her entertainments always had a political flavor, and on this +particular evening her rooms seemed to have been full of conflicting +influences. + +There was considerable political tension at the time, consequent upon one +of those periodical disturbances in the Balkans, and people remarked upon +the coolness between the Minister for War and certain ambassadors who +were all present at Lady Chilcot's. + +Imagination may have had something to do with this conclusion, but two +apparently trivial incidents assumed importance as regards the case in +hand. The Silesian ambassador was seen in very earnest conversation with +a young man attached to the Silesian Embassy; and the Minister of War +had buttonholed young Lanning. + +Of course, we did not know what the Silesians had talked about, but to +Lanning the minister had remarked that, in view of the political +situation, the experiments which had been witnessed that day might prove +to be of supreme importance. Lanning expressed gratification that the +experiments had been found convincing, and ventured to hope the +government would not delay getting to work. + +With the minister's assurance that the government was keen, Richard +Lanning went to find Barbara Chilcot, Lady Chilcot's daughter, but not to +talk about the Minister of War or about any experiments. He was in love +with her, and had every reason to believe that she liked him. + +She was, however, very cool to him that evening, and sarcastically +inquired why he was not in attendance upon Mademoiselle Duplaix as usual. +She only laughed at his denials, and when he suggested that she should +ask his friend, Perry Nixon, whether there was any ground for her +suspicions, said that when she danced with Mr. Nixon later in the evening +she hoped to find something more interesting to talk about than +Mademoiselle Duplaix. + +Lanning comforted himself with the reflection that if Barbara were +indifferent to him she would have said nothing about Yvonne Duplaix, and +as he had another dance with her at the end of the program hoped to make +his peace then. + +When this dance came, however, he could not find her, and afterwards +discovered that she had sat it out with the young Silesian. He was angry +and felt a little revengeful, but he did not mention Barbara to Perry +Nixon when they left the house together and walked to Piccadilly. + +He left Nixon at the corner of Bond Street and went to his flat in +Jermyn Street. + +He found his man, Winbush, lying on the dining-room floor, gagged and +half unconscious. The safe in his bedroom had been broken open, important +papers had been stolen from it, and a wooden case, which he had locked in +a cupboard there, had been taken away. + +Fully alive to the gravity of the loss, and oblivious of the fact that +neglect would be attributed to him, he immediately telephoned to the +Minister of War. + +Then he 'phoned to Nixon's rooms in Bond Street, and Nixon came round at +once. Up to that time Lanning had said nothing about the experiments to +his friend; now he told him the whole story. + +Richard Lanning belonged to the Army Flying Corps, and was not only a +good airman, but was an authority upon flying machines. For some time +past there had been secret trials of various types of stabilizers, and +one invention, somewhat altered at Lanning's suggestion, had proved so +successful that safety in flight seemed assured in the near future. + +Detailed plans had been prepared, a working model constructed, and only +that afternoon these had been secretly exhibited by Lanning in London to +a few members of the government and some War Office officials. + +Only four men at the works knew anything about the secret, and even their +knowledge was not complete, so it seemed impossible that information +could leak out, yet the plans and the working model had been stolen. + +Of course Lanning was blamed for having them at his flat; he ought to +have taken them back to the works. The fact that this would have meant +missing Lady Chilcot's dance was an added mark against him, and +suggested a neglect of duty. + +Under the circumstances publicity was not desirable, and Christopher +Quarles was asked to solve the mystery. Instructions were telegraphed to +the various ports with a view to preventing the model and the plans being +taken out of the country, and, as I have said, the professor and I +entered upon a strenuous time. + +All our preliminary information naturally came from Lanning, who appeared +quite indifferent to his own position so long as the stolen property was +recovered. + +The man Winbush could throw little light upon the affair. He was in his +own room when he had heard a noise in the passage and supposed his master +had returned earlier than he expected. To make sure, he had gone to the +dining-room, but before he could switch on the light he had been seized +from behind, a pungent smell was in his nostrils, and he was only just +beginning to recover consciousness when his master found him. + +He had not seen his assailants, he could not say how many there were, and +he was inclined to think one of them was a woman, he told Quarles, +because when he first entered the dining-room there was a faint perfume +which suggested a woman's presence. + +"It was like a woman when she is dressed for a party," he said in +explanation. + +He had seen his master bring in the wooden case that afternoon, but he +did not know what it contained. + +As Zena said, it sounded a lame story, but Lanning believed it. Winbush +had been connected with the family all his life, was devoted to him, and +it was not likely he would know what the case contained. Lanning could +only suppose that some man at the works had turned traitor, while Mr. +Nixon gave it as his opinion that either France or Germany had pulled +the strings of the robbery. + +Acting under Quarles's instructions, I had an interview with Miss +Chilcot. She corroborated Lanning's story in every detail so far as she +was concerned, and incidentally I understood there was no more than a +lover's quarrel between them. She had sat out with the young Silesian on +purpose to annoy Richard. Certainly they had talked of aeroplaning; it +was natural, since two days before she had seen some flying at Ranelagh, +but Lanning's name had not been mentioned. Miss Chilcot knew nothing +about the experiments which had taken place, nor was she aware that her +lover was responsible for some of the improvements which had been made in +stabilizers. Rather inconsequently she was annoyed that he had not +confided in her. Miss Chilcot carried with her a faint odor of Parma +violets. Quarles had told me to note particularly whether she used any +kind of perfume. + +I was convinced of two things; first, that she was telling the truth +without concealing anything, and, secondly, that Mr. Lanning was likely +to marry a very charming but rather exacting young woman. When I said so +to Quarles he annoyed me by remarking that some women were capable of +making lies sound much more convincing than the truth. + +I did not attempt to get an interview with Mademoiselle Duplaix, but I +made inquiries concerning her, and had a man watching her movements. + +Apparently she was the daughter of a good French family, and was making a +prolonged stay with the Payne-Kennedys, who moved in very good society. +You may see their name constantly in the _Morning Post_. It was whispered +that they were not above accepting a handsome fee for introducing a +protégée into society, a form of log-rolling which is far more prevalent +than people imagine. Whether the girl's entrance into London society had +been paid for or not I am unable to say, but she had quickly established +herself as a success. It was generally agreed that she was both witty and +charming, the kind of girl men easily run after, but not the sort they +usually marry. + +She had evidently managed to cause dissension in various directions, so +the suggestion that there was something of the adventuress about her +might be nothing more than a spiteful comment. It justified us in keeping +a watch upon her, but I had no definite opinion in the matter, not having +seen the lady, and, as Quarles said, a fascinating foreigner is easily +called an adventuress. + +I also made careful inquiries concerning the young Silesian, and had him +pointed out to me. He had recently come from his own capital, and was +remaining in London only for a short time. He was a relative of the +ambassador, and was not here in any official capacity, it was stated. +This might be true so far as it went, but at the same time he might be +connected with the secret service. + +The professor said very little about his investigations, and I concluded +he had met with no success. He had spent some hours with Lanning at the +works, I knew, but if he had tapped any other sources of information he +did not mention them. + +He was still engaged in his cubist's drawings when the telephone +bell rang. + +"I'll go," he said as Zena jumped up; "I am expecting a message." + +He went into the hall, and when he returned told us that Lanning and +Nixon were on their way to Chelsea. + +"I told them to 'phone me if anything happened," he said. + +"And you expected to hear from them?" I asked. + +"My name is Micawber when I am in a hole, and I wait for something to +turn up. Waiting is occasionally the best way of getting to the end of +the journey. We will hear what they have to say, Wigan, and then we shall +possibly have to get a move on." + +Evidently he had a theory, but he would say nothing about it. He amused +himself by explaining that mechanical action, such as drawing meaningless +lines and curves, as he had been doing, had the effect of giving the +brain freedom to think, and declared that it was during times of this +sort of freedom that inspiration most usually came. + +He was still engrossed with the subject when Lanning and Nixon arrived. + +Quarles introduced them to Zena, saying that she always helped him in his +investigations. + +"Oh, no, not as a clairvoyant," he said with a smile as both men looked +astonished. "She just uses common sense, a very valuable thing in +detective work, I can assure you." + +"Are you any nearer a solution?" Lanning asked. + +"I thought you had come to give me some information," Quarles returned. + +"I have, but--" + +"Sit down, then, and to business. I am still wanting facts, which are +more useful than all my theories." + +"Mademoiselle Duplaix telephoned to me this morning," said Lanning. "A +man called on her to-day, a mysterious foreigner. He gave no name, but +she thinks he was a Silesian, although he spoke perfect French. He talked +to her in French, his English being of a fragmentary kind. He asked her +to give him the plans of the new aeroplane. You can imagine her surprise. +When she said she had got no plans he expressed great astonishment and +plunged into the whole story of how I had been robbed. Until that moment +Mademoiselle knew nothing of what had happened in my flat, but this +foreigner had evidently got hold of the whole story." + +"Who had told him to call upon her?" Quarles asked. + +"In the course of an excited narrative he mentioned two or three names +entirely unknown to her, but the man seemed to think that I should have +sent her the plans." + +"Very curious," Quarles remarked. + +"He then became apologetic," Lanning went on, "but all the same left the +impression that he did not believe her; in fact, she describes his +attitude as rather threatening. It wasn't until after he had gone that +she thought she ought to have him followed, and then it was too late. He +was out of the street. Probably he had a motor waiting for him. Then she +telephoned to me, but I was out, and have only just received her message. +What do you make of it?" + +"It gives a new turn to the affair," said Quarles reflectively. "It +leaves an unpleasant doubt whether Mademoiselle Duplaix is as innocent as +she ought to be, doesn't it?" + +"I don't think so." + +"Would she have telephoned to Lanning if she were guilty?" said Nixon. + +"My experience is that where women are concerned it is very difficult to +tell what line of action will be followed. Women are distinctly more +subtle than men." + +Then after a pause the professor went on: "It is difficult to understand +how this foreigner could have made such a mistake. You have told us, Mr. +Lanning, that there is nothing between you and this lady, but Miss +Chilcot had her suspicions, remember, which suggests that, without +intending to do so, you have paid her attentions which other people have +misunderstood. Now, do you think you have given Mademoiselle Duplaix a +wrong impression, made her believe, in short, that you cared for her, and +so caused her to be jealous and perhaps inclined to be revengeful?" + +"I am sure I have not." + +"Think well, it is a very important point. For instance, has she ever +given you any keepsake, a glove, a handkerchief, something--some trifle +she was wearing at a dance when--when you flirted with her? Girls do that +kind of thing, so my niece there has told me." + +Zena smiled and made no denial. + +"Nothing of the kind has happened between Mademoiselle and myself," +said Lanning. + +"And yet there seems to be a distinct attempt on some one's part to +implicate you." + +"That is true, and I am quite at a loss to understand it." + +"I have wondered whether it is not a clever device to put us off the +trail," said Nixon. "Your investigations may have led you nearer the +truth than you imagined, Mr. Quarles, and this may be an attempt to set +you off on a wrong scent. It seems such an obvious clue, doesn't it? They +would guess that Lanning would communicate with you." + +"That hardly explains why they went to Mademoiselle Duplaix, does it?" + +"But the fact that she is French may," Nixon answered. "Perhaps I am +prejudiced, but I believe Silesia has pulled the strings of this affair, +and that would be a very good reason for trying to implicate France. It +has occurred to Lanning whether the plot might not be frustrated at the +other end of it, so to speak. Lanning thinks it would be a good idea if +we went to Silesia." + +"What do you think of the idea?" Lanning asked. "I should have our +Embassy there behind me, and I should probably manage to get in touch +with the men who are active in Silesia's secret service. I mentioned it +to my chief this morning, and he thought there was a great deal in it, +but advised a consultation with you first." + +"I think it is a good idea," said Quarles, "and it suggests another one. +I am still a little doubtful about Mademoiselle Duplaix, and I have a +strong impression that she could at least tell us more if she would, but +that she is afraid of hurting you." + +"It is most unlikely." + +"Well, let me put it to the test, Mr. Lanning. Just write--let me see, +how will it be best to word it? 'I am going to Silesia--' By the way, +when will you go?" + +"I thought to-night." + +"It is as well not to waste time," said Quarles. "Then write, 'I am going +to Silesia to-night. I want you to be perfectly open with the bearer of +this note and do whatever he advises. If you would be a true friend to +me, tell him everything.' Put your ordinary signature to it. With that in +my possession I will get to work at once, and if I discover anything of +importance, and it should be necessary to stop your journey, I will meet +your train to-night." + +"It seems like an impertinence," Lanning said as he wrote the note. + +"When there is so much at stake I shouldn't let that worry you," +said Nixon. + +No sooner had they gone than Quarles became alert. + +"Now we move, Wigan. First of all, we have an appointment in Kensington, +at the Blue Lion, near the church, quite a respectable hostelry." + +"Not to meet Mademoiselle Duplaix, surely?" + +"No, she can wait. Respectable as it is, I do not suppose Mademoiselle +frequents the Blue Lion, but we may find there the man who called upon +her this morning." + +We took a taxi to Kensington. Every moment seemed to be bursting with +importance for Quarles now. + +The first person I caught sight of at the Blue Lion was Winbush, +evidently waiting for some one. He recognized us, and Quarles went to +him. + +"You are waiting for Mr. Lanning." + +The man hesitated. + +"I know," Quarles went on, "because I have just left your master. He is +in trouble." + +"In trouble!" + +"Oh, we shall get him out of it all right. There is some mistake. _I_ +have a message for you. Come inside." + +We found a corner to ourselves, and the professor, having ordered drinks, +showed Winbush the note which Lanning had written to Mademoiselle +Duplaix. It was not addressed to her, and was so worded that it might be +meant for any one. Winbush read it and looked at Quarles. + +"While your master is in Silesia I have certain work to do here, and to +do it I must have your complete story," said the professor. "You +appreciate the fact that Mr. Laiming looks upon you as a friend and +wishes you to tell me all you know." + +"I do, sir, only I don't see how my story is going to help him." + +"It is going to help us to put our hand on the man who is really guilty." + +"It has all been very mysterious," said Winbush, "and I have not been +able to understand my master at all. What I have said about hearing a +noise in the passage and being seized before I could switch on the light +in the dining-room is all true, but the stuff which was put into my face +and made me unconscious wasn't there before I had time to call out." + +"You called out, then?" + +"No, I didn't, because the man spoke to me." + +"Oh, it was a man--not a woman?" + +"It was Mr. Lanning himself," said Winbush. + +This was so unexpected that I nearly exclaimed at it, but Quarles just +watched the speaker as if he would make certain that he was telling +nothing but the truth. + +"He spoke quickly and excitedly," Winbush went on. "Said it was necessary +that the flat should appear to have been robbed. I should presently be +discovered bound. I was to say that I had been attacked in the dark and +that I did not know by whom nor by how many. I was not to speak about the +matter to him again under any circumstances, and even if he questioned me +alone or before others I was to stick to my story of utter ignorance. I +had just said that I understood and heard him say that he would probably +question me to prove my faithfulness, when he put the stuff over my mouth +and nose, and I knew no more until he found me there later on." + +"Has he questioned you since?" + +"Not since he first found me lying on the floor. He did then, and I +obeyed his instructions just as I did when you talked to me afterwards." + +"Did he suggest you should say a woman was present?" + +"No, sir." + +"That was a little extra trimming of your own, eh?" + +"No, it was a bit of truth that crept in. I thought a woman was there." + +"By the perfume?" + +"Yes, sir." + +Quarles brought from the depth of a pocket a tissue-paper parcel, from +which he took a handkerchief. + +"Was that the perfume?" + +Winbush smelt it. + +"It may have been. It was the perfume that hangs about a woman in +evening dress." + +"That's Parma violets, Wigan," said the professor, waving the +handkerchief towards me. It was one of his own, so had evidently been +specially prepared for this test. "I wonder what percentage of women use +the scent? It is not much of a clue for us, I am afraid." + +He put the handkerchief away, and then from another pocket produced a +second handkerchief, also wrapped in tissue paper. + +This time it was a fragile affair of lawn and lace. + +"Smell that, Mr. Winbush." + +"That's it!" the man exclaimed; no hesitation this time. + +"You can swear to it?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Rather a pleasant scent but peculiar, Wigan. I do not know what it is." + +Nor did I, but the handkerchief interested me. Worked in the corner were +the letters "Y.D." + +"I can get to work now, Mr. Winbush," said Quarles. "Your master tells +you to do whatever I advise. Of course, I understand that in keeping +these facts to yourself you were acting in your master's interests, but +were it generally known that you had suppressed the truth you might get +into trouble. Have you any relatives in town?" + +"I have a married nephew out Hampstead way." + +"Most fortunate. You go straight off and see him, get him to put you up +for the night, but whatever you do keep away from Jermyn Street until +to-morrow morning. You will spoil my efforts on your master's behalf if +you turn up at the flat before then." + +Winbush promised to obey these instructions, and Quarles and I left the +Blue Lion. + +"After hearing that Lanning was coming to see me this afternoon, I +telephoned a telegram to Winbush," explained the professor when we were +outside. "He thought it came from his master telling him to meet him at +the Blue Lion. Lanning will have to do his own packing for once. +Winbush's story is rather a surprising one, eh, Wigan?" + +"And most unexpected," I said. + +"Well, no, not quite unexpected," he answered in that superior manner +which is so exasperating at times. "I got that note from Lanning for the +purpose of getting the man to tell me the truth." + +"At any rate, you were mistaken in supposing that Mademoiselle's +mysterious foreigner would be at the Blue Lion," I returned. + +"Not at all. He was there." + +"Winbush!" I exclaimed. + +"No, Christopher Quarles. I called on Mademoiselle Duplaix this morning. +I thought she would communicate directly or indirectly with Lanning; +that is why I was expecting a message from him. I was also fortunate +enough to appropriate her handkerchief. To-night I become the +distinguished foreigner again; you had better be an elderly gentleman +with a stoop. We are traveling to Harwich. Don't forget a revolver; it +may be useful. We must get to Liverpool Street early; we shall want +plenty of time at the station." + +He left me without waiting to be questioned. I was annoyed, and was +pretty certain that he had overlooked one important fact. Surely Lanning +must have realized how dangerous it was to give such a note to Quarles? +Knowing the story Winbush could tell, he would not have been deceived by +the statement that the letter was intended for Mademoiselle Duplaix. He +was far too clever for that. He and Winbush were no doubt working +together, and the man's story was no doubt part of an arranged scheme. It +seemed to me that the immediate recognition of the second scent was +suspicious. The man was probably prepared for the test. + +I thought it likely that Quarles had met his match this time, and I did +not expect to see Richard Lanning at the station. + +However, he was there with Mr. Nixon. + +"Are they both in it?" I asked Quarles as we watched them. + +"No, I don't think so," was his doubtful answer. + +We were still watching them as they spoke to the guard, when I started +and called the professor's attention to a tall, military-looking man who +was hurrying along the platform. + +"That is the young man at the Silesian Embassy," I said. "He is evidently +going back. Are we to see Mademoiselle Duplaix come along next?" + +"We are only concerned with Lanning for the present," Quarles answered, +"and we have got to travel in the same carriage with him and Nixon. I +expect they have tipped the guard to get a carriage to themselves. You +must use your authority with him, Wigan, and show him that we are +Scotland Yard men. Suggest that he put us into the carriage at the last +moment with many apologies because there is no room elsewhere. In these +disguises they will not recognize us." + +The two Englishmen and the Silesian did not approach each other, and +apparently were quite ignorant of the fact that they were traveling by +the same train. I made the necessary arrangements with the guard, and +just as the train was starting we were bundled into the carriage, Quarles +blowing and puffing in a most natural manner. + +"Sorry," he panted, speaking in broken English; "it is a train quite +full, and I say to the man I must go. He put us in here. I am grieved to +disturb you." + +Nixon said it didn't matter, but Lanning looked annoyed. + +Quarles talked to me chiefly about a wife he was returning to at Bohn. He +became almost maudlin in his sentiment, and at intervals he raised his +voice sufficiently to allow our traveling companions to overhear the +conversation. + +Presently Quarles leaned towards me in a confidential manner, and said in +a whisper which was intentionally loud enough for the others to hear: + +"From Bohn I go to Silesia to see the new flying machine." + +"What flying machine?" I asked. + +"Ah, it was a secret what Silesia have got hold of. It was wonderful. I +myself tell you so, and I know. I--" + +"What do you know about it?" + +Lanning was leaning from his corner looking at Quarles. + +"Steady," said the professor. "If your hand does not from your pocket +come in one blink of an eye you are a dead man. This is a big matter." + +Quarles had covered him with a revolver, and following his lead I +covered Nixon. + +For a moment it was a tableau, not a sound nor a movement in the +carriage. + +"As you say, it is a big matter," said Lanning, taking his hand from +his pocket. + +He was for diplomacy rather than force, or perhaps he was a coward at +heart. Nixon showed more courage and was quicker in his movements. His +revolver was halfway out before I had slid along the seat and had my +weapon at his head. + +"It is of no use," said Quarles. "It is not by accident we are here. We +know, no matter how, but we know for certain that the plans of a +wonderful aeroplane which cannot come to harm, and a model of it, are +traveling by this train to-night. We came here to take them. We are sorry +to disturb you, but it is necessary." + +Lanning laughed. + +"Would it astonish you to hear we are after the very same things?" + +"It would, because I tell you they are in this carriage." + +"Where?" asked Lanning, still laughing. + +"There, in that big portmanteau." And Quarles pointed to one on the rack +above Nixon's head. + +I was only just in time to bring my weapon down on Nixon's wrist as he +whipped out his revolver. + +"Hold him, Wigan; he is dangerous," said Quarles, speaking in his natural +voice. "We will have a look in that portmanteau, Mr. Lanning." + +The plans and the model in its wooden case were there. Lanning was too +dumbfounded to ask questions, and Nixon offered no explanation just then. +I had wrested the revolver from him, and he sat there in silence. + +"It was very cleverly thought out, Mr. Nixon," said Quarles. "You see, +Mr. Lanning, your friend, having stolen these things, intended to allow +time to elapse before attempting to get them out of the country, but his +hand was forced when Mademoiselle Duplaix telephoned to you. The +foreigner who called upon her for the plans puzzled him. There was +something in the plot he did not understand. Two things were clear to +him, however; first, that he must act without delay, and secondly, that +mademoiselle's visitor would implicate her and cause us to make minute +inquiries in her direction--that a false trail was laid, in fact. So, +aware that he would find difficulty at the ports, he carefully suggested +to your mind that a journey to Silesia would be a useful move. Your +mission would be known at the ports, and you and your friend would pass +through without special examination." + +"That is so," said Lanning. + +"And you would have been cleverly fooled," said Quarles, "As for +Mademoiselle Duplaix, I confess I should have watched her keenly had I +not been the mysterious foreigner." + +"But my note to her?" said Lanning. + +"Was exceedingly useful, but I used it to get the truth out of Winbush," +and Quarles told the man-servant's story in detail. "Winbush, you see, +was in a dazed condition, and was deceived. In the dark Nixon pretended +to be you. I suppose it was a sudden inspiration when he found himself +disturbed, and his instructions to Winbush stopped your servant from +questioning you. Had he done so a suspicion concerning your friend might +have been aroused in your mind. Winbush, however, went a little beyond +his instructions, and said he thought a woman was present, because of a +perfume he noticed when he first entered the room. That particular +perfume is used by Mademoiselle Duplaix, and I should hazard a guess that +Mr. Nixon had stolen her handkerchief that evening, not a criminal +offense, but a matter of flirtation." + +"But he was at Lady Chilcot's, and left there with me," said Lanning. + +"If he has kept his program. I expect you will find some consecutive +places in it blank. Until this afternoon, Mr. Lanning, I confess that I +was uncertain whether you had been your own burglar or not, for it was +evident to me that your man knew something. I was convinced you were +innocent when you wrote that note for me, I rather wonder Mr. Nixon did +not realize the danger, but I suppose he felt confident that +Mademoiselle's visitor had entirely put me on the wrong trail. I do not +think Mademoiselle Duplaix is in any way a party to the theft, but I +think it is up to Mr. Nixon to make this quite clear." + +It is only doing Perry Nixon justice to say that he did clear up this +point, but not by word of mouth. + +At Harwich he ingeniously gave us the slip, but in a letter to Lanning, +received from Paris a week later, he said that he alone was responsible +for the theft, and that neither Mademoiselle Duplaix nor any one else had +any hand in it, nor any knowledge of it. + +From some remarks Lanning had let fall he concluded that some important +development had occurred in the stabilizing of flying machines--a matter +his employers were interested in--and he had watched his friend's +movements. He guessed that secret experiments had been tried that day +when he saw Lanning take the wooden case to his flat, and during the +evening he had slipped away from Lady Chilcot's dance, returning when he +had deposited the model and the plans in a safe place. + +He did not say where this safe place was, and since he had persistently +suggested that either France or Germany had pulled the strings of the +robbery, he was probably working for neither of these countries. + +Shortly afterwards Richard Lanning's engagement to Miss Chilcot was +announced, and I imagine he is still working to perfect a stabilizer, +for, although the model appears to have done all that was required of it, +the actual machine proved defective, I understand. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE AFFAIR OF THE CONTESSA'S PEARLS + + +I think it was when talking about the stolen model that Quarles made the +paradoxical statement that facts are not always the best evidence. I +argued the point, and remained entirely of an opposite opinion until I +had to investigate the case of a pair of pearl earrings, and then I was +driven into thinking there was something in Quarles's statement. It was +altogether a curious a if air, and showed the professor in a new light +which caused Zena and myself some trouble. + +The Contessa di Castalani occupied rooms at one of the big West End +hotels, a self-contained suite, consisting of a sitting-room, two +bedrooms, and vestibule. She had her child with her, a little girl of +about three years old, and a French maid named Angélique. + +Returning to the hotel one afternoon unexpectedly, she met, but took no +particular notice of, two men in the corridor which led to her suite. +Hotel servants she supposed them to be, and, as she entered the little +vestibule Angélique came from the contessa's bedroom. There was no reason +why she should not go in there; in fact, she carried a reason in her +hand. She had been to get a clean frock for the child. The one she had +worn on the previous day was too soiled to put on. + +That evening the contessa wished to wear a special pair of pearl +earrings, but when she went to get the little leather case which +contained the pearls, it was missing. + +Although her boxes and drawers were not much disarranged, it was quite +evident to her that they had been searched, but nothing else had been +taken apparently. + +It did not occur to her to suspect the maid, partly, no doubt, because +she remembered the men in the corridor, and she immediately sent for +the manager. + +The police were called in. The men in the corridor could not be accounted +for, but a search resulted in the finding of the leather case under the +bed. The earrings had gone. + +Naturally police suspicion fell on the French maid, but the contessa +absolutely refused such an explanation. Angélique, who was passionately +fond of her and of the child, would not do such a thing. + +The case looked simple enough, but it proved to be one in which facts did +not constitute the best evidence. Indeed, they proved somewhat +misleading. + +Beautiful, romantic, eccentric, superstitious, and most unfortunate +according to her own account, the Contessa di Castalani was the sensation +of a whole London season. + +As a dancer of a bizarre kind, she had set Paris nodding to the rhythm of +her movements and raving about the beauty of her eyes and hair. Her +reputation had preceded her to London, and when she appeared at the +Regency it was universally admitted that she far surpassed everything +that had been said about her. + +The press had duly informed the public that Castalani was one of the +oldest and most honored names in Italy. There had been a Castalani in the +Medici time, a close friend of the magnificent Lorenzo, it was asserted. +One paper declared that a Castalani had worn the triple tiara, which a +learned don of Oxford took the trouble to write and deny. And it would +appear that no one who had ever borne the name had been altogether +unimportant. + +How the family, resident in Pisa, liked this publicity, I do not know. +They made no movement to repudiate this daughter of their house, and I +have no reason whatever to doubt that the lady had a perfect right to her +title. I never heard any scandalous tale about her which even seemed +true, and if she and her husband were happier going each their own way, +it was their affair. + +So much mystery was woven round her during her appearances in the +European capitals, that I do not guarantee the correctness of my +statements when I say she was of humble origin, a Russian gipsy, I have +heard, seen in a Hungarian village by young Castalani, who immediately +fell in love with her and married her. + +Although in the course of this investigation I saw her many times and she +talked a great deal about herself, she was always vague when she was +dealing with facts. + +I am only concerned with her appearance in London. She attracted +overflowing houses to the Regency. A real live countess performing +bizarre and daring dances was undoubtedly the attraction to some, the +woman's splendid beauty charmed others, while a third section could talk +of nothing but her wonderful jewelry. + +At least two foolish young peers were said to be in love with her, and +there were tales of a well-known Cabinet Minister constantly occupying a +stall at the Regency when he ought to have been in his seat in the House. + +Had I not taken Christopher Quarles and Zena to the Regency one evening I +should probably never have known anything further of the contessa, but it +so happened that the professor was very much attracted by her. + +He went to the Regency three times in one week to study the inward +significance of her dances, he declared. He treated me to a learned +discourse concerning them, and was furious when one journal, slightly +puritanical in tone, perhaps, said that they were generally unedifying, +and in one case, at any rate, immodest. + +Zena and I began by laughing at the professor, but he did not like it. He +was quite serious in his admiration, and declared that nothing would +afford him greater pleasure than an introduction to the dancer. + +To his delight he got what he wanted, and incidentally solved one of the +most curious cases we have ever been engaged in together. + +In the ordinary way the case would never have come into my hands. It was +at Quarles's instigation that I asked to be employed upon it, and since +small and insignificant affairs are sometimes ramifications of big +mysteries, no surprise was caused by my request. + +I have not the slightest hesitation in saying that it was the +introduction to the woman which interested Quarles rather than her +pearls. Indeed, he appeared to think of nothing else beyond making +himself agreeable. + +It seemed to me she was just as interested in him, talked about herself +in a naive kind of way, and was delighted when her little girl, Nella, +took a tremendous fancy to the professor, demanding to be taken on his +knee and to have his undivided attention. + +Christopher Quarles, in fact, presented quite an unfamiliar side of his +character to me, and I do not think he would have bothered about the +pearls at all but for the fact that the contessa was superstitious +about them. + +"They were given to me by a Hungarian count," she said in her pretty +broken English; "just two pearls. I had them made into earrings. It was +the best way I could wear them. They are perfect, and they have a +history. They were a thank-offering to some idol in Burmah, but were +afterwards sold or stolen--I do not know which. It does not matter; it +was a very long time ago; but what does matter is that they bring good +luck. I shall be nothing without them, do you see?" + +"That I will not believe! You will always be--" + +"Beautiful," she said before Quarles could complete the sentence. "Ah, +yes, I know that. I have been told that when I cease to be beautiful I +shall cease to live. A gipsy in Budapest told me so. But what is beauty +if you have no luck?" + +"When were they given to you?" Quarles asked. + +"A year after I married. Listen, I will tell you a secret. It was the +beginning of the little difference with my husband. He was jealous." + +"It was natural." + +"No, it was not," she answered. "My Hungarian friend, he loved me of +course. That is the natural part. I was born like that. Some women are. +It is not their fault. It just is so, and yet people think evil and say, +shocking! It is in their own mind--the evil--and nowhere else, and I say +'basta,' and go my way, caring not at all. Why, every night in my +dressing room at the Regency there is a pile of letters--like that, and +flowers. The room is full of them--all from people who love me--and I do +not know one of them. I like it, but it makes no difference to me. I told +my husband that it was nothing, but no, he went on being jealous. He was +very foolish, but I think some day he will grow sensible. Then I shall +very likely say it is too late. The world has said it loves me, and that +is better than one Castalani. You do not know the Castalanis?" + +"No." + +"Ah, they are what you call thoughtful for themselves, very high, and +very few people are quite as good, so we had little quarrels, and then a +big one, because he said he would throw my pearls into the Arno. I hid +them, and he could not find them. If he had found them and thrown them +away I would have killed him." + +Quarles nodded, as if such a tragedy would have been the most natural +thing possible. + +"His mother made it worse," the contessa went on, "so we have one fierce +quarrel and I speak my mind. I say a great deal when I speak my mind, and +I am not nice then. I went away with my little girl. It was very +unfortunate, but what could I do? I love dancing, so I go on the stage, +and--and I have lost my pearls. See, there is the case, but it is empty." + +Quarles looked at it, but I was sure he was not thinking of what he was +doing, and he did not even ask the most obvious questions. + +I did that, and received scant answers. She was not a bit +interested in me. + +"My pearls," she went on, "I want my pearls. There are some women +pearls love. I am one. When I wear them a little while they are alive. +The colors in them glow and palpitate. They are never dull then. I do +not wear them always, only on certain days--on feasts, and when I am +very happy." + +"We must find them," said Quarles. + +"Of course. That is why I come to know you, isn't it?" + +The professor was full of her as we left the hotel. + +"A most charming woman," he said. + +"I doubt if you will find her so when you fail to restore her pearls." + +"I shall restore them," he said, with that splendid confidence which +sometimes characterized him, but, having no faith in his judgment on this +occasion, I went my own way. I searched the maid's boxes and found that +she had purloined many of the contessa's things--garments which had +hardly been worn, silk scarves, laces--in fact, anything which took her +fancy, and which her mistress would not be likely to miss. Of the two men +in the corridor I could find no trace. The manager said there were no +workmen about the hotel at that time, and the only description I could +get from the contessa was so vague that it would have fitted anybody from +the Prime Minister to the old bootlace-seller at the end of the street. +One of the hotel servants was confident that he had seen the French maid +speak to a man in the street outside the hotel on more than one occasion, +but he was not inclined to swear to anything. However, the French maid +was finally arrested on suspicion. + +I knew that Quarles had been to see the contessa once or twice by +himself, and when I went to the Brunswick Hotel on the day after +Angélique's arrest, I found him there. + +"Ah, you have taken an innocent woman," the contessa exclaimed. + +"I think not." + +"What you think does not matter at all, it is what I know. I asked her, +and she said she had not taken the pearls. Voila! She would not tell me +anything that was not true." + +"But, contessa--" + +"I say there is no evidence against her. You just find two or three of +my stupid things in her room, but that is nothing. French maids always +take things like that--one expects it. But I am not angry. You think what +is quite--quite silly, but you do something which is quite right." And +then, turning to the professor, she went on, "But you--you do nothing at +all. You come to tea. You come and look at me, and think me very +beautiful, which is quite nice and very well, but it does not give me +back my pearls." + +"It will," said Quarles. + +"I have no opinion. I only know I have not the pearls. I gave you the +empty case. I want it back with the earrings in it. I have heard that +Monsieur Quarles is very clever--that he finds out everything, but--" + +"It takes time, contessa," he said, rising. "There is one thing I want to +see before I go." + +"What is that?" she asked. + +"The dress the maid was wearing that afternoon, and if she wore an apron +I want to see that too." + +The contessa fetched them, and for some minutes Quarles examined +them closely. + +I did not think he had started a theory. I thought the contessa's words +had merely stung him into doing something. He had probably come to the +conclusion that he had been making rather a fool of himself. + +However, he was theoretical enough that night in the empty room at +Chelsea. + +"I think the arrest was a mistake, Wigan," he began. + +"Surely you are not influenced by the contessa's opinion?" + +"Well, she probably knows more about French maids than you do. I am +inclined to trust a woman's intuition sometimes. The contessa is +delightfully vague. It is part of her great charm, and it is in +everything she does and says. She tells you something, but her real +meaning you can only guess at. She dances, but the steps she ought to do +and doesn't are the ones which really contain the meaning." + +"Can she possibly be more vague, dear, than you are at the present +moment?" laughed Zena. + +"I think this is a case in which one must try to get into the contessa's +atmosphere before any result is possible. You will agree, Wigan, that her +point of view is peculiar." + +"I should call it idiotic," I answered. + +"Your opinion is all cut and dried, I presume?" + +"Absolutely," I answered. "I believe the maid took the jewels and handed +them to her confederates who were waiting in the corridor." + +"It is possible," said Quarles, "but it seems curious that the contessa +should return just in time to see, not only the men in the corridor, but +also the maid leaving her room. Have you considered why only the earrings +were stolen?" + +"There was nothing else to steal," I answered. + +"Why, everybody has talked of her jewels!" Zena exclaimed. + +"All sham." + +"Who told you so?" asked Quarles. + +"The maid." + +"She didn't suggest the pearls were sham?" + +"No." + +"That was thoughtless of her, since suspicion rests upon her. I am not +much surprised to hear that the much-talked-of jewelry is sham. There is +a vein of wisdom in the contessa, and we shall probably find she has put +her jewelry into safe keeping, and wears paste because it has just as +good an effect across the footlights. I should judge her wise enough not +to take risks, and to have an eye for the future. It was only her +superstition, and the fact that she wore the earrings fairly constantly, +which prevented her depositing them in a safe place too. Zena asked me +yesterday whether I should consider her a careless person. What do you +think, Wigan?" + +"It occurred to me that she might have put the case away when it was +empty and carelessly put the pearls somewhere else," said Zena. + +"Such, a vague kind of person is capable of anything," I returned. "But +there is no doubt that a search in her room was made, and it is +significant that things were not tossed about anyhow, as one would expect +had a stranger made that search." + +"True," said Quarles, "but if the maid took them there would have been no +disarrangement at all. She would have known where to look. If she had +wanted to suggest ordinary thieves she would have thrown things into +disorder on purpose." + +"Naturally she did not know exactly where to look," I said. + +"Why not? The contessa evidently trusts her implicitly. In any case, I +fancy we are drawn back to the supposition that the contessa is careless. +When Zena asked the question, I was reminded of one or two +inconsistencies in her surroundings. I should not call her orderly. Her +carelessness must form part of my theory." + +"I am surprised to hear you have formed one," I said. + +"I have found the woman far more interesting than the pearls," he +admitted, "but I am pledged to return the earrings, Wigan. You will find +her smile of delight an excellent reward." + +I shrugged my shoulders a little irritably. + +"Now I will propose three propositions against yours. First, the jewels +belonged to an idol, and were either sold or stolen--the contessa does +not know which. Such things are not usually sold, so we may assume they +were stolen. Their disappearance from the hotel may mean that they have +merely been recovered. The idea is romantic, but such happenings do +occur. Your French maid may have been pressed into the plot either +through fear or by bribery." + +"My facts would fit that theory," I said. + +"Secondly, the husband may be concerned," Quarles went on. "There may be +real love underlying his jealousy, he may think that if he can obtain +possession of the pearls his wife will return to him. Again, your French +maid may have been employed to this end." + +"That theory would not refute my facts," I returned. + +"Thirdly, the contessa herself. It is conceivable that for some reason +she wished to have the pearls stolen, perhaps for the sake of +advertisement--such things are done--or for the sake of insurance money, +or for some other reason which is not apparent. This supposition would +account for the contessa refusing to believe anything against the maid. +It would also account for the men in the corridor, seen only by the +contessa, remember, and therefore, perhaps, without any real existence." + +"Of the three propositions, I most favor the last," I said. + +"So do I," Quarles answered. "The first one is possible, but I fail to +trace anything of the Oriental method in the robbery, the supreme +subtlety which one would naturally expect. The second, which would almost +of necessity require the help of the maid, would in all likelihood have +been carried out before this, since the contessa has always had the +pearls at hand. If she had only just got them out of the bank I should +favor this second proposition. You remember the contessa suggested that +her husband might at some time become more sensible. I should hazard a +guess that she is still in communication with him. The death of the +strife-stirring mother may bring them together again." + +"That is rather an ingenious idea," I admitted. + +"Now, the third proposition would appeal to me more were I not so +interested in the woman," Quarles said. "Is she the sort of woman, for +vain or selfish reasons, to enter into such a conspiracy with her maid? I +grant the difficulty of plumbing a woman's mind--even Zena's there; but +there are certain principles to be followed. A woman is usually thorough +if she undertakes to do a thing, and had the contessa been concerned in +such a conspiracy, we should have had far more detail given to us in +order to lead us in another direction. This third proposition does not +please me, therefore." + +"It seems to me we come back to the French maid," said Zena. + +"We do," said Quarles. "That is the leather case, Wigan. Does it tell you +anything?" + +I took it and examined it. + +"You seem to have got some grease on it, Professor." + +"It was like that. Greasy fingers had touched it--recently, I +judge--although, of course, the case may be an old one, and not made +especially for the earrings. It is only a smear, but it could not have +got there while the case was lying in a drawer amongst the contessa's +things. Now open it. You will find a grease mark on the plush inside, +which means that very unwashed fingers have handled it. That does not +look quite like a dainty French maid--for she is dainty, Wigan." + +"That is why you examined her dress, I suppose." + +"Exactly! There was no suspicion of grease upon it. Facts have prejudiced +you against Angélique. I do not see a thief in her, but I do see a +certain watchfulness in her eyes whenever we meet her. She knows +something, Wigan, and to-morrow I am going to find out what it is. I +think a few judicious questions will help us." + +Quarles had never been more the benevolent old gentleman than when he saw +the French maid next day. + +He began by telling her that he was certain she was innocent, that he +believed in her just as much as her mistress did. + +"Now, when did you last see the pearls?" Quarles asked. + +"The day before they were stolen." + +"Your mistress was wearing them?" + +"No, monsieur, but the case was on the dressing table. It was the case I +saw, not the pearls." + +"So for all you know to the contrary, the case may have been empty?" + +"I do not see why you should think that," she answered, and it was quite +evident to me that she was being careful not to fall into a trap. + +"Just in the same way, perhaps, as you speak of the day before they were +stolen. We do not know they are stolen. Were the pearls very valuable?" + +"I do not know. The contessa valued them." + +"She wears one or two good rings, I noticed," said Quarles, "but I +understand the jewels she wears on the stage are paste." + +"Yes, monsieur, all of it." + +"Her real jewelry being at the bank!" + +"That is so, monsieur." + +"It is possible that the contessa has deceived us," Quarles went on, "and +wants to make us believe the earrings are stolen." + +"Oh, no, monsieur!" + +"Why not?" + +"I am sure." + +"Come, now, why are you so sure? Tell me what you know, and we will soon +have you back at the Brunswick Hotel. Had you told the men in the +corridor that all the contessa's jewelry was sham?" + +"I know nothing of--" + +"Wait!" said Quarles. "Think before you speak. You do not realize how +much we know about the men in the corridor. The contessa saw them, +remember." + +The girl began to sob. + +Very gently Quarles drew the story from her. One of the men was her +brother. She had been glad to come to England to see him, but she found +he had got into bad hands. She had helped him a little with money. She +had talked about the contessa, and when he had spoken about her wonderful +jewels she had told him they were sham. + +"Did he believe you?" + +"No, monsieur, he laughed at me because I did not know the real thing +from paste. I said I did, and, to prove it, mentioned the pearls." + +"Was this before you knew he had fallen into bad hands?" + +"Yes, monsieur. On the afternoon the pearls were stolen he came to see +me at the hotel with a friend. How they got to our rooms I do not know. I +opened the door, thinking it was the contessa. My brother laughed at my +surprise, and said he and his friend wanted to see whether the +contessa's pearls were real--they had a bet about them. He thought I was +a fool, but I was quickly thinking what I must do. 'She is here,' I said. +'Come in five minutes, when she is gone.' This was unexpected for them, +and they stepped back, and I shut the door. To get the door shut was all +I could think of. I was afraid. I waited; then I went to the bell, but I +did not ring. After all, he was my brother. Then Nella called out from my +room; I was on my way to fetch a clean frock for her from the contessa's +room when my brother came. Now I fetched it, and as I came out of the +room the contessa came in. It was a great relief." + +"Did she say anything about the men in the corridor?" + +"Not then--not until afterwards, when she found the pearls had +been stolen." + +"And you said nothing?" + +"No, it was wrong, but he was my brother. How he got the pearls I do +not know." + +"Where is he now?" + +"I do not know." + +"But you are sure he stole the pearls?" + +"Who else?" and she began to sob again. + +"Perhaps when he hears you have been arrested, he will tell the truth." + +"No, no, he has become bad in this country. I do not love England." + +"Anyhow, we will soon have you out of this," said Quarles, patting her +shoulder in a fatherly manner. "I am afraid your brother is not much +good, but perhaps the affair is not so bad as you imagine." + +We left her sobbing. + +"A woman of resource," said Quarles. + +"Very much so," I answered. "You do not think the arrest was a mistake +now, I presume?" + +"Perhaps not; no, I am inclined to think it has helped us. It is not +every woman who would have got rid of two such blackguards so +dexterously." + +"It is the very thinnest story I have ever heard," I laughed. + +We walked on in silence for a few moments. + +"My dear Wigan, I am afraid you are still laboring under the impression +that she stole the pearls." + +"I am, and that she handed them to the men in the corridor, one of whom +may have been her brother or may not." + +"She didn't steal them," said Quarles. + +"Why, how else could the men have got in?" I said. "You are not likely to +see that rewarding smile on the contessa's face which you talked about." + +"I think I shall, but first I must face the music and explain my failure. +We will go this afternoon. Perhaps she will give us tea, Wigan." + +I am afraid I murmured, "There's no fool like an old fool," but not loud +enough for Quarles to hear. + +When we entered the contessa's sitting-room that afternoon the child was +playing on the floor with a small china vase, taken haphazard from the +mantelpiece, I imagine. + +Whether our entrance startled her, or whether she was in a destructive +mood, I cannot say, but she dashed down the vase and broke it in pieces. + +"Oh, Nella! Naughty, naughty Nella!" exclaimed her mother. + +The child immediately went to Quarles. + +"I want to sit on your knee," she said. + +"If mother will give you such things to play with, Nella, why, of course, +they get broken, don't they?" said Quarles. + +"I thought you had brought my pearls," said the contessa. + +"I have come to talk about them." + +"That will not help--talk." + +"It may." + +"Will it bring Angélique back? I am lost without Angélique." + +"She will soon be back." + +I smiled at his optimism. + +"We saw her to-day," Quarles went on; and he told the girl's story in +detail, and in a manner which suggested that my mistake in having her +arrested was almost criminal. + +The contessa seemed to expect me to apologize, but when I remained silent +she became practical. + +"Still, I do not see my pearls, Monsieur Quarles." + +"Contessa, your maid says you were looking at the earrings on the day +before the robbery. She saw the case on your dressing-table." + +"Yes, I remember." + +"Do you remember putting the case back in your drawer?" + +"Of course." + +"I mean, is there any circumstance which makes you particularly remember +doing so?" + +"No." + +"Was Nella crawling on the floor?" + +"Why, yes. How did you guess that?" + +"Didn't you meet the maid coming out of your room on the next afternoon? +She had gone to fetch a clean frock." + +"Ah! yes, Nella got her frock dirty," said the contessa. + +"Pretty frock," said the child. + +"Was she playing with anything--anything off the mantelpiece?" +asked Quarles. + +"No." + +"Are you sure? You give her queer things to play with," and he pointed to +the fragments on the floor. + +"It does not matter," said the contessa, a little angry at his criticism. +"I shall pay for it." + +"Pretty frock," said the child again. + +"Is it, Nella? I should like to see it." + +The child slipped from his knee. + +"Where are you going?" asked the contessa. + +"To fetch my dirty, pretty frock." + +"Don't be silly, Nella." + +"I should like to see it," said Quarles. + +"I wish you would take less interest in the child and more in my pearls." + +"Humor the child and let her show me the frock, then we will talk about +the pearls." + +With a bad grace the contessa went with Nella into the maid's room. + +Quarles looked at me and at the fragments of the vase on the floor. + +"Do you find them suggestive?" + +"I am waiting to see the contessa in a real temper," I answered. + +The child came running in with the frock, delighted to have got +her own way. + +"Aye, but it is dirty," said Quarles, and he became absorbed in the +garment, nodding to the prattling child as she showed him tucks and lace. + +"And now about my pearls," said the contessa. + +Quarles put down the frock and stood up. + +"There is the case," he said, taking it from his pocket; "we have got to +put the pearls into it, Contessa, may I look into your bedroom?" + +The request astonished her, and it puzzled me. + +"Why, yes, if you like." + +She went to the door, and we all followed her. + +"A dainty room," said the professor. "It is like you, contessa." + +She laughed at the absurdity of the remark, and yet there was some truth +in it. The room wasn't really untidy, but it was not the abode of an +orderly person. A hat was on the bed, thrown there apparently, a pair of +gloves on the floor. + +"I can always tell what a woman is like by seeing where she lives," said +Quarles. "There is no toy on the mantelpiece which Nella could break. A +pretty dressing-table, contessa." + +He crossed to it and began examining the things upon it--silver-mounted +bottles and boxes. + +He lifted lids and looked at the contents--powder in this pot, rouge in +that--and for a few moments the contessa was too astonished to speak. + +Then there came a flash into her eyes resenting the impertinence. + +"Really, monsieur--" + +"Ah!" exclaimed Quarles, turning from the table with a pot in his hand. + +"I want it," said the child, stretching herself up for it. + +"Evidently Nella has played with this before, contessa. A French +preparation for softening the skin, I see. I should guess she was playing +with it as she crawled about the floor that afternoon. You didn't notice +her. I can quite understand a child being quiet for a long time with this +to mess about with. There was grease on her frock, and look! the smoothed +surface of this cream bears the marks of little fingers, if I am not +mistaken. It is quite a moist cream, readily disarranged, easily smoothed +flat again. Let us hope there is no ingredient in it which will +hurt--pearls." + +He had dug his fingers into the stuff and produced the earrings. + +"You will find a grease mark on the case," he went on. "It is evident you +could not have put the case away. Nella possessed herself of it when your +back was turned, and, playing with this cream, amused herself by burying +the pearls in it--just the sort of game to fascinate a child." + +"I remember she was playing with that pot. I did not think she could get +the lid off." + +"She did, and somehow the case got kicked under the bed." + +"Naughty Nella!" said the contessa. + +"Oh, no," said Quarles. "Natural Nella. May I wash my hands?" + +Well, we had tea with the contessa, and I saw the smile which rewarded +Christopher Quarles. + +I suppose he had earned it. + +"When did you first think of the child?" I asked him afterwards. + +"From the first," he answered; "but I was too interested in the mother to +work out the theory." + +How exactly in accordance with the truth this answer was I will not +venture to say. That he was interested in the woman was obvious, and +continued to be obvious while she remained in London. + +Zena and I were rather relieved when her professional engagements took +her to Berlin. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MADAME VATROTSKI + + +I firmly believe the contessa had succeeded in fluttering the professor's +heart, and I think it was fortunate that he was soon engaged upon another +case. The fact that it was also connected with theatrical people may have +made him go into it with more zest. The contessa had given him a taste +for the theater. + +The three of us were in the empty room, and after a lot of talk which had +led nowhere, had been silent for some time. + +"I never believe in any one's death until I have seen the body, or until +some one I can thoroughly trust has seen it," said Quarles, suddenly +breaking the silence. + +"You have said something like that before," I answered. + +"It still remains true, Wigan." + +"Then you think she is alive?" Is it the advertisement theory you cling +to, or do you suppose she is a Nihilist?" + +"I suppose nothing, and I never cling; all I know is that I have no proof +of death," said the professor, and he launched into a discourse +concerning the difficulties of concealing a body, chiefly, I thought, to +hide the fact that he had no ideas at all about the strange case of +Madame Vatrotski. + +The rage for the tango, the sensational revue, for the Russian ballet, +was at its height when Madame Vatrotski's name first appeared on the +hoardings in foot-long letters. + +The management of the Olympic billed her extensively as a very paragon +of marvels, but most of the critics refused to endorse this opinion. +Perhaps they were anxious to do a good turn to the home artistes who had +been rather thrust aside by the foreign invasion of the boards of the +variety theaters; at any rate, they declared her dancing was a mere +pose, not always in the best of taste, and that her beauty was nothing +to rave about. + +I had not seen this much-advertised dancer, but the Olympic management +could have had no reason to regret the expense they had gone to. Whether +her dancing was good or bad, whether her beauty was real or imaginary, +the great theater was full to overflowing night after night; her picture, +in various postures, was in all the illustrated papers, and paragraphs +concerning her were plentiful. + +From beginning to end actual facts about her were difficult to get; but +allowing for all journalistic exaggeration, the following statement is +near the truth. + +She was an eccentric rather than a beautiful dancer, and if she was not +actually a beautiful woman there was something irresistibly attractive +about her. Her origin was obscure, possibly she was not a Russian, and if +she had any right to the title of madame, no husband was in evidence. She +was quite young; upon the surface she was a child bent on getting out of +life all life had to give, and underneath the surface she was perhaps a +cold, calculating woman, with no other aim but her own gratification, +utterly callous of the sorrow and ruin she might bring to others. + +All other statements concerning her must at least be considered doubtful. +Her friends may have been too generous, her enemies unnecessarily bitter. +Personally I do not believe she was in any way connected with one of the +royal houses of Europe, as rumor said, nor that she was the morganatic +wife of an Austrian archduke. + +I have said that I had never seen her. I may add that I was not in the +least interested in her. + +Even when I read the headline in the paper, "Mysterious disappearance of +Madame Vatrotski," I remained unmoved; indeed, I had to think for a +moment who Madame Vatrotski was, and when the paragraph concluded that +the disappearance was probably a smart advertisement I thought no more +about the matter. + +Before the end of the week, however, I was obliged to think a great deal +about this woman. It was a tribute to the dancer's popularity that her +disappearance caused widespread interest not only in London, but in the +provinces, and it speedily became evident that her friends were legion. + +She had dined, or had had supper, at various times, with a score of +well-known men; she had received presents and offers of marriage from +them; she had certainly had two chances of becoming a peeress, she might +have become the wife of a millionaire, and half a dozen younger sons had +kept their families on tenter-hooks. + +It was said the poet laureate had dedicated an ode to her--that Lovet +Forbes, the sculptor, was immortalizing her in stone, and Musgrave had +certainly painted her portrait. + +From all sides there was a loud demand that the mystery must be cleared +up, and the investigation was entrusted to me. + +From the outset it was apparent that Madame Vatrotski had played fast and +loose with her many admirers. She had not definitely refused either of +the coronets offered her, nor the millions. I say her behavior was +apparent, but I ought to say it was apparent to me, because many of +those who knew her personally would not believe a word against her. + +This was the case with Sir Charles Woodbridge, a very level-headed man as +a rule, and also with Paul Renaud, the proprietor of the great dress +emporium in Regent Street, an astute individual, not easily deceived by +either man or woman. + +Both these men were pleased to believe themselves the serious item in +Madame Vatrotski's life, and Sir Charles in hot-headed fashion, and +Renaud, in cold contempt, told me very plainly what they thought of me +when I suggested that the lady might not be so innocently transparent as +she seemed. + +Up to a certain point it was comparatively easy to follow Madame's +movements. After the performance on Monday evening she had gone to supper +with Sir Charles at a smart restaurant, and many people had seen her +there. His car had taken her back to her rooms, and he had arranged to +fetch her next morning at half-past eleven and drive her down to +Maidenhead for lunch. + +When Sir Charles arrived at her rooms next morning he was told she had +gone out and had left no message. He was annoyed, but he had to admit it +was not the first time she had broken an appointment with him. + +It transpired that she had gone out that morning soon after ten, and +half-an-hour afterwards was at Reno's. Paul Renaud did not see her +there and had no appointment with her. + +She made some trivial purchases--a veil, some lace and gloves, which were +sent to her rooms later in the day, and she left the shop about eleven. +The door-porter was able to fix the time, and was quite sure the lady was +Madame Vatrotski. She would not have a taxi, and walked away in the +direction of Piccadilly Circus. Since then she had disappeared +altogether. + +A taxi-driver came forward to say he believed he had taken her to a +restaurant in Soho, but after inquiry I came to the conclusion that the +driver was mistaken. + +She sent no message to the theater that night, she simply did not turn +up. To appease the audience it was announced that she was suffering from +sudden indisposition; but, as a fact, the management did not know what +had become of her, and the maid at her rooms confessed absolute ignorance +concerning her mistress's whereabouts. I have no doubt the maid would +have lied to protect Madame, but on this occasion I think she was telling +the truth. + +It was after I had told Quarles the result of my inquiries, and we had +argued ourselves into silence, that he burst out with his remark about +the body, and of course what he said was true enough. Still, I was +inclined to think that Madame Vatrotski was dead. I did not believe she +had disappeared as an advertisement: there was no earthly reason why she +should, since her popularity had shown no signs of being on the wane, and +to attribute the mystery to a Nihilist plot was not a solution which +appealed to me. + +"She may have returned to her rooms and met Sir Charles," Zena suggested, +after a pause. "Perhaps she found him waiting in his car at the door and +went off at once." + +"Why do you make such a suggestion?" asked Quarles. + +"She had plenty of time to keep the appointment; indeed, it almost looks +as if she had arranged her morning on purpose to keep it. If she had +gone with him at once her maid would not know she had returned." + +Quarles looked at me. + +"The same idea occurred to Paul Renaud," I said. "I can find no evidence +that Sir Charles went to Maidenhead that day, and at three o'clock in the +afternoon he was certainly at his club." + +"Did he telephone to madame or attempt to communicate with her in any +way?" Quarles asked. + +"He says not." + +"But you do not altogether believe him, eh?" + +"My opinion is in abeyance," I returned. "It is only fair to say that Sir +Charles suggested that Paul Renaud may have seen her at the shop in +Regent Street. They are suspicious of each other. Renaud was certainly on +the premises at the time she was there. Personally I do not attribute +much weight to these suspicions. I believe both men are genuine lovers, +and would be the last persons in the world to do the dancer any harm." + +"Or the first," said Zena quickly. "Jealousy is a most usual motive +for crime." + +"I think the child strikes a true note there, Wigan," said Quarles. "We +must keep the idea of jealousy before us--that is, if we are compelled to +believe there has been foul play. Now, one would have expected Sir +Charles to telephone to madame; that he did not do so is strange." + +"His disappointment had put him in a temper." + +"That hardly appeals to me as a satisfactory explanation," Quarles +returned; "but there is indirect evidence in Sir Charles's favor. Had +Madame Vatrotski intended to return to her rooms at once she would almost +certainly have taken such a small parcel as her purchases made with her. +That she did not do so suggests she had another appointment to keep. +Have you a list of madame's admirers, Wigan?" + +"I am only human, professor, and you ask for the impossible," I said, +smiling. "I have a few names here, and I think they may be dismissed from +our calculations. One of the strangest points in the case is the lack of +reticence amongst her dupes." + +"Dupes!" said Zena. + +"I think the term is justified," I went on. "They all seem quite proud of +having been allowed to pay for sumptuous dinners and expensive presents. +Usually one expects a shrinking from publicity in these affairs, but in +this case there is nothing of the kind. I have never seen Madame +Vatrotski, but she must have had a peculiar fascination." + +"I have not seen her either," said Quarles; "but I was at the Academy +yesterday, and saw Musgrave's portrait of her. Go and see it, Wigan. I +consider Musgrave the greatest portrait painter we have, or ever have +had, perhaps. His opinion of the dancer might be useful. Judging from his +canvases he must have a strange insight into character." + +My opinion of pictures is worth nothing, and, to speak truthfully, I saw +little remarkable in Musgrave's portrait of Madame Vatrotski. The mystery +had caused a large number of people to linger round the portrait, and so +far as I could gather the general impression was that it did not do her +justice. Some even called it a caricature. + +"You never can tell what a woman is really like across the footlights," I +overheard one man say to his companion. + +"Perhaps not," was the answer; "but I have seen her out of the theater. +I dropped in at Forbes's studio the other day. He was finishing a bust +of her, and she was giving him a sitting. It is a jolly good bust, but +the woman--" + +"Is she pretty?" asked the other. + +"Upon my word, I don't know; what I do know is that I wanted to look +at her all the time, and when she had gone life seemed to have left +the studio." + +I did not know the speaker, but I did not lose sight of him until I +had tracked him to a club in Piccadilly and discovered that his name +was Tenfield, and that he was a partner in a firm of art dealers in +Bond Street. + +When I repeated this conversation to Quarles he wondered why I had taken +so much trouble over the art dealer. + +"Looking for a clue," I answered. + +Quarles shrugged his shoulders. + +"What did you think of the portrait?" + +"Frankly, not much." + +"But you got an impression of Madame Vatrotski's character." + +"I cannot say I got any great enlightenment. It made me wonder why she +had made such a great reputation." + +"The fact that it made you wonder at all shows there is something in the +portrait," said Quarles. "Let us argue indirectly from the picture. You +will agree that the lady was fascinating, since she had so many admirers, +but in the portrait you discern nothing to account for that fascination. +We may conclude that the painter saw the real woman underneath the +superficial charm. She could not hide herself from him as she did from +others. Now in that portrait I see rather a commonplace woman, +essentially bourgeoise and vulgar, not naturally artistic. I can imagine +her the wife of a small shopkeeper, or a girl given to cheap finery on +holidays. I think she would be capable of any meanness to obtain that +finery. Her face shows a decided lack of talent, but it also shows +tremendous greed. The critics have said that her dancing was a pose and +not in good taste." + +I nodded. + +"They are practically unanimous on this point. It was beyond her to +appeal to the artistic sense, so she appealed to the lower nature, and +therein lay her fascination. Just consider who the men are to whom she +appealed. A millionaire with an unsavory reputation. To two or three +peers who, even by the wildest stretch of imagination, cannot be +considered ornaments of their order. To some younger sons of the Nut +description who are ready to pay anything to be seen with a popular +actress, and to the kind of fools who are always ready to offer marriage +to a divorcee, or to a husband murderer when she comes out of prison. She +appeals to a man like Paul Renaud, whose outlook upon life is disgusting, +and who would not be able to keep a decent girl on his premises were it +not for the fact that the whole management of the business is in the +hands of his two partners. Sir Charles Woodbridge I do not understand. He +is a decent man. I could easily imagine his killing her in a revulsion of +feeling after being momentarily fascinated. Honestly, I have wondered +whether this may not be the solution of the case." + +"You are suspicious of Sir Charles?" I asked. + +"I do not give that as my definite opinion. She may not be dead. +Perchance some particularly mean exploit has made her afraid and she has +gone into hiding; but if she is dead, I think we must look for her +murderer--I had almost said her executioner--amongst the decent men who +have been caught for a while in her toils." + +"The only decent man seems to be Sir Charles," said Zena. + +"And I am convinced he was genuinely in love with her," I said. + +"Well, we are at a dead end," said Quarles. "I think I should go and see +Musgrave and ask his opinion of her. It may help us." + +I went simply because there was nothing else to do, and I felt that I +must; be doing something. The authorities seemed to think that I was +making a great muddle over a very ordinary affair, possibly because +rather contemptuous comments in the press had annoyed them, while the +letters from amateur detectives had been more abundant than usual. Oh, +those amateur detectives! + +I found Musgrave quite willing to talk about Madame Vatrotski, and before +I had been with him ten minutes I discovered that his opinion of her very +nearly coincided with Quarles's. + +He put it differently, but it came to the same thing. + +"To tell you the truth, she rather appealed to me when I first saw her," +he said. "It was at an artists' affair in Chelsea. She came there with a +man named Renaud, who has a big shop in Regent Street, and had spent +money on her, I imagine. She was interesting because she was something +new in the way of vulgarity. It was for this man Renaud that I did the +portrait, but when it was finished he repudiated the bargain. He said it +wasn't a bit like her. You see, I was not looking at her with his eyes" + +"Had she no beauty, then?" + +"I cannot say that," Musgrave answered. "She had a beautiful figure, and +her face--well, I painted it as I saw it. Renaud said it wasn't in the +least like her, and I am bound to admit that most of the people who knew +her and have seen the portrait in the Academy agree with him." + +"You claim that you show her character, I suppose?" + +"No; I merely say I painted what I saw." + +"Can you account for the fascination she exerted?" I asked. + +"I answer that question by asking you another. Can you account for the +fascination which sin exerts over a vast number of people in the world? +See sin as it really is, and it repels you; but sin seldom lets you see +the reality, that is why it is so successful. A man requires grace to see +sin as it really is, and that is his salvation. I was in a detached +position when I painted Madame Vatrotski's portrait, and you have seen +the result; had I been under her spell the result would undoubtedly have +been different. I should have painted only the mask of the moment, and +that would have satisfied her admirers, I imagine. I suppose you know +that my ideas of the true functions of art have caused many people to +call me a crank?" + +"I know little of the artistic world," I answered; "but any man who takes +himself seriously always appeals to me." + +Musgrave smiled. I fancy he was about to favor me with his ideas, but +concluded I was not worth the trouble. I had not got much out of my visit +beyond the knowledge that Quarles was not alone in his estimate of Madame +Vatrotski. + +The professor's opinion combined with the artist's influenced me, and +gave me a kind of rough theory. A man might be fascinated, then +repelled, the repulsion being far stronger than the attraction. + +To make this possible the man must normally be decent, and because Sir +Charles Woodbridge seemed the only person who fitted all the conditions I +gave his movements a considerable amount of my attention during the next +few days. He had certainly been amongst the most assiduous of her +admirers, and I discovered that he had put a private detective on to the +business who was chiefly concerned in shadowing Paul Renaud. + +Sir Charles was evidently convinced that Renaud was at the bottom of +the mystery. + +Nearly a month went by, and, except to those chiefly concerned, interest +in the dancer's disappearance was fading out, when it was suddenly +revived by the notice of a picture exhibition in Bond Street, at the +gallery belonging to the firm in which Tenfield was a partner. + +The pictures were the work of French artists of the cubist school, but +also on view was a portrait bust of Madame Vatrotski by Lovet Forbes. It +was evidently the bust I had overheard Tenfield speak about that day in +the Academy, and I discovered that his firm had bought it as a +speculation. + +Lovet Forbes had been only a vague name until a few days ago, when a +symbolic group of his had been placed in the entrance hall of the +Agricultural Institution, and had at once attracted attention. The +critics spoke of him as a new force in art, and a bust of the famous +dancer by him was therefore, under the circumstances, an event. + +"People will go to see it who wouldn't cross the road to look at a +cubist's picture," said Quarles. "It is for sale, no doubt, and the +dealers may clear a very nice little profit over it. Not a bad +speculation, I should say; I wonder how much they paid the artist. We +will go and have a look at it, Wigan." + +The three of us went on the opening day. Zena in a dress I had not seen +before, which suited her to perfection. She was much more interesting to +me than Forbes's bust of Madame Vatrotski. + +Quarles was right in his prophecy; the gallery was full, and the cubists +were not the attraction. Sir Charles was there, so was Renaud, and many +others whose names had been mentioned more or less prominently in this +case, including the managing director of the Olympic; and before I got a +view of the bust I heard whispers of the prices which had been offered +for it; rather fabulous prices they were. + +"But she is perfectly beautiful!" Zena exclaimed, when at last we stood +before the bust. + +She was right, and there was evidently something wrong somewhere. The +difference between Musgrave's picture and Forbes's marble was tremendous, +and yet they were unmistakably the same woman. + +Where the essential likeness was I cannot say, nor can I explain where +the difference lay, but the marble was charming, while the painting +was horrible. + +"Rather a surprise, eh, Wigan?" said the professor. + +"Very much so." + +"I hear Forbes is about somewhere. I should like to see him. He is one of +the lucky ones; this mystery has helped him to fame." + +"But his work is good, isn't it?" + +"Yes; slightly meretricious, perhaps. I shall want to see more of his +work before I express a definite opinion. I think we must go and see what +he has done for the Agricultural Institute." + +We not only saw Forbes, but had a talk with him. He was a man well on in +the forties, carelessly dressed, a Bohemian, and not particularly elated +at his success apparently. He smiled at the prices which were being +offered for his work. + +"It is the dancer they are paying for, not my genius," he said. "She +seems to have fooled men in life; she is fooling them in death, if +she is dead." + +"Ah, that is the question," said Quarles. "I have my doubts." + +"She is safer dead, at any rate, if only half they say of her is true," +Forbes returned. + +"How came she to sit for you?" I asked. + +"Vanity. I was introduced to her one night at an Artists' Ball--the +Albert Hall affair, you know--and I told her she had the figure of a +Venus. I was consciously playing on her vanity for a purpose. In the +thing I have done for the Agricultural Institute there is a recumbent +figure, and I wanted the perfect model for it. The right woman is more +difficult to get than you would imagine. Of course she agreed with me as +to the perfectness of her figure, and then I began to doubt it. That +settled the business. She fell into my trap and agreed to be the model." + +"Posing in the nude?" I asked. + +"Oh, that did not trouble her at all," answered Forbes. "I shouldn't be +surprised if she had been a model in Paris studios before she blossomed +out as a dancer. She spoke Russian, but I am inclined to think France had +the honor of giving her birth. In return for her complaisance I promised +to do a portrait bust of her for herself. That is it. If she is alive and +comes to claim it I shall have to do her another one." + +"She was evidently a very beautiful woman," said Quarles, glancing in the +direction of the bust. + +"Beautiful and bad, I fancy. Curiously enough, I did not hear of her +disappearance until I telephoned to her flat two days after it had +happened. She had broken an appointment to give me a final sitting, and I +wanted to know why she hadn't come." + +"Was the final sitting for the Agricultural group?" Quarles asked. + +"No; for the bust there. I had to leave it as it was, but there is +something in the line of the mouth which does not please me. What has +become of her, do you suppose?" + +"Possibly some one or something she is afraid of has caused her to go +into hiding," said Quarles. + +"Afraid! I doubt if she had any fear of devil or man. Have you seen +Musgrave's portrait of her?" + +The professor nodded, and I thought it was curious that the Academy +picture should be referred to so persistently. + +"She was like that," said Forbes. "Musgrave's is a wonderful piece of +work." + +Involuntarily I glanced at the bust, and he noticed my surprise. + +"Oh, she was like that too at times," he said. + +"I should doubt if Musgrave ever saw her as you have represented her," +said Quarles. + +"Perhaps not. He claims to paint character; possibly I might succeed in +chiseling character, but give me a beautiful model, and as a rule I am +content to show the surface only. Besides, the bust was for her, and I +made the best of my subject." + +"And in the Agricultural piece?" asked Quarles. + +"Naturally I idealized her." + +"I suppose he is not the born artist that Musgrave is?" I said, when +Forbes had left us. + +"I don't know," returned Quarles. "We will go and have another look at +the bust, and I think on the way home we might drop in and have another +look at Musgrave's picture." + +"That portrait bothers me," I said. "One might suppose it was the key to +the mystery." + +"I am not sure that it isn't," Quarles answered. + +Further acquaintance with the Academy picture had rather a curious effect +upon me. I do not think I lost anything of my original sense of +repulsion, but I was strangely conscious that there was something +attractive in the face. I was astonished to find what a likeness there +was between the portrait and the bust. The impression created by one +became mingled with the impression made by the other. + +I said as much to Quarles. + +"That is tantamount to saying they are both fine pieces of work," +he answered. + +"And means, I suppose, that the real woman was somewhere between the +two," said Zena. + +"Possibly, but with Musgrave's idea the predominant truth," said Quarles. + +"Why?" asked Zena. + +Quarles shrugged his shoulders. He had no answer to give. + +"The day after to-morrow, Wigan, we will go to the Agricultural +Institute." + +"Why not to-morrow?" + +"To-morrow I am busy. Did you know I was writing an article for a +psychological review?" + +On the following evening I took Zena to a theater--to the Olympic. I +suppose I chose the Olympic with a sort of idea that I was keeping in +touch with the case I had in hand, that if any one chanced to see me +there they would conclude that I was following up some clue. It is +hateful to feel that there is nothing to be done, more hateful still that +people should imagine you are beaten or are neglecting your work. + +Zena told me the professor had been out all day, but she did not know +what business he was about. He was certainly not engaged in writing +his article. + +The Olympic was by no means full that night; the disappearance of the +dancer was evidently having a disastrous effect upon the receipts. + +The next day I went to the Agricultural Institute with Quarles. He had +got a card of introduction to the secretary. + +The building had recently been enlarged, and at the top of the first +flight of the staircase stood a group representing the triumph of +modern methods. + +Standing or crouching, and full of energy, were figures symbolic of +science and machinery, while in the foreground was a recumbent figure +from whose hands the sickle had fallen. + +The woman was sleeping, her work done; yet she suggested that there was +beauty in those old methods which, for all their utility, was lacking +in the new. + +"It is probably the best work that Lovet Forbes has done," said the +secretary, who came round with us. + +"He is the coming man, they say," Quarles remarked. + +"He has surely arrived," was the answer, "for the critics are unanimous +as to the beauty of this." + +"Yes, it is remarkable in idea and execution. I am told the famous +dancer, who has recently disappeared, was the model for the +recumbent figure." + +"So I understand. The figure is the gem of the whole composition." + +Quarles was not inclined to endorse this opinion, and the secretary was +nothing loath to argue the point. + +The discussion led to a close examination of the figure, Quarles arguing +that it was out of proportion in comparison with the standing figures, a +comment which the secretary met with some learned words on the laws +relating to perspective. + +They were both a little out of their depth, I thought, and after a few +moments I did not pay much attention to them. My thoughts had gone back +to Musgrave's picture and to Forbes's bust of Madame Vatrotski. Zena had +said that the real woman was probably somewhere between the two, and as I +looked at the figure for which the dancer had been the model I felt she +was right. + +I suppose the limbs were perfect, but it was the face which chiefly +interested mo. It was like Musgrave's picture, but it was more like +Forbes's bust, with something in it which differed entirely from the bust +and from the picture. + +It was a beautiful figure, and I think the face was beautiful, but I +am not sure. + +The secretary had just measured the figure, and the result seemed to have +established the fact that Quarles's contention was right. This evidently +pleased him, and he was inclined to give way on minor points of +difference. + +"No doubt the sculptor's perspective has something to do with it," he +said; "but we must not forget that the group is symbolic. I should not +be surprised if the figure in the foreground is larger to illustrate +the fact that modern methods are of yesterday, while the sickle has +reaped the harvests of the world from old time. The sickle is not +broken, you observe, and the artist may mean that it will be used +again in the time to come." + +"You may be right," said the secretary. "I shall take an early +opportunity of asking Forbes." + +Soon afterwards, we left, and had got a hundred yards from the +building when the professor suddenly found he had left his gloves +behind in the library. + +"I shall only be a minute or two, Wigan. Stop a taxi in the meantime." + +He was longer than that, but he came back triumphant, waving the gloves, +an old pair hardly worth returning for. He seemed able to talk of nothing +but the symbolism of the group, finding many points in it which had +escaped me entirely. + +"It has given me an idea, Wigan." + +"About Madame Yatrotski?" + +"Yes; but we will wait until we get home." + +We went straight to that empty room. Zena could not persuade the old man +to have some tea first. + +"Tea! I am not taking tea to-day. Bring me a little weak brandy and +water, my dear." + +"Don't you feel well?" + +"Yes, but I am a little exhausted by talking to a man who thinks he +understands art and doesn't." + +"Oh, Murray doesn't pretend to understand it." + +"Murray is not such a fool as he pretends to be, even in art; but I was +thinking of the secretary, not Murray." + +The brandy was brought, and then the professor turned to me. + +"You suggested that perhaps Forbes was not the born artist that Musgrave +is. What is your opinion now, Wigan?" + +"I am chiefly impressed with the fact that Zena was right when she +said the real woman was probably between Forbes's bust and +Musgrave's picture." + +"And I am chiefly impressed with the fact that they are both great +artists," said Quarles. "I said Musgrave was, but I reserved my opinion +of Forbes until I had seen this group. It has convinced me. Now, for my +idea concerning the dancer. The first germ was in the notion that in +Musgrave's picture lay the key to the mystery. Knowing something of the +painter's power and ideals, I felt that the portrait must be true from +one point of view. What was his standpoint? He explained it to you. He +was detached, unbiased, putting on to his canvas that which he saw behind +the mere outer mask. When I saw Forbes's bust, one of two things was +certain: either he was incapable of seeing below the surface, or in this +particular case he was incapable of doing so. I could not decide until I +had seen other work of his. To-day I know he is as capable with his +chisel as Musgrave is with his brush. You have only to study the standing +and crouching figures in the group to see how virile and full of insight +he can be." + +"But the recumbent figure--" I began. + +"You remember that he said it was idealized," Quarles said. "It is +undoubtedly full of--of strength, but for the moment I am more interested +in the bust. Why does it differ so widely from Musgrave's portrait? Well, +I think Forbes was only capable of seeing Madame Vatrotski like that, and +we have to discover the reason." + +"Temperament," I suggested. "He said himself he was content as a rule to +show the beautiful exterior." + +"He also said one or two other interesting things," said Quarles, "For +instance, he was certain she was dead, or he would hardly have sold the +bust he had executed specially for her. Why was he so certain? Again, he +suggested she was French and not Russian, scorned the idea of her being +afraid of any one, and altogether he showed rather an intimate knowledge +of her, which makes one fancy that she had been more open with him than +she had been with others." + +"The fact that she was sitting to him might account for that," said Zena. + +"One would also expect that it would have made him come forward and give +what help he could in clearing up the mystery." Quarles answered; "but he +does nothing of the kind. We do not hear that he has used her as a model +for his Agricultural group until we hear it casually on the day the bust +was exhibited, and he tells us that he did not know of her disappearance +until he telephoned to her rooms two days afterwards. Does that sound +quite a likely story, Wigan?" + +"I think you are building a theory on a frail foundation, Professor." + +"It has served its purpose; I have built my theory--the artistic mind +fascinated and becoming revengeful in a moment of repulsion. I think +Madame Vatrotski had an appointment with Forbes that day, and more, that +she kept it." + +"Where?" + +"At his studio. It may have been to give him a final sitting, or it may +have been a lovers' meeting. Forbes could only see her beauty and +fascination; he put what he saw into the bust. He loved her with all the +unreasoning power that was in him; it is possible that in her limited way +she loved him, that he was more to her than all the rest. Then came the +sudden revulsion, perhaps because stories concerning her had reached +Forbes, stories he was convinced were true. She was alone with him in the +studio, and--well, I do not think she left it alive." + +"But the body?" I said. + +"Always the great difficulty," Quarles returned. "Yesterday I spent an +interesting day in Essex, Wigan, watching the various processes used in +making artificial stone, from its liquid and plastic state to its setting +into a hard block. I was amazed at what can be done with it." + +"You mean that--" + +"It is impossible!" Zena exclaimed. + +"It is not a very difficult matter to treat a body so as to preserve it, +but to cover it with a preparation and with such precision that when it +is set you shall see nothing but a stone figure is, of course, only +possible to an artist." + +"But she had sat for him, the figure must have been far advanced +before--before she disappeared." + +"I have no doubt it was, Wigan; but, far advanced as it was, that +stone figure was removed and replaced by one that only superficially +was stone." + +"I do not believe it. It is absurd." + +"Measurement proved that the recumbent figure was out of proportion in +comparison with the other figures, accounted for by the stone casing. Of +course with the secretary there I could not look too closely." + +"No, or you would have found--" + +"You seem to forget that I went back for my gloves," said Quarles. "I +left them on purpose. I ran up to the library; no one was about. I had a +chisel and hammer with me. By this time some one may have discovered +that the group has been chipped. There are the pieces." + +He took from his pocket some fragments of stone, pieces of a stone +mold, in fact. + +"Whether they will realize what it is that is disclosed where that piece +is missing is another matter, but we know, Wigan. It is the body of +Madame Vatrotski. Can you wonder, my dear Zena, that I felt more like a +little brandy and water than tea?" + +How far Quarles was right in his idea of the relations between Forbes and +the dancer no one will ever know. When the police went to arrest him he +was found dead in his studio. He had shot himself. How had he heard of +Quarles's discovery? How did he know that his ingenious method of +concealing the body had been found out? + +It was so strange that I asked Quarles whether he had warned him. + +"Do you think I should be likely to do such a thing?" was his answer. + +He would give me no other answer, and all I can say positively is that he +has never actually denied it. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE MYSTERY OF THE MAN AT WARBURTON'S + + +Two days later Zena went to visit friends in the country, and for some +weeks I did not go near Chelsea. Quarles was busy with some Psychological +Society which was holding a series of meetings in London, and was quite +pleased, no doubt, to be without my society for a while. + +Except when I have a regular holiday, my leisure hours are limited, but I +was taking a night off. It was not because I had nothing to do, but +because I had so many things to think of that my brain had become +hopelessly muddled in the process, and a few blank hours seemed to be +advisable. When this kind of retreat becomes necessary, I invariably find +my way to Holborn, to a very plain-fronted establishment there over which +is the name Warburton. If you are a gastronomic connoisseur in any way +you may know it, for Warburton's is a restaurant where you can get an +old-fashioned dinner cooked as nowhere else in London, I believe, and +enjoy an old port afterwards which those delightful sinners, our +grandfathers, would have sat over half the night, and been pulled out +from under the table in the morning perchance. I am not abnormally +partial to the pleasures of the table, but I have found a good dinner in +combination with first-rate port, rationally dealt with, an excellent +tonic for the brain. + +I do not suppose any one knew my name at Warburton's, and I have always +prided myself on not carrying my profession in my face. The man who +dined opposite to me that night possibly began by taking me for a +prosperous city man, to whom success had come somewhat early, or perhaps +for a barrister, not of the brilliant kind, but of the steady plodders +who get there in the end by sheer force of sticking power. I was not in +the least interested in him until he spoke to me--asked me to pass the +Worcester sauce, in fact. His voice attracted me, and his hands. It was a +voice which sounded out of practise, as if it were seldom used, and his +hands were those of an artist. I made some casual remark, complimentary +to Warburton's, and we began to talk. He seemed glad to do so, but he +spoke with hesitation, not as one who has overcome an impediment in his +speech, but as one who had forgotten part of his vocabulary. The reason +leaked out presently. + +"I wonder whether there is something--how shall I put it?--_simpatica_ +between us?" he said suddenly. + +"Why the speculation?" I asked. + +"Otherwise I cannot think why I am talking so much," he said with a +nervous laugh. "I live alone, I hardly know a soul, and all I say in the +course of a week could be repeated in two minutes, I suppose." + +"Not a healthy existence," I returned. + +"It suits me. I dine here most nights; the journey to and fro forms my +daily constitutional. You are not a regular customer here?" + +"No, an occasional one only. I should guess that you are engaged in +artistic work of some kind." + +"Right!" he said with a show of excitement. "And when I tell you I live +in Gray's Inn do you think you could guess what kind of work it is?" + +"That is beyond me," I laughed. "Gray's Inn sounds a curious place for +an artist." + +"I am an illuminator, not for money, but for my own pleasure. Do you +know Italy?" + +"No." + +"At least you know that some of the old monks spent their hours in +wonderful work of this kind, carefully illuminating the texts of works +with marvelous design and color. Now and then some special genius arose +and became a great fresco painter. Fra Angelico painted pictures for the +world to marvel over, while some humbler brother pored over his +illuminating. You will find some of this work in the British Museum." + +Evidently my newly acquired friend was an eccentric, I thought. + +"Pictures have no particular interest for me," he went on; "these +illuminated texts have. I am an expert worker myself. First in Italy, now +in Gray's Inn." + +"And there is no market for such work?" I enquired. + +"I believe not. I have never troubled to find out. I have no need of +money, and if I had I could not bring myself to part with my work." + +"You interest me. I should like to see some of your work." + +"Why not? It is a short walk to Gray's Inn. To me you are rather +wonderful. I have not felt inclined to talk to a stranger for years, and +now I am anxious to show you what I have done. We will go when you like." + +I had not bargained for this. Had I foreseen that I should have a +conversation forced upon me to-night I should have avoided Warburton's; +even now I was inclined to excuse myself, but curiosity got the upper +hand. I finished my wine and we went to Gray's Inn. + +On the way, I told him my name, but, apparently, he had never heard it, +nor did he immediately tell me his. I purposely called him Mr. ---- and +paused for the information. + +"Parrish," he said. "Bather a curious name," and then he went on talking +about illuminating, evidently convinced that I was intensely interested. +It was the man who interested me, not his work, and the interest was +heightened when I entered his rooms. He occupied two rooms at the top of +a dreary building devoted to men of law. The rooms were well enough in +themselves, but the furniture was in the last stage of dilapidation, +there were holes in the carpet, and everything looked forlorn and +poverty-stricken. I glanced at my companion. Certainly, his clothes were +a little shabby, but quite good, and he was oblivious to the decayed +atmosphere of his surroundings. He drew me at once to a large table, +where lay the work he was engaged upon. Of its kind, it was marvelous +both in design and execution, reproducing the color effects of the old +illuminators so exactly that it was almost impossible to tell it from +that of the old monks. This is not my opinion, but that of the expert +from the British Museum when he pronounced upon the work later. + +"Wonderful," I said. "And there is no sale for it?" + +He shrugged his shoulders. Environment seemed to have an effect upon +him, for his conversation was mostly by signs after we entered his room. +Without a word he took finished work from various drawers and put it on +the table for my inspection. I praised it, asked questions to draw him +out, but failed to get more than a lift of the eyebrows, or an +occasional monosyllable. It was not exhilarating, and as soon as I could +I took my leave. + +"Come and see me again soon," he said, parting with me at the top of +the stairs. + +"Thanks," I answered, as I went down, but I made no promise as I looked +up at him silhouetted against the light from his open door. Little did I +guess how soon I was to climb those stairs again. + +Next morning I was conscious that the night off, although not spent +exactly as I had intended, had done me good. Some knotty points in a case +I was engaged upon had begun to unravel themselves in my mind, and I +reached the office early to find that the chief was already there and +wanted to see me. + +"Here is a case you must look after at once, Wigan," he said, passing me +the report of the murder of a man named Parrish, in Gray's Inn. + +Now, one of the essentials in my profession is the ability to put the +finger on the small mistakes a criminal makes when he endeavors to cover +up his tracks. I suppose nine cases out of ten are solved in this way, +and more often than not the thing left undone, unthought of, is the very +one, you would imagine, which the criminal would have thought of first. I +fancy the reason lies in the fact that the criminal does not believe he +will be suspected. I said nothing to my chief about my visit to Gray's +Inn last night. Experience has shown me the wisdom of a still tongue, and +knowledge I have picked up casually has often led to a solution which has +startled the Yard. The Yard was destined to be startled now, but not +quite in the way I hoped. + +When I arrived at Gray's Inn, a small crowd had collected before the +entrance door of the house, as if momentarily expecting some +information from the constable who stood on duty there--a man I did not +happen to know. + +"That's him! That's him!" + +A boy pointed me out excitedly to the constable, who looked at me +quickly. I smiled to find myself recognized, but I was laboring under +a mistake. + +"Yes, that's the man," said a woman standing on the edge of the crowd. + +The explanation came when the constable understood who I was. + +"Both of them declare they saw the dead man in company with another man +last night, described him, and now--" + +"I saw you with him," said the boy. "I never saw him with any one before, +that's why I took particular notice." + +The woman nodded her agreement. + +"Better take the names and addresses, constable." + +"I've already done that, sir." + +I entered the house inclined to smile, but the inclination vanished as I +went upstairs. No doubt these two had seen me last night, and it was +fortunate, perhaps, that I was a detective, and not an ordinary +individual. And yet a detective might commit murder. It was an unpleasant +thought, unpleasant enough to make me wish I had mentioned last night's +adventure to the chief. + +A constable I knew was on the top landing, and entered the rooms with me. +Parrish had not been moved. He was lying by the table; had probably +fallen forward out of his chair. + +A thin-bladed knife had been driven downwards, at the base of the neck, +apparently by some one who had stood behind him. I judged, and a doctor +presently confirmed my judgment, that he had been dead some hours; must +have met his death soon after I had left him. As far as I could tell, +the papers on the table were in exactly the same position as I had seen +them, and the finished work which he had taken out of his drawers to +show me had not been replaced. The fact seemed to add to the awkwardness +of my position. + +The first thing I did was to telegraph to Christopher Quarles. I do not +remember ever being more keen for his help. I occupied the time of +waiting in a careful examination of the rooms and the stairs, and in +making enquiries in the offices in the building. + +The first thing I told Quarles, on his arrival, was my adventure +last night, and the awkward fact that two people had recognized me +this morning. + +"Then we mustn't fail this time, Wigan," he said gravely. "It is a pity +you did not mention the adventure to your chief." + +"Yes, but--" + +"You'd suspect a man with less evidence against him," Quarles answered +quickly. "We'll look at the rooms, and the dead man, then you had better +go back to the Yard and tell your chief all about it." + +Our search revealed very little. It was evident that Parrish had lived a +lonely life, as he had told me. His evening dinner at Warburton's +appeared to have been his only real meal of the day. There was a +half-empty tin of biscuits in the cupboard, and some coffee and tea, but +no other food whatever, nor evidence that it was ever kept there. I have +said the clothes he was wearing were shabby, but there was a shabbier +suit still lying at the bottom of a drawer, and his stock of shirts and +underclothing reached the minimum. Practically, there were no papers, +only a few receipted bills for material for his work, a few +advertisements still in their wrappers, and two letters which had not +been opened. + +"We will examine these later, Wigan," said Quarles. "I want to get an +impression before anything definite puts me on the wrong road. What +about his work?" and the professor examined it with his lens. "Good, of +its kind, I should imagine, and what is more to the point, requiring +expensive materials. These bills show a good many pounds spent in less +than four months. He was not poverty-stricken, in spite of shabby +clothes, and holes in the carpet. Where did he get his money from? There +is no check book here, no money except a few shillings in his pocket. +That is a point to remember." + +"The murderers may have taken it," I said. + +"This doesn't look like a place ordinary thieves would come to." + +There was a shelf in one corner, with books on it, perhaps a score in +all. Quarles took down every one of them, and opened them. + +"John Parrish. Did you know his name was John?" + +"No. He didn't mention his Christian name." + +"Here it is, written in every book," said Quarles as he deliberately tore +a fly-leaf out of one and began to put down on it the titles of some of +the books. "Evidently he did not read much, the dust here is thick. Did +he open his door with a key when you came in with him last night?" + +"I couldn't swear to it." + +"You see it does not lock of itself. He might have left it merely closed. +Did he go into the bedroom while you were here?" + +"No." + +"Then the murderer may have been there while you were with him. You have +made enquiries about him in this building, of course?" + +"Yes." + +"About his personal appearance and habits, I mean. You see, Wigan, your +own idea of him is not sufficient. He may have deceived you entirely +regarding his character, assuming eccentricity for some purpose. Think +the affair out from that point of view, and when you have been to the +Yard, come to Chelsea. If you do not mind I will take these two unopened +letters. We will look at them together presently." + +As a matter of fact, Quarles had opened them before I saw him; indeed, +their contents took him out of town, and I did not see him for three +days. They were very trying days for me, for the chief took me off the +case when he had heard my story. He could not understand why I had not +mentioned at once that I had been with the dead man on the previous +night, and his manner suggested that my being the criminal was well +within the bounds of possibility. I suppose every one likes to have a cut +at a successful man occasionally, but I am bound to admit he had some +reason for his action. He showed me a halfpenny paper in which an +enterprising scribbler, under the headline "Murder in Gray's Inn," had +heightened the sensation by another headline, "Strange recognition of a +well-known detective by a woman and a boy." + +"We mustn't give the press any reason to suppose that we want to +thwart justice for the purpose of shielding an officer," the chief +said. "Cochran will take charge of the case, and I am letting the +press know this." + +There was nothing to be said, and I left him feeling very much like a +criminal, and very conscious of being in an awkward position. Unless the +case were satisfactorily cleared up there would be plenty of people to +suspect me. + +Quarles, when at last we foregathered in the empty room, was sympathetic +but not surprised; Zena, who had come back to town immediately on +receiving a letter from me, was furious that I should be suspected. + +"I have been busy," said the professor. "I opened those letters, Wigan. +Of course Zena's first question on her arrival was why Mr. Parrish had +not opened them. Her second question was: Why did he live the life of a +recluse in Gray's Inn? How would you answer those questions?" + +"I see no reason why a recluse should not live in Gray's Inn," I +answered, "and an eccentric person, obsessed with one idea in life, might +throw letters aside without opening them." + +"Quite a good answer," said Quarles. "Now, here are the letters. This one +is dated eighteen months ago, postmark Liverpool, written at Thorn's +Hotel, Liverpool. 'Dear Jack,--Back again like the proverbial bad penny. +Health first class; luck medium. Pocket full enough to have a rollick +with you. Shall be with you the day after to-morrow.--Yours, C.M.' Your +friend Parrish was not a man you would expect to rollick, I imagine?'' + +"No." + +"So either he entirely deceived you or had changed considerably since +'C.M.' had seen him. Here is the other letter. Postmark Rome, dated three +years ago, but no address. Just a message in indifferent English: 'Once +more you do me good and I repay in interest. B. knows and comes to you. +Beware.--Emanuele.'" + +"Parrish told me he was in Italy for some time," I said. + +"The first letter took me to Liverpool," Quarles went on. "Thorn's Hotel +is third-rate, but quite good enough for a man who does not want to burn +money. 'C.M.' stands for Claude Milne. That was the only name with those +initials in the hotel books on that date. He had come from New York, and +he left an address to which letters were to be forwarded, an hotel in +Craven Street. I traced him there. He stayed a week, and, I gather, spent +a rollicking time, mostly returning to bed in the early hours not too +sober. No friends seem to have looked him up. He appears to have gone +abroad again." + +"And it is eighteen months ago," I said. + +"Exactly. We will remember that," said Quarles. "The other letter is +older still. It is evidently a warning. The writer believed Parrish to be +in danger from this 'B.' who was coming to England. Now, was it B. who +found him the other night after three years' search?" + +"The name is on the door and in the directory," I answered. + +"That is another point to remember, Wigan. Now, I daresay you have learnt +from your inquiries in the building that very little was known about +Parrish. Some of the tenants did not remember there was such a name on +the door. I have interviewed the agents who receive the rent, and they +tell me that until about three years ago they received Parrish's rent by +check, always sent from Windsor, and on a bank at Windsor; but since then +they have received it in cash, promptly, and sent by messenger boy, the +receipt always being waited for. They inform me that at one time, at any +rate, Parrish did not use his chambers much, was a river man in the +summer, and in the winter was abroad a great deal. The letter sent with +the cash was merely a typed memorandum. There was no typewriter in +Parrish's chambers, I think?" + +"No." + +Quarles took from some papers the fly-leaf he had torn from one of +the books. + +"That is Parish's signature," said Quarles. "The agents recognize it, the +bank confirms it; the account is not closed, but has not been used for +three years. The rooms he occupied in Windsor are now in other hands, and +nothing is known of him there. Inspector Cockran made these inquiries at +Windsor. You see, as you are off the case I am helping him. Having no +official position in the matter I must attach myself to some one to +facilitate my investigation. Cockran thinks I am an old fool with lucid +moments, during which I may possibly say something which is worth +listening to." + +"He is generally looked upon as a smart man," I said. + +"Oh, perhaps he is right in his opinion of me, also in his +judgment of you." + +"What has he got to say about me?" + +"He says very little, but as far as I can gather his investigations are +based on the assumption that you killed Parrish. Don't get angry, Wigan. +It is really not such an outrageous point of view, and for the present I +am shaking my head with him and am inclined to his opinion." + +"It is a disgraceful suspicion," said Zena. + +"Those who plead not guilty always say that, but it really does not count +for much with the judge," Quarles answered. "We will get on with the +evidence. I jotted down on this fly-leaf the names of some of the books +on that shelf, Wigan. Nothing there, you see, bears any reference to his +illuminating work." + +"Are you suggesting it was a blind?" + +"No, I haven't got as far as that yet, but it is curious that none of his +books should relate to his hobby in any way. I have ascertained that he +always bought his materials personally, never wrote for them. From the +postman I discover that it was seldom they had to go to the top floor; +the advertisements and letters we have found may be taken to be all the +communications he has received through the post. At the same time we have +evidence that he had command of money, since he paid his rent promptly, +bought expensive materials, and dined every night at Warburton's. Since +he did not sell his work, where did the money come from?" + +"Some annuity," I suggested. + +"Exactly, which he must have collected himself, since he received no +letters, and taken away in cash, since he had given up using a banking +account. Cockran has made inquiries at the insurance offices, and in the +name of Parrish there exists no such annuity, apparently. It was, +therefore, either in another name or came from a private source." + +"So we draw blank," I said. + +"In one sense we do, in another we do not," returned Quarles. "We come +back to the letters and to Zena's questions. First, why did he live the +life of a recluse in Gray's Inn? The answer does not seem very difficult +to me. He had something to hide, something which made him cut himself +off from the world, and that something had its beginning about three +years ago, when he ceased paying his rent by check, when he gave up his +rooms at Windsor; in short, when he entirely became a changed character. +We may take 'C.M.'s' letter, with its talk of rollicking, as confirming +this view." + +"But he did not open either letter. He did not see Emanuele's +warning," I said. + +"True, but I believe, Wigan, the first two words in Emanuele's letter +should stand by themselves; that the letter should read thus: 'Once +more. You do me good, I repay, etc,' I think there was a previous letter +which Parrish did see." + +"A far-fetched theory," I returned. + +"The key to it is in Zena's question: Why didn't Parrish open his +letters?" + +"Why, indeed?" I said. "He might throw 'C.M.'s' letter aside, but if +there had been a previous letter warning him that danger threatened him +from Italy, do you imagine he would have failed to open one with the Rome +postmark on it?" + +"That does seem to knock the bottom out of my argument," said Quarles. + +"I am afraid the theory is too elaborate altogether," I went on. "Parrish +was an eccentric. I was not deceived. I am astonished there should ever +have been an episode in his life which should necessitate a warning from +Emanuele. Probably the Italian exaggerated the position. That B. is +stated to have come to England three years ago, and the murder has only +just occurred, would certainly confirm this view." + +"It does, but you throw no light on the mystery, and the fact remains +that Parrish was murdered. You have not knocked the bottom out of my +theory, and with Cockran's help I am going to put it to the test. For +the moment there is nothing more to be done. I must wait until I hear +from Cockran. I will wire you some time to-morrow. You must meet me +without fail wherever I appoint. I think Cockran is fully persuaded +that I am helping him to snap the handcuffs on to your wrists. The +capture of a brother detective would be a fine case to have to his +credit, wouldn't it?" + +"I hope you are not doing anything risky, dear," said Zena. + +"What! Is your faith in Murray growing weak, too?" laughed Quarles. + +I was not in the mood to enjoy a joke of this kind--my position was far +too serious--and I left Chelsea in a depressed condition. Perhaps it was +being so personally concerned in the matter which made me especially +critical of Quarles's methods, but it certainly did not seem to me that +his arguments had helped me in the least. They only served to emphasize +how poor our chance was of finding the criminal. + +Next afternoon I received a wire from the professor telling me to meet +him at the Yorkshire Grey. I found him waiting there and thought he +looked a little anxious. + +"We are going to have a tea-party at a quiet place round the corner in +Gray's Inn Road," he said; "at least Cockran and I are, while you are +going to look on. You are going to be conspicuous by your absence, and +under no circumstances must you attempt to join us. When it is all +over and we have gone, then you can leave your hiding-place and come +to Chelsea." + +He would answer no questions as we went to the third-rate tea-rooms, but +he was certainly excited. The woman greeted him as an old friend. He had +evidently been there before. + +"This is the gentleman I spoke of," said Quarles, and then the woman led +us into a back room. + +"Ah, you've put the screen in that corner, I see. An excellent +arrangement; couldn't be better. You quite understand that this room is +reserved for me and my guests for as long as I may require it. Good. Now, +Wigan, your place is behind this screen. There is a chair, so you can be +seated, and there is also a convenient hole in the screen which will +afford you a view of our table yonder. It is rather a theatrical +arrangement, but I have a score to settle with Cockran if I can. He +thinks I am an old fool, and when it does not suit my purpose I object to +any one having that idea." + +When Cockran arrived it so happened that I had some little difficulty in +finding the slit in the screen; when I did I saw that he had a woman +with him. By the time I had got a view of the room she had seated +herself at the tea-table and her back was toward me. It did not seem to +me the kind of back that would make a man hurry to overtake to see what +the face was like. + +Quarles talked commonplaces while the tea was being brought in, and then, +when the proprietress had gone out, he said, leaning toward the woman: + +"Do you constantly suffer from the result of your accident?" + +"Accident!" she repeated. + +"I notice that you limp slightly." + +"Oh, it was a long time ago. I don't feel anything of it now." + +Quarles handed her some cake. + +"It is very good of you to come," he went on, "and I hope you are going +to let us persuade you to be definite." + +She nodded at Cockran. + +"I have told him that I am not sure. I am going to stick to that." + +"The fact is, we are especially anxious to solve this mystery," Quarles +went on, "and I believe you are the only person who can help us. Now, +from certain inquiries which I have been making I have come to the +conclusion that Mr. Parrish is not dead." + +"Not dead!" the woman exclaimed. + +I saw Cockran look enquiringly at Quarles, but he did not say anything. +The professor had evidently persuaded the inspector to let him carry out +this investigation in his own way. + +"Of course, a man has been killed," he went on, "but it wasn't Parrish, I +fancy. He lived in Parrish's chambers; was a lonely man with a hobby, and +if the people who saw him about liked to think his name was Parrish, +well, it didn't trouble him. You didn't happen to know the real Parrish, +I suppose?" + +"Of course not." + +"No, I didn't expect you would," said Quarles, "but tell me how it was +you so promptly recognized the man we are after." + +"I am not sure it was the same man." + +"But you were when the boy recognized him." + +"I say now I am not sure." + +"Oh, but you are," returned Quarles. "You could not possibly be mistaken. +From the inner room of Parrish's chambers you must have watched both the +men for the best part of an hour." + +A teaspoon clattered in a saucer as the woman sprang to her feet, and I +saw she was the woman who had pointed me out to the constable when I +had entered Gray's Inn on the morning after the murder. Cockran's face +was a study. + +"You made a mistake," Quarles went on quietly. "I have worked it all out +in my own mind and I daresay there are some details missing. I will tell +you how I explain the mystery. Parrish, when in Italy, wronged some one +dear to you. You only heard of it afterwards. Personally you did not know +Parrish, but you found out what you could about him: that he was +connected with the law, that he lived in London, in one of the places +where lawyers do live. You determined to come to England for revenge. I +do not say you were not justified. I do not know the circumstances. That +was three years ago. An accident--was it the one at Basle, which occurred +about that time?--detained you, laid you aside for some months, perhaps. +You had not much money, you had to live, so your arrival in England was +delayed. When you got here, you took a post as waitress in Soho. Only in +your leisure time could you look for Mr. Parrish. At first, probably, you +knew nothing about the London Directory, and when you did, looked for the +name in the wrong part of it, and, of course, you would not ask questions +of any one. That might implicate you later on. At last you found him; saw +the name on the door. Possibly you have been waiting your opportunity for +some little time, but the other night it came. Of course, you could not +know there was a mistake. You heard Parrish speak of Italy, and when the +other man had departed you crept from your hiding place and struck your +blow; but you did not kill Parrish. Three years ago he was warned of his +danger, and got out of your way. He was warned that you had started for +England by Emanuele. Do you know him?" + +The woman had stood tense and rigid, listening to this story of the +crime; now she collapsed. + +"Emanuele!" she cried. + +"I see you do know him," Quarles said. "You have my sympathy. It is +possible that the man Parrish deserved his fate, only it happens that +another has suffered in his place." + +"It was my sister he wronged," said the woman. + +"Was it fear that some evidence might be found against you which made you +point out a man whom you knew was innocent?" said Quarles. + +She nodded, still sobbing. + +"The rest is for you to manage," said Quarles, turning to the +inspector. "I suppose you are not likely to make any further mistakes. +This would all have been cleared up days ago if Wigan had not been +taken off the job." + +I suppose Cockran felt a fool, as the professor intended he should. + +There was little to be explained when I went to Chelsea later. Quarles's +reconstruction of the crime had showed me the lines along which he had +worked. The unopened letter from Rome had set him speculating with a view +to proving that the dead man was not Parrish; and whilst I had only +considered the change in character, he had had before him the possibility +of a separate identity. + +"Still, I do not understand how you came to suspect the woman," I said. + +"Her recognition of you was too prompt to carry conviction under the +circumstances," he answered. "The boy, who is in an office in Gray's Inn, +might have met you together. I have no doubt he did; but since the woman +had no business there, and if my theory were right, was concealed in +Parrish's chambers at the time, she could not have seen you, except in +the way I explained to her. Poor soul! I feel rather a cur for trapping +her, but you were in a tight hole, Wigan, and I had to get you out." + +Evidence showing that Parrish was a heartless scoundrel, the jury found +extenuating circumstances for the woman, in spite of the fact that she +had murdered an innocent man, so she escaped the extreme penalty. I was +glad, although the strict justice of the verdict may be questioned. From +Italy, from Emanuele, who was the woman's cousin, we learnt that when +Parrish was in Italy he had a friend with him, an eccentric artist named +Langford. We found that an insurance company had an annuity in this name +which was not afterwards claimed. This fact, and the officials' +description of the man, left no doubt that the murdered man was Langford. +Emanuele had written two letters, as Quarles had surmised, and the first +had caused Parrish to get out of harm's way. Wishing to keep up his +chambers, he allowed Langford to occupy them; had perhaps left him the +money to pay the rent, the idea of danger to his friend probably never +occurring to him. + +Naturally, Langford had not opened his letters, and, being an eccentric +and a recluse, had allowed people to call him Parrish without denying the +name when it happened that any one had to call him anything. + +Since Parrish has never returned, even though the danger is past, it is +probable, I think, that he died abroad. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE STRANGE CASE OF DANIEL HARDIMAN + + +Not infrequently I am put in charge of cases which are of small +importance and might well be left to a less experienced man. I thought +the mystery of Daniel Hardiman was such a case. I even went further and +imagined that it was given to me because I was a bit under a cloud over +the Parrish affair. Quarles jeered at my imagination and was interested +from the outset, perhaps because he had had rather more of the +Psychological Society than was good for him. Anyway, he traveled north +with me to meet the liner _Slavonic_. + +On the passenger list was the name Daniel Hardiman. He had come on board +at Montevideo in company with his man, John Bennett, who appeared to be +half servant, half companion. They had only a small amount of personal +luggage, one trunk each, but several stout packing-cases of various sizes +had been stored away in the hold. Hardiman had a first-class cabin to +himself; his man traveled second-class, but spent much of his time in his +master's cabin; indeed, for the first few days of the voyage Hardiman was +not seen except at meal times. + +It was said amongst the crew--probably the servant had mentioned the +fact--that they were returning to England after an absence of many years, +during which time they had lived much alone; and amongst the passengers +it was agreed that there was something curious about the pair. There was +speculation upon the promenade deck and in the smoking-room; the gossip +was a pleasant interlude in the monotony of a long voyage. At the end of +a week, however, Mr. Hardiman no longer stayed in his cabin. At first he +paced the deck, thoughtfully, only in the early morning or late in the +evening, but later was to be found in a deck-chair, either gazing fixedly +at the horizon or interested in the games of the children on board. One +sturdy youngster, when recovering a ball which had rolled to Hardiman's +feet, spoke to him. All the answer he got was a nod of the head, but the +boy had broken the ice, and two men afterwards scraped acquaintance with +the curious traveler. One was a Mr. Majendie, who was going to England on +business; the other Sir Robert Gibbs, a Harley Street specialist, who had +broken down with hard work, and was making the round trip for the benefit +of his health. + +By wireless, when the ship was two days from Liverpool, came the news +that Hardiman had been murdered by his man-servant, and it was in +consequence of this message that Christopher Quarles and I had gone north +to meet the boat on its arrival. + +When we went on board the captain gave us the outline of Hardiman's +behavior during the voyage as I have here set it down. Quarles asked him +at once whether he thought that all the passengers, after landing, could +be traced if necessary. The captain seemed to consider this rather a tall +order, but thought all those who could possibly have had access to Mr. +Hardiman might be traced. + +"It is a pity we cannot forbid any one to land until we like," said the +professor. + +"There is not so much mystery about it as all that," said the captain, +"although it isn't quite plain sailing. One of our passengers, a swell +doctor, who examined the body with our ship's doctor directly after the +discovery, will give you the benefit of his opinion, and I am detaining +another passenger, a Mr. Majendie." + +"Then there is some doubt as to the servant's guilt?" I said. + +"I don't think so, but you shall hear the whole story." + +"First, we should like to see the body," said Quarles. "We might be +influenced unconsciously by your tale. It is well to come to the heart of +the matter with an open mind." + +The captain sent for the ship's doctor and a stewardess, and with them we +went to the cabin, which had been kept locked. + +The body, which lay in the berth where it had been found, an upper berth +with a porthole, had been washed and attended to by the stewardess. The +lower berth had been used by the traveler for some of his clothes--they +were still there, neatly folded. The dead man's trunk was on a sofa on +the opposite side of the cabin, a sofa which could be made into a third +berth if necessary. Except that the body had been attended to, the cabin +was just as it had been found. + +"I took the stained sheets away," said the stewardess, "but I thought it +would be wiser not to move him from the upper berth." + +"It is a pity he couldn't have been left just as he was," Quarles +answered; "you have no doubt washed away all the evidence." + +He was a long time examining the wound, a particularly jagged one in the +neck, a stab rather than a cut, but with something of both in it. + +"Has the--the knife been found?" Quarles asked. + +"No," answered the captain. "You hesitate in your question a little. You +are certain it was a knife, I suppose?" + +"Yes, why do you ask?" + +"His man says it was a bullet." + +"A bullet!" and Quarles looked back at the wound. + +"The servant Bennett does not deny that he killed his master," said the +doctor; "but he persists in saying that he had no knife." + +"Has a revolver been found?" I asked. + +"No, and no one heard any report," said the captain. "I cannot make this +fellow Bennett out. He seems to me rather mad. Besides, there are one or +two curious points. Would you like to hear them now?" + +"Please," said Quarles. + +With sailor-like directness the story was told in a straightforward +narrative, destitute of trimmings of any kind. A steward had gone to Mr. +Hardiman's cabin to take him a weak brandy-and-water; he had done the +same first thing every morning during the voyage. He saw Hardiman lying +with his face toward the cabin, one arm hanging over the side of the +berth. There was no sign of a struggle. The clothes were not thrown back, +but there was a considerable quantity of blood. Curiously enough, the +porthole had been unscrewed and was open. The steward fetched Dr. +Williams, the ship's doctor, who said death had probably occurred five or +six hours previously, a statement Sir Robert Gibbs corroborated. There +was no knife anywhere. + +"The time of death is important," the captain went on. "Bennett has +occupied a second-class cabin with a man named Dowler, and on the night +of the murder Dowler, having taken something which disagreed with him, +was awake all night, and he declares that Bennett never stirred out of +his bunk. If the doctors are right, then Dowler's evidence provides +Bennett with an alibi, of which, however, he shows no anxiety to take +advantage. This cabin trunk, Mr. Quarles"--and the captain lifted up the +lid as he spoke--"this trunk is all Mr. Hardiman's cabin luggage. There +are some papers, chiefly in a kind of shorthand, which you will no doubt +examine presently, and these stones, merely small chunks of rock, as far +as I can see, although Sir Robert Gibbs suggests they may have value. +There are similar stones in Bennett's trunk. There is a curious incident +in connection with these bits of stone. On the night after the murder one +of the middle watch saw a man come on deck and hastily fling something +overboard. At least, that was the intention, apparently, but as a fact, +either through agitation or a bad aim, the packet did not go overboard, +but landed on a coil of rope on the lower deck forward. It proved to be a +small canvas bag containing seven of these bits of rock, or, at any rate, +pieces like them. Now, the man on the watch is not inclined to swear to +it, but he believes the thrower was Majendie. Majendie denies it." + +"You are an excellent witness, Captain," said Quarles as he took up two +or three of the bits of rock and looked at them. "Is Mr. Majendie annoyed +at not being allowed to land at once?" + +"On the contrary, he is keen to give us all the help in his power. He is +a fairly well-known man on the other side, has means and position, and, +personally, I have little doubt that the watch was mistaken. You see, the +servant does not deny his guilt." + +"Would Bennett be likely to be in the place where the watch saw this +man?" I asked. + +"Not under ordinary circumstances, but if he had been trying to get into +the locked cabin he would be." + +"I think if we could have a few words with Sir Robert Gibbs it would be +useful," said Quarles. "Have you the canvas bag of stones?" + +"Yes, locked up in my cabin. I will send and ask Sir Robert to join +us there." + +"And could you get a knife?" asked the professor. "Any old knife will do, +a rusty one for preference." + +A few minutes later we were in the captain's cabin, and on the table was +the bag of stones and a rusty and much-worn table-knife. Dr. Williams +had just explained to us his reasons for fixing the time of death when +Sir Robert entered. He was a man with a pronounced manner, inclined to +take the lead in any company in which he found himself, and was very +certain of his own opinion. On the way to the cabin Quarles had +whispered to me to take the lead in asking questions, and to leave him +in the background as much as possible, so after the captain's short +introductions I began at once: + +"I may take it, Sir Robert, that you agree with Dr. Williams as to the +time Hardiman had been dead when you saw the body?" + +"Certainly." + +"And in your opinion the wound could not, under any circumstances, have +been caused by a bullet?" + +"Certainly not," and he smiled at the futility of the question. + +"The bullet might have been a peculiar one," I suggested, "different from +any with which we are familiar. The servant, who does not deny his guilt, +says it was a bullet." + +"And I say it was not," Sir Robert answered. "No kind of bullet could +make such a wound. A knife with a point to it was used. The action would +be a stab and a pull sideways. I am of the opinion that the blow was +struck while the victim was in a deep sleep. I think Dr. Williams +agrees with me." + +Williams nodded. + +"You would otherwise have expected to find some signs of a +struggle?" I said. + +"I should. It is quite possible, I think, that at times Mr. Hardiman had +recourse to a draught or a tablet to induce sleep." + +"I understand that you had some conversation with Mr. Hardiman during the +voyage, Sir Robert. Were you struck by any peculiarity in him?" + +"He was an eccentric man, but a man of parts undoubtedly. He told me very +little about himself, but I gathered that he had traveled extensively, +and out of the beaten track. I put down his difficulty in sustaining a +conversation to this fact. He seemed in good health--one of those wiry +men who can stand almost anything." + +"Sir Robert, could it possibly have been a case of suicide?" Quarles +asked, suddenly leaning forward. + +"Have you examined the wound carefully?" asked the doctor. + +"I have." + +"If you will try to stab yourself like that you will see how impossible +it is. Besides, you forget that no knife has been found, and in a case of +suicide it would have been. I may add that the knife used was not in the +least like the one I see on the table there." + +"It must have had a point, you think?" said Quarles. + +"I do not think--I am certain." + +"Did Mr. Hardiman ever say anything about these bits of rock to you?" + +"Never," answered the doctor. "I think I suggested to the captain +that they might be valuable. I have no knowledge on the point, but I +cannot conceive a man like Hardiman carrying them about unless they +were of value." + +"I take it he is a geologist," Quarles said carelessly. + +Sir Robert would like to have been present throughout our inquiry, but +the professor firmly but courteously objected. He said it would not be +fair to those chiefly concerned, and he appealed to me to endorse his +opinion. The doctor had raised a spirit of antagonism in him. They were +both too dogmatic to agree easily. + +The sailor of the watch was next interviewed, a good, honest seaman who +evidently had a wholesome dread of the law in any form. He thought it +was Mr. Majendie he had seen on the deck that night, but he would, not +swear to it. + +"Are you sure it wasn't Bennett?" I asked. + +"Ay, sir, I'm pretty sure of that." + +"What is it that particularly makes you think it was Mr. Majendie?" + +"I just think it, sir; I can't rightly say why." + +"What did he do, exactly?" said Quarles. "Just show me--show me his +action. Here are the bits of rock in the bag; take the bag up and pretend +to pitch it into the sea, as he did." + +The sailor took up the bag and did so. His pantomime was quite realistic. + +"I note that you turn your back to us," said Quarles. + +"Ay, sir, because his back was turned to me. It wasn't until he made the +action of throwing--just like that, it was--that I knew he had anything +in his hand." + +"Did you call out to him?" + +"No; he was there and gone directly." + +"It was a bad throw, too?" + +"Ay, sir, it was; he did it awkward, something like women throws when +they ain't used to throwing." + +"That good fellow would feel far more uncomfortable in the witness-box +than most criminals do in the dock," said Quarles when the sailor had +gone. "He is as certain that it was Mr. Majendie as he is certain of +anything, but he is not going to commit himself. Shall we have a talk +with Mr. Majendie next? Let me question him, Wigan." + +Majendie's appearance was in his favor. He might be a villain, but he +didn't look it. There was Southern warmth in his countenance and temper +in his dark eyes, but his smile was prepossessing. + +"A sailor's absurd mistake has put you to great inconvenience, I fear," +said Quarles. + +"The inconvenience is nothing," was the answer. "I court enquiry." + +"Of course you were not on the deck that night?" + +"No." + +"It is Mr. Hardiman's past I want to get at," said the professor. "You +had some talk with him during the voyage; what did you think was his +business in life?" + +"He was a traveler. I think he had been where no other civilized man has +been. He did not directly tell me so, but I fancy he had wandered in the +interior of Patagonia." + +"Should you say he was a geologist?" + +"No," said Majendie with a smile. "He showed me some pieces of rock he +had with him; indeed, I am suspected of flinging some of these bits of +rock away in that canvas bag I see there. Is it likely I should do +anything so foolish? It is part of my business to know something of bits +of rock and blue clay and the like, and unless I am much mistaken those +bits of rock are uncut diamonds." + +"Diamonds!" I exclaimed. + +"Yellow diamonds of a kind that are very rarely found," Majendie +answered. "I may be mistaken, but that is my opinion. If I am right, the +actual gem, when cut, would be comparatively small. It is enclosed, as it +were, in a thick casing of rock." + +"Did Hardiman know this?" Quarles asked. + +"I am not sure. In the course of conversation I told him that I knew +something about diamonds, and he asked me into his cabin to show me some +bits of rock he had in his trunk. He spoke of them as bits of rock, but +he may have known what they really were." + +"Did he give you this invitation quite openly?" asked Quarles. + +"Oh, yes. There were others sitting near us who must have overheard it. I +went with him, and gave him my opinion as I have given it to you. Of +course, there may not be a jewel at the heart of every bit of rock; no +doubt there are a great many quite useless bits in Hardiman's +collection." + +"This is very interesting," said Quarles. "Would you look at the pieces +in that bag and tell us if any of them are useless." + +Majendie spent some minutes in examining them, and then gave it as his +opinion that they all contained a jewel. + +"Now that knife--" + +"I thought no knife had been found," said Majendie. + +"That has just been found on the ship," said Quarles. "It is an absurd +question, but as a matter of form I must ask it. Have you ever seen that +knife before?" + +Majendie took it up and looked at it. + +"Hardiman was apparently stabbed with a rusty knife," Quarles remarked. + +"Stabbed! You could not stab any one with this, and certainly I have +never seen it before." + +I did not understand why Quarles was passing this off as the real +weapon. He took it up, grasped it firmly, and stabbed the air with it. + +"I don't know, it might--" + +He shook his head and put the knife on the table again. Majendie took it +up and in his turn stabbed the air with it. + +"Utterly impossible," he said. "This could not have been the knife used; +besides, there would surely be stains on it." + +"I am inclined to think you are right," said Quarles. "You must forgive +the captain for detaining you, Mr. Majendie, and of course you can land +this afternoon. The captain wishes us to lunch on board; perhaps you +will join us?" + +"With pleasure. So long as I am in London to-night no harm is done." + +When he had gone Quarles turned to the captain. + +"Pardon my impudence, but we must not lose sight of Majendie. You must +follow him this afternoon, Wigan, and locate him in London. You must +have him watched until we get to the bottom of this affair. Now let us +see Bennett." + +The man-servant proved to be a bundle of nerves, and it was hardly to be +wondered at if the story he told was true. A question or two set him +talking without any reticence apparently. + +Time seemed to have lost half its meaning for him. He could not fix how +long he and his master had been away from England; many years was all he +could say. They had traveled much in South America, latterly in the wilds +of Patagonia. There they had fallen into the hands of savages, and for a +long time were not sure of their lives from hour to hour. Always Mr. +Hardiman seemed able to impress their captors that he was a dangerous +man to kill; fooled them, in fact, until they came to consider him a god. +Master and man were presently lodged in a temple, and were witnesses of +some horrible rites which they dared not interfere with. Finally, at a +great feast, Hardiman succeeded in convincing them that he was their +national and all-powerful deity, and that he had come to give them +victory over all their enemies. By his command the wooden figure of one +of their gods was taken from the temple, and, together with two curious +drums used for religious purposes, and other sacred things, was carried +through the forest to a certain spot which Hardiman indicated. The whole +company was then to go back three days' march, spend seven days in +religious feasting, and return. In the meanwhile he and his servant must +be left quite alone with these sacred things. + +"I suppose they returned," Bennett went on, "but they did not find us. +They did not find anything. The spot my master had fixed upon was within +a day's march of help. We set out as soon as those devils had left us, +and, having got assistance, my master would go back and fetch the wooden +figure and the other things. They are in the cases in this ship." + +"What was the main object of your master's travels?" I asked. + +"He was writing a book about tribes and their customs." + +"And he took a great interest in stones and bits of rock?" + +"That was only recently, and I never understood it, sir. He put some in +my trunk and some in his own, but what they were for I do not know. I +don't suppose he did himself. He was always peculiar." + +"Always or recently, do you mean?" Quarles asked. + +"Always, but more so lately. Can you wonder after all we went through? +You can't imagine the horrors that were done in that heathen temple." + +He told us some of them, but I shall not set them down here. It is enough +to say that human sacrifices were offered. The mere remembrance of +Bennett's narrative makes me shudder. + +"It is a wonder it did not drive you both mad," said Quarles. + +"That is what the master was afraid of," was the answer, "and it is the +cause of all this trouble. He did not seem to think it would affect me, +but he was very much afraid for himself." + +"He told you so?" + +"He did more than that. He said that if I saw he was going mad I was to +shoot him, and so--" + +"Wait a minute," said Quarles, "when did he say this to you?" + +"The first time was when we got those things from the place in the forest +where they had been left. Then he said it two or three times during the +voyage. The last time was when I was cutting his nails." + +"Cutting his nails?" I said. + +"Yes, sir. Mr. Hardiman could never cut the nails on his right hand. He +was very helpless with his left hand in things like that, always was. On +this particular day he said his hand was growing stronger, and declared +it all was because of will-power. He was quite serious about it, and then +he was suddenly afraid he was growing mad. 'Shoot me if I am going mad, +Bennett.' That is what he said." + +"And how were you to know?" asked Quarles. + +"He said I should know for certain when it happened, and I did. The next +evening he began telling me that we were bringing a lot of diamonds back +to England. He promised me more money than I had ever heard of. I should +have shot him then, only I wasn't carrying a revolver." + +"So you did it later in the evening?" + +"I cannot tell you exactly when I did it," the man answered. "I knew the +time had come, but I do not remember the actual doing of it. Only one +thing I am certain of--I didn't use a knife. He was always particular to +tell me to shoot him." + +"You are sure you did kill him?" I said. + +"Shot him--yes. I did not stab him. That is a mistake." + +"Do you know that your cabin companion says you did not leave your bunk +at all that night?" said Quarles. + +"That must be another mistake," was the answer. + +When he had gone the professor remarked that John Bennett was far nearer +an asylum than a prison. + +"If Hardiman had been shot I should think the servant had shot him, but +he was not shot. You see, Captain, the case is not so easy. These bits of +rock complicate it, and we must keep an eye on Majendie." + +There was a man I knew well attached to the Liverpool police, and I was +fortunate enough to get hold of him to follow Majendie to London that +afternoon. Bennett, having virtually confessed to the crime, was kept in +custody, and I was free to remain with Quarles and examine the cases +which Hardiman had brought to England. After certain formalities had been +complied with, we carried out this examination in one of the shipping +company's sheds. There were many things of extreme interest of which I +could write a lengthy account, but they had no bearing on our business. +The things which concerned us were the Patagonian relics. + +The two drums did not interest the professor much, but the figure of the +god did. It was about three-quarters life size, roughly carved into a +man's shape. The wood was light in weight and in color, but had been +smeared to a darker hue over the breast and loins. One arm hung by the +figure's side, was, indeed, only roughly indicated; but the other, +slightly bent, was stretched out in front of the figure. There was +nothing actually horrible about the image, but, remembering Bennett's +description of some of the rites performed in that temple, it became +sinister enough. Quarles's inspection took a long time, and during it I +do not think he uttered a word. + +"I think we may go back to Chelsea, Wigan," he said at last. + +Late on the following night we were in the empty room. At the professor's +suggestion I repeated the whole story for Zena's benefit, although I +fancy Quarles wanted to have a definite picture before his mind, as it +were, and to find out whether any particular points had struck me. Zena's +comment when I had finished was rather surprising. + +"This Mr. Majendie must be a clumsy thrower," she said. + +Quarles sat up in his chair as if his interest in the conversation had +only become keen at that moment. + +"She hits the very heart of the mystery, Wigan." + +"There is no certainty that it was Majendie," I replied. + +"Whether it was or not is immaterial for the moment. The fact remains +that some one who was anxious to get rid of incriminating evidence was so +clumsy that he threw it where any one could pick it up. Not one man in a +thousand would have done that, no matter what state of agitation he was +in. The packet was deliberately thrown away, remember; it was not done in +a moment of sudden fear." + +"I am all attention to hear what theory you base upon it," I returned. + +"We will begin with the wound," said Quarles. "Sir Robert Gibbs and Dr. +Williams agree that it could not have been self-inflicted. Sir Robert +suggested that I should try to stab myself in the same way and see how +impossible it was. Remember it was a stab and a pull of the blade to one +side. It was impossible for a right-handed man, difficult even for a +left-handed one, but not impossible. That was the first point I made a +mental note of." + +"Why did you not speak of the possibility?" + +"Chiefly, I think, because I was convinced that Sir Robert expected me to +do so, was waiting for me to do so, in fact. He is far too cute a man not +to have considered the possibility, and was prepared to prove that +Hardiman was a right-handed man, as we know he was from his servant. In +all probability Sir Robert knew that Bennett had to cut his master's +nails. I was not disposed to give the doctor such an opening as that, +although no doubt he thought me a fool for not thinking of it." + +"Then we do away with the theory of suicide?" I said. + +"Well, the absence of any weapon appears to do that," said Quarles. "What +was the weapon? A knife of some kind, a rusty knife and rather jagged, I +fancy. The wound suggested that it was jagged, and in spite of the +washing my lens revealed traces of rust. Rather a curious knife to commit +murder with. That was my second mental note. We had to be prepared for a +curious personality somewhere in the business." + +"Mr. Majendie," I said. + +"He is hardly such an abnormal individual as the servant Bennett. We will +consider Bennett first. His story is a straightforward one, nervously +told, dramatically told. We might easily assume that imagination had much +to do with that story were it not for the contents of those +packing-cases. They are corroborative evidence. We may grant that the +man's recent experiences have had their effect upon him, have laid bare +his nerves, as it were, but since the most unlikely part of his story is +true we may assume that the rest of it is. We need not go over it again +in detail. The man was evidently attached to his master, and was prepared +to shoot him if he exhibited signs of madness. Considering the state of +his own nerves, I can believe that Bennett watched for these signs, and +felt convinced of his master's madness when he spoke of a wealth of +diamonds. Bennett knew they had no diamonds in their possession. He only +knew of those bits of rock. So he determined to shoot Hardiman. However, +I am convinced that he did not leave his cabin that night. Sleep +prevented his carrying out the intention, but when in the morning he +found that his master was dead--murdered--he immediately translated his +intention into action, and concluded that he had done it. There was no +one else who would be likely to murder him. That he should do it was +natural under the circumstances. He would not look upon it as a crime. He +had only carried out his instructions to the letter, as I have little +doubt he has been accustomed to do for years." + +"It is a theory, of course, but--" + +"Oh, it is more than a theory now," said Quarles, interrupting me. "He +admits his guilt, yet we know that Hardiman was stabbed, not shot. We +conclude, therefore, that Bennett, although he fully intended to kill +his master, did not do so." + +"So we come to Majendie," I said. + +"Yes, and to the yellow diamonds which Bennett knew nothing about. I +admit that Majendie was a distinct surprise to me. He had to prove that +the sailor of the watch was mistaken, that he was not the person who +threw the stones away. How does he do it? By asking whether he, an expert +in diamonds, would be likely to throw away what he knew to be valuable. +This was a very ingenious argument. He did not deny that he knew Hardiman +had these stones in his possession, because he believed that people must +have seen him go into Hardiman's cabin. We have his statement that +Hardiman invited him to do so, and that the invitation was given in the +hearing of others. So he asked a perfectly simple question to show that +the sailor was mistaken." + +"Evidently you do not believe that the sailor was mistaken." + +"We will go on considering Majendie," said Quarles. "Now, when he took up +the knife and imitated my action of stabbing the air with it I made a +discovery. He did so with his left hand. Since my first mental note +concerned a left-handed man the coincidence is surprising. The sailor in +his pantomime had used the right hand. Majendie's action was unexpected, +and for a time I did not see its significance. But let us suppose for a +moment that Majendie did throw the bag of stones away. He might argue +that some one might possibly see the action, and would note that it was +done by a left-handed man, so used his right hand to deceive any one who +might be there. Hence his bad aim." + +I shook my head. + +"Wait," said Quarles. "Some one had stolen those bits of rock, else how +came they in that canvas bag, and why were they thrown away? Majendie +told us that only certain of those stones had at the heart of them a +diamond, yet he also said that all those in the bag had. That looks as if +they had been picked out and stolen by an expert, and when we remember +that Hardiman had shown him the contents of the trunk suspicion points +very strongly to Majendie as the thief. Of course, when Hardiman was +found dead, he would get rid of evidence which must incriminate him. We +must see Majendie, Wigan, and ask him a few questions." + +"Then he did not kill Hardiman?" said Zena. + +"I do not think so." + +"Who did?" + +"Nobody. Hardiman was mad and committed suicide, and in a particular way. +Think of Bennett's description of that Patagonian temple, Wigan. Those +savages were persuaded that Hardiman was a god; possibly human sacrifices +were offered to him, and he dared not interfere. That was sufficient to +start a man on the road to madness. That wooden god he brought home tells +us something. It was the left arm which was stretched out, and in the +closed fist was a hole into which a knife had been fixed, a symbol of +vengeance and sacrifice, a symbol, mind you, not a weapon which was +actually used. I imagine that time had caused it to become rusty and +jagged. Now, I think Hardiman removed that knife before packing the +figure, kept it near him, because obsessed with it; went mad, in short. +We know from Bennett that he believed his left hand was becoming +stronger, and I believe his madness compelled him to practise his left +hand until it became strong enough to grasp the knife firmly and strike +the blow. Since the god was left-handed, his priests were probably so +too, and the victims would be slain with the left hand. There was some +religious significance attached to the fact, no doubt, and Hardiman's +madness would compel him to be exact." + +"But what became of the knife?" I asked. + +"The porthole was found open," said Quarles. "I think he deliberately put +it out of the porthole, his madness suggesting to him that no one should +know how he died. He would have strength enough to do this, for he died +quietly, bled to death, in fact, and gradually fell into a comatose +condition, hence no sign of a struggle. It is impossible to conceive what +devilish power may lurk about those things which have been used for +devilish purposes. I am very strong on this point, as you know, Wigan." + +Of course it was quite impossible to prove whether Quarles was right +about the knife, but he was correct as regards Majendie, who had hoped to +get possession of a few of these stones without Hardiman missing them, +and then, when the unexpected tragedy happened, had tried to get rid of +them, using his right hand to throw them away. Amongst the dead man's +papers there was a will providing amply for his servant Bennett--who, I +may add, recovered his normal health after a time--and leaving his relics +to different museums, and any other property he was possessed of to +charities. I believe the yellow diamonds proved less valuable than +Majendie imagined, but at any rate the various charities benefited +considerably. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE CRIME IN THE YELLOW TAXI + + +One's last adventure is apt to assume the place of first importance, the +absorption in the details is so recent and the gratification at solving +the problems still fresh. Used to his methods as I had become, Quarles's +handling of the Daniel Hardiman case was constantly in my mind until I +had become acquainted with the yellow taxi. I will not say his +deductions in the taxi affair were more clever--you must judge that--but +I am sure they were more of a mental strain to him, for he lost his +temper with Zena. + +We had been arguing various points, and seemed to have exhausted all +our ideas. + +"Give a dog a bad name and hang him," said Zena, breaking the silence +which had seemed to indicate that our discussion was at an end. + +"I repeat that had he been in a different position he would have been +arrested at once," said Quarles testily; "but because he happens to be a +prominent Member of Parliament, goes everywhere which is anywhere, and +knows everybody who is anybody, it suits people to forget he is a +blackguard and it suits Scotland Yard to neglect its duty." + +An inquest in connection with a very extraordinary case had taken place +that day, and had been adjourned. + +On the previous Monday, between seven and eight in the evening, the +traffic had become congested at Hyde Park Corner, chiefly owing to the +fog, and the attention of a gentleman standing on the pavement--a Mr. +Lester Williams--had been drawn suddenly to the occupant of a taxi. +Possibly a street lamp, or the light on an adjacent motor, picked out the +lady's face particularly, and he had opened the door before he called to +the driver. + +The lady was leaning back in the corner, but he saw at once that +something was wrong, and when he touched her the horrible truth +became apparent. + +She was dead. + +He called to the driver to draw up to the curb and then called a +policeman. Williams jumped at once to the conclusion that a crime had +been committed, and the police took the same view. + +There was no difficulty as regards identification. She was Lady Tavener, +wife of Sir John Tavener, M.P. The driver, Thomas Wood, had come from the +other side of Twickenham and had taken up Sir John and his wife at their +own front door. He had constantly driven them up to town and elsewhere, +sometimes separately, sometimes together. On this occasion he had driven +to a house on Richmond Green, where Sir John had got out. Lady Tavener +was going on to the Piccadilly Hotel. Wood had got as far as Hyde Park +Corner when a gentleman called to him. He had not seen the gentleman open +the door of the taxi, knew nothing in fact until he was told to drive up +to the curb and Lady Tavener was taken out dead. + +At the inquest the evidence took rather a curious turn. It was common +knowledge that Sir John had married Lady Tavener after her divorce from a +Mr. Curtis, since dead, and Sir John's reputation was none of the best. + +Veiled accusations were constantly made against him in those would-be +smart journals catering for that public interested in this kind of +scandal, and several questions founded on this knowledge were put to him +at the inquest. + +He came out of the ordeal very well, and gave his evidence in a +straightforward manner. He did not pretend that he and his wife did not +quarrel at times, sometimes rather severely he admitted, but he +maintained there was no reason why his wife should commit suicide. He +ignored altogether the idea that he was in any way responsible for her +death. She seemed in perfect health when he had left her that evening. +She was dining with some people called Folliott, and was going on to the +theater with them afterwards. He also believed that a crime had been +committed. + +The medical evidence threw some doubt on this opinion, however. True, +there were slight marks on Lady Tavener's throat, but it was possible she +had caused them herself by catching hold of her own throat in some spasm. +She was addicted to drugs, a fact which she had concealed from her +husband apparently, and her general condition was such that a shock or +some sudden excitement might very easily prove fatal. Two doctors were +agreed upon this point, and said that she was in a condition known as +status lymphaticus. + +After the inquest I had gone to see Quarles, and his one idea was that +Sir John should have been arrested. Zena's sarcastic suggestion that her +grandfather would hang him merely because of his reputation, had made the +old man lose his temper altogether. + + +As I was the representative of Scotland Yard in that empty room at +Chelsea, I felt compelled to say something in its defense. + +"Have you read the evidence given to-day carefully?" I asked. + +"I was there," he snapped. + +I had not seen him and was astonished. + +"Arrest Tavener," he went on, "and then you may be able to solve the +problem. There may be extenuating circumstances, but they can be dealt +with afterwards. Let us go into another room." + +He got up and brought the discussion to a close. He was in one of those +moods in which there was no doing anything with him. + +Although I was at the inquest, I had had little to do with the case up to +this point; now it came entirely into my hands, and it may be that +Quarles's advice was at the back of my mind during my inquiries. + +I made one or two rather interesting and significant discoveries. The +Folliotts, with whom it was said Lady Tavener was dining that night, did +not know Sir John, and moreover, they had no appointment with Lady +Tavener that evening, nor were they dining at the Piccadilly Hotel. The +people on Richmond Green, with whom Sir John had dined, admitted that he +was in an excited condition. He made an expected division in the House of +Commons an excuse for leaving early, directly after dinner in fact, but +he had not gone to the House and did not arrive home until after +midnight, when he found a constable waiting for him with the news of his +wife's death. + +These facts were given in evidence at the next hearing, but it was less +due to them than to public feeling, I fancy, that a verdict of murder +against Sir John Tavener was returned. + +That night I went again to Chelsea. + +"I see that you have arrested him, Wigan," was the professor's greeting. + +"I don't believe he is guilty," I answered. + +"Why not? Let us have the reasons. But tell me first, what was his +demeanor when he heard the verdict? Was he astonished?" + +"He seemed to be pitying a body of men who could make such a mistake." + +"Ah, he will play to the gallery even when death knocks at his door. Why +do you think he is not guilty, Wigan?" + +"Intuition for one reason." + +"Come, that is a woman's prerogative." + +"That sixth sense, which is usually denied to men," corrected Zena. + +"Then for tangible reasons," I said; "if he killed his wife he committed +the crime between Twickenham and Richmond Green, knowing perfectly well +that her death must be discovered at the end of her journey. He would +know that suspicion would inevitably fall upon him." + +"That seems a good argument, Wigan, but, as a fact, suspicion did not +immediately fall upon him. He has only been arrested to-day, and even now +you think he has been wrongly arrested. The very daring of the crime was +in his favor." + +"My second reason is this," I went on. "If he were guilty, would he +deliberately have closed the door of escape open for him by the doctors +and declare that he did not believe his wife committed suicide? Would he +not have jumped at the idea?" + +"That also sounds a good argument," said Quarles, "but is it? He could +not deny that he and his wife quarreled rather badly at times, but he +wanted to justify his position, and he felt confident the opinion of the +doctors would stand, no matter what he might say. If no other facts come +to light, suicide will be the line of defense, Wigan, and it will be +exceedingly hard to get any judge and jury to convict him. Nothing +carries greater weight than medical evidence, and you will find the +doctors sticking to their opinion no matter what happens. No, Wigan, your +reasons do not prove that he is not an exceedingly clever and calculating +rascal. On the present evidence I think he would escape the hangman, but +the public will continue to think him guilty unless some one else stands +in the dock in his place." + +"I wonder whether the Folliotts have told the truth," said Zena. + +"Intuition, Wigan," laughed Quarles, "jumps to the end of the journey and +wants to argue backwards." + +"Do you not often do the same, dear?" + +"Perhaps, but not this time. I think you said the taxi had been in charge +of the police?" + +"Yes," I answered. + +"I should like to see it." + +"We can go to-morrow." + +I had already spent a couple of hours with that taxi, and I was rather +anxious to see how Quarles would go to work with it. + +He began with the metal work and the lamps, nodded his admiration at the +way they were kept, and remarked that but for the vehicle number and the +registering machine it might be a private car. He examined the engine and +the tires, using his lens; seemed to be particularly interested in the +texture of the rubber, and picked out some grains of soil which had stuck +in the tire. All four tires came in for this close inspection. + +Inside the taxi his lens went slowly over every inch of the +upholstering, and with the blade of a penknife he scraped up some soil +from the carpet. This he put on a piece of white paper and spent a long +time investigating it. He opened and shut the door half a dozen times, +and shook his head. Then he seated himself in the driver's seat, and in +pantomime drove the car for a few moments. Afterwards, he stood back and +regarded the car as a whole. + +"Well, Wigan, it is a very good taxi; let us go and have a ride in +another one." + +He did not hail the first we encountered, and when he did call one it was +for the sake of the driver, I fancy. He explained that he wanted to drive +to Richmond Green by Hammersmith and Kew Bridge. + +"And we don't want to go too fast," said Quarles. + +"Don't you be afraid, guv'nor, I shan't run you into anything; you won't +come to no harm with me." + +"It isn't that," said Quarles, "but I'm out to enjoy myself. I'll add a +good bit to what that clock thing says at the end of the run." + +"Thank you, guv'nor." + +"Now just get down and open this thing to let me have a look at +the works." + +The driver looked at me, and I nodded. No doubt he thought I was the old +man's keeper. + +Quarles looked at the engine. + +"It isn't new," he remarked. + +"No, guv'nor." + +"How long has it been running?" + +"I couldn't say. I'm not buying this on the hire system." + +"You fellows do that sometimes, eh?" + +"Yes, guv'nor, there are several of us chaps own their own taxi." + +"That's good. Now for Richmond, and go slowly from Hyde Park Corner." + +I never remember a more tedious journey. Quarles hardly spoke a word the +whole way, but sat leaning forward, looking keenly from one side of the +road to the other, as if he were bent on obtaining a mental picture of +every yard of the way. Arriving at Richmond Green he did no more than +just glance at the house where Sir John had dined that night, and then +told the man to drive to Twickenham as fast as he liked to go. + +"Stop him when we reach Tavener's house, Wigan. You know it, I suppose?" + +I did, and stopped the driver when we got there. Quarles had the car +turned round, then he got out and examined the tires with his lenses. The +driver winked at me, and I nodded to assure him that I knew the eccentric +gentleman I had to deal with, and that he was quite harmless. + +We then drove back to Richmond rapidly, and from there went toward town, +but more slowly. By Kew Gardens along to Kew Bridge Quarles did not seem +particularly interested in the journey, but as we drew near Hammersmith +he became alert again. + +We were going slowly past St. Paul's school when he told the driver to +take the second turning to the left. It was a narrow street, a big +warehouse, which was being enlarged, on one side, and a coal yard on +the other. About fifty yards down this street, the driver was +instructed to stop. + +"We will get out for a minute and look at the view," said Quarles +facetiously. + +I confess I found nothing whatever to interest me, but Quarles seemed to +find the blank walls of the warehouse and coal yard attractive. + +"Now, driver, you can turn round and get us back to Hyde Park Corner as +quickly as you like," said the professor as we got into the taxi again. + +Arriving at our destination he told the driver to go into the park, and +there stopped him. Again he examined the tires and the texture of them, +picking some soil from the rubber, and he scraped up some dust from the +floor of the taxi with a penknife and put it in an envelope. + +"Thank you, my man," he said, paying a substantial fare. + +"You're welcome, guv'nor," said the driver with a grin. + +"He is fully persuaded that he has been driving a lunatic and his +keeper," Quarles said as he walked away. "I suppose you can find the +driver of the other taxi, Wigan." + +"We might have found him this morning. He lives at Twickenham." + +"I want you to see him and ask him two questions. First, was the fog in +Hammersmith, or elsewhere on the journey, thick enough to bring him to a +standstill before he reached Hyde Park Corner? Secondly, is he quite sure +that the man who opened the door and called to him had not just got out +of the taxi?" + +"But--" + +"You ask him these two questions and get him to answer definitely," said +Quarles in that aggravating and dictatorial manner he sometimes has. +"To-morrow night come to Chelsea. I am not prepared to talk any more +about the Tavener case until then." + +Without another word he went off in the direction of Victoria, leaving an +angry man behind him. I am afraid I swore. However, I hunted up the +driver of the taxi, and went to Chelsea the following night, still +somewhat out of temper. + +Quarles and Zena were already in the empty room waiting for me. + +"Well, what did the man say?" asked the professor. + +"The fog did not stop him anywhere until he got to Hyde Park Corner, and +he is sure Lady Tavener was alone after leaving Richmond." + +"He stuck to that?" + +"He did, but after some consideration he said that he had almost come to +a standstill in Hammersmith Broadway on account of the trams. I suggested +that some one might have got into the taxi then, but while admitting the +bare possibility, he did not think it likely." + +"Did he give you the impression that he believed Tavener guilty?" + +"Yes. He seemed to consider his arrest a proof of it." + +"Naturally," said the professor. + +"Your whole investigation seems to be for the purpose of proving Sir John +innocent," I said. "Why were you so anxious to have him arrested?" + +"Pardon me, my one idea is to get at the truth. Always be careful of your +premises, Wigan. That is the first essential for a logical conclusion. +Zena has said that because a dog has a bad name I want to hang him. Well, +she gave me an idea; started a theory, in fact. Let us go through the +case. First there is the question of suicide. It must come first, because +if we are logical--the law is not always logical, you know--if we are +logical, it is obvious no man could be hanged while the doctors stuck +tight to their opinion. However, I have reason for leaving the question +of suicide until last. Therefore we investigate the question of murder. +Had Sir John disappeared after visiting the house on Richmond Green, I +suppose not one person in ten thousand would have believed him innocent." + +"But he didn't," I said. + +"No," said Quarles. "But he behaved in a most peculiar manner. He left +immediately after dinner, did not reach home until after midnight, and +has not yet attempted to account for his time. He was in an abnormal +condition. We will make a mental note of that, Wigan." + +I nodded. + +"We will assume that when he left her Lady Tavener was alive," Quarles +went on. "At Hyde Park Corner she was dead, and the driver Wood was +entirely ignorant that anything had happened. Yet, if murder was done, +some one must have joined Lady Tavener during the journey. Wood says he +was not held up by the fog, but on being pressed a little, speaks of +coming nearly to a standstill in Hammersmith Broadway. There, or +somewhere else, because we must remember Wood may have forgotten nearly +coming to other stoppages, since driving in a fog must have required the +whole of his attention--somewhere, somebody must have joined her. The +driver, again under pressure, admits the bare possibility, but does not +think it likely. However, we must assume that some one at some place did +enter the taxi." + +Zena was leaning forward eagerly, and I waited quietly for Quarles +to continue. + +"It follows that whoever it was must have been known to Lady Tavener," he +said slowly. "Otherwise she would have called out to the driver or to +people passing." + +"You mean that he left it at Hyde Park Corner after the murder," said +Zena. "You think it was Lester Williams." + +"There is the possibility that he was getting out of the taxi instead +of rushing to it, because he noticed the occupant looked peculiar," +Quarles admitted. + +"In that case would he have called the driver's attention?" I asked. +"Your theory seems to demand actions which no man would be fool enough +to commit." + +"You can never tell upon what lines a criminal's brain will work, Wigan. +I maintain that the same arguments I have used with regard to Sir John +would apply in Lester Williams's case. Still, there are one or two points +to consider. If you go to Hyde Park Corner you will find it difficult to +pitch on any lamp which could throw sufficient light upon the face of the +occupant leaning back in the corner as to cause alarm to any one on the +pavement. I am taking into consideration the position of the taxi in the +roadway and the angle at which the light would have to be thrown. And, +since motor lights are in the front of cars, and Lady Tavener was facing +the way her taxi was going, it is very improbable that the lights of +another car would serve this purpose. Besides, it was a foggy night." + +"Then you believe Williams was getting out of the taxi?" I asked. + +"Let me talk about the contents of this first," said Quarles, separating +an envelope from some papers on the table. "You will admit that I +examined the taxi fairly thoroughly." + +"You certainly did." + +"And I came to one or two very definite conclusions, Wigan. The engine is +practically new, very different from that of the taxi we took to +Twickenham, which was of exactly the same make. I took some trouble in my +choice of a taxi, you remember. I grant, of course, this may not be a +very reliable proof, but the tires told the same story, I think." + +"The first taxi might just have had new tires," I suggested. + +"I do not fancy the whole four would have been renewed at the same time," +he returned. "It is not usual. My conclusion was that the taxi had not +been used very much." + +"I must confess I do not see where this is leading us," I said. + +"It led us to Twickenham, Wigan. In our down journey we covered the road +taken by the taxi that night if it came direct to Hyde Park Corner. At +Twickenham I examined the tires, and they satisfied me that so far there +was nothing to negative a theory I had formed. On the return journey we +turned into that side street--I had noted it on the way down--and at the +end of our journey I examined the tires again and the floor of the taxi. +I preserved what I found then in this envelope, and it is perfectly clear +that our taxi had been driven over a road strewn with brick dust and coal +dust, and that persons treading on such a road had entered the taxi." + +"Of course, we both got out," I remarked. + +"To admire the view," said Quarles. "And you may have noticed that there +were few windows from which an inquisitive person could have told what we +were doing. At night the place would be quite lonely unless the +bricklayers and coal porters were working overtime. Now, Wigan, on the +tires of the first taxi, and on its carpet, was dust exactly +corresponding to that which I found on the tires and floor of our taxi. +That is significant. Brick dust and coal dust together, remember. They +are not a usual combination on a main road out of London." + +I did not answer, I had no comment to make. + +"If we have no very definite facts," Quarles went on, "we have many +peculiar circumstances, and I will try and reconstruct the tragedy for +you. Sir John and his wife have quarreled at times we know, and to some +extent at any rate have gone each their own way recently. The fact that +Sir John was the cause of her divorce, and married her, may be taken as +proof that he was fond of his wife. A reformed rake constantly is, and +often develops a strong vein of jealousy besides. That Lady Tavener was +supposed by her husband to be dining with the Folliotts, who, as a fact, +had no appointment with her that night, shows that she did not always +explain her going and coming to her husband. I suggest that Sir John had +begun to suspect his wife, and that his reason for leaving Richmond early +was to ascertain whether she was going to the theater with the Folliotts +as she had told him." + +"It is an ingenious theory," I admitted. + +"We follow Lady Tavener," said Quarles. "It is not likely she was going +to spend the evening alone, or the Folliotts would never have been +mentioned. She was going to meet some one. I suggest it was Lester +Williams who had arranged to meet her at Hyde Park Corner. Whether the +idea was to join her in the taxi, or that she should leave the taxi there +with orders that the driver should meet her after the theater, I cannot +say. I am inclined to think it was the former, and I hazard a guess that +Lady Tavener had not known Williams very long. Of course, his explanation +goes by the board. He was on the lookout for the taxi. From the pavement +he only saw the taxi, but when he opened the door he found a tragedy." + +"But why should you think he was a new acquaintance of Lady Tavener's?" +asked Zena. + +"Since he hurried to the door instead of waiting for the taxi to draw to +the curb, I conclude he was taking advantage of the stoppage to join Lady +Tavener in the taxi. Had she intended to leave the taxi there, he would +have waited until it came to the pavement. But my theory demands that he +should have been on the watch for the taxi, therefore he must have known +it. Had Lady Tavener often used the taxi when she met Williams, Wood, the +driver, would have recognized Williams. This does not appear to have been +the case, therefore I conclude they were comparatively new friends." + +"Do we come back to the theory of suicide, then?" I asked. + +"Not yet," Quarles answered. "At present we merely find a reason why Sir +John and Lester Williams have said so little, the one concerning his +suspicions, the other about his knowledge of Lady Tavener. Since his wife +was dead, why should Sir John say anything to cast a reflection upon her. +For the same reason, why should Williams implicate himself in any way. +From their different viewpoints they are both anxious to shield Lady +Tavener's name. Therefore, Wigan, since we wanted to learn the truth, it +was a good move to put Sir John in such a position that, to save himself, +he must speak. Had we left him alone I have little doubt he would have +ended by accepting the doctor's opinion and, rather than explain +anything, would have remained silent." + +"And allowed suspicion to rest on his name?" said Zena. + +"It wouldn't. The doctor's evidence would have made people sympathize +with him and regret that he should ever have been under suspicion. I am +not saying he had made a deep calculation on these chances, but he was +content to wait and let things take their course. He is still doing so. +His arrest has not brought any explanation from him." + +"But he has said he believes his wife met with foul play," +persisted Zena. "Do you believe he would do nothing to bring the +murderer to justice?" + +"I think not. I think he would value his wife's name more than his +revenge. If Sir John knew that his wife was meeting Williams that night, +he might presently lose his temper and cause a scandal." + +"And he will know later, if your theory is right?" I said. + +"Perhaps not," said Quarles. "Let us get back to the contents of this +envelope. The driver would have us believe that the first taxi came +direct from Richmond to Hyde Park Corner. We have strong reasons for +believing it did not. Therefore, either he went out of his way, by Lady +Tavener's orders, to call for some one, or some one got into the taxi +without his knowledge. I sat on the driver's seat, Wigan, and I admit +that, if fully occupied with driving, as he would be on a foggy night, +entrance might have been made without his knowledge, but on one +condition. The door must have been easy to open. The door of that taxi +isn't easy. I tried it. It is exceedingly stiff, difficult to open, and +impossible to close without a very considerable noise. Therefore Wood +knows that some one entered, and we know that that some one must have +walked on a road covered with brick dust and coal dust." + +"Who is it?" I asked. + +"Wood himself. He turned into the road we turned into. If Lady Tavener +noticed that he had done so, she would not think anything of it. She +would imagine the road was up and a detour necessary. As a matter of +fact, she would not have time to think much, and I do not think she was +alarmed, not even when Wood opened the door. As he did so I imagine he +said something of this sort: 'I think it only right to warn your Ladyship +that Sir John is suspicious.' He had to give some excuse for stopping the +taxi and going to his fare. Whether he knew that Sir John was suspicious +or not is immaterial. He had constantly driven Lady Tavener, and was +probably aware that some of her friends were not her husband's. At any +rate, some remark of this kind would allay her suspicions, and then--" + +"He murdered her?" asked Zena sharply. + +"Well, I fancy this is where we come to the question of suicide," said +Quarles. "He intended to murder her, had his fingers on her throat, in +fact, but the sudden excitement saved him. I think she actually died of +shock, as the doctors declare. I think he was able to say something to +her which caused that shock." + +"I can hardly believe--" + +"Wait, Wigan," the professor said, interrupting me. "You will agree +that, from the first, Wood's evidence would naturally accuse Sir John. +When you saw him and pressed him with the two questions I suggested he +still sought to leave the impression upon you that Sir John was guilty; +but since your questions showed there was a doubt in your mind, he +admitted, to safeguard himself, the possibility of some one having +entered the taxi surreptitiously. One other point which counts, I think. +One of the lamps of the taxi, and only one of them, had recently been +removed from its socket. I imagine he took it to make quite sure that +Lady Tavener was dead." + +"But he had often driven Lady Tavener. Why had he waited so long?" +said Zena. + +"And what reason had he for the murder?" I asked. + +"It was probably the first time he had driven them together, when Sir +John had left his wife during the journey, and he wanted to implicate Sir +John. In short, this was his first opportunity for the double revenge he +was waiting for. I have shown, at least I think I have, that the taxi was +not often used. We shall find it is his own taxi, I think, bought +outright or being purchased on the hire system. I should say he rarely +hired himself out except to Sir John and Lady Tavener. He was not an +ordinary driver, but a very clever schemer, and, like a clever schemer, I +think one little point has given him away altogether. Curtis, from whom +Lady Tavener was divorced, died shortly afterwards, you may remember, of +a broken heart, his friends said, which means that he grieved abnormally +at the breaking up of his happiness. It is natural that his friends and +relations should hate the Taveners, and one of them conceived the idea of +revenge. It is curious that several of the Curtises are called Baldwood +Curtis. Baldwood is a family name. It was easy to assume the name of +Wood. It would be likely to jump into the mind if one of them wanted to +assume a name." + +"What a horrible plot," said Zena, with a shudder. + +"Horrible and clever," said Quarles. + +"I wonder if you are right, dear." + +"I have no doubt, but Wigan will be able to tell us presently." + +He was right, I think, practically in every particular. I am not sure +what would have happened to Wood. Technically he had not actually killed +Lady Tavener, but he solved the difficulty of his punishment himself. +Expecting the worst, I suppose, he managed to hang himself in his cell. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE AFFAIR OF THE JEWELED CHALICE + + +The yellow taxi must still have been a topic of conversation with the +public when Quarles and I became involved in two cases which tried us +both considerably, and in which we ran great risk. + +The reading of detective tales imagined by comfortable authors who show +colossal ignorance regarding my profession, has often amused, me. Pistols +usually begin the string of impossibilities and a convenient pair of +handcuffs is at the end. These are the tales of fiction, not of real life +as a rule, yet in the two cases I speak of the reality was certainly as +strange as fiction and very nearly as dangerous. + +There had been a series of hotel robberies in London, so cleverly +conceived and carried out that Scotland Yard was altogether at fault. I +had had nothing to do with this investigation, being engaged on other +cases, but one Friday morning my chief told me I must lend my colleagues +a hand. Within an hour of our interview I was making myself conversant +with what had been done, and on Friday afternoon and during the whole of +Saturday I was busy with the affair. + +On Monday morning, however, I was called to the chief's room and told to +devote myself to the recovery of a jeweled chalice which had been stolen +from St. Ethelburga's Church, Bloomsbury, on the previous day. Since the +vicar, the Rev. John Harding, was an intimate friend of the chief's, +there was a sort of compliment in my being taken from important work to +attend to this case, but I admit I did not start on this new job with any +great enthusiasm, and was rather annoyed at being switched off the +hotels, as it were, and put on to the church. + +I went with the vicar to Bloomsbury in a taxi, and gathered information +on the way. The chalice had been given to the church about eighteen +months ago by an old lady, a Miss Morrison, who had since died. She had +possessed some remarkable jewelry, diamonds and pearls, and these had +been set in the chalice which she had presented to St. Ethelburga's, +where she had attended regularly for six or seven years. The chalice was +insured for £5,000, but this was undoubtedly below its actual value. It +was not used constantly, only on the great festivals, and on certain +Saints' days specified by Miss Morrison when she made the gift. The +previous day happened to be one of these Saints' days, and the chalice +had been used at the early celebration. The vicar had put it back into +its case and locked it in the safe himself. The key of the safe had not +been out of his possession since, yet this morning the safe was found +open and the chalice gone. + +"You have no suspicion?" I asked. + +"None," he answered, but not until after a momentary pause. + +"You do not answer very decidedly, Mr. Harding." + +"I do, yes, I do really. In a catastrophe of this kind all kinds of ideas +come into the mind, very absurd ones some of them," and he laughed a +little uneasily. + +"It would be wise to tell me even the absurd ones," I said. + +"Very well, but perhaps you had better examine the vestry and the safe +first," he said as the taxi stopped. + +I found the vestry in charge of a constable, and as we entered a +clergyman joined us. The vicar introduced me to the Rev. Cyril Hayes, his +curate. The vestry and the safe were just as they had been found that +morning; nothing had been moved. Yesterday had been wet, and the flooring +of wooden blocks in the choir vestry bore witness to the fact that +neither men nor boys had wiped their feet too thoroughly. Even in the +clergy vestry, which was carpeted, there were boot marks, so it seemed +probable that the weather had rendered abortive any clue there might have +been in this direction. There were two safes in the clergy vestry, a +large one standing out in the room and a small one built into the wall. +It was in the latter that the chalice had been kept, and the door was +open. Apparently two or three blows had been struck at the wall with a +chisel, or some sharp instrument, and there were several scratches on the +edge of the door and around the keyhole; but it was quite evident to me +that the safe had been opened with a key. I asked the vicar for his key, +but it would not turn in the lock. + +"Was anything besides the chalice stolen?" I asked. + +"No," the vicar returned. "As you see, there is another chalice and two +patens in the safe, one paten of gold, but it was not taken, not even +touched, I fancy. It was the chalice and the chalice only that the +thieves came for." + +"It seems foolish to keep such a valuable chalice in the vestry," I said. + +"It is kept in the bank as a rule," the vicar answered. "I got it from +the bank on Saturday and it would have gone back this morning. Of course +it was not possible to keep such a gift a secret. The church papers had +paragraphs about it, which some of the daily papers copied." + +"Every gang in London knew of its existence then," I said. + +"True," said the curate, "and you might go further than that and remember +that much of our work here lies in some very poor and some very +disreputable neighborhoods." + +"It does," said the vicar. "Amongst our parishioners we must have many +thieves, I am afraid." + +"There are thieves and thieves," said Mr. Hayes, "and I fancy there are +many who would not meddle with the sacred vessels of a church. +Superstition perhaps, but a powerful deterrent." + +The vicar shook his head, evidently not agreeing with this opinion. + +"Probably I have had more to do with thieves than you have, vicar," he +said with a smile, and turning to me he went on: "I am very interested in +a hooligans' club we have. They are a rough lot I can assure you. Many of +them have seen the inside of a jail, some of them will again possibly; +but there's a leaven of good stuff in them. Saints have been reared from +such poor material before now." + +"When do you meet?" I asked. + +"Mondays and Thursdays." + +"To-night. I'll look in to-night." + +"But--" + +"I may find the solution to the theft at your club," I said. The +suggestion seemed to annoy him. + +That the safe had been opened with a key and not broken open indicated +that some one connected with the church was directly or indirectly +responsible for the theft, and this idea was strengthened by the fact +that it was impossible to tell how the robbers had entered the church. +The verger had come in as usual that morning by the north door which he +had found locked, and it was subsequently ascertained that all the other +doors were locked. Some of you may know the church and remember that it +is rather dark, its windows few and high up; indeed, only by one of the +baptistry windows could an entry possibly have been effected, and I could +find nothing to suggest that this method had been used. A few keen +questions did not cause the verger to contradict himself in the slightest +particular, and his fifteen years' service seemed to exonerate him. + +"Is it possible that you left the door unlocked last night by mistake?" +I queried. + +"I should have found it open this morning," he said, as if he were +surprised at my overlooking this point. + +I had not overlooked it. I was wondering whether he had found it open and +was concealing the fact, fearing dismissal for his carelessness. + +A little later I had a private talk with the vicar. + +"I think you had better tell me your suspicions," I said. + +"There is nothing which amounts to a suspicion," he answered reluctantly. +"It does not take a skilled detective, Mr. Wigan, to see that some one +connected with the church must have had a hand in the affair. It is not +the work of ordinary thieves. Therefore, as I said, absurd ideas will +come. It happens that my curate, Mr. Hayes, is much in debt, and has had +recourse to money lenders. He has said nothing to me about it; indeed, it +was only last week that I became aware of the fact, and I decided not to +speak to him until after Sunday. I was going to talk to him this morning. +It was a painful duty, and naturally--" + +"Naturally you cannot help thinking about it in connection with +the chalice." + +The vicar nodded as though words seemed to him too definite in such a +delicate matter. That the two things had become connected in his mind +evidently distressed him, and he was soon talking in the kindest manner +about his curate, anxious to impress me with the excellent work Mr. Hayes +was doing in the parish. + +"The hooligans' club, for instance?" I said. + +"That amongst other things," he answered. + +"Miss Morrison was one of your rich parishioners, I presume." + +"She was not a parishioner at all," said Mr. Harding. "She lived at +Walham Green. She came to St. Ethelburga's because she liked our +services, drove here in a hired fly every Sunday morning. I visited her, +at her request, when she was ill some three years ago, but I really knew +little of her. To be quite truthful I thought her somewhat eccentric, and +never supposed she was wealthy. The presentation of the chalice came as a +great surprise." + +"Have you a photograph of the chalice?" + +"No; but Miss Morrison's niece might have. I know Miss Morrison had one +taken, a copy of it appeared in the church papers. The niece, Miss +Belford, continues to live at Walham Green--No. 3 Cedars Road." + +"Does she attend the church?" I asked, as I made a note of the address. + +"Oh, yes. She used to come with her aunt, and since Miss Morrison's +death she has taken up some parish work. I know her much better than I +did her aunt." + +"Of course she has not yet heard of the theft?" + +"No, I have not talked about it to any one. I thought silence was the +best policy." + +I quite agreed with him and suggested he should keep the theft a secret +for the next few hours. + +With Mr. Hayes and his hooligans' club at the back of my mind, I made one +or two enquiries in the neighborhood, and then started for Walham Green. +On my way to the Underground I met Percival, one of the men engaged upon +the hotel robberies, and stood talking to him for a few minutes. He was +rather keen on a clue he had got hold of, but I was now sufficiently +interested in the stolen chalice not to be envious. + +No. 3 Cedars Road was quite a small house--forty pounds a year perhaps, +and Miss Belford was a more attractive person than I expected to find. I +don't know why, but I had expected to see a typical old maid; instead of +which I was met by a young woman who had considerable claims to beauty. +She opened the door herself, her maid being out, and was astonished when +I said the Vicar of St. Ethelburga's had sent me. + +She asked me in to a small but tastefully appointed dining-room, and when +I told her my news, seemed more concerned on her aunt's account than at +the loss of the chalice. + +"Poor auntie!" she exclaimed. "Whilst she had the jewels she was always +afraid some one would steal them, and now--now some one has." + +"Mr. Harding thought you would have a photograph of the chalice," I said. + +"I am sorry, I haven't. There were two or three, but I don't know +what auntie did with them. She was a dear, but had funny little +secretive ways." + +"Mr. Harding led me to suppose she was eccentric," I said. "It is often +the way with wealthy old ladies." + +"Wealthy!" she laughed. "She left me all she had, and I shall not be able +to afford to go on living here." + +"How came she to give the jewels to the church then?" + +"I hardly know, and I will confess that I was a little disappointed when +she did so. Does that sound very ungrateful in view of the fact that she +left me everything else!" + +"No. It is natural under the circumstances." + +"She was very fond of me, but as I have said, she was secretive and she +certainly did not give me her entire confidence. I fancy the jewels were +connected with some romance in her past life, and for that reason she did +not wish any one else to possess them." + +"You can't give me any idea of the nature of this romance, Miss Belford?" + +"No." + +"It might possibly help me." + +"There is one thing I could do," she said. "My aunt had a very old +friend living in Yorkshire. She would be likely to know, and under the +circumstances might tell. If you think it would be any use I will +write to her." + +"I wish you would." + +"If a romance in my aunt's life had something to do with the robbery, it +seems strange that the jewels have been safe so long. They were always +kept in the house. I should have thought it would have been easier to +steal them from here than from the church." + +"I do not think we can be sure of that," I said. + +"Besides, the jewels have been quite safe at St. Ethelburga's for +eighteen months," she added. + +"That is a point I admit. I understand that you work in Mr. Harding's +parish, so you know Mr. Hayes, of course." + +"I have not been brought much in contact with him. I have sung once or +twice at his hooligan club entertainments. He has made a great success +of the club." + +"Regenerating ruffians and drafting them into church work, eh?" + +"I believe he has had great influence with them." + +"I am going to visit that club to-night." + +"You will find he is doing a great work. You will--surely you are not +thinking--" + +"That reformation may be only skin deep? I am, Miss Belford. The daily +environment of these fellows makes it easy for them to slip back into +their old ways." + +From Walham Green I went to Chelsea. I wanted to see Zena Quarles, and +there was nothing more to be done in the chalice case until I had visited +the hooligan club. Not for a moment would I appear to sneer at the +regenerating work which may be accomplished by such institutions, but +experience has taught me that it is often the cakes and ale, so to speak, +which attract, while character remains unchanged, or at the best very +thinly veneered. There are always exceptions, of course. It is difficult +for the uninitiated to realize that men go in for crime as a means of +livelihood, and are trained to become expert even as others are trained +to succeed in respectable professions. Many grades go to make up a +successful gang, and I had great hope of recognizing some youngster's +face at the club which would give me a clue to the gang which had worked +this robbery. + +"You're the very man I was thinking about," said Quarles when I was shown +into the dining-room. "You have come to tell me that you are on these +hotel robberies. Sit down, Wigan. How goes the inquiry?" + +"You are wrong, professor. I was on the job for a day and a half, but +I'm off it again. I am investigating the theft of a jeweled chalice." + +"Left in a cheap safe in an insecure vestry, I suppose," he said +in a tone of disgust. "Serves them right. Such things should be +kept in a bank." + +I explained that it was only kept in the vestry safe until it could be +returned to the bank, but the fact did not seem to impress him. + +He made no suggestion that we should adjourn to that empty room, where we +had discussed so many cases. I told him the story, although I was not +seeking his help, and he was not interested enough to ask a single +question when I had finished. He only wanted to discuss the hotel +robberies. + +"I am going to that club this evening," I went on. + +"The fact doesn't interest me," he returned snappishly. + +"Fortunately I didn't come for your help; I wanted to see Zena." + +"She's out and won't be home until late." + +"And your temper's gone out, too, eh, Professor?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"That you are simply lusting to be on the warpath," I laughed. "It might +do you good to come and see the hooligans with me to-night. Besides, if +we could settle the chalice case promptly we might be investigating the +hotel robberies before the end of the week." + +This suggestion clinched the matter. He came, believing possibly that I +congratulated myself upon having drawn him into the affair, which was not +a fact. I was glad of his company, but I did not want his help. + +Knowing something of such places, this hooligans' club astonished me. The +raw material was rough enough, but Mr. Hayes had worked wonders with it. +His personality had made no particular impression on me that morning, but +his achievement proved him a man of force and character. Quarles was +evidently interested in him and his work. If what the vicar had told me +about his curate had left even a faint speculation regarding his +integrity in my mind, it was dissipated. + +Visitors to the club were not an infrequent occurrence, Mr. Hayes told +us. He was rather proud that the institution had served as a type on +which to form others. + +"There mustn't be too much religion," he said. "The flotsam and jetsam of +life have to learn to be men and women first. Some of them are learning +to be men here." + +While I listened to him I had been eagerly scanning the faces before me. +There was not one I recognized. I wandered about the room, feigning +interest in the game of bagatelle which was going forward with somewhat +noisy excitement, and stood by chess and draught players for a few +moments to study their faces closely. I looked keenly at each new +arrival, but my clue was yet to seek. + +Suddenly a young fellow entered, rather smarter than most of them, and I +recognized him at once. Possibly the hooligans' club had been his +salvation, but he had been bred amongst thieves, thieves I knew and had +handled at times. + +"I began to think you weren't coming to-night, Squires." + +"Just looked in to say I can't come, sir," was the answer. "Got a chance +of a place, sir, and going to look after it." + +"That's right. Good luck to you. You can refer to me, you know." + +"Thank you, sir." + +With a careless word to two or three of the youths as he passed down the +room, Squires sauntered out. + +"That's our man," I whispered to Quarles, and without waiting to take +leave of Mr. Hayes, I hastened to the door. Squires was going slowly down +the street, no evidence of alarm about him, no desire apparently to lose +himself in the crowd. He had not got very far when Quarles joined me, +keen now there was a trail to follow. + +"I know the gang he used to be friendly with," I said as we began to +follow, "although I've got nothing definite against this youngster. It +was this gang, I believe, that worked the series of frauds on jewelers +three years ago, although we never brought it home to them. Just the men +to deal with a jeweled chalice, eh, professor? I expect young Squires +recognized me and guesses I am after it." + +Our object was to track young Squires to his destination. Since he was +connected with St. Ethelburga's through the hooligan club, it was quite +likely he had had a direct hand in the robbery, but it was certain others +were the prime movers, and I guessed he was on the way to warn them that +I was on the trail. + +At the corner of a street he stopped to speak to a man and a woman, and +we were obliged to interest ourselves in a convenient shop door. He stood +at the corner talking for at least ten minutes. Quarles thought he was +having words with the woman, but it could not have been much of a quarrel +for none of the passersby took any particular notice of them. Presently +the man and woman crossed the street arm in arm, and Squires sauntered +round the corner. We were quickly at the corner, afraid of losing sight +of him. He was still in sight, still walking slowly. Once he turned to +light a cigarette, and after that he increased his pace a little. + +"It's evident he lied when he said he was going to look for a job," +I remarked. + +"But it's not so evident that one of us ought not to have followed the +man and woman," said Quarles. "They may have gone to do the warning." + +"I think not," I answered. "If you have noted our direction you will find +we have traveled a pretty circuitous route. He'll wait until he thinks he +is safe from pursuit, and then take a bee line for his destination." + +As if he would prove my words Squires mended his pace, swinging down one +street and up another as if he had suddenly become definite. At corners +he gained on us, I think he must have run the moment he was out of sight, +and in one short street we were only just in time to see him disappear +round a corner. + +"I'm going to give this up soon, Wigan," said Quarles as we hurried in +pursuit. "I don't care how many jewels the chalice had in it." + +We were round the corner. Squires had disappeared, but we could hear +running feet in the distance. + +"That settles it," said Quarles, coming to halt a dozen yards from the +corner. "Go on if you like, Wigan, but--" + +I heard no more. Something struck me, enveloped me, and there was an end. +I am not very sure when a new beginning happened. Perhaps it is only an +after consideration which makes me remember a whirring sound in my ears, +and a certain swinging motion, and a murmur which was soothing. I am +quite sure of the pain which subsequently came to me. My head was big +with it, my limbs twisted with it. I was conscious of nothing else for a +period to which I cannot place limits. Then there was fire in my throat. + +I was sitting in the angle of a wall, on the floor; at a little distance +from me was a light which presently resolved itself into a candle stuck +in the neck of a bottle. There were moving shadows--I saw them, I think, +before I was conscious of the man and woman who made them. The man had +just poured brandy down my throat, the girl, with her arms akimbo, +watched him. + +"He'll do now," said the man. + +"Can't see why we take such trouble to keep death away," was the +woman's answer. + +"Are you in love with the hangman?" + +The girl laughed, caught up the bottle, making the shadows dance like a +delirium, then I slipped back into darkness again. + +All kinds of things came into my mind after that, disordered dreams, and +then I heard my name. + +"Wigan! Wigan!" + +I was still sitting in an angle of a wall, trussed like a fowl, but I +was awake. + +"Is that you, Professor?" + +"No more hooligan clubs, Wigan." + +"What happened?" + +"I remember turning a corner," Quarles answered, "and I woke up here. We +were sandbagged, or something of the kind, and serves us right. If we +wanted to follow any one we ought to have followed the man and woman. Can +you drag yourself over to this corner? We can talk quietly then." + +It was rather a painful and lengthy operation, but I fancy the effort did +me good. My brain was clearer, I began to grip things again. + +"Where are we?" I said. + +"Locked in a cellar, but where I do not know. We're lucky to be no worse +off, and probably I'm especially lucky in not having been sandbagged by +the man who dealt with you. He would probably have closed my account, for +he must have hit you a tremendous blow. I had come to myself before the +man and woman brought you brandy. I just moved to show I wasn't dead and +watched them." + +"You'll know them again." + +"They both wore masks. About this chalice, Wigan." + +"No doubt we've hurried it into the melting pot," I returned. + +"I've been half asleep since our friend left us, but I've done some +thinking, too. Reminded of my empty room by this cellar, I expect. There +are one or two curious points about this chalice." + +"Are they worth considering--now?" + +"I think so. It will serve to pass the time. I didn't take any interest +in your story at the time, but I think I remember the facts. You must +correct me if I go wrong. First, then, we may take it as certain that the +church was not broken into in an ordinary way. We assume, therefore, that +some one connected with the church had a hand in the robbery. You +satisfied yourself that an entry was not effected by the only possible +window, we therefore ask who had keys of the church. The answer would +appear to be the vicar, the verger, and possibly, even probably, Mr. +Hayes. Had keys been in the possession of any other person for any +purpose, either temporarily or otherwise, the vicar--I am assuming his +integrity--would have mentioned it. Now the vicar does not suggest that +he has any suspicion against the verger, nor do you appear to have +entertained any, but Mr. Harding does suggest a suspicion of his curate +by mentioning his debts and his dealings with money lenders." + +"It was under pressure. I am convinced he has no real suspicion." + +"At any rate his story influenced you. You made some inquiries +concerning Mr. Hayes. That is an important point. Had you not heard at +the same time of this hooligan club, you would probably have made further +inquiries about the curate. I think you missed something." + +"Oh, nonsense. You've seen the man and must appreciate--" + +"His worth," said Quarles. "I do, but he leads to speculation. Let us +consider the safe for a moment. There were marks from a blow of the +chisel on the wall, scratches on the safe door, and by the keyhole, but +you are satisfied that the safe was opened with a key, yet the vicar's +key will not turn the lock. Why should an expert thief trouble to make +these marks or to suggest that the safe had been broken open, even to +the extent of jamming the lock in some way? The only possible +explanation would be that the expert wished to leave the impression than +an amateur had been at work. I can see no reason why he should wish to +do so, and at any rate he failed. You were not deceived; you looked for +the expert at once." + +"And the hunter has been trapped. We were hotter on the trail than I +imagined." + +"It is a warning to me to keep out of cases in which I feel no interest," +said Quarles. "Still, circumstances have aroused my interest now. There +is no doubt, Wigan, that there was every reason to look for an amateur in +this business, and in spite of the hooligan club, you seem to have been +half conscious of this fact. You would have been glad to know what the +romance connected with the jewels was. Not idle curiosity, I take it, but +a grasping for a clue in that direction. Miss Belford cannot help you +beyond writing to her aunt's old friend in Yorkshire, yet had it not been +for the hooligans' club, I fancy you would have followed this trail more +keenly. According to Miss Belford, apart from the jewels, her aunt had +not left sufficient to enable the niece to go on living in Cedars Road, +yet while Miss Morrison was alive it was sufficient, apparently. Of +course the niece may have more expensive tastes, but under the +circumstances it was rather a curious statement. She believes that a past +romance was the reason why the jewels were left to the church, and she +admits that she was disappointed they were not left to her. It seems +possible, doesn't it, that at one time she hoped to have them after her +aunt's death? That would mean there was no valid reason why she +shouldn't, and I think you might reasonably have speculated that she knew +more of the romance than she admitted." + +"You wouldn't have thought so if you had talked with her." + +"Possibly not," returned Quarles. "I started handicapped in this case, I +was not interested in it; Zena was not at hand to ask one of her absurd +questions, which have so often put me on the right road. The road we have +traveled has landed us here, and I have been thinking of another road we +might have traveled. We will forget the hooligans' club. We start with +the assumption that the robbery was the work of an amateur, we have ample +reasons for thinking so. We do not suspect the vicar, we are inclined to +exonerate the verger, and we finally decide that Mr. Hayes is innocent. +We are met with a difficulty at once. How was the church entered? We may +assume that some person in the Sunday evening congregation remained +hidden in the church, committed the burglary, opening the safe with a +duplicate key, marking the wall and the door, and giving a wrench to the +lock to suggest ordinary thieves. Had it not been for the hooligan club, +these efforts to mislead would not have been very successful, I fancy. +They show that the amateur had small knowledge of the ways of experts. +The thief, having secured the chalice, is still locked in the church. How +to escape? It is a case of an all night vigil. When the verger arrives on +Monday morning and passes through the church towards the vestry, the +thief slips out. Now it is obvious that to make this possible the thief +must have known a great deal about the church and its working, must have +come in contact with the vicar constantly, or it would have been +impossible to get an impression of the safe key. We therefore look +amongst the church workers for the thief." + +"Your deductions would be more interesting were we not lying trussed in +this cellar," I said. "I am trying to wriggle some of these knots loose." + +"That's right," said Quarles, "When you are free you can undo me. My dear +Wigan, it is the fact that we are in this cellar which makes these +deductions so interesting. The chalice was stolen for the sake of the +jewels, that is evident, or the thief would have taken the gold paten as +well; and the jewels have a romance attached to them. We don't know what +that romance is, but we have an eccentric old lady the possessor of the +jewels; we have reason to suppose that she was not otherwise rich, and we +have a niece apparently ignorant of her aunt's past. She admits +disappointment that the jewels were left to the church; she complains +that her own circumstances are straitened. In spite of the fact that she +lives in Walham Green, she becomes, after her aunt's death, a worker in +St. Ethelburga's parish in Bloomsbury. We have in Miss Belford one who +knows the general working of the church, one who has been brought in +contact with the vicar--Mr. Harding said he knew her very well, +remember; and moreover she is closely connected with the jewels. It is +possible, even, that she knows the romance behind the jewels and feels +that they are hers by right and ought never to have been given to the +church. This would account entirely for such a woman turning thief." + +"The fact remains we are in this cellar," I said. + +"It is a very interesting fact," said Quarles. "Of course I cannot be +sure that the man and woman who were in this cellar were the same young +Squires met, but I believe they were. The woman stood with her arms +akimbo in each case, the position was identical. They learnt from young +Squires that we were following and went off to warn some of their fellows +who waited for us, Squires leading us into the trap by arrangement. The +gang has beaten us, Wigan." + +"And the chalice is in the melting pot," I remarked. + +"I don't believe the gang knows anything about the chalice," said the +professor quietly. + +"Not know! Why--" + +"Wigan, you stopped to speak to a colleague engaged on the hotel +robberies this morning. You were seen, I believe. It was immediately +assumed that you were on that job, and when Squires saw you to-night at +the club he thought you were after the hotel robbers. Without being aware +of it we were probably hot on their track." + +"It is impossible," I said. + +"Why should it be?" Quarles asked. "Once get a fixed idea in the mind, +and it is exceedingly difficult to give opposing theories their due +weight. The hooligan club got into your mind. There were many reasons why +it should, especially with Mr. Hayes as the connecting link; you could +not believe him guilty so you fell back upon the club. One other point, a +very important one. The chalice was only used on great festivals and +certain Saints' days. There are several reasons why the robbery would be +difficult on a great festival. The church would not be in its normal +condition, owing to decorations or increased services, perhaps; besides, +the thief--a church worker we assume--might be missed from some function +connected with the church which would cause suspicion. On the other hand, +many Saints' days occur in the week when there is no late evening +service, perhaps, and if there is, only a small congregation. It would be +remembered who was present. The chalice was stolen on a Saints' day which +happened to fall on a Sunday, and must therefore remain in the church all +night. How many people do you suppose know which Saints' days were +specified by Miss Morrison? Very few. I warrant you were not far from the +chalice when you were talking to Miss Belford. How are you getting on +with your knots, Wigan?" + +"I am not tied so tightly as I might be." + +"Good. With luck you may yet be in time to prevent Miss Belford +getting away." + +"I don't believe she has anything to do with the chalice," I answered. + +"All the same, I should take another journey to Walham Green," said +Quarles. "When one is dealing with a woman it is well to remember that +she is more direct than a man, is inclined to use simpler methods, and is +often more thorough. Witness the man and woman in this cellar. The man +gave you brandy to revive you: the woman didn't see any reason why you +shouldn't die. She interested me. A woman like that is a source of +strength to a gang. I fancy there is a glimmer of daylight through a +grating yonder." + +I got free from my bonds after a time, and I undid Quarles. The cellar +door was a flimsy affair, my shoulder against the lock burst it open at +once. No one rushed to prevent our escape. The house was as silent as +the grave. + +"Our captors have decamped," said Quarles. "We must have been hot upon +the trail last night, Wigan." + +The house was empty apparently, but we did not search it thoroughly then. +Escape was our first thought. I could give instructions to the first +constable we met to keep a watch on the house. We left by an area and +found ourselves at the end of a blind road in Hampstead. The house was +detached, and fifty yards or more from its nearest neighbor. + +"Reserved for future investigation," Quarles remarked. "Our first +business is the jeweled chalice." + +Only a dim light had found its way through the cellar grating, but the +day had begun. There was the rumble of an early milk cart. In spite of +aching head and stiff limbs, only one idea possessed us; and the first +taxi we found took us to Walham Green. + +Miss Belford had gone. She must have left the house yesterday within half +an hour of my leaving it. Inquiry subsequently proved that her servant +had left on the Saturday, and that during the last week Miss Belford had +disposed of her furniture just as it stood. + +Quarles was right, although we had no actual proof until some months +later, when we had almost forgotten the jeweled chalice. + +Miss Belford wrote to Mr. Harding. The jewels were left to Miss Morrison, +she said, by an old lover. Why they had not married she could not say, +but from old letters it appeared there had been a quarrel, and the man +had married elsewhere. Miss Belford was the daughter of that marriage. +She was not really Miss Morrison's niece, although she had always called +her aunt. The jewels were left to Miss Morrison absolutely, to sell or do +as she liked with, but Miss Belford declared that, in a letter which was +with the jewels when Miss Morrison received them after Mr. Belford's +death, and which she afterwards found amongst her papers, her father +evidently expected that his daughter would ultimately benefit. The letter +went on to explain how the theft had been accomplished, and the letter +concluded: + +"Had I known my aunt contemplated giving the jewels to the church, I +should have taken them before, because I had always expected them to come +to me. They were presented before I knew anything about it. I could do +nothing, I was dependent upon her. When I found my father's letter I knew +I had been robbed--that is the word, Mr. Harding, robbed. In taking the +chalice I have only taken what belongs to me. On reflection you will +probably consider that I was quite justified." + +I can affirm that the vicar of St. Ethelburga's did not think so, and +since Miss Belford's letter, which came from America, did not give any +address I imagine she was not sure what attitude Mr. Harding would take +up. What became of the gems, or how they were disposed of, I do not know; +I only know that there is no jeweled chalice at St. Ethelburga's now, and +I fancy the vicar thinks that, as a detective, I was a ghastly failure. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ADVENTURE OF THE FORTY-TON YAWL + + +Brilliant sunshine and a sufficient breeze, a well-appointed forty-ton +yawl, nothing to do but lie basking on the warm deck, conscious of a very +pretty woman at the helm--well, you may go a long way before you find +anything to beat it for pure enjoyment. + +How I came to be spending my time under such enviable circumstances +requires some explanation, especially when I state that the exceedingly +pretty woman was not Zena Quarles. + +It will be remembered that to attend to the jeweled chalice case, which +proved to be an affair of a day and a night only, I had been taken off a +job concerning a series of hotel robberies, and I was particularly glad +to be put back upon this case, because Quarles was so intensely +interested in it. Although the chalice case was not actually cleared up +satisfactorily for some months, it was practically certain that the +attack made upon us had nothing to do with the theft of the chalice. + +The professor was convinced that, unconsciously, we had been hot upon the +trail of the hotel robberies, that the trails of the two cases had, in +fact, crossed each other. It seemed to me that he had jumped to this +conclusion upon insufficient evidence, but I determined to make a +thorough investigation of the house at Hampstead at once. + +The house was in charge of a caretaker named Mason, who lived there in +one sparsely furnished room, but on the night of our capture he had +absented himself without leave. This looked suspicious, but the man was +able to prove that he had told the truth as to his whereabouts, and +further inquiry elicited nothing against him. Quarles also declared +emphatically that Mason was not the masked man he had seen in the cellar. + +I next managed to get an interview with the owner of the house, a Mr. +Wibley. He had lived in it himself for a time, but it had now been empty +for about two years. It was a good house, but old-fashioned. People did +not like basements, and as the house was in a neighborhood which was +deteriorating he had not felt inclined to spend money upon it. He knew +nothing about the caretaker who had been put there by the house agent, +but he was very keen to give me any help in his power, for he had himself +been a victim of one of the hotel robberies. Business occasionally +brought him to town from his house in Hampshire, and while staying in an +hotel a big haul had been made, and a necklace which he had bought for +his daughter only that day was amongst the property stolen. + +All these robberies, which had occurred over a period of six months, had +been carried out with a success which entirely baffled the authorities. + +Apparently rooms were rifled during the table d'hôte; at least, it was +always late in the evening that the robberies were discovered. In no case +had a guest or a servant left suddenly or suspiciously, and drastic +search had discovered nothing. There could be little doubt that a clever +gang was at work, but during this period not a single stolen article had +been traced. Scotland Yard had any number of men engaged upon the case; +known thieves were watched, and fences kept under observation; but as a +fact there had been no clue at all until Quarles and I had been kidnaped. + +Of course, there was no certainty that our capture had anything to do +with these robberies. Quarles based his conviction on the fact that I had +spoken to another detective, Percival, who was known to have the case in +hand. He believed that I had been seen, that it was concluded that the +case was in my hands, that in hunting for the chalice I had stumbled on +the other trail, was so hot upon it, in fact, that prompt action on the +thieves' part was absolutely necessary. + +It was obvious that our capture must be a clue to something; it was +natural, perhaps, to jump to the conclusion that it concerned these +robberies, but Quarles's arguments did not altogether convince me. I had +half a dozen men hunting for young Squires, who had almost certainly led +us into an ambush that night and who had disappeared completely. His old +haunts had not known him for a long time; his old companions had lost +sight of him. It was generally understood that he had cut his old ways +and had turned pious, an evident reference to the hooligan club. At one +time he had certainly been friendly with some of the members of a gang I +knew of, a gang quite likely to be responsible for these robberies, but +inquiries went to show that this gang had practically ceased to exist as +an organization. + +For nearly a week I was busy morning, noon, and night collecting evidence +and facts which were retailed to Quarles, and then I broke down. Nervous +energy had kept me going, I suppose, but the blow I had received was not +to be ignored. The doctor ordered rest, and I went to Folkestone. I +suppose I looked ill, and, perchance, a little interesting; at any rate, +I was the recipient of quite a lot of sympathy, and it was on the third +afternoon of my stay in the hotel that Mrs. Selborne spoke to me. She +had heard me telling some one that I was recovering from an accident. + +She had a yacht in the harbor. She had great faith in the recuperating +power of yachting. She would have her skipper up that evening, if I would +make use of the yacht next day. I hesitated to accept her kind offer. She +evidently meant me to go alone; said she had not intended to use the +yacht on the following day; but it was finally arranged that she should +take me for a sail. It was the first of several. On the first occasion +she also took a lady staying in the hotel, and on the second a lad who +was there with his parents, but as they were both bad sailors we went by +ourselves the third time. + +"It spoils the pleasure to see other people ill," said Mrs. Selborne. "I +think we might really go alone without unduly shocking people." + +So it happened that I was enjoying the breeze and the sunshine under +ideal circumstances and with as charming a companion as a man could +wish to have. + +I told Zena so in one of my letters; so convincingly, I regret to say, +that the dear girl did not like it. There was really no cause for +jealousy, but bring a man in close contact with a pretty and charming +woman, especially on a yacht, and he is almost certain to flirt with +her a little. + +It was very mild and harmless in my case, and indeed Mrs. Selborne, jolly +and somewhat unconventional as she was, would have resented any liberty. +We frankly enjoyed each other's society, and at the end of a few days +might have known each other for years. + +Certainly I owed her a debt of gratitude, for the yacht did me worlds of +good. I told her so that afternoon. + +"You certainly look better," she said. + +"You will send me back to work sooner than I expected." + +"When?" + +"At the end of the week." + +"And I expect my husband to-morrow." + +I don't suppose she meant it, but she said it as if she regretted +his coming. + +"Is he fond of yachting?" I asked. + +"It bores him to tears," she laughed. "Most of the things which I like +do. Still, he is very good to me. I am an old man's darling, you know." + +It was the first time she had mentioned her husband, and she had not +shown the slightest curiosity in my affairs. She was just a good pal for +the time being. That was how she had impressed me, but this afternoon she +was--how shall I put it?--she was rather more of a woman than usual. I +might easily imagine she had given me an opening for a serious +flirtation. Her manner might suggest that I had become more to her than +she had intended. I put the idea away from me, mentally kicking myself +for allowing it to get into my head at all. + +"We shall sail as usual to-morrow," she told her skipper when we landed. + +"Very good, ma'am." + +"Mr. Selborne arrives to-morrow night. Let some one go up for his +luggage. Half past ten." + +"Yes, ma'am." + +Mrs. Selborne and I walked back to the hotel and stood on the lawn +talking for a little while before going to dress for dinner. + +"To-morrow will be our last cruise, I am afraid," she said, looking +across the Leas. "I hope it will be fine." + +"I hope so." + +"It would really be a terrible disappointment to me if it were not. I +would go--Ah, now I am being tempted to talk foolishly." + +She turned from me a little defiantly. She was certainly very attractive, +and naturally fell into poses which showed her off to the best advantage. +A man, sitting on the lawn, paused in the act of taking a cigarette from +his case to look at her. His interest pleased me. I was human, and it +flattered my vanity to know that I counted with this woman. + +"What desperate thing were you going to say?" I asked. + +"You will laugh at me." + +"I am more likely to match you in desperation." + +"I was going to say I would go to-morrow, wet or fine, wind or sunshine, +rather than miss our last day." + +Could I do less than make a compact that it should be so? If I admit +there was no sign of a coming change in the weather it must not be +supposed that I am trying to make out that her beauty and personality did +not affect me. They did. + +"I could almost pray for bad weather just to see that you are a man of +your word," she laughed. "Is it a promise?" + +"It is." + +She went in to dress, and I smoked a cigarette before doing likewise. + +As I entered my room and closed the door, a man stepped from behind +the wardrobe. It was the man who had been interested in Mrs. Selborne +on the lawn. + +"Pardon. I wished to speak to you alone, and this seemed the only +method." + +"I'll hear what you have to say before I hand you over to the +management," I answered. + +"It is a delicate matter," he returned, with a simper, which made me +desire to kick him. "It concerns a lady. You are Mr. James Murray; at +least, that is the name you entered in the hotel books." + +"It is my name," I answered. + +"Part of it, I think, part of it. You are usually called Murray Wigan, I +believe, and you are engaged to Miss Quarles--Miss Zena Quarles, the +granddaughter of a rather stupid professor." + +"What has this to do with you?" + +"I said it was a delicate matter," he went on. "My client has reason to +believe that you are--shall I say enamored of a lady staying in this +hotel? You may have noticed me on the lawn just now when you were talking +to the lady--I judge it was the lady. Your taste, sir, appeals to me, but +I am bound to say--" + +"Are you a private detective?" + +"Just an inquiry agent; helpful in saving people trouble sometimes." + +"Do you mean to tell me that Miss Quarles--" + +"No, not exactly, but, my dear Wigan--" + +It was Quarles. He changed his voice, seemed to alter his figure, but of +course the make-up remained. He was a perfect genius in altering his +appearance. + +"Was that the lady?" he asked. "Zena mentioned you were yachting with a +Mrs. Selborne down here. I don't think she quite liked it. She was woman +enough to read between the lines of your letter." + +"Oh, nonsense!" I exclaimed. + +"Quite so; still the lady is decidedly attractive, and Murray Wigan is a +man. The man who holds himself barred from admiring one woman just +because he happens to be engaged to another is not a very conspicuous +biped. I am not reproaching you, I should probably do the same myself, +but Zena will take you to task no doubt, and you will explain and +promise not to do it any more, and--" + +"I haven't done anything which requires explanation," I said irritably. + +"Of course not, but that may not be Zena's view, and I daresay Mrs. +Selborne believes you are more than half in love with her. I happened to +overhear part of your conversation. She was putting your admiration to +the test, rather a severe test, by the way, since you are an invalid. +Probably she is smiling to herself in the glass as she dresses for +dinner, which reminds me you have none too much time to dress, and you +must not be late to-night." + +"Why not? I am feeling quite fit again. If there is anything to be done I +am quite capable of doing it." + +"Dress, Wigan, while I talk. Since you broke down at a crucial point I +have been helping Percival. I daresay he will get the kudos in this case, +but you mustn't grudge him that." + +"I don't." + +"We have progressed," Quarles went on. "I will give you my line of +argument and the result so far. We start with Squires. He led us into a +trap, but the gang with which he was formerly connected has practically +ceased to exist. His old companions have seen nothing of him; he is +supposed to have turned good, and I find he has been a member of that +hooligan club for over a year with an irreproachable record during that +time. Two conclusions seem to arise; either Squires is connected with +another gang, or some compulsion was put upon him to betray us. I incline +to the second idea, and if I am correct there must have been a strong +incentive to persuade Squires to do what he did. Perhaps he wished to +protect some one." + +"What did Percival say to that?" I asked as I put the links into my +shirt. + +"He jeered at it, of course, as you are inclined to do; indeed, it was +quite a long time before Percival awoke to the fact that I was not quite +a fool. Now the machinery of Scotland Yard seems to have proved that +these robberies are not the work of a known gang; we may therefore assume +that persons unknown to the police are at work. The methods adopted are +clever. The property is stolen, yet no one has disappeared from the +hotel, neither guest nor servant, and in no case has any of the property +been found in the possession of any one in the hotel. Shall we suppose +that it has been carefully lowered from a bedroom window to an accomplice +without? None of this property has been traced, which leads us to two +hypotheses; either it has been got out of the country and disposed of +abroad, or the thieves can afford to bide their time. When you consider +the worth of the jewels stolen, it seems remarkable that nothing should +have been traced in the known markets abroad, and I am inclined to think +the thieves can afford to wait. Having arrived at this point--" + +"Without a scrap of evidence," I put in. + +"Without any evidence," said Quarles imperturbably. "I began to suspect +that my arch villain, for of course there is a leading spirit, must be in +command of wealth; and, remembering the short period during which the +robberies have happened, I ventured a guess that, once a sufficient +fortune were acquired, he would disappear, that his great coup being +accomplished he would retire from business, and become a respectable +citizen of this or some other country--a gentleman who had acquired +wealth by speculation." + +"Once a man has known the excitement of crime he does not give it up," I +said. "That's the result of experience, Professor, not guesswork." + +"Quite so, but I had visualized an extraordinary personality. Where was I +to find such a man and the efficient confederates who were helping him in +his schemes? One or more of them must have been present at each robbery, +and would no doubt be amongst those who had lost property. Theory, of +course, but we now come to something practical--the house at Hampstead. +If my theory of crossed trails were correct, if you were thought to be +engaged on this investigation, then that house was in some way linked +with the robberies. I may mention incidentally the value of having such a +place of retreat; the spoil could be deposited there until it could +safely be removed to a better hiding place. + +"This, of course, would inculpate the caretaker Mason. He has been +carefully watched; he has done nothing to give himself away, the result +of careful training, I fancy. Through this house we get another link--the +owner, Mr. Wibley. He has been a sufferer in these robberies, losing a +necklace he had just purchased for his daughter. Certainly a man to know +under the circumstances. As you are aware, he lives in Hampshire, and I +had a sudden desire to see that part of the country. I didn't call upon +Mr. Wibley, although he was at home. + +"His daughter was away--it was quite true he has a daughter. I took +rather elaborate precautions not to encounter Mr. Wibley; he might be +curious about a stranger in the country, but he would have been +astonished to know how much I saw of him. No, there was nothing +suspicious about him, except that on two occasions a man met him on a +lonely road, evidently with important business to transact. On the day +after the second meeting Mr. Wibley departed and came to Hythe. No later +than this morning he was playing golf there with this same man he met in +Hampshire. The golf was poor, but they talked a lot." + +"Still, I do not see--" + +"One moment, Wigan. The other man is staying in your hotel." + +"You think--" + +"I think it was intended to rob this hotel, but I believe the idea +has been abandoned," said Quarles. "However, I have put the manager +on his guard." + +"And pointed out the man you suspect!" + +"Yes." + +"That was foolish. If the thief is as clever as you imagine, he will +probably notice the manager's interest in him. I should say you have +warned him most effectually." + +"I don't think so. You see, it was you I pointed out to the manager." + +I paused with one arm in my waistcoat to stare at him. + +"I have arranged that he shall not interfere with you," said Quarles. +"You will be able to go yachting to-morrow. I was obliged to fix matters +so that I could come and go as I chose, and it was safer to draw the +manager's attention to one man rather than allow him to suspect others, +amongst them the very man we want to hoodwink, perhaps. The fact is, +Wigan, I believe the gang know you are here, and think you are here on +business. Plans will have been made accordingly, and it is therefore +absolutely necessary that you should go on just as you have been doing. I +don't think the hotel will be robbed now, but I am not sure. Sunshine or +storm, go with Mrs. Selborne to-morrow. Exactly what is going to happen +I do not know, but at the end of your cruise to-morrow you may want all +your wits about you." + +"Are you staying in the hotel?" I asked. + +"No, at Hythe, and I spend some of my time on Romney Marsh. I am +interested in a lonely house there. You must go; there is the gong. I +must tell you about the house another time." + +"When shall I see you again?" + +"To-morrow night. Leave me here. I will sneak out after you have gone." + +It was natural my eyes should wander round the dining-room that night, +trying to discover by intuition which was the man who might engineer a +robbery at the hotel. + +Once the manager entered the room, and, knowing what I did, I could not +doubt he wanted to satisfy himself that I was there. It did not worry me +that Quarles had made use of me in this way; I was quite prepared to be +arrested if the robbery did take place, but I was annoyed that the +professor had told me so little. + +It was his way; I had had experience of it before, but it was treatment I +had never been able to get used to. + +After dinner Mrs. Selborne joined me in the lounge for a little while, +and talked about our sail next day, and then I was asked to make up a +bridge table. + +Remembering Zena's attitude, according to Quarles, I was rather glad to +get away from Mrs. Selborne. She played bridge, too, but not at my table. + +There was no burglary that night, and the following morning was as good +for yachting as one could desire. However, we could not start at our +usual time. The crew consisted of the skipper and two hands, and one of +the hands came up to say that it was necessary to replace some gear, +which would take until midday. Mrs. Selborne was very angry. + +"We shall have to kill time until twelve o 'clock," she said, turning to +me. "It is a pity, but we'll get our sail somehow if all the gear goes +wrong. It is very likely only an excuse to get a short day's work, but I +am not expert enough to challenge my skipper." + +When we got aboard soon after noon, however, she had a great deal to say +to the skipper; would have him point out exactly what had gone wrong, and +showed him quite plainly she did not believe there need have been so long +a delay; but she soon recovered her temper when she took the helm, and +her good spirits became infectious. + +I was on holiday, and was not inclined to bother my head with problems. +If for a moment I wondered what Quarles was doing, I quickly forgot all +about him. + +I repeat, when you have got a pretty woman on a yacht, and she is +inclined to be exceedingly gracious, nothing else matters much for the +time being. + +We had lunch, and Mrs. Selborne smoked a cigarette before we returned to +the deck. The skipper was at the tiller, but she did not relieve him. She +was in a lazy mood, and I arranged some cushions to make her comfortable. +We were standing well out from Dungeness. + +Mrs. Selborne seemed a little surprised at our position. + +"We must get back to dinner," she said to the skipper. + +"That'll be all right, ma'am," he answered. + +"We must pay some attention to the conventions," she laughed, speaking to +me in an undertone. "We couldn't plead foul weather as an excuse for +being late, could we?" + +"We started late, and it is our last sail," I said. + +The skipper did not alter his course, and Mrs. Selborne lapsed +into silence. + +The comfort and laziness made her drowsy, I expect. I know they did me. I +caught myself nodding more and more. + +Suddenly there was a jerk, effectually rousing me from my nodding +condition. I thought we had struck something. The next instant I rolled +on my back. A rope was round my arms and legs. The skipper was still at +the helm, and he smiled as one of the hands tied me up. The other hand +was doing the same to Mrs. Selborne. + +There was fear in her face; she tried to speak, but could not. + +"What the devil is--" + +"A shut mouth, mister, is your best plan," said the skipper. "Get her +down below, Jim. Chuck her on one of the bunks; she'll be out of the +way there." + +"Help me! Save me!" she said as they lifted her up and carried her down. + +"Now see here," said the skipper, slipping a hand into his pocket and +showing me a revolver, "if you feel inclined to do any shouting, you +suppress it, or this is going to drill a hole in your head. It's a detail +that you might shout yourself hoarse and no one would pay any attention." + +"What's the game?" I said. "For the sake of the lady I might come +to terms." + +"That's not the game, anyway, and I don't want any conversation." + +Quarles! I thought of him now. The hotel gang was at work, and this was +one of the moves. How it was going to serve their ends I did not see, +unless--unless I was presently dropped overboard. + +It was an unpleasant contemplation, and I am afraid I cursed Quarles. If +he had only told me a little more I might at least have been prepared and +made a fight for it. What about Mrs. Selborne? Would they drown her, too? +They might put her ashore somewhere. + +The coast about Dungeness is desolate enough. It would be easy to slip in +after dark and leave her. Not a sound came from the cabin, and the two +hands returned to the deck. By the skipper's orders they lashed me in a +sitting position to a skylight. + +We were still standing out to sea, and one of the hands took the tiller; +the other received instructions to kick the wind out of me if I shouted +or began asking questions. Then the skipper went below. + +I listened, but I could not hear him speak to Mrs. Selborne. + +It was fine sunset that evening. When we presently came round and stood +in towards shore I got a feast of color over Romney Marsh. Watching the +ever-changing colors as the night crept out of the sea, I remembered that +Quarles was interested in Romney Marsh, in a lonely house there about +which he had had no time to tell me last night; had this lonely house an +interest for me? I tried to work out the plot in a dozen ways, +endeavoring to understand how the thieves could secure themselves if I +were allowed to live. + +That gorgeous sunset was depressing. The coming night might be so full of +ominous meaning for me. + +It was dark by the time we drew in towards the shore. A light or two +marked Dymchurch to our left, to our right were the lights of Hythe. + +By what landmark the skipper chose his position I do not know, but +presently the anchor was let go and we swung round. The tide must have +been nearly at the full. A few minutes later the dinghy was got into the +water, and the steps let down. + +Everything was accomplished as neatly and deliberately as I had seen it +done each time I had gone sailing in the yacht. + +Then the skipper came over to me and tried my bonds to make sure I had +not worked them loose under cover of the darkness. + +"All right," he said. "You can get her up." + +Evidently they were going to take Mrs. Selborne ashore. + +She came up on deck, she was not brought up. She was not bound in any +way. + +"Half past ten," said the skipper. "Sure you will be all right alone?" + +I could not tell to which of the hands he spoke; at any rate, he got no +answer except by a nod, perhaps. Half past ten; that was the time Mrs. +Selborne's husband was to arrive. + +Then came a surprise. The three men got into the dinghy and pulled +towards the shore. + +I was left alone with Mrs. Selborne. + +"Caught, Mr. Murray--Wigan." + +She laughed as she paused between my two names, and seated herself on a +corner of the skylight with a revolver in her lap. + +"We can talk," she went on, "but a shout would be dangerous. I am used to +handling firearms. Our last sail together, a notable one, and not yet +over. You're a more pleasant companion than I expected to find you, but +you are not such a great detective as I had been led to suppose." + +I was too astonished to make any kind of answer. She was quite right. I +had never detected a criminal in her. All her kindness was an elaborate +scheme to get me in her power. Did Quarles know? Surely not, or he would +have put me on my guard. + +"Posing as an invalid was an excellent notion," she went on, "and you are +not altogether a failure. You have prevented a haul being made at the +Folkestone Hotel because we could not discover what men you had at work. +I wonder how you got on my track?" + +It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her I hadn't, to say that my being +there was chance, that I really was an invalid, but I kept the confession +back. I remembered Quarles saying I might want all my wits about me at +the end of this cruise. This seemed to be the end as far as I was +concerned. + +"I don't suppose you are going to tell me how these robberies have been +managed," I said, "so you cannot expect me to give away my secrets." + +"I will tell you one thing," she answered; "there will be no more +robberies by us. From to-night we begin to enjoy the proceeds." + +"That is interesting." + +"And you will quite appreciate that, although you are not so clever as +people imagine, you are a difficulty." + +"It is no use my petitioning you to let me go for the sake of--of our +friendship?" + +"I am afraid not." + +"What then?" + +"Dead men tell no tales," she said. + +It was an uncomfortable answer. It was the only way out of the +difficulty I had been able to conceive. + +"Pardon me, they do," I returned quietly. "In watching me so carefully, +and beating me at the game, you have advertised your interest in me to +scores of people. You have forged a link between us. My death will mean a +quick search for you and your confederates. I am likely to be more +dangerous to you dead than alive." + +"Do you suppose that has not been considered and arranged for?" + +"And do you suppose a detective values his life if by his death he can +bring notorious criminals to justice?" I asked. + +"What exactly do you mean?" + +We might have been discussing some commonplace question across a +tea table. + +"For the sake of argument, let us suppose one or two of your confederates +have not hoodwinked me so completely as you have done. You can understand +the possibility and appreciate the probable result." + +"Do I look like a woman to be frightened by such a thin story?" +she asked. + +"Certainly not. You are so reckless a person you have, no doubt, courage +to face any unpleasant consequence which may arise." + +"I have wit enough to know that prevention is better than cure," she +returned. "Within an hour, Mr. Wigan, my confederates and all who could +possibly witness against me will be on board this yacht. How long some of +them will remain on board I have not yet decided." + +She was evidently not afraid. Her plans must be very complete. + +"As I cannot be allowed to live, a sketch of your career would interest +me. It would serve to pass the time." + +"The past does not concern me, the future does," she answered. "You may +appreciate my general idea of making things safe. I fancy this yacht will +be cast away on a lonely spot on the French coast. I know the spot, and I +expect one or two persons will be drowned. That will be quite natural, +won't it? Should the accident chance to be heard of at Folkestone, it +will be surmised that I am drowned. Bodies do not always come ashore, you +know. One thing is quite certain; Mrs. Selborne and all trace of her will +have disappeared." + +"It is rather a diabolical scheme," I said. + +"I regret the necessity. I daresay you have sometimes done the same when +a victim of your cleverness has come to the gallows." + +She got up and walked away from me, but she did not cease to watch me. I +wondered if she would fire should I venture to shout. + +It was a long hour, but presently there came the distinct dip of oars. In +spite of my unenviable position I felt excited. I thought there were two +boats. Naturally there would be. The dinghy was small; crew and +confederates could not have got into it. + +There was the rattle of oars in the rowlocks, then a man climbed on deck, +others coming quickly after him, and in that moment Mrs. Selborne swung +round and fired. The bullet struck the woodwork of the skylight close to +my head. I doubt if I shall ever be so near death again until my hour +actually sounds. + +Her arm was struck up before she could fire again, and a familiar voice +was shouting: + +"It's all right, Wigan. The lady completes the business. We have +got the lot." + +Christopher Quarles had come aboard with the police, those in the dinghy +wearing the coats and caps the crew had worn, so that any one watching on +the yacht for their return might be deceived. + +The prisoners were left in the hands of the police, and a motor took +Quarles and myself back to Folkestone. He told me the whole story before +we slept that night. + +The lonely house on Romney Marsh had been bought by Wibley some months +ago in the name of Reynolds. He had let it be known that, after certain +alterations had been made, he was coming to live there, so it was natural +that a couple of men, looking like painters, should presently arrive and +be constantly about the place. If three or four men were seen there on +occasion no one was likely to be curious. + +Watching Wibley when he came down to Hythe, Quarles found he had a +liking for motoring on the Dymchurch Road. He saw him pull up one +morning to speak to a man on the roadside. He did the same thing on the +following morning, but it was a different man, and Quarles recognized +young Squires. + +Squires afterwards went to this empty house, and Quarles speedily had men +on the Marsh watching it night and day. It looked as if the house were +the gang's meeting-place. Either another coup was being prepared, or an +escape was being arranged. + +During a hurried visit to town the professor had seen my letter to Zena, +and this had given him a clue. + +"It was the name Selborne," Quarles explained. "I told you, Wigan, that +Wibley's daughter--or supposed daughter--was not with him in Hampshire. +Her whereabouts worried me. I could not forget that a woman had taken +part in our capture during the chalice case. While I was in Hampshire I +spent half a day in Gilbert White's village. His 'Natural History of +Selborne' has always delighted me. Selborne. If you were going to take a +false name, Wigan, and your godfathers had not called you Murray, only +James, what would you do? As likely as not you would take the name of +some place with which you were familiar. In itself the idea was not +convincing, but it brought me to your hotel at Folkestone, and then I was +certain. Do you remember the woman Squires spoke to on the night he led +us into that trap?" + +"It was too dark to see her face," I said. + +"I mean the way she stood," said Quarles, "with her arms akimbo; so did +the masked woman in the cellar, and when I saw Mrs. Selborne on the lawn +she did the same. The pose is peculiar. When a woman falls into this +attitude you will find she either rests her knuckles on her hips, or +grasps her waist with open hands, the thumbs behind the four finger in +front. This woman doesn't. She grasps her waist with the thumbs in front, +a man's way rather than a woman's. Her presence there suggested, another +hotel robbery; the yacht suggested a means of escape for the gang, +apparently gathering at the empty house. Since Mrs. Selborne had paid you +so much attention, I guessed she knew who you were, and thought you were +on duty, posing as an invalid. I thought it likely your presence would +prevent the robbery, but she took every precaution that you should go +with her to-day, storm or shine, eh, Wigan? We have had the glasses on +the yacht all day, and when the crew landed to-night we caught them. +Then we went to the house, Wigan. Got them all, and I believe the whole +of the six months' spoil." + +"Why didn't you put me on my guard?" I asked. + +"Well, Wigan, I think you would have scouted the idea. You were +fascinated, you know. In any case, you could not have helped watching her +for confirmation or to prove me wrong; she would have noted the change in +you, grown suspicious, and might have ruined everything at the eleventh +hour. Unless I am much mistaken we shall discover that the woman was the +brains of the gang." + +So it proved when the trial came on, and in another direction Quarles +was correct. + +Squires was Mason's son. The lad had cut himself loose from his old +companions, and had only meant to warn his father. He knew where he was +likely to find him, but meeting the man and woman unexpectedly, he was +frightened into trapping us. + +There can be little doubt that it was intended to cast away the yacht +as Mrs. Selborne had explained to me, and to drown those who were not +meant to share in the spoil, but who knew too much to be allowed to go +free. I should certainly have been amongst the missing, and young +Squires, too, probably. + +I shall always remember this case because--no, Zena and I did not quarrel +exactly, but she was very much annoyed about Mrs. Selborne. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SOLUTION OF THE GRANGE PARK MYSTERY + + +I really had some difficulty in convincing Zena that I had not fallen +in love with Mrs. Selborne, and Quarles seemed to think it humorous to +also express doubt on the subject. The professor is unconsciously +humorous on occasion, but when he tries to be funny he only succeeds in +being pathetic. + +I got so tired of his humor one evening that I left Chelsea much earlier +than usual, telling Zena that I should not come again until I heard from +her that she was ready to go and choose furniture, I heard next day. + +We were to be married in two months' time and had taken a house near +Grange Park, and I have always thought it curious that my first +introduction to the neighborhood, so to speak, should be as a detective, +and not in the role of a newly married man. + +It happened in this way. + +Just before two o'clock one morning Constable Poulton turned into Rose +Avenue, Grange Park. He was passing Clarence Lodge, the residence of Mrs. +Crosland, when the front door opened suddenly and a girl came running +down the drive, calling to him. + +"The burglars," she said, "and I am afraid my brother hay shot one of +them." + +He certainly had. Poulton found the man lying crumpled up at the bottom +of the stairs. He blew his whistle to summon another officer, and after +searching the house they communicated with headquarters. + +Grange Park, as many of you may know, is an estate which was developed +some years ago in the Northwest of London, on land belonging to the +Chisholm family. It got into the hands of a responsible firm of +builders, and artistic, well-built houses were erected which attracted +people of considerable means. It wasn't possible to live in Grange Park +on a small income. + +A few months ago the sedate tranquillity of the neighborhood had been +broken by an astonishing series of burglaries, which had occurred in +rapid succession. Half a dozen houses were entered; valuables, chiefly +jewelry, worth many thousands of pounds, had been taken, and not a single +arrest, even on suspicion, had been made. The known gangs had been +carefully shadowed without results, and not a trace of the stolen +property had been discovered. The thieves had evidently known where to go +for their spoil, not only the right houses but the exact spot where the +spoil was kept. There had been no bungling; indeed, in some cases, it was +doubtful how an entrance had been effected. Not in a single instance had +the inmates been aroused or alarmed, no thief had been seen or heard upon +the premises, nor had the police noticed any suspicious looking persons +about the estate. + +The investigation of these robberies was finally entrusted to me, and I +suppose the empty room in Chelsea had never been used more often and with +less result than over the Grange Park burglaries. It was not only one +chance we had had of getting at the truth, for half a dozen houses had +been broken into; and it was not the lack of clues which bothered us so +much as the number of them. The thieves seemed to have scattered clues +in every direction, yet not one of them led to any definite result. + +Like the rest of us, Christopher Quarles had his weaknesses. Whenever he +failed to elucidate a mystery he was always able to show that the fault +was not his, but somebody else's; either too long a time had elapsed +before he was consulted, or some meddlesome fool had touched things and +confused the evidence, or even that something supernatural had been at +work. Once, at least, according to the professor, I had played the part +of meddlesome fool, and one of my weaknesses being a short temper, it +had required all Zena's tact to keep us from quarreling on that +occasion. It came almost as a shock, therefore, when, after a long +discussion one evening, he suddenly jumped up and exclaimed: "I'm +beaten, Wigan, utterly beaten," and did not proceed to lay the +responsibility for his failure on any one. + +Upon the receipt of Constable Poulton's message, I was sent for at once, +and it was still early morning when I roused Quarles and we went to +Grange Park. I do not think I have ever seen the professor so excited. + +Mrs. Crosland had a son and daughter and a nephew living with her. It was +the daughter who had run down the drive and called Poulton. There were +four servants, a butler and two women in the house and a chauffeur who +lived over the garage. There was besides a nurse, for Mrs. Crosland was +an invalid, often confined to her bed and even at her best only able to +get about with difficulty. She suffered from some acute form of +rheumatism and was tied to her bed at this time. + +The son's version of the tragedy was simple and straightforward. Hearing +a noise, he had taken his revolver--always kept handy since the +burglaries--and had reached the top of the stairs when his sister Helen +came out of her room. She had also heard some one moving. They went down +together to the landing at the angle of the staircase. He did not see any +one in the hall, nor was there any sound just then. He called out "Who's +there?" The answer was a bullet, which struck the wall behind them. Then +Crosland fired down into the hall, but at random. He saw no one, but as a +fact he shot the man through the head. + +"Do you think the man was alone?" I asked. + +"In the hall, yes; but I feel convinced there was some one else in the +house who escaped," Crosland answered. "My sister and I had not moved +from the landing when Hollis, the butler, and one of the women servants +came hastily from their rooms. Then I went down and switched on the +light. The man was lying just as the constable found him. I never saw him +move. When my sister realized he was dead she became excited, and before +I knew what she was doing, she had opened the front door and run down the +drive. The constable happened to be passing the gate at the moment." + +"What time elapsed between the firing of the shots and the entrance of +the constable?" I asked. + +"A few minutes; I cannot be exact. It took me some little time to realize +that I had actually killed the man, and I don't think Helen fully +understood the extent of the tragedy until I said, 'Good God, I've killed +him,' or something of that kind. I was suddenly aware of my awkward +position in the matter." + +"He had fired at you," I said. + +"I think I forgot that for the moment," Crosland answered. "As a matter +of fact we had a marvelous escape. You will see where the bullet struck +the wall of the landing. It must have passed between us." + +"Did your mother hear the shots?" + +"They roused her out of a deep sleep, but she did not realize they were +shots. The nurse came onto the landing whilst we were in the hall. I told +her to say that something had fallen down. My mother is of an extremely +nervous temperament, and I am glad she cannot leave her bed just now." + +Helen Crosland had nothing to add to her brother's narrative. When +she rushed out of the house her idea was to call the police as +quickly as possible, not so much because of the burglars, but on her +brother's account. She had the horrible thought of her brother being +accused of murder. + +Quarles asked no questions. He was interested in the bullet mark on the +landing wall, and very interested in the dead man. A doctor had seen him +before our arrival, and the body had been removed to a small room off the +hall. Quarles examined the head very closely, also the hands; and +casually looked at the revolver, one chamber of which had been +discharged. + +"A swell mobsman, Wigan, not accustomed to work entirely on his own, I +should imagine. As Mr. Crosland says, there may have been others in the +house who escaped." + +"We may get some information from the servants presently," I answered. + +"I doubt it. In all these burglaries, Wigan, we have considered the +possibility of the servants being implicated, and in no case has it led +us anywhere. More than once there have been clues which pointed to such a +conclusion, merely clever ruses on the thieves' part. No, our clue is the +dead man." + +Quarles questioned Constable Poulton closely. The constable had not heard +the shots. About half an hour earlier in the evening he had passed +Clarence Lodge. There was no light in the house then. Just before one +o'clock he had met Mr. Smithers who lived in the next house to Clarence +Lodge; he was coming from the direction of the station and said good +night. Since then he had seen no one upon his beat. Poulton described the +position of the dead man graphically and minutely. He had no doubt he had +been shot a few minutes before he saw him. + +"I searched the house with Griffiths, the officer who came when I blew my +whistle; we saw no sign of the others." + +"How did they get in?" I asked. + +"A window in the passage there was open," said Poulton. "That's the only +way they could have come unless they fastened some window or door again +when they had entered." + +I examined this window carefully. There was no sign that any one had +entered this way, no mark upon the catch. Outside the window was a flower +bed, and I pointed out to Quarles that if any one had left the house in a +hurry, as they would do at the sound of firearms, they would inevitably +have left marks upon the flower bed. + +Quarles had nothing to say against my argument. + +"I don't believe either exit or entrance was made by this window," +I declared. + +"Have you still got servants in your mind, Wigan?" + +"I have, to tell the truth I always have had." + +"The body is our best clue, Wigan. If we can identify that we shall be +nearing the end." And then Quarles turned to Poulton. "Isn't there a +nephew in the house? We haven't seen him." + +"I'm told he is abroad, sir," the constable answered. + +"Do you happen to know him?" + +"Quite well by sight, sir." + +Quarles nodded, but the nephew was evidently not disposed of to his +Satisfaction. + +I interviewed the servants closely, including the chauffeur who had heard +nothing of the affair until aroused by the police. Hollis was certain +that all the doors and windows were securely fastened. Quarles rather +annoyed me by suggesting that the thieves might have entered by an +upstairs window or even by the front door. + +"If you look at the upstairs windows I think you will find that +impossible," said Hollis. + +"We will look, and also at the front door." + +The professor made a pretense of examining the front door rather +carefully. + +"You're sure this was locked and bolted last night?" + +"Quite, sir." + +"It looks substantial and innocent." + +The only window which interested Quarles upstairs was that of a small +room in the front of the house overlooking the drive, but, as the butler +pointed out, no one could have got in there without a ladder. + +"No, no, I suppose not," and Quarles did not say another word until we +saw Mr. Crosland again. Then he immediately inquired about the nephew. + +"George is in Paris, at least he was three days ago," and Crosland +produced a picture postcard sent to his mother. "We are expecting him +back at the end of the week." + +"I suppose, Mr. Crosland, you have no suspicions regarding this affair?" + +"I don't quite understand what you mean." + +"Let me put it in another way," said the professor, "and please do not +think that I am suggesting you fired too hastily. Immediately you heard +the noise, you remembered the burglars who have caused a sensation in +Grange Park recently. It was quite natural, but it seems to me rather +strange that so astute a gang should commence operations in the same +neighborhood again. For the sake of argument, let us suppose this gang +had nothing to do with the affair. Now can you think of any one who might +have something to gain by breaking into Clarence Lodge?" + +"No, I cannot; and yet--" + +"Well," said Quarles. + +"I can think of no one; I recall no family skeleton, but there is one +curious fact. This gang seemed to know exactly where to go for their +spoil--jewels mostly, and there is nothing of that kind worth taking at +Clarence Lodge." + +"That goes to support my argument, doesn't it?" + +"It does." + +"That is the reason I asked particularly about your cousin." + +"George Radley is like a brother," laughed Crosland, "our interests are +identical." + +"Oh, it was only a point that occurred to me as an outsider," Quarles +returned. "We can leave him out of the argument and yet not be convinced +there is no family skeleton. You might perhaps question your mother +without explaining the reason, although I suppose she will have to know +about this affair presently." + +"I hope not." + +"Acute rheumatism, isn't it? I wonder if she has ever heard of a quack +who made a new man of me. What was his name now?" + +"Was it Bush?" Crosland asked. + +"No, but it was a commonplace name." + +"As a matter of fact a man named Bush has been to see my mother. I dare +not tell Dr. Heathcote; at one time I fancy Bush did her good, or she got +better naturally, but she believes in him. He hasn't been for some time +now, but she was speaking of him the other day." + +"I'll look up my man's card and send it on to you," said Quarles. "You +get Mrs. Crosland to see him, never mind Dr. Heathcote." + +"I didn't know you had suffered from rheumatism," I said to Quarles as we +left the house. + +"Didn't you! Have it now sometimes. Well, Wigan, what do you make of this +affair? Do you think the burglars are responsible?" + +"I want time to think." + +"We'll just call in and see Dr. Heathcote," said Quarles. + +The doctor was a young man rather overburdened with his own importance. +He was inclined to think that Crosland had done Grange Park a service by +shooting one of the burglar gang. + +"I only hope the authorities won't get sentimental and make it needlessly +unpleasant for him." + +"I shouldn't think so," I returned. "I may take it, doctor, that the man +had been dead only a short time when you saw him?" + +"Quite. Death must have been practically instantaneous." + +"Oh, there is no doubt about Crosland's narrative, it is quite +straightforward," said Quarles, "but I shouldn't be surprised if he found +the inquiry awkward. I think his mother ought to know the truth." + +"Why not?" asked Heathcote. + +"He seems to think it would be bad for her in her state of health." + +"I'll talk to him," said the doctor. "The old lady is not so bad as he +supposes. To tell you the truth I think the nurse is rather a fool and +frightens her. I tried to get them to change her, but she seems to be a +sort of relation." + +"That's the worst of relations, they're so constantly in the way," +said Quarles. + +We left the doctor not much wiser than when we went, it seemed to me, but +Quarles appeared to find considerable food for reflection. He was silent +until we were in the train. + +"Wigan, you must see that a watch is kept upon Clarence Lodge day and +night. Have half a dozen men drafted into the neighborhood. You want to +know who goes to the house, and any one leaving it must be followed. +Poulton's a good man, I should keep him there, and let him be inquisitive +about callers. Then telegraph at once to the Paris police. Ask if George +Radley is still at the Vendôme Hotel. If he is tell them to keep an eye +on him. Now, here's my card. Take it to Schuster, 12 Grant Street, +Pimlico, and ask him if he knows anything of a man named Bush, a quack +specialist in rheumatism. Find out all you can about Bush. To-morrow +morning you must go to Grange Park again, and see young Crosland. He may +complain about the watch which is being kept over the house. If he does, +spin him the official jargon about information received, etc., intimate +your fear that the gang may attempt reprisals, and tell him you are bound +to take precautions. After that come on to Chelsea. We ought to be able +to arrive at some decision then. Oh, and one other thing, you might see +if you have any one resembling the dead man in your criminal portrait +gallery at the Yard." + +"A fairly full day's work," I said with a smile. + +"I am going to be busy, too, with a theory I have got. To-morrow we will +see if your facts fit in with it." + +To avoid repetition I shall come to the results of my inquiries as I +related them to Quarles next day. I got back from Grange Park soon after +two o'clock, had a couple of sandwiches and a glass of wine in the Euston +Road, and then took a taxi to Chelsea. Zena and the professor were +already in the private room, Zena doing nothing. Quarles engaged in some +proposition of Euclid, apparently. On the writing table were a revolver +and some cartridges. + +"I have told Zena the whole affair as far as we know it," said Quarles, +putting his papers on the table, "and she asks me a foolish question, +Wigan. 'Why didn't the butler run for the police instead of Miss +Crosland?' Have you got any information which will help to answer it?" + +"It doesn't seem to me very strange that she went," I returned. "I have +been busy, but there is not very much to tell. I have got the house +watched as you suggested. The Paris police telegraph that an Englishman +named George Radley is at the Hotel Vendôme, a harmless tourist +apparently, going about Paris seeing the sights. Schuster was able to +give me Bush's address, and I called upon him, but did not see him. He +had gone to a case in Yorkshire, but may be back any time. He lives in +Hampstead, in quite a pleasant flat overlooking the Heath." + +"Is he married?" + +"No, he has a housekeeper, rather a deaf old lady who speaks of him as +the doctor." + +"You didn't chance to see a portrait of him?" + +"No, there were no photographs about of any kind. His hobby seems to be +old prints, of which he has some good specimens. I should say his +temperament is artistic." + +"That is an interesting conclusion," said the professor. "You didn't get +any idea of his age?" + +"No. This morning I went to Clarence Lodge and find you are by no means +liked there." + +"Indeed." + +"An old gentleman called there yesterday afternoon saying you had asked +him to go and see Mrs. Crosland about her rheumatism--a Mr. Morrison." + +"The silly old ass!" exclaimed the professor. "He is the man I told +Crosland of, the man who cured rheumatism so marvelously. I suppose +Morrison misread my letter and went at once instead of waiting to be +sent for." + +"Crosland appears to have given him a piece of his mind," I laughed, "and +called you a meddlesome fool." + +"Poor old Morrison, but it serves him right." + +"He managed to see Mrs. Crosland," I said. "When the old lady heard he +was there she would see him. As the son was anxious his mother +shouldn't know of the tragedy, it was arranged that she should be told +that Morrison's visit was the outcome of a casual remark Crosland had +dropped to a friend concerning Mrs. Crosland's suffering. The old lady +appears to have put the old man through his paces, but ended by being +convinced that Morrison knew what he was talking about. He has been +asked to call again." + +"Then I appear to have done the old lady a good turn after all," said +Quarles. "Did you see Mrs. Crosland, Wigan?" + +"No. The butler opened the door, and I only saw young Crosland besides. I +explained to him the necessity of having the house watched, and I think +he believes I am afraid he will attempt to run away. He is a little +nervous about his position in the affair. I reassured him." + +"It's a pity you didn't manage to see the old lady. Don't you think it +would be interesting to know what she is like?" + +"I can't say I am very interested on that point." + +"Well, we can ask old Morrison," said Quarles. "I daresay his quackery +has made him a close observer. You don't succeed as a quack unless you +have a keen appreciation of the foibles and weaknesses of human nature." + +"You have my facts, Professor; now, have you progressed with your theory; +has revolver practise had something to do with it?" + +And I pointed to the writing table. + +"Let's go back to the Grange Park burglaries for a moment," Quarles began +slowly. "We have investigated them under the impression that they were +the work of a gang, but it is possible they were worked by one man. The +gang may have attacked Clarence Lodge, Crosland's chance though excellent +marksmanship accounting for one of the members while the rest escaped; +but on the whole the evidence seems to suggest that this man was alone, +and we might conclude that the burglaries were the work of one man." + +"I shall never believe that," I said. + +"Still, you cannot disprove it by direct evidence. You may show it to be +unlikely, but you cannot prove it impossible. Indirectly we can go a +little further. There were several features about these burglaries to +make them remarkable. The right house was chosen, the thieves were never +heard or seen, there were always plenty of misleading clues left about, +there was no bungling, In the case of Clarence Lodge the wrong house was +chosen--Crosland himself told us that it contained no jewelry or +particular valuables. The thieves, or rather thief, was heard, the sound +must have been considerable to arouse both Crosland and his sister; the +thief makes no attempt to conceal himself and fires the moment he is +spoken to; in short, there was a considerable amount of bungling, quite +unlike the experts we have been thinking of. We are safe, therefore, I +fancy, in considering that the Clarence Lodge affair is not to be +reckoned as one of the Grange Park burglaries." + +I shook my head doubtfully. + +"Since experts may at times make mistakes, I grant that my negative +evidence is not as convincing as it might be," said Quarles, "but I want +the point conceded. I want, as it were, a base line upon which to build +my theoretical plan. I want to forget the burglaries, in fact, and come +to the Clarence Lodge case by itself. So we have a dead man and we first +ask who shot him. Crosland says he did, and tells us the circumstances, +his sister confirms his statement, and the butler, the woman servant and +the nurse, who are quickly upon the stage in this tragedy, see no reason +to disbelieve the statement. We burrow a little deeper into the evidence, +and we discover one or two interesting facts. The man was shot on the +left side of the head, a clean wound above the left ear. Crosland says he +fired after he had been fired at, so the man, directly he had fired, must +deliberately have turned his head to the right, which at least is +remarkable. Further, to hit the wall of the landing in the place he did +the man must have stood in the very center of the stairs to fire. His +body was found some feet away from this central position, and a bullet so +fired and striking where it did could not have missed two people +standing on that landing. I have made a rough plan here," and Quarles +took up the papers from the table, "giving the position of the dead man, +the position of the walls and stairs. The lines show where the bullet +would have hit if fired from a spot nearer where the dead man was found." + +I examined his diagram closely. + +"A man shot through the brain might fall several feet away from where he +was standing," I said. + +"Yes, behind where he was standing, or perhaps forward, but hardly to one +side. However, we burrow again, and we try and answer Zena's question why +it was Helen Crosland who ran for the police. Why not? we may ask. Her +close association with her brother in the affair, her anxiety on his +account, make it natural that she should dash out not only for help but +to make it certain that they had nothing to hide. Her words to Poulton, +'The burglars, and I am afraid my brother has shot one of them,' are +significant. They tell the whole story in a nutshell. Crosland's +statement merely elaborates it, over-elaborates it, in fact. The bolts on +the front door, Wigan, were very stiff; I tried them. Helen Crosland +would certainly have had difficulty in drawing them back, and it is an +absurdity for her brother to declare that she had gone before he knew +what she was doing." + +I had no comment to make, and Zena leaned forward in her chair, +evidently excited. + +"It is a point to remember that she ran out exactly at the moment Poulton +was passing, which may have been chance, of course, but from that room +over the hall one can see down the drive and, by the light of a street +lamp, some way down the road. Had any one watched there he could have +prompted the girl when to start." + +"You seem to be overloading the theory too much," I said, "and I do not +see many real facts yet." + +"I am coming to some facts presently," said Quarles. "I am showing you my +working. Now, having done away with the gang of burglars, we ask how did +the man get into the house. Your argument that no one could have escaped +through that window in the passage was sound, I think, Wigan, and +considering the immaculate condition of the latch and the lack of signs +on the sill and the flower bed, I doubt if any one got in that way, +either. On the whole, I am inclined to think he came through the front +door, which was opened for him by Hollis the butler or by one of the +servants." + +"Still no facts," I said. + +"Still theory," admitted Quarles. "By my theory it follows that the dead +man was known to the Croslands. We will assume that in some family +quarrel he was killed that night. The death--the murder--had to be +concealed, so they pitched on the idea of the burglars, put the body in +the hall, fired a shot into the landing wall, and threw open the passage +window. It was smartly conceived, but, of course, took some little time, +which had to be accounted for. Crosland could only say that he could not +tell how long a time elapsed between the firing and the arrival of +Poulton. Everything had to be thought of before Helen Crosland rushed out +for the police." + +"You assume that the whole household was in the conspiracy?" I asked. + +"Yes, and that they are exceedingly clever. What do you think of +the theory?" + +"As a theory rather interesting, but I am still waiting for a fact or +two." + +"Here's one," said Quarles, taking up the revolver. "This is Crosland's; +I purloined it. It is a very good weapon by a small maker. Curiously +enough the thief's weapon was exactly like it." + +"That may be a coincidence," said Zena. + +"It may be, but I prefer to think it a significant fact," the professor +returned; "but we'll go back to the theory again for the moment. I was +very interested in Crosland and his sister, they were not exceedingly +unlike each other. There was no portrait of Mrs. Crosland about, so I +could not tell which of them took after the mother. Had you told me that +Helen Crosland was the butler's daughter I should have believed you. Did +you notice the likeness, Wigan?" + +"No," I said with a smile. It seemed to me that the theory had got +altogether out of hand. + +"Well, it made me curious about the nephew," Quarles went on. "I wondered +whether the dead man was the nephew and so I asked Crosland about a +family skeleton, showed him that I had no belief in the burglar theory, +and he quickly responded by saying there was nothing in the house worth +stealing. I helped him out of a difficulty, and it was easy to talk about +his mother and her rheumatism. So we got to the specialist Bush. You see +the chief point was to find out the identity of the dead man. Now we get +to two facts. He isn't the nephew who is still in Paris, and Bush is +supposed to be in Yorkshire." + +"Do you mean--" + +"I am still theorizing," said Quarles. "There are no portraits at +Clarence Lodge; you noticed a lack of portraits in Bush's flat, and you +conclude by external evidence that his temperament is artistic. The dead +man's hands were curiously capable and artistic. It struck me the moment +I looked at them." + +"I am not convinced, Professor." + +"Nor was I," said Quarles, "so I mentioned the rheumatic specialist who +had cured me." + +"You, grandfather!" Zena exclaimed. + +"Ah, you have evidently forgotten how I used to suffer," was the smiling +answer. "I allowed Morrison to make a mistake on purpose and go to +Clarence Lodge, his one idea to get an interview with Mrs. Crosland." + +"And you have seen him since?" I asked. + +"Came home with him from Grange Park," answered Quarles. "He was roundly +abused to begin with, but, as you were told, he saw Mrs. Crosland. It was +an interesting interview. The first thing that struck him was that the +old lady was totally unlike her children, a different type altogether. +She is a hard, masculine kind of woman, not at all of the nervous +temperament he had been led to expect; and he was convinced that she had +only consented to see him to make sure that he was no more than he had +proclaimed himself--a specialist in rheumatism. My friend Morrison came +to the conclusion that the nurse, as a nurse, was incompetent, and that +the room he entered would not have been the one constantly occupied by +the invalid. He was exceedingly interested in Mrs. Crosland, seeing in +her a woman of extraordinary force of character and intellectual +capacity, and he came to the conclusion that there was nothing whatever +the matter with her." + +"No rheumatism?" said Zena. + +"About as much as I suffer from," said Quarles. "In short, Morrison was +rather glad to get safely out of the house. He was certain that the old +lady had a revolver under her pillow, and would certainly have shot him +had she suspected that he was any one else but a specialist in +rheumatism." + +I was looking at Quarles as he turned to me. + +"What do you make of my theory now, Wigan?" + +"Were you Morrison?" I asked. + +"Of course, and it was a trying ordeal. Do you think we have enough facts +to go on?" + +"Not facts, exactly, but evidence," I admitted. + +"I think we shall find that the dead man is Bush," said the professor. +"Inquiry will probably show that he has a record for quackery and has +probably sailed fairly close to the wind at times. His connection with +the Crosland family was not professional, but had other aims, and his +profession was used merely as a reason for not having a doctor for Mrs. +Crosland, who found it convenient to pose as an invalid. A quarrel +resulted in Bush's being shot that night. I hazard a guess that it was +the old lady who shot him, and that it was her brain which conceived the +way out of the difficulty." + +"That is guessing with a vengeance," I said. + +"Yes, but not without some reason," Quarles went on. "Let's go back to +the Grange Park burglaries for a moment, and suppose that a gang of +expert thieves under the name of Crosland took Clarence Lodge. An invalid +mother, son and daughter so called, butler, servants--a most respectable +family apparently, in the midst of people worth plundering, able by +friendly intercourse to collect the necessary information and plan their +raids. Bush is the outside representative of the firm, so to speak, and +the nephew who travels abroad occasionally sees to the selling of the +spoil. It was the plot of a master mind--the old lady's, which has +entirely beaten us until they quarrel between themselves. Now what do +you think of my theory?" + +"It takes me back to Grange Park without unnecessary delay," I said, +getting up quickly. + +"I thought it would. You have got the men waiting for you there, and I +should raid the house forthwith. But caution, Wigan. I don't think they +have any suspicion of Morrison, but the moment they tumble to your +intentions they'll show fight, and probably put up a hot one. And don't +forget the nephew in Paris. Take him, too." + +The raid upon Clarence Lodge took place that evening, and was so managed +that the servants and the chauffeur were taken before Crosland and his +sister, who proved to be no relation as Quarles had surmised, were aware +of the fact. Faced with the inevitable they made no fight at all, but the +old lady was made of entirely different metal. She barricaded herself in +her room, and swore to shoot the first man who forced the door. She had +the satisfaction of wounding me slightly in the shoulder, and then before +we could stop her she had turned the weapon upon herself and shot herself +through the head. + +The nephew was taken in Paris, and with the rest of the gang was sent to +penal servitude. The evidence at the trial proved Quarles's theory to be +very much as the tragedy had happened. The dead man was Bush, and it was +his threat to give the burglaries away unless he had a larger share of +the spoil than had been assigned to him which made the old lady shoot him +in an ungovernable fit of rage. + +"A master mind, Wigan," Quarles remarked, "and it is just as well +not to have her as a neighbor. Your wound is not likely to put off +your wedding?" + +"No." + +"A little better aim and she would have put it off altogether." + +"Don't be so horrible," said Zena. + +"A fact, my dear. Murray has been very keen about getting: hold of facts +in this case, so I mention one. The Grange Park burglaries beat me +because there was no clue to build on, but with a dead body--well, it +really wasn't very difficult, was it?" + +"Quite easy," I answered as if I really meant it, and then turned to +discuss carpets with Zena. + +It was not always wise to let the old man know you thought him clever. + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Master Detective, by Percy James Brebner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASTER DETECTIVE *** + +***** This file should be named 9796-8.txt or 9796-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/7/9/9796/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/9796-8.zip b/9796-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d21f872 --- /dev/null +++ b/9796-8.zip diff --git a/9796.txt b/9796.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..85f2f34 --- /dev/null +++ b/9796.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11179 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Master Detective, by Percy James Brebner + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Master Detective + Being Some Further Investigations of Christopher Quarles + +Author: Percy James Brebner + +Posting Date: December 5, 2011 [EBook #9796] +Release Date: January, 2006 +First Posted: October 17, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASTER DETECTIVE *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + + THE MASTER DETECTIVE + + _Being Some Further Investigations of Christopher Quarles_ + + + + BY PERCY JAMES BREBNER + + AUTHOR OF "CHRISTOPHER QUARLES." + + 1916 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE STRANGE CASE OF SIR GRENVILLE RUSHOLM + II. THE KIDNAPING OF EVA WILKINSON + III. THE DELVERTON AFFAIR + IV. THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE IN MANLEIGH ROAD + V. THE DIFFICULTY OF BROTHER PYTHAGORAS + VI. THE TRAGEDY IN DUKE'S MANSIONS + VII. THE STOLEN AEROPLANE MODEL + VIII. THE AFFAIR OF THE CONTESSA'S PEARLS + IX. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MADAME VATROTSKI + X. THE MYSTERY OF THE MAN AT WARBURTON'S + XI. THE STRANGE CASE OF DANIEL HARDIMAN + XII. THE CRIME IN THE YELLOW TAXI + XIII. THE AFFAIR OF THE JEWELED CHALICE + XIV. THE ADVENTURE OF THE FORTY-TON YAWL + XV. THE SOLUTION OF THE GRANGE PARK MYSTERY + + + + +THE MASTER DETECTIVE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE STRANGE CASE OF SIR GRENVILLE RUSHOLM + + +Sir Grenville Rusholm, Baronet, was dead. The blinds were down at the +Lodge, Queen's Square. For the last few days lengthy obituary notices had +appeared in all the papers, innumerable wreaths and crosses had arrived +at the house, and letters of sympathy and condolence had poured in upon +Lady Rusholm. The dead man had filled a considerable space in the social +world, although politically he had counted for little. Politics were not +his metier, he had said. He had consistently refused to stand for +parliament, his wealth had supported neither party, and perhaps his +social success was due more to his wife's charm than to his own +importance. + +To-day the funeral was to take place. By his own desire his body was not +being taken to Moorlands, the family seat in Gloucestershire, but was to +be buried at Woking. The family chapel did not appeal to him. Indeed, he +had never spent much of his time at Moorlands, preferring his yacht or +the Continent when he was not at Queen's Square. + +Last night the coffin had been brought downstairs and placed in the large +drawing-room, the scene of many a brilliant function, although by day it +was a somewhat dreary apartment. The presence of the coffin there added +to the depression, and the scent of the flowers was almost overpowering. + +Many of the mourners were going direct to Woking, but there was a large +number of guests at the house who were received by the young baronet. +Naturally, Sir Arthur was of a sunny disposition, and his personality and +expectations had made him a favorite in society since he had left +Cambridge a year ago. To-day his face was more than grave. It was drawn +as if he were in physical pain, and it was evident how keenly he felt his +father's death. Lady Rusholm did not appear until the undertakers entered +the house. She came down the wide stairs, a pathetic figure in her deep +mourning, heavier than present-day fashion has made customary. She spoke +to no one, but went straight to the drawing-room and, standing just +inside the doorway, watched the men whose business is with death, as if +she feared some indignity might be offered to her dear one. In a few +moments her husband must pass out of that room for ever, and it was +hardly wonderful if she visualized for an instant the many occasions on +which he had been a central figure there. + +The bearers stooped to lift the coffin from the trestles on to their +shoulders, then they straightened themselves under their burden, but they +did not move, at least only to start slightly, while their faces changed +from gravity to horror. Lady Rusholm uttered a short cry, and there was +consternation in the faces of the guests in the hall. There could be no +mistake; the sound, though dull and muffled, was too loud for that. It +was a knock from inside the coffin. + +The man in charge whispered to the bearers. No, none of them had +inadvertently caused the sound. The coffin was replaced on the trestles, +and for a moment there was silence. No one moved; every one was waiting +for that knock again. It did not come. + +The chief man stood looking at the coffin, then at the carpet, and, after +some hesitation, he crossed the room to Sir Arthur, who stood in the +doorway beside his mother. + +"Was--was anything put into the coffin?" he whispered. "Something which +Sir Grenville wished buried with him, something which may have slipped?" + +"No." + +"I think--I think the coffin should be opened," whispered Dr. Coles, the +family physician. + +"But he is dead! You know he is dead, doctor!" + +"A trance--sometimes a mistake may happen, Sir Arthur. It was a distinct +knock. The coffin should certainly be opened." + +"And quickly--quickly!" + +It was Lady Rusholm who spoke, in a strained and unnatural voice. + +Sir Arthur tried to persuade his mother to leave the room while this +was done, but she would not go. With a great effort she calmed herself +and remained with her son, the doctor, and two or three guests while +the coffin was unscrewed. The lid was lifted off, and for a moment no +one spoke. + +"Empty!" the doctor cried. + +As he spoke Lady Rusholm swayed backwards, and would have fallen had not +her son caught her. + +There were two masses of lead in the coffin. There was no body. + +Sir Arthur Rusholm immediately communicated with Scotland Yard, and the +utter confusion which followed this gruesome discovery had only partially +subsided when I, Murray Wigan, entered the house to enquire into a +mystery which was certainly amongst the most remarkable I have ever had +to investigate. + +Some of those invited to the funeral had left the house before I +arrived, but the more personal friends were still there, and the story +as I have set it down was corroborated by different people with a wealth +of detail which seemed to leave nothing unsaid. Besides interviewing Sir +Arthur and the doctor, I saw Lady Rusholm for a few moments. She was +exceedingly agitated, as was natural, and I only asked her one or two +questions of a quite unimportant nature, but I was glad to see her. I +like to get into personal touch with the various people connected with +my cases as soon as possible. + +I was in the house two hours or more, questioning servants, examining +doors and windows, and, to be candid, my investigations told me little. +When I left Queen's Square I knew I had a complex affair to deal with, +and it was natural my thoughts should fly to the one man who might help +me. If I could only interest Christopher Quarles in the case! + +I remember speaking casually of a well-known person once and being met +with the question: Who is he? It may be that some of you have never heard +of Christopher Quarles, professor of philosophy, and one of the most +astute crime investigators of this or any other time. It has been my +privilege to chronicle some of our adventures together, and his help has +been of infinite benefit to me. Without it, not only should I have failed +to elucidate some of those mysteries the solving of which have made me a +power in the detective force, but I should never have seen his +granddaughter, Zena, who is shortly to become my wife. + +For some months past the professor had given me no assistance at all. +He would not be interested in my cases, and would not enter the empty +room in his house in Chelsea where we had had so many discussions. It +was a fad of his that he could think more clearly in this room, which +had only three chairs and an old writing table in it, yet perhaps I +ought not to call it a fad, remembering the results of some of our +consultations there. + +Months ago we had investigated a curious case in which jewels had been +concealed in a wooden leg. The solution had brought us a considerable +reward, and upon receiving the money Quarles had declared he would +investigate no more crimes. He had kept his word, had locked up the empty +room, and although I think I had sorely tempted him to break his vow on +more than one occasion, I had never quite succeeded. + +As I got into a taxi I considered how very seldom it is that the ruling +passion ever dies. The Queen's Square mystery ought to shake Quarles's +resolution if anything could. + +Zena was out when I got to Chelsea, but the professor seemed pleased +to see me. + +"Are you out of work, Wigan?" he asked, looking at the clock. + +I did not want him to think I had come with any deliberate intention, so +I answered casually: + +"No. As a fact I am rather busy. I came out to Chelsea to think. Chelsea +air is rather good for thinking, you know." + +"It used to be," he answered. "I'm glad I have given up criminal +hunting, Wigan." + +"I still find excitement in it," I answered carelessly, "and really I +think criminals have grown cleverer since your time." + +He looked at me sharply. I thought the remark would pique his curiosity. + +"That means you have had some failures lately." + +"On the contrary, I have been remarkably successful." + +"Glad to hear it," he returned. "What makes you say criminals are more +clever then?" + +"The Queen's Square Mystery." + +"I don't read the papers as carefully as I did," he remarked. + +"It only happened this morning," I answered. "I daresay you noticed that +Sir Grenville Rusholm died the other day. Some one has stolen his body, +that is all." + +"Stolen his--" + +"Yes, it is rather a curious case, but we won't talk about it. I know +that sort of thing doesn't interest you now." + +I talked of other things--anything and everything--but I noted that he +was restless and uninterested. + +"What did Sir Grenville die of?" he asked suddenly. + +"A sudden and most unexpected collapse after influenza." + +"And the body has been stolen?" + +"Yes." + +"I should like to hear about it, Wigan." + +I hesitated until he began to get angry, and then I told him the story as +I have told it here. I had just finished when Zena came in. + +"You, Murray! What has brought you here at this hour of the day?" she +asked in astonishment. + +"Two pieces of lead," murmured Quarles. + +"A case! Have you got interested in a case, dear? I am glad. What is the +mystery, Murray?" + +"Where is the key of my room, Zena?" Quarles asked. + +She took it from the drawer in a cabinet. + +"I am not going to begin again," said the professor, "but this--this +is an exception. Come with us, Zena. Come and ask some of your absurd +questions. I wonder whether my brain is atrophied. There are cleverer +criminals than there used to be in my time, are there, Wigan? We +shall see." + +He led the way to the empty room at the back of the house, muttering to +himself the while, and Zena and I smiled at each other behind his back as +we followed him. He was like an old dog on the trail again, and I did not +believe for a moment this case would be an exception. + +"Tell the story, Wigan," he said when we were seated. "All the details, +mind, great and small." + +So I went through the facts again. + +"I made a careful study of the house and garden," I went on. "The Lodge +is a corner house, the garden is small, and a garage with an opening into +the other road--Connaught Road--has been built there. A 'Napier' car was +in the garage." + +"Did you see the chauffeur?" asked Quarles. + +"Yes. The car had not been used for a week. I could find no trace of an +entry having been made from the garden, but the latch of one of the +French windows of the drawing-room was unfastened. When I saw it this +window could be pushed open from outside. No one seems to have undone it +that morning, so the fact is significant." + +Quarles nodded. + +"Besides the servants only five people slept in the house that +night--Lady Rusholm, her son, two elderly ladies--cousins of Sir +Grenville's who had come from Yorkshire for the funeral--and a Mr. +Thompson, a friend of the family who was staying in the house when Sir +Grenville died." + +"Who closed the windows after the body was taken to the drawing-room?" +asked Quarles. + +"One of the undertaker's men." + +"Is he positive he fastened them?" + +"He is, but under the circumstances he is not anxious to swear to it." + +"And the door of the room, had that been kept locked?" + +"Yes. The key was in Sir Arthur's possession." + +"Who first entered the room this morning?" + +"Sir Arthur when he took in two or three wreaths which arrived late last +night. The room was just as it had been left on the previous day. The +wreaths and crosses were not disarranged in any way." + +"And there were only two pieces of lead in the coffin when it was +opened?" queried Zena. + +"A large lump and a small one," I answered. + +"Couldn't they have been packed in such a way that they would not +have slipped?" + +"Of course they could. No doubt that was the intention, but the work was +badly done because the thieves did it hurriedly," I answered. + +"One of your foolish questions, Zena," said Quarles, looking keenly at +her. He always declared that her foolish inquiries put him on the +right road. + +"It is a good thing the lead did slip, or the gruesome theft might never +have been discovered," she said. + +"Was the coffin a very elaborate one?" Quarles asked, after nodding an +acquiescence to Zena's remark. + +"No, quite a plain one." + +"Has the drawing-room more than one door?" + +"Only one into the hall. There is a small room out of the +drawing-room--a small drawing-room in fact. Lady Rusholm does her +correspondence there. It can only be reached by going through the large +room, and the door between the rooms was locked. Sir Arthur got the key +from his mother and opened the door for me." + +"What could any one want with a dead body?" asked Zena. + +"If we could answer that question we should be nearing the end of the +affair," said Quarles. "Years ago there were two men--Burke and +Hare--who--" + +"Oh, the day of resurrectionists is past," I said. + +"Don't be so dogmatic," returned Quarles sharply. "A corpse has been +stolen; can you suggest any use a corpse can be put to if it is not to +serve some anatomical or medical purpose? Remember, Wigan, that mentally +and materially there is always a tendency to move in a circle. What has +been will be again--altered according to environment--but practically the +same. Always start with the assumption that a similar case has happened +before. Our difficulties would be much greater if Solomon had been wrong, +and there were constantly new things under the sun. Undoubtedly there are +some interesting points in this case. Have you arrived at a theory?" + +"No, at least only a very vague one. Sir Arthur seems certain that his +father had no enemies, and my theory would require an enemy; some one +who, having failed to injure him in life, had found an opportunity of +wreaking vengeance on the dead clay by preventing the body having +Christian burial." + +"That is a very interesting idea, Wigan; go on." + +"I daresay you remember that the Rusholm baronetcy caused some excitement +about twenty years ago. The papers have recalled it in connection with +Sir Grenville's death. Sir John Rusholm--the baronet at that time--was a +very old man, and during the two years before his death several relations +died. He had no son living, so the heir was a nephew, the son of a much +younger brother who had gone to Australia and died there. This nephew had +not been heard of for a long time, and as soon as he became the heir, Sir +John advertised for him in the Australian papers. There was no answer, +and the Yorkshire Rusholms, who are poor, expected to inherit. Then at +the very time when Sir John was on his death-bed news came of the nephew. +He had been in India for some years, had proposed there, had married and +had a son. There had been so many lives between him and the title that he +had thought nothing about it until a chance acquaintance had shown him +the advertisement in an old Australian paper. He wrote that he was +starting for England at once, but Sir John was dead when he arrived. That +is how Sir Grenville came into the property." + +"Was his claim disputed?" asked Zena. + +"Oh, no, there was no question about it. He had family papers which only +the nephew could possibly have, and you may depend the Yorkshire Rusholms +would have found a flaw in the title if they could. Their disappointment +must have been great, and if I could discover that Sir Grenville had an +enemy amongst them--some relation he had refused to help, for instance--I +should want to know all about him." + +"Yours is a very interesting idea," said Quarles. "Do you happen to know +who Lady Rusholm was?" + +"The daughter of a tea planter in Ceylon. Her social success here has +been very great, as you know." + +"A very charming woman I should say," said the professor. "I saw her +once--not many months ago. She was distributing the prizes at a technical +institute in North London. I remember how well she spoke, and what an +exceedingly poor second the chairman was in spite of his being a Member +of Parliament. You have got a constable at The Lodge, I suppose?" + +"Two. I have given instructions that no one is to be allowed in the room, +on any pretext whatever." + +"Good. You and I will go there to-morrow. I'll be your assistant, +Wigan--say an expert in finger prints. I'll meet you outside The Lodge at +ten o'clock. There are so many clues in this case, the difficulty is to +know which one to follow, I must have a few quiet hours to decide." + +I smiled. It was like Quarles to make such a statement, especially after +I had declared that criminals were becoming cleverer. Never were clues +more conspicuous by their absence, I imagine. I was, however, delighted +to have the professor's help. It was like old times. + +The next morning I met Quarles in Queen's Square, and his appearance was +proof of his enthusiasm. He posed as rather a feeble, inquisitive old man +who could talk of nothing but finger prints and their significance. Sir +Arthur was evidently not impressed with his ability to solve any mystery. +When we entered the drawing-room he seemed lost in admiration of the +apartment, and did not even glance at the open coffin which stood on the +trestles. He walked to the window, drew aside the blind, and looked into +the garden. Then he looked into the small room. + +"No other exit here but the window. An entrance might have been made by +that window." + +"The door between the two rooms was locked," said Sir Arthur. "I had to +get the key from my mother when Mr. Wigan wanted to go in. It is my +mother's special room, but she had been so occupied in nursing my father +that she had not used it for more than a week." + +Then Quarles looked at the wreaths, wanted to know which ones had been +left near the coffin when the room was locked for the night, and the +wreaths which Sir Arthur pointed out he examined carefully. Then he +pointed to a large cross lying on an armchair. + +"Has that one been there all the time?" + +Sir Arthur explained that two or three wreaths had come late in the +evening. He had himself brought them into the room on the morning of the +funeral. That cross was one of them. + +"Ah, it is a pity you didn't bring them in that night. You might have +surprised the villains at work." + +"We were in bed by eleven. Do you imagine they began before that?" + +"Possibly," said Quarles, as he turned his attention to the coffin. He +examined the lid with a lens, for the finger marks, he said, which one +might expect to find near the screw holes. Then he studied the sides of +the coffin. The two pieces of lead did not appear to interest him very +much, but he asked me to push the smaller piece from the foot of the +coffin. He examined the lining, felt the padding, tried its thickness +with the point of a penknife, and in doing so he slit the lining. + +"Sorry," he said. "My old hands are not as steady as they used to be. +Quite a thick padding, and quite a substantial coffin." + +He had brought out some of the padding with his knife, and this left part +of the floor of the coffin near the foot visible. This he tapped with the +handle of his penknife to test its thickness. + +"Quite an ordinary coffin--plain but good," he went on, looking at the +brass fittings. + +"It was my father's wish that it should be so," said Sir Arthur. + +"Strange what a lot of trouble some men take about their funerals, +while others never trouble at all," said the professor, looking round +the room again. "I suppose, Sir Arthur, like the rest of us your father +had enemies." + +"Not that I know of." + +"An old rival, for instance, in your mother's affections." + +"There was nothing of the kind. Mr. Thompson, who is still in the +house--you saw him yesterday, Mr. Wigan--will endorse this. He knew my +mother before her marriage." + +"Still, some people must have envied your father. But for him, another +branch of the family would have inherited the estates, I understand. Has +he always been on friendly terms with this branch of the family?" + +"Always, and has helped them considerably." + +"Experience teaches us that it is often the most difficult thing to +forgive those who do us favors," said Quarles sententiously. + +"Do you believe that some one out of wanton cruelty has stolen the body +with no purpose beyond mere revenge?" + +"It looks like it, Sir Arthur. The body will probably be discovered +presently. Possibly the thief will furnish you with a clue so that you +may know he or she has taken revenge. I am afraid there is nothing to be +done but to wait. I feel greatly for Lady Rusholm." + +"The waiting will be dreadful. I am trying to persuade my mother to go +away at once." + +"Why not? You will remain in London, of course. Your father's papers may +throw some light on the mystery." + +"I have interviewed lawyers, and I have already gone through some of his +private papers. I do not think any light will come that way. Do you want +to look at anything else in the house?" + +"I think not," I said. + +"My specialty is finger prints," said Quarles, "nothing else. In this +case my specialty has proved useless." When we left the house Quarles +turned toward Connaught Road. + +"Is it your real opinion that the only thing to do is to wait?" I asked. + +"Let's go and see if we can find any more finger prints," he chuckled. + +The garage was shut. Cut into the big gates was a small door. + +"Not a difficult lock," said Quarles. "I may have a key that will fit it. +We must get in somehow." + +"There is a door into the garage from the garden. We could have gone +that way." + +"And advertised ourselves to the servants. I wanted to avoid that." + +He found a key to open the door, and he made no pretense of looking for +finger prints now. He examined the car. It was a big one--open--with a +cape hood--capable of carrying five or six persons besides the driver. +He was interested in the seating accommodation, and the make of the car +generally. There was a window which had a shutter to it high up in the +garage looking into the side road, and a small window at the back +looking into the garden which had no shutter. Quarles got on a stool to +examine the frame of this window, and then inspected the cloths for +cleaning and the towels which were in the garage. + +"Come on. The interest of this place is soon exhausted," he said. + +In less than a quarter of an hour we were walking along Connaught +Road again. + +"By the way, what is Dr. Coles's address?" asked Quarles. + +I gave it to him. It was a turning off Connaught Road. + +"I shall go and see him, and then I have a call to make elsewhere. Come +to Chelsea to-night, Wigan. Take my word for it, criminals are no +cleverer than they used to be." + +When I went to Chelsea that evening I found the professor and Zena +waiting for me in the empty room. He was evidently impatient to talk. + +"My brain may possibly require oiling, Wigan, but Zena's questions are +just as absurd as they ever were," he began. "She wanted to know why the +lead had been packed so carelessly, and what use a dead body could be to +any one. No bad points of departure for an inquiry. Now, when the coffin +was opened after the knock had been heard, a little sawdust from the +screw holes fell on the carpet. It was there when we went into the room +this morning. We may reasonably argue that some sawdust must have fallen +when the coffin was opened during the night. But no one seems to have +noticed it." + +"It might easily have escaped casual notice even if the thieves neglected +to remove it, which is unlikely," I returned. + +"It would not be so easy to remove, for the carpet is a thick one, and +the thieves would be in a hurry, you know. Also there were wreaths about +and I could find no trace of sawdust in them. But further, the screw +holes show a clear, perfect thread which one would hardly expect if the +coffin had been opened and closed again. Small points, but they promote +speculation. Yesterday, before I met you in Queen's Square, I went to see +the undertakers, and the man who was in charge of the arrangements says +emphatically that there was no sign of the coffin having been opened. A +little sawdust was the first thing he looked for." + +"Are you trying to prove that the lead was already in the coffin when it +was taken to the drawing-room?" I asked. + +"No. I am only trying to show that it is doubtful whether the coffin was +opened in the drawing-room." + +"The change could not have been made in the bedroom, or the lead would +have slipped during the journey downstairs," I said. + +"I agree, and we are therefore forced to the assumption that the body was +actually carried to the drawing-room, yet we are doubtful whether the +coffin was opened there." + +"I have no doubt," I returned. + +"That is a mistake on your part, Wigan. Doubts are often the forerunners +of convictions. My doubt led me to a curious discovery. When I went to +the undertaker's I saw the men who actually made the coffin. It was a +very plain coffin, less expensive than might have been expected for a man +in Sir Grenville's position. Now one of the men, in answer to a careful +question or two, mentioned a curious fact. In the floor of the coffin, +close to the foot of it, there was a wart in the wood. This morning you +saw me slit the lining and remove some of the padding. There was no wart +in the floor of the coffin, Wigan." + +"You mean the coffins were changed?" said Zena. + +"I do. One with the body in it was removed, and another with lead in it +was placed on the trestles in its stead. The plainer the coffin the +easier it would be to duplicate it by description. The makers of the +second coffin would not have the original before them to copy, you must +remember." + +"But only Lady Rusholm and her son could possess the necessary knowledge +to give such a duplicate order," I said. + +"You forget Mr. Thompson. He was an intimate friend, and staying in the +house at the time." + +"I do not understand why the lead was not packed securely," said Zena. + +"It puzzles me," said Quarles. "I could only find one answer. It was such +an obvious blunder that it must have been intentional. The lumps of lead +endorsed this idea. Whilst the large piece was flat and difficult to +move, the small piece was like a ball and meant to roll and strike the +side the moment the coffin was moved. It was presumably necessary that +the theft should be discovered, and your ingenious idea of a revengeful +enemy appealed to me, Wigan. I elaborated the idea to Sir Arthur, you +will remember." + +I had nothing to say--no fault to find with his argument so far. Quarles +rather enjoyed my silence, I fancy. + +"Sir Arthur unconsciously gave me a great deal of information," he went +on. "First, it was curious that the wreaths which came that night should +be left in the hall. It would have been more natural to place them in +the drawing-room. Why were they not put there? It looked as if there were +a desire not to open the room again. Another wreath might have come later +when it would have been very inconvenient to open the door, and not to +have put the other wreath into the room might have caused comment in the +light of after events. Again, influenza is a fairly common complaint, and +Sir Grenville died of a sudden and unexpected collapse; yet Sir Arthur +said it was by his father's desire that the coffin was plain. A man +suffering from influenza does not expect to die, and it seemed strange to +me that he should arrange details of his funeral. By itself it is not a +very important point, since Sir Grenville's wishes may have been known +for a long time, but almost in the same breath, emphasis was laid on the +fact that Lady Rusholm had not used the small room out of the +drawing-room for more than a week. Why not? There was absolutely no +reason why she should not continue to do her correspondence there, since +her husband was not seriously ill and could not require constant nursing. +I think an excuse was wanted for locking up that room, and I believe you +will find that none of the servants have entered the room during this +period, and that the blind has been down all the time. I believe the +duplicate coffin was hidden there." + +"But how was the duplicate coffin got into the house?" asked Zena. + +"In much the same way as the real coffin was got out of it, I imagine. +You remember the arrangement of the motor, Wigan; its size and swivel +seats give ample room to put the coffin on the floor of the car. In the +dead of night the coffin was carried across the garden, placed in the car +and driven away. On some previous night the same car had driven away and +brought back the duplicate coffin." + +"The chauffeur said the car had not been out for a week," I said. + +"So far as he knew," Quarles returned. "It was cleaned afterwards. There +is a shutter to the window in Connaught Road, and over the window looking +into the garden one of the towels had been nailed, clumsily, and with +large nails which were still on a shelf. I found the towel with the nail +holes in it." + +"Where was the body taken?" asked Zena. + +"That I do not know." + +"And what was the use of it to any one?" + +"Ah, I think I can answer that," said Quarles. "I had an interesting talk +with Dr. Coles after I left you to-day, Wigan. He told me he was not +altogether surprised at Sir Grenville's sudden collapse. The attack of +influenza was comparatively slight, but when Mr. Thompson arrived +unexpectedly from India it was evident to the doctor that he had brought +bad news. Both Sir Grenville and his wife were worried. Coles says Sir +Grenville was a man of a nervous temperament, who would have been utterly +lost without his wife. The doctor believes the sudden worry occasioned +the collapse." + +"He had no suspicion of suicide, I suppose?" + +"As a matter of form I put the question to him. I even suggested the +possibility of foul play. He scouted both ideas, and enlarged upon the +affectionate relations which existed between husband and wife. He +imagined the trouble had something to do with financial affairs. To-day, +you will remember, Wigan, Sir Arthur spoke about his mother going away. +That is not quite in keeping with the rest of her actions. We have ample +testimony and proof that Lady Rusholm is courageous and resourceful. Dr. +Coles is greatly impressed with her character; her personality appealed +to me when I heard her speak at the technical institute. She would be +present when the undertakers were removing the body, which is not +customary. She remained while the coffin was opened, and although she +apparently fainted--it was her son who caught her, remember--she saw you +soon afterwards. It seems to me two questions naturally ask themselves. +What was the ill news Mr. Thompson brought from India? Was Lady Rusholm +prepared for that knock from the coffin?" + +"We are becoming speculative, indeed," I said. + +"Are we? Consider for a moment the amount of evidence we have that the +theft of the body could only be contrived with the knowledge and help of +Lady Rusholm, her son, or Mr. Thompson; or, which is more likely, by the +connivance of all three. Then try to imagine their purpose. What use +could they make of a dead body? Why take such trouble that the theft +should be discovered?" + +"We have not accumulated enough facts to tell us," I answered. + +"I think we may indulge in a guess," said Quarles. "Sir Grenville, on his +own showing, had not expected to come into the title. Has it occurred to +you, Wigan, how exceedingly complete his claim was? Every possible doubt +seems to have been considered and arranged for. It was almost too +complete. Now, supposing Sir Grenville was not really Sir Grenville +Rusholm, supposing he had acquired the family knowledge and papers from +the real man--when that man was dying, perhaps--and in due time used +them to claim the estates. For about twenty years he has enjoyed the +result of his fraud, his intimate friend, Mr. Thompson, being in his +confidence, and very likely receiving some of the spoil. Suddenly Mr. +Thompson learns that some one else knows the secret, and hurries to +England to warn Sir Grenville." + +"But why steal the body?" asked Zena. + +"On leaving Dr. Coles, Wigan, I went to see Professor Sayle, who, with +the exception of the German physician Hauptmann, probably knows more +about oriental diseases and medicine than any man living. He proved to me +that it is possible by means of a certain vegetable drug to produce +apparent death. Fakirs often use it. The ordinary medical man would +certainly be deceived. Ultimately actual death would ensue were not the +antidote to the drug administered, but the suspension of life will +continue for a considerable time." + +"It is pure speculation," I said. + +"We have got to explain the theft of a dead body. I explain it by saying +there was no dead body," said Quarles sharply, as if I were denying a +self-evident fact. "I go still further. Judging by Coles's description of +the man calling himself Sir Grenville, I doubt his courage for carrying +through either the original fraud or the plan of escape. I believe his +wife was the moving spirit throughout, and it is quite possible the drug +was administered without her husband's knowledge." + +"And where is the body now?" asked Zena. + +"I do not know, but you tempt me to guesswork. Sir Grenville was a keen +yachtsman, and probably he is on board his yacht still resting in his +coffin, waiting for his wife to bring the antidote to the drug. His son +and Mr. Thompson took the body that night in the car. There must have +been two of them to deal with the burden, for I imagine the yacht had no +crew on her at the time. They would hardly take others into their +confidence. As everything had to be accomplished between eleven o'clock +at night and before dawn the next day, I imagine the yacht was lying +somewhere in the Thames estuary. I grant this is guesswork, Wigan." + +"I do not see why it was necessary the theft should become known," I +said. + +"It would occasion delay in the settlement of the estate. It placed +difficulties in the way of the rightful heir, It would help to throw a +distinct doubt whether, in spite of all the evidence that might be +forthcoming, Sir Grenville had committed fraud. There was even a +possibility that the son might be left in possession after all. I daresay +we shall learn more when we tackle Lady Rusholm and her son to-morrow." + +When we went to Queen's Square next morning we found that Lady Rusholm +was gone. She had, in fact, already gone when her son told us he was +trying to persuade her to go. Mr. Thompson had left later in the day. + +We found that even Quarles's guesswork was very near the actual facts, +although he had hardly given Lady Rusholm sufficient credit for the +working out of the scheme. The real heir, Sir John's nephew, had died in +Ceylon before Baxter--that was Sir Grenville's real name--had married. On +his death-bed he had entrusted his papers to Baxter to send to England, +and Baxter had shown them to his future wife. The scheme came full grown +into her head. They left Ceylon to meet again in India, and there they +were married, Baxter giving his name as Grenville Rusholm. Thompson was +their only confidant. He could not be left out because he had known all +about Rusholm. There was one other who knew, but they believed him to be +dead. He was a wanderer, somewhat of a ne'er-do-well, and to Thompson's +consternation, after twenty years, he had turned up in Calcutta very much +alive. He was going to England to expose the fraud. He did not suspect +Thompson, who came to England first. + +All this we heard from the son who for a short hour or two had called +himself Sir Arthur Rusholm. He was able to prove quite conclusively that +he was in entire ignorance of the fraud until Thompson's arrival. His +mother confessed everything to him then. It was she who had planned how +to get out of the difficulty. The duplicate coffin had been made at +Harwich, for a yachtsman who was to be taken abroad to be buried, they +had explained, but it was brought to Queen's Square and hidden in the +small drawing-room as Quarles had surmised. It was only to spare his +mother and father that the son had entered into the scheme, and I fancy +Quarles was a little annoyed that he had not suspected this. + +Mrs. Baxter was not caught. Indeed, there were many people who +disbelieved the whole story of the fraud, even when the man who knew +arrived from India--a very strong proof of Mrs. Baxter's charm and +personality. I have heard from her son that she is in South America, and +that her husband is not dead. So far as I am aware the new baronet has +taken no steps to bring them to justice. + +As Quarles says, she is a genius, and it would be a thousand pities if +she were in prison. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE KIDNAPING OF EVA WILKINSON + + +The Queen's Square affair seemed to have exhausted Quarles's enthusiasm. +I tried to interest him in several cases without success, and I began to +think we really had done our last work together, when on his own +initiative he mentioned Ewart Wilkinson to me. He had a personal interest +in the man; I had only just heard his name. + +The multi-millionaire is not such a figure in this country as he is in +America, but Ewart Wilkinson was undoubtedly on the American scale. He +had made his money abroad, how or exactly where remained matters of +uncertainty, and if one were inclined to believe the stories told in +irresponsible journals, there must have been much in the past which he +found it wiser not to talk about. With such tales I have nothing to do. I +never met the millionaire, was, in fact, quite uninterested in him until +his wealth was concerned in a case which came into my hands. + +With Christopher Quarles it was different. For a few days on one occasion +he had stayed in the same house with the millionaire in Scotland, and had +been impressed with him. Wilkinson was rough, but a diamond under the +rough, according to Quarles. He may have had his own ideas of what +constituted legitimate business, but whatever his shortcomings, the +professor found in him a vein of sentiment which was attractive. He had +a passion for his only daughter which appealed to Quarles, partly, no +doubt, because it made him think of Zena, and there was a strain of +melancholy in him which made him apprehensive that his wealth would not +be altogether for his daughter's good. He had talked in this way to +Quarles. For all we knew to the contrary, conscience may have been +pricking him, but the fact remained that he was prophetic. + +Wherever and in whatever way Ewart Wilkinson made his money, he +undoubtedly had it. He rented a house in Mayfair, and purchased +Whiteladies in Berkshire. The Elizabethan house, built on to the partial +ruins of an old castle, has no doubt attracted many of you when motoring +through South Berkshire. Having bought a beautiful home, he looked for a +beautiful wife to put in it. Perhaps she was in the nature of a purchase, +too, for he married Miss Lavory, the only daughter of Sir Miles Lavory, +Bart., who put his pride in his pocket when he consented to an alliance +with mere millions. It was said that Miss Lavory was driven into the +match, but however this may be, Ewart Wilkinson proved a devoted husband, +and his wife had ten years of a happy married life in the midst of +luxury. She died when her daughter was eight. + +For ten years after her mother's death Eva Wilkinson and her father were +hardly ever separated, and then Ewart Wilkinson died suddenly. He left +practically the whole of his vast fortune to his daughter; and her uncle, +Mrs. Wilkinson's brother Michael, who had recently succeeded his father +in the baronetcy, was left her guardian. There was a curious clause in +the will. Wilkinson, possibly because one or two cases had happened in +America at the time the will was made--half a dozen years before his +death--seemed particularly afraid that the heiress might be kidnaped, +and her guardian was enjoined to watch over her in this respect +especially. Within six months of his death the very thing he feared +happened. Eva Wilkinson was at Whiteladies at the time with her +companion, Mrs. Reville. After dinner one evening she went alone on to +the terrace, and from that moment had entirely disappeared. A telegram +was sent that night to Sir Michael, who was in London, Scotland Yard was +informed, and the mystery was given me to solve. + +I had commenced my inquiries when on going to Chelsea in the evening +Quarles told me he had met Ewart Wilkinson about three years before, and +under the circumstances he was very interested in the mystery. + +"The fact that he was afraid of something happening to his daughter +suggests that he had some reason for his fear," I said. + +"It does, Wigan--it does! He mentioned this very thing to me three +years ago, and I thought then there was some one in his past of whom he +was afraid." + +"And his past seems to be a closed book," I returned. + +"Eva Wilkinson must be between eighteen and nineteen," Zena +remarked. "Kidnaping a girl of that age is a different thing from +kidnaping a child." + +"True!" said Quarles. + +"Isn't it more probable that she went away willingly?" said Zena. + +"You don't help me, my dear," said the professor with a frown, and the +suggestion seemed to irritate him. It stuck in his mind, however, for +when we went to see Sir Michael the idea was evidently behind his +first question. + +"Is there any love affair?" asked Quarles. "Any reason which might +possibly induce the girl to go away of her own accord?" + +The suggestion seemed to bring a ray of hope into Sir Michael's despair. + +"I think she is too sensible a girl to do anything of the kind, but there +was a little affair, not very serious on her side, I fancy, and there was +probably a desire for money on the man's part. Young Cayley has seen Eva +at intervals since they were children, but in her father's lifetime there +was no question of love. Directly after Wilkinson's death, however, +Edward Cayley came prominently on the scene. I talked to Eva about him, +and although she was inclined to be angry, I think it was rather with +herself than at my interference." + +"Cayley is quite a poor man, I presume?" said Quarles. + +"Yes; but that did not influence me. He is not the kind of man I should +like my niece to marry. Oh! I have nothing definite against him." + +"May I ask whether, as guardian, you have control over your niece's +choice?" I asked. + +"Until she is twenty-one, after that none at all," he answered. "If she +marries without my consent before she is of age, I am empowered to +distribute a million of money to certain specified hospitals and +charities. She has only to wait until she is twenty-one to do exactly as +she likes. It was my brother-in-law's way of ensuring that his daughter +should not act with undue haste. Perhaps, for my own sake, I ought to +explain that in no way, nor under any circumstances, can I benefit under +the will. When my sister married Mr. Wilkinson, he behaved very +generously to my father, paying off the mortgages on our estate; in +short, delivered us from a very difficult position. Naturally, we never +expected any place in the will, but I hear the omission has caused some +people to speculate, and now that this has happened there may be people +who will speculate about me personally." + +"You certainly have a very complete answer," I returned. "What is your +own opinion of your niece's disappearance?" + +"I think she has been kidnaped, possibly for the sake of ransom, possibly +because--" and then he paused for a moment. "You know Mr. Wilkinson was +afraid of this very thing?" + +"Three years ago he mentioned it to me," said Quarles. + +"You knew him, then?" + +"I was staying in the same house with him in Scotland; his daughter was +not there. Such a fear, Sir Michael, suggests something in the past, +something Mr. Wilkinson kept to himself." + +"I do not know of anything," was the answer. "Of course, I have seen +paragraphs in scandalous journals concerning his wealth, but I knew Ewart +Wilkinson extremely well. He was, and always has been, I am convinced, a +perfectly straightforward man." + +This conversation took place early on the morning following the night of +Eva Wilkinson's disappearance, and afterwards Sir Michael journeyed down +with us to Whiteladies. The local police were already scouring the +country, and under intelligent supervision had accomplished a great deal +of the spade work. I may just state the facts as far as they were known. + +Mrs. Reville, who was in the drawing-room when the girl went out on the +terrace, had heard nothing. A quarter of an hour or twenty minutes later +she went out herself with the intention of telling Eva that she ought to +put on a wrap. The girl was nowhere to be seen, and calling brought no +answer. Becoming alarmed, Mrs. Reville summoned the servants, and their +search proving fruitless, she had a telegram sent to Sir Michael. When I +questioned her with regard to Cayley, she was sure there was nothing +serious in the affair. He certainly could have had nothing to do with +Eva's disappearance, she declared, for he had gone to Paris two days +before. Since Sir Michael had spoken to Eva about him he had hardly +visited Whiteladies at all. + +The servants had searched everywhere--in the house, in the grounds, and +in the ruins, and later the police had gone over the same ground, and +had searched everywhere on the estate; not a sign of the missing girl +had been found. A footman, however, said he had heard a motor-car in the +road about the time of the disappearance. He had listened, wondering who +was coming to Whiteladies at that hour. The house stood in one corner of +the estate, and there was a public road quite close to it, but it was a +road little frequented. The marks of a car, which had stopped and turned +at a point near the house, were plainly visible, and so far this was the +only clue forthcoming. It proved an important one, because a tramp was +found by the police who had seen a closed car traveling at a great speed +toward the London road. The time, which he was able to fix very +definitely, was about a quarter of an hour after Eva Wilkinson had gone +on to the terrace. + +"Has the tramp been detained?" Quarles asked, and being answered in the +negative, said he ought to have been. + +The professor examined the marks of the car minutely. There were two cars +at Whiteladies, but neither of the tire markings were those of the car +which had turned in the road. + +It is only natural, I suppose, that when a number of persons are brought +in contact with a mystery their behavior should tend to become unnatural. +It is one of a detective's chief difficulties to determine between +innocent and suspicious actions, the latter being often the result of +temperament or of a desire to emphasize innocence. I never found a +decision more difficult than in the case of Eva Wilkinson's maid, a girl +named Joan Perry; and because I could not decide in her case I was also +suspicious of her young man Saunders, a gamekeeper on the estate. Joan +Perry, a little later in the day, claimed to have made a remarkable +discovery. A coat and skirt and a pair of walking shoes had been removed +from her mistress's wardrobe. + +"What made you inspect her wardrobe?" I asked. + +The question seemed to confuse her, but she finally said it was because +she wondered whether Miss Eva had gone away on purpose. According to +Perry the affair with Edward Cayley was a serious one. To some extent her +young mistress had confided in her, she declared. + +"Then she would hardly have gone away without letting you into the +secret," I said. + +"That is what I cannot understand," she answered. + +Quarles agreed with me that this lent color to the idea that Eva +Wilkinson had gone of her own accord. + +"It is possible--even probable," he said, "but if she did, I take it she +has been deceived and walked into a trap. If we can find that car we +shall be on the right road." + +When we set out on this quest in one of the motors at Whiteladies we had +considerable success. The car had taken the direct road to London. We +heard of it at an inn on the outskirts of Beading. It had stopped there, +and a man had had his flask filled with brandy. A lady who was with him +was not very well, he said. Chance helped us farther. The car had stopped +by a roadside cottage. A man had come to the door full of apologies, but +seeing a light in the window he ventured to ask if they could oblige him +with a box of matches. He was quite a gentleman--young, dark, and very +merry--the woman told us. He had led her to suppose that he and a lady +were making a runaway match of it, because he had declared that there +would certainly be a chase after them, but they had got a good start. The +car had been drawn up on the side of the road at a little distance from +the cottage, and it was undoubtedly the car we were after. The tire +markings were quite distinct in the damp ground. At Hounslow we found the +car itself. There had been an accident. Two men had walked into a garage, +saying they had left the car on the roadside. Would the garage people +have it brought in and repaired? The car should be sent for in a day or +two. One man made a payment on account, and gave his name as Julius +Hoffman, staying at the Langham Hotel. + +The car was of an old type, but the man at the garage said the engines +were in good condition. The tires were burst, otherwise there was nothing +much the matter with the car beyond its age. + +"Was anything found in the car?" I asked. + +"An old glove and a handkerchief," and the man took them out of a drawer. + +The glove told us nothing, but the handkerchief was a lady's, and had "E. +W." embroidered on it. + +"This is a police matter," I told the man. "A watch will be kept on the +premises in case the car is claimed, which is very unlikely, I fancy." + +Quarles was perplexed. + +"I don't understand it, Wigan. That car looks to me as if it had been +purposely abandoned. Had they another car waiting, or was Hounslow their +destination? Of course you must warn the police here, but--well, I do not +understand it. I am going straight back to Chelsea." + +"I will see the Hounslow police, and then go on to the Langham," I +returned. + +"Of course, that's just ordinary detective work, and out of my line," +Quarles said somewhat curtly, "but I don't suppose your inquiries will +lead anywhere." + +In this surmise he was perfectly correct. No one of the name of Julius +Hoffman was known at the Langham. The Hounslow police made no discovery, +and the car was not claimed. + +Later, the press circulated a description of Eva Wilkinson, with the +result that scores of letters were received, most of them obviously +written by amateur detectives, or by those peculiar kind of imbeciles +whose imagination is so vivid that any person seems to fit the +description of the person missing. The information in a few of these +letters seemed definite enough to follow up, but in every case I drew +blank. I gave my chief attention to learning the recent movements of +known gangs who might be concerned in an enterprise of this sort, and at +the end of two days this persistency brought a result. I received a +letter posted in the West-central district, written, or rather scrawled, +in printed letters. It was as follows: + +"You may be on the right scent or you may not, but take warning. If you +got to know anything, it would be the worse for E.W. We are in earnest, +and our advice is, leave the job alone. No harm will come to the old +devil's daughter, if you mind your own business. She'll turn up again all +right. If you don't mind your own business you'll probably find her +presently, and can bury her. You'll find her dead,--THE LEAGUE." + +With this letter I went to Chelsea, and the professor met me with a +letter in his hand. He had received a like communication--word for +word the same. + +"An exact copy shows a barrenness of ideas," said I. + +"But they have begun to move, Wigan. That is a great thing, and what I +have been waiting for. Come and talk it over. For once Zena is no help. +All she says is that this is not an ordinary case of kidnaping. Well, it +certainly is a little out of the ordinary. That car, Wigan, the tramp who +saw it, the stoppages it made, the handkerchief in it--does anything +strike you?" + +"Since we picked up the trail so easily to begin with, I do not quite +understand the subsequent difficulty," I said. "From Hounslow a much more +astute person must have taken charge of the enterprise." + +"A booby trap, Wigan. It was prepared for us, and we walked into it, I am +a trifle sick at having done so, but perhaps it will serve us a good turn +in the end. The tramp no doubt was in the business. His definite +information to the police started us. If that car had wanted to escape +notice, do you suppose it would have pulled up outside Reading, or at a +cottage, where it obligingly left its imprint on the roadside? Why should +the man explain the filling of a flask at a public house? Why should he +talk of a runaway match to the woman at that cottage? He was laying a +trail. Miss Wilkinson's handkerchief was found in that car, but I wager +she was never in the car herself." + +"I think you are right, but it doesn't help us to the truth, does it?" + +"Every possibility proved impossible helps us," Quarles answered. "This +is a case for negative argument, so we next ask whether Eva Wilkinson +left the terrace willingly. I think we must say 'no.'" + +"Do not forget the missing coat and skirt," I said. + +"That is one of the reasons why I say 'no,'" he returned. "If she had +intended to go away she would have arranged to take more than a coat and +skirt. Besides, Eva Wilkinson is evidently not a fool. The only person +one can imagine her going away with is Cayley, and why should she go away +with him? If she married him before she was twenty-one, she forfeited a +million of money; well, she knew the penalty. Even if she would not wait +until she was of age, there is still no conceivable reason why she should +run away. We are forced, therefore, to the assumption that she was +kidnaped." + +"I have never doubted it," I answered. + +"I confess to some uncertainty," said Quarles, "but these letters put a +new complexion on the affair, I admit. Some one is out for money, Wigan, +and that fact is--" + +He stopped short as a servant entered the room saying that I was wanted +on the telephone. I had left word that I was going to Chelsea. I was +informed that Sir Michael Lavory had telephoned for me to go and see him +at once. He said he had received a letter which was of the gravest +importance. + +"Similar to ours, no doubt," said the professor when I repeated the +message to him. "We will go at once, Wigan, but I do not think there is +anything to be done until the scoundrels have made a further move. It +won't be many hours before they do so." + +In the taxi he did not continue his negative arguments, and he was not +restless, as he usually was when upon a keen scent. No doubt he had a +theory, but I was convinced he was not satisfied with it himself. + +Sir Michael, who had a flat in Kensington, was not alone. A young man was +with him, and Sir Michael introduced Mr. Edward Cayley. + +"He has just arrived--came in ten minutes after I had received +this letter." + +Cayley's presence there was rather a surprise, but I noted that his +appearance did not correspond with the woman's description of the young +man who had asked for a box of matches. + +"I came as soon as I heard the news about Miss Wilkinson," Cayley said in +explanation. + +"How did you hear it?" Quarles asked. + +"There was a paragraph in _Le Gaulois_. I left Paris at once and came to +Sir Michael, thinking it a time when any little disagreement between us +would be easily forgotten." + +"You can quite understand that I agree with Mr. Cayley," Sir Michael +said, "especially in the face of this letter." + +"I can guess the contents of it," I said. "We have had letters too." + +But I was mistaken. This communication was scrawled in the same printed +letters, was signed in the same way, but its purport was entirely +different. + +"Sir,--Your niece is in our hands, and you may be sure that she is +securely hidden. Every move you take on her behalf increases her danger. +There is only one means of rescue--ransom. Within forty-eight hours you +shall pay to the credit of James Franklin with the Credit Lyonnais, +Paris, the sum of a quarter of a million sterling, a small sum when +Wilkinson's wealth is considered, and the means he used to amass it. The +moment the money is in our hands, and you may be sure we have left open +no possibility of your tricking us, your niece shall be set at liberty. +Delay or refuse, and your niece dies. In case you should deceive yourself +and think this is not genuine, that we are powerless to carry out our +threat, your niece herself has endorsed this letter." + +Quarles looked at the endorsement. + +"Is that Miss Wilkinson's signature?" he asked. + +"It is," Sir Michael answered. + +"I could swear to it anywhere," said Cayley. "The money is a small matter +when Eva has to be considered. We may succeed in tricking the scoundrels +later, but the money must be paid." + +"If it is, you may depend they will get clear off," said Quarles. "They +have made their arrangements cleverly enough for that." + +"But you forget--" + +"I forget nothing, Mr. Cayley." + +"I feel that it must be paid," said Sir Michael. "If you can devise any +way of tripping up the villains, do, but Eva's signature--" + +"Look at it, Sir Michael," said Quarles. "I do not doubt that it is her +signature, but I think it was scribbled on that piece of paper before the +letter was written, and certainly a different ink was used." + +Sir Michael took the letter and looked at it carefully. + +"Yes--yes, I think you are right," he said after a pause. "What do +you advise?" + +"Delay," said the professor promptly. "They are out for money, for a +quarter of a million. They will not hurt Miss Wilkinson while there is +any chance of their getting the money." + +"How long would you make the delay?" Cayley asked. + +"At least until after Mr. Wigan and I have visited Whiteladies again. We +propose to go there to-morrow." + +"I was going down to-morrow after seeing the solicitors about this +money," said Sir Michael. + +"That will be excellent," said Quarles. "You will be able to assist us in +a little investigation we want to make at Whiteladies. May I suggest that +you should arrange preliminaries with the solicitors so as not to waste +time, but tell them to await your instructions before taking final steps? +There may be nothing in our idea, but there may be a great deal in it." + +"You do not wish to tell me what it is?" + +"Not until to-morrow evening." + +I was watching Cayley. I saw the ghost of a smile on his lips for a +moment. He evidently saw through Quarles's reticence, and knew that the +professor would not speak before him. + +"It will be evening before we reach Whiteladies," Quarles went on, +"because there is an important inquiry we must make in London first." + +"Very well," said Sir Michael. "I will delay until to-morrow night." + +"There can be no harm in that," Cayley said. "We are given forty-eight +hours. I should like to do the scoundrels, but I cannot forget that +revenge may be as much a motive as money." + +"I am not losing sight of that fact," said Quarles, "but I have little +doubt it is the money." + +As we drove back to Chelsea the professor was silent, but when we were in +the empty room he began to talk quickly. + +"I am puzzled, Wigan. Before we went out I was saying some one was out +for money, and the letter Sir Michael has received proves it. We were +engaged upon a negative argument, and I should have gone on to show why +it was unlikely Cayley had had anything to do with the affair. I confess +that his sudden appearance to-night tends to knock holes in the argument +I should have used. He comes from Paris, the money is to be paid to the +Credit Lyonnais, Paris. He is keen that the money should be paid, had +evidently been persuading Sir Michael that it ought to be paid. This +tends to confuse me, and I cannot forget Zena's remark about the girl's +age and that this is not an ordinary kidnaping case. If Cayley had met +her on the terrace she would naturally stroll away with him if he asked +her to do so. At a safe distance from the house he, and a confederate, +perhaps, may have secured her." + +"But why?" I asked. + +"He may want a quarter of a million of money and yet have no desire to +marry. It is a theory, but unsatisfactory, I admit. One thing, however, +we may take as certain. Eva Wilkinson was not driven away in that car. We +have no news of any suspicious car being seen in any other direction, nor +of any suspicious people being seen about, and it seems obvious that a +false trail was laid for us. Wigan, it is quite possible that the girl +never left Whiteladies at all, that she is hidden there now, in fact. +Doesn't the disappearance of that coat and skirt tend to corroborate +this? She was in evening dress at the time. It would be natural to get +her another dress." + +"That would mean confederates in the house," I said. + +"Exactly. This girl Perry, perhaps, in league with her lover, the +gamekeeper; or it may be Mrs. Reville herself. We are going down to +Whiteladies to-morrow to try and find out, and we are going circumspectly +to work, Wigan. You shall go to the house in the ordinary way, while I +stroll across to the ruins. They are a likely hiding place. It will be +dark, and I may chance upon some one keeping watch. In a few words you +can explain our idea to Sir Michael, and then, without letting the +servants know, you can come and find me in the ruins." + +It was nearly dark when we arrived at Whiteladies on the following day, +and as arranged, I left Quarles before we reached the lodge gates--in +fact, helped him over a fence into the park before I went on to the house +alone. Near the front door I found Mrs. Reville giving a couple of pug +dogs a run. She told me Sir Michael was expecting me, and led the way +into the hall. + +"I think he is in the library," she said, and opened a door. "Oh, I am +sorry, I thought you were alone, Sir Michael. It is Mr. Wigan." + +He called out for me to enter. He was standing by a writing table, +talking to a young farmer, apparently a tenant on the estate because Sir +Michael was dismissing him with a promise to consider certain repairs to +some outbuildings. As the farmer passed me on his way to the door Sir +Michael held out his hand. + +"You are later than I expected, and I thought Mr. Quarles--" + +Then he laughed. I had been seized from behind, a rope was round me, +binding my arms to my side, a sudden jerk had me on my back. In that +instant Sir Michael was upon me, and I was gagged and trussed almost +before I realized what had happened. Never did the veriest tyro walk more +innocently into a trap. + +"That's well done," said Sir Michael to the farmer. "You had better go +and see that the other has been taken as successfully." + +Alone with me, he removed the revolver from my hip pocket and placed it +in a drawer, which he locked. + +"Rather a surprise for you, Mr. Wigan. I am afraid Scotland Yard is +likely to lose an officer, and your friend Quarles is an old man who has +had a very good inning. I do not know exactly where he is at the present +moment, but somewhere about the grounds he has been caught and is in a +similar condition to yourself. You have both been very carefully shadowed +to-day. The quarter of a million will be paid, Mr. Wigan, and my niece +will reappear. She will be none the worse for her adventure--will thank +me for all the trouble I have taken to rescue her from the kidnapers her +father dreaded so much--and she will never suspect that the bulk of the +ransom money has gone into my pocket. It is money sorely needed, I can +assure you. I shall probably give my consent to her marriage with Cayley; +her marriage will make my guardianship less irksome. He will be as +unsuspicious of me as Eva. I prevailed upon him not to come to +Whiteladies until to-morrow by suggesting that you were foolish enough to +suspect him. I think it has all been rather cleverly managed. The only +regrettable thing will be the death of two--two brilliant detectives. It +may interest you to know that you will be found dead--shot--which will +account for my having waited for you in vain at Whiteladies to-night. You +have helped me greatly by being secretive to-day and not arriving here +until after dark. Your death will be a nine days' wonder, but it will be +a mystery which will not be solved, I fancy." + +His cold-blooded manner left no doubt of his sinister intention, and I +felt convinced that Quarles had been trapped just as I had been. Sir +Michael laughed again as he bent over me to make sure that my bonds were +secure. Then he stood erect suddenly. + +"Don't move," said a voice, "or I shall fire." + +He did move, and a bullet ripped into a picture just behind him. With an +oath he stood perfectly still. A door had opened across the room and a +girl stood there. It was Joan Perry. + +"I missed you on purpose," she said. "I shall not miss a second time. Cut +those ropes." + +For a moment he stood still, then he moved again, but not with the +intention of setting me free; the next instant he stumbled, as if his leg +had suddenly given way, and he let out a savage oath. + +"To show you I do not miss," said the girl. "Cut those ropes, or the +third bullet finds your heart." + +Sir Michael took a knife from his pocket, and the girl came a little +closer, but not near enough to give him a chance of grabbing at her. Her +calm deliberation was wonderful. + +"Do more than cut the ropes and you are a dead man," she said. + +The instant my arms were free I had the gag from my mouth and could do +something in my own defense. I was quickly on my feet. + +"Keep him covered," I said to Perry. "I think we change places, +Sir Michael." + +Physically he was not a powerful man, and with Joan Perry near him he +seemed to have lost his nerve. Her courage had shaken him badly, and he +made no resistance. I was not long in having him bound and handcuffed. + +"I have to thank you," I said, turning to the girl. + +"Not yet. There is more to do. Mrs. Reville is in it, and Mr. Quarles has +no doubt been caught in the grounds, as he said. I will ring. The +servants are honest, and I expect Mr. Saunders is in the house by now. He +usually comes up in the evening." + +Fortunately Mrs. Reville had not heard the revolver shots, or she might +have given the alarm to the two men who had secured the professor in the +ruins, and they would very probably have killed him. I took the lady by +strategy. I sent a servant to tell her that Sir Michael wished to speak +to her, a summons which she had evidently been expecting, and I secured +her as she came down the stairs. Then, leaving her and Sir Michael in +charge of Perry and Saunders and a footman, I went with other servants to +rescue Quarles. We took the confederates in the ruins by surprise, but in +my anxiety that no harm should come to the professor, who was bound just +as I had been, they managed to get away. + +Now that he was captured, Sir Michael Lavory's pluck entirely deserted +him, and he told us where to find his niece. She was in a secret chamber +under a tower in the ruins. She had been caught that night at the end of +the terrace by Sir Michael's accomplices, had been rendered unconscious +by chloroform, and taken to the tower. + +Quarles's deductions so far as they went were right, but they had not +gone nearly far enough. Neither of us had thought of Sir Michael as the +criminal, and had it not been for the maid Perry I have little doubt that +this would have been our last case. Perry herself had not suspected Sir +Michael until that day, but she had always been suspicious of Mrs. +Reville. That morning, however, when Sir Michael arrived at Whiteladies, +she had chanced to overhear a conversation. She heard Sir Michael tell +Mrs. Reville there would be visitors that evening, and suggested that she +should be near the front door at the time to admit them, as it would be +well if they were not seen by the servants. Perry did not understand who +the visitors were to be, but she thought such secrecy might be connected +with her young mistress, and she had hidden herself earlier in the +evening in the small room adjoining the library. + +"It is fortunate Saunders taught me how to use a revolver," she said, +when Quarles thanked and complimented her. + +"A narrow escape, Wigan," the professor said to me. "One of our failures, +eh? The fear expressed in the will, the fact that Sir Michael could not +benefit by the death of his niece, confused me. He is a very clever +scoundrel, making no mistake, making no attempt to implicate any one. His +treatment of Cayley on his sudden return from Paris was a masterpiece of +diplomacy; so was his handling of us from the first. He concocted no +complicated story, so ran no risk of contradicting himself. He was simple +and straightforward, and when a villain is that a detective is +practically helpless. I was thoroughly deceived, Wigan, I admit it, and +it is certain that had it not been for Joan Perry I should not be alive +to say so, and you would not be here to listen. Do you know, I should not +be surprised if it was the fear expressed in the will which gave Sir +Michael the idea of kidnaping his niece and putting the ransom into his +own pocket." + +At his trial Sir Michael confessed that the will had given him the idea. +Personally I think he got far too light a sentence. + +As I hear that Cayley and Miss Wilkinson are to be married shortly, I +suppose her guardian's consent to her marriage has been obtained; at any +rate, it will be a good thing for her to have a husband to protect her +from such a guardian. I hear, too, that Saunders and Perry are to be +married on the same day as their mistress, and I am quite sure of one +thing, two of the handsomest wedding presents Joan Perry receives will +come from Christopher Quarles and myself. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE DELVERTON AFFAIR + + +After our experience at Whiteladies Christopher Quarles went into +Devonshire. He declared that excitement of that kind was a little too +much for a man of his years and he must take a long rest to recuperate +and get his nerves in order. Under no circumstances whatever was I to +bother him with any problems. Had I been able to do so I should have gone +away too. Sir Michael Lavory had succeeded in giving me the jumps. In her +letters Zena told me the professor was playing golf, and knowing +something of him as a golfer, I rather pitied the men he induced to play +with him. It was not so much that he was a very bad player, it was the +peculiar twist in his brain which convinced him that he was a good one. +To give him a hint was to raise his anger at once. + +One morning I received a letter from him, two pages of golf talk, in +which he opined he was playing at about five handicap--pure imagination, +of course, because he never kept a card and didn't count his foozled +shots--and then he came to the _raison d'etre_ of his letter. + +"I want you to look up a case," he wrote. "It happened about three years +ago. A man named Farrell, partner in the firm of Delverton Brothers of +Austin Friars, was found dead in his office. An open verdict was +returned. It may have been a case of suicide. Get all the facts you can. +If you can obtain any information from some who were interested in the +tragedy, do. I am not sure that the result of your inquiries will +interest me, but it may. Send me along a full report, it may bring me +back to Chelsea, but I am so keen to put another fifty yards on to my +drive that I may remain here for three months. Why live in Chelsea when +there is such a place as Devonshire?" + +I remembered that the Delverton case had caused a considerable amount of +excitement at the time, and had remained an unsolved mystery, but I knew +no more than this. Three years ago I had been away from London engaged on +an intricate investigation, with neither time nor inclination to think of +anything else. + +As it happened there was little difficulty in getting a very full account +of the affair. It had been in the hands of Detective Southey, since +retired, and it was a persistent grievance with him that this case had +beaten him. He was delighted to talk about it when I went to see him in +his little riverside cottage at Twickenham. + +Delverton Brothers were foreign bankers, and at the time of the tragedy +consisted of three partners, John and Martin Delverton, who were +brothers, and Thomas Farrell, their nephew. John Delverton was an +invalid, and for a year past had only come to the office for an hour once +or twice a week. He had died about six months after the tragedy. + +One day during a Stock Exchange settlement Thomas Farrell left the office +early, and Martin Delverton was there until seven o'clock. When he left +the only clerks remaining in the outer office were Kellner, the second in +seniority on the staff, and a junior named Small. + +These two left the office together ten minutes after Mr. Delverton had +gone. Next morning when the housekeeper went to the offices he found +Thomas Farrell sitting at the table in his private room, his head fallen +on his arms, which were stretched across the table. He had died from the +effects of poison, yet the tumbler beside him showed no traces of poison. + +Medical evidence proved that he had been dead some hours, but there was +nothing to show at what time he had returned to the office. + +"In view of the doctor's statement it must have been between ten minutes +past seven and midnight," Southey told me. "The poison would produce +intense drowsiness, then sleep from which there was no waking. The time +of its action would vary in different individuals. I am inclined to think +it was late when he returned. He was a well-known figure in Austin Friars +and Throgmorton Street, and had he been about earlier in the evening some +one would almost certainly have seen him. That part of the world is alive +to a late hour during a Stock Exchange settlement. The offices consist of +a large outer room, which accommodates seven or eight clerks, and two +private rooms opening into one another, but opening into the outer office +only from the first room. This first room, which is the larger of the +two, the brothers Delverton occupied, Farrell having the smaller inner +room. From this there is a side door which gives on to a short passage +leading into Austin Friars. The partners used this side door constantly, +each of them having a key to the Yale lock, and we know from Mr. +Delverton that Farrell went out by the side door that afternoon. +Presumably he returned by it. Everything seemed to point to suicide, and +possibly had there been a shadow of a motive for Farrell taking his own +life, a verdict of suicide would have been returned. Apparently there was +no motive. His affairs were in perfect order, he was shortly to be +married, and the only person who suggested that he had looked in any way +worried recently was the junior clerk, Small." + +"What of the woman he was to have married?" + +"She was a Miss Lester, and she introduces a complication. Her people +were comparatively poor, her father being a clerk in a City bank. Mr. +Farrell, according to Miss Lester, had helped her father out of some +difficulty, and it was undoubtedly parental persuasion which had arranged +the marriage. It was a case of gratitude rather than love. But that is +not all. At the Lesters' house there was another constant visitor, a +young doctor named Morrison, and he and Farrell became friends in spite +of the fact that they were two angles of a triangle, Ruth Lester being +the third angle. The position was this: Morrison was in love with the +girl, but remained silent because he was too poor to marry; the girl +loved him, but, thinking that he was indifferent, consented to marry +Farrell. Whether Farrell was aware of this it is impossible to say. Now +on the very day of Farrell's death, Dr. Morrison called and asked for him +at the offices in Austin Friars. The clerk took in his name, and was told +by Mr. Delverton that Mr. Farrell had left for the day. This was the +first intimation the clerks had that he had left, and seems an indirect +proof that no one in the office could have had anything to do with the +tragedy. Farrell had been gone about an hour then. Morrison left no +message, merely asked that Mr. Farrell should be told he had called." + +"What was Morrison's explanation?" I asked. + +"He said Farrell had requested him to call. He was going to give him a +tip for a little flutter in the mining market." + +"Is it known where Farrell went that afternoon?" + +"I see you think the doctor's explanation thin, just as I did. Farrell +told his partner that he had an appointment with Miss Lester; Miss +Lester says there was no appointment. Naturally I at once speculated +whether Farrell and Morrison had met later in the afternoon. I followed +that trail every inch of the way. The doctor was poor and somewhat in +debt, and--" + +"And Farrell, who died by poison, which is significant, was his +rival?" I said. + +"I thought of all that," Southey returned. "Fortunately for him the +doctor could account for every hour of his time. Of course, the man in +the street was suspicious of him--is still, perhaps, to some extent, but +it hasn't prevented his getting on. He married Ruth Lester, and I hear is +getting a good practise together." + +"What conclusion did you come to?" + +"I am inclined to think there was some international reason at the back +of the mystery, some difficulty with a foreign government, it may be. If +Farrell had become mixed up in such an affair suicide might be the way +out. I suggested this to Mr. Delverton, and he did not scout it as +altogether a ridiculous idea. These foreign bankers are sometimes very +much behind the scenes in European politics." + +"Do you know whether the invalid brother was at the office that +day?" I asked. + +"He was not. He was quite incapacitated at the time." + +I hunted up one or two points which occurred to me, and then went to +Austin Friars to call upon Mr. Delverton. + +He was out of town, yachting, but his partner came into the clerks' +office to see me. I told him that my business with Mr. Delverton +was private. + +This partner, I discovered, was Kellner, who had formerly been a clerk in +the firm. He was the man who, with the junior, had been the last to leave +the office on the night of the tragedy. He was worth a little attention, +and I spent two days making inquiries about him. He was as smart a man of +business as could be found within a mile radius of the Royal Exchange, I +was informed, a wonderful linguist, with a profound knowledge of +financial matters. Now he was a wealthy man, but three years ago he had +been in very low water. + +This discovery sent me to Twickenham again. I said nothing about Kellner +having become a partner in Delverton Brothers'; I merely asked Southey +whether he had satisfactorily accounted for his time on the fatal night. + +"Didn't I tell you?" said Southey. "Oh, yes, he had an absolute alibi; so +had the youth Small. I made them my first business." + +I did not call on Dr. Morrison, but I went to his neighborhood, and asked +a few questions. Everybody spoke well of the doctor, which, of course, +might mean much or little, and I was fortunate enough to see him with his +wife in a motor. He looked like a doctor, a forceful and self-reliant +man, not one to lose his head or give himself away. He would be likely to +carry through any enterprise he set his mind to. His wife, without being +beautiful, was attractive, the kind of woman you begin to call pretty +after you have known her a little while. + +That night I wrote a full report to Christopher Quarles with my own +comments in the margin, and three days later I had a wire from Zena, +saying they were returning to Chelsea at once. + +There was no need to ask the professor whether the case interested him or +not. He began by being complimentary about my report, praised my +astuteness in not calling upon the doctor, and he made me give him a +verbal description of Morrison and his wife. + +"Of course, Wigan, looks count for nothing, but they are often misleading +evidence, and we are told to beware of that man of whom every one speaks +well. The most saintly individual I ever knew had a strong likeness to a +notorious criminal I once saw, and on a slight acquaintance you and I +would probably have trusted Cleopatra or Helen of Troy, neither of them +very estimable women, I take it. Now apparently this doctor and his wife +are near the center of this mystery." + +"It seems so, but--" + +"Believe me, I am making no accusation," he interrupted; "indeed, I am +more inclined to argue that they occupy an eccentric point within the +circle rather than the true center. Still, we must not overlook one or +two facts which you have duly emphasized in your report. The rivalry +between Morrison and Farrell does supply, as you say, a motive for the +crime, if crime it was, and it is the only motive that is apparent. +Again, a doctor could obtain and make use of poison with less risk than +most men. And, again, it is curious the doctor should call on Farrell on +that particular day. The visit might be a subtle move to establish his +innocence. True, according to Southey, his time after the visit was +accounted for, but how about the time before the visit? Farrell had +already left the office an hour, and might have met Morrison." + +"Do you suggest he was poisoned then, and came back hours afterwards to +die in the office?" + +"You think that unlikely?" + +"I do." + +"Still, we must recollect the action of this particular poison," said +Quarles. "It produces drowsiness, the time necessary to get to this +condition varying in different persons, and the doctor, knowing Farrell, +might be able to gage how long it would take in his case. Of course, we +labor under difficulties. Three years having passed, we cannot rely on +direct investigation. Purposely I gave you no bias when I asked you to +gather up the known facts, and from your report I judge you have come to +the conclusion that Farrell committed suicide, possibly driven into a +corner by some international complication." + +"Yes, on the whole, I lean to that idea." + +"It is not the belief of Mr. Delverton himself." + +"How do you know?" I asked. + +"I met Martin Delverton in Devonshire. He was yachting round the coast +and came ashore for golf. We played together several times, and became +quite friendly. It was not until he began to talk about it that I +remembered there had ever been a Delverton mystery. Practically he gave +me the same history of the case as your report does, missing some points +certainly, but enlarging considerably on others. That the villain had +escaped justice seemed to rankle in his mind, and he was contemptuous of +the intelligence of Scotland Yard. The tragedy, he said, had hastened his +brother's end, and I judged he had no great love for the Morrisons." + +"He knew who you were, I suppose?" + +"Oh, yes; and included my intelligence in the sneer at Scotland Yard. He +argued the point with me until he forced me to admit that there was a +large element of luck in most of my successes." + +"You admitted that?" I exclaimed. + +"I did. I had just beaten him three up and two to play, so was in an +angelic frame of mind. Even then he would not let me alone. He wanted to +know how I should have gone to work had the case been in my hands. To +his evident delight I gave him arguments on the lines of our empty room +conferences, making one thing especially clear, that I should have +enquired far more closely about the Morrisons than had been done. This +interested him immensely, and he did not attempt to hide from me the fact +that his suspicions lay in the same direction. He became keen that I +should look into the mystery; indeed, he challenged my skill. I am taking +up that challenge, and I am going to tell the world the truth about +Farrell's death." + +"You know it?" + +"Not yet, but the key to it is in this report of yours. Do you know what +has become of the junior clerk, Small?" + +"No. He left the firm to go abroad, I understand." + +"I should like to have asked him whether John Delverton, the invalid +partner, had seemed worried when he was last at the office." + +"He was not at the office that day. I asked that question, and Southey is +certain upon the point." + +"Farrell might have left early to see him." + +"Of course, we might question Kellner," I suggested. + +"Kellner has the interests of the firm at heart, and is not personally +connected with the affair. I don't suppose he will be pleased to have the +old mystery raked up; naturally he will fear damage to the firm. I do not +think he would be inclined to help us in any way, and I can imagine his +being angry with Delverton for mentioning the affair to me." + +"Still, I think there is something that wants explaining about Mr. +Kellner," said Zena, "You evidently thought so too, Murray, since you +made such minute inquiries about him." + +"I do not think there is anything against him," I answered. + +"I am not very interested in Kellner's past," said the professor, "and as +we cannot get hold of Small we must do a little guessing." + +"Is there anything further for me to do?" I asked. + +"One thing. I want you to get hold of some stockbroker you know, and get +him to tell you whether there was any kind of panic here, or on the +Continent, with regard to any foreign securities between three and four +years ago. Find out, if you can, the names of any members of the House +who were hammered during that period, and the names of any firms +considered shaky at the time. I am not hoping for much useful +information, but we may learn something to assist our guesswork." + +The information I obtained on the following day amounted to little. As my +friend in Threadneedle Street said, three years on the Stock Exchange are +a lifetime. In the different markets there had been several crises during +the period I mentioned, and certain men, chiefly small ones, had gone +under. As for shaky firms, it was impossible to speak unless you were +closely interested. A good firm, under temporary stress, would probably +be bolstered up, and a week or two might find it in affluence again. + +I went to Chelsea with the information, such as it was, but only saw +Zena. Quarles was out, and I did not see him for nearly a week. Then he +'phoned to me to call for him one evening and to come in evening dress. + +"I am dining with Mr. Delverton to-night," he said, "and I asked him if I +might bring you. He returned to town at the beginning of the week, and I +have seen him two or three times, once at the office in Austin Friars. I +did not see Kellner, he happened to be away that day." + +Martin Delverton lived in Dorchester Square, rather a pompous house, and +he was rather a pompous individual. Of course he wasn't a bit like +Quarles in appearance, yet I was struck by a certain characteristic +resemblance between them. They both had that annoying way of appearing to +mean more than they said, and of watering down their arguments to meet +the requirements of your inferior intellect. + +I had become accustomed to it in Quarles, but in a stranger I should have +resented it had not the professor told me of the peculiarity beforehand, +and warned me not to be annoyed. + +He gave us an excellent dinner, and our conversation for a time had +nothing to do with the mystery. + +"Well, Mr. Quarles, have you brought this affair to a head?" Mr. +Delverton asked at last. + +"I think so." + +"Sufficiently to bring the criminal to book?" + +"If not, I could hardly claim success, could I?" + +"You might claim it," laughed Delverton, "but I should not be satisfied. +Possibly I have my own opinion, but I trust nothing I have said has +influenced you and led you to a wrong conclusion. I do not want you to +get me into trouble by saying that I suggested who the criminal was." + +"Not if I could prove that the solution was correct?" + +"That might be a different matter, of course." + +"It would prove your astuteness, Mr. Delverton," said Quarles. "Mine +would be only the spade work which any one can do when he has been told +how. Perhaps you will let me explain in my own way, and I will go over +the old ground as little as possible, since we three are aware of the +main facts and the investigations which originally took place. First, +then, the manner of Mr. Farrell's death. Now, since he was found in his +own private office, sitting at his own desk, with a tumbler beside him, +it is evident that if he did not commit suicide it was intended that it +should appear as if he had done so. To believe it a case of suicide is +the simplest solution. He could enter the office by the side door at his +will, he could poison himself there at his leisure, and it would never +occur to him to imagine that any one would afterwards suspect he had met +his death in any other way. The one thing missing is the motive. The only +person even to suggest that Farrell had looked worried was the junior +clerk, Small, and his uncorroborated opinion does not count for much. +Besides, his affairs were in order, and he was about to be married. You +must stop me, Mr. Delverton, if I make any incorrect statements." + +"Certainly. So far you have merely repeated what every one knows." + +"Except in one minor particular," said Quarles. "I lay special emphasis +on the desire of some one to show that it was a case of suicide. If we +deny suicide this becomes an important point, for we have to enquire when +and how the poison was administered. Did Farrell at some time before +midnight bring some one back to the office with him? For what purpose was +he brought there? How was the poison administered? We have evidence that +it was not drunk out of the glass on the table, no trace of poison being +found, and we can hardly suppose that Farrell would swallow a tablet at +any one's bidding. Since there was an evident desire to make it appear a +case of suicide, we should expect to find traces of poison in the glass; +it would have made it appear so much more like suicide. But we are +denying that it was suicide, so we are forced to the conclusion that some +one was present with Farrell in the office, and also that the somebody +ought to have allowed traces of the poison to remain in the glass. That +innocent tumbler is a fact we must not lose sight of. You see, Mr. +Delverton, I am not working along quite the same line as the original +investigation took." + +"No; and I am very interested. Still, I think a man might take a tablet +were it offered by one he looked upon as a friend. It might be for +headache." + +"Did Mr. Farrell suffer from headaches?" Quarles inquired. + +"Not that I am aware of. I am only putting a supposititious case." + +"Ah, but we are bound to stick to what we know, or we shall find +ourselves in difficulties," the professor returned. "Now, I understand +that when you left the office that evening only two of the clerks were +there, and they left the office together about ten minutes afterwards. +The junior clerk we may dismiss from our minds, but Kellner merits some +attention. It appears that his subsequent movements that evening are +accounted for; still, it is a fact that he directly profited by Mr. +Farrell's death. Shortly afterwards he became a partner in the firm." + +"He had no reason at the time to suppose he would be a partner," said +Delverton. + +"And would not have become one but for Farrell's death, I take it?" + +"He might. It is really impossible to say. Left alone, I took in Kellner +because he was the most competent man I knew. I may add that I have not +regretted it." + +"Had the detective who had the case in hand known that Kellner was to +become a partner, he would undoubtedly have given him more attention," +said Quarles. "He does not seem to have discovered that Kellner was in +financial straits at the time." + +"Was he?" said Delverton. + +"I have found that it was so," I answered. + +"I am surprised to hear it; but, after all, a clerk's financial +difficulties--" And he laughed as a man will who always thinks in +thousands. + +"We come to another person who profited by Farrell's death, Dr. +Morrison," said Quarles. "He married Miss Lester not long afterwards. +It is known that he was friendly, or apparently friendly, with his +rival, for such Farrell was, although he may not have been aware of the +fact; and, curiously enough, Morrison called at the office in Austin +Friars on the fatal day, and wanted to see Farrell an hour or so after +he had left." + +"Yes; I thought it was curious at the time." + +"He was able to account for his subsequent doings that day," Quarles went +on; "so it seems impossible that he could have been the person Farrell +brought back to the office that night. I think we must say positively he +was not. At the same time we must not overlook the fact that in his case +there was a motive for the crime. Forgetting for a moment our conclusion +that some one must have been in the office with Farrell in order to make +the death appear like suicide, we ask whether in any way it was possible +for Morrison to administer poison to Farrell. Supposing Farrell had met +Morrison immediately upon leaving the office, could the doctor possibly +have given him poison in such a manner that it would not take effect for +hours after?" + +"Stood him a glass of wine somewhere, you mean?" + +"Or induced him to swallow a tablet," said Quarles. + +"It is really a new idea," said our host. + +"It is a possibility, of course," Quarles answered; "but not a very +likely one, I fancy. It might account for the tumbler. Farrell might have +felt ill and drunk some plain water, but why was he in the office at all? +I find the whole crux of the affair in that question. Why should he come +back when he had left for the day?" + +"Then you are inclined to exonerate Morrison?" + +"On the evidence, yes." + +"You speak with some reservation, Mr. Quarles." + +"I want to bring the whole argument into focus, as it were," the +professor went on. "It was a settlement day on the Stock Exchange. I +believe a point was made three years ago that it was curious no one had +seen Farrell return, since many people who knew him would be about Austin +Friars late that night. This does not seem to me much of an argument. If +he returned between nine and ten he might easily escape notice. What does +seem to me curious is that he should choose such a day to leave the +office early, and tell a lie about it into the bargain. He said he had an +appointment with Miss Lester, and we know he had not." + +"Ought we not to say that we know she says he had not?" Delverton +corrected. "I do not wish to be captious, but--" + +"You are quite right," said Quarles; "we must be precise. You knew Miss +Lester, of course?" + +"I did not see her until after Farrell's death, then I saw her several +times. She seemed rather a charming person." + +"You have not seen her since her marriage?" + +"No." + +"I saw her the other day," said Quarles, "and I quite endorse your +opinion. She is charming, and I do not think she is the kind of woman to +tell a deliberate falsehood. If Farrell had had an appointment with her I +think she would have said so." + +"I am making no accusation against her," was the answer. "I was only +sticking to the actual evidence." + +"And that does not tell us where Farrell went that day," said Quarles. +"It seems strange that he did not meet any of the scores of people who +knew him as he left the office that afternoon." + +"Undoubtedly he did meet many." + +"They didn't come forward to say they had seen him." + +"I can see no reason why they should do so. There was no question of +fixing the time he left. I was able to give definite information on +that point." + +"Well, we seem to have used up our facts," said Quarles, "and are forced +to theorize." + +Delverton smiled. + +"You must not jump to the conclusion that I have failed," said the +professor quickly. "I did not promise to tell you the name of the +murderer to-night. Let me theorize for a few moments. You told me you +believed that Farrell's tragic end had hastened your brother's death. Did +your brother chance to come to the office that day?" + +"No." + +"Perhaps he came that night after you had left. I suppose you cannot +bring evidence that he did not?" + +"No; but--" + +"Or it might have been with him that Farrell had an appointment that day, +which was connected with some affair you were not intended to know +anything about. That would account for his telling you a lie." + +"I assure you--" + +"Let me follow out my idea to the end," said Quarles, leaning over the +table, and emphasizing his words by patting the cloth with his open hand. +"Three years ago things were rather bad on the Stock Exchange, one or two +men in the House were hammered, and several respected firms were shaky. +Now supposing Farrell had been playing with the firm's money unknown to +his partners, or perchance unknown only to one of them--yourself. Your +brother may have--" + +"Really, Mr. Quarles, you are getting absurd." + +"I was going to say--" + +"Oh, please, let me stop you before you say anything more foolish," said +Delverton. "At that time my brother was very ill and as weak as a rat. +How could he have administered poison to Farrell?" + +"It requires no strength to administer poison, only subtlety," said +Quarles. "A glass of wine, perhaps by your brother's bedside, and the +thing would be accomplished. Or there is another alternative. Your +brother may have been playing with the firm's credit, and Farrell may +have found him out." + +"Any other alternative, Mr. Quarles? Your fertile brain must hold +others." + +"Yes, one more, and two opinions which lead up to it," was the +quick reply. + +Delverton laughed. + +"It is not so absurd as the others, I trust." + +"The two opinions may lead you to change your ideas concerning this +mystery. First, I believe Kellner was made a partner because he knew +too much." + +"I am inclined to think the discussion of a glass of my best port will +be more profitable than these speculations," said our host with a smile, +and he took up the cradle which the servant had placed beside him. "I +offered you a glass in the office the other day, but it was not such +good wine as this." + +"And I was shocked at the idea of port in the middle of the morning," +said Quarles. + +"But not now, eh?" And Delverton filled our glasses and his own. + +"Of course not. My second belief is that Farrell did not leave the office +at all that day. We have only your word for it, you know." + +"Shall we drink to your clearer judgment?" said Delverton. + +I had raised my glass when Quarles cried out and tossed a spoon across +the table at me. + +"So you don't drink, Mr. Quarles," said Delverton, putting down his +emptied glass. + +"Not this vintage. It is too strong for me, and also for my friend +Wigan." + +"Your judgment of a vintage leaves something to be desired. That glass of +port has made me curious to hear the other alternative." + +"I think it was you who had been playing with the firm's money, and your +nephew found you out," said Quarles very deliberately. "That Stock +Exchange settlement was a crisis for you. I think you induced Farrell to +drink a glass of port with you, which was so doctored that he soon fell +into a sleep from which he never woke. Perchance you smiled at his +drowsiness, and suggested he should have half an hour's sleep in his +room. You would look after things in the meanwhile. You did so, and when +a clerk came in to say Dr. Morrison had called, you said Mr. Farrell had +left for the day. You took care to wash the wine glass, but it seemed a +good point to you to leave a tumbler with a little water in it on the +table. You did not leave the office until you knew that the last of the +clerks was ready to leave, and I imagine you waited somewhere in Austin +Friars to see them safely off the premises. You had no doubt that a +verdict of suicide would be returned. Later you were surprised to find +that your clerk, Kellner, knew of your money difficulties, and to silence +him he was taken into partnership. Whether the firm of Delverton +Brothers is running straight now I have no means of knowing, nor can I +say whether Mr. Kellner has any suspicion that the death of Mr. Farrell +was more opportune than natural. You are the kind of man who is much +impressed by his own cleverness, and when you met me in Devonshire it +occurred to you to throw down a challenge, to pit your wits against mine. +I suspected you then, for you overdid certain things, and a sinister +intention had entered into your head. You confessed yourself charmed with +Miss Lester, yet your whole attitude suggested that you believed Dr. +Morrison guilty of murder. You became something more than an ordinary +criminal who takes life to save himself from the consequence of his +actions, you crossed the line and became devilish. Mrs. Morrison believes +you would have asked her to marry you almost directly after Farrell's +death had she not very plainly shown you her loathing of such a union. So +you planned to be revenged when you threw down the challenge to me, and +having failed, you now attempt to be wholesale in your destruction." + +"I end by cheating you," said Delverton. + +"Not me, but the hangman. I will warn your butler that the port is +poisoned, and tell him to telephone for the doctor." + +"You can go to the devil," said Delverton. + +He died that night, and the following day the Delverton mystery filled +columns of the papers. It was a dull season, and the press made the most +of it. It is only right to say that Kellner was not generally believed to +have known that Farrell had been done to death by his uncle. Quarles +believes he was absolutely innocent in this respect. I am doubtful on the +point, I admit. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE IN MANLEIGH ROAD + + +The dramatic suicide of Martin Delverton, and the solution of a mystery +which had been relegated to the list of undiscovered crimes produced a +sensation. The public clamored for intimate particulars concerning +Christopher Quarles, the house in Chelsea was besieged by hopeful +interviewers, and the professor could only escape their attentions by +going out of town. It was an excellent excuse for golf, he declared, and +an opportunity to improve on his five handicap. I am bound to say that +while I was with him he never went round in less than twenty over bogey, +and when he only took twenty over he had luck. + +This sudden enthusiasm on the part of the public was the cause of some +difficulty and not a little annoyance so far as I was personally +concerned. + +As I have said elsewhere, I have constantly received the credit of +unmasking a scoundrel simply because Quarles chose to remain in the +background, but I have never claimed any credit to which I was not +entitled. It was distinctly hard, therefore, when all the praise for +bringing a series of crimes to light was given to him when justly it +should have been accorded to me. I had been engaged on the work at the +time the case of Eva Wilkinson had cropped up, my investigations had +prevented my accompanying Quarles and Zena to Devonshire. He would be the +first to deny that he had any part in solving these problems. I daresay I +mentioned certain points about them to him, he may possibly have made a +suggestion or two, but it is only because he had really nothing to do +with them that they have found no place in his chronicle. I admit I was +much annoyed, because I rather prided myself on the astuteness I had +displayed. + +Curiously enough, it was not only the public who persisted in giving him +the credit, but the victims of my ingenuity as well, and the mistake was +destined to bring peril to both of us in a most unexpected manner. + +I was at breakfast one morning about a week after our little golfing +holiday, when Quarles telephoned for me to go to him at once. He would +give me no information, except that it was an urgent matter, and it was +like him to ignore the possibility that I might have another +engagement. As it happened I was free that morning, and was soon on my +way to Chelsea. + +I found him studying some pamphlets and letters which had apparently come +altogether in the big envelope which was lying on the table. + +"Have you seen the paper this morning?" he asked. + +"I had just opened it when you 'phoned to me." + +"Did you read that?" + +He pointed to a paragraph headed, "Strange Affair in Savoy Street," and I +read as follows: + +"Last night, just after twelve o'clock, an elderly gentleman was walking +down Savoy Street, and was approaching the Embankment end, when a man +stepped from a doorway and deliberately fired at him. This was the old +gentleman's story told to half a dozen pedestrians who came running to +the spot. He seemed rather dazed, as well he might be, at the sudden +attack, and his assailant had disappeared. None of those who were first +upon the scene saw him, and although there is no doubt that a revolver +was fired, and that the gentleman's description of the assailant's +position was so exact that the bullet was found embedded in a door on the +opposite side of the street, the denouement casts some doubt on the +story. Quite a small crowd had collected by the time the police arrived, +and then the old gentleman was not to be found. In the excitement he had +slipped away without any one seeing him go. We understand that the police +theory is that there was no attempt at murder, but that the old +gentleman, having fired a revolver for a lark, or perhaps for a wager, +told a tale to save himself from the consequences of his folly, and then, +seizing his opportunity, quietly slipped away. Those who were first upon +the spot say his dazed condition may have been the result of too much to +drink. We cannot say the explanation is altogether satisfactory to us." + +"Well?" said Quarles when he saw I had finished. + +"I agree with the writer of the paragraph," I answered. "The explanation +is far from satisfactory. Such a story and such a smart disappearance do +not suggest drunkenness." + +"Perhaps not, although it is wonderful how Providence seems to watch over +the drunken man. However, the elderly gentleman was not drunk and his +story was strictly true. I was the elderly gentleman." + +"You! And your assailant?" + +Quarles got up and walked slowly to the window and back again. + +"It was a very near thing, Wigan, and it has got on my nerves a bit. You +know that I am held chiefly responsible for the solution of these robbery +cases with which you have been busy lately. That belief is at the bottom +of this attempt, I fancy. You remember the fellow who got off over the +first affair. There was little doubt of his guilt, but you had +insufficient evidence to bring it home to him. He was the man who fired +at me last night." + +"Had you no chance of capturing him?" + +"No, and the moment I saw his face clearly by the light of a street +lamp as he turned to run away, I made up my mind not to give +information. I should have got away at once, only people were on the +spot too quickly; so I told the simple truth, and slipped away at the +first opportunity to avoid being recognized by the police. It was +rather neatly done, I think." + +"But I do not see why you should withhold information," I said. + +"I didn't want my name mentioned in connection with the affair, and I +did not want the man to know I had recognized him. I think there is +bigger game to go for. All along I have believed that in these cases of +yours there was a connecting-link, a subtle personality in the +background. I believe you have only succeeded in bringing some of the +tools to justice." + +"And you want to get at the central scoundrel?" + +"I must, or he will get at me. Without knowing it I have probably escaped +other traps he has set. The fact that I am only your scapegoat does not +alter the position. He means to have me if he can. We, or rather you, +have come very near to unmasking him, I imagine, and his fear has made +him desperate." + +"What is to be done?" + +"I want you to go very carefully through those cases, treating them as +though they were all part of one problem. If necessary, you could get an +interview with one or two of the men who are doing time. When a man is +undergoing punishment, and believes that an equally guilty person has +got off scot-free, he is likely to become communicative." + +"All this will take time, and in the meanwhile--" + +"I am chiefly concerned with the meanwhile," said Quarles, "and it +happens rather fortunately that I have something to interest me and take +my mind off the matter. These letters and pamphlets were sent to me a few +days ago by Dr. Randall. You have heard of him, no doubt." + +"I don't think so." + +"He is a specialist in nervous diseases, so is naturally interested in +psychological matters. An article of mine in a psychological review +attracted his attention, and through a mutual friend--a barrister in the +Temple--we were introduced last night. To-night I am dining with Randall +at a little restaurant in Old Compton Street, and--well, I want you to +come too, Wigan." + +"But--" + +"Oh, I can make it all right. I shall send him a note, asking if I can +bring a friend who is much interested in these matters." + +"But I am not, and directly I open my mouth I shall show my ignorance." + +"Then obviously you must keep your mouth shut," said Quarles. "The fact +is, Wigan, last night has got on my nerves. I am--I may as well be quite +honest--I am a little afraid of going about alone. I want you to call for +me and go with me." + +"Of course I will. But surely, with your nerves on edge, it would be +wiser to keep away from psychological problems. What is the +particular problem?" + +"Randall will explain to-night, and you must at least pretend to be +interested. As regards my nerves, I can assure you this kind of thing is +a relief after the other. I do not think I am a coward as a rule, but I +am afraid of this unknown scoundrel. I have a presentiment that I am in +very real danger." + +"You probably exaggerate it," I said. + +"Maybe. But I never ignore a strong presentiment, and I--I slept with a +loaded revolver under my pillow last night, Wigan." + +There was no doubt as to his nervous condition; he showed it in his +restlessness, in his acute consciousness of sounds in the house and in +the street. He expected to be brought suddenly face to face with danger, +and was afraid he would not be ready to meet it. + +He certainly was not himself. Zena had gone to stay with friends in the +country for a few days, or I should have got her to persuade the old man +to give up this psychological business--at least until he was in a normal +condition again. + +The restaurant, where we found Dr. Randall waiting for us, was one of +those excellent little French places which cannot be beaten until they +have become too successful and popular, when they almost invariably +deteriorate. Randall said he was delighted the professor had brought me, +and dinner was served at once at a cozy table in a corner. + +"A patient of mine originally brought me here," said the doctor. "It is +rather a discovery, I think, and personally I prefer dining where I am +unlikely to come in contact with a lot of people I know. In recent years +we have improved, of course; but in England we still eat, while in France +they dine. Here we are practically in France." + +Certainly more French was spoken than English, and the doctor spoke in +French to the waiter. Quarles's nervousness, which had been apparent +during the drive from Chelsea, disappeared as dinner progressed, and I +did not suppose a stranger like Randall would notice it. He would +probably form rather a wrong impression of the professor, would look upon +him as a highly-strung man, and would not realize that he was not in a +normal condition this evening. Randall carried his profession in his +face, but for the time being his medical manner was laid aside; nor did +he speak of the business which had brought us together until we had got +to the coffee and liqueur stage. + +"I suppose you read the papers I sent you, Professor?" + +"Yes, but rather cursorily," Quarles answered. "I think if you told the +whole story I should understand it better; besides, my friend here knows +nothing of it, and will bring an unbiased mind to bear upon it." + +"And may give us a new idea," said the doctor. "I don't know whether you +are acquainted with Manleigh Road, Bayswater. There are about fifty +houses in it--a terrace, in fact, on either side. The houses are sixty or +seventy years old, I daresay, ugly but roomy, and some few years ago a +lot of money was spent in bringing them up to date, putting in +bath-rooms, modernizing them, and redecorating them thoroughly. In spite +of this, however, they have not attracted the kind of tenant they were +intended for. Many of them have apartments to let. The house we have to +do with is No. 7. The even numbers are on one side of the road, the odd +on the other. No. 5 is a boarding-house of a very respectable kind, +frequented by young fellows in business chiefly. No. 9 is occupied by a +man who, after retiring from business comparatively wealthy, had +financial losses. His four daughters have had to go out and work. I +mention these facts to show that the surroundings are entirely +commonplace. The owner of No. 7 went abroad some years ago, owing to the +death of his wife, I understand, and left the house in the hands of an +agent. It was to be let furnished, but, except for a caretaker, it +remained empty for several months. It was then taken by a newly-married +couple. They could not remain in it. The house was haunted, they said, +and I believe the agent threatened them with legal proceedings if they +spread such an absurd report. He seemed to think they said so only to +repudiate their bargain. It was then let to a man named Greaves, about +whom nothing was known. He paid the rent in advance, and lived there +alone with a housekeeper and a young servant. One morning he was found +dead in his bed, in the large room on the first floor at the back. A +piece of cord was fastened tightly round his neck. There seemed little +doubt that he had committed suicide, for when he did not come down to +breakfast the housekeeper went to his room and found the door locked on +the inside. It had to be broken open. Perhaps you heard of the case?" + +Quarles shook his head. + +"Well, the door was locked on the inside, the window was shut and +fastened, there was no sign that any one had entered the room, and +nothing was missing. Foul play was out of the question, but the doctor +who was called in was troubled about the affair. It was from him that I +had these particulars. Dr. Bates had become acquainted--not +professionally, I believe--with the young couple who had lived in the +house for a time, and they had told him the place was haunted. In +bringing his judgment to bear upon Greaves' death, it is only right to +remember that his mind had received a bias." + +"I take it he did not believe it was a case of suicide," said Quarles. + +"His reason told him it must be, yet something beyond reason told him +it wasn't." + +"He thought it was murder?" I asked. + +"No, not ordinary murder," Randall answered. "He thought it was a +supernatural death." + +"I have read the letter he wrote to you; there is nothing very definite +in it," said Quarles. + +"It was his indefinite state of mind which caused him to relate the whole +story to me. When the police failed to make any discovery, he thought +some one interested in psychological research might solve the mystery." + +"What, exactly, were the experiences of this young couple?" I asked. + +"Chiefly noises, footsteps echoing through a silent house. Once the +shadow of a man, or so it seemed, was thrown suddenly upon the wall by a +ray of moonlight, and once the curtains and sheets of a bed were found +torn, as if hands, finding nothing else to destroy, had taken vengeance +upon them. Of course, this all comes second-hand from Dr. Bates." + +"And is probably unconsciously exaggerated," said Quarles. "The ordinary +man is almost certain to overstate and to emphasize unduly one part of +the evidence." + +"That was my feeling exactly," returned Randall, "so I spent a night in +that haunted room myself. The result was disappointing." + +"Did nothing happen?" I asked. + +"There was no direct manifestation--at least I saw nothing, and I do not +think I heard anything, but I am sure that I felt something. It was very +vague. You know it is my theory," Randall went on, addressing me, "that +different individuals are sensitive to different influences. For example, +let us suppose a certain spot is haunted, a spot where something +particularly desperate has taken place in the past. Now I believe that A, +B, and C, all sensitive to supernatural influences, may watch there and +seeing nothing, but that D, being sensitive to that particular influence, +or moving on that particular plane, may be successful. In another case, +where D fails, A, B, or C may be successful. I think it is this fact +which accounts for the comparatively small number of experiences which we +are able to authenticate. It was an article of the professor's, setting +forth similar views, which made me anxious to make his acquaintance." + +"Are you suggesting that he should spend a night in this house?" I asked. + +"I do not think I suggested such a thing," said Randall with a smile, +"but I believe that is the professor's intention." + +"It is," said Quarles. + +"When?" I asked. + +"On Friday night." + +"Greaves died on a Friday night," said Randall. "It is a small point, +perhaps, but, like myself, the professor believes in small details." + +"I suppose the agent will let me have the key," said Quarles. + +"I do not know the agent. I got the key through Dr. Bates, and I can give +you a card of introduction to him." + +"It will be a very interesting experiment," I said, looking as learned as +I could. I thought I had kept my end up very well, and far from having to +pretend to be interested, as Quarles had suggested, I was profoundly +interested, not in the psychological discussion, but in the Bayswater +mystery. I had heard of it before, and remembered that Martin, one of the +oldest members of the force, had said that it was no more a case of +suicide than he was a raw recruit. I am far from saying that no mystery +is to be accounted for by the supernatural, but I always want to test it +in every other way first. + +Quarles was pleased to jeer at me for a skeptic as we drove back to +Chelsea. He did not consider me altogether a fool as a detective, but he +had no use for me as a psychological student. + +"Anyway, it is a pity you are undertaking this business in your present +nervous state," I said. "At least let me be with you on Friday night." + +"Nonsense, that would make the experiment useless. You clear up the +mystery of this subtle scoundrel who has tried to get me shot and my +nervous state will soon disappear." + +As a matter of fact, I couldn't settle to a careful study of my recent +cases, as the professor had suggested. I tried and failed. I could not +forget the experiment which was to be made on Friday night, and on +Wednesday morning I took action. First of all, I arranged that a special +constable should be on duty in Manleigh Road, and from his appearance no +one would have supposed that anything in the way of a genius had been +introduced into the neighborhood. He looked a fool; he was one of the +smartest men I knew. Strangely enough, on the Thursday night No. 7 was +burgled quite early in the evening as soon as it was dusk. Two men got in +at a basement window, and the constable was quite close at the time. He +had instructions, in fact, to give warning to the burglars if there was +any danger of their being seen. + +I had not burgled the house alone; I had taken a young detective named +Burroughs with me. Of course, I might say it was because I wanted to give +him a chance, or because I thought we might encounter desperate +characters in the house; but as a fact, it was the supernatural element +which decided me. I do not like the idea of the supernatural; my nerves, +excellent in their way and in their own sphere, are inclined to get jumpy +under certain conditions. + +We went up from the basement cautiously, and it would have needed keen +ears to have heard our movements. + +Without showing a light, we went into every room in the house. Those in +front had some light in them from a street lamp outside, but those at the +back were dark, although, after a while, we got accustomed to the dark, +and could see to some extent. None of the blinds was drawn, and although +there was no moon, it was a clear, starlit night. + +Our special attention was devoted to the room where Greaves had been +found dead. It was substantially furnished, mid-Victorian in character. +The lock on the door, which had been broken open, had been mended, and +the window was fastened. Systematically we examined every article of +furniture and the innocent-looking cupboard. The walls were substantial, +but we did not subject them to tapping. I did not want to arouse the +neighbors to the fact that No. 7 was not empty to-night. + +"We have a long vigil before us, Burroughs," I said. + +"What do you expect to discover, sir?" + +"I don't know, nothing most likely; but if anything does happen it is +going to happen in this room. I am going to take up my position in this +chair by the bed, and I want you to keep watch on the landing. If you +hear any one about the house come in to me at once, but if you only hear +me move don't come in unless I call. I shall not fasten the door, but I +shall put it to. If in some way it is possible to find out that this room +is occupied, I want to appear as if I were quite alone. Do you +understand?" + +"Perfectly." + +I saw Burroughs settled in a chair on the landing; then I entered the +room and closed the door without latching it, and there was a certain +feeling down my spine, in spite of the knowledge that I had a comrade +near at hand. + +It was quite beyond me how Quarles could undertake to stay there all +alone. I could have done it had I been convinced that danger could only +come from a material foe; it was the idea of the supernatural which beat +me. I was not skeptic enough to be unmoved. + +I had determined to sit beside the bed; but remembering that Greaves had +been found on the bed I first of all lay down for a minute or two. The +bed was not made up, but the mattresses were there with blankets over +them, and the hangings were in place. The key to the mystery might lie in +some hidden mechanism in the bed. Then I settled myself in the chair +beside the bed, my hand in my pocket on my revolver. + +This kind of waiting is always a trial. The silence, the bodily +inactivity while the mind is strained to be keenly alert, have a sort of +hypnotic influence. An untrained man will certainly fancy he hears and +sees things, and even a trained man has to light hard against the desire +to sleep. There comes a longing for something, anything, to happen. I +think I got into a condition at last in which I should have welcomed a +ghost. There was no church clock near to break the monotony with its +striking; time seemed non-existent. + +Once I thought I heard Burroughs shift his position on the landing +outside, and there presently came to me an uncontrollable desire to move. +I stood up. Just to walk to the window and back would make all the +difference. + +My journey across the room was noiseless, and, coming back, I +stopped suddenly. + +To my left there was movement, movement without sound. In an instant my +revolver was ready, and then I felt a fool. In a recess there was a glass +fixed to the wall, we had noticed it when we examined the room, and I had +caught the dim reflection of my head and shoulders in it. The glass was +just at that height from the floor. + +I went to it and called myself a fool to my reflection. I could only see +myself very dimly, so I cannot say whether the incident had driven any +color from my face. + +It had the effect of quieting my restlessness, at any rate. I returned to +my chair refreshed, feeling capable of keeping a vigil, however long it +might last. + +Almost unconsciously I began to consider how many deceptions +looking-glasses were responsible for, and remembered some of the +illusions I had seen at the Egyptian Hall. No doubt looking-glasses had +played a large part in some of them. + +And then I began to wonder why the mattresses had been left upon the bed. +Was the agent expecting to let the house again at once, or had they been +put there for Quarles's convenience to-morrow night? + +How long my mind slid from one thing to another I cannot say; but +gradually my ideas seemed to dwindle away into nothingness, and it is +easy to imagine that I slept. I do not think I did, however. + +Although my mind was a blank for a time, I am convinced I never lost +consciousness of that room or of the business I had in hand. There was +absolutely no sensation of waking, only another sudden desire to move. + +Again I walked to the window, and as I came back I glanced in the +direction of the glass. This time my own reflection did not startle me; +not because I was ready for it, but because I did not see it. + +I must have crossed the room at a different angle, or my eyes-- + +I went to the glass, and then I started. There was no reflection. I was +not in the glass. + +In a moment the knowledge that this room was haunted came to me in full +force. There was the glass, plainer than I had seen it before, my eyes +were not at fault. Indeed, as I stared into it, there was a dim outline +of images in the glass, the furniture of the room, but of me no +reflection at all. Was I bewitched? Surely I must be in my chair, +sleeping, dreaming, for suddenly in the glass, moving as in a mist, there +were shadows--a bed and a man lying on it, and bending over him was +another man whose hands were twisting about his companion. + +I tried to call out to stop him, then I drew back, and the next moment I +was at the door, speaking to Burroughs in a whisper. + +"What is it?" he asked, coming swiftly into the room. + +"Look!" and I seized him by the arm and drew him to the looking-glass. + +"Well, what is it?" he asked again. + +His reflection and mine were looking out at us, one scared face, mine; +one full of questioning, his. + +I told him what I had seen. + +"You dropped off to sleep, Mr. Wigan, that's what it was." + +Had I? It couldn't have been a dream, and yet faith in myself was shaken. +It was possible I had only walked across the room a second time in my +dreams. One thing is certain, I did not fall asleep again that night. + +I had arranged with the constable in Manleigh Road that he should keep a +careful watch at dawn. We should leave then by the same way as we had +entered, and he was to signal to us if the coast was clear. + +It was an essential part of my plan that no one should know the house had +been occupied that night. I had kept watch, thinking that if harm were +intended to Quarles the trap would be made ready previously. How and by +whom I had not fully considered. Now I determined not to leave the house +during the day. + +I would be there when Quarles came that night. + +I scribbled a note to him, explaining what I was doing, and I said that +if the agent should accompany him to the house I would remain hidden +until the agent had gone. This note I gave to Burroughs, and instructed +him to explain matters to the constable. + +I had provided myself with a flask and some dry biscuits in case of +contingencies, and prepared to pass the day as comfortably as I could. It +is needless to say that in daylight I examined that haunted room again, +especially the looking-glass. + +It was in an ornamental wooden frame fixed on the wall, formed, in fact, +a finish to a wooden dado. It was like the fixed overmantel one finds +sometimes in small modern villas, only it wasn't over the mantelpiece. + +I think there was nothing in the room which I did not examine carefully, +but I did not sit there; I preferred the front room. + +It was an immense relief when I saw Quarles and another man, the agent, +come through the gate. + +It was between eight and nine, and I retired to the basement to be out of +the way. The agent stayed about half an hour, and they were chiefly in +the haunted room together. + +"I sincerely hope your report will set at rest this silly idea that the +house is haunted," I heard the agent say as they came down to the hall. +"When my client returns he will be pretty mad about it." + +"When does he return?" asked Quarles. + +"I don't know. I haven't had a line from him since he went away, but +the sum I have received for him in rent doesn't amount to much, I can +tell you." + +I expected to find the professor rather ill-tempered at my interference, +but I found him inclined to raillery. + +"Are you hunting a murderer or a ghost, Wigan?" he asked. + +"I am not quite sure, but I think at the back of my mind there is an idea +to keep you out of the clutches of the subtle personality of whom you are +afraid. Come up to the haunted room; we will talk there, but it must be +in whispers. If I have had any success it is believed that you are in +this house alone to-night." + +"A foolish old man alone, eh?" + +"In this instance I am inclined to answer yes." + +"You are quite right to say exactly what you think," he returned. + +"Have you considered the possibility that some one is trading on your +known enthusiasm for psychological research?" I asked. + +"Surely you do not mean Randall?" + +"No, but he may have been used as a tool. Frankly now, would you have +undertaken this business just at the present time had it not been for +Dr. Randall?" + +"Probably not." + +"So if you are being deceived it is being managed very subtly." + +"You are full of supposition. Let us get to work. You speak in your +letter of an experience you had last night. What was it?" + +"You will say no doubt that my fear of the supernatural got the +better of me." + +I told him the story of the looking-glass as we stood in front of it, our +two faces looking out at us dimly. + +"Come away from it now, Wigan," he said when I had finished. "Burroughs +thought you had fallen asleep, did he? You are convinced you were not +dreaming, I presume?" + +"At the time I confess Burroughs rather shook my faith in myself, but +during the day I have become certain that I did not sleep." + +Sitting on the other side of the bed--Quarles was very particular where +he sat in the room--he questioned me closely about the actions of the +shadows, and I answered him as well as I could. Only a very vague picture +was in my mind. + +"It may astonish you to know, Wigan, that it was only your note this +morning which brought me to this house at all to-night, I 'phoned to you +at least a dozen times yesterday." + +"Why?" + +"I was afraid of to-night. Perhaps for the time being I have lost my grip +a little on account of my nervous condition. I have had a long talk with +Dr. Bates, and he tried to persuade me to give up the idea of spending a +night here alone. He was rather doubtful about a supernatural solution to +the mystery. Then I didn't like the agent when I went to him to arrange +about the key. I shouldn't have entered the house with him to-night had I +not known you were here." + +"Anything else?" I asked. + +"Always that strong presentiment of danger," he answered. "Were these +hangings on the bed last night?" + +"It was exactly as you see it now." + +"The agent said the mattress and blankets had been put here for my +convenience." + +"Did he say when they were put here?" + +"I thought he meant to-day," said Quarles. + +"No one has entered the house to-day," I answered. + +"Yet, if Greaves was murdered, some one must have gained access to this +room somehow, in spite of the locked door and fastened window." + +"You have dropped the idea of the supernatural, then?" + +"I am keeping an open mind." + +"Shall we give it up and go, Professor?" + +"Certainly not. I am supposed to be alone in the house, so we will +await events. On the other side of that wall where the glass hangs is +No. 5, I suppose?" + +"Yes." + +"That is the boarding-house. Keep still a minute while I get an idea of +the furniture against this opposite wall. Randall said a man and his four +daughters lived at No. 9, didn't he?" + +I whispered an affirmative, and could dimly see the professor going +slowly along the wall. He began tapping things, apparently with a +pocket knife. + +I warned him not to make a noise. + +"I am known to be here," he answered, coming back to me. "A man who +undertakes to investigate the supernatural would be expected to take +precautions that no tricks were likely to be played upon him. It would be +suspicious if I didn't make a little noise. Now we will settle ourselves. +I shall lie on the bed. You move a chair under that glass and sit there. +I have an electric torch with me. Don't fall asleep to-night, Wigan." + +"I didn't last night," I answered. + +After that we were silent, and the vigil began. In one way it was a +repetition of the previous night. I lost count of time, and had sudden +desires to move, but managed to control them. + +Certainly I did not sleep, and I fought successfully against the hypnotic +influence which silence and darkness exert. Not a sound of movement came +from Quarles, not a murmur from the world outside. + +More than once I wanted to ask the professor whether he was all right, +but did not do so. + +It seemed that this utter silence had lasted for hours, when it was +broken, not suddenly, but gradually. It was not a sound so much as a +movement which broke it. Some one or something was near us. At first it +did not seem to be in the room, but as if it were trying to get in. I +could not tell where it was, but for a time it was outside, and then just +as certainly I knew that it was in. + +I cannot say positively that I heard a footfall on the carpet, but I +think I did, and then came an unmistakable sound; the swish of the bed +hangings suddenly drawn back. + +"Quarles!" + +Whether I shouted his name or whispered it, I do not know, but the next +moment a ray from the electric torch cut the darkness like a long sword. + +There was a low, almost inarticulate cry, then a light thud upon the +floor--so light it might have been some clothes falling from the bed. + +"Don't move, Wigan!" Quarles said, and a second afterwards he +fired--downwards it must have been, although he had warned me to keep +still, in case he should hit me. + +There was an unearthly yell, and something rushed past my feet--a man on +all fours, a little man, a-- + +"The glass, Wigan! Quick!" + +I sprang up. For just an instant I saw my own reflection, then it was +gone; instead, I was looking into a luminous mist out of which there +suddenly flashed a face looking into mine. + +I saw it quite clearly, and then it went as quickly as it had come. It +appeared to have been jerked away. + +"Look!" + +Quarles was behind me, and in the glass, almost as I had seen them last +night, were the shadows, only now they struggled and twisted first; it +was afterwards that one lay still across the bed. + +"An ape, Wigan!" Quarles said excitedly. "An ape, trained to imitate, and +now--did some one look through the glass?" + +"Yes." + +"Was it Dr. Randall?" + +Directly he asked the question I knew that it was the doctor's face which +had been there. + +"The subtle personality, Wigan." + +"When did you guess?" + +"I didn't guess--I didn't think it possible. Bates' disbelief in the +supernatural made me a little suspicious, but I didn't think it possible. +To-night--that ape--the whole plot--I could only think of Randall. There +was no one else." + +We left the house at once, both of us in an excited state. + +The constable I had on special duty soon had several others with him, and +before dawn No. 5 Manleigh Road was raided. + +It was only a garbled statement which got into the papers, and +probably the whole truth will never be known; but I gradually gathered +the main facts, partly from the doctor's confederates, partly from +some of his victims. + +Dr. Randall, posing as a nerve specialist, and fully qualified to do so, +had lived a double life. As a doctor he was respected and was fairly +successful; as the head and organizer of a small army of miscreants he +had been eminent for years. + +Under the guise of a respectable boarding-house, No. 5 had been used +as the headquarters of the gang, and the operations had been so +widespread, so all-embracing in the field of crime, that after the +raid many mysteries which the police had failed to unravel were +credited to Randall. Many of these he could have had nothing to do +with, but he had quite enough to answer for. He seems to have +exercised a kind of terrorism over his subordinates, or he would +surely have been betrayed before. + +Exactly at what point my investigations had jeopardized his secret I +could not find out, but he evidently thought it was in danger, and +believing Quarles was responsible, he determined to get rid of him. + +I was told that he had made two attempts upon his life before the night +he was introduced to him in the Temple. That night Quarles was followed +when he left the Temple, and, as we know, was shot at in Savoy Street. + +This attempt failing, the doctor, who had already asked Quarles to dinner +on the following night as an extra precaution, determined to use a method +which had already proved successful. + +Quarles's enthusiasm for psychological research could hardly fail to +tempt him into the trap. + +No. 7 Manleigh Road belonged to a man in the doctor's employment. It had +been prepared for eventualities some time before--probably tragedies had +occurred in the house which had never been heard of. The house agent was +one of the gang, and when, either by mistake or because he could not help +himself without causing undesirable comment, he let the house to the +young married couple, they were frightened away. The house was then let +to Greaves, a man who had become a danger to the doctor, and in due +course he was found dead in his bed. + +Between the fireplace of the haunted room and that of the corresponding +room in No. 5 part of the chimney wall had been removed, so that there +was sufficient space for the ape to get from one room to the other. + +This ape, some four feet in height, was exceedingly powerful and more +than usually imitative, but was not naturally vicious. Any action done in +its presence the animal would be certain to repeat at the first +opportunity; but having done so, it did not repeat it again unless the +action was performed again. The action of strangling a man in his sleep +by means of a cord was performed before the ape, and afterwards the +animal was allowed to steal through the hole in the chimney. The result +was that Greaves was found dead. + +It was intended that Quarles should die in a like manner, and special +pains were taken with the ape to insure success. The action was performed +before the animal in every detail more than once, and it was kept in +strict confinement until the right moment came. + +The ape was out of my sight, but I chanced to see the imitation in +progress on the Thursday night through the glass, which had unaccountably +been left open for some minutes after it had been tried to see that it +was in working order. I saw only dimly because the imitation was being +done by the light of a single candle, and that shaded as much as +possible, to suggest to the ape the gloomy conditions of the room in +which it was to repeat its lesson. Let into the wall of the room in the +boarding-house there was a glass backing on to the one in the haunted +room. A small handle swung aside the back, which was common to both, and +the looking-glass became a window from one room to the other. + +When he fired Quarles evidently hit the ape. Mad with pain, the animal +dashed back through the hole in the chimney and attacked the doctor, who +was probably taken entirely unawares, as he was looking through the glass +to see what the revolver shot might mean. + +The ape went through its part of the performance, and the doctor fell a +victim to his own diabolical ingenuity. The wounded animal had to be +shot before any one could get near the body. + +Some people have declared that Dr. Randall was a madman, but I think +Quarles' answer hit the truth. + +"Of course, in a sense, all criminals are mad," he said, "but Randall was +the sanest criminal I ever came in contact with." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE DIFFICULTY OF BROTHER PYTHAGORAS + + +Whether it was my statement that criminals had grown cleverer than they +used to be which aroused Quarles's interest so effectually, or whether it +was that success made him thirst for further fields to conquer, I do not +know. I do know, however, that he grew restless if any considerable time +elapsed without my having a clue worthy of his powers. + +As it happened we had two or three cases close together which stretched +his powers to the utmost, and the extremely subtle manner in which he +solved them shows him at his best. + +When I sent him a telegram from Fairtown, merely requesting him to join +me there, I felt certain he would come by the first available train, and +was at the station to meet him. + +"Fine, invigorating air this, Wigan," he remarked. "Is there really a +case for us to deal with, or did you merely telegraph for the purpose of +giving me a holiday?" + +"The case is for you rather than for me. I am still--" + +"Still waiting for something to turn up in the Beverley affair?" he +asked. + +"Were I answering a layman, or even a rival detective, I should look very +wise and talk indefinitely of clues; to you I will admit a blank ten +days, not a forward step in any direction whatever." + +"So you send for me." + +"Upon a different matter altogether," I returned. + +I had come to Fairtown ten days ago on the lookout for a man named +Beverley. His friends were anxious about him, and said they believed he +was suffering from a loss of memory; the police had reason to suspect +that he was implicated in some company-promoting frauds, and thought the +family only wanted to find him to get him out of the country. His people +were certainly not aware that I was looking for him in Fairtown, and I +need not go into the reasons which made me expect to run my quarry to +earth in this particular spot; they were sound ones, or I should not have +spent ten days on the job. + +To describe Fairtown would be superfluous. Every one knows this popular +seaside resort. This year, I believe for the first time, a large tent had +been erected behind the sea-baths building, which was occupied each week +by a different company of entertainers. In my second week a troupe of +pierrots was there, the "Classical P's," they were called, and hearing +from some one in the hotel that they were quite out of the ordinary, I +went on the Thursday evening. At the opening of the performance the +leader of the troupe announced that Brother Pythagoras, after the +performance on the previous evening, had been obliged to go to town, and +unfortunately had not yet returned, so they would be without his services +that night. There was some disappointment; he had a charming tenor voice, +my neighbor told me. The full troupe numbered six, described on the +program as Brothers Pluto, Pompey, and Pythagoras, and Sisters Psyche, +Pomona, and Penelope; that night, of course, they were only five, but the +entertainment was excellent. + +Sister Pomona was altogether an exceptional pianist, her interpretation +of items by Schumann and Mendelssohn being little short of a revelation. +She was pretty, too, and her scarlet dress with its white pompons, and +her pierrot's hat to match, suited her to perfection. + +I was amongst the last left in the tent after the performance, partly +owing to the position of my seat, partly, at least so Zena would have it +later, and I did not contradict her, because I was lingering in the hope +of getting another glimpse of Pomona. As I moved toward the exit there +came a short scream, a terrified scream it seemed to me, from behind the +stage. I turned back and waited, and in a minute or two Brother Pluto +came from behind the curtains. + +"Are you a doctor?" he asked. + +"No, but--" + +"I am a doctor," said a voice behind me. + +I was not invited, but I followed the doctor. The space available for +the artistes was very small. There was little more than passageway +between the tent wall and the stage built up some three feet from the +ground, and we had to step over the various paraphernalia which was +necessary for the performance. What had happened was this. A projecting +piece of woodwork had caught Pomona's dress as she passed, tearing off +one of the white pompons, which had rolled underneath the platform. She +saw it, as she supposed, lying in a dark corner, and stooped to reach +it. What she had caught sight of, and what she caught hold of, was a +man's hand, a cold hand. Brothers Pluto and Pompey were beside her a +moment afterwards, and had dragged a body from under the stage. It was +Brother Pythagoras, the performer who was supposed to have gone to +London on the previous night. He was dressed in his pierrot costume, +but had been dead some hours, the doctor said, death being due to a blow +on the head, from a stick, probably. + +I told the story to Quarles as we walked to the hotel. + +"Does the doctor suggest an accident?" he asked. + +"No." + +"How long, in his opinion, had the man been dead?" + +"Some hours." + +"Twenty-four?" + +"I particularly asked that question," I answered. "He thought death had +taken place that day." + +"It may be an interesting case," said Quarles doubtfully. "I suppose I +can see the body." + +"I have arranged that." + +"Who are these brothers and sisters?" + +"Pluto and Psyche are husband and wife, a Mr. and Mrs. Watson. She is a +Colonial, and he has been in the Colonies for a year or two. It is their +second season of entertaining in this country. Pompey, whose name is +Smith, and Penelope, otherwise Miss Travers, have been with them from the +first. Pomona, otherwise Miss Day, only joined them this season, and is +evidently a lady. The dead man, Henley by name, joined them after the +season had commenced, taking the place of a man who fell ill. He has been +very reticent about himself." + +"According to Watson, I suppose?" said Quarles. + +"They were all agreed upon that point," I answered. + +"On what points were they not agreed?" Quarles asked quickly. + +"Well, although they all spoke in the warmest terms of their comrade, it +struck me they were not all so fond of him as they made out." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"The way they looked at the dead man. Naturally, I was watching them +rather keenly as the doctor made his examination." + +"That is rather an interesting idea, Wigan, and has possibilities in it; +still, a murdered man is not a pleasant sight, and the artistic +temperament must be taken into consideration." + +We went to the mortuary that afternoon. The dead man was still in the +pierrot's dress--I had arranged this should be so, wishing to afford the +professor every facility in his investigation. He was more interested in +the dress than in the man, examining it very carefully with his lens. The +stockings and shoes came in for close inspection, also the comical +pierrot's hat, which he fitted to the dead man's head for a moment. + +"Had he his hat on when he was pulled from under the platform?" he asked. + +"No. It was found after the doctor's examination, close to where the body +had been." + +"Who found it?" + +"Watson--Brother Pluto." + +"Who first thought of looking for it?" Quarles asked. + +"I think Watson just stooped down and saw it. He would naturally think of +it, since it was part of the dress." + +The professor nodded, as if the explanation satisfied him. Then he looked +at the head, neck, and hands. + +"He was a singer, you say?" + +"Yes--a tenor." + +"What instrument did he play?" + +"I don't know." + +"Ah, a sad end. Henley, you say his name was--I see there is 'H' marked +in pencil in his hat." + +"He called himself Henley," I answered; "it may not have been his real +name. As I said, his companions know very little about him." + +"So his friends, if he has any, cannot be advised of the tragedy. This +company of mummers is alone in its mourning for him. I should like to +examine this hat more closely, Wigan. Can I take it away with me?" + +I arranged for him to do so, and we went back to the hotel. + +"Do you find it an interesting case, Professor?" I asked. + +"It certainly presents some difficulties which are interesting. The clue +may lie in Henley's unknown past, and that might be a difficulty not to +be overcome; or we may find the clue in jealousy." + +"You surely are not thinking that--" + +"Oh, I have not got so far as suspecting Watson or any of his +companions," said Quarles, "but certain facts force us to keep an open +mind, Wigan. To begin with, there was apparently no struggle before +death. The blow was not so severe that a comparatively weak arm might not +have delivered it, a woman's, for the sake of argument. We may, +therefore, deduct two theories at once. He probably had no suspicion or +fear of the person in whose company he was, and I think the doctor will +endorse our statement if we affirm that he was not in a healthy +condition. Personally, I should credit Henley with a fairly rapid past, +which may account for his companions not looking upon the body with any +particular kindness, as you noticed." + +"You seem to have built more on that idea of mine than I +intended," I said. + +"I have built nothing at all on it," he answered. "I argue entirely from +the appearance of the dead man. Another point. I looked for some sign +that the dress had been put on after the man was dead. The signs all +point to an opposite conclusion." + +"The dress puzzles me," I said. + +"Of course, if the doctor were not so certain that death had occurred +during the day, we might place the murder at some time on the previous +night, after the performance, when Henley would naturally be in his +pierrot's dress, but why should he put it on during the day. There was no +rehearsal, I suppose?" + +"Nothing was said about it; besides, Henley was supposed to be in town." + +"Yes, I know. That is one of our difficulties. I take it that +neither Watson nor any of his company have offered any explanation +of the tragedy?" + +"I believe not. I saw the local inspector this morning, and he said +nothing further had transpired, nor had any clue been found amongst the +dead man's effects. Of course, if his companions had any guilty knowledge +they would have made some explanation." + +"Why?" + +"To mislead us." + +"My dear Wigan, there are times when you jump as far to a conclusion +as a woman." + +"I am arguing from a somewhat ripe experience," I retorted +somewhat hotly. + +"Strengthened by an interest in Sister Pomona, eh? Something of the +old-fashioned school lingers about you, which is picturesque but always a +handicap in these days. The methods of crime have changed just as the +methods of other enterprises have changed. Your bungling villain has no +chance nowadays; to succeed a criminal must be an artist, a scientist +even, and he does not fall into the error of accusing himself by +excusing himself. And since increased knowledge tends to simplify those +explanations with which we have sought to explain away difficulties in +the past, I think we shall be wise to apply modern methods to any +difficulty with which we are confronted." + +Naturally, I argued the point, endeavoring to justify myself, and in the +process we nearly quarreled. + +That night we went to the entertainment. It was an exceedingly full +house, showing the commercial wisdom of the proprietors of the sea-baths +in not canceling the engagement. The verve and go in the performance +astonished me. One would not have supposed that a tragedy had happened in +this little company of players. I felt that they ought to be horribly +conscious of the ghastly thing which had been found under that platform +only a few hours since. I said something of the kind to Quarles. + +"Don't forget the artistic temperament," he answered. + +"Surely it would be the very temperament to be influenced," I said. + +"Presently we shall find out, perhaps," he whispered as Sister Pomona +went to the piano. + +It was Chopin she played to-night, and Quarles, who had been more +interested in her than in the rest of the company, immediately lost +himself in the music. He applauded as vociferously as any one in the +audience, and after the performance would talk of nothing but music. It +pleased him to become learned on harmony and counterpoint; at least, I +suppose it was learned; I could not understand him. + +I had suggested that he should make the acquaintance of the pierrots as +soon as the curtain was down, but this he would not do. + +"To-morrow will be time enough; besides, I want to see them with the +paint off." + +We called on them on the following morning. They had rooms in a quiet +street in Fairtown. The landlady was accustomed to have strolling +companies as lodgers, and evidently had the knack of making them +comfortable. Quarles had a word or two with her before seeing her +visitors, and learnt that they were the nicest and quietest people +she had ever had. The poor gentleman who was dead was the quietest of +the company. + +"Perhaps he was in love," laughed Canaries. + +"I shouldn't be surprised," the landlady answered. + +"With whom?" + +"He seemed to spend most of his time looking at Miss Day when he +didn't think she would notice him. I don't wonder. She is well worth +looking at." + +"Admiration is not necessarily love," remarked the professor. "By the +way, have you been to the mortuary to see the body?" + +"Me!" exclaimed the landlady in horror. "No. I am not one of those +who take a morbid pleasure in that kind of thing. Nothing would +induce me to go." + +"Very sensible of you," Quarles said. + +We were then taken to the Watsons' sitting-room, and I explained the +reason of our call, speaking of Quarles as a brother detective. He did +not at once act up to his part. Mr. and Mrs. Watson were alone when we +first entered, but the others joined us almost at once, and I fancy they +were prepared for a visit from me; the local inspector may have said it +was likely. Quarles began to talk of music, and judging by Miss Day's +interest I concluded that he knew what he was talking about; in fact, all +of them were immensely interested in the old man, and for at least half +an hour the real reason of our being there was not mentioned. + +"Bach, no, I am not an admirer of Bach," said the professor, in answer to +a question from Miss Day. "Bad taste, no doubt, but I always think +musical opinion is particularly difficult to follow. By the way, I +suppose Mr. Henley played some instrument?" + +The sudden question seemed to change the whole atmosphere. Watson, I +fancy, had been ready to enter upon a defense of Shaw, and Miss Day to +convert Quarles to Bach worship; in fact, I firmly believe that every one +except myself had forgotten all about the dead man until that moment. + +"Why do you ask!" Watson inquired after a pause. + +"You are such a musical set, it would be strange if one of your company +could not play any instrument at all. I am told he sang tenor songs, and +was wondering whether that was all he could do." + +"As a fact he played the banjo and the guitar," said Watson, "but he has +not done so in Fairtown. The people here are high-class people, and we +have to vary our performance to suit our audiences. At Brighton, where we +go next week, Henley's banjo playing might have been the most popular +item on the program." + +"I can understand that. You know very little about Mr. Henley, I am +told," and he waved his hand in my direction to show where he had got his +information. + +"Very little," Watson replied. "He told us he had no relations, and he +received very few letters, which seemed to be from agents and business +people. I did not question him very closely when he applied to me. I +judged that he was down on his luck, but he fitted my requirements, and +my wife was favorably impressed with him." + +"And you have no reason to regret taking him into your company?" + +"On the contrary, he proved a great acquisition, a far better man than +the one whose place he took." + +"That is not quite what I meant," said Quarles. "Companies of +entertainers vary, not only in ability, but in individual tastes, in +personnel. By engaging Mr. Henley you were obliged to admit him into your +private circle, and I imagine--" + +"That is what I meant by saying my wife approved of him," said Watson. "I +wouldn't engage the finest tenor in the world unless he were a decent +fellow. It wouldn't be fair to the rest of us." + +Quarles nodded his appreciation of such an attitude. + +"Of course, as long as he behaves decently I am satisfied," Watson went +on. "I don't make my enquiries too particular. For instance, I shouldn't +bar a man because he had got into trouble." + +"Have you any reason to suppose that Henley had done so?" Quarles asked. +"That might account for his mysterious death." + +"I have no such suspicion," Watson answered; "indeed, he was not that +kind of man. It is my way--my clumsy way of explaining what I mean by +decent. Many a decent man has seen the inside of a prison. By being there +he pays his debt, and afterwards, in common justice, he should be free, +really free, free from his fellow-man's contempt." + +"You have started my husband on his pet hobby," laughed Mrs. Watson. "He +always declares that our prisons hold some of the best men in the world." + +"Some of the strongest and most potential," corrected her husband. + +"I am inclined to agree with him," said Quarles. + +"But I am taking up your time and not asking the one or two +questions I came especially to ask. You dress for the performance in +the tent, I suppose?" + +"The men do. The ladies dress here and go down with cloaks over their +costumes." + +Quarles undid a small brown paper parcel--I had wondered what he had +brought with him--and produced the pierrot's hat. + +"That is Henley's, I suppose?" + +Watson looked at it. + +"Undoubtedly. There is an 'H' in it, you see. We all put our initial in +like that so that we should know our own." + +"Now, can you suggest why Henley was wearing his dress?" asked Quarles. + +"That has puzzled us all," Watson answered. "I am inclined to think the +doctor is wrong as regards the time he had been dead. The last we saw of +Henley was when we left the tent that night. He was not coming back with +us, he was going straight to the station. He was a long time changing, +and I told him he would have to hurry to catch his train." + +"Is there such a late train up?" + +"Only during the summer." + +"And none of you went down to the tent until the evening of the +next day?" + +They all replied in the negative. + +"We are perhaps fortunate in being able to substantiate the denial," said +Watson. "We all drove to Craybourne and spent the day there, starting +soon after ten and not getting back until six." + +"And in the ordinary way Henley would have gone with you?" + +"Certainly. It was only just before the performance that evening that he +announced his journey to town. He said it was a matter of business." + +"One more question," said Quarles, "a delicate one, but you will forgive +it because you are as desirous of clearing up this mystery as any one. +Have you any reason to suppose poor Henley was in love?" + +"I have no reason to think so," said Watson. + +"Nor you, Miss Travers?" said Quarles, turning to Sister Penelope. + +"He certainly was not in love with me." + +"I ask the question just to clear the ground," said the professor after a +short pause, and rising as he spoke. "The man whose place Henley took +might have fallen in love with one of you young ladies, and if he thought +Henley had supplanted him he might have taken a mad revenge. Such things +do happen." + +"There was nothing of that sort," said Mrs. Watson. "Russell, that was +the other man, has gone on a voyage for his health. Only a week ago I had +a picture postcard from him from a port in South America." + +"That absolutely squashes the very germ of the theory," said the +professor with a smile. "Sometime I hope to enjoy your charming +entertainment again, and to hear you play, Miss Day. I hope it won't be +Bach. Good-by." + +As we walked back to the hotel I asked Quarles why he had not suggested +that Henley might be in love with Miss Day instead of Miss Travers. + +"My dear Wigan, you have yourself said she is undoubtedly a lady. Can +you imagine her allowing a man like the dead man to have anything to do +with her?" + +"Circumstances have thrown them into each other's company," I answered. +"In such a small circle she could hardly avoid him." + +"I am inclined to think the company will get on better without him," +he answered. + +To my astonishment the professor insisted on going back to town that +afternoon. No, he was not giving up the case, but he wanted to be in +Chelsea to think it out, and to see if Zena had got any foolish questions +to ask. This was Saturday, and on Monday I received a telegram from him, +requesting me to come to town. It was important. Of course I went, and +the three of us adjourned to the empty room. + +"I am sorry to bring you off the Beverley affair, Wigan, but I think we +ought to settle this pierrot business." + +"Then you have formed a theory?" + +"Oh, yes, and it is for you to prove whether I am right or wrong. If my +theory be correct, it is rather a simple case, although it appears +complicated. We will accept the doctor's statement that the man had been +murdered that day, and not on the previous night. He was done to death, +therefore, during the morning probably, when for some reason he had +visited the tent, and for some reason had put on his pierrot's dress. +Watson is inclined to think that the doctor is wrong as regards time, but +we may dismiss his opinion. The dead man's face had no make-up on it; had +the murder been committed on the previous night before he had got out of +his costume, the grease paint would have been still on him." + +"I think that conclusion is open to argument," I said. + +"I base the conclusion rather on the doctor's opinion than on the +paint," said Quarles. "Now, it seems to follow that Henley's tale about +being called to town was false, was apparently told for the purpose of +getting out of the excursion with his comrades; and we may fairly assume +that his visit to the tent was for some purpose which he did not want his +companions to know anything about." + +"Why did he put on the dress?" said Zena. + +"That is her persistent question, Wigan, and she also asks another almost +as persistently: Why, in spite of friendly words concerning Henley, +should they look upon the dead body with such repugnance?" + +"You make too much of that idea of mine, as I have said before," I +objected. + +"Let me put it another way," said Quarles. "How was it possible for +them to show so little concern about a comrade they liked! They might +screw themselves up to go through their performance and hide their +sorrow from the public, but in private one would have expected to find +them depressed. I hardly think they showed great sorrow while we were +with them." + +"They did not, certainly." + +"May I say that Watson and Miss Day seemed the least concerned, and even +venture a step further and guess that they were the two who seemed to you +to look upon the dead man with repugnance?" + +I admitted that this was the case, and it was then that Zena, having +heard the whole story from her grandfather, accused me of lingering in +the tent that night for the purpose of seeing Sister Pomona again. + +"Now, two points as we go," said Quarles, interrupting our little +side-spar. "Miss Day volunteered no statement when I talked of love. +Could she have made an unqualified denial I think she would have done so. +I did not ask her a direct question on purpose; I thought she would be +more likely to answer an indirect one. Her silence, I fancy, was the +answer. In view of what the landlady told us, I think we are safe in +assuming that Henley admired her, and that she was aware of the fact. The +second point is Watson's defense of the men who had been in prison, his +hobby, as his wife called it. We will come back to both these points in a +moment. Let us consider the dead man first. The face was evidently that +of a fast liver, not that of a decent man such as Watson spoke of; the +throat and neck were not of the kind one expects in a singer, but, of +course, we must not argue too much from this; the hands showed breed, +certainly, but they had never been used to twang the strings of a banjo +or guitar." + +"But Watson distinctly said--" + +"And the hat with 'H' in it had never fitted the dead man," said Quarles. +"Oh, I remember perfectly what Watson said, and, moreover, I believe I +heard a good many of his thoughts which were not put into words--you can +hear thoughts, you know, only it is with such delicacy that the very idea +of hearing seems too heavy and materialistic to describe the sensation. +Watson said the hat was Henley's, he also said that Henley played these +instruments; but the pierrots all wore hats that fitted, well-made hats, +and for this reason each of them marked his hat, and the skin at the +finger tips of a banjo player always hardens. The dead man was certainly +not Brother Pythagoras, and so far the deduction is simple." + +I made no comment. + +"Now it is obvious since these entertainers agreed that it was the body +of their comrade, they are in a conspiracy to deceive. Why? More than one +complicated reason might be found, but let us remain simple. They knew +who the dead man was, and because of what they knew of him concluded that +their comrade was responsible for his death. Have you any fault to find +with that deduction, Wigan?" + +"I don't think it follows," I said. + +"If they did not know the dead man, if they had nothing to conceal, why +did they allow it to be supposed that the dead man was Henley?" said +Queries. "There would be no object. They were running a risk for nothing. +As it was, their action protected Henley. No one was likely to question +their identification. The dead man would be buried as Henley, and there +would be an end of the matter." + +"But the dead man might be identified by his friends," I said. + +"Evidently they thought it worth while to run that risk, knowing perhaps +that it was not a very great one. Apparently it was not, for up to now no +one has made anxious inquiries for the dead man." + +"But some of the people about the sea-baths and the tent attendants would +know it was not Henley," said Zena. + +"We have evidence that he was a very quiet, reticent man," said Quarles. +"They probably hardly saw him in the daytime, and at night he would have +a painted face, and the fact that he was wearing the dress would go a +long way to convince any one who chanced to see him in the dim light at +the back of the stage that night." + +"And who do you suppose he was?" I asked. + +"We will go back to Watson and Miss Day," said Quarles. "Miss Day was +silent on the question of love, fearful, I take it, that her natural +repugnance to the man might serve to betray the conspiracy. I believe +the conspiracy was formed on the spur of the moment, just before Watson +came from behind the curtains that evening and asked whether you were a +doctor. I should say the dead man had pestered her, and that she was +relieved by his death. I find some confirmation of this in Watson's +attitude. He talks of some of the best men having been in prison, in such +a way, in fact, that his wife hastens to laugh at his hobby, afraid that +he will betray himself. Now he could hardly have been referring to the +dead man; he declared himself that he was not thinking of Henley; I +suggest that he was thinking of himself." + +"And you accused me of jumping to a conclusion!" I exclaimed. + +"I haven't finished yet," answered the professor. "Here is my complete +theory. The dead man knew something of Watson's past, and was holding +that knowledge over him, blackmailing him, in fact, and I think the +company knew it. At the same time he pesters Miss Day with his +attentions, which Henley, more than half in love with Miss Day himself, +resents and determines to rid the troupe of a blackguard. He begins by +pretending some friendship for his victim, and after giving out that he +is going to town, suggests to the dead man that his absence may be an +opportunity for the other to get into Miss Day's good graces. Why should +he not dress up and take his place on the following evening? I have +little doubt that Henley expected him to come to try on the dress that +night after the performance, which would account for his being such a +long time changing. The victim did not come; by the look of him in death +I should say he had not been sober, which would account for his not +coming. Next morning Henley goes to find him, takes him to the tent, not +through the door, which would be fastened probably in some way, but +surreptitiously, through some weak spot in the pegging down very likely." + +"But why should he wait until the man had got into the pierrot's dress +before murdering him?" said Zena. + +"Because, my dear, he hoped the body would not be discovered until +another troupe took possession of the tent. A dead pierrot would be +discovered, and the troupe at Brighton would be communicated with. In the +meanwhile Henley would have warned them, and the same tale would have +been told, and the body been identified as Henley's. There would be no +hue and cry after the murderer. Had it not been for Miss Day's pompon +being torn off, I have no doubt this would have been the course of +events. You will have to travel to Brighton, Wigan, and put one or two +questions to our friend Watson." + +"And who was the man?" I asked. + +"Since no one seems to have missed him I should say he was a man not too +anxious to have inquiries made about him, one careful to cover up his +tracks, perhaps one not altogether unknown in criminal circles, a man of +the type of your Beverley, for instance. By the way, have you ever seen +Beverley?" + +"No." + +"How were you to know him, then?" + +"By the man in whose company he would be." + +"And you have good reasons for expecting to run him to earth at +Fairtown?" + +"Excellent reasons," I answered. + +"Wigan, get some one who knows Beverley to go and look at the dead +pierrot. The result might be interesting." + +It was. Quarles admitted that the idea was a leap in the dark, but he +pointed out that the dead man was the type he imagined Beverley to be. +The fact remains he was right. The dead man was Beverley. And, moreover, +the professor's deduction was right throughout as far as we were able to +verify it. Watson had been in prison, quite deservedly he admitted, but +having paid the debt for his fall, he was facing the world bravely. Then +came Beverley, who knew of the past, and Watson admitted that his death +was a thing that he could not help rejoicing over. He had heard nothing +from Henley, who had no doubt read of the discovery in the paper, and +thought it wiser to obliterate himself altogether. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE TRAGEDY IN DUKE'S MANSIONS + + +I believe Beverley's exit from this life was a relief to his family. +Whether any very strenuous efforts were made to find Henley, I do not +know. Possibly the "Classical P's" are interrogated concerning him from +time to time, for they are still appearing at well-known watering places, +though whether Miss Day is still of the company, I cannot say. + +I quickly forgot all about Henley, being absorbed in a new case, which +created considerable attention. At the outset it brought me in contact +with rather a fascinating character, a man whose personality sticks in +your memory. + +He was an Italian by birth, cosmopolitan by circumstances, and by nature +something of an artist. Fate had ordained that he should be man-servant +to an English M.P.; he would have looked more at home in a Florentine +studio or in a Tuscany vineyard, but then Fate is responsible for many +incongruities. + +In well-chosen words, and in dramatic fashion, he drew the picture for +me. + +"The little dinner was over," he said, using his hands to illustrate his +speech. "I had removed everything but the wine. It had not been a merry +party, no; it was all business, I think, and serious. When I enter the +room to bring this or take that, they pause, say something of no +consequence--evidently I am not to hear anything of what they are +talking. They talk English, though only my master was English. One of his +guests was German, the other a countryman of my own, but not of Tuscany, +no, I think of the South. So there was only the wine on the table, and +cigars, and the silver box of cigarettes. My master had in his hand a +sheet of paper, and the German had taken a map from his pocket, and my +countryman was laughing at something which amused him. I can see it all +just as it was." + +He paused, closed his eyes, as if he would impress for ever on his memory +what he had seen. + +"And now--this," he said, throwing out his arms. "This, and not two hours +afterwards." + +This was certainly tragic enough. A shaded electric light hanging over +the table left the corners of the room in shadow. The wine, the cigars, +the silver cigarette box were still on the table, the smoke was heavy in +the atmosphere. A tray contained cigar and cigarette ends. On either side +of the table was a chair pushed back as it would be by a man rising from +it. At the end was a chair, with arms, also pushed back a little, but it +was not empty. In it was a man in evening dress, leaning back, his head +fallen a little to one side, his arms hanging loosely. But for the arms +of the chair he would have fallen to the floor. He was dead. How he had +died was uncertain. A casual examination told nothing, and I had not +moved him. I had arrived first and was expecting the doctor every moment. +I happened to be in my office when the telephone message came through +that Arthur Bridwell, M.P., had been found dead under suspicious +circumstances in his flat at Duke's Mansions, Knightsbridge. I went there +at once and found a constable in possession. It was barely half-past +nine now, and the Italian manservant said he had last seen his master +alive at seven o'clock. + +"He dined early to-night?" I said. + +"Yes, at six. He was going to the House afterwards. It was important, I +heard him say so to his guests." + +"And you went out at seven?" + +"About seven. It is my custom to go for a walk after serving my master," +was the answer. "I came back just before nine. I looked into this room, +not expecting to find any one here, but to put the wine away and take the +glasses, and I find this. I have moved nothing, I have touched nothing. I +called to the porter, and he fetched the police, and the policeman used +the telephone to call you." + +The Italian, whose name was Masini, was the only servant. Duke's +Mansions, as you probably know, is a set of flats, varying in +accommodation, with a central service. There is a general dining-room, +and there are smoking rooms and lounges which all the tenants may use; +or meals are served in the various flats from the central kitchen. +To-night Mr. Bridwell had had dinner served for three at an early hour +in his flat. + +The telephone was in the corner of the room, and I was going to it to +call up Christopher Quarles, convinced this was a case in which I should +need all the assistance I could get, when the telephone bell rang. + +"Hallo!" I said. "Who's that?" + +"I left my bag on the Chesterfield," came the answer. "Better not send +it. Keep it until I come again." + +"When?" I asked. + +There was a pause. + +"Is that you, Arthur?" came the question. + +"About the bag," I said, then paused. "Are you there?" + +No answer. My voice had evidently betrayed me. The woman at the other +end had discovered that she was speaking to the wrong man. I looked at +the Chesterfield. There was no bag of any kind upon it now. Then I +telephoned to Quarles, telling him there was a mysterious case for him to +investigate. + +"Had your master any other visitors to-day?" I asked casually, turning +to Masini. + +"Not to my knowledge. All the afternoon I was out." + +"Where were you?" + +"Out for my master. I took a parcel to a gentleman at Harrow." + +"To whom?" + +"It was to a Mr. Fisher. It was a small parcel, a big letter rather, for +it was in an envelope that--that size. There was no answer. I just told +my master that Mr. Fisher said it was all right." + +"So Mr. Bridwell might have had visitors while you were out?" + +"Certainly." + +"Did he have many visitors as a rule?" + +"Sometimes from what you call his constituency." + +"Any ladies?" + +"Ah, no, signore; my master was of the other kind. He did not like the +vote for women." + +"And you say you have moved nothing in this room?" + +"Nothing at all." + +Quarles arrived soon after the doctor had begun to examine the dead man, +so I could not then give him the particulars as far as I knew them. It +chanced that the doctor, a youngish man, was acquainted with the +professor, and was quite ready to listen to his suggestions. + +"What do you make of it, Professor?" he asked. + +"Is it poison!" said Quarles interrogatively. + +The doctor had already examined the glasses on the table. + +"I can find no signs of poison," he said. "And two hours ago the man +was alive." + +"That is according to the servant," I said. Masini was not in the room at +this time. + +"There is no reason to doubt the statement, is there?" the doctor asked. + +"No, but we have not yet corroborated it," I returned. + +Quarles was already busy with his lens examining the dead man's +shirt front. + +"You, have begun trying to find out who killed him before I have +pronounced upon the cause of death," said the doctor. "I am inclined to +think it is poison, but--" + +"He didn't inject a drug, I suppose!" said Quarles. + +"Not in his arm, you can look and satisfy yourself on that point. It is +just possible that he made an injection through his clothes. It requires +a more careful investigation than I can make to-night before I can give a +decided opinion." + +"Quite so, but you do not mind my looking at the body rather closely? A +little thing so often tells a big story, and the little things are +sometimes difficult to find once the body has been moved." + +The doctor watched Quarles's close investigation with some amusement. The +shirt front came in for a lot of attention, and the collar was examined +right round to the back of the neck. It was a long time before Quarles +stood erect and put the lens in his pocket. I got the impression that he +had prolonged the investigation for the purpose of impressing the doctor. + +"It would be virulent poison which would kill a man so quickly and while +he sat in his chair," Quarles said reflectively. + +"It would, indeed," the doctor returned. + +"You have formed no idea what the poison was?" + +"Not yet." + +"No hypodermic syringe has been found, I suppose?" said Quarles, +turning to me. + +"No." + +"You see, doctor," he went on, "if the glasses there show no evidence of +poison, and nothing has been moved, and you decide that poison was the +cause of death, one might jump to the conclusion that it had been +self-administered with a syringe; that is why I ask about a syringe." + +"There are such things as tablets," said the doctor, "or the poison may +have been in the food he has eaten to-night." + +"Exactly," Quarles snapped irritably. + +The doctor smiled; he had certainly scored a point and was +evidently pleased. + +"Besides, Professor, you are a little previous with your questions. This +isn't the inquest, you know; we haven't got through the post-mortem yet." + +"I generally form an opinion before the inquest," said Quarles as he +looked at each glass in turn and stirred the contents of the ash-tray +with a match. + +"You must often make mistakes," remarked the doctor. "I propose having +the body moved to the bedroom; there is nothing else you would like to +look at before I do so?" + +"Thanks, doctor, nothing," said Quarles with a smile which showed that he +had recovered his lost temper. + +After the removal of the body the doctor departed, fully convinced, I +believe, that the professor was a much overrated person. + +"Well, Wigan, shall I tell you what the result of the post-mortem is +likely to be?" said Quarles. + +"If you can. Remember you have not heard what I have to say yet." + +"No sign of poison will be found. No sign of violence will be discovered +anywhere upon the body. Sudden heart failure--that will be apparent. The +cause obscure. Organs seemingly healthy; no discernible disease. Muscular +failure. Death from natural causes. A case interesting to the medical +world, perhaps, but with no suggestion of foul play about it. Now let me +have your tale." + +"But surely you--" + +"I assure you I have formed no definite theory yet. How can I until I +have your story!" + +I repeated what Masini had told me, and I told him about the +telephone message. + +"It was a woman. You are quite sure it was a woman?" + +"Quite certain." + +He went to the telephone. + +"There is a directory here, I see; did you touch it?" + +"No." + +"It wasn't open?" + +"It was just as you see it now." + +He took a piece of paper and made one or two notes. + +"I imagine that particular call would be difficult to trace," he said. +"Duke's Mansions has a number, and from the office in the building the +particular flat required is switched on. There must have been scores of +calls during the evening. I don't remember anything particular about +Arthur Bridwell's parliamentary career, do you?" + +"No, beyond the fact that he is Member for one of the divisions +of Sussex." + +Quarles looked slowly round the room. + +"A bag," he mused; "one of those small chain or leather affairs which +women carry, I suppose; a purse in it, a handkerchief, perhaps a letter +or two. Bridwell would see it in all probability after the lady had +left, and he would--he would put it on a side table or slip it into a +drawer out of the way. Shall we just have Masini in and ask him a +question or two?" + +Instead of questioning the Italian the professor got him to repeat the +story as he had told it to me. It was exactly the same account. + +"You know nothing about these two visitors?" + +"Nothing, signore. I had never seen them before, but I should know +them again." + +"No names were mentioned in your presence?" + +"No." + +"Have you ever taken parcels to this Mr. Fisher before?" asked Quarles. + +"Never." + +"Was the parcel hard; something of metal or leather?" + +"Oh, no, signore; it was papers only." + +"And you saw Mr. Fisher?" + +"Yes." + +"What was he like? Was he English?" + +Masini said he was, and gave a description which might have fitted any +ten men out of the first dozen encountered in the street. He also +described the two visitors, but the portraits drawn were not startling. + +"What did Mr. Fisher say when you gave him the packet? What were his +exact words, I mean?" + +"He said: 'All right, tell Mr. Bridwell I shall start at once'." + +"How long have you been in Mr. Bridwell's service?" + +"Three years," was the answer. "He was traveling in Italy, and I +was a waiter in an hotel at Pisa. He liked me and made me an offer, +and I became his servant. I have traveled much with him in all +parts of Europe." + +"Are you sure you never saw either of the men who dined here to-night +while you were traveling with your master in Italy?" + +"I am sure, but on oath--it would be difficult to take an oath. His +friends were of a different kind. My master was writing a book on Italy; +he is still at work on it. Ah, signore, I should say he was at work on +it. Shall I show you his papers in the other room?" + +The voluminous manuscripts proved that Bridwell was engaged upon a +monumental work dealing with the Italian Renaissance. + +"Most interesting," said Quarles. "I should like to sit down at once and +spend hours with it. This is valuable. Mr. Bridwell's business man ought +to take charge of these papers. Do you know the name of his solicitors?" + +"Mr. Standish, in Hanover Square," Masini answered. + +The Italian declared he knew nothing about a lady's bag, and we searched +for it in vain. Then Quarles and I interviewed the hall porter. He knew +that Bridwell had had two gentlemen to dine with him that evening, but he +had not taken any particular notice of them. They left soon after eight, +he said. He corroborated the Italian's statement that he had gone out at +seven, and had returned just before nine. + +"You didn't see a lady go up to Mr. Bridwell's flat?" + +"No, sir, but I was not in the entrance hall at the time from eight to +nine. It is usually a slack time with me." + +"I did not mean then," said Quarles. "I meant at any time during the +day." + +"I do not remember a lady calling on Mr. Bridwell at anytime." + +It was early morning when the professor and I left Duke's Mansions. + +"There are two obvious things to do, Wigan," said Quarles. "First, we +must know something of this man Fisher. I think you should go to Harrow +as soon as possible. Then we want to know something of Bridwell's +parliamentary record. You might get an interview with one or two of his +colleagues, and ask their opinion of him as a public man and as a private +individual. Come to Chelsea to-night. You will probably have raked up a +good many facts by then, and we may find the right road to pursue. I will +also make an inquiry or two. At present I confess to being puzzled." + +"You told the doctor that you usually formed an opinion before the +inquest," I reminded him with a smile. + +"And he immediately talked of tablets and poisoned foods, and looked +horribly superior. He is a young man, and I knew his father, who once did +me a good turn. I shall have to repay the debt and prevent the son making +a fool of himself." + +"You have no doubt that it was murder?" I asked. + +"Why, you told me it was yourself when you rang me up on the 'phone," +he answered. + +As had often happened before, Quarles's manner of shutting me up annoyed +me, but when you have to deal with an eccentric it is no use expecting +him to travel in an ordinary orbit. + +To obviate unnecessary repetition I shall give the result of my +inquiries as I related it to Quarles and Zena when I went to Chelsea +that night. + +"You look satisfied and successful, Wigan," said the professor. + +"I am both," I answered. "Whether we shall catch the actual criminal is +another matter. We may at least lay our hands on one of his accomplices. +Will it surprise you to learn that I am having the Italian Masini +carefully watched?" + +"It is a wise precaution." + +"I am inclined to adopt the method you do sometimes, professor, and begin +at the end," I went on. "First, as regards Mr. Bridwell's parliamentary +friends and acquaintances, and his political career. Although he is a +Member whose voice is not often heard in the House, his intimate +knowledge of Europe, its general history and politics, gives him +importance. He is constantly consulted by the Government, and his opinion +is always considered valuable. His colleagues are unanimous on this +point, and generally he seems to be respected." + +"But the respect is not unanimous, you mean?" + +"It is not." + +"And in his private life?" + +"I have not found any one who was intimate with him in private." + +"I see; kept politics and his private life entirely separate," +said Quarles. + +"I am not prepared to say that," I answered. "I have not had time to hunt +up anybody on the private side yet, and I do not think it will be +necessary. One of the men I saw was Reynolds, of the War Office. I was +advised to go and see him, as he was supposed to know Bridwell well. He +did not have much good to say about him. It seems that for some time past +there has been a leakage of War Office secrets, that in some +unaccountable way foreign powers have obtained information, and suspicion +has pointed to Bridwell being concerned. So far as I can gather, nothing +has been actually proved against him, and I pointed out that his intimate +knowledge of European affairs made him rather a marked man. Reynolds, +however, was very definite in his opinion, spoke as if he possessed +knowledge which he could not impart to me. He was not surprised to hear +of Bridwell's death. When I spoke of murder he was rather skeptical, +remarked that in that case Bridwell must have been double-dealing with +his paymasters, and had paid the penalty; but it was far more likely to +be suicide, he thought, and said it was the best thing, the only thing, +in fact, which Bridwell could do. I have no doubt Reynolds knew that some +action had been taken which could not fail to show Bridwell that he was +suspected." + +Quarles nodded, evidently much interested. + +"This view receives confirmation from the movements of Fisher," I went +on. "He left Harrow last night--must have gone almost directly after he +received the packet. He only occupies furnished rooms in Harrow, and the +landlady tells me that during the year he has had them he has often been +away for days and even weeks at a time. Announcing his return, or giving +her some instructions, she has received letters from him from Berlin, +Madrid, Rome, and Vienna. That is significant, Professor." + +"It is. Did she happen to mention any places in England from which she +has heard from him?" + +"Yes, several--York, Oakham, Oxford, and also from Edinburgh." + +"She did not mention any place in Sussex?" + +"No, I think not." + +"It would appear then that Fisher could have had nothing to do with +Bridwell's legitimate political business or he would certainly have +spent some time in the constituency. Well, Wigan, what do you make of +the case?" + +"I think it is fairly clear in its main points," I answered. "Bridwell +has been selling information to foreign powers, and would naturally deal +with the highest bidders. Fisher is a foreign agent, and having received +valuable information yesterday, left England with it at once. The two men +who came to dinner represented some other power, came no doubt by +appointment to receive information, but probably knew that their host was +dealing doubly with them. Bridwell's commercial ingenuity in the matter +has been his undoing, hence his death. Whether Masini was attached to +Fisher, or to the schemes of the other two, it is impossible to say, but +I believe he was an accomplice on one side or the other." + +"I built up a similar theory, Wigan; not with the completeness you have, +of course, because I knew nothing of the suspicions concerning Bridwell, +but when I had made it as complete as I could, I began to pick it to +pieces. It fell into ruins rather easily, and you do not help me to build +it again." + +"It seems to me the main facts cannot be got away from," I said. + +"Zena assisted in the ruining process by saying, 'Cherchez la femme.'" + +"You see, Murray, you do not account for the woman and the bag," +said Zena. + +"They are extraneous incidents belonging to his private life. It is +remarkable how distinct he kept his private from his political life." + +"Very remarkable," Quarles said. "Yet the woman is also a fact, and she +seems to me of the utmost importance. We must account for her, and your +explanation brings me no sense of satisfaction. Let me tell you how I +began to demolish my theory, Wigan. I started with Masini. Now, he seemed +honest to me. He was very ready to repeat Fisher's exact words, and the +very fact of my asking for them would have made him suspicious and put +him on his guard had he possessed any guilty knowledge, whether it +concerned Fisher or the two visitors. Further, had he been in league with +the two visitors and knew they had murdered his master, he would hardly +have been so ready to block suspicion in other directions. He would not +have said his master's visitors came chiefly from his constituency, and +he certainly would not have scouted the idea of a woman caller. He would +have welcomed such a suggestion, fully appreciating how valuable a woman +would be in starting an inquiry on a false trail." + +"But you mustn't attribute to an Italian servant all the subtlety you +might use under similar circumstances," I said. + +"I am showing you how I picked my own theory to pieces," he answered. "I +next considered the visitors. I assumed they were there for an unlawful +purpose--your facts go to show that my assumption was right--and I asked +myself why and how they had murdered Bridwell. If he were a schemer with +them, there would be no need to murder him, no need to silence him; were +he to talk afterwards he would only injure himself, not them. If they +were there to force papers from their host, it seems unlikely that he +would be so unsuspicious of them that he would have asked them to dinner, +and, even if he were, a moment must have come during, or after dinner, +when they must have shown their hand. A man who deals in this kind of +commerce does not easily trust people. Bridwell's suspicions would +certainly have been aroused; he would in some measure, at any rate, have +been prepared, and we should have found some signs of a struggle." + +"I admit the soundness of the argument," I answered. "For my part I +incline to Reynolds' opinion that it was suicide after all." + +"Oh, no; it was murder," said Quarles. + +"A tablet--" I began. + +"I know it was murder," returned the professor sharply, "and the manner +of it has presented the chief difficulty I have found in demolishing my +theory altogether. Bridwell was poisoned by an injection. The hypodermic +needle was inserted under the hair at the back of the head, here in the +soft part of the base of the skull, the hair concealing the small mark it +made. I believe the secret of the poison used is forgotten, but you may +read of it in books relating to the Vatican of old days and concerning +the old families of Italy. I might mention the Borgias particularly. So +you see my difficulty, Wigan. The crime literally reeked of Italy, and we +had two Italians amongst our dramatis personae." + +"A significant fact," I said. + +"Of course I am letting the doctor know of my discovery; that is the good +turn I shall do him. He will be considered quite smart over this affair. +Now consider this point. It would surely have been very difficult, once +the host's suspicions had been aroused, to make the injection without a +struggle on the victim's part." + +"No suspicion may have been aroused," I said. "Masini has told us of a +map. The murderer might have been leaning over his victim examining it." + +"That is true. You pick out the weak point," said Quarles. + +"Even then there would have been some sort of struggle, surely," said +Zena. "The poison can hardly act instantaneously." + +"Practically it does," Quarles answered. "I have read of it, of the +different methods of its administration, and of its results, and no doubt +any one acquainted with old Italian manuscripts would be able to get more +detailed information than I have; but it produces almost instant +paralysis, acts on the nerve centers, and stops the heart's action, +leaving no trace behind it. What straggle there was could be overcome by +the pressure of a man's hand upon the victim's chest, to keep him from +rising from his seat, for instance. I found signs of such a detaining +hand on Bridwell's shirt front. Of course, Wigan, while pulling my theory +to pieces I knew nothing of your facts about Bridwell, but now that I do +know them, the theory is not saved from ruin. Have you ever watched +trains rushing through a great junction--say Clapham Junction?" + +"Yes; often." + +"And haven't you noticed how the lines, crossing and recrossing one +another, seem to be alive, seem to be trying to draw the train to run +upon them, to deviate it from its course, until you almost wonder whether +the train will be able to keep its right road? There seems to be great +confusion; yet we know this is not so. We know those many lines are +mathematically correct. If you want to keep your eye on the main line, +you mustn't be misled by the lines which touch and cross it, which seem +to belong to it, until they suddenly sweep off in another direction. In +this Bridwell affair we have to be careful not to be misled by cross +lines, and I grant there are many. You say the woman is an extraneous +episode; but is she? She left a bag, which is not to be found. Had Masini +known of her existence I do not think he would have denied all knowledge +of her, for the reasons I have already given, and I argue that her visit +to the flat was timed to occur when the servant was out, so that he +should know nothing about her. The hall porter knew nothing; about a lady +visiting the flat at any time, so we must assume the woman was not a +constant visitor. Moreover, we know that she had something to hide, some +secret, or she would not have ceased speaking directly she found she was +addressing a stranger. She probably belonged to Bridwell's private life. +Now Zena says, 'Cherchez la femme,' but there is no need to look for her; +she forces herself upon our notice. We know that Bridwell was alive at +seven o'clock: we know his visitors did not leave him until eight. It is +hardly conceivable that the woman came to the flat after that to commit a +crime, impossible to believe that she would leave her bag there to be +evidence against her, and then telephone about it to a man she knew to be +dead. We may dismiss from our minds any idea that she committed murder." + +"I can see a possibility of immense subtlety on her part," I said. + +"That is to be deceived by a crossing line, which ought not to deceive +you, which leads only into a siding," said Quarles. "We have to remember +that there was a bag, and that it has disappeared" + +"She may have made a mistake and left it somewhere else," said Zena. + +"I think we may be sure it was left there, because she states distinctly +where it was left--on the Chesterfield. There was something in her mind +to fix the place. Moreover, she says, 'Better not send it.' Very +significant, that. Bridwell is to keep it until she comes again. +Therefore there was some person she would not have know of her visit to +the flat, some person who might possibly find out if the bag were +returned. I suggest that person was her husband." + +"I think you have struck the side line," I remarked. + +"Let me continue to build on the private life of Mr. Bridwell," Quarles +went on. "I find a foundation in his literary work--no mean work, +absorbing a great part of his life. There would be constant need to refer +to libraries, to pictures and other works of art, some of them in private +collections. A great deal of this work could be done by an assistant. +Shall we say the name of this assistant was Fisher? I observe you do not +think it likely." + +"I certainly do not." + +"But a secret agent engaged in stealing Government information would +hardly advertise his movements to his landlady; he would surely have been +more secret than that. On the other hand, the places Fisher mentions have +famous libraries and picture galleries. What would a secret agent want at +Oxford? A man bent on research would be going to the Bodleian. Country +seats with famous works of art in their galleries would account for +Fisher's presence in other places mentioned by the landlady." + +"Is it not strange the Italian servant knew nothing about this wonderful +assistant?" I said. + +"No doubt Bridwell usually saw him in town, at his club, or elsewhere, or +communicated with him through the post; but on this occasion Masini was +purposely sent to be out of the way when the lady came. We know there +was some need for secrecy, and I suggest that Bridwell was in love with +another man's wife. In passing, I would point out that the answer Fisher +sent back bears out my idea of the assistantship." + +"It may," I answered. + +"Now Bridwell's work on the Italian Renaissance no doubt has much +information concerning the Vatican, and much to say about the prominent +Italian families. As a student, Bridwell would be likely to know all +about the romances of poisoned bouquets, gloves, prepared sweetmeats, and +the rest of the diabolical cunning which existed." + +"But we know that he didn't kill himself," I said. + +"Exactly. We have to find some one who shared the knowledge with him. Let +me go back to the missing bag for a moment. Since it was on the +Chesterfield, Bridwell must have seen it. What would he do with it? What +would you have done with it, Wigan? I think you would have just put it on +a side table or in a handy drawer; yet it had gone. The fact of its +disappearance stuck in my mind from the first, although I did not at once +see the full significance of it. On the cover of the telephone directory +there were two or three numbers scribbled in pencil; I made a note of +them with the idea that the woman might be traced that way. However, +arguing that a man would be likely to know the telephone number of a +woman he was in love with, and have no necessity to write it down, I took +no trouble in this direction. I went to see Bridwell's solicitor instead. +I led him to suppose that I was interested in the study of the +Renaissance, and asked him if Bridwell had had a companion during his +wanderings in Italy three years ago. For part of the time, at any rate, +he had--a partner rather than a companion, a man named Ormrod--Peter +Ormrod. I knew the name at once, because Ormrod has written many +articles for the reviews, and all of them have been about Italy in the +thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Ormrod's telephone number is 0054 +Croydon, and he is married, and I think it was his wife who spoke to you +over the telephone. My theory is that Ormrod had discovered that his wife +was in love with his friend, and used his knowledge of this poisoning +method, which could not be detected, remember, to be revenged. I think he +came to the flat that evening after Bridwell's guests had gone, perhaps +he expected to find his wife there. I do not think he quarreled with his +false friend. I think he showed great friendliness, talked a little of +the past perhaps; and then, in examining some book or paper, leant over +his friend as he sat at the table, and the deed was done. If the bag was +lying on a side table he saw it and took it away; if it was lying in a +drawer no doubt he found it while he was looking for letters from his +wife to Bridwell, or for her photograph--anything which would connect her +name with Bridwell. Somehow, he found it and took it away. There is no +one else who would be likely to take it." + +This was the solution. It was proved beyond all doubt that Bridwell had +been dealing in Government secrets, and changes had to be made to ensure +that the information he had sold should be useless to the purchasers; but +this crime had nothing to do with his murder. The denouement was rather +startling. When we went to Ormrod's house next day we found that he had +gone. His wife, after fencing with us a little, was perfectly open. She +had arranged to go away with Bridwell and had visited him that day to +talk over final arrangements. It was the first time she had ever been to +the flat. Yesterday, a telegram had come for her husband. He opened it +in her presence, and told her he was going away at once, and for good. +Then he gave her the bag, saying he had found it in Bridwell's rooms on +the previous evening. Bridwell was dead, that was why he was going away. + +The solicitor Standish was a friend of Ormrod's, and after Quarles had +gone had suddenly realized what the inquiry might mean, so had +telegraphed a warning. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE STOLEN AEROPLANE MODEL + + +It was probably on account of the acumen he had shown in solving the +mystery of Arthur Bridwell's death that the government employed Quarles +in the important inquiry concerning a stolen model. For political reasons +nothing got into the papers at the time, but now there is no further need +of secrecy. + +You would have been astonished, I fancy, had you chanced upon us in the +empty room at Chelsea on a certain Friday afternoon. No trio of sane +persons could have looked more futile. On a paper pad the professor was +making odd diagrams which might have represented a cubist's idea of an +aeroplane collision; Zena was looking at her hands as if she had +discovered something new and unfamiliar about them; and I was turning the +leaves of my pocket book, hoping to get an inspiration. + +"The man-servant," said Zena, breaking the silence, which had lasted a +long time. + +"You have said that a dozen times in the last twenty-four hours," Quarles +returned rather shortly, adding after a moment's pause, as if he were +giving us valuable information, "and to-day is Friday." + +"It is simply impossible that the servant should know so little," she +persisted. "His ignorance is too colossal to be genuine. He doesn't know +whether he was attacked by one person or by half-a-dozen; he is not sure +that it wasn't a woman who seized him; he has no idea what his master +kept in the safe or in the cupboard. Well, all I can say is, I do not +believe him." + +I was inclined to agree with her, but in silence I went on looking +through the notes I had made concerning the extraordinary case which +must be solved quickly if the solution were to be of any benefit to +the country. Quarles was also silent, continuing his work as an +amateur cubist. + +He had expressed no definite opinion since the case had come into his +hands, nor had he laughed at any speculation of mine, a sure sign that he +was barren of ideas. I had never known him so reticent. + +It was his case entirely, not mine, and the fact that the government had +considered he was the only man likely to get to the bottom of the mystery +was a recognition of his powers, which pleased him no doubt. Twenty-four +hours had elapsed since he had been put in possession of the facts, and +although they had been spent in tireless energy by both of us--for he had +immediately sent for me--we seemed as far from the truth as ever. + +On the previous Tuesday Lady Chilcot had given a dance in her house in +Mayfair. Her entertainments always had a political flavor, and on this +particular evening her rooms seemed to have been full of conflicting +influences. + +There was considerable political tension at the time, consequent upon one +of those periodical disturbances in the Balkans, and people remarked upon +the coolness between the Minister for War and certain ambassadors who +were all present at Lady Chilcot's. + +Imagination may have had something to do with this conclusion, but two +apparently trivial incidents assumed importance as regards the case in +hand. The Silesian ambassador was seen in very earnest conversation with +a young man attached to the Silesian Embassy; and the Minister of War +had buttonholed young Lanning. + +Of course, we did not know what the Silesians had talked about, but to +Lanning the minister had remarked that, in view of the political +situation, the experiments which had been witnessed that day might prove +to be of supreme importance. Lanning expressed gratification that the +experiments had been found convincing, and ventured to hope the +government would not delay getting to work. + +With the minister's assurance that the government was keen, Richard +Lanning went to find Barbara Chilcot, Lady Chilcot's daughter, but not to +talk about the Minister of War or about any experiments. He was in love +with her, and had every reason to believe that she liked him. + +She was, however, very cool to him that evening, and sarcastically +inquired why he was not in attendance upon Mademoiselle Duplaix as usual. +She only laughed at his denials, and when he suggested that she should +ask his friend, Perry Nixon, whether there was any ground for her +suspicions, said that when she danced with Mr. Nixon later in the evening +she hoped to find something more interesting to talk about than +Mademoiselle Duplaix. + +Lanning comforted himself with the reflection that if Barbara were +indifferent to him she would have said nothing about Yvonne Duplaix, and +as he had another dance with her at the end of the program hoped to make +his peace then. + +When this dance came, however, he could not find her, and afterwards +discovered that she had sat it out with the young Silesian. He was angry +and felt a little revengeful, but he did not mention Barbara to Perry +Nixon when they left the house together and walked to Piccadilly. + +He left Nixon at the corner of Bond Street and went to his flat in +Jermyn Street. + +He found his man, Winbush, lying on the dining-room floor, gagged and +half unconscious. The safe in his bedroom had been broken open, important +papers had been stolen from it, and a wooden case, which he had locked in +a cupboard there, had been taken away. + +Fully alive to the gravity of the loss, and oblivious of the fact that +neglect would be attributed to him, he immediately telephoned to the +Minister of War. + +Then he 'phoned to Nixon's rooms in Bond Street, and Nixon came round at +once. Up to that time Lanning had said nothing about the experiments to +his friend; now he told him the whole story. + +Richard Lanning belonged to the Army Flying Corps, and was not only a +good airman, but was an authority upon flying machines. For some time +past there had been secret trials of various types of stabilizers, and +one invention, somewhat altered at Lanning's suggestion, had proved so +successful that safety in flight seemed assured in the near future. + +Detailed plans had been prepared, a working model constructed, and only +that afternoon these had been secretly exhibited by Lanning in London to +a few members of the government and some War Office officials. + +Only four men at the works knew anything about the secret, and even their +knowledge was not complete, so it seemed impossible that information +could leak out, yet the plans and the working model had been stolen. + +Of course Lanning was blamed for having them at his flat; he ought to +have taken them back to the works. The fact that this would have meant +missing Lady Chilcot's dance was an added mark against him, and +suggested a neglect of duty. + +Under the circumstances publicity was not desirable, and Christopher +Quarles was asked to solve the mystery. Instructions were telegraphed to +the various ports with a view to preventing the model and the plans being +taken out of the country, and, as I have said, the professor and I +entered upon a strenuous time. + +All our preliminary information naturally came from Lanning, who appeared +quite indifferent to his own position so long as the stolen property was +recovered. + +The man Winbush could throw little light upon the affair. He was in his +own room when he had heard a noise in the passage and supposed his master +had returned earlier than he expected. To make sure, he had gone to the +dining-room, but before he could switch on the light he had been seized +from behind, a pungent smell was in his nostrils, and he was only just +beginning to recover consciousness when his master found him. + +He had not seen his assailants, he could not say how many there were, and +he was inclined to think one of them was a woman, he told Quarles, +because when he first entered the dining-room there was a faint perfume +which suggested a woman's presence. + +"It was like a woman when she is dressed for a party," he said in +explanation. + +He had seen his master bring in the wooden case that afternoon, but he +did not know what it contained. + +As Zena said, it sounded a lame story, but Lanning believed it. Winbush +had been connected with the family all his life, was devoted to him, and +it was not likely he would know what the case contained. Lanning could +only suppose that some man at the works had turned traitor, while Mr. +Nixon gave it as his opinion that either France or Germany had pulled +the strings of the robbery. + +Acting under Quarles's instructions, I had an interview with Miss +Chilcot. She corroborated Lanning's story in every detail so far as she +was concerned, and incidentally I understood there was no more than a +lover's quarrel between them. She had sat out with the young Silesian on +purpose to annoy Richard. Certainly they had talked of aeroplaning; it +was natural, since two days before she had seen some flying at Ranelagh, +but Lanning's name had not been mentioned. Miss Chilcot knew nothing +about the experiments which had taken place, nor was she aware that her +lover was responsible for some of the improvements which had been made in +stabilizers. Rather inconsequently she was annoyed that he had not +confided in her. Miss Chilcot carried with her a faint odor of Parma +violets. Quarles had told me to note particularly whether she used any +kind of perfume. + +I was convinced of two things; first, that she was telling the truth +without concealing anything, and, secondly, that Mr. Lanning was likely +to marry a very charming but rather exacting young woman. When I said so +to Quarles he annoyed me by remarking that some women were capable of +making lies sound much more convincing than the truth. + +I did not attempt to get an interview with Mademoiselle Duplaix, but I +made inquiries concerning her, and had a man watching her movements. + +Apparently she was the daughter of a good French family, and was making a +prolonged stay with the Payne-Kennedys, who moved in very good society. +You may see their name constantly in the _Morning Post_. It was whispered +that they were not above accepting a handsome fee for introducing a +protegee into society, a form of log-rolling which is far more prevalent +than people imagine. Whether the girl's entrance into London society had +been paid for or not I am unable to say, but she had quickly established +herself as a success. It was generally agreed that she was both witty and +charming, the kind of girl men easily run after, but not the sort they +usually marry. + +She had evidently managed to cause dissension in various directions, so +the suggestion that there was something of the adventuress about her +might be nothing more than a spiteful comment. It justified us in keeping +a watch upon her, but I had no definite opinion in the matter, not having +seen the lady, and, as Quarles said, a fascinating foreigner is easily +called an adventuress. + +I also made careful inquiries concerning the young Silesian, and had him +pointed out to me. He had recently come from his own capital, and was +remaining in London only for a short time. He was a relative of the +ambassador, and was not here in any official capacity, it was stated. +This might be true so far as it went, but at the same time he might be +connected with the secret service. + +The professor said very little about his investigations, and I concluded +he had met with no success. He had spent some hours with Lanning at the +works, I knew, but if he had tapped any other sources of information he +did not mention them. + +He was still engaged in his cubist's drawings when the telephone +bell rang. + +"I'll go," he said as Zena jumped up; "I am expecting a message." + +He went into the hall, and when he returned told us that Lanning and +Nixon were on their way to Chelsea. + +"I told them to 'phone me if anything happened," he said. + +"And you expected to hear from them?" I asked. + +"My name is Micawber when I am in a hole, and I wait for something to +turn up. Waiting is occasionally the best way of getting to the end of +the journey. We will hear what they have to say, Wigan, and then we shall +possibly have to get a move on." + +Evidently he had a theory, but he would say nothing about it. He amused +himself by explaining that mechanical action, such as drawing meaningless +lines and curves, as he had been doing, had the effect of giving the +brain freedom to think, and declared that it was during times of this +sort of freedom that inspiration most usually came. + +He was still engrossed with the subject when Lanning and Nixon arrived. + +Quarles introduced them to Zena, saying that she always helped him in his +investigations. + +"Oh, no, not as a clairvoyant," he said with a smile as both men looked +astonished. "She just uses common sense, a very valuable thing in +detective work, I can assure you." + +"Are you any nearer a solution?" Lanning asked. + +"I thought you had come to give me some information," Quarles returned. + +"I have, but--" + +"Sit down, then, and to business. I am still wanting facts, which are +more useful than all my theories." + +"Mademoiselle Duplaix telephoned to me this morning," said Lanning. "A +man called on her to-day, a mysterious foreigner. He gave no name, but +she thinks he was a Silesian, although he spoke perfect French. He talked +to her in French, his English being of a fragmentary kind. He asked her +to give him the plans of the new aeroplane. You can imagine her surprise. +When she said she had got no plans he expressed great astonishment and +plunged into the whole story of how I had been robbed. Until that moment +Mademoiselle knew nothing of what had happened in my flat, but this +foreigner had evidently got hold of the whole story." + +"Who had told him to call upon her?" Quarles asked. + +"In the course of an excited narrative he mentioned two or three names +entirely unknown to her, but the man seemed to think that I should have +sent her the plans." + +"Very curious," Quarles remarked. + +"He then became apologetic," Lanning went on, "but all the same left the +impression that he did not believe her; in fact, she describes his +attitude as rather threatening. It wasn't until after he had gone that +she thought she ought to have him followed, and then it was too late. He +was out of the street. Probably he had a motor waiting for him. Then she +telephoned to me, but I was out, and have only just received her message. +What do you make of it?" + +"It gives a new turn to the affair," said Quarles reflectively. "It +leaves an unpleasant doubt whether Mademoiselle Duplaix is as innocent as +she ought to be, doesn't it?" + +"I don't think so." + +"Would she have telephoned to Lanning if she were guilty?" said Nixon. + +"My experience is that where women are concerned it is very difficult to +tell what line of action will be followed. Women are distinctly more +subtle than men." + +Then after a pause the professor went on: "It is difficult to understand +how this foreigner could have made such a mistake. You have told us, Mr. +Lanning, that there is nothing between you and this lady, but Miss +Chilcot had her suspicions, remember, which suggests that, without +intending to do so, you have paid her attentions which other people have +misunderstood. Now, do you think you have given Mademoiselle Duplaix a +wrong impression, made her believe, in short, that you cared for her, and +so caused her to be jealous and perhaps inclined to be revengeful?" + +"I am sure I have not." + +"Think well, it is a very important point. For instance, has she ever +given you any keepsake, a glove, a handkerchief, something--some trifle +she was wearing at a dance when--when you flirted with her? Girls do that +kind of thing, so my niece there has told me." + +Zena smiled and made no denial. + +"Nothing of the kind has happened between Mademoiselle and myself," +said Lanning. + +"And yet there seems to be a distinct attempt on some one's part to +implicate you." + +"That is true, and I am quite at a loss to understand it." + +"I have wondered whether it is not a clever device to put us off the +trail," said Nixon. "Your investigations may have led you nearer the +truth than you imagined, Mr. Quarles, and this may be an attempt to set +you off on a wrong scent. It seems such an obvious clue, doesn't it? They +would guess that Lanning would communicate with you." + +"That hardly explains why they went to Mademoiselle Duplaix, does it?" + +"But the fact that she is French may," Nixon answered. "Perhaps I am +prejudiced, but I believe Silesia has pulled the strings of this affair, +and that would be a very good reason for trying to implicate France. It +has occurred to Lanning whether the plot might not be frustrated at the +other end of it, so to speak. Lanning thinks it would be a good idea if +we went to Silesia." + +"What do you think of the idea?" Lanning asked. "I should have our +Embassy there behind me, and I should probably manage to get in touch +with the men who are active in Silesia's secret service. I mentioned it +to my chief this morning, and he thought there was a great deal in it, +but advised a consultation with you first." + +"I think it is a good idea," said Quarles, "and it suggests another one. +I am still a little doubtful about Mademoiselle Duplaix, and I have a +strong impression that she could at least tell us more if she would, but +that she is afraid of hurting you." + +"It is most unlikely." + +"Well, let me put it to the test, Mr. Lanning. Just write--let me see, +how will it be best to word it? 'I am going to Silesia--' By the way, +when will you go?" + +"I thought to-night." + +"It is as well not to waste time," said Quarles. "Then write, 'I am going +to Silesia to-night. I want you to be perfectly open with the bearer of +this note and do whatever he advises. If you would be a true friend to +me, tell him everything.' Put your ordinary signature to it. With that in +my possession I will get to work at once, and if I discover anything of +importance, and it should be necessary to stop your journey, I will meet +your train to-night." + +"It seems like an impertinence," Lanning said as he wrote the note. + +"When there is so much at stake I shouldn't let that worry you," +said Nixon. + +No sooner had they gone than Quarles became alert. + +"Now we move, Wigan. First of all, we have an appointment in Kensington, +at the Blue Lion, near the church, quite a respectable hostelry." + +"Not to meet Mademoiselle Duplaix, surely?" + +"No, she can wait. Respectable as it is, I do not suppose Mademoiselle +frequents the Blue Lion, but we may find there the man who called upon +her this morning." + +We took a taxi to Kensington. Every moment seemed to be bursting with +importance for Quarles now. + +The first person I caught sight of at the Blue Lion was Winbush, +evidently waiting for some one. He recognized us, and Quarles went to +him. + +"You are waiting for Mr. Lanning." + +The man hesitated. + +"I know," Quarles went on, "because I have just left your master. He is +in trouble." + +"In trouble!" + +"Oh, we shall get him out of it all right. There is some mistake. _I_ +have a message for you. Come inside." + +We found a corner to ourselves, and the professor, having ordered drinks, +showed Winbush the note which Lanning had written to Mademoiselle +Duplaix. It was not addressed to her, and was so worded that it might be +meant for any one. Winbush read it and looked at Quarles. + +"While your master is in Silesia I have certain work to do here, and to +do it I must have your complete story," said the professor. "You +appreciate the fact that Mr. Laiming looks upon you as a friend and +wishes you to tell me all you know." + +"I do, sir, only I don't see how my story is going to help him." + +"It is going to help us to put our hand on the man who is really guilty." + +"It has all been very mysterious," said Winbush, "and I have not been +able to understand my master at all. What I have said about hearing a +noise in the passage and being seized before I could switch on the light +in the dining-room is all true, but the stuff which was put into my face +and made me unconscious wasn't there before I had time to call out." + +"You called out, then?" + +"No, I didn't, because the man spoke to me." + +"Oh, it was a man--not a woman?" + +"It was Mr. Lanning himself," said Winbush. + +This was so unexpected that I nearly exclaimed at it, but Quarles just +watched the speaker as if he would make certain that he was telling +nothing but the truth. + +"He spoke quickly and excitedly," Winbush went on. "Said it was necessary +that the flat should appear to have been robbed. I should presently be +discovered bound. I was to say that I had been attacked in the dark and +that I did not know by whom nor by how many. I was not to speak about the +matter to him again under any circumstances, and even if he questioned me +alone or before others I was to stick to my story of utter ignorance. I +had just said that I understood and heard him say that he would probably +question me to prove my faithfulness, when he put the stuff over my mouth +and nose, and I knew no more until he found me there later on." + +"Has he questioned you since?" + +"Not since he first found me lying on the floor. He did then, and I +obeyed his instructions just as I did when you talked to me afterwards." + +"Did he suggest you should say a woman was present?" + +"No, sir." + +"That was a little extra trimming of your own, eh?" + +"No, it was a bit of truth that crept in. I thought a woman was there." + +"By the perfume?" + +"Yes, sir." + +Quarles brought from the depth of a pocket a tissue-paper parcel, from +which he took a handkerchief. + +"Was that the perfume?" + +Winbush smelt it. + +"It may have been. It was the perfume that hangs about a woman in +evening dress." + +"That's Parma violets, Wigan," said the professor, waving the +handkerchief towards me. It was one of his own, so had evidently been +specially prepared for this test. "I wonder what percentage of women use +the scent? It is not much of a clue for us, I am afraid." + +He put the handkerchief away, and then from another pocket produced a +second handkerchief, also wrapped in tissue paper. + +This time it was a fragile affair of lawn and lace. + +"Smell that, Mr. Winbush." + +"That's it!" the man exclaimed; no hesitation this time. + +"You can swear to it?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Rather a pleasant scent but peculiar, Wigan. I do not know what it is." + +Nor did I, but the handkerchief interested me. Worked in the corner were +the letters "Y.D." + +"I can get to work now, Mr. Winbush," said Quarles. "Your master tells +you to do whatever I advise. Of course, I understand that in keeping +these facts to yourself you were acting in your master's interests, but +were it generally known that you had suppressed the truth you might get +into trouble. Have you any relatives in town?" + +"I have a married nephew out Hampstead way." + +"Most fortunate. You go straight off and see him, get him to put you up +for the night, but whatever you do keep away from Jermyn Street until +to-morrow morning. You will spoil my efforts on your master's behalf if +you turn up at the flat before then." + +Winbush promised to obey these instructions, and Quarles and I left the +Blue Lion. + +"After hearing that Lanning was coming to see me this afternoon, I +telephoned a telegram to Winbush," explained the professor when we were +outside. "He thought it came from his master telling him to meet him at +the Blue Lion. Lanning will have to do his own packing for once. +Winbush's story is rather a surprising one, eh, Wigan?" + +"And most unexpected," I said. + +"Well, no, not quite unexpected," he answered in that superior manner +which is so exasperating at times. "I got that note from Lanning for the +purpose of getting the man to tell me the truth." + +"At any rate, you were mistaken in supposing that Mademoiselle's +mysterious foreigner would be at the Blue Lion," I returned. + +"Not at all. He was there." + +"Winbush!" I exclaimed. + +"No, Christopher Quarles. I called on Mademoiselle Duplaix this morning. +I thought she would communicate directly or indirectly with Lanning; +that is why I was expecting a message from him. I was also fortunate +enough to appropriate her handkerchief. To-night I become the +distinguished foreigner again; you had better be an elderly gentleman +with a stoop. We are traveling to Harwich. Don't forget a revolver; it +may be useful. We must get to Liverpool Street early; we shall want +plenty of time at the station." + +He left me without waiting to be questioned. I was annoyed, and was +pretty certain that he had overlooked one important fact. Surely Lanning +must have realized how dangerous it was to give such a note to Quarles? +Knowing the story Winbush could tell, he would not have been deceived by +the statement that the letter was intended for Mademoiselle Duplaix. He +was far too clever for that. He and Winbush were no doubt working +together, and the man's story was no doubt part of an arranged scheme. It +seemed to me that the immediate recognition of the second scent was +suspicious. The man was probably prepared for the test. + +I thought it likely that Quarles had met his match this time, and I did +not expect to see Richard Lanning at the station. + +However, he was there with Mr. Nixon. + +"Are they both in it?" I asked Quarles as we watched them. + +"No, I don't think so," was his doubtful answer. + +We were still watching them as they spoke to the guard, when I started +and called the professor's attention to a tall, military-looking man who +was hurrying along the platform. + +"That is the young man at the Silesian Embassy," I said. "He is evidently +going back. Are we to see Mademoiselle Duplaix come along next?" + +"We are only concerned with Lanning for the present," Quarles answered, +"and we have got to travel in the same carriage with him and Nixon. I +expect they have tipped the guard to get a carriage to themselves. You +must use your authority with him, Wigan, and show him that we are +Scotland Yard men. Suggest that he put us into the carriage at the last +moment with many apologies because there is no room elsewhere. In these +disguises they will not recognize us." + +The two Englishmen and the Silesian did not approach each other, and +apparently were quite ignorant of the fact that they were traveling by +the same train. I made the necessary arrangements with the guard, and +just as the train was starting we were bundled into the carriage, Quarles +blowing and puffing in a most natural manner. + +"Sorry," he panted, speaking in broken English; "it is a train quite +full, and I say to the man I must go. He put us in here. I am grieved to +disturb you." + +Nixon said it didn't matter, but Lanning looked annoyed. + +Quarles talked to me chiefly about a wife he was returning to at Bohn. He +became almost maudlin in his sentiment, and at intervals he raised his +voice sufficiently to allow our traveling companions to overhear the +conversation. + +Presently Quarles leaned towards me in a confidential manner, and said in +a whisper which was intentionally loud enough for the others to hear: + +"From Bohn I go to Silesia to see the new flying machine." + +"What flying machine?" I asked. + +"Ah, it was a secret what Silesia have got hold of. It was wonderful. I +myself tell you so, and I know. I--" + +"What do you know about it?" + +Lanning was leaning from his corner looking at Quarles. + +"Steady," said the professor. "If your hand does not from your pocket +come in one blink of an eye you are a dead man. This is a big matter." + +Quarles had covered him with a revolver, and following his lead I +covered Nixon. + +For a moment it was a tableau, not a sound nor a movement in the +carriage. + +"As you say, it is a big matter," said Lanning, taking his hand from +his pocket. + +He was for diplomacy rather than force, or perhaps he was a coward at +heart. Nixon showed more courage and was quicker in his movements. His +revolver was halfway out before I had slid along the seat and had my +weapon at his head. + +"It is of no use," said Quarles. "It is not by accident we are here. We +know, no matter how, but we know for certain that the plans of a +wonderful aeroplane which cannot come to harm, and a model of it, are +traveling by this train to-night. We came here to take them. We are sorry +to disturb you, but it is necessary." + +Lanning laughed. + +"Would it astonish you to hear we are after the very same things?" + +"It would, because I tell you they are in this carriage." + +"Where?" asked Lanning, still laughing. + +"There, in that big portmanteau." And Quarles pointed to one on the rack +above Nixon's head. + +I was only just in time to bring my weapon down on Nixon's wrist as he +whipped out his revolver. + +"Hold him, Wigan; he is dangerous," said Quarles, speaking in his natural +voice. "We will have a look in that portmanteau, Mr. Lanning." + +The plans and the model in its wooden case were there. Lanning was too +dumbfounded to ask questions, and Nixon offered no explanation just then. +I had wrested the revolver from him, and he sat there in silence. + +"It was very cleverly thought out, Mr. Nixon," said Quarles. "You see, +Mr. Lanning, your friend, having stolen these things, intended to allow +time to elapse before attempting to get them out of the country, but his +hand was forced when Mademoiselle Duplaix telephoned to you. The +foreigner who called upon her for the plans puzzled him. There was +something in the plot he did not understand. Two things were clear to +him, however; first, that he must act without delay, and secondly, that +mademoiselle's visitor would implicate her and cause us to make minute +inquiries in her direction--that a false trail was laid, in fact. So, +aware that he would find difficulty at the ports, he carefully suggested +to your mind that a journey to Silesia would be a useful move. Your +mission would be known at the ports, and you and your friend would pass +through without special examination." + +"That is so," said Lanning. + +"And you would have been cleverly fooled," said Quarles, "As for +Mademoiselle Duplaix, I confess I should have watched her keenly had I +not been the mysterious foreigner." + +"But my note to her?" said Lanning. + +"Was exceedingly useful, but I used it to get the truth out of Winbush," +and Quarles told the man-servant's story in detail. "Winbush, you see, +was in a dazed condition, and was deceived. In the dark Nixon pretended +to be you. I suppose it was a sudden inspiration when he found himself +disturbed, and his instructions to Winbush stopped your servant from +questioning you. Had he done so a suspicion concerning your friend might +have been aroused in your mind. Winbush, however, went a little beyond +his instructions, and said he thought a woman was present, because of a +perfume he noticed when he first entered the room. That particular +perfume is used by Mademoiselle Duplaix, and I should hazard a guess that +Mr. Nixon had stolen her handkerchief that evening, not a criminal +offense, but a matter of flirtation." + +"But he was at Lady Chilcot's, and left there with me," said Lanning. + +"If he has kept his program. I expect you will find some consecutive +places in it blank. Until this afternoon, Mr. Lanning, I confess that I +was uncertain whether you had been your own burglar or not, for it was +evident to me that your man knew something. I was convinced you were +innocent when you wrote that note for me, I rather wonder Mr. Nixon did +not realize the danger, but I suppose he felt confident that +Mademoiselle's visitor had entirely put me on the wrong trail. I do not +think Mademoiselle Duplaix is in any way a party to the theft, but I +think it is up to Mr. Nixon to make this quite clear." + +It is only doing Perry Nixon justice to say that he did clear up this +point, but not by word of mouth. + +At Harwich he ingeniously gave us the slip, but in a letter to Lanning, +received from Paris a week later, he said that he alone was responsible +for the theft, and that neither Mademoiselle Duplaix nor any one else had +any hand in it, nor any knowledge of it. + +From some remarks Lanning had let fall he concluded that some important +development had occurred in the stabilizing of flying machines--a matter +his employers were interested in--and he had watched his friend's +movements. He guessed that secret experiments had been tried that day +when he saw Lanning take the wooden case to his flat, and during the +evening he had slipped away from Lady Chilcot's dance, returning when he +had deposited the model and the plans in a safe place. + +He did not say where this safe place was, and since he had persistently +suggested that either France or Germany had pulled the strings of the +robbery, he was probably working for neither of these countries. + +Shortly afterwards Richard Lanning's engagement to Miss Chilcot was +announced, and I imagine he is still working to perfect a stabilizer, +for, although the model appears to have done all that was required of it, +the actual machine proved defective, I understand. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE AFFAIR OF THE CONTESSA'S PEARLS + + +I think it was when talking about the stolen model that Quarles made the +paradoxical statement that facts are not always the best evidence. I +argued the point, and remained entirely of an opposite opinion until I +had to investigate the case of a pair of pearl earrings, and then I was +driven into thinking there was something in Quarles's statement. It was +altogether a curious a if air, and showed the professor in a new light +which caused Zena and myself some trouble. + +The Contessa di Castalani occupied rooms at one of the big West End +hotels, a self-contained suite, consisting of a sitting-room, two +bedrooms, and vestibule. She had her child with her, a little girl of +about three years old, and a French maid named Angelique. + +Returning to the hotel one afternoon unexpectedly, she met, but took no +particular notice of, two men in the corridor which led to her suite. +Hotel servants she supposed them to be, and, as she entered the little +vestibule Angelique came from the contessa's bedroom. There was no reason +why she should not go in there; in fact, she carried a reason in her +hand. She had been to get a clean frock for the child. The one she had +worn on the previous day was too soiled to put on. + +That evening the contessa wished to wear a special pair of pearl +earrings, but when she went to get the little leather case which +contained the pearls, it was missing. + +Although her boxes and drawers were not much disarranged, it was quite +evident to her that they had been searched, but nothing else had been +taken apparently. + +It did not occur to her to suspect the maid, partly, no doubt, because +she remembered the men in the corridor, and she immediately sent for +the manager. + +The police were called in. The men in the corridor could not be accounted +for, but a search resulted in the finding of the leather case under the +bed. The earrings had gone. + +Naturally police suspicion fell on the French maid, but the contessa +absolutely refused such an explanation. Angelique, who was passionately +fond of her and of the child, would not do such a thing. + +The case looked simple enough, but it proved to be one in which facts did +not constitute the best evidence. Indeed, they proved somewhat +misleading. + +Beautiful, romantic, eccentric, superstitious, and most unfortunate +according to her own account, the Contessa di Castalani was the sensation +of a whole London season. + +As a dancer of a bizarre kind, she had set Paris nodding to the rhythm of +her movements and raving about the beauty of her eyes and hair. Her +reputation had preceded her to London, and when she appeared at the +Regency it was universally admitted that she far surpassed everything +that had been said about her. + +The press had duly informed the public that Castalani was one of the +oldest and most honored names in Italy. There had been a Castalani in the +Medici time, a close friend of the magnificent Lorenzo, it was asserted. +One paper declared that a Castalani had worn the triple tiara, which a +learned don of Oxford took the trouble to write and deny. And it would +appear that no one who had ever borne the name had been altogether +unimportant. + +How the family, resident in Pisa, liked this publicity, I do not know. +They made no movement to repudiate this daughter of their house, and I +have no reason whatever to doubt that the lady had a perfect right to her +title. I never heard any scandalous tale about her which even seemed +true, and if she and her husband were happier going each their own way, +it was their affair. + +So much mystery was woven round her during her appearances in the +European capitals, that I do not guarantee the correctness of my +statements when I say she was of humble origin, a Russian gipsy, I have +heard, seen in a Hungarian village by young Castalani, who immediately +fell in love with her and married her. + +Although in the course of this investigation I saw her many times and she +talked a great deal about herself, she was always vague when she was +dealing with facts. + +I am only concerned with her appearance in London. She attracted +overflowing houses to the Regency. A real live countess performing +bizarre and daring dances was undoubtedly the attraction to some, the +woman's splendid beauty charmed others, while a third section could talk +of nothing but her wonderful jewelry. + +At least two foolish young peers were said to be in love with her, and +there were tales of a well-known Cabinet Minister constantly occupying a +stall at the Regency when he ought to have been in his seat in the House. + +Had I not taken Christopher Quarles and Zena to the Regency one evening I +should probably never have known anything further of the contessa, but it +so happened that the professor was very much attracted by her. + +He went to the Regency three times in one week to study the inward +significance of her dances, he declared. He treated me to a learned +discourse concerning them, and was furious when one journal, slightly +puritanical in tone, perhaps, said that they were generally unedifying, +and in one case, at any rate, immodest. + +Zena and I began by laughing at the professor, but he did not like it. He +was quite serious in his admiration, and declared that nothing would +afford him greater pleasure than an introduction to the dancer. + +To his delight he got what he wanted, and incidentally solved one of the +most curious cases we have ever been engaged in together. + +In the ordinary way the case would never have come into my hands. It was +at Quarles's instigation that I asked to be employed upon it, and since +small and insignificant affairs are sometimes ramifications of big +mysteries, no surprise was caused by my request. + +I have not the slightest hesitation in saying that it was the +introduction to the woman which interested Quarles rather than her +pearls. Indeed, he appeared to think of nothing else beyond making +himself agreeable. + +It seemed to me she was just as interested in him, talked about herself +in a naive kind of way, and was delighted when her little girl, Nella, +took a tremendous fancy to the professor, demanding to be taken on his +knee and to have his undivided attention. + +Christopher Quarles, in fact, presented quite an unfamiliar side of his +character to me, and I do not think he would have bothered about the +pearls at all but for the fact that the contessa was superstitious +about them. + +"They were given to me by a Hungarian count," she said in her pretty +broken English; "just two pearls. I had them made into earrings. It was +the best way I could wear them. They are perfect, and they have a +history. They were a thank-offering to some idol in Burmah, but were +afterwards sold or stolen--I do not know which. It does not matter; it +was a very long time ago; but what does matter is that they bring good +luck. I shall be nothing without them, do you see?" + +"That I will not believe! You will always be--" + +"Beautiful," she said before Quarles could complete the sentence. "Ah, +yes, I know that. I have been told that when I cease to be beautiful I +shall cease to live. A gipsy in Budapest told me so. But what is beauty +if you have no luck?" + +"When were they given to you?" Quarles asked. + +"A year after I married. Listen, I will tell you a secret. It was the +beginning of the little difference with my husband. He was jealous." + +"It was natural." + +"No, it was not," she answered. "My Hungarian friend, he loved me of +course. That is the natural part. I was born like that. Some women are. +It is not their fault. It just is so, and yet people think evil and say, +shocking! It is in their own mind--the evil--and nowhere else, and I say +'basta,' and go my way, caring not at all. Why, every night in my +dressing room at the Regency there is a pile of letters--like that, and +flowers. The room is full of them--all from people who love me--and I do +not know one of them. I like it, but it makes no difference to me. I told +my husband that it was nothing, but no, he went on being jealous. He was +very foolish, but I think some day he will grow sensible. Then I shall +very likely say it is too late. The world has said it loves me, and that +is better than one Castalani. You do not know the Castalanis?" + +"No." + +"Ah, they are what you call thoughtful for themselves, very high, and +very few people are quite as good, so we had little quarrels, and then a +big one, because he said he would throw my pearls into the Arno. I hid +them, and he could not find them. If he had found them and thrown them +away I would have killed him." + +Quarles nodded, as if such a tragedy would have been the most natural +thing possible. + +"His mother made it worse," the contessa went on, "so we have one fierce +quarrel and I speak my mind. I say a great deal when I speak my mind, and +I am not nice then. I went away with my little girl. It was very +unfortunate, but what could I do? I love dancing, so I go on the stage, +and--and I have lost my pearls. See, there is the case, but it is empty." + +Quarles looked at it, but I was sure he was not thinking of what he was +doing, and he did not even ask the most obvious questions. + +I did that, and received scant answers. She was not a bit +interested in me. + +"My pearls," she went on, "I want my pearls. There are some women +pearls love. I am one. When I wear them a little while they are alive. +The colors in them glow and palpitate. They are never dull then. I do +not wear them always, only on certain days--on feasts, and when I am +very happy." + +"We must find them," said Quarles. + +"Of course. That is why I come to know you, isn't it?" + +The professor was full of her as we left the hotel. + +"A most charming woman," he said. + +"I doubt if you will find her so when you fail to restore her pearls." + +"I shall restore them," he said, with that splendid confidence which +sometimes characterized him, but, having no faith in his judgment on this +occasion, I went my own way. I searched the maid's boxes and found that +she had purloined many of the contessa's things--garments which had +hardly been worn, silk scarves, laces--in fact, anything which took her +fancy, and which her mistress would not be likely to miss. Of the two men +in the corridor I could find no trace. The manager said there were no +workmen about the hotel at that time, and the only description I could +get from the contessa was so vague that it would have fitted anybody from +the Prime Minister to the old bootlace-seller at the end of the street. +One of the hotel servants was confident that he had seen the French maid +speak to a man in the street outside the hotel on more than one occasion, +but he was not inclined to swear to anything. However, the French maid +was finally arrested on suspicion. + +I knew that Quarles had been to see the contessa once or twice by +himself, and when I went to the Brunswick Hotel on the day after +Angelique's arrest, I found him there. + +"Ah, you have taken an innocent woman," the contessa exclaimed. + +"I think not." + +"What you think does not matter at all, it is what I know. I asked her, +and she said she had not taken the pearls. Voila! She would not tell me +anything that was not true." + +"But, contessa--" + +"I say there is no evidence against her. You just find two or three of +my stupid things in her room, but that is nothing. French maids always +take things like that--one expects it. But I am not angry. You think what +is quite--quite silly, but you do something which is quite right." And +then, turning to the professor, she went on, "But you--you do nothing at +all. You come to tea. You come and look at me, and think me very +beautiful, which is quite nice and very well, but it does not give me +back my pearls." + +"It will," said Quarles. + +"I have no opinion. I only know I have not the pearls. I gave you the +empty case. I want it back with the earrings in it. I have heard that +Monsieur Quarles is very clever--that he finds out everything, but--" + +"It takes time, contessa," he said, rising. "There is one thing I want to +see before I go." + +"What is that?" she asked. + +"The dress the maid was wearing that afternoon, and if she wore an apron +I want to see that too." + +The contessa fetched them, and for some minutes Quarles examined +them closely. + +I did not think he had started a theory. I thought the contessa's words +had merely stung him into doing something. He had probably come to the +conclusion that he had been making rather a fool of himself. + +However, he was theoretical enough that night in the empty room at +Chelsea. + +"I think the arrest was a mistake, Wigan," he began. + +"Surely you are not influenced by the contessa's opinion?" + +"Well, she probably knows more about French maids than you do. I am +inclined to trust a woman's intuition sometimes. The contessa is +delightfully vague. It is part of her great charm, and it is in +everything she does and says. She tells you something, but her real +meaning you can only guess at. She dances, but the steps she ought to do +and doesn't are the ones which really contain the meaning." + +"Can she possibly be more vague, dear, than you are at the present +moment?" laughed Zena. + +"I think this is a case in which one must try to get into the contessa's +atmosphere before any result is possible. You will agree, Wigan, that her +point of view is peculiar." + +"I should call it idiotic," I answered. + +"Your opinion is all cut and dried, I presume?" + +"Absolutely," I answered. "I believe the maid took the jewels and handed +them to her confederates who were waiting in the corridor." + +"It is possible," said Quarles, "but it seems curious that the contessa +should return just in time to see, not only the men in the corridor, but +also the maid leaving her room. Have you considered why only the earrings +were stolen?" + +"There was nothing else to steal," I answered. + +"Why, everybody has talked of her jewels!" Zena exclaimed. + +"All sham." + +"Who told you so?" asked Quarles. + +"The maid." + +"She didn't suggest the pearls were sham?" + +"No." + +"That was thoughtless of her, since suspicion rests upon her. I am not +much surprised to hear that the much-talked-of jewelry is sham. There is +a vein of wisdom in the contessa, and we shall probably find she has put +her jewelry into safe keeping, and wears paste because it has just as +good an effect across the footlights. I should judge her wise enough not +to take risks, and to have an eye for the future. It was only her +superstition, and the fact that she wore the earrings fairly constantly, +which prevented her depositing them in a safe place too. Zena asked me +yesterday whether I should consider her a careless person. What do you +think, Wigan?" + +"It occurred to me that she might have put the case away when it was +empty and carelessly put the pearls somewhere else," said Zena. + +"Such, a vague kind of person is capable of anything," I returned. "But +there is no doubt that a search in her room was made, and it is +significant that things were not tossed about anyhow, as one would expect +had a stranger made that search." + +"True," said Quarles, "but if the maid took them there would have been no +disarrangement at all. She would have known where to look. If she had +wanted to suggest ordinary thieves she would have thrown things into +disorder on purpose." + +"Naturally she did not know exactly where to look," I said. + +"Why not? The contessa evidently trusts her implicitly. In any case, I +fancy we are drawn back to the supposition that the contessa is careless. +When Zena asked the question, I was reminded of one or two +inconsistencies in her surroundings. I should not call her orderly. Her +carelessness must form part of my theory." + +"I am surprised to hear you have formed one," I said. + +"I have found the woman far more interesting than the pearls," he +admitted, "but I am pledged to return the earrings, Wigan. You will find +her smile of delight an excellent reward." + +I shrugged my shoulders a little irritably. + +"Now I will propose three propositions against yours. First, the jewels +belonged to an idol, and were either sold or stolen--the contessa does +not know which. Such things are not usually sold, so we may assume they +were stolen. Their disappearance from the hotel may mean that they have +merely been recovered. The idea is romantic, but such happenings do +occur. Your French maid may have been pressed into the plot either +through fear or by bribery." + +"My facts would fit that theory," I said. + +"Secondly, the husband may be concerned," Quarles went on. "There may be +real love underlying his jealousy, he may think that if he can obtain +possession of the pearls his wife will return to him. Again, your French +maid may have been employed to this end." + +"That theory would not refute my facts," I returned. + +"Thirdly, the contessa herself. It is conceivable that for some reason +she wished to have the pearls stolen, perhaps for the sake of +advertisement--such things are done--or for the sake of insurance money, +or for some other reason which is not apparent. This supposition would +account for the contessa refusing to believe anything against the maid. +It would also account for the men in the corridor, seen only by the +contessa, remember, and therefore, perhaps, without any real existence." + +"Of the three propositions, I most favor the last," I said. + +"So do I," Quarles answered. "The first one is possible, but I fail to +trace anything of the Oriental method in the robbery, the supreme +subtlety which one would naturally expect. The second, which would almost +of necessity require the help of the maid, would in all likelihood have +been carried out before this, since the contessa has always had the +pearls at hand. If she had only just got them out of the bank I should +favor this second proposition. You remember the contessa suggested that +her husband might at some time become more sensible. I should hazard a +guess that she is still in communication with him. The death of the +strife-stirring mother may bring them together again." + +"That is rather an ingenious idea," I admitted. + +"Now, the third proposition would appeal to me more were I not so +interested in the woman," Quarles said. "Is she the sort of woman, for +vain or selfish reasons, to enter into such a conspiracy with her maid? I +grant the difficulty of plumbing a woman's mind--even Zena's there; but +there are certain principles to be followed. A woman is usually thorough +if she undertakes to do a thing, and had the contessa been concerned in +such a conspiracy, we should have had far more detail given to us in +order to lead us in another direction. This third proposition does not +please me, therefore." + +"It seems to me we come back to the French maid," said Zena. + +"We do," said Quarles. "That is the leather case, Wigan. Does it tell you +anything?" + +I took it and examined it. + +"You seem to have got some grease on it, Professor." + +"It was like that. Greasy fingers had touched it--recently, I +judge--although, of course, the case may be an old one, and not made +especially for the earrings. It is only a smear, but it could not have +got there while the case was lying in a drawer amongst the contessa's +things. Now open it. You will find a grease mark on the plush inside, +which means that very unwashed fingers have handled it. That does not +look quite like a dainty French maid--for she is dainty, Wigan." + +"That is why you examined her dress, I suppose." + +"Exactly! There was no suspicion of grease upon it. Facts have prejudiced +you against Angelique. I do not see a thief in her, but I do see a +certain watchfulness in her eyes whenever we meet her. She knows +something, Wigan, and to-morrow I am going to find out what it is. I +think a few judicious questions will help us." + +Quarles had never been more the benevolent old gentleman than when he saw +the French maid next day. + +He began by telling her that he was certain she was innocent, that he +believed in her just as much as her mistress did. + +"Now, when did you last see the pearls?" Quarles asked. + +"The day before they were stolen." + +"Your mistress was wearing them?" + +"No, monsieur, but the case was on the dressing table. It was the case I +saw, not the pearls." + +"So for all you know to the contrary, the case may have been empty?" + +"I do not see why you should think that," she answered, and it was quite +evident to me that she was being careful not to fall into a trap. + +"Just in the same way, perhaps, as you speak of the day before they were +stolen. We do not know they are stolen. Were the pearls very valuable?" + +"I do not know. The contessa valued them." + +"She wears one or two good rings, I noticed," said Quarles, "but I +understand the jewels she wears on the stage are paste." + +"Yes, monsieur, all of it." + +"Her real jewelry being at the bank!" + +"That is so, monsieur." + +"It is possible that the contessa has deceived us," Quarles went on, "and +wants to make us believe the earrings are stolen." + +"Oh, no, monsieur!" + +"Why not?" + +"I am sure." + +"Come, now, why are you so sure? Tell me what you know, and we will soon +have you back at the Brunswick Hotel. Had you told the men in the +corridor that all the contessa's jewelry was sham?" + +"I know nothing of--" + +"Wait!" said Quarles. "Think before you speak. You do not realize how +much we know about the men in the corridor. The contessa saw them, +remember." + +The girl began to sob. + +Very gently Quarles drew the story from her. One of the men was her +brother. She had been glad to come to England to see him, but she found +he had got into bad hands. She had helped him a little with money. She +had talked about the contessa, and when he had spoken about her wonderful +jewels she had told him they were sham. + +"Did he believe you?" + +"No, monsieur, he laughed at me because I did not know the real thing +from paste. I said I did, and, to prove it, mentioned the pearls." + +"Was this before you knew he had fallen into bad hands?" + +"Yes, monsieur. On the afternoon the pearls were stolen he came to see +me at the hotel with a friend. How they got to our rooms I do not know. I +opened the door, thinking it was the contessa. My brother laughed at my +surprise, and said he and his friend wanted to see whether the +contessa's pearls were real--they had a bet about them. He thought I was +a fool, but I was quickly thinking what I must do. 'She is here,' I said. +'Come in five minutes, when she is gone.' This was unexpected for them, +and they stepped back, and I shut the door. To get the door shut was all +I could think of. I was afraid. I waited; then I went to the bell, but I +did not ring. After all, he was my brother. Then Nella called out from my +room; I was on my way to fetch a clean frock for her from the contessa's +room when my brother came. Now I fetched it, and as I came out of the +room the contessa came in. It was a great relief." + +"Did she say anything about the men in the corridor?" + +"Not then--not until afterwards, when she found the pearls had +been stolen." + +"And you said nothing?" + +"No, it was wrong, but he was my brother. How he got the pearls I do +not know." + +"Where is he now?" + +"I do not know." + +"But you are sure he stole the pearls?" + +"Who else?" and she began to sob again. + +"Perhaps when he hears you have been arrested, he will tell the truth." + +"No, no, he has become bad in this country. I do not love England." + +"Anyhow, we will soon have you out of this," said Quarles, patting her +shoulder in a fatherly manner. "I am afraid your brother is not much +good, but perhaps the affair is not so bad as you imagine." + +We left her sobbing. + +"A woman of resource," said Quarles. + +"Very much so," I answered. "You do not think the arrest was a mistake +now, I presume?" + +"Perhaps not; no, I am inclined to think it has helped us. It is not +every woman who would have got rid of two such blackguards so +dexterously." + +"It is the very thinnest story I have ever heard," I laughed. + +We walked on in silence for a few moments. + +"My dear Wigan, I am afraid you are still laboring under the impression +that she stole the pearls." + +"I am, and that she handed them to the men in the corridor, one of whom +may have been her brother or may not." + +"She didn't steal them," said Quarles. + +"Why, how else could the men have got in?" I said. "You are not likely to +see that rewarding smile on the contessa's face which you talked about." + +"I think I shall, but first I must face the music and explain my failure. +We will go this afternoon. Perhaps she will give us tea, Wigan." + +I am afraid I murmured, "There's no fool like an old fool," but not loud +enough for Quarles to hear. + +When we entered the contessa's sitting-room that afternoon the child was +playing on the floor with a small china vase, taken haphazard from the +mantelpiece, I imagine. + +Whether our entrance startled her, or whether she was in a destructive +mood, I cannot say, but she dashed down the vase and broke it in pieces. + +"Oh, Nella! Naughty, naughty Nella!" exclaimed her mother. + +The child immediately went to Quarles. + +"I want to sit on your knee," she said. + +"If mother will give you such things to play with, Nella, why, of course, +they get broken, don't they?" said Quarles. + +"I thought you had brought my pearls," said the contessa. + +"I have come to talk about them." + +"That will not help--talk." + +"It may." + +"Will it bring Angelique back? I am lost without Angelique." + +"She will soon be back." + +I smiled at his optimism. + +"We saw her to-day," Quarles went on; and he told the girl's story in +detail, and in a manner which suggested that my mistake in having her +arrested was almost criminal. + +The contessa seemed to expect me to apologize, but when I remained silent +she became practical. + +"Still, I do not see my pearls, Monsieur Quarles." + +"Contessa, your maid says you were looking at the earrings on the day +before the robbery. She saw the case on your dressing-table." + +"Yes, I remember." + +"Do you remember putting the case back in your drawer?" + +"Of course." + +"I mean, is there any circumstance which makes you particularly remember +doing so?" + +"No." + +"Was Nella crawling on the floor?" + +"Why, yes. How did you guess that?" + +"Didn't you meet the maid coming out of your room on the next afternoon? +She had gone to fetch a clean frock." + +"Ah! yes, Nella got her frock dirty," said the contessa. + +"Pretty frock," said the child. + +"Was she playing with anything--anything off the mantelpiece?" +asked Quarles. + +"No." + +"Are you sure? You give her queer things to play with," and he pointed to +the fragments on the floor. + +"It does not matter," said the contessa, a little angry at his criticism. +"I shall pay for it." + +"Pretty frock," said the child again. + +"Is it, Nella? I should like to see it." + +The child slipped from his knee. + +"Where are you going?" asked the contessa. + +"To fetch my dirty, pretty frock." + +"Don't be silly, Nella." + +"I should like to see it," said Quarles. + +"I wish you would take less interest in the child and more in my pearls." + +"Humor the child and let her show me the frock, then we will talk about +the pearls." + +With a bad grace the contessa went with Nella into the maid's room. + +Quarles looked at me and at the fragments of the vase on the floor. + +"Do you find them suggestive?" + +"I am waiting to see the contessa in a real temper," I answered. + +The child came running in with the frock, delighted to have got +her own way. + +"Aye, but it is dirty," said Quarles, and he became absorbed in the +garment, nodding to the prattling child as she showed him tucks and lace. + +"And now about my pearls," said the contessa. + +Quarles put down the frock and stood up. + +"There is the case," he said, taking it from his pocket; "we have got to +put the pearls into it, Contessa, may I look into your bedroom?" + +The request astonished her, and it puzzled me. + +"Why, yes, if you like." + +She went to the door, and we all followed her. + +"A dainty room," said the professor. "It is like you, contessa." + +She laughed at the absurdity of the remark, and yet there was some truth +in it. The room wasn't really untidy, but it was not the abode of an +orderly person. A hat was on the bed, thrown there apparently, a pair of +gloves on the floor. + +"I can always tell what a woman is like by seeing where she lives," said +Quarles. "There is no toy on the mantelpiece which Nella could break. A +pretty dressing-table, contessa." + +He crossed to it and began examining the things upon it--silver-mounted +bottles and boxes. + +He lifted lids and looked at the contents--powder in this pot, rouge in +that--and for a few moments the contessa was too astonished to speak. + +Then there came a flash into her eyes resenting the impertinence. + +"Really, monsieur--" + +"Ah!" exclaimed Quarles, turning from the table with a pot in his hand. + +"I want it," said the child, stretching herself up for it. + +"Evidently Nella has played with this before, contessa. A French +preparation for softening the skin, I see. I should guess she was playing +with it as she crawled about the floor that afternoon. You didn't notice +her. I can quite understand a child being quiet for a long time with this +to mess about with. There was grease on her frock, and look! the smoothed +surface of this cream bears the marks of little fingers, if I am not +mistaken. It is quite a moist cream, readily disarranged, easily smoothed +flat again. Let us hope there is no ingredient in it which will +hurt--pearls." + +He had dug his fingers into the stuff and produced the earrings. + +"You will find a grease mark on the case," he went on. "It is evident you +could not have put the case away. Nella possessed herself of it when your +back was turned, and, playing with this cream, amused herself by burying +the pearls in it--just the sort of game to fascinate a child." + +"I remember she was playing with that pot. I did not think she could get +the lid off." + +"She did, and somehow the case got kicked under the bed." + +"Naughty Nella!" said the contessa. + +"Oh, no," said Quarles. "Natural Nella. May I wash my hands?" + +Well, we had tea with the contessa, and I saw the smile which rewarded +Christopher Quarles. + +I suppose he had earned it. + +"When did you first think of the child?" I asked him afterwards. + +"From the first," he answered; "but I was too interested in the mother to +work out the theory." + +How exactly in accordance with the truth this answer was I will not +venture to say. That he was interested in the woman was obvious, and +continued to be obvious while she remained in London. + +Zena and I were rather relieved when her professional engagements took +her to Berlin. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MADAME VATROTSKI + + +I firmly believe the contessa had succeeded in fluttering the professor's +heart, and I think it was fortunate that he was soon engaged upon another +case. The fact that it was also connected with theatrical people may have +made him go into it with more zest. The contessa had given him a taste +for the theater. + +The three of us were in the empty room, and after a lot of talk which had +led nowhere, had been silent for some time. + +"I never believe in any one's death until I have seen the body, or until +some one I can thoroughly trust has seen it," said Quarles, suddenly +breaking the silence. + +"You have said something like that before," I answered. + +"It still remains true, Wigan." + +"Then you think she is alive?" Is it the advertisement theory you cling +to, or do you suppose she is a Nihilist?" + +"I suppose nothing, and I never cling; all I know is that I have no proof +of death," said the professor, and he launched into a discourse +concerning the difficulties of concealing a body, chiefly, I thought, to +hide the fact that he had no ideas at all about the strange case of +Madame Vatrotski. + +The rage for the tango, the sensational revue, for the Russian ballet, +was at its height when Madame Vatrotski's name first appeared on the +hoardings in foot-long letters. + +The management of the Olympic billed her extensively as a very paragon +of marvels, but most of the critics refused to endorse this opinion. +Perhaps they were anxious to do a good turn to the home artistes who had +been rather thrust aside by the foreign invasion of the boards of the +variety theaters; at any rate, they declared her dancing was a mere +pose, not always in the best of taste, and that her beauty was nothing +to rave about. + +I had not seen this much-advertised dancer, but the Olympic management +could have had no reason to regret the expense they had gone to. Whether +her dancing was good or bad, whether her beauty was real or imaginary, +the great theater was full to overflowing night after night; her picture, +in various postures, was in all the illustrated papers, and paragraphs +concerning her were plentiful. + +From beginning to end actual facts about her were difficult to get; but +allowing for all journalistic exaggeration, the following statement is +near the truth. + +She was an eccentric rather than a beautiful dancer, and if she was not +actually a beautiful woman there was something irresistibly attractive +about her. Her origin was obscure, possibly she was not a Russian, and if +she had any right to the title of madame, no husband was in evidence. She +was quite young; upon the surface she was a child bent on getting out of +life all life had to give, and underneath the surface she was perhaps a +cold, calculating woman, with no other aim but her own gratification, +utterly callous of the sorrow and ruin she might bring to others. + +All other statements concerning her must at least be considered doubtful. +Her friends may have been too generous, her enemies unnecessarily bitter. +Personally I do not believe she was in any way connected with one of the +royal houses of Europe, as rumor said, nor that she was the morganatic +wife of an Austrian archduke. + +I have said that I had never seen her. I may add that I was not in the +least interested in her. + +Even when I read the headline in the paper, "Mysterious disappearance of +Madame Vatrotski," I remained unmoved; indeed, I had to think for a +moment who Madame Vatrotski was, and when the paragraph concluded that +the disappearance was probably a smart advertisement I thought no more +about the matter. + +Before the end of the week, however, I was obliged to think a great deal +about this woman. It was a tribute to the dancer's popularity that her +disappearance caused widespread interest not only in London, but in the +provinces, and it speedily became evident that her friends were legion. + +She had dined, or had had supper, at various times, with a score of +well-known men; she had received presents and offers of marriage from +them; she had certainly had two chances of becoming a peeress, she might +have become the wife of a millionaire, and half a dozen younger sons had +kept their families on tenter-hooks. + +It was said the poet laureate had dedicated an ode to her--that Lovet +Forbes, the sculptor, was immortalizing her in stone, and Musgrave had +certainly painted her portrait. + +From all sides there was a loud demand that the mystery must be cleared +up, and the investigation was entrusted to me. + +From the outset it was apparent that Madame Vatrotski had played fast and +loose with her many admirers. She had not definitely refused either of +the coronets offered her, nor the millions. I say her behavior was +apparent, but I ought to say it was apparent to me, because many of +those who knew her personally would not believe a word against her. + +This was the case with Sir Charles Woodbridge, a very level-headed man as +a rule, and also with Paul Renaud, the proprietor of the great dress +emporium in Regent Street, an astute individual, not easily deceived by +either man or woman. + +Both these men were pleased to believe themselves the serious item in +Madame Vatrotski's life, and Sir Charles in hot-headed fashion, and +Renaud, in cold contempt, told me very plainly what they thought of me +when I suggested that the lady might not be so innocently transparent as +she seemed. + +Up to a certain point it was comparatively easy to follow Madame's +movements. After the performance on Monday evening she had gone to supper +with Sir Charles at a smart restaurant, and many people had seen her +there. His car had taken her back to her rooms, and he had arranged to +fetch her next morning at half-past eleven and drive her down to +Maidenhead for lunch. + +When Sir Charles arrived at her rooms next morning he was told she had +gone out and had left no message. He was annoyed, but he had to admit it +was not the first time she had broken an appointment with him. + +It transpired that she had gone out that morning soon after ten, and +half-an-hour afterwards was at Reno's. Paul Renaud did not see her +there and had no appointment with her. + +She made some trivial purchases--a veil, some lace and gloves, which were +sent to her rooms later in the day, and she left the shop about eleven. +The door-porter was able to fix the time, and was quite sure the lady was +Madame Vatrotski. She would not have a taxi, and walked away in the +direction of Piccadilly Circus. Since then she had disappeared +altogether. + +A taxi-driver came forward to say he believed he had taken her to a +restaurant in Soho, but after inquiry I came to the conclusion that the +driver was mistaken. + +She sent no message to the theater that night, she simply did not turn +up. To appease the audience it was announced that she was suffering from +sudden indisposition; but, as a fact, the management did not know what +had become of her, and the maid at her rooms confessed absolute ignorance +concerning her mistress's whereabouts. I have no doubt the maid would +have lied to protect Madame, but on this occasion I think she was telling +the truth. + +It was after I had told Quarles the result of my inquiries, and we had +argued ourselves into silence, that he burst out with his remark about +the body, and of course what he said was true enough. Still, I was +inclined to think that Madame Vatrotski was dead. I did not believe she +had disappeared as an advertisement: there was no earthly reason why she +should, since her popularity had shown no signs of being on the wane, and +to attribute the mystery to a Nihilist plot was not a solution which +appealed to me. + +"She may have returned to her rooms and met Sir Charles," Zena suggested, +after a pause. "Perhaps she found him waiting in his car at the door and +went off at once." + +"Why do you make such a suggestion?" asked Quarles. + +"She had plenty of time to keep the appointment; indeed, it almost looks +as if she had arranged her morning on purpose to keep it. If she had +gone with him at once her maid would not know she had returned." + +Quarles looked at me. + +"The same idea occurred to Paul Renaud," I said. "I can find no evidence +that Sir Charles went to Maidenhead that day, and at three o'clock in the +afternoon he was certainly at his club." + +"Did he telephone to madame or attempt to communicate with her in any +way?" Quarles asked. + +"He says not." + +"But you do not altogether believe him, eh?" + +"My opinion is in abeyance," I returned. "It is only fair to say that Sir +Charles suggested that Paul Renaud may have seen her at the shop in +Regent Street. They are suspicious of each other. Renaud was certainly on +the premises at the time she was there. Personally I do not attribute +much weight to these suspicions. I believe both men are genuine lovers, +and would be the last persons in the world to do the dancer any harm." + +"Or the first," said Zena quickly. "Jealousy is a most usual motive +for crime." + +"I think the child strikes a true note there, Wigan," said Quarles. "We +must keep the idea of jealousy before us--that is, if we are compelled to +believe there has been foul play. Now, one would have expected Sir +Charles to telephone to madame; that he did not do so is strange." + +"His disappointment had put him in a temper." + +"That hardly appeals to me as a satisfactory explanation," Quarles +returned; "but there is indirect evidence in Sir Charles's favor. Had +Madame Vatrotski intended to return to her rooms at once she would almost +certainly have taken such a small parcel as her purchases made with her. +That she did not do so suggests she had another appointment to keep. +Have you a list of madame's admirers, Wigan?" + +"I am only human, professor, and you ask for the impossible," I said, +smiling. "I have a few names here, and I think they may be dismissed from +our calculations. One of the strangest points in the case is the lack of +reticence amongst her dupes." + +"Dupes!" said Zena. + +"I think the term is justified," I went on. "They all seem quite proud of +having been allowed to pay for sumptuous dinners and expensive presents. +Usually one expects a shrinking from publicity in these affairs, but in +this case there is nothing of the kind. I have never seen Madame +Vatrotski, but she must have had a peculiar fascination." + +"I have not seen her either," said Quarles; "but I was at the Academy +yesterday, and saw Musgrave's portrait of her. Go and see it, Wigan. I +consider Musgrave the greatest portrait painter we have, or ever have +had, perhaps. His opinion of the dancer might be useful. Judging from his +canvases he must have a strange insight into character." + +My opinion of pictures is worth nothing, and, to speak truthfully, I saw +little remarkable in Musgrave's portrait of Madame Vatrotski. The mystery +had caused a large number of people to linger round the portrait, and so +far as I could gather the general impression was that it did not do her +justice. Some even called it a caricature. + +"You never can tell what a woman is really like across the footlights," I +overheard one man say to his companion. + +"Perhaps not," was the answer; "but I have seen her out of the theater. +I dropped in at Forbes's studio the other day. He was finishing a bust +of her, and she was giving him a sitting. It is a jolly good bust, but +the woman--" + +"Is she pretty?" asked the other. + +"Upon my word, I don't know; what I do know is that I wanted to look +at her all the time, and when she had gone life seemed to have left +the studio." + +I did not know the speaker, but I did not lose sight of him until I +had tracked him to a club in Piccadilly and discovered that his name +was Tenfield, and that he was a partner in a firm of art dealers in +Bond Street. + +When I repeated this conversation to Quarles he wondered why I had taken +so much trouble over the art dealer. + +"Looking for a clue," I answered. + +Quarles shrugged his shoulders. + +"What did you think of the portrait?" + +"Frankly, not much." + +"But you got an impression of Madame Vatrotski's character." + +"I cannot say I got any great enlightenment. It made me wonder why she +had made such a great reputation." + +"The fact that it made you wonder at all shows there is something in the +portrait," said Quarles. "Let us argue indirectly from the picture. You +will agree that the lady was fascinating, since she had so many admirers, +but in the portrait you discern nothing to account for that fascination. +We may conclude that the painter saw the real woman underneath the +superficial charm. She could not hide herself from him as she did from +others. Now in that portrait I see rather a commonplace woman, +essentially bourgeoise and vulgar, not naturally artistic. I can imagine +her the wife of a small shopkeeper, or a girl given to cheap finery on +holidays. I think she would be capable of any meanness to obtain that +finery. Her face shows a decided lack of talent, but it also shows +tremendous greed. The critics have said that her dancing was a pose and +not in good taste." + +I nodded. + +"They are practically unanimous on this point. It was beyond her to +appeal to the artistic sense, so she appealed to the lower nature, and +therein lay her fascination. Just consider who the men are to whom she +appealed. A millionaire with an unsavory reputation. To two or three +peers who, even by the wildest stretch of imagination, cannot be +considered ornaments of their order. To some younger sons of the Nut +description who are ready to pay anything to be seen with a popular +actress, and to the kind of fools who are always ready to offer marriage +to a divorcee, or to a husband murderer when she comes out of prison. She +appeals to a man like Paul Renaud, whose outlook upon life is disgusting, +and who would not be able to keep a decent girl on his premises were it +not for the fact that the whole management of the business is in the +hands of his two partners. Sir Charles Woodbridge I do not understand. He +is a decent man. I could easily imagine his killing her in a revulsion of +feeling after being momentarily fascinated. Honestly, I have wondered +whether this may not be the solution of the case." + +"You are suspicious of Sir Charles?" I asked. + +"I do not give that as my definite opinion. She may not be dead. +Perchance some particularly mean exploit has made her afraid and she has +gone into hiding; but if she is dead, I think we must look for her +murderer--I had almost said her executioner--amongst the decent men who +have been caught for a while in her toils." + +"The only decent man seems to be Sir Charles," said Zena. + +"And I am convinced he was genuinely in love with her," I said. + +"Well, we are at a dead end," said Quarles. "I think I should go and see +Musgrave and ask his opinion of her. It may help us." + +I went simply because there was nothing else to do, and I felt that I +must; be doing something. The authorities seemed to think that I was +making a great muddle over a very ordinary affair, possibly because +rather contemptuous comments in the press had annoyed them, while the +letters from amateur detectives had been more abundant than usual. Oh, +those amateur detectives! + +I found Musgrave quite willing to talk about Madame Vatrotski, and before +I had been with him ten minutes I discovered that his opinion of her very +nearly coincided with Quarles's. + +He put it differently, but it came to the same thing. + +"To tell you the truth, she rather appealed to me when I first saw her," +he said. "It was at an artists' affair in Chelsea. She came there with a +man named Renaud, who has a big shop in Regent Street, and had spent +money on her, I imagine. She was interesting because she was something +new in the way of vulgarity. It was for this man Renaud that I did the +portrait, but when it was finished he repudiated the bargain. He said it +wasn't a bit like her. You see, I was not looking at her with his eyes" + +"Had she no beauty, then?" + +"I cannot say that," Musgrave answered. "She had a beautiful figure, and +her face--well, I painted it as I saw it. Renaud said it wasn't in the +least like her, and I am bound to admit that most of the people who knew +her and have seen the portrait in the Academy agree with him." + +"You claim that you show her character, I suppose?" + +"No; I merely say I painted what I saw." + +"Can you account for the fascination she exerted?" I asked. + +"I answer that question by asking you another. Can you account for the +fascination which sin exerts over a vast number of people in the world? +See sin as it really is, and it repels you; but sin seldom lets you see +the reality, that is why it is so successful. A man requires grace to see +sin as it really is, and that is his salvation. I was in a detached +position when I painted Madame Vatrotski's portrait, and you have seen +the result; had I been under her spell the result would undoubtedly have +been different. I should have painted only the mask of the moment, and +that would have satisfied her admirers, I imagine. I suppose you know +that my ideas of the true functions of art have caused many people to +call me a crank?" + +"I know little of the artistic world," I answered; "but any man who takes +himself seriously always appeals to me." + +Musgrave smiled. I fancy he was about to favor me with his ideas, but +concluded I was not worth the trouble. I had not got much out of my visit +beyond the knowledge that Quarles was not alone in his estimate of Madame +Vatrotski. + +The professor's opinion combined with the artist's influenced me, and +gave me a kind of rough theory. A man might be fascinated, then +repelled, the repulsion being far stronger than the attraction. + +To make this possible the man must normally be decent, and because Sir +Charles Woodbridge seemed the only person who fitted all the conditions I +gave his movements a considerable amount of my attention during the next +few days. He had certainly been amongst the most assiduous of her +admirers, and I discovered that he had put a private detective on to the +business who was chiefly concerned in shadowing Paul Renaud. + +Sir Charles was evidently convinced that Renaud was at the bottom of +the mystery. + +Nearly a month went by, and, except to those chiefly concerned, interest +in the dancer's disappearance was fading out, when it was suddenly +revived by the notice of a picture exhibition in Bond Street, at the +gallery belonging to the firm in which Tenfield was a partner. + +The pictures were the work of French artists of the cubist school, but +also on view was a portrait bust of Madame Vatrotski by Lovet Forbes. It +was evidently the bust I had overheard Tenfield speak about that day in +the Academy, and I discovered that his firm had bought it as a +speculation. + +Lovet Forbes had been only a vague name until a few days ago, when a +symbolic group of his had been placed in the entrance hall of the +Agricultural Institution, and had at once attracted attention. The +critics spoke of him as a new force in art, and a bust of the famous +dancer by him was therefore, under the circumstances, an event. + +"People will go to see it who wouldn't cross the road to look at a +cubist's picture," said Quarles. "It is for sale, no doubt, and the +dealers may clear a very nice little profit over it. Not a bad +speculation, I should say; I wonder how much they paid the artist. We +will go and have a look at it, Wigan." + +The three of us went on the opening day. Zena in a dress I had not seen +before, which suited her to perfection. She was much more interesting to +me than Forbes's bust of Madame Vatrotski. + +Quarles was right in his prophecy; the gallery was full, and the cubists +were not the attraction. Sir Charles was there, so was Renaud, and many +others whose names had been mentioned more or less prominently in this +case, including the managing director of the Olympic; and before I got a +view of the bust I heard whispers of the prices which had been offered +for it; rather fabulous prices they were. + +"But she is perfectly beautiful!" Zena exclaimed, when at last we stood +before the bust. + +She was right, and there was evidently something wrong somewhere. The +difference between Musgrave's picture and Forbes's marble was tremendous, +and yet they were unmistakably the same woman. + +Where the essential likeness was I cannot say, nor can I explain where +the difference lay, but the marble was charming, while the painting +was horrible. + +"Rather a surprise, eh, Wigan?" said the professor. + +"Very much so." + +"I hear Forbes is about somewhere. I should like to see him. He is one of +the lucky ones; this mystery has helped him to fame." + +"But his work is good, isn't it?" + +"Yes; slightly meretricious, perhaps. I shall want to see more of his +work before I express a definite opinion. I think we must go and see what +he has done for the Agricultural Institute." + +We not only saw Forbes, but had a talk with him. He was a man well on in +the forties, carelessly dressed, a Bohemian, and not particularly elated +at his success apparently. He smiled at the prices which were being +offered for his work. + +"It is the dancer they are paying for, not my genius," he said. "She +seems to have fooled men in life; she is fooling them in death, if +she is dead." + +"Ah, that is the question," said Quarles. "I have my doubts." + +"She is safer dead, at any rate, if only half they say of her is true," +Forbes returned. + +"How came she to sit for you?" I asked. + +"Vanity. I was introduced to her one night at an Artists' Ball--the +Albert Hall affair, you know--and I told her she had the figure of a +Venus. I was consciously playing on her vanity for a purpose. In the +thing I have done for the Agricultural Institute there is a recumbent +figure, and I wanted the perfect model for it. The right woman is more +difficult to get than you would imagine. Of course she agreed with me as +to the perfectness of her figure, and then I began to doubt it. That +settled the business. She fell into my trap and agreed to be the model." + +"Posing in the nude?" I asked. + +"Oh, that did not trouble her at all," answered Forbes. "I shouldn't be +surprised if she had been a model in Paris studios before she blossomed +out as a dancer. She spoke Russian, but I am inclined to think France had +the honor of giving her birth. In return for her complaisance I promised +to do a portrait bust of her for herself. That is it. If she is alive and +comes to claim it I shall have to do her another one." + +"She was evidently a very beautiful woman," said Quarles, glancing in the +direction of the bust. + +"Beautiful and bad, I fancy. Curiously enough, I did not hear of her +disappearance until I telephoned to her flat two days after it had +happened. She had broken an appointment to give me a final sitting, and I +wanted to know why she hadn't come." + +"Was the final sitting for the Agricultural group?" Quarles asked. + +"No; for the bust there. I had to leave it as it was, but there is +something in the line of the mouth which does not please me. What has +become of her, do you suppose?" + +"Possibly some one or something she is afraid of has caused her to go +into hiding," said Quarles. + +"Afraid! I doubt if she had any fear of devil or man. Have you seen +Musgrave's portrait of her?" + +The professor nodded, and I thought it was curious that the Academy +picture should be referred to so persistently. + +"She was like that," said Forbes. "Musgrave's is a wonderful piece of +work." + +Involuntarily I glanced at the bust, and he noticed my surprise. + +"Oh, she was like that too at times," he said. + +"I should doubt if Musgrave ever saw her as you have represented her," +said Quarles. + +"Perhaps not. He claims to paint character; possibly I might succeed in +chiseling character, but give me a beautiful model, and as a rule I am +content to show the surface only. Besides, the bust was for her, and I +made the best of my subject." + +"And in the Agricultural piece?" asked Quarles. + +"Naturally I idealized her." + +"I suppose he is not the born artist that Musgrave is?" I said, when +Forbes had left us. + +"I don't know," returned Quarles. "We will go and have another look at +the bust, and I think on the way home we might drop in and have another +look at Musgrave's picture." + +"That portrait bothers me," I said. "One might suppose it was the key to +the mystery." + +"I am not sure that it isn't," Quarles answered. + +Further acquaintance with the Academy picture had rather a curious effect +upon me. I do not think I lost anything of my original sense of +repulsion, but I was strangely conscious that there was something +attractive in the face. I was astonished to find what a likeness there +was between the portrait and the bust. The impression created by one +became mingled with the impression made by the other. + +I said as much to Quarles. + +"That is tantamount to saying they are both fine pieces of work," +he answered. + +"And means, I suppose, that the real woman was somewhere between the +two," said Zena. + +"Possibly, but with Musgrave's idea the predominant truth," said Quarles. + +"Why?" asked Zena. + +Quarles shrugged his shoulders. He had no answer to give. + +"The day after to-morrow, Wigan, we will go to the Agricultural +Institute." + +"Why not to-morrow?" + +"To-morrow I am busy. Did you know I was writing an article for a +psychological review?" + +On the following evening I took Zena to a theater--to the Olympic. I +suppose I chose the Olympic with a sort of idea that I was keeping in +touch with the case I had in hand, that if any one chanced to see me +there they would conclude that I was following up some clue. It is +hateful to feel that there is nothing to be done, more hateful still that +people should imagine you are beaten or are neglecting your work. + +Zena told me the professor had been out all day, but she did not know +what business he was about. He was certainly not engaged in writing +his article. + +The Olympic was by no means full that night; the disappearance of the +dancer was evidently having a disastrous effect upon the receipts. + +The next day I went to the Agricultural Institute with Quarles. He had +got a card of introduction to the secretary. + +The building had recently been enlarged, and at the top of the first +flight of the staircase stood a group representing the triumph of +modern methods. + +Standing or crouching, and full of energy, were figures symbolic of +science and machinery, while in the foreground was a recumbent figure +from whose hands the sickle had fallen. + +The woman was sleeping, her work done; yet she suggested that there was +beauty in those old methods which, for all their utility, was lacking +in the new. + +"It is probably the best work that Lovet Forbes has done," said the +secretary, who came round with us. + +"He is the coming man, they say," Quarles remarked. + +"He has surely arrived," was the answer, "for the critics are unanimous +as to the beauty of this." + +"Yes, it is remarkable in idea and execution. I am told the famous +dancer, who has recently disappeared, was the model for the +recumbent figure." + +"So I understand. The figure is the gem of the whole composition." + +Quarles was not inclined to endorse this opinion, and the secretary was +nothing loath to argue the point. + +The discussion led to a close examination of the figure, Quarles arguing +that it was out of proportion in comparison with the standing figures, a +comment which the secretary met with some learned words on the laws +relating to perspective. + +They were both a little out of their depth, I thought, and after a few +moments I did not pay much attention to them. My thoughts had gone back +to Musgrave's picture and to Forbes's bust of Madame Vatrotski. Zena had +said that the real woman was probably somewhere between the two, and as I +looked at the figure for which the dancer had been the model I felt she +was right. + +I suppose the limbs were perfect, but it was the face which chiefly +interested mo. It was like Musgrave's picture, but it was more like +Forbes's bust, with something in it which differed entirely from the bust +and from the picture. + +It was a beautiful figure, and I think the face was beautiful, but I +am not sure. + +The secretary had just measured the figure, and the result seemed to have +established the fact that Quarles's contention was right. This evidently +pleased him, and he was inclined to give way on minor points of +difference. + +"No doubt the sculptor's perspective has something to do with it," he +said; "but we must not forget that the group is symbolic. I should not +be surprised if the figure in the foreground is larger to illustrate +the fact that modern methods are of yesterday, while the sickle has +reaped the harvests of the world from old time. The sickle is not +broken, you observe, and the artist may mean that it will be used +again in the time to come." + +"You may be right," said the secretary. "I shall take an early +opportunity of asking Forbes." + +Soon afterwards, we left, and had got a hundred yards from the +building when the professor suddenly found he had left his gloves +behind in the library. + +"I shall only be a minute or two, Wigan. Stop a taxi in the meantime." + +He was longer than that, but he came back triumphant, waving the gloves, +an old pair hardly worth returning for. He seemed able to talk of nothing +but the symbolism of the group, finding many points in it which had +escaped me entirely. + +"It has given me an idea, Wigan." + +"About Madame Yatrotski?" + +"Yes; but we will wait until we get home." + +We went straight to that empty room. Zena could not persuade the old man +to have some tea first. + +"Tea! I am not taking tea to-day. Bring me a little weak brandy and +water, my dear." + +"Don't you feel well?" + +"Yes, but I am a little exhausted by talking to a man who thinks he +understands art and doesn't." + +"Oh, Murray doesn't pretend to understand it." + +"Murray is not such a fool as he pretends to be, even in art; but I was +thinking of the secretary, not Murray." + +The brandy was brought, and then the professor turned to me. + +"You suggested that perhaps Forbes was not the born artist that Musgrave +is. What is your opinion now, Wigan?" + +"I am chiefly impressed with the fact that Zena was right when she +said the real woman was probably between Forbes's bust and +Musgrave's picture." + +"And I am chiefly impressed with the fact that they are both great +artists," said Quarles. "I said Musgrave was, but I reserved my opinion +of Forbes until I had seen this group. It has convinced me. Now, for my +idea concerning the dancer. The first germ was in the notion that in +Musgrave's picture lay the key to the mystery. Knowing something of the +painter's power and ideals, I felt that the portrait must be true from +one point of view. What was his standpoint? He explained it to you. He +was detached, unbiased, putting on to his canvas that which he saw behind +the mere outer mask. When I saw Forbes's bust, one of two things was +certain: either he was incapable of seeing below the surface, or in this +particular case he was incapable of doing so. I could not decide until I +had seen other work of his. To-day I know he is as capable with his +chisel as Musgrave is with his brush. You have only to study the standing +and crouching figures in the group to see how virile and full of insight +he can be." + +"But the recumbent figure--" I began. + +"You remember that he said it was idealized," Quarles said. "It is +undoubtedly full of--of strength, but for the moment I am more interested +in the bust. Why does it differ so widely from Musgrave's portrait? Well, +I think Forbes was only capable of seeing Madame Vatrotski like that, and +we have to discover the reason." + +"Temperament," I suggested. "He said himself he was content as a rule to +show the beautiful exterior." + +"He also said one or two other interesting things," said Quarles, "For +instance, he was certain she was dead, or he would hardly have sold the +bust he had executed specially for her. Why was he so certain? Again, he +suggested she was French and not Russian, scorned the idea of her being +afraid of any one, and altogether he showed rather an intimate knowledge +of her, which makes one fancy that she had been more open with him than +she had been with others." + +"The fact that she was sitting to him might account for that," said Zena. + +"One would also expect that it would have made him come forward and give +what help he could in clearing up the mystery." Quarles answered; "but he +does nothing of the kind. We do not hear that he has used her as a model +for his Agricultural group until we hear it casually on the day the bust +was exhibited, and he tells us that he did not know of her disappearance +until he telephoned to her rooms two days afterwards. Does that sound +quite a likely story, Wigan?" + +"I think you are building a theory on a frail foundation, Professor." + +"It has served its purpose; I have built my theory--the artistic mind +fascinated and becoming revengeful in a moment of repulsion. I think +Madame Vatrotski had an appointment with Forbes that day, and more, that +she kept it." + +"Where?" + +"At his studio. It may have been to give him a final sitting, or it may +have been a lovers' meeting. Forbes could only see her beauty and +fascination; he put what he saw into the bust. He loved her with all the +unreasoning power that was in him; it is possible that in her limited way +she loved him, that he was more to her than all the rest. Then came the +sudden revulsion, perhaps because stories concerning her had reached +Forbes, stories he was convinced were true. She was alone with him in the +studio, and--well, I do not think she left it alive." + +"But the body?" I said. + +"Always the great difficulty," Quarles returned. "Yesterday I spent an +interesting day in Essex, Wigan, watching the various processes used in +making artificial stone, from its liquid and plastic state to its setting +into a hard block. I was amazed at what can be done with it." + +"You mean that--" + +"It is impossible!" Zena exclaimed. + +"It is not a very difficult matter to treat a body so as to preserve it, +but to cover it with a preparation and with such precision that when it +is set you shall see nothing but a stone figure is, of course, only +possible to an artist." + +"But she had sat for him, the figure must have been far advanced +before--before she disappeared." + +"I have no doubt it was, Wigan; but, far advanced as it was, that +stone figure was removed and replaced by one that only superficially +was stone." + +"I do not believe it. It is absurd." + +"Measurement proved that the recumbent figure was out of proportion in +comparison with the other figures, accounted for by the stone casing. Of +course with the secretary there I could not look too closely." + +"No, or you would have found--" + +"You seem to forget that I went back for my gloves," said Quarles. "I +left them on purpose. I ran up to the library; no one was about. I had a +chisel and hammer with me. By this time some one may have discovered +that the group has been chipped. There are the pieces." + +He took from his pocket some fragments of stone, pieces of a stone +mold, in fact. + +"Whether they will realize what it is that is disclosed where that piece +is missing is another matter, but we know, Wigan. It is the body of +Madame Vatrotski. Can you wonder, my dear Zena, that I felt more like a +little brandy and water than tea?" + +How far Quarles was right in his idea of the relations between Forbes and +the dancer no one will ever know. When the police went to arrest him he +was found dead in his studio. He had shot himself. How had he heard of +Quarles's discovery? How did he know that his ingenious method of +concealing the body had been found out? + +It was so strange that I asked Quarles whether he had warned him. + +"Do you think I should be likely to do such a thing?" was his answer. + +He would give me no other answer, and all I can say positively is that he +has never actually denied it. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE MYSTERY OF THE MAN AT WARBURTON'S + + +Two days later Zena went to visit friends in the country, and for some +weeks I did not go near Chelsea. Quarles was busy with some Psychological +Society which was holding a series of meetings in London, and was quite +pleased, no doubt, to be without my society for a while. + +Except when I have a regular holiday, my leisure hours are limited, but I +was taking a night off. It was not because I had nothing to do, but +because I had so many things to think of that my brain had become +hopelessly muddled in the process, and a few blank hours seemed to be +advisable. When this kind of retreat becomes necessary, I invariably find +my way to Holborn, to a very plain-fronted establishment there over which +is the name Warburton. If you are a gastronomic connoisseur in any way +you may know it, for Warburton's is a restaurant where you can get an +old-fashioned dinner cooked as nowhere else in London, I believe, and +enjoy an old port afterwards which those delightful sinners, our +grandfathers, would have sat over half the night, and been pulled out +from under the table in the morning perchance. I am not abnormally +partial to the pleasures of the table, but I have found a good dinner in +combination with first-rate port, rationally dealt with, an excellent +tonic for the brain. + +I do not suppose any one knew my name at Warburton's, and I have always +prided myself on not carrying my profession in my face. The man who +dined opposite to me that night possibly began by taking me for a +prosperous city man, to whom success had come somewhat early, or perhaps +for a barrister, not of the brilliant kind, but of the steady plodders +who get there in the end by sheer force of sticking power. I was not in +the least interested in him until he spoke to me--asked me to pass the +Worcester sauce, in fact. His voice attracted me, and his hands. It was a +voice which sounded out of practise, as if it were seldom used, and his +hands were those of an artist. I made some casual remark, complimentary +to Warburton's, and we began to talk. He seemed glad to do so, but he +spoke with hesitation, not as one who has overcome an impediment in his +speech, but as one who had forgotten part of his vocabulary. The reason +leaked out presently. + +"I wonder whether there is something--how shall I put it?--_simpatica_ +between us?" he said suddenly. + +"Why the speculation?" I asked. + +"Otherwise I cannot think why I am talking so much," he said with a +nervous laugh. "I live alone, I hardly know a soul, and all I say in the +course of a week could be repeated in two minutes, I suppose." + +"Not a healthy existence," I returned. + +"It suits me. I dine here most nights; the journey to and fro forms my +daily constitutional. You are not a regular customer here?" + +"No, an occasional one only. I should guess that you are engaged in +artistic work of some kind." + +"Right!" he said with a show of excitement. "And when I tell you I live +in Gray's Inn do you think you could guess what kind of work it is?" + +"That is beyond me," I laughed. "Gray's Inn sounds a curious place for +an artist." + +"I am an illuminator, not for money, but for my own pleasure. Do you +know Italy?" + +"No." + +"At least you know that some of the old monks spent their hours in +wonderful work of this kind, carefully illuminating the texts of works +with marvelous design and color. Now and then some special genius arose +and became a great fresco painter. Fra Angelico painted pictures for the +world to marvel over, while some humbler brother pored over his +illuminating. You will find some of this work in the British Museum." + +Evidently my newly acquired friend was an eccentric, I thought. + +"Pictures have no particular interest for me," he went on; "these +illuminated texts have. I am an expert worker myself. First in Italy, now +in Gray's Inn." + +"And there is no market for such work?" I enquired. + +"I believe not. I have never troubled to find out. I have no need of +money, and if I had I could not bring myself to part with my work." + +"You interest me. I should like to see some of your work." + +"Why not? It is a short walk to Gray's Inn. To me you are rather +wonderful. I have not felt inclined to talk to a stranger for years, and +now I am anxious to show you what I have done. We will go when you like." + +I had not bargained for this. Had I foreseen that I should have a +conversation forced upon me to-night I should have avoided Warburton's; +even now I was inclined to excuse myself, but curiosity got the upper +hand. I finished my wine and we went to Gray's Inn. + +On the way, I told him my name, but, apparently, he had never heard it, +nor did he immediately tell me his. I purposely called him Mr. ---- and +paused for the information. + +"Parrish," he said. "Bather a curious name," and then he went on talking +about illuminating, evidently convinced that I was intensely interested. +It was the man who interested me, not his work, and the interest was +heightened when I entered his rooms. He occupied two rooms at the top of +a dreary building devoted to men of law. The rooms were well enough in +themselves, but the furniture was in the last stage of dilapidation, +there were holes in the carpet, and everything looked forlorn and +poverty-stricken. I glanced at my companion. Certainly, his clothes were +a little shabby, but quite good, and he was oblivious to the decayed +atmosphere of his surroundings. He drew me at once to a large table, +where lay the work he was engaged upon. Of its kind, it was marvelous +both in design and execution, reproducing the color effects of the old +illuminators so exactly that it was almost impossible to tell it from +that of the old monks. This is not my opinion, but that of the expert +from the British Museum when he pronounced upon the work later. + +"Wonderful," I said. "And there is no sale for it?" + +He shrugged his shoulders. Environment seemed to have an effect upon +him, for his conversation was mostly by signs after we entered his room. +Without a word he took finished work from various drawers and put it on +the table for my inspection. I praised it, asked questions to draw him +out, but failed to get more than a lift of the eyebrows, or an +occasional monosyllable. It was not exhilarating, and as soon as I could +I took my leave. + +"Come and see me again soon," he said, parting with me at the top of +the stairs. + +"Thanks," I answered, as I went down, but I made no promise as I looked +up at him silhouetted against the light from his open door. Little did I +guess how soon I was to climb those stairs again. + +Next morning I was conscious that the night off, although not spent +exactly as I had intended, had done me good. Some knotty points in a case +I was engaged upon had begun to unravel themselves in my mind, and I +reached the office early to find that the chief was already there and +wanted to see me. + +"Here is a case you must look after at once, Wigan," he said, passing me +the report of the murder of a man named Parrish, in Gray's Inn. + +Now, one of the essentials in my profession is the ability to put the +finger on the small mistakes a criminal makes when he endeavors to cover +up his tracks. I suppose nine cases out of ten are solved in this way, +and more often than not the thing left undone, unthought of, is the very +one, you would imagine, which the criminal would have thought of first. I +fancy the reason lies in the fact that the criminal does not believe he +will be suspected. I said nothing to my chief about my visit to Gray's +Inn last night. Experience has shown me the wisdom of a still tongue, and +knowledge I have picked up casually has often led to a solution which has +startled the Yard. The Yard was destined to be startled now, but not +quite in the way I hoped. + +When I arrived at Gray's Inn, a small crowd had collected before the +entrance door of the house, as if momentarily expecting some +information from the constable who stood on duty there--a man I did not +happen to know. + +"That's him! That's him!" + +A boy pointed me out excitedly to the constable, who looked at me +quickly. I smiled to find myself recognized, but I was laboring under +a mistake. + +"Yes, that's the man," said a woman standing on the edge of the crowd. + +The explanation came when the constable understood who I was. + +"Both of them declare they saw the dead man in company with another man +last night, described him, and now--" + +"I saw you with him," said the boy. "I never saw him with any one before, +that's why I took particular notice." + +The woman nodded her agreement. + +"Better take the names and addresses, constable." + +"I've already done that, sir." + +I entered the house inclined to smile, but the inclination vanished as I +went upstairs. No doubt these two had seen me last night, and it was +fortunate, perhaps, that I was a detective, and not an ordinary +individual. And yet a detective might commit murder. It was an unpleasant +thought, unpleasant enough to make me wish I had mentioned last night's +adventure to the chief. + +A constable I knew was on the top landing, and entered the rooms with me. +Parrish had not been moved. He was lying by the table; had probably +fallen forward out of his chair. + +A thin-bladed knife had been driven downwards, at the base of the neck, +apparently by some one who had stood behind him. I judged, and a doctor +presently confirmed my judgment, that he had been dead some hours; must +have met his death soon after I had left him. As far as I could tell, +the papers on the table were in exactly the same position as I had seen +them, and the finished work which he had taken out of his drawers to +show me had not been replaced. The fact seemed to add to the awkwardness +of my position. + +The first thing I did was to telegraph to Christopher Quarles. I do not +remember ever being more keen for his help. I occupied the time of +waiting in a careful examination of the rooms and the stairs, and in +making enquiries in the offices in the building. + +The first thing I told Quarles, on his arrival, was my adventure +last night, and the awkward fact that two people had recognized me +this morning. + +"Then we mustn't fail this time, Wigan," he said gravely. "It is a pity +you did not mention the adventure to your chief." + +"Yes, but--" + +"You'd suspect a man with less evidence against him," Quarles answered +quickly. "We'll look at the rooms, and the dead man, then you had better +go back to the Yard and tell your chief all about it." + +Our search revealed very little. It was evident that Parrish had lived a +lonely life, as he had told me. His evening dinner at Warburton's +appeared to have been his only real meal of the day. There was a +half-empty tin of biscuits in the cupboard, and some coffee and tea, but +no other food whatever, nor evidence that it was ever kept there. I have +said the clothes he was wearing were shabby, but there was a shabbier +suit still lying at the bottom of a drawer, and his stock of shirts and +underclothing reached the minimum. Practically, there were no papers, +only a few receipted bills for material for his work, a few +advertisements still in their wrappers, and two letters which had not +been opened. + +"We will examine these later, Wigan," said Quarles. "I want to get an +impression before anything definite puts me on the wrong road. What +about his work?" and the professor examined it with his lens. "Good, of +its kind, I should imagine, and what is more to the point, requiring +expensive materials. These bills show a good many pounds spent in less +than four months. He was not poverty-stricken, in spite of shabby +clothes, and holes in the carpet. Where did he get his money from? There +is no check book here, no money except a few shillings in his pocket. +That is a point to remember." + +"The murderers may have taken it," I said. + +"This doesn't look like a place ordinary thieves would come to." + +There was a shelf in one corner, with books on it, perhaps a score in +all. Quarles took down every one of them, and opened them. + +"John Parrish. Did you know his name was John?" + +"No. He didn't mention his Christian name." + +"Here it is, written in every book," said Quarles as he deliberately tore +a fly-leaf out of one and began to put down on it the titles of some of +the books. "Evidently he did not read much, the dust here is thick. Did +he open his door with a key when you came in with him last night?" + +"I couldn't swear to it." + +"You see it does not lock of itself. He might have left it merely closed. +Did he go into the bedroom while you were here?" + +"No." + +"Then the murderer may have been there while you were with him. You have +made enquiries about him in this building, of course?" + +"Yes." + +"About his personal appearance and habits, I mean. You see, Wigan, your +own idea of him is not sufficient. He may have deceived you entirely +regarding his character, assuming eccentricity for some purpose. Think +the affair out from that point of view, and when you have been to the +Yard, come to Chelsea. If you do not mind I will take these two unopened +letters. We will look at them together presently." + +As a matter of fact, Quarles had opened them before I saw him; indeed, +their contents took him out of town, and I did not see him for three +days. They were very trying days for me, for the chief took me off the +case when he had heard my story. He could not understand why I had not +mentioned at once that I had been with the dead man on the previous +night, and his manner suggested that my being the criminal was well +within the bounds of possibility. I suppose every one likes to have a cut +at a successful man occasionally, but I am bound to admit he had some +reason for his action. He showed me a halfpenny paper in which an +enterprising scribbler, under the headline "Murder in Gray's Inn," had +heightened the sensation by another headline, "Strange recognition of a +well-known detective by a woman and a boy." + +"We mustn't give the press any reason to suppose that we want to +thwart justice for the purpose of shielding an officer," the chief +said. "Cochran will take charge of the case, and I am letting the +press know this." + +There was nothing to be said, and I left him feeling very much like a +criminal, and very conscious of being in an awkward position. Unless the +case were satisfactorily cleared up there would be plenty of people to +suspect me. + +Quarles, when at last we foregathered in the empty room, was sympathetic +but not surprised; Zena, who had come back to town immediately on +receiving a letter from me, was furious that I should be suspected. + +"I have been busy," said the professor. "I opened those letters, Wigan. +Of course Zena's first question on her arrival was why Mr. Parrish had +not opened them. Her second question was: Why did he live the life of a +recluse in Gray's Inn? How would you answer those questions?" + +"I see no reason why a recluse should not live in Gray's Inn," I +answered, "and an eccentric person, obsessed with one idea in life, might +throw letters aside without opening them." + +"Quite a good answer," said Quarles. "Now, here are the letters. This one +is dated eighteen months ago, postmark Liverpool, written at Thorn's +Hotel, Liverpool. 'Dear Jack,--Back again like the proverbial bad penny. +Health first class; luck medium. Pocket full enough to have a rollick +with you. Shall be with you the day after to-morrow.--Yours, C.M.' Your +friend Parrish was not a man you would expect to rollick, I imagine?'' + +"No." + +"So either he entirely deceived you or had changed considerably since +'C.M.' had seen him. Here is the other letter. Postmark Rome, dated three +years ago, but no address. Just a message in indifferent English: 'Once +more you do me good and I repay in interest. B. knows and comes to you. +Beware.--Emanuele.'" + +"Parrish told me he was in Italy for some time," I said. + +"The first letter took me to Liverpool," Quarles went on. "Thorn's Hotel +is third-rate, but quite good enough for a man who does not want to burn +money. 'C.M.' stands for Claude Milne. That was the only name with those +initials in the hotel books on that date. He had come from New York, and +he left an address to which letters were to be forwarded, an hotel in +Craven Street. I traced him there. He stayed a week, and, I gather, spent +a rollicking time, mostly returning to bed in the early hours not too +sober. No friends seem to have looked him up. He appears to have gone +abroad again." + +"And it is eighteen months ago," I said. + +"Exactly. We will remember that," said Quarles. "The other letter is +older still. It is evidently a warning. The writer believed Parrish to be +in danger from this 'B.' who was coming to England. Now, was it B. who +found him the other night after three years' search?" + +"The name is on the door and in the directory," I answered. + +"That is another point to remember, Wigan. Now, I daresay you have learnt +from your inquiries in the building that very little was known about +Parrish. Some of the tenants did not remember there was such a name on +the door. I have interviewed the agents who receive the rent, and they +tell me that until about three years ago they received Parrish's rent by +check, always sent from Windsor, and on a bank at Windsor; but since then +they have received it in cash, promptly, and sent by messenger boy, the +receipt always being waited for. They inform me that at one time, at any +rate, Parrish did not use his chambers much, was a river man in the +summer, and in the winter was abroad a great deal. The letter sent with +the cash was merely a typed memorandum. There was no typewriter in +Parrish's chambers, I think?" + +"No." + +Quarles took from some papers the fly-leaf he had torn from one of +the books. + +"That is Parish's signature," said Quarles. "The agents recognize it, the +bank confirms it; the account is not closed, but has not been used for +three years. The rooms he occupied in Windsor are now in other hands, and +nothing is known of him there. Inspector Cockran made these inquiries at +Windsor. You see, as you are off the case I am helping him. Having no +official position in the matter I must attach myself to some one to +facilitate my investigation. Cockran thinks I am an old fool with lucid +moments, during which I may possibly say something which is worth +listening to." + +"He is generally looked upon as a smart man," I said. + +"Oh, perhaps he is right in his opinion of me, also in his +judgment of you." + +"What has he got to say about me?" + +"He says very little, but as far as I can gather his investigations are +based on the assumption that you killed Parrish. Don't get angry, Wigan. +It is really not such an outrageous point of view, and for the present I +am shaking my head with him and am inclined to his opinion." + +"It is a disgraceful suspicion," said Zena. + +"Those who plead not guilty always say that, but it really does not count +for much with the judge," Quarles answered. "We will get on with the +evidence. I jotted down on this fly-leaf the names of some of the books +on that shelf, Wigan. Nothing there, you see, bears any reference to his +illuminating work." + +"Are you suggesting it was a blind?" + +"No, I haven't got as far as that yet, but it is curious that none of his +books should relate to his hobby in any way. I have ascertained that he +always bought his materials personally, never wrote for them. From the +postman I discover that it was seldom they had to go to the top floor; +the advertisements and letters we have found may be taken to be all the +communications he has received through the post. At the same time we have +evidence that he had command of money, since he paid his rent promptly, +bought expensive materials, and dined every night at Warburton's. Since +he did not sell his work, where did the money come from?" + +"Some annuity," I suggested. + +"Exactly, which he must have collected himself, since he received no +letters, and taken away in cash, since he had given up using a banking +account. Cockran has made inquiries at the insurance offices, and in the +name of Parrish there exists no such annuity, apparently. It was, +therefore, either in another name or came from a private source." + +"So we draw blank," I said. + +"In one sense we do, in another we do not," returned Quarles. "We come +back to the letters and to Zena's questions. First, why did he live the +life of a recluse in Gray's Inn? The answer does not seem very difficult +to me. He had something to hide, something which made him cut himself +off from the world, and that something had its beginning about three +years ago, when he ceased paying his rent by check, when he gave up his +rooms at Windsor; in short, when he entirely became a changed character. +We may take 'C.M.'s' letter, with its talk of rollicking, as confirming +this view." + +"But he did not open either letter. He did not see Emanuele's +warning," I said. + +"True, but I believe, Wigan, the first two words in Emanuele's letter +should stand by themselves; that the letter should read thus: 'Once +more. You do me good, I repay, etc,' I think there was a previous letter +which Parrish did see." + +"A far-fetched theory," I returned. + +"The key to it is in Zena's question: Why didn't Parrish open his +letters?" + +"Why, indeed?" I said. "He might throw 'C.M.'s' letter aside, but if +there had been a previous letter warning him that danger threatened him +from Italy, do you imagine he would have failed to open one with the Rome +postmark on it?" + +"That does seem to knock the bottom out of my argument," said Quarles. + +"I am afraid the theory is too elaborate altogether," I went on. "Parrish +was an eccentric. I was not deceived. I am astonished there should ever +have been an episode in his life which should necessitate a warning from +Emanuele. Probably the Italian exaggerated the position. That B. is +stated to have come to England three years ago, and the murder has only +just occurred, would certainly confirm this view." + +"It does, but you throw no light on the mystery, and the fact remains +that Parrish was murdered. You have not knocked the bottom out of my +theory, and with Cockran's help I am going to put it to the test. For +the moment there is nothing more to be done. I must wait until I hear +from Cockran. I will wire you some time to-morrow. You must meet me +without fail wherever I appoint. I think Cockran is fully persuaded +that I am helping him to snap the handcuffs on to your wrists. The +capture of a brother detective would be a fine case to have to his +credit, wouldn't it?" + +"I hope you are not doing anything risky, dear," said Zena. + +"What! Is your faith in Murray growing weak, too?" laughed Quarles. + +I was not in the mood to enjoy a joke of this kind--my position was far +too serious--and I left Chelsea in a depressed condition. Perhaps it was +being so personally concerned in the matter which made me especially +critical of Quarles's methods, but it certainly did not seem to me that +his arguments had helped me in the least. They only served to emphasize +how poor our chance was of finding the criminal. + +Next afternoon I received a wire from the professor telling me to meet +him at the Yorkshire Grey. I found him waiting there and thought he +looked a little anxious. + +"We are going to have a tea-party at a quiet place round the corner in +Gray's Inn Road," he said; "at least Cockran and I are, while you are +going to look on. You are going to be conspicuous by your absence, and +under no circumstances must you attempt to join us. When it is all +over and we have gone, then you can leave your hiding-place and come +to Chelsea." + +He would answer no questions as we went to the third-rate tea-rooms, but +he was certainly excited. The woman greeted him as an old friend. He had +evidently been there before. + +"This is the gentleman I spoke of," said Quarles, and then the woman led +us into a back room. + +"Ah, you've put the screen in that corner, I see. An excellent +arrangement; couldn't be better. You quite understand that this room is +reserved for me and my guests for as long as I may require it. Good. Now, +Wigan, your place is behind this screen. There is a chair, so you can be +seated, and there is also a convenient hole in the screen which will +afford you a view of our table yonder. It is rather a theatrical +arrangement, but I have a score to settle with Cockran if I can. He +thinks I am an old fool, and when it does not suit my purpose I object to +any one having that idea." + +When Cockran arrived it so happened that I had some little difficulty in +finding the slit in the screen; when I did I saw that he had a woman +with him. By the time I had got a view of the room she had seated +herself at the tea-table and her back was toward me. It did not seem to +me the kind of back that would make a man hurry to overtake to see what +the face was like. + +Quarles talked commonplaces while the tea was being brought in, and then, +when the proprietress had gone out, he said, leaning toward the woman: + +"Do you constantly suffer from the result of your accident?" + +"Accident!" she repeated. + +"I notice that you limp slightly." + +"Oh, it was a long time ago. I don't feel anything of it now." + +Quarles handed her some cake. + +"It is very good of you to come," he went on, "and I hope you are going +to let us persuade you to be definite." + +She nodded at Cockran. + +"I have told him that I am not sure. I am going to stick to that." + +"The fact is, we are especially anxious to solve this mystery," Quarles +went on, "and I believe you are the only person who can help us. Now, +from certain inquiries which I have been making I have come to the +conclusion that Mr. Parrish is not dead." + +"Not dead!" the woman exclaimed. + +I saw Cockran look enquiringly at Quarles, but he did not say anything. +The professor had evidently persuaded the inspector to let him carry out +this investigation in his own way. + +"Of course, a man has been killed," he went on, "but it wasn't Parrish, I +fancy. He lived in Parrish's chambers; was a lonely man with a hobby, and +if the people who saw him about liked to think his name was Parrish, +well, it didn't trouble him. You didn't happen to know the real Parrish, +I suppose?" + +"Of course not." + +"No, I didn't expect you would," said Quarles, "but tell me how it was +you so promptly recognized the man we are after." + +"I am not sure it was the same man." + +"But you were when the boy recognized him." + +"I say now I am not sure." + +"Oh, but you are," returned Quarles. "You could not possibly be mistaken. +From the inner room of Parrish's chambers you must have watched both the +men for the best part of an hour." + +A teaspoon clattered in a saucer as the woman sprang to her feet, and I +saw she was the woman who had pointed me out to the constable when I +had entered Gray's Inn on the morning after the murder. Cockran's face +was a study. + +"You made a mistake," Quarles went on quietly. "I have worked it all out +in my own mind and I daresay there are some details missing. I will tell +you how I explain the mystery. Parrish, when in Italy, wronged some one +dear to you. You only heard of it afterwards. Personally you did not know +Parrish, but you found out what you could about him: that he was +connected with the law, that he lived in London, in one of the places +where lawyers do live. You determined to come to England for revenge. I +do not say you were not justified. I do not know the circumstances. That +was three years ago. An accident--was it the one at Basle, which occurred +about that time?--detained you, laid you aside for some months, perhaps. +You had not much money, you had to live, so your arrival in England was +delayed. When you got here, you took a post as waitress in Soho. Only in +your leisure time could you look for Mr. Parrish. At first, probably, you +knew nothing about the London Directory, and when you did, looked for the +name in the wrong part of it, and, of course, you would not ask questions +of any one. That might implicate you later on. At last you found him; saw +the name on the door. Possibly you have been waiting your opportunity for +some little time, but the other night it came. Of course, you could not +know there was a mistake. You heard Parrish speak of Italy, and when the +other man had departed you crept from your hiding place and struck your +blow; but you did not kill Parrish. Three years ago he was warned of his +danger, and got out of your way. He was warned that you had started for +England by Emanuele. Do you know him?" + +The woman had stood tense and rigid, listening to this story of the +crime; now she collapsed. + +"Emanuele!" she cried. + +"I see you do know him," Quarles said. "You have my sympathy. It is +possible that the man Parrish deserved his fate, only it happens that +another has suffered in his place." + +"It was my sister he wronged," said the woman. + +"Was it fear that some evidence might be found against you which made you +point out a man whom you knew was innocent?" said Quarles. + +She nodded, still sobbing. + +"The rest is for you to manage," said Quarles, turning to the +inspector. "I suppose you are not likely to make any further mistakes. +This would all have been cleared up days ago if Wigan had not been +taken off the job." + +I suppose Cockran felt a fool, as the professor intended he should. + +There was little to be explained when I went to Chelsea later. Quarles's +reconstruction of the crime had showed me the lines along which he had +worked. The unopened letter from Rome had set him speculating with a view +to proving that the dead man was not Parrish; and whilst I had only +considered the change in character, he had had before him the possibility +of a separate identity. + +"Still, I do not understand how you came to suspect the woman," I said. + +"Her recognition of you was too prompt to carry conviction under the +circumstances," he answered. "The boy, who is in an office in Gray's Inn, +might have met you together. I have no doubt he did; but since the woman +had no business there, and if my theory were right, was concealed in +Parrish's chambers at the time, she could not have seen you, except in +the way I explained to her. Poor soul! I feel rather a cur for trapping +her, but you were in a tight hole, Wigan, and I had to get you out." + +Evidence showing that Parrish was a heartless scoundrel, the jury found +extenuating circumstances for the woman, in spite of the fact that she +had murdered an innocent man, so she escaped the extreme penalty. I was +glad, although the strict justice of the verdict may be questioned. From +Italy, from Emanuele, who was the woman's cousin, we learnt that when +Parrish was in Italy he had a friend with him, an eccentric artist named +Langford. We found that an insurance company had an annuity in this name +which was not afterwards claimed. This fact, and the officials' +description of the man, left no doubt that the murdered man was Langford. +Emanuele had written two letters, as Quarles had surmised, and the first +had caused Parrish to get out of harm's way. Wishing to keep up his +chambers, he allowed Langford to occupy them; had perhaps left him the +money to pay the rent, the idea of danger to his friend probably never +occurring to him. + +Naturally, Langford had not opened his letters, and, being an eccentric +and a recluse, had allowed people to call him Parrish without denying the +name when it happened that any one had to call him anything. + +Since Parrish has never returned, even though the danger is past, it is +probable, I think, that he died abroad. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE STRANGE CASE OF DANIEL HARDIMAN + + +Not infrequently I am put in charge of cases which are of small +importance and might well be left to a less experienced man. I thought +the mystery of Daniel Hardiman was such a case. I even went further and +imagined that it was given to me because I was a bit under a cloud over +the Parrish affair. Quarles jeered at my imagination and was interested +from the outset, perhaps because he had had rather more of the +Psychological Society than was good for him. Anyway, he traveled north +with me to meet the liner _Slavonic_. + +On the passenger list was the name Daniel Hardiman. He had come on board +at Montevideo in company with his man, John Bennett, who appeared to be +half servant, half companion. They had only a small amount of personal +luggage, one trunk each, but several stout packing-cases of various sizes +had been stored away in the hold. Hardiman had a first-class cabin to +himself; his man traveled second-class, but spent much of his time in his +master's cabin; indeed, for the first few days of the voyage Hardiman was +not seen except at meal times. + +It was said amongst the crew--probably the servant had mentioned the +fact--that they were returning to England after an absence of many years, +during which time they had lived much alone; and amongst the passengers +it was agreed that there was something curious about the pair. There was +speculation upon the promenade deck and in the smoking-room; the gossip +was a pleasant interlude in the monotony of a long voyage. At the end of +a week, however, Mr. Hardiman no longer stayed in his cabin. At first he +paced the deck, thoughtfully, only in the early morning or late in the +evening, but later was to be found in a deck-chair, either gazing fixedly +at the horizon or interested in the games of the children on board. One +sturdy youngster, when recovering a ball which had rolled to Hardiman's +feet, spoke to him. All the answer he got was a nod of the head, but the +boy had broken the ice, and two men afterwards scraped acquaintance with +the curious traveler. One was a Mr. Majendie, who was going to England on +business; the other Sir Robert Gibbs, a Harley Street specialist, who had +broken down with hard work, and was making the round trip for the benefit +of his health. + +By wireless, when the ship was two days from Liverpool, came the news +that Hardiman had been murdered by his man-servant, and it was in +consequence of this message that Christopher Quarles and I had gone north +to meet the boat on its arrival. + +When we went on board the captain gave us the outline of Hardiman's +behavior during the voyage as I have here set it down. Quarles asked him +at once whether he thought that all the passengers, after landing, could +be traced if necessary. The captain seemed to consider this rather a tall +order, but thought all those who could possibly have had access to Mr. +Hardiman might be traced. + +"It is a pity we cannot forbid any one to land until we like," said the +professor. + +"There is not so much mystery about it as all that," said the captain, +"although it isn't quite plain sailing. One of our passengers, a swell +doctor, who examined the body with our ship's doctor directly after the +discovery, will give you the benefit of his opinion, and I am detaining +another passenger, a Mr. Majendie." + +"Then there is some doubt as to the servant's guilt?" I said. + +"I don't think so, but you shall hear the whole story." + +"First, we should like to see the body," said Quarles. "We might be +influenced unconsciously by your tale. It is well to come to the heart of +the matter with an open mind." + +The captain sent for the ship's doctor and a stewardess, and with them we +went to the cabin, which had been kept locked. + +The body, which lay in the berth where it had been found, an upper berth +with a porthole, had been washed and attended to by the stewardess. The +lower berth had been used by the traveler for some of his clothes--they +were still there, neatly folded. The dead man's trunk was on a sofa on +the opposite side of the cabin, a sofa which could be made into a third +berth if necessary. Except that the body had been attended to, the cabin +was just as it had been found. + +"I took the stained sheets away," said the stewardess, "but I thought it +would be wiser not to move him from the upper berth." + +"It is a pity he couldn't have been left just as he was," Quarles +answered; "you have no doubt washed away all the evidence." + +He was a long time examining the wound, a particularly jagged one in the +neck, a stab rather than a cut, but with something of both in it. + +"Has the--the knife been found?" Quarles asked. + +"No," answered the captain. "You hesitate in your question a little. You +are certain it was a knife, I suppose?" + +"Yes, why do you ask?" + +"His man says it was a bullet." + +"A bullet!" and Quarles looked back at the wound. + +"The servant Bennett does not deny that he killed his master," said the +doctor; "but he persists in saying that he had no knife." + +"Has a revolver been found?" I asked. + +"No, and no one heard any report," said the captain. "I cannot make this +fellow Bennett out. He seems to me rather mad. Besides, there are one or +two curious points. Would you like to hear them now?" + +"Please," said Quarles. + +With sailor-like directness the story was told in a straightforward +narrative, destitute of trimmings of any kind. A steward had gone to Mr. +Hardiman's cabin to take him a weak brandy-and-water; he had done the +same first thing every morning during the voyage. He saw Hardiman lying +with his face toward the cabin, one arm hanging over the side of the +berth. There was no sign of a struggle. The clothes were not thrown back, +but there was a considerable quantity of blood. Curiously enough, the +porthole had been unscrewed and was open. The steward fetched Dr. +Williams, the ship's doctor, who said death had probably occurred five or +six hours previously, a statement Sir Robert Gibbs corroborated. There +was no knife anywhere. + +"The time of death is important," the captain went on. "Bennett has +occupied a second-class cabin with a man named Dowler, and on the night +of the murder Dowler, having taken something which disagreed with him, +was awake all night, and he declares that Bennett never stirred out of +his bunk. If the doctors are right, then Dowler's evidence provides +Bennett with an alibi, of which, however, he shows no anxiety to take +advantage. This cabin trunk, Mr. Quarles"--and the captain lifted up the +lid as he spoke--"this trunk is all Mr. Hardiman's cabin luggage. There +are some papers, chiefly in a kind of shorthand, which you will no doubt +examine presently, and these stones, merely small chunks of rock, as far +as I can see, although Sir Robert Gibbs suggests they may have value. +There are similar stones in Bennett's trunk. There is a curious incident +in connection with these bits of stone. On the night after the murder one +of the middle watch saw a man come on deck and hastily fling something +overboard. At least, that was the intention, apparently, but as a fact, +either through agitation or a bad aim, the packet did not go overboard, +but landed on a coil of rope on the lower deck forward. It proved to be a +small canvas bag containing seven of these bits of rock, or, at any rate, +pieces like them. Now, the man on the watch is not inclined to swear to +it, but he believes the thrower was Majendie. Majendie denies it." + +"You are an excellent witness, Captain," said Quarles as he took up two +or three of the bits of rock and looked at them. "Is Mr. Majendie annoyed +at not being allowed to land at once?" + +"On the contrary, he is keen to give us all the help in his power. He is +a fairly well-known man on the other side, has means and position, and, +personally, I have little doubt that the watch was mistaken. You see, the +servant does not deny his guilt." + +"Would Bennett be likely to be in the place where the watch saw this +man?" I asked. + +"Not under ordinary circumstances, but if he had been trying to get into +the locked cabin he would be." + +"I think if we could have a few words with Sir Robert Gibbs it would be +useful," said Quarles. "Have you the canvas bag of stones?" + +"Yes, locked up in my cabin. I will send and ask Sir Robert to join +us there." + +"And could you get a knife?" asked the professor. "Any old knife will do, +a rusty one for preference." + +A few minutes later we were in the captain's cabin, and on the table was +the bag of stones and a rusty and much-worn table-knife. Dr. Williams +had just explained to us his reasons for fixing the time of death when +Sir Robert entered. He was a man with a pronounced manner, inclined to +take the lead in any company in which he found himself, and was very +certain of his own opinion. On the way to the cabin Quarles had +whispered to me to take the lead in asking questions, and to leave him +in the background as much as possible, so after the captain's short +introductions I began at once: + +"I may take it, Sir Robert, that you agree with Dr. Williams as to the +time Hardiman had been dead when you saw the body?" + +"Certainly." + +"And in your opinion the wound could not, under any circumstances, have +been caused by a bullet?" + +"Certainly not," and he smiled at the futility of the question. + +"The bullet might have been a peculiar one," I suggested, "different from +any with which we are familiar. The servant, who does not deny his guilt, +says it was a bullet." + +"And I say it was not," Sir Robert answered. "No kind of bullet could +make such a wound. A knife with a point to it was used. The action would +be a stab and a pull sideways. I am of the opinion that the blow was +struck while the victim was in a deep sleep. I think Dr. Williams +agrees with me." + +Williams nodded. + +"You would otherwise have expected to find some signs of a +struggle?" I said. + +"I should. It is quite possible, I think, that at times Mr. Hardiman had +recourse to a draught or a tablet to induce sleep." + +"I understand that you had some conversation with Mr. Hardiman during the +voyage, Sir Robert. Were you struck by any peculiarity in him?" + +"He was an eccentric man, but a man of parts undoubtedly. He told me very +little about himself, but I gathered that he had traveled extensively, +and out of the beaten track. I put down his difficulty in sustaining a +conversation to this fact. He seemed in good health--one of those wiry +men who can stand almost anything." + +"Sir Robert, could it possibly have been a case of suicide?" Quarles +asked, suddenly leaning forward. + +"Have you examined the wound carefully?" asked the doctor. + +"I have." + +"If you will try to stab yourself like that you will see how impossible +it is. Besides, you forget that no knife has been found, and in a case of +suicide it would have been. I may add that the knife used was not in the +least like the one I see on the table there." + +"It must have had a point, you think?" said Quarles. + +"I do not think--I am certain." + +"Did Mr. Hardiman ever say anything about these bits of rock to you?" + +"Never," answered the doctor. "I think I suggested to the captain +that they might be valuable. I have no knowledge on the point, but I +cannot conceive a man like Hardiman carrying them about unless they +were of value." + +"I take it he is a geologist," Quarles said carelessly. + +Sir Robert would like to have been present throughout our inquiry, but +the professor firmly but courteously objected. He said it would not be +fair to those chiefly concerned, and he appealed to me to endorse his +opinion. The doctor had raised a spirit of antagonism in him. They were +both too dogmatic to agree easily. + +The sailor of the watch was next interviewed, a good, honest seaman who +evidently had a wholesome dread of the law in any form. He thought it +was Mr. Majendie he had seen on the deck that night, but he would, not +swear to it. + +"Are you sure it wasn't Bennett?" I asked. + +"Ay, sir, I'm pretty sure of that." + +"What is it that particularly makes you think it was Mr. Majendie?" + +"I just think it, sir; I can't rightly say why." + +"What did he do, exactly?" said Quarles. "Just show me--show me his +action. Here are the bits of rock in the bag; take the bag up and pretend +to pitch it into the sea, as he did." + +The sailor took up the bag and did so. His pantomime was quite realistic. + +"I note that you turn your back to us," said Quarles. + +"Ay, sir, because his back was turned to me. It wasn't until he made the +action of throwing--just like that, it was--that I knew he had anything +in his hand." + +"Did you call out to him?" + +"No; he was there and gone directly." + +"It was a bad throw, too?" + +"Ay, sir, it was; he did it awkward, something like women throws when +they ain't used to throwing." + +"That good fellow would feel far more uncomfortable in the witness-box +than most criminals do in the dock," said Quarles when the sailor had +gone. "He is as certain that it was Mr. Majendie as he is certain of +anything, but he is not going to commit himself. Shall we have a talk +with Mr. Majendie next? Let me question him, Wigan." + +Majendie's appearance was in his favor. He might be a villain, but he +didn't look it. There was Southern warmth in his countenance and temper +in his dark eyes, but his smile was prepossessing. + +"A sailor's absurd mistake has put you to great inconvenience, I fear," +said Quarles. + +"The inconvenience is nothing," was the answer. "I court enquiry." + +"Of course you were not on the deck that night?" + +"No." + +"It is Mr. Hardiman's past I want to get at," said the professor. "You +had some talk with him during the voyage; what did you think was his +business in life?" + +"He was a traveler. I think he had been where no other civilized man has +been. He did not directly tell me so, but I fancy he had wandered in the +interior of Patagonia." + +"Should you say he was a geologist?" + +"No," said Majendie with a smile. "He showed me some pieces of rock he +had with him; indeed, I am suspected of flinging some of these bits of +rock away in that canvas bag I see there. Is it likely I should do +anything so foolish? It is part of my business to know something of bits +of rock and blue clay and the like, and unless I am much mistaken those +bits of rock are uncut diamonds." + +"Diamonds!" I exclaimed. + +"Yellow diamonds of a kind that are very rarely found," Majendie +answered. "I may be mistaken, but that is my opinion. If I am right, the +actual gem, when cut, would be comparatively small. It is enclosed, as it +were, in a thick casing of rock." + +"Did Hardiman know this?" Quarles asked. + +"I am not sure. In the course of conversation I told him that I knew +something about diamonds, and he asked me into his cabin to show me some +bits of rock he had in his trunk. He spoke of them as bits of rock, but +he may have known what they really were." + +"Did he give you this invitation quite openly?" asked Quarles. + +"Oh, yes. There were others sitting near us who must have overheard it. I +went with him, and gave him my opinion as I have given it to you. Of +course, there may not be a jewel at the heart of every bit of rock; no +doubt there are a great many quite useless bits in Hardiman's +collection." + +"This is very interesting," said Quarles. "Would you look at the pieces +in that bag and tell us if any of them are useless." + +Majendie spent some minutes in examining them, and then gave it as his +opinion that they all contained a jewel. + +"Now that knife--" + +"I thought no knife had been found," said Majendie. + +"That has just been found on the ship," said Quarles. "It is an absurd +question, but as a matter of form I must ask it. Have you ever seen that +knife before?" + +Majendie took it up and looked at it. + +"Hardiman was apparently stabbed with a rusty knife," Quarles remarked. + +"Stabbed! You could not stab any one with this, and certainly I have +never seen it before." + +I did not understand why Quarles was passing this off as the real +weapon. He took it up, grasped it firmly, and stabbed the air with it. + +"I don't know, it might--" + +He shook his head and put the knife on the table again. Majendie took it +up and in his turn stabbed the air with it. + +"Utterly impossible," he said. "This could not have been the knife used; +besides, there would surely be stains on it." + +"I am inclined to think you are right," said Quarles. "You must forgive +the captain for detaining you, Mr. Majendie, and of course you can land +this afternoon. The captain wishes us to lunch on board; perhaps you +will join us?" + +"With pleasure. So long as I am in London to-night no harm is done." + +When he had gone Quarles turned to the captain. + +"Pardon my impudence, but we must not lose sight of Majendie. You must +follow him this afternoon, Wigan, and locate him in London. You must +have him watched until we get to the bottom of this affair. Now let us +see Bennett." + +The man-servant proved to be a bundle of nerves, and it was hardly to be +wondered at if the story he told was true. A question or two set him +talking without any reticence apparently. + +Time seemed to have lost half its meaning for him. He could not fix how +long he and his master had been away from England; many years was all he +could say. They had traveled much in South America, latterly in the wilds +of Patagonia. There they had fallen into the hands of savages, and for a +long time were not sure of their lives from hour to hour. Always Mr. +Hardiman seemed able to impress their captors that he was a dangerous +man to kill; fooled them, in fact, until they came to consider him a god. +Master and man were presently lodged in a temple, and were witnesses of +some horrible rites which they dared not interfere with. Finally, at a +great feast, Hardiman succeeded in convincing them that he was their +national and all-powerful deity, and that he had come to give them +victory over all their enemies. By his command the wooden figure of one +of their gods was taken from the temple, and, together with two curious +drums used for religious purposes, and other sacred things, was carried +through the forest to a certain spot which Hardiman indicated. The whole +company was then to go back three days' march, spend seven days in +religious feasting, and return. In the meanwhile he and his servant must +be left quite alone with these sacred things. + +"I suppose they returned," Bennett went on, "but they did not find us. +They did not find anything. The spot my master had fixed upon was within +a day's march of help. We set out as soon as those devils had left us, +and, having got assistance, my master would go back and fetch the wooden +figure and the other things. They are in the cases in this ship." + +"What was the main object of your master's travels?" I asked. + +"He was writing a book about tribes and their customs." + +"And he took a great interest in stones and bits of rock?" + +"That was only recently, and I never understood it, sir. He put some in +my trunk and some in his own, but what they were for I do not know. I +don't suppose he did himself. He was always peculiar." + +"Always or recently, do you mean?" Quarles asked. + +"Always, but more so lately. Can you wonder after all we went through? +You can't imagine the horrors that were done in that heathen temple." + +He told us some of them, but I shall not set them down here. It is enough +to say that human sacrifices were offered. The mere remembrance of +Bennett's narrative makes me shudder. + +"It is a wonder it did not drive you both mad," said Quarles. + +"That is what the master was afraid of," was the answer, "and it is the +cause of all this trouble. He did not seem to think it would affect me, +but he was very much afraid for himself." + +"He told you so?" + +"He did more than that. He said that if I saw he was going mad I was to +shoot him, and so--" + +"Wait a minute," said Quarles, "when did he say this to you?" + +"The first time was when we got those things from the place in the forest +where they had been left. Then he said it two or three times during the +voyage. The last time was when I was cutting his nails." + +"Cutting his nails?" I said. + +"Yes, sir. Mr. Hardiman could never cut the nails on his right hand. He +was very helpless with his left hand in things like that, always was. On +this particular day he said his hand was growing stronger, and declared +it all was because of will-power. He was quite serious about it, and then +he was suddenly afraid he was growing mad. 'Shoot me if I am going mad, +Bennett.' That is what he said." + +"And how were you to know?" asked Quarles. + +"He said I should know for certain when it happened, and I did. The next +evening he began telling me that we were bringing a lot of diamonds back +to England. He promised me more money than I had ever heard of. I should +have shot him then, only I wasn't carrying a revolver." + +"So you did it later in the evening?" + +"I cannot tell you exactly when I did it," the man answered. "I knew the +time had come, but I do not remember the actual doing of it. Only one +thing I am certain of--I didn't use a knife. He was always particular to +tell me to shoot him." + +"You are sure you did kill him?" I said. + +"Shot him--yes. I did not stab him. That is a mistake." + +"Do you know that your cabin companion says you did not leave your bunk +at all that night?" said Quarles. + +"That must be another mistake," was the answer. + +When he had gone the professor remarked that John Bennett was far nearer +an asylum than a prison. + +"If Hardiman had been shot I should think the servant had shot him, but +he was not shot. You see, Captain, the case is not so easy. These bits of +rock complicate it, and we must keep an eye on Majendie." + +There was a man I knew well attached to the Liverpool police, and I was +fortunate enough to get hold of him to follow Majendie to London that +afternoon. Bennett, having virtually confessed to the crime, was kept in +custody, and I was free to remain with Quarles and examine the cases +which Hardiman had brought to England. After certain formalities had been +complied with, we carried out this examination in one of the shipping +company's sheds. There were many things of extreme interest of which I +could write a lengthy account, but they had no bearing on our business. +The things which concerned us were the Patagonian relics. + +The two drums did not interest the professor much, but the figure of the +god did. It was about three-quarters life size, roughly carved into a +man's shape. The wood was light in weight and in color, but had been +smeared to a darker hue over the breast and loins. One arm hung by the +figure's side, was, indeed, only roughly indicated; but the other, +slightly bent, was stretched out in front of the figure. There was +nothing actually horrible about the image, but, remembering Bennett's +description of some of the rites performed in that temple, it became +sinister enough. Quarles's inspection took a long time, and during it I +do not think he uttered a word. + +"I think we may go back to Chelsea, Wigan," he said at last. + +Late on the following night we were in the empty room. At the professor's +suggestion I repeated the whole story for Zena's benefit, although I +fancy Quarles wanted to have a definite picture before his mind, as it +were, and to find out whether any particular points had struck me. Zena's +comment when I had finished was rather surprising. + +"This Mr. Majendie must be a clumsy thrower," she said. + +Quarles sat up in his chair as if his interest in the conversation had +only become keen at that moment. + +"She hits the very heart of the mystery, Wigan." + +"There is no certainty that it was Majendie," I replied. + +"Whether it was or not is immaterial for the moment. The fact remains +that some one who was anxious to get rid of incriminating evidence was so +clumsy that he threw it where any one could pick it up. Not one man in a +thousand would have done that, no matter what state of agitation he was +in. The packet was deliberately thrown away, remember; it was not done in +a moment of sudden fear." + +"I am all attention to hear what theory you base upon it," I returned. + +"We will begin with the wound," said Quarles. "Sir Robert Gibbs and Dr. +Williams agree that it could not have been self-inflicted. Sir Robert +suggested that I should try to stab myself in the same way and see how +impossible it was. Remember it was a stab and a pull of the blade to one +side. It was impossible for a right-handed man, difficult even for a +left-handed one, but not impossible. That was the first point I made a +mental note of." + +"Why did you not speak of the possibility?" + +"Chiefly, I think, because I was convinced that Sir Robert expected me to +do so, was waiting for me to do so, in fact. He is far too cute a man not +to have considered the possibility, and was prepared to prove that +Hardiman was a right-handed man, as we know he was from his servant. In +all probability Sir Robert knew that Bennett had to cut his master's +nails. I was not disposed to give the doctor such an opening as that, +although no doubt he thought me a fool for not thinking of it." + +"Then we do away with the theory of suicide?" I said. + +"Well, the absence of any weapon appears to do that," said Quarles. "What +was the weapon? A knife of some kind, a rusty knife and rather jagged, I +fancy. The wound suggested that it was jagged, and in spite of the +washing my lens revealed traces of rust. Rather a curious knife to commit +murder with. That was my second mental note. We had to be prepared for a +curious personality somewhere in the business." + +"Mr. Majendie," I said. + +"He is hardly such an abnormal individual as the servant Bennett. We will +consider Bennett first. His story is a straightforward one, nervously +told, dramatically told. We might easily assume that imagination had much +to do with that story were it not for the contents of those +packing-cases. They are corroborative evidence. We may grant that the +man's recent experiences have had their effect upon him, have laid bare +his nerves, as it were, but since the most unlikely part of his story is +true we may assume that the rest of it is. We need not go over it again +in detail. The man was evidently attached to his master, and was prepared +to shoot him if he exhibited signs of madness. Considering the state of +his own nerves, I can believe that Bennett watched for these signs, and +felt convinced of his master's madness when he spoke of a wealth of +diamonds. Bennett knew they had no diamonds in their possession. He only +knew of those bits of rock. So he determined to shoot Hardiman. However, +I am convinced that he did not leave his cabin that night. Sleep +prevented his carrying out the intention, but when in the morning he +found that his master was dead--murdered--he immediately translated his +intention into action, and concluded that he had done it. There was no +one else who would be likely to murder him. That he should do it was +natural under the circumstances. He would not look upon it as a crime. He +had only carried out his instructions to the letter, as I have little +doubt he has been accustomed to do for years." + +"It is a theory, of course, but--" + +"Oh, it is more than a theory now," said Quarles, interrupting me. "He +admits his guilt, yet we know that Hardiman was stabbed, not shot. We +conclude, therefore, that Bennett, although he fully intended to kill +his master, did not do so." + +"So we come to Majendie," I said. + +"Yes, and to the yellow diamonds which Bennett knew nothing about. I +admit that Majendie was a distinct surprise to me. He had to prove that +the sailor of the watch was mistaken, that he was not the person who +threw the stones away. How does he do it? By asking whether he, an expert +in diamonds, would be likely to throw away what he knew to be valuable. +This was a very ingenious argument. He did not deny that he knew Hardiman +had these stones in his possession, because he believed that people must +have seen him go into Hardiman's cabin. We have his statement that +Hardiman invited him to do so, and that the invitation was given in the +hearing of others. So he asked a perfectly simple question to show that +the sailor was mistaken." + +"Evidently you do not believe that the sailor was mistaken." + +"We will go on considering Majendie," said Quarles. "Now, when he took up +the knife and imitated my action of stabbing the air with it I made a +discovery. He did so with his left hand. Since my first mental note +concerned a left-handed man the coincidence is surprising. The sailor in +his pantomime had used the right hand. Majendie's action was unexpected, +and for a time I did not see its significance. But let us suppose for a +moment that Majendie did throw the bag of stones away. He might argue +that some one might possibly see the action, and would note that it was +done by a left-handed man, so used his right hand to deceive any one who +might be there. Hence his bad aim." + +I shook my head. + +"Wait," said Quarles. "Some one had stolen those bits of rock, else how +came they in that canvas bag, and why were they thrown away? Majendie +told us that only certain of those stones had at the heart of them a +diamond, yet he also said that all those in the bag had. That looks as if +they had been picked out and stolen by an expert, and when we remember +that Hardiman had shown him the contents of the trunk suspicion points +very strongly to Majendie as the thief. Of course, when Hardiman was +found dead, he would get rid of evidence which must incriminate him. We +must see Majendie, Wigan, and ask him a few questions." + +"Then he did not kill Hardiman?" said Zena. + +"I do not think so." + +"Who did?" + +"Nobody. Hardiman was mad and committed suicide, and in a particular way. +Think of Bennett's description of that Patagonian temple, Wigan. Those +savages were persuaded that Hardiman was a god; possibly human sacrifices +were offered to him, and he dared not interfere. That was sufficient to +start a man on the road to madness. That wooden god he brought home tells +us something. It was the left arm which was stretched out, and in the +closed fist was a hole into which a knife had been fixed, a symbol of +vengeance and sacrifice, a symbol, mind you, not a weapon which was +actually used. I imagine that time had caused it to become rusty and +jagged. Now, I think Hardiman removed that knife before packing the +figure, kept it near him, because obsessed with it; went mad, in short. +We know from Bennett that he believed his left hand was becoming +stronger, and I believe his madness compelled him to practise his left +hand until it became strong enough to grasp the knife firmly and strike +the blow. Since the god was left-handed, his priests were probably so +too, and the victims would be slain with the left hand. There was some +religious significance attached to the fact, no doubt, and Hardiman's +madness would compel him to be exact." + +"But what became of the knife?" I asked. + +"The porthole was found open," said Quarles. "I think he deliberately put +it out of the porthole, his madness suggesting to him that no one should +know how he died. He would have strength enough to do this, for he died +quietly, bled to death, in fact, and gradually fell into a comatose +condition, hence no sign of a struggle. It is impossible to conceive what +devilish power may lurk about those things which have been used for +devilish purposes. I am very strong on this point, as you know, Wigan." + +Of course it was quite impossible to prove whether Quarles was right +about the knife, but he was correct as regards Majendie, who had hoped to +get possession of a few of these stones without Hardiman missing them, +and then, when the unexpected tragedy happened, had tried to get rid of +them, using his right hand to throw them away. Amongst the dead man's +papers there was a will providing amply for his servant Bennett--who, I +may add, recovered his normal health after a time--and leaving his relics +to different museums, and any other property he was possessed of to +charities. I believe the yellow diamonds proved less valuable than +Majendie imagined, but at any rate the various charities benefited +considerably. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE CRIME IN THE YELLOW TAXI + + +One's last adventure is apt to assume the place of first importance, the +absorption in the details is so recent and the gratification at solving +the problems still fresh. Used to his methods as I had become, Quarles's +handling of the Daniel Hardiman case was constantly in my mind until I +had become acquainted with the yellow taxi. I will not say his +deductions in the taxi affair were more clever--you must judge that--but +I am sure they were more of a mental strain to him, for he lost his +temper with Zena. + +We had been arguing various points, and seemed to have exhausted all +our ideas. + +"Give a dog a bad name and hang him," said Zena, breaking the silence +which had seemed to indicate that our discussion was at an end. + +"I repeat that had he been in a different position he would have been +arrested at once," said Quarles testily; "but because he happens to be a +prominent Member of Parliament, goes everywhere which is anywhere, and +knows everybody who is anybody, it suits people to forget he is a +blackguard and it suits Scotland Yard to neglect its duty." + +An inquest in connection with a very extraordinary case had taken place +that day, and had been adjourned. + +On the previous Monday, between seven and eight in the evening, the +traffic had become congested at Hyde Park Corner, chiefly owing to the +fog, and the attention of a gentleman standing on the pavement--a Mr. +Lester Williams--had been drawn suddenly to the occupant of a taxi. +Possibly a street lamp, or the light on an adjacent motor, picked out the +lady's face particularly, and he had opened the door before he called to +the driver. + +The lady was leaning back in the corner, but he saw at once that +something was wrong, and when he touched her the horrible truth +became apparent. + +She was dead. + +He called to the driver to draw up to the curb and then called a +policeman. Williams jumped at once to the conclusion that a crime had +been committed, and the police took the same view. + +There was no difficulty as regards identification. She was Lady Tavener, +wife of Sir John Tavener, M.P. The driver, Thomas Wood, had come from the +other side of Twickenham and had taken up Sir John and his wife at their +own front door. He had constantly driven them up to town and elsewhere, +sometimes separately, sometimes together. On this occasion he had driven +to a house on Richmond Green, where Sir John had got out. Lady Tavener +was going on to the Piccadilly Hotel. Wood had got as far as Hyde Park +Corner when a gentleman called to him. He had not seen the gentleman open +the door of the taxi, knew nothing in fact until he was told to drive up +to the curb and Lady Tavener was taken out dead. + +At the inquest the evidence took rather a curious turn. It was common +knowledge that Sir John had married Lady Tavener after her divorce from a +Mr. Curtis, since dead, and Sir John's reputation was none of the best. + +Veiled accusations were constantly made against him in those would-be +smart journals catering for that public interested in this kind of +scandal, and several questions founded on this knowledge were put to him +at the inquest. + +He came out of the ordeal very well, and gave his evidence in a +straightforward manner. He did not pretend that he and his wife did not +quarrel at times, sometimes rather severely he admitted, but he +maintained there was no reason why his wife should commit suicide. He +ignored altogether the idea that he was in any way responsible for her +death. She seemed in perfect health when he had left her that evening. +She was dining with some people called Folliott, and was going on to the +theater with them afterwards. He also believed that a crime had been +committed. + +The medical evidence threw some doubt on this opinion, however. True, +there were slight marks on Lady Tavener's throat, but it was possible she +had caused them herself by catching hold of her own throat in some spasm. +She was addicted to drugs, a fact which she had concealed from her +husband apparently, and her general condition was such that a shock or +some sudden excitement might very easily prove fatal. Two doctors were +agreed upon this point, and said that she was in a condition known as +status lymphaticus. + +After the inquest I had gone to see Quarles, and his one idea was that +Sir John should have been arrested. Zena's sarcastic suggestion that her +grandfather would hang him merely because of his reputation, had made the +old man lose his temper altogether. + + +As I was the representative of Scotland Yard in that empty room at +Chelsea, I felt compelled to say something in its defense. + +"Have you read the evidence given to-day carefully?" I asked. + +"I was there," he snapped. + +I had not seen him and was astonished. + +"Arrest Tavener," he went on, "and then you may be able to solve the +problem. There may be extenuating circumstances, but they can be dealt +with afterwards. Let us go into another room." + +He got up and brought the discussion to a close. He was in one of those +moods in which there was no doing anything with him. + +Although I was at the inquest, I had had little to do with the case up to +this point; now it came entirely into my hands, and it may be that +Quarles's advice was at the back of my mind during my inquiries. + +I made one or two rather interesting and significant discoveries. The +Folliotts, with whom it was said Lady Tavener was dining that night, did +not know Sir John, and moreover, they had no appointment with Lady +Tavener that evening, nor were they dining at the Piccadilly Hotel. The +people on Richmond Green, with whom Sir John had dined, admitted that he +was in an excited condition. He made an expected division in the House of +Commons an excuse for leaving early, directly after dinner in fact, but +he had not gone to the House and did not arrive home until after +midnight, when he found a constable waiting for him with the news of his +wife's death. + +These facts were given in evidence at the next hearing, but it was less +due to them than to public feeling, I fancy, that a verdict of murder +against Sir John Tavener was returned. + +That night I went again to Chelsea. + +"I see that you have arrested him, Wigan," was the professor's greeting. + +"I don't believe he is guilty," I answered. + +"Why not? Let us have the reasons. But tell me first, what was his +demeanor when he heard the verdict? Was he astonished?" + +"He seemed to be pitying a body of men who could make such a mistake." + +"Ah, he will play to the gallery even when death knocks at his door. Why +do you think he is not guilty, Wigan?" + +"Intuition for one reason." + +"Come, that is a woman's prerogative." + +"That sixth sense, which is usually denied to men," corrected Zena. + +"Then for tangible reasons," I said; "if he killed his wife he committed +the crime between Twickenham and Richmond Green, knowing perfectly well +that her death must be discovered at the end of her journey. He would +know that suspicion would inevitably fall upon him." + +"That seems a good argument, Wigan, but, as a fact, suspicion did not +immediately fall upon him. He has only been arrested to-day, and even now +you think he has been wrongly arrested. The very daring of the crime was +in his favor." + +"My second reason is this," I went on. "If he were guilty, would he +deliberately have closed the door of escape open for him by the doctors +and declare that he did not believe his wife committed suicide? Would he +not have jumped at the idea?" + +"That also sounds a good argument," said Quarles, "but is it? He could +not deny that he and his wife quarreled rather badly at times, but he +wanted to justify his position, and he felt confident the opinion of the +doctors would stand, no matter what he might say. If no other facts come +to light, suicide will be the line of defense, Wigan, and it will be +exceedingly hard to get any judge and jury to convict him. Nothing +carries greater weight than medical evidence, and you will find the +doctors sticking to their opinion no matter what happens. No, Wigan, your +reasons do not prove that he is not an exceedingly clever and calculating +rascal. On the present evidence I think he would escape the hangman, but +the public will continue to think him guilty unless some one else stands +in the dock in his place." + +"I wonder whether the Folliotts have told the truth," said Zena. + +"Intuition, Wigan," laughed Quarles, "jumps to the end of the journey and +wants to argue backwards." + +"Do you not often do the same, dear?" + +"Perhaps, but not this time. I think you said the taxi had been in charge +of the police?" + +"Yes," I answered. + +"I should like to see it." + +"We can go to-morrow." + +I had already spent a couple of hours with that taxi, and I was rather +anxious to see how Quarles would go to work with it. + +He began with the metal work and the lamps, nodded his admiration at the +way they were kept, and remarked that but for the vehicle number and the +registering machine it might be a private car. He examined the engine and +the tires, using his lens; seemed to be particularly interested in the +texture of the rubber, and picked out some grains of soil which had stuck +in the tire. All four tires came in for this close inspection. + +Inside the taxi his lens went slowly over every inch of the +upholstering, and with the blade of a penknife he scraped up some soil +from the carpet. This he put on a piece of white paper and spent a long +time investigating it. He opened and shut the door half a dozen times, +and shook his head. Then he seated himself in the driver's seat, and in +pantomime drove the car for a few moments. Afterwards, he stood back and +regarded the car as a whole. + +"Well, Wigan, it is a very good taxi; let us go and have a ride in +another one." + +He did not hail the first we encountered, and when he did call one it was +for the sake of the driver, I fancy. He explained that he wanted to drive +to Richmond Green by Hammersmith and Kew Bridge. + +"And we don't want to go too fast," said Quarles. + +"Don't you be afraid, guv'nor, I shan't run you into anything; you won't +come to no harm with me." + +"It isn't that," said Quarles, "but I'm out to enjoy myself. I'll add a +good bit to what that clock thing says at the end of the run." + +"Thank you, guv'nor." + +"Now just get down and open this thing to let me have a look at +the works." + +The driver looked at me, and I nodded. No doubt he thought I was the old +man's keeper. + +Quarles looked at the engine. + +"It isn't new," he remarked. + +"No, guv'nor." + +"How long has it been running?" + +"I couldn't say. I'm not buying this on the hire system." + +"You fellows do that sometimes, eh?" + +"Yes, guv'nor, there are several of us chaps own their own taxi." + +"That's good. Now for Richmond, and go slowly from Hyde Park Corner." + +I never remember a more tedious journey. Quarles hardly spoke a word the +whole way, but sat leaning forward, looking keenly from one side of the +road to the other, as if he were bent on obtaining a mental picture of +every yard of the way. Arriving at Richmond Green he did no more than +just glance at the house where Sir John had dined that night, and then +told the man to drive to Twickenham as fast as he liked to go. + +"Stop him when we reach Tavener's house, Wigan. You know it, I suppose?" + +I did, and stopped the driver when we got there. Quarles had the car +turned round, then he got out and examined the tires with his lenses. The +driver winked at me, and I nodded to assure him that I knew the eccentric +gentleman I had to deal with, and that he was quite harmless. + +We then drove back to Richmond rapidly, and from there went toward town, +but more slowly. By Kew Gardens along to Kew Bridge Quarles did not seem +particularly interested in the journey, but as we drew near Hammersmith +he became alert again. + +We were going slowly past St. Paul's school when he told the driver to +take the second turning to the left. It was a narrow street, a big +warehouse, which was being enlarged, on one side, and a coal yard on +the other. About fifty yards down this street, the driver was +instructed to stop. + +"We will get out for a minute and look at the view," said Quarles +facetiously. + +I confess I found nothing whatever to interest me, but Quarles seemed to +find the blank walls of the warehouse and coal yard attractive. + +"Now, driver, you can turn round and get us back to Hyde Park Corner as +quickly as you like," said the professor as we got into the taxi again. + +Arriving at our destination he told the driver to go into the park, and +there stopped him. Again he examined the tires and the texture of them, +picking some soil from the rubber, and he scraped up some dust from the +floor of the taxi with a penknife and put it in an envelope. + +"Thank you, my man," he said, paying a substantial fare. + +"You're welcome, guv'nor," said the driver with a grin. + +"He is fully persuaded that he has been driving a lunatic and his +keeper," Quarles said as he walked away. "I suppose you can find the +driver of the other taxi, Wigan." + +"We might have found him this morning. He lives at Twickenham." + +"I want you to see him and ask him two questions. First, was the fog in +Hammersmith, or elsewhere on the journey, thick enough to bring him to a +standstill before he reached Hyde Park Corner? Secondly, is he quite sure +that the man who opened the door and called to him had not just got out +of the taxi?" + +"But--" + +"You ask him these two questions and get him to answer definitely," said +Quarles in that aggravating and dictatorial manner he sometimes has. +"To-morrow night come to Chelsea. I am not prepared to talk any more +about the Tavener case until then." + +Without another word he went off in the direction of Victoria, leaving an +angry man behind him. I am afraid I swore. However, I hunted up the +driver of the taxi, and went to Chelsea the following night, still +somewhat out of temper. + +Quarles and Zena were already in the empty room waiting for me. + +"Well, what did the man say?" asked the professor. + +"The fog did not stop him anywhere until he got to Hyde Park Corner, and +he is sure Lady Tavener was alone after leaving Richmond." + +"He stuck to that?" + +"He did, but after some consideration he said that he had almost come to +a standstill in Hammersmith Broadway on account of the trams. I suggested +that some one might have got into the taxi then, but while admitting the +bare possibility, he did not think it likely." + +"Did he give you the impression that he believed Tavener guilty?" + +"Yes. He seemed to consider his arrest a proof of it." + +"Naturally," said the professor. + +"Your whole investigation seems to be for the purpose of proving Sir John +innocent," I said. "Why were you so anxious to have him arrested?" + +"Pardon me, my one idea is to get at the truth. Always be careful of your +premises, Wigan. That is the first essential for a logical conclusion. +Zena has said that because a dog has a bad name I want to hang him. Well, +she gave me an idea; started a theory, in fact. Let us go through the +case. First there is the question of suicide. It must come first, because +if we are logical--the law is not always logical, you know--if we are +logical, it is obvious no man could be hanged while the doctors stuck +tight to their opinion. However, I have reason for leaving the question +of suicide until last. Therefore we investigate the question of murder. +Had Sir John disappeared after visiting the house on Richmond Green, I +suppose not one person in ten thousand would have believed him innocent." + +"But he didn't," I said. + +"No," said Quarles. "But he behaved in a most peculiar manner. He left +immediately after dinner, did not reach home until after midnight, and +has not yet attempted to account for his time. He was in an abnormal +condition. We will make a mental note of that, Wigan." + +I nodded. + +"We will assume that when he left her Lady Tavener was alive," Quarles +went on. "At Hyde Park Corner she was dead, and the driver Wood was +entirely ignorant that anything had happened. Yet, if murder was done, +some one must have joined Lady Tavener during the journey. Wood says he +was not held up by the fog, but on being pressed a little, speaks of +coming nearly to a standstill in Hammersmith Broadway. There, or +somewhere else, because we must remember Wood may have forgotten nearly +coming to other stoppages, since driving in a fog must have required the +whole of his attention--somewhere, somebody must have joined her. The +driver, again under pressure, admits the bare possibility, but does not +think it likely. However, we must assume that some one at some place did +enter the taxi." + +Zena was leaning forward eagerly, and I waited quietly for Quarles +to continue. + +"It follows that whoever it was must have been known to Lady Tavener," he +said slowly. "Otherwise she would have called out to the driver or to +people passing." + +"You mean that he left it at Hyde Park Corner after the murder," said +Zena. "You think it was Lester Williams." + +"There is the possibility that he was getting out of the taxi instead +of rushing to it, because he noticed the occupant looked peculiar," +Quarles admitted. + +"In that case would he have called the driver's attention?" I asked. +"Your theory seems to demand actions which no man would be fool enough +to commit." + +"You can never tell upon what lines a criminal's brain will work, Wigan. +I maintain that the same arguments I have used with regard to Sir John +would apply in Lester Williams's case. Still, there are one or two points +to consider. If you go to Hyde Park Corner you will find it difficult to +pitch on any lamp which could throw sufficient light upon the face of the +occupant leaning back in the corner as to cause alarm to any one on the +pavement. I am taking into consideration the position of the taxi in the +roadway and the angle at which the light would have to be thrown. And, +since motor lights are in the front of cars, and Lady Tavener was facing +the way her taxi was going, it is very improbable that the lights of +another car would serve this purpose. Besides, it was a foggy night." + +"Then you believe Williams was getting out of the taxi?" I asked. + +"Let me talk about the contents of this first," said Quarles, separating +an envelope from some papers on the table. "You will admit that I +examined the taxi fairly thoroughly." + +"You certainly did." + +"And I came to one or two very definite conclusions, Wigan. The engine is +practically new, very different from that of the taxi we took to +Twickenham, which was of exactly the same make. I took some trouble in my +choice of a taxi, you remember. I grant, of course, this may not be a +very reliable proof, but the tires told the same story, I think." + +"The first taxi might just have had new tires," I suggested. + +"I do not fancy the whole four would have been renewed at the same time," +he returned. "It is not usual. My conclusion was that the taxi had not +been used very much." + +"I must confess I do not see where this is leading us," I said. + +"It led us to Twickenham, Wigan. In our down journey we covered the road +taken by the taxi that night if it came direct to Hyde Park Corner. At +Twickenham I examined the tires, and they satisfied me that so far there +was nothing to negative a theory I had formed. On the return journey we +turned into that side street--I had noted it on the way down--and at the +end of our journey I examined the tires again and the floor of the taxi. +I preserved what I found then in this envelope, and it is perfectly clear +that our taxi had been driven over a road strewn with brick dust and coal +dust, and that persons treading on such a road had entered the taxi." + +"Of course, we both got out," I remarked. + +"To admire the view," said Quarles. "And you may have noticed that there +were few windows from which an inquisitive person could have told what we +were doing. At night the place would be quite lonely unless the +bricklayers and coal porters were working overtime. Now, Wigan, on the +tires of the first taxi, and on its carpet, was dust exactly +corresponding to that which I found on the tires and floor of our taxi. +That is significant. Brick dust and coal dust together, remember. They +are not a usual combination on a main road out of London." + +I did not answer, I had no comment to make. + +"If we have no very definite facts," Quarles went on, "we have many +peculiar circumstances, and I will try and reconstruct the tragedy for +you. Sir John and his wife have quarreled at times we know, and to some +extent at any rate have gone each their own way recently. The fact that +Sir John was the cause of her divorce, and married her, may be taken as +proof that he was fond of his wife. A reformed rake constantly is, and +often develops a strong vein of jealousy besides. That Lady Tavener was +supposed by her husband to be dining with the Folliotts, who, as a fact, +had no appointment with her that night, shows that she did not always +explain her going and coming to her husband. I suggest that Sir John had +begun to suspect his wife, and that his reason for leaving Richmond early +was to ascertain whether she was going to the theater with the Folliotts +as she had told him." + +"It is an ingenious theory," I admitted. + +"We follow Lady Tavener," said Quarles. "It is not likely she was going +to spend the evening alone, or the Folliotts would never have been +mentioned. She was going to meet some one. I suggest it was Lester +Williams who had arranged to meet her at Hyde Park Corner. Whether the +idea was to join her in the taxi, or that she should leave the taxi there +with orders that the driver should meet her after the theater, I cannot +say. I am inclined to think it was the former, and I hazard a guess that +Lady Tavener had not known Williams very long. Of course, his explanation +goes by the board. He was on the lookout for the taxi. From the pavement +he only saw the taxi, but when he opened the door he found a tragedy." + +"But why should you think he was a new acquaintance of Lady Tavener's?" +asked Zena. + +"Since he hurried to the door instead of waiting for the taxi to draw to +the curb, I conclude he was taking advantage of the stoppage to join Lady +Tavener in the taxi. Had she intended to leave the taxi there, he would +have waited until it came to the pavement. But my theory demands that he +should have been on the watch for the taxi, therefore he must have known +it. Had Lady Tavener often used the taxi when she met Williams, Wood, the +driver, would have recognized Williams. This does not appear to have been +the case, therefore I conclude they were comparatively new friends." + +"Do we come back to the theory of suicide, then?" I asked. + +"Not yet," Quarles answered. "At present we merely find a reason why Sir +John and Lester Williams have said so little, the one concerning his +suspicions, the other about his knowledge of Lady Tavener. Since his wife +was dead, why should Sir John say anything to cast a reflection upon her. +For the same reason, why should Williams implicate himself in any way. +From their different viewpoints they are both anxious to shield Lady +Tavener's name. Therefore, Wigan, since we wanted to learn the truth, it +was a good move to put Sir John in such a position that, to save himself, +he must speak. Had we left him alone I have little doubt he would have +ended by accepting the doctor's opinion and, rather than explain +anything, would have remained silent." + +"And allowed suspicion to rest on his name?" said Zena. + +"It wouldn't. The doctor's evidence would have made people sympathize +with him and regret that he should ever have been under suspicion. I am +not saying he had made a deep calculation on these chances, but he was +content to wait and let things take their course. He is still doing so. +His arrest has not brought any explanation from him." + +"But he has said he believes his wife met with foul play," +persisted Zena. "Do you believe he would do nothing to bring the +murderer to justice?" + +"I think not. I think he would value his wife's name more than his +revenge. If Sir John knew that his wife was meeting Williams that night, +he might presently lose his temper and cause a scandal." + +"And he will know later, if your theory is right?" I said. + +"Perhaps not," said Quarles. "Let us get back to the contents of this +envelope. The driver would have us believe that the first taxi came +direct from Richmond to Hyde Park Corner. We have strong reasons for +believing it did not. Therefore, either he went out of his way, by Lady +Tavener's orders, to call for some one, or some one got into the taxi +without his knowledge. I sat on the driver's seat, Wigan, and I admit +that, if fully occupied with driving, as he would be on a foggy night, +entrance might have been made without his knowledge, but on one +condition. The door must have been easy to open. The door of that taxi +isn't easy. I tried it. It is exceedingly stiff, difficult to open, and +impossible to close without a very considerable noise. Therefore Wood +knows that some one entered, and we know that that some one must have +walked on a road covered with brick dust and coal dust." + +"Who is it?" I asked. + +"Wood himself. He turned into the road we turned into. If Lady Tavener +noticed that he had done so, she would not think anything of it. She +would imagine the road was up and a detour necessary. As a matter of +fact, she would not have time to think much, and I do not think she was +alarmed, not even when Wood opened the door. As he did so I imagine he +said something of this sort: 'I think it only right to warn your Ladyship +that Sir John is suspicious.' He had to give some excuse for stopping the +taxi and going to his fare. Whether he knew that Sir John was suspicious +or not is immaterial. He had constantly driven Lady Tavener, and was +probably aware that some of her friends were not her husband's. At any +rate, some remark of this kind would allay her suspicions, and then--" + +"He murdered her?" asked Zena sharply. + +"Well, I fancy this is where we come to the question of suicide," said +Quarles. "He intended to murder her, had his fingers on her throat, in +fact, but the sudden excitement saved him. I think she actually died of +shock, as the doctors declare. I think he was able to say something to +her which caused that shock." + +"I can hardly believe--" + +"Wait, Wigan," the professor said, interrupting me. "You will agree +that, from the first, Wood's evidence would naturally accuse Sir John. +When you saw him and pressed him with the two questions I suggested he +still sought to leave the impression upon you that Sir John was guilty; +but since your questions showed there was a doubt in your mind, he +admitted, to safeguard himself, the possibility of some one having +entered the taxi surreptitiously. One other point which counts, I think. +One of the lamps of the taxi, and only one of them, had recently been +removed from its socket. I imagine he took it to make quite sure that +Lady Tavener was dead." + +"But he had often driven Lady Tavener. Why had he waited so long?" +said Zena. + +"And what reason had he for the murder?" I asked. + +"It was probably the first time he had driven them together, when Sir +John had left his wife during the journey, and he wanted to implicate Sir +John. In short, this was his first opportunity for the double revenge he +was waiting for. I have shown, at least I think I have, that the taxi was +not often used. We shall find it is his own taxi, I think, bought +outright or being purchased on the hire system. I should say he rarely +hired himself out except to Sir John and Lady Tavener. He was not an +ordinary driver, but a very clever schemer, and, like a clever schemer, I +think one little point has given him away altogether. Curtis, from whom +Lady Tavener was divorced, died shortly afterwards, you may remember, of +a broken heart, his friends said, which means that he grieved abnormally +at the breaking up of his happiness. It is natural that his friends and +relations should hate the Taveners, and one of them conceived the idea of +revenge. It is curious that several of the Curtises are called Baldwood +Curtis. Baldwood is a family name. It was easy to assume the name of +Wood. It would be likely to jump into the mind if one of them wanted to +assume a name." + +"What a horrible plot," said Zena, with a shudder. + +"Horrible and clever," said Quarles. + +"I wonder if you are right, dear." + +"I have no doubt, but Wigan will be able to tell us presently." + +He was right, I think, practically in every particular. I am not sure +what would have happened to Wood. Technically he had not actually killed +Lady Tavener, but he solved the difficulty of his punishment himself. +Expecting the worst, I suppose, he managed to hang himself in his cell. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE AFFAIR OF THE JEWELED CHALICE + + +The yellow taxi must still have been a topic of conversation with the +public when Quarles and I became involved in two cases which tried us +both considerably, and in which we ran great risk. + +The reading of detective tales imagined by comfortable authors who show +colossal ignorance regarding my profession, has often amused, me. Pistols +usually begin the string of impossibilities and a convenient pair of +handcuffs is at the end. These are the tales of fiction, not of real life +as a rule, yet in the two cases I speak of the reality was certainly as +strange as fiction and very nearly as dangerous. + +There had been a series of hotel robberies in London, so cleverly +conceived and carried out that Scotland Yard was altogether at fault. I +had had nothing to do with this investigation, being engaged on other +cases, but one Friday morning my chief told me I must lend my colleagues +a hand. Within an hour of our interview I was making myself conversant +with what had been done, and on Friday afternoon and during the whole of +Saturday I was busy with the affair. + +On Monday morning, however, I was called to the chief's room and told to +devote myself to the recovery of a jeweled chalice which had been stolen +from St. Ethelburga's Church, Bloomsbury, on the previous day. Since the +vicar, the Rev. John Harding, was an intimate friend of the chief's, +there was a sort of compliment in my being taken from important work to +attend to this case, but I admit I did not start on this new job with any +great enthusiasm, and was rather annoyed at being switched off the +hotels, as it were, and put on to the church. + +I went with the vicar to Bloomsbury in a taxi, and gathered information +on the way. The chalice had been given to the church about eighteen +months ago by an old lady, a Miss Morrison, who had since died. She had +possessed some remarkable jewelry, diamonds and pearls, and these had +been set in the chalice which she had presented to St. Ethelburga's, +where she had attended regularly for six or seven years. The chalice was +insured for L5,000, but this was undoubtedly below its actual value. It +was not used constantly, only on the great festivals, and on certain +Saints' days specified by Miss Morrison when she made the gift. The +previous day happened to be one of these Saints' days, and the chalice +had been used at the early celebration. The vicar had put it back into +its case and locked it in the safe himself. The key of the safe had not +been out of his possession since, yet this morning the safe was found +open and the chalice gone. + +"You have no suspicion?" I asked. + +"None," he answered, but not until after a momentary pause. + +"You do not answer very decidedly, Mr. Harding." + +"I do, yes, I do really. In a catastrophe of this kind all kinds of ideas +come into the mind, very absurd ones some of them," and he laughed a +little uneasily. + +"It would be wise to tell me even the absurd ones," I said. + +"Very well, but perhaps you had better examine the vestry and the safe +first," he said as the taxi stopped. + +I found the vestry in charge of a constable, and as we entered a +clergyman joined us. The vicar introduced me to the Rev. Cyril Hayes, his +curate. The vestry and the safe were just as they had been found that +morning; nothing had been moved. Yesterday had been wet, and the flooring +of wooden blocks in the choir vestry bore witness to the fact that +neither men nor boys had wiped their feet too thoroughly. Even in the +clergy vestry, which was carpeted, there were boot marks, so it seemed +probable that the weather had rendered abortive any clue there might have +been in this direction. There were two safes in the clergy vestry, a +large one standing out in the room and a small one built into the wall. +It was in the latter that the chalice had been kept, and the door was +open. Apparently two or three blows had been struck at the wall with a +chisel, or some sharp instrument, and there were several scratches on the +edge of the door and around the keyhole; but it was quite evident to me +that the safe had been opened with a key. I asked the vicar for his key, +but it would not turn in the lock. + +"Was anything besides the chalice stolen?" I asked. + +"No," the vicar returned. "As you see, there is another chalice and two +patens in the safe, one paten of gold, but it was not taken, not even +touched, I fancy. It was the chalice and the chalice only that the +thieves came for." + +"It seems foolish to keep such a valuable chalice in the vestry," I said. + +"It is kept in the bank as a rule," the vicar answered. "I got it from +the bank on Saturday and it would have gone back this morning. Of course +it was not possible to keep such a gift a secret. The church papers had +paragraphs about it, which some of the daily papers copied." + +"Every gang in London knew of its existence then," I said. + +"True," said the curate, "and you might go further than that and remember +that much of our work here lies in some very poor and some very +disreputable neighborhoods." + +"It does," said the vicar. "Amongst our parishioners we must have many +thieves, I am afraid." + +"There are thieves and thieves," said Mr. Hayes, "and I fancy there are +many who would not meddle with the sacred vessels of a church. +Superstition perhaps, but a powerful deterrent." + +The vicar shook his head, evidently not agreeing with this opinion. + +"Probably I have had more to do with thieves than you have, vicar," he +said with a smile, and turning to me he went on: "I am very interested in +a hooligans' club we have. They are a rough lot I can assure you. Many of +them have seen the inside of a jail, some of them will again possibly; +but there's a leaven of good stuff in them. Saints have been reared from +such poor material before now." + +"When do you meet?" I asked. + +"Mondays and Thursdays." + +"To-night. I'll look in to-night." + +"But--" + +"I may find the solution to the theft at your club," I said. The +suggestion seemed to annoy him. + +That the safe had been opened with a key and not broken open indicated +that some one connected with the church was directly or indirectly +responsible for the theft, and this idea was strengthened by the fact +that it was impossible to tell how the robbers had entered the church. +The verger had come in as usual that morning by the north door which he +had found locked, and it was subsequently ascertained that all the other +doors were locked. Some of you may know the church and remember that it +is rather dark, its windows few and high up; indeed, only by one of the +baptistry windows could an entry possibly have been effected, and I could +find nothing to suggest that this method had been used. A few keen +questions did not cause the verger to contradict himself in the slightest +particular, and his fifteen years' service seemed to exonerate him. + +"Is it possible that you left the door unlocked last night by mistake?" +I queried. + +"I should have found it open this morning," he said, as if he were +surprised at my overlooking this point. + +I had not overlooked it. I was wondering whether he had found it open and +was concealing the fact, fearing dismissal for his carelessness. + +A little later I had a private talk with the vicar. + +"I think you had better tell me your suspicions," I said. + +"There is nothing which amounts to a suspicion," he answered reluctantly. +"It does not take a skilled detective, Mr. Wigan, to see that some one +connected with the church must have had a hand in the affair. It is not +the work of ordinary thieves. Therefore, as I said, absurd ideas will +come. It happens that my curate, Mr. Hayes, is much in debt, and has had +recourse to money lenders. He has said nothing to me about it; indeed, it +was only last week that I became aware of the fact, and I decided not to +speak to him until after Sunday. I was going to talk to him this morning. +It was a painful duty, and naturally--" + +"Naturally you cannot help thinking about it in connection with +the chalice." + +The vicar nodded as though words seemed to him too definite in such a +delicate matter. That the two things had become connected in his mind +evidently distressed him, and he was soon talking in the kindest manner +about his curate, anxious to impress me with the excellent work Mr. Hayes +was doing in the parish. + +"The hooligans' club, for instance?" I said. + +"That amongst other things," he answered. + +"Miss Morrison was one of your rich parishioners, I presume." + +"She was not a parishioner at all," said Mr. Harding. "She lived at +Walham Green. She came to St. Ethelburga's because she liked our +services, drove here in a hired fly every Sunday morning. I visited her, +at her request, when she was ill some three years ago, but I really knew +little of her. To be quite truthful I thought her somewhat eccentric, and +never supposed she was wealthy. The presentation of the chalice came as a +great surprise." + +"Have you a photograph of the chalice?" + +"No; but Miss Morrison's niece might have. I know Miss Morrison had one +taken, a copy of it appeared in the church papers. The niece, Miss +Belford, continues to live at Walham Green--No. 3 Cedars Road." + +"Does she attend the church?" I asked, as I made a note of the address. + +"Oh, yes. She used to come with her aunt, and since Miss Morrison's +death she has taken up some parish work. I know her much better than I +did her aunt." + +"Of course she has not yet heard of the theft?" + +"No, I have not talked about it to any one. I thought silence was the +best policy." + +I quite agreed with him and suggested he should keep the theft a secret +for the next few hours. + +With Mr. Hayes and his hooligans' club at the back of my mind, I made one +or two enquiries in the neighborhood, and then started for Walham Green. +On my way to the Underground I met Percival, one of the men engaged upon +the hotel robberies, and stood talking to him for a few minutes. He was +rather keen on a clue he had got hold of, but I was now sufficiently +interested in the stolen chalice not to be envious. + +No. 3 Cedars Road was quite a small house--forty pounds a year perhaps, +and Miss Belford was a more attractive person than I expected to find. I +don't know why, but I had expected to see a typical old maid; instead of +which I was met by a young woman who had considerable claims to beauty. +She opened the door herself, her maid being out, and was astonished when +I said the Vicar of St. Ethelburga's had sent me. + +She asked me in to a small but tastefully appointed dining-room, and when +I told her my news, seemed more concerned on her aunt's account than at +the loss of the chalice. + +"Poor auntie!" she exclaimed. "Whilst she had the jewels she was always +afraid some one would steal them, and now--now some one has." + +"Mr. Harding thought you would have a photograph of the chalice," I said. + +"I am sorry, I haven't. There were two or three, but I don't know +what auntie did with them. She was a dear, but had funny little +secretive ways." + +"Mr. Harding led me to suppose she was eccentric," I said. "It is often +the way with wealthy old ladies." + +"Wealthy!" she laughed. "She left me all she had, and I shall not be able +to afford to go on living here." + +"How came she to give the jewels to the church then?" + +"I hardly know, and I will confess that I was a little disappointed when +she did so. Does that sound very ungrateful in view of the fact that she +left me everything else!" + +"No. It is natural under the circumstances." + +"She was very fond of me, but as I have said, she was secretive and she +certainly did not give me her entire confidence. I fancy the jewels were +connected with some romance in her past life, and for that reason she did +not wish any one else to possess them." + +"You can't give me any idea of the nature of this romance, Miss Belford?" + +"No." + +"It might possibly help me." + +"There is one thing I could do," she said. "My aunt had a very old +friend living in Yorkshire. She would be likely to know, and under the +circumstances might tell. If you think it would be any use I will +write to her." + +"I wish you would." + +"If a romance in my aunt's life had something to do with the robbery, it +seems strange that the jewels have been safe so long. They were always +kept in the house. I should have thought it would have been easier to +steal them from here than from the church." + +"I do not think we can be sure of that," I said. + +"Besides, the jewels have been quite safe at St. Ethelburga's for +eighteen months," she added. + +"That is a point I admit. I understand that you work in Mr. Harding's +parish, so you know Mr. Hayes, of course." + +"I have not been brought much in contact with him. I have sung once or +twice at his hooligan club entertainments. He has made a great success +of the club." + +"Regenerating ruffians and drafting them into church work, eh?" + +"I believe he has had great influence with them." + +"I am going to visit that club to-night." + +"You will find he is doing a great work. You will--surely you are not +thinking--" + +"That reformation may be only skin deep? I am, Miss Belford. The daily +environment of these fellows makes it easy for them to slip back into +their old ways." + +From Walham Green I went to Chelsea. I wanted to see Zena Quarles, and +there was nothing more to be done in the chalice case until I had visited +the hooligan club. Not for a moment would I appear to sneer at the +regenerating work which may be accomplished by such institutions, but +experience has taught me that it is often the cakes and ale, so to speak, +which attract, while character remains unchanged, or at the best very +thinly veneered. There are always exceptions, of course. It is difficult +for the uninitiated to realize that men go in for crime as a means of +livelihood, and are trained to become expert even as others are trained +to succeed in respectable professions. Many grades go to make up a +successful gang, and I had great hope of recognizing some youngster's +face at the club which would give me a clue to the gang which had worked +this robbery. + +"You're the very man I was thinking about," said Quarles when I was shown +into the dining-room. "You have come to tell me that you are on these +hotel robberies. Sit down, Wigan. How goes the inquiry?" + +"You are wrong, professor. I was on the job for a day and a half, but +I'm off it again. I am investigating the theft of a jeweled chalice." + +"Left in a cheap safe in an insecure vestry, I suppose," he said +in a tone of disgust. "Serves them right. Such things should be +kept in a bank." + +I explained that it was only kept in the vestry safe until it could be +returned to the bank, but the fact did not seem to impress him. + +He made no suggestion that we should adjourn to that empty room, where we +had discussed so many cases. I told him the story, although I was not +seeking his help, and he was not interested enough to ask a single +question when I had finished. He only wanted to discuss the hotel +robberies. + +"I am going to that club this evening," I went on. + +"The fact doesn't interest me," he returned snappishly. + +"Fortunately I didn't come for your help; I wanted to see Zena." + +"She's out and won't be home until late." + +"And your temper's gone out, too, eh, Professor?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"That you are simply lusting to be on the warpath," I laughed. "It might +do you good to come and see the hooligans with me to-night. Besides, if +we could settle the chalice case promptly we might be investigating the +hotel robberies before the end of the week." + +This suggestion clinched the matter. He came, believing possibly that I +congratulated myself upon having drawn him into the affair, which was not +a fact. I was glad of his company, but I did not want his help. + +Knowing something of such places, this hooligans' club astonished me. The +raw material was rough enough, but Mr. Hayes had worked wonders with it. +His personality had made no particular impression on me that morning, but +his achievement proved him a man of force and character. Quarles was +evidently interested in him and his work. If what the vicar had told me +about his curate had left even a faint speculation regarding his +integrity in my mind, it was dissipated. + +Visitors to the club were not an infrequent occurrence, Mr. Hayes told +us. He was rather proud that the institution had served as a type on +which to form others. + +"There mustn't be too much religion," he said. "The flotsam and jetsam of +life have to learn to be men and women first. Some of them are learning +to be men here." + +While I listened to him I had been eagerly scanning the faces before me. +There was not one I recognized. I wandered about the room, feigning +interest in the game of bagatelle which was going forward with somewhat +noisy excitement, and stood by chess and draught players for a few +moments to study their faces closely. I looked keenly at each new +arrival, but my clue was yet to seek. + +Suddenly a young fellow entered, rather smarter than most of them, and I +recognized him at once. Possibly the hooligans' club had been his +salvation, but he had been bred amongst thieves, thieves I knew and had +handled at times. + +"I began to think you weren't coming to-night, Squires." + +"Just looked in to say I can't come, sir," was the answer. "Got a chance +of a place, sir, and going to look after it." + +"That's right. Good luck to you. You can refer to me, you know." + +"Thank you, sir." + +With a careless word to two or three of the youths as he passed down the +room, Squires sauntered out. + +"That's our man," I whispered to Quarles, and without waiting to take +leave of Mr. Hayes, I hastened to the door. Squires was going slowly down +the street, no evidence of alarm about him, no desire apparently to lose +himself in the crowd. He had not got very far when Quarles joined me, +keen now there was a trail to follow. + +"I know the gang he used to be friendly with," I said as we began to +follow, "although I've got nothing definite against this youngster. It +was this gang, I believe, that worked the series of frauds on jewelers +three years ago, although we never brought it home to them. Just the men +to deal with a jeweled chalice, eh, professor? I expect young Squires +recognized me and guesses I am after it." + +Our object was to track young Squires to his destination. Since he was +connected with St. Ethelburga's through the hooligan club, it was quite +likely he had had a direct hand in the robbery, but it was certain others +were the prime movers, and I guessed he was on the way to warn them that +I was on the trail. + +At the corner of a street he stopped to speak to a man and a woman, and +we were obliged to interest ourselves in a convenient shop door. He stood +at the corner talking for at least ten minutes. Quarles thought he was +having words with the woman, but it could not have been much of a quarrel +for none of the passersby took any particular notice of them. Presently +the man and woman crossed the street arm in arm, and Squires sauntered +round the corner. We were quickly at the corner, afraid of losing sight +of him. He was still in sight, still walking slowly. Once he turned to +light a cigarette, and after that he increased his pace a little. + +"It's evident he lied when he said he was going to look for a job," +I remarked. + +"But it's not so evident that one of us ought not to have followed the +man and woman," said Quarles. "They may have gone to do the warning." + +"I think not," I answered. "If you have noted our direction you will find +we have traveled a pretty circuitous route. He'll wait until he thinks he +is safe from pursuit, and then take a bee line for his destination." + +As if he would prove my words Squires mended his pace, swinging down one +street and up another as if he had suddenly become definite. At corners +he gained on us, I think he must have run the moment he was out of sight, +and in one short street we were only just in time to see him disappear +round a corner. + +"I'm going to give this up soon, Wigan," said Quarles as we hurried in +pursuit. "I don't care how many jewels the chalice had in it." + +We were round the corner. Squires had disappeared, but we could hear +running feet in the distance. + +"That settles it," said Quarles, coming to halt a dozen yards from the +corner. "Go on if you like, Wigan, but--" + +I heard no more. Something struck me, enveloped me, and there was an end. +I am not very sure when a new beginning happened. Perhaps it is only an +after consideration which makes me remember a whirring sound in my ears, +and a certain swinging motion, and a murmur which was soothing. I am +quite sure of the pain which subsequently came to me. My head was big +with it, my limbs twisted with it. I was conscious of nothing else for a +period to which I cannot place limits. Then there was fire in my throat. + +I was sitting in the angle of a wall, on the floor; at a little distance +from me was a light which presently resolved itself into a candle stuck +in the neck of a bottle. There were moving shadows--I saw them, I think, +before I was conscious of the man and woman who made them. The man had +just poured brandy down my throat, the girl, with her arms akimbo, +watched him. + +"He'll do now," said the man. + +"Can't see why we take such trouble to keep death away," was the +woman's answer. + +"Are you in love with the hangman?" + +The girl laughed, caught up the bottle, making the shadows dance like a +delirium, then I slipped back into darkness again. + +All kinds of things came into my mind after that, disordered dreams, and +then I heard my name. + +"Wigan! Wigan!" + +I was still sitting in an angle of a wall, trussed like a fowl, but I +was awake. + +"Is that you, Professor?" + +"No more hooligan clubs, Wigan." + +"What happened?" + +"I remember turning a corner," Quarles answered, "and I woke up here. We +were sandbagged, or something of the kind, and serves us right. If we +wanted to follow any one we ought to have followed the man and woman. Can +you drag yourself over to this corner? We can talk quietly then." + +It was rather a painful and lengthy operation, but I fancy the effort did +me good. My brain was clearer, I began to grip things again. + +"Where are we?" I said. + +"Locked in a cellar, but where I do not know. We're lucky to be no worse +off, and probably I'm especially lucky in not having been sandbagged by +the man who dealt with you. He would probably have closed my account, for +he must have hit you a tremendous blow. I had come to myself before the +man and woman brought you brandy. I just moved to show I wasn't dead and +watched them." + +"You'll know them again." + +"They both wore masks. About this chalice, Wigan." + +"No doubt we've hurried it into the melting pot," I returned. + +"I've been half asleep since our friend left us, but I've done some +thinking, too. Reminded of my empty room by this cellar, I expect. There +are one or two curious points about this chalice." + +"Are they worth considering--now?" + +"I think so. It will serve to pass the time. I didn't take any interest +in your story at the time, but I think I remember the facts. You must +correct me if I go wrong. First, then, we may take it as certain that the +church was not broken into in an ordinary way. We assume, therefore, that +some one connected with the church had a hand in the robbery. You +satisfied yourself that an entry was not effected by the only possible +window, we therefore ask who had keys of the church. The answer would +appear to be the vicar, the verger, and possibly, even probably, Mr. +Hayes. Had keys been in the possession of any other person for any +purpose, either temporarily or otherwise, the vicar--I am assuming his +integrity--would have mentioned it. Now the vicar does not suggest that +he has any suspicion against the verger, nor do you appear to have +entertained any, but Mr. Harding does suggest a suspicion of his curate +by mentioning his debts and his dealings with money lenders." + +"It was under pressure. I am convinced he has no real suspicion." + +"At any rate his story influenced you. You made some inquiries +concerning Mr. Hayes. That is an important point. Had you not heard at +the same time of this hooligan club, you would probably have made further +inquiries about the curate. I think you missed something." + +"Oh, nonsense. You've seen the man and must appreciate--" + +"His worth," said Quarles. "I do, but he leads to speculation. Let us +consider the safe for a moment. There were marks from a blow of the +chisel on the wall, scratches on the safe door, and by the keyhole, but +you are satisfied that the safe was opened with a key, yet the vicar's +key will not turn the lock. Why should an expert thief trouble to make +these marks or to suggest that the safe had been broken open, even to +the extent of jamming the lock in some way? The only possible +explanation would be that the expert wished to leave the impression than +an amateur had been at work. I can see no reason why he should wish to +do so, and at any rate he failed. You were not deceived; you looked for +the expert at once." + +"And the hunter has been trapped. We were hotter on the trail than I +imagined." + +"It is a warning to me to keep out of cases in which I feel no interest," +said Quarles. "Still, circumstances have aroused my interest now. There +is no doubt, Wigan, that there was every reason to look for an amateur in +this business, and in spite of the hooligan club, you seem to have been +half conscious of this fact. You would have been glad to know what the +romance connected with the jewels was. Not idle curiosity, I take it, but +a grasping for a clue in that direction. Miss Belford cannot help you +beyond writing to her aunt's old friend in Yorkshire, yet had it not been +for the hooligans' club, I fancy you would have followed this trail more +keenly. According to Miss Belford, apart from the jewels, her aunt had +not left sufficient to enable the niece to go on living in Cedars Road, +yet while Miss Morrison was alive it was sufficient, apparently. Of +course the niece may have more expensive tastes, but under the +circumstances it was rather a curious statement. She believes that a past +romance was the reason why the jewels were left to the church, and she +admits that she was disappointed they were not left to her. It seems +possible, doesn't it, that at one time she hoped to have them after her +aunt's death? That would mean there was no valid reason why she +shouldn't, and I think you might reasonably have speculated that she knew +more of the romance than she admitted." + +"You wouldn't have thought so if you had talked with her." + +"Possibly not," returned Quarles. "I started handicapped in this case, I +was not interested in it; Zena was not at hand to ask one of her absurd +questions, which have so often put me on the right road. The road we have +traveled has landed us here, and I have been thinking of another road we +might have traveled. We will forget the hooligans' club. We start with +the assumption that the robbery was the work of an amateur, we have ample +reasons for thinking so. We do not suspect the vicar, we are inclined to +exonerate the verger, and we finally decide that Mr. Hayes is innocent. +We are met with a difficulty at once. How was the church entered? We may +assume that some person in the Sunday evening congregation remained +hidden in the church, committed the burglary, opening the safe with a +duplicate key, marking the wall and the door, and giving a wrench to the +lock to suggest ordinary thieves. Had it not been for the hooligan club, +these efforts to mislead would not have been very successful, I fancy. +They show that the amateur had small knowledge of the ways of experts. +The thief, having secured the chalice, is still locked in the church. How +to escape? It is a case of an all night vigil. When the verger arrives on +Monday morning and passes through the church towards the vestry, the +thief slips out. Now it is obvious that to make this possible the thief +must have known a great deal about the church and its working, must have +come in contact with the vicar constantly, or it would have been +impossible to get an impression of the safe key. We therefore look +amongst the church workers for the thief." + +"Your deductions would be more interesting were we not lying trussed in +this cellar," I said. "I am trying to wriggle some of these knots loose." + +"That's right," said Quarles, "When you are free you can undo me. My dear +Wigan, it is the fact that we are in this cellar which makes these +deductions so interesting. The chalice was stolen for the sake of the +jewels, that is evident, or the thief would have taken the gold paten as +well; and the jewels have a romance attached to them. We don't know what +that romance is, but we have an eccentric old lady the possessor of the +jewels; we have reason to suppose that she was not otherwise rich, and we +have a niece apparently ignorant of her aunt's past. She admits +disappointment that the jewels were left to the church; she complains +that her own circumstances are straitened. In spite of the fact that she +lives in Walham Green, she becomes, after her aunt's death, a worker in +St. Ethelburga's parish in Bloomsbury. We have in Miss Belford one who +knows the general working of the church, one who has been brought in +contact with the vicar--Mr. Harding said he knew her very well, +remember; and moreover she is closely connected with the jewels. It is +possible, even, that she knows the romance behind the jewels and feels +that they are hers by right and ought never to have been given to the +church. This would account entirely for such a woman turning thief." + +"The fact remains we are in this cellar," I said. + +"It is a very interesting fact," said Quarles. "Of course I cannot be +sure that the man and woman who were in this cellar were the same young +Squires met, but I believe they were. The woman stood with her arms +akimbo in each case, the position was identical. They learnt from young +Squires that we were following and went off to warn some of their fellows +who waited for us, Squires leading us into the trap by arrangement. The +gang has beaten us, Wigan." + +"And the chalice is in the melting pot," I remarked. + +"I don't believe the gang knows anything about the chalice," said the +professor quietly. + +"Not know! Why--" + +"Wigan, you stopped to speak to a colleague engaged on the hotel +robberies this morning. You were seen, I believe. It was immediately +assumed that you were on that job, and when Squires saw you to-night at +the club he thought you were after the hotel robbers. Without being aware +of it we were probably hot on their track." + +"It is impossible," I said. + +"Why should it be?" Quarles asked. "Once get a fixed idea in the mind, +and it is exceedingly difficult to give opposing theories their due +weight. The hooligan club got into your mind. There were many reasons why +it should, especially with Mr. Hayes as the connecting link; you could +not believe him guilty so you fell back upon the club. One other point, a +very important one. The chalice was only used on great festivals and +certain Saints' days. There are several reasons why the robbery would be +difficult on a great festival. The church would not be in its normal +condition, owing to decorations or increased services, perhaps; besides, +the thief--a church worker we assume--might be missed from some function +connected with the church which would cause suspicion. On the other hand, +many Saints' days occur in the week when there is no late evening +service, perhaps, and if there is, only a small congregation. It would be +remembered who was present. The chalice was stolen on a Saints' day which +happened to fall on a Sunday, and must therefore remain in the church all +night. How many people do you suppose know which Saints' days were +specified by Miss Morrison? Very few. I warrant you were not far from the +chalice when you were talking to Miss Belford. How are you getting on +with your knots, Wigan?" + +"I am not tied so tightly as I might be." + +"Good. With luck you may yet be in time to prevent Miss Belford +getting away." + +"I don't believe she has anything to do with the chalice," I answered. + +"All the same, I should take another journey to Walham Green," said +Quarles. "When one is dealing with a woman it is well to remember that +she is more direct than a man, is inclined to use simpler methods, and is +often more thorough. Witness the man and woman in this cellar. The man +gave you brandy to revive you: the woman didn't see any reason why you +shouldn't die. She interested me. A woman like that is a source of +strength to a gang. I fancy there is a glimmer of daylight through a +grating yonder." + +I got free from my bonds after a time, and I undid Quarles. The cellar +door was a flimsy affair, my shoulder against the lock burst it open at +once. No one rushed to prevent our escape. The house was as silent as +the grave. + +"Our captors have decamped," said Quarles. "We must have been hot upon +the trail last night, Wigan." + +The house was empty apparently, but we did not search it thoroughly then. +Escape was our first thought. I could give instructions to the first +constable we met to keep a watch on the house. We left by an area and +found ourselves at the end of a blind road in Hampstead. The house was +detached, and fifty yards or more from its nearest neighbor. + +"Reserved for future investigation," Quarles remarked. "Our first +business is the jeweled chalice." + +Only a dim light had found its way through the cellar grating, but the +day had begun. There was the rumble of an early milk cart. In spite of +aching head and stiff limbs, only one idea possessed us; and the first +taxi we found took us to Walham Green. + +Miss Belford had gone. She must have left the house yesterday within half +an hour of my leaving it. Inquiry subsequently proved that her servant +had left on the Saturday, and that during the last week Miss Belford had +disposed of her furniture just as it stood. + +Quarles was right, although we had no actual proof until some months +later, when we had almost forgotten the jeweled chalice. + +Miss Belford wrote to Mr. Harding. The jewels were left to Miss Morrison, +she said, by an old lover. Why they had not married she could not say, +but from old letters it appeared there had been a quarrel, and the man +had married elsewhere. Miss Belford was the daughter of that marriage. +She was not really Miss Morrison's niece, although she had always called +her aunt. The jewels were left to Miss Morrison absolutely, to sell or do +as she liked with, but Miss Belford declared that, in a letter which was +with the jewels when Miss Morrison received them after Mr. Belford's +death, and which she afterwards found amongst her papers, her father +evidently expected that his daughter would ultimately benefit. The letter +went on to explain how the theft had been accomplished, and the letter +concluded: + +"Had I known my aunt contemplated giving the jewels to the church, I +should have taken them before, because I had always expected them to come +to me. They were presented before I knew anything about it. I could do +nothing, I was dependent upon her. When I found my father's letter I knew +I had been robbed--that is the word, Mr. Harding, robbed. In taking the +chalice I have only taken what belongs to me. On reflection you will +probably consider that I was quite justified." + +I can affirm that the vicar of St. Ethelburga's did not think so, and +since Miss Belford's letter, which came from America, did not give any +address I imagine she was not sure what attitude Mr. Harding would take +up. What became of the gems, or how they were disposed of, I do not know; +I only know that there is no jeweled chalice at St. Ethelburga's now, and +I fancy the vicar thinks that, as a detective, I was a ghastly failure. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ADVENTURE OF THE FORTY-TON YAWL + + +Brilliant sunshine and a sufficient breeze, a well-appointed forty-ton +yawl, nothing to do but lie basking on the warm deck, conscious of a very +pretty woman at the helm--well, you may go a long way before you find +anything to beat it for pure enjoyment. + +How I came to be spending my time under such enviable circumstances +requires some explanation, especially when I state that the exceedingly +pretty woman was not Zena Quarles. + +It will be remembered that to attend to the jeweled chalice case, which +proved to be an affair of a day and a night only, I had been taken off a +job concerning a series of hotel robberies, and I was particularly glad +to be put back upon this case, because Quarles was so intensely +interested in it. Although the chalice case was not actually cleared up +satisfactorily for some months, it was practically certain that the +attack made upon us had nothing to do with the theft of the chalice. + +The professor was convinced that, unconsciously, we had been hot upon the +trail of the hotel robberies, that the trails of the two cases had, in +fact, crossed each other. It seemed to me that he had jumped to this +conclusion upon insufficient evidence, but I determined to make a +thorough investigation of the house at Hampstead at once. + +The house was in charge of a caretaker named Mason, who lived there in +one sparsely furnished room, but on the night of our capture he had +absented himself without leave. This looked suspicious, but the man was +able to prove that he had told the truth as to his whereabouts, and +further inquiry elicited nothing against him. Quarles also declared +emphatically that Mason was not the masked man he had seen in the cellar. + +I next managed to get an interview with the owner of the house, a Mr. +Wibley. He had lived in it himself for a time, but it had now been empty +for about two years. It was a good house, but old-fashioned. People did +not like basements, and as the house was in a neighborhood which was +deteriorating he had not felt inclined to spend money upon it. He knew +nothing about the caretaker who had been put there by the house agent, +but he was very keen to give me any help in his power, for he had himself +been a victim of one of the hotel robberies. Business occasionally +brought him to town from his house in Hampshire, and while staying in an +hotel a big haul had been made, and a necklace which he had bought for +his daughter only that day was amongst the property stolen. + +All these robberies, which had occurred over a period of six months, had +been carried out with a success which entirely baffled the authorities. + +Apparently rooms were rifled during the table d'hote; at least, it was +always late in the evening that the robberies were discovered. In no case +had a guest or a servant left suddenly or suspiciously, and drastic +search had discovered nothing. There could be little doubt that a clever +gang was at work, but during this period not a single stolen article had +been traced. Scotland Yard had any number of men engaged upon the case; +known thieves were watched, and fences kept under observation; but as a +fact there had been no clue at all until Quarles and I had been kidnaped. + +Of course, there was no certainty that our capture had anything to do +with these robberies. Quarles based his conviction on the fact that I had +spoken to another detective, Percival, who was known to have the case in +hand. He believed that I had been seen, that it was concluded that the +case was in my hands, that in hunting for the chalice I had stumbled on +the other trail, was so hot upon it, in fact, that prompt action on the +thieves' part was absolutely necessary. + +It was obvious that our capture must be a clue to something; it was +natural, perhaps, to jump to the conclusion that it concerned these +robberies, but Quarles's arguments did not altogether convince me. I had +half a dozen men hunting for young Squires, who had almost certainly led +us into an ambush that night and who had disappeared completely. His old +haunts had not known him for a long time; his old companions had lost +sight of him. It was generally understood that he had cut his old ways +and had turned pious, an evident reference to the hooligan club. At one +time he had certainly been friendly with some of the members of a gang I +knew of, a gang quite likely to be responsible for these robberies, but +inquiries went to show that this gang had practically ceased to exist as +an organization. + +For nearly a week I was busy morning, noon, and night collecting evidence +and facts which were retailed to Quarles, and then I broke down. Nervous +energy had kept me going, I suppose, but the blow I had received was not +to be ignored. The doctor ordered rest, and I went to Folkestone. I +suppose I looked ill, and, perchance, a little interesting; at any rate, +I was the recipient of quite a lot of sympathy, and it was on the third +afternoon of my stay in the hotel that Mrs. Selborne spoke to me. She +had heard me telling some one that I was recovering from an accident. + +She had a yacht in the harbor. She had great faith in the recuperating +power of yachting. She would have her skipper up that evening, if I would +make use of the yacht next day. I hesitated to accept her kind offer. She +evidently meant me to go alone; said she had not intended to use the +yacht on the following day; but it was finally arranged that she should +take me for a sail. It was the first of several. On the first occasion +she also took a lady staying in the hotel, and on the second a lad who +was there with his parents, but as they were both bad sailors we went by +ourselves the third time. + +"It spoils the pleasure to see other people ill," said Mrs. Selborne. "I +think we might really go alone without unduly shocking people." + +So it happened that I was enjoying the breeze and the sunshine under +ideal circumstances and with as charming a companion as a man could +wish to have. + +I told Zena so in one of my letters; so convincingly, I regret to say, +that the dear girl did not like it. There was really no cause for +jealousy, but bring a man in close contact with a pretty and charming +woman, especially on a yacht, and he is almost certain to flirt with +her a little. + +It was very mild and harmless in my case, and indeed Mrs. Selborne, jolly +and somewhat unconventional as she was, would have resented any liberty. +We frankly enjoyed each other's society, and at the end of a few days +might have known each other for years. + +Certainly I owed her a debt of gratitude, for the yacht did me worlds of +good. I told her so that afternoon. + +"You certainly look better," she said. + +"You will send me back to work sooner than I expected." + +"When?" + +"At the end of the week." + +"And I expect my husband to-morrow." + +I don't suppose she meant it, but she said it as if she regretted +his coming. + +"Is he fond of yachting?" I asked. + +"It bores him to tears," she laughed. "Most of the things which I like +do. Still, he is very good to me. I am an old man's darling, you know." + +It was the first time she had mentioned her husband, and she had not +shown the slightest curiosity in my affairs. She was just a good pal for +the time being. That was how she had impressed me, but this afternoon she +was--how shall I put it?--she was rather more of a woman than usual. I +might easily imagine she had given me an opening for a serious +flirtation. Her manner might suggest that I had become more to her than +she had intended. I put the idea away from me, mentally kicking myself +for allowing it to get into my head at all. + +"We shall sail as usual to-morrow," she told her skipper when we landed. + +"Very good, ma'am." + +"Mr. Selborne arrives to-morrow night. Let some one go up for his +luggage. Half past ten." + +"Yes, ma'am." + +Mrs. Selborne and I walked back to the hotel and stood on the lawn +talking for a little while before going to dress for dinner. + +"To-morrow will be our last cruise, I am afraid," she said, looking +across the Leas. "I hope it will be fine." + +"I hope so." + +"It would really be a terrible disappointment to me if it were not. I +would go--Ah, now I am being tempted to talk foolishly." + +She turned from me a little defiantly. She was certainly very attractive, +and naturally fell into poses which showed her off to the best advantage. +A man, sitting on the lawn, paused in the act of taking a cigarette from +his case to look at her. His interest pleased me. I was human, and it +flattered my vanity to know that I counted with this woman. + +"What desperate thing were you going to say?" I asked. + +"You will laugh at me." + +"I am more likely to match you in desperation." + +"I was going to say I would go to-morrow, wet or fine, wind or sunshine, +rather than miss our last day." + +Could I do less than make a compact that it should be so? If I admit +there was no sign of a coming change in the weather it must not be +supposed that I am trying to make out that her beauty and personality did +not affect me. They did. + +"I could almost pray for bad weather just to see that you are a man of +your word," she laughed. "Is it a promise?" + +"It is." + +She went in to dress, and I smoked a cigarette before doing likewise. + +As I entered my room and closed the door, a man stepped from behind +the wardrobe. It was the man who had been interested in Mrs. Selborne +on the lawn. + +"Pardon. I wished to speak to you alone, and this seemed the only +method." + +"I'll hear what you have to say before I hand you over to the +management," I answered. + +"It is a delicate matter," he returned, with a simper, which made me +desire to kick him. "It concerns a lady. You are Mr. James Murray; at +least, that is the name you entered in the hotel books." + +"It is my name," I answered. + +"Part of it, I think, part of it. You are usually called Murray Wigan, I +believe, and you are engaged to Miss Quarles--Miss Zena Quarles, the +granddaughter of a rather stupid professor." + +"What has this to do with you?" + +"I said it was a delicate matter," he went on. "My client has reason to +believe that you are--shall I say enamored of a lady staying in this +hotel? You may have noticed me on the lawn just now when you were talking +to the lady--I judge it was the lady. Your taste, sir, appeals to me, but +I am bound to say--" + +"Are you a private detective?" + +"Just an inquiry agent; helpful in saving people trouble sometimes." + +"Do you mean to tell me that Miss Quarles--" + +"No, not exactly, but, my dear Wigan--" + +It was Quarles. He changed his voice, seemed to alter his figure, but of +course the make-up remained. He was a perfect genius in altering his +appearance. + +"Was that the lady?" he asked. "Zena mentioned you were yachting with a +Mrs. Selborne down here. I don't think she quite liked it. She was woman +enough to read between the lines of your letter." + +"Oh, nonsense!" I exclaimed. + +"Quite so; still the lady is decidedly attractive, and Murray Wigan is a +man. The man who holds himself barred from admiring one woman just +because he happens to be engaged to another is not a very conspicuous +biped. I am not reproaching you, I should probably do the same myself, +but Zena will take you to task no doubt, and you will explain and +promise not to do it any more, and--" + +"I haven't done anything which requires explanation," I said irritably. + +"Of course not, but that may not be Zena's view, and I daresay Mrs. +Selborne believes you are more than half in love with her. I happened to +overhear part of your conversation. She was putting your admiration to +the test, rather a severe test, by the way, since you are an invalid. +Probably she is smiling to herself in the glass as she dresses for +dinner, which reminds me you have none too much time to dress, and you +must not be late to-night." + +"Why not? I am feeling quite fit again. If there is anything to be done I +am quite capable of doing it." + +"Dress, Wigan, while I talk. Since you broke down at a crucial point I +have been helping Percival. I daresay he will get the kudos in this case, +but you mustn't grudge him that." + +"I don't." + +"We have progressed," Quarles went on. "I will give you my line of +argument and the result so far. We start with Squires. He led us into a +trap, but the gang with which he was formerly connected has practically +ceased to exist. His old companions have seen nothing of him; he is +supposed to have turned good, and I find he has been a member of that +hooligan club for over a year with an irreproachable record during that +time. Two conclusions seem to arise; either Squires is connected with +another gang, or some compulsion was put upon him to betray us. I incline +to the second idea, and if I am correct there must have been a strong +incentive to persuade Squires to do what he did. Perhaps he wished to +protect some one." + +"What did Percival say to that?" I asked as I put the links into my +shirt. + +"He jeered at it, of course, as you are inclined to do; indeed, it was +quite a long time before Percival awoke to the fact that I was not quite +a fool. Now the machinery of Scotland Yard seems to have proved that +these robberies are not the work of a known gang; we may therefore assume +that persons unknown to the police are at work. The methods adopted are +clever. The property is stolen, yet no one has disappeared from the +hotel, neither guest nor servant, and in no case has any of the property +been found in the possession of any one in the hotel. Shall we suppose +that it has been carefully lowered from a bedroom window to an accomplice +without? None of this property has been traced, which leads us to two +hypotheses; either it has been got out of the country and disposed of +abroad, or the thieves can afford to bide their time. When you consider +the worth of the jewels stolen, it seems remarkable that nothing should +have been traced in the known markets abroad, and I am inclined to think +the thieves can afford to wait. Having arrived at this point--" + +"Without a scrap of evidence," I put in. + +"Without any evidence," said Quarles imperturbably. "I began to suspect +that my arch villain, for of course there is a leading spirit, must be in +command of wealth; and, remembering the short period during which the +robberies have happened, I ventured a guess that, once a sufficient +fortune were acquired, he would disappear, that his great coup being +accomplished he would retire from business, and become a respectable +citizen of this or some other country--a gentleman who had acquired +wealth by speculation." + +"Once a man has known the excitement of crime he does not give it up," I +said. "That's the result of experience, Professor, not guesswork." + +"Quite so, but I had visualized an extraordinary personality. Where was I +to find such a man and the efficient confederates who were helping him in +his schemes? One or more of them must have been present at each robbery, +and would no doubt be amongst those who had lost property. Theory, of +course, but we now come to something practical--the house at Hampstead. +If my theory of crossed trails were correct, if you were thought to be +engaged on this investigation, then that house was in some way linked +with the robberies. I may mention incidentally the value of having such a +place of retreat; the spoil could be deposited there until it could +safely be removed to a better hiding place. + +"This, of course, would inculpate the caretaker Mason. He has been +carefully watched; he has done nothing to give himself away, the result +of careful training, I fancy. Through this house we get another link--the +owner, Mr. Wibley. He has been a sufferer in these robberies, losing a +necklace he had just purchased for his daughter. Certainly a man to know +under the circumstances. As you are aware, he lives in Hampshire, and I +had a sudden desire to see that part of the country. I didn't call upon +Mr. Wibley, although he was at home. + +"His daughter was away--it was quite true he has a daughter. I took +rather elaborate precautions not to encounter Mr. Wibley; he might be +curious about a stranger in the country, but he would have been +astonished to know how much I saw of him. No, there was nothing +suspicious about him, except that on two occasions a man met him on a +lonely road, evidently with important business to transact. On the day +after the second meeting Mr. Wibley departed and came to Hythe. No later +than this morning he was playing golf there with this same man he met in +Hampshire. The golf was poor, but they talked a lot." + +"Still, I do not see--" + +"One moment, Wigan. The other man is staying in your hotel." + +"You think--" + +"I think it was intended to rob this hotel, but I believe the idea +has been abandoned," said Quarles. "However, I have put the manager +on his guard." + +"And pointed out the man you suspect!" + +"Yes." + +"That was foolish. If the thief is as clever as you imagine, he will +probably notice the manager's interest in him. I should say you have +warned him most effectually." + +"I don't think so. You see, it was you I pointed out to the manager." + +I paused with one arm in my waistcoat to stare at him. + +"I have arranged that he shall not interfere with you," said Quarles. +"You will be able to go yachting to-morrow. I was obliged to fix matters +so that I could come and go as I chose, and it was safer to draw the +manager's attention to one man rather than allow him to suspect others, +amongst them the very man we want to hoodwink, perhaps. The fact is, +Wigan, I believe the gang know you are here, and think you are here on +business. Plans will have been made accordingly, and it is therefore +absolutely necessary that you should go on just as you have been doing. I +don't think the hotel will be robbed now, but I am not sure. Sunshine or +storm, go with Mrs. Selborne to-morrow. Exactly what is going to happen +I do not know, but at the end of your cruise to-morrow you may want all +your wits about you." + +"Are you staying in the hotel?" I asked. + +"No, at Hythe, and I spend some of my time on Romney Marsh. I am +interested in a lonely house there. You must go; there is the gong. I +must tell you about the house another time." + +"When shall I see you again?" + +"To-morrow night. Leave me here. I will sneak out after you have gone." + +It was natural my eyes should wander round the dining-room that night, +trying to discover by intuition which was the man who might engineer a +robbery at the hotel. + +Once the manager entered the room, and, knowing what I did, I could not +doubt he wanted to satisfy himself that I was there. It did not worry me +that Quarles had made use of me in this way; I was quite prepared to be +arrested if the robbery did take place, but I was annoyed that the +professor had told me so little. + +It was his way; I had had experience of it before, but it was treatment I +had never been able to get used to. + +After dinner Mrs. Selborne joined me in the lounge for a little while, +and talked about our sail next day, and then I was asked to make up a +bridge table. + +Remembering Zena's attitude, according to Quarles, I was rather glad to +get away from Mrs. Selborne. She played bridge, too, but not at my table. + +There was no burglary that night, and the following morning was as good +for yachting as one could desire. However, we could not start at our +usual time. The crew consisted of the skipper and two hands, and one of +the hands came up to say that it was necessary to replace some gear, +which would take until midday. Mrs. Selborne was very angry. + +"We shall have to kill time until twelve o 'clock," she said, turning to +me. "It is a pity, but we'll get our sail somehow if all the gear goes +wrong. It is very likely only an excuse to get a short day's work, but I +am not expert enough to challenge my skipper." + +When we got aboard soon after noon, however, she had a great deal to say +to the skipper; would have him point out exactly what had gone wrong, and +showed him quite plainly she did not believe there need have been so long +a delay; but she soon recovered her temper when she took the helm, and +her good spirits became infectious. + +I was on holiday, and was not inclined to bother my head with problems. +If for a moment I wondered what Quarles was doing, I quickly forgot all +about him. + +I repeat, when you have got a pretty woman on a yacht, and she is +inclined to be exceedingly gracious, nothing else matters much for the +time being. + +We had lunch, and Mrs. Selborne smoked a cigarette before we returned to +the deck. The skipper was at the tiller, but she did not relieve him. She +was in a lazy mood, and I arranged some cushions to make her comfortable. +We were standing well out from Dungeness. + +Mrs. Selborne seemed a little surprised at our position. + +"We must get back to dinner," she said to the skipper. + +"That'll be all right, ma'am," he answered. + +"We must pay some attention to the conventions," she laughed, speaking to +me in an undertone. "We couldn't plead foul weather as an excuse for +being late, could we?" + +"We started late, and it is our last sail," I said. + +The skipper did not alter his course, and Mrs. Selborne lapsed +into silence. + +The comfort and laziness made her drowsy, I expect. I know they did me. I +caught myself nodding more and more. + +Suddenly there was a jerk, effectually rousing me from my nodding +condition. I thought we had struck something. The next instant I rolled +on my back. A rope was round my arms and legs. The skipper was still at +the helm, and he smiled as one of the hands tied me up. The other hand +was doing the same to Mrs. Selborne. + +There was fear in her face; she tried to speak, but could not. + +"What the devil is--" + +"A shut mouth, mister, is your best plan," said the skipper. "Get her +down below, Jim. Chuck her on one of the bunks; she'll be out of the +way there." + +"Help me! Save me!" she said as they lifted her up and carried her down. + +"Now see here," said the skipper, slipping a hand into his pocket and +showing me a revolver, "if you feel inclined to do any shouting, you +suppress it, or this is going to drill a hole in your head. It's a detail +that you might shout yourself hoarse and no one would pay any attention." + +"What's the game?" I said. "For the sake of the lady I might come +to terms." + +"That's not the game, anyway, and I don't want any conversation." + +Quarles! I thought of him now. The hotel gang was at work, and this was +one of the moves. How it was going to serve their ends I did not see, +unless--unless I was presently dropped overboard. + +It was an unpleasant contemplation, and I am afraid I cursed Quarles. If +he had only told me a little more I might at least have been prepared and +made a fight for it. What about Mrs. Selborne? Would they drown her, too? +They might put her ashore somewhere. + +The coast about Dungeness is desolate enough. It would be easy to slip in +after dark and leave her. Not a sound came from the cabin, and the two +hands returned to the deck. By the skipper's orders they lashed me in a +sitting position to a skylight. + +We were still standing out to sea, and one of the hands took the tiller; +the other received instructions to kick the wind out of me if I shouted +or began asking questions. Then the skipper went below. + +I listened, but I could not hear him speak to Mrs. Selborne. + +It was fine sunset that evening. When we presently came round and stood +in towards shore I got a feast of color over Romney Marsh. Watching the +ever-changing colors as the night crept out of the sea, I remembered that +Quarles was interested in Romney Marsh, in a lonely house there about +which he had had no time to tell me last night; had this lonely house an +interest for me? I tried to work out the plot in a dozen ways, +endeavoring to understand how the thieves could secure themselves if I +were allowed to live. + +That gorgeous sunset was depressing. The coming night might be so full of +ominous meaning for me. + +It was dark by the time we drew in towards the shore. A light or two +marked Dymchurch to our left, to our right were the lights of Hythe. + +By what landmark the skipper chose his position I do not know, but +presently the anchor was let go and we swung round. The tide must have +been nearly at the full. A few minutes later the dinghy was got into the +water, and the steps let down. + +Everything was accomplished as neatly and deliberately as I had seen it +done each time I had gone sailing in the yacht. + +Then the skipper came over to me and tried my bonds to make sure I had +not worked them loose under cover of the darkness. + +"All right," he said. "You can get her up." + +Evidently they were going to take Mrs. Selborne ashore. + +She came up on deck, she was not brought up. She was not bound in any +way. + +"Half past ten," said the skipper. "Sure you will be all right alone?" + +I could not tell to which of the hands he spoke; at any rate, he got no +answer except by a nod, perhaps. Half past ten; that was the time Mrs. +Selborne's husband was to arrive. + +Then came a surprise. The three men got into the dinghy and pulled +towards the shore. + +I was left alone with Mrs. Selborne. + +"Caught, Mr. Murray--Wigan." + +She laughed as she paused between my two names, and seated herself on a +corner of the skylight with a revolver in her lap. + +"We can talk," she went on, "but a shout would be dangerous. I am used to +handling firearms. Our last sail together, a notable one, and not yet +over. You're a more pleasant companion than I expected to find you, but +you are not such a great detective as I had been led to suppose." + +I was too astonished to make any kind of answer. She was quite right. I +had never detected a criminal in her. All her kindness was an elaborate +scheme to get me in her power. Did Quarles know? Surely not, or he would +have put me on my guard. + +"Posing as an invalid was an excellent notion," she went on, "and you are +not altogether a failure. You have prevented a haul being made at the +Folkestone Hotel because we could not discover what men you had at work. +I wonder how you got on my track?" + +It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her I hadn't, to say that my being +there was chance, that I really was an invalid, but I kept the confession +back. I remembered Quarles saying I might want all my wits about me at +the end of this cruise. This seemed to be the end as far as I was +concerned. + +"I don't suppose you are going to tell me how these robberies have been +managed," I said, "so you cannot expect me to give away my secrets." + +"I will tell you one thing," she answered; "there will be no more +robberies by us. From to-night we begin to enjoy the proceeds." + +"That is interesting." + +"And you will quite appreciate that, although you are not so clever as +people imagine, you are a difficulty." + +"It is no use my petitioning you to let me go for the sake of--of our +friendship?" + +"I am afraid not." + +"What then?" + +"Dead men tell no tales," she said. + +It was an uncomfortable answer. It was the only way out of the +difficulty I had been able to conceive. + +"Pardon me, they do," I returned quietly. "In watching me so carefully, +and beating me at the game, you have advertised your interest in me to +scores of people. You have forged a link between us. My death will mean a +quick search for you and your confederates. I am likely to be more +dangerous to you dead than alive." + +"Do you suppose that has not been considered and arranged for?" + +"And do you suppose a detective values his life if by his death he can +bring notorious criminals to justice?" I asked. + +"What exactly do you mean?" + +We might have been discussing some commonplace question across a +tea table. + +"For the sake of argument, let us suppose one or two of your confederates +have not hoodwinked me so completely as you have done. You can understand +the possibility and appreciate the probable result." + +"Do I look like a woman to be frightened by such a thin story?" +she asked. + +"Certainly not. You are so reckless a person you have, no doubt, courage +to face any unpleasant consequence which may arise." + +"I have wit enough to know that prevention is better than cure," she +returned. "Within an hour, Mr. Wigan, my confederates and all who could +possibly witness against me will be on board this yacht. How long some of +them will remain on board I have not yet decided." + +She was evidently not afraid. Her plans must be very complete. + +"As I cannot be allowed to live, a sketch of your career would interest +me. It would serve to pass the time." + +"The past does not concern me, the future does," she answered. "You may +appreciate my general idea of making things safe. I fancy this yacht will +be cast away on a lonely spot on the French coast. I know the spot, and I +expect one or two persons will be drowned. That will be quite natural, +won't it? Should the accident chance to be heard of at Folkestone, it +will be surmised that I am drowned. Bodies do not always come ashore, you +know. One thing is quite certain; Mrs. Selborne and all trace of her will +have disappeared." + +"It is rather a diabolical scheme," I said. + +"I regret the necessity. I daresay you have sometimes done the same when +a victim of your cleverness has come to the gallows." + +She got up and walked away from me, but she did not cease to watch me. I +wondered if she would fire should I venture to shout. + +It was a long hour, but presently there came the distinct dip of oars. In +spite of my unenviable position I felt excited. I thought there were two +boats. Naturally there would be. The dinghy was small; crew and +confederates could not have got into it. + +There was the rattle of oars in the rowlocks, then a man climbed on deck, +others coming quickly after him, and in that moment Mrs. Selborne swung +round and fired. The bullet struck the woodwork of the skylight close to +my head. I doubt if I shall ever be so near death again until my hour +actually sounds. + +Her arm was struck up before she could fire again, and a familiar voice +was shouting: + +"It's all right, Wigan. The lady completes the business. We have +got the lot." + +Christopher Quarles had come aboard with the police, those in the dinghy +wearing the coats and caps the crew had worn, so that any one watching on +the yacht for their return might be deceived. + +The prisoners were left in the hands of the police, and a motor took +Quarles and myself back to Folkestone. He told me the whole story before +we slept that night. + +The lonely house on Romney Marsh had been bought by Wibley some months +ago in the name of Reynolds. He had let it be known that, after certain +alterations had been made, he was coming to live there, so it was natural +that a couple of men, looking like painters, should presently arrive and +be constantly about the place. If three or four men were seen there on +occasion no one was likely to be curious. + +Watching Wibley when he came down to Hythe, Quarles found he had a +liking for motoring on the Dymchurch Road. He saw him pull up one +morning to speak to a man on the roadside. He did the same thing on the +following morning, but it was a different man, and Quarles recognized +young Squires. + +Squires afterwards went to this empty house, and Quarles speedily had men +on the Marsh watching it night and day. It looked as if the house were +the gang's meeting-place. Either another coup was being prepared, or an +escape was being arranged. + +During a hurried visit to town the professor had seen my letter to Zena, +and this had given him a clue. + +"It was the name Selborne," Quarles explained. "I told you, Wigan, that +Wibley's daughter--or supposed daughter--was not with him in Hampshire. +Her whereabouts worried me. I could not forget that a woman had taken +part in our capture during the chalice case. While I was in Hampshire I +spent half a day in Gilbert White's village. His 'Natural History of +Selborne' has always delighted me. Selborne. If you were going to take a +false name, Wigan, and your godfathers had not called you Murray, only +James, what would you do? As likely as not you would take the name of +some place with which you were familiar. In itself the idea was not +convincing, but it brought me to your hotel at Folkestone, and then I was +certain. Do you remember the woman Squires spoke to on the night he led +us into that trap?" + +"It was too dark to see her face," I said. + +"I mean the way she stood," said Quarles, "with her arms akimbo; so did +the masked woman in the cellar, and when I saw Mrs. Selborne on the lawn +she did the same. The pose is peculiar. When a woman falls into this +attitude you will find she either rests her knuckles on her hips, or +grasps her waist with open hands, the thumbs behind the four finger in +front. This woman doesn't. She grasps her waist with the thumbs in front, +a man's way rather than a woman's. Her presence there suggested, another +hotel robbery; the yacht suggested a means of escape for the gang, +apparently gathering at the empty house. Since Mrs. Selborne had paid you +so much attention, I guessed she knew who you were, and thought you were +on duty, posing as an invalid. I thought it likely your presence would +prevent the robbery, but she took every precaution that you should go +with her to-day, storm or shine, eh, Wigan? We have had the glasses on +the yacht all day, and when the crew landed to-night we caught them. +Then we went to the house, Wigan. Got them all, and I believe the whole +of the six months' spoil." + +"Why didn't you put me on my guard?" I asked. + +"Well, Wigan, I think you would have scouted the idea. You were +fascinated, you know. In any case, you could not have helped watching her +for confirmation or to prove me wrong; she would have noted the change in +you, grown suspicious, and might have ruined everything at the eleventh +hour. Unless I am much mistaken we shall discover that the woman was the +brains of the gang." + +So it proved when the trial came on, and in another direction Quarles +was correct. + +Squires was Mason's son. The lad had cut himself loose from his old +companions, and had only meant to warn his father. He knew where he was +likely to find him, but meeting the man and woman unexpectedly, he was +frightened into trapping us. + +There can be little doubt that it was intended to cast away the yacht +as Mrs. Selborne had explained to me, and to drown those who were not +meant to share in the spoil, but who knew too much to be allowed to go +free. I should certainly have been amongst the missing, and young +Squires, too, probably. + +I shall always remember this case because--no, Zena and I did not quarrel +exactly, but she was very much annoyed about Mrs. Selborne. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SOLUTION OF THE GRANGE PARK MYSTERY + + +I really had some difficulty in convincing Zena that I had not fallen +in love with Mrs. Selborne, and Quarles seemed to think it humorous to +also express doubt on the subject. The professor is unconsciously +humorous on occasion, but when he tries to be funny he only succeeds in +being pathetic. + +I got so tired of his humor one evening that I left Chelsea much earlier +than usual, telling Zena that I should not come again until I heard from +her that she was ready to go and choose furniture, I heard next day. + +We were to be married in two months' time and had taken a house near +Grange Park, and I have always thought it curious that my first +introduction to the neighborhood, so to speak, should be as a detective, +and not in the role of a newly married man. + +It happened in this way. + +Just before two o'clock one morning Constable Poulton turned into Rose +Avenue, Grange Park. He was passing Clarence Lodge, the residence of Mrs. +Crosland, when the front door opened suddenly and a girl came running +down the drive, calling to him. + +"The burglars," she said, "and I am afraid my brother hay shot one of +them." + +He certainly had. Poulton found the man lying crumpled up at the bottom +of the stairs. He blew his whistle to summon another officer, and after +searching the house they communicated with headquarters. + +Grange Park, as many of you may know, is an estate which was developed +some years ago in the Northwest of London, on land belonging to the +Chisholm family. It got into the hands of a responsible firm of +builders, and artistic, well-built houses were erected which attracted +people of considerable means. It wasn't possible to live in Grange Park +on a small income. + +A few months ago the sedate tranquillity of the neighborhood had been +broken by an astonishing series of burglaries, which had occurred in +rapid succession. Half a dozen houses were entered; valuables, chiefly +jewelry, worth many thousands of pounds, had been taken, and not a single +arrest, even on suspicion, had been made. The known gangs had been +carefully shadowed without results, and not a trace of the stolen +property had been discovered. The thieves had evidently known where to go +for their spoil, not only the right houses but the exact spot where the +spoil was kept. There had been no bungling; indeed, in some cases, it was +doubtful how an entrance had been effected. Not in a single instance had +the inmates been aroused or alarmed, no thief had been seen or heard upon +the premises, nor had the police noticed any suspicious looking persons +about the estate. + +The investigation of these robberies was finally entrusted to me, and I +suppose the empty room in Chelsea had never been used more often and with +less result than over the Grange Park burglaries. It was not only one +chance we had had of getting at the truth, for half a dozen houses had +been broken into; and it was not the lack of clues which bothered us so +much as the number of them. The thieves seemed to have scattered clues +in every direction, yet not one of them led to any definite result. + +Like the rest of us, Christopher Quarles had his weaknesses. Whenever he +failed to elucidate a mystery he was always able to show that the fault +was not his, but somebody else's; either too long a time had elapsed +before he was consulted, or some meddlesome fool had touched things and +confused the evidence, or even that something supernatural had been at +work. Once, at least, according to the professor, I had played the part +of meddlesome fool, and one of my weaknesses being a short temper, it +had required all Zena's tact to keep us from quarreling on that +occasion. It came almost as a shock, therefore, when, after a long +discussion one evening, he suddenly jumped up and exclaimed: "I'm +beaten, Wigan, utterly beaten," and did not proceed to lay the +responsibility for his failure on any one. + +Upon the receipt of Constable Poulton's message, I was sent for at once, +and it was still early morning when I roused Quarles and we went to +Grange Park. I do not think I have ever seen the professor so excited. + +Mrs. Crosland had a son and daughter and a nephew living with her. It was +the daughter who had run down the drive and called Poulton. There were +four servants, a butler and two women in the house and a chauffeur who +lived over the garage. There was besides a nurse, for Mrs. Crosland was +an invalid, often confined to her bed and even at her best only able to +get about with difficulty. She suffered from some acute form of +rheumatism and was tied to her bed at this time. + +The son's version of the tragedy was simple and straightforward. Hearing +a noise, he had taken his revolver--always kept handy since the +burglaries--and had reached the top of the stairs when his sister Helen +came out of her room. She had also heard some one moving. They went down +together to the landing at the angle of the staircase. He did not see any +one in the hall, nor was there any sound just then. He called out "Who's +there?" The answer was a bullet, which struck the wall behind them. Then +Crosland fired down into the hall, but at random. He saw no one, but as a +fact he shot the man through the head. + +"Do you think the man was alone?" I asked. + +"In the hall, yes; but I feel convinced there was some one else in the +house who escaped," Crosland answered. "My sister and I had not moved +from the landing when Hollis, the butler, and one of the women servants +came hastily from their rooms. Then I went down and switched on the +light. The man was lying just as the constable found him. I never saw him +move. When my sister realized he was dead she became excited, and before +I knew what she was doing, she had opened the front door and run down the +drive. The constable happened to be passing the gate at the moment." + +"What time elapsed between the firing of the shots and the entrance of +the constable?" I asked. + +"A few minutes; I cannot be exact. It took me some little time to realize +that I had actually killed the man, and I don't think Helen fully +understood the extent of the tragedy until I said, 'Good God, I've killed +him,' or something of that kind. I was suddenly aware of my awkward +position in the matter." + +"He had fired at you," I said. + +"I think I forgot that for the moment," Crosland answered. "As a matter +of fact we had a marvelous escape. You will see where the bullet struck +the wall of the landing. It must have passed between us." + +"Did your mother hear the shots?" + +"They roused her out of a deep sleep, but she did not realize they were +shots. The nurse came onto the landing whilst we were in the hall. I told +her to say that something had fallen down. My mother is of an extremely +nervous temperament, and I am glad she cannot leave her bed just now." + +Helen Crosland had nothing to add to her brother's narrative. When +she rushed out of the house her idea was to call the police as +quickly as possible, not so much because of the burglars, but on her +brother's account. She had the horrible thought of her brother being +accused of murder. + +Quarles asked no questions. He was interested in the bullet mark on the +landing wall, and very interested in the dead man. A doctor had seen him +before our arrival, and the body had been removed to a small room off the +hall. Quarles examined the head very closely, also the hands; and +casually looked at the revolver, one chamber of which had been +discharged. + +"A swell mobsman, Wigan, not accustomed to work entirely on his own, I +should imagine. As Mr. Crosland says, there may have been others in the +house who escaped." + +"We may get some information from the servants presently," I answered. + +"I doubt it. In all these burglaries, Wigan, we have considered the +possibility of the servants being implicated, and in no case has it led +us anywhere. More than once there have been clues which pointed to such a +conclusion, merely clever ruses on the thieves' part. No, our clue is the +dead man." + +Quarles questioned Constable Poulton closely. The constable had not heard +the shots. About half an hour earlier in the evening he had passed +Clarence Lodge. There was no light in the house then. Just before one +o'clock he had met Mr. Smithers who lived in the next house to Clarence +Lodge; he was coming from the direction of the station and said good +night. Since then he had seen no one upon his beat. Poulton described the +position of the dead man graphically and minutely. He had no doubt he had +been shot a few minutes before he saw him. + +"I searched the house with Griffiths, the officer who came when I blew my +whistle; we saw no sign of the others." + +"How did they get in?" I asked. + +"A window in the passage there was open," said Poulton. "That's the only +way they could have come unless they fastened some window or door again +when they had entered." + +I examined this window carefully. There was no sign that any one had +entered this way, no mark upon the catch. Outside the window was a flower +bed, and I pointed out to Quarles that if any one had left the house in a +hurry, as they would do at the sound of firearms, they would inevitably +have left marks upon the flower bed. + +Quarles had nothing to say against my argument. + +"I don't believe either exit or entrance was made by this window," +I declared. + +"Have you still got servants in your mind, Wigan?" + +"I have, to tell the truth I always have had." + +"The body is our best clue, Wigan. If we can identify that we shall be +nearing the end." And then Quarles turned to Poulton. "Isn't there a +nephew in the house? We haven't seen him." + +"I'm told he is abroad, sir," the constable answered. + +"Do you happen to know him?" + +"Quite well by sight, sir." + +Quarles nodded, but the nephew was evidently not disposed of to his +Satisfaction. + +I interviewed the servants closely, including the chauffeur who had heard +nothing of the affair until aroused by the police. Hollis was certain +that all the doors and windows were securely fastened. Quarles rather +annoyed me by suggesting that the thieves might have entered by an +upstairs window or even by the front door. + +"If you look at the upstairs windows I think you will find that +impossible," said Hollis. + +"We will look, and also at the front door." + +The professor made a pretense of examining the front door rather +carefully. + +"You're sure this was locked and bolted last night?" + +"Quite, sir." + +"It looks substantial and innocent." + +The only window which interested Quarles upstairs was that of a small +room in the front of the house overlooking the drive, but, as the butler +pointed out, no one could have got in there without a ladder. + +"No, no, I suppose not," and Quarles did not say another word until we +saw Mr. Crosland again. Then he immediately inquired about the nephew. + +"George is in Paris, at least he was three days ago," and Crosland +produced a picture postcard sent to his mother. "We are expecting him +back at the end of the week." + +"I suppose, Mr. Crosland, you have no suspicions regarding this affair?" + +"I don't quite understand what you mean." + +"Let me put it in another way," said the professor, "and please do not +think that I am suggesting you fired too hastily. Immediately you heard +the noise, you remembered the burglars who have caused a sensation in +Grange Park recently. It was quite natural, but it seems to me rather +strange that so astute a gang should commence operations in the same +neighborhood again. For the sake of argument, let us suppose this gang +had nothing to do with the affair. Now can you think of any one who might +have something to gain by breaking into Clarence Lodge?" + +"No, I cannot; and yet--" + +"Well," said Quarles. + +"I can think of no one; I recall no family skeleton, but there is one +curious fact. This gang seemed to know exactly where to go for their +spoil--jewels mostly, and there is nothing of that kind worth taking at +Clarence Lodge." + +"That goes to support my argument, doesn't it?" + +"It does." + +"That is the reason I asked particularly about your cousin." + +"George Radley is like a brother," laughed Crosland, "our interests are +identical." + +"Oh, it was only a point that occurred to me as an outsider," Quarles +returned. "We can leave him out of the argument and yet not be convinced +there is no family skeleton. You might perhaps question your mother +without explaining the reason, although I suppose she will have to know +about this affair presently." + +"I hope not." + +"Acute rheumatism, isn't it? I wonder if she has ever heard of a quack +who made a new man of me. What was his name now?" + +"Was it Bush?" Crosland asked. + +"No, but it was a commonplace name." + +"As a matter of fact a man named Bush has been to see my mother. I dare +not tell Dr. Heathcote; at one time I fancy Bush did her good, or she got +better naturally, but she believes in him. He hasn't been for some time +now, but she was speaking of him the other day." + +"I'll look up my man's card and send it on to you," said Quarles. "You +get Mrs. Crosland to see him, never mind Dr. Heathcote." + +"I didn't know you had suffered from rheumatism," I said to Quarles as we +left the house. + +"Didn't you! Have it now sometimes. Well, Wigan, what do you make of this +affair? Do you think the burglars are responsible?" + +"I want time to think." + +"We'll just call in and see Dr. Heathcote," said Quarles. + +The doctor was a young man rather overburdened with his own importance. +He was inclined to think that Crosland had done Grange Park a service by +shooting one of the burglar gang. + +"I only hope the authorities won't get sentimental and make it needlessly +unpleasant for him." + +"I shouldn't think so," I returned. "I may take it, doctor, that the man +had been dead only a short time when you saw him?" + +"Quite. Death must have been practically instantaneous." + +"Oh, there is no doubt about Crosland's narrative, it is quite +straightforward," said Quarles, "but I shouldn't be surprised if he found +the inquiry awkward. I think his mother ought to know the truth." + +"Why not?" asked Heathcote. + +"He seems to think it would be bad for her in her state of health." + +"I'll talk to him," said the doctor. "The old lady is not so bad as he +supposes. To tell you the truth I think the nurse is rather a fool and +frightens her. I tried to get them to change her, but she seems to be a +sort of relation." + +"That's the worst of relations, they're so constantly in the way," +said Quarles. + +We left the doctor not much wiser than when we went, it seemed to me, but +Quarles appeared to find considerable food for reflection. He was silent +until we were in the train. + +"Wigan, you must see that a watch is kept upon Clarence Lodge day and +night. Have half a dozen men drafted into the neighborhood. You want to +know who goes to the house, and any one leaving it must be followed. +Poulton's a good man, I should keep him there, and let him be inquisitive +about callers. Then telegraph at once to the Paris police. Ask if George +Radley is still at the Vendome Hotel. If he is tell them to keep an eye +on him. Now, here's my card. Take it to Schuster, 12 Grant Street, +Pimlico, and ask him if he knows anything of a man named Bush, a quack +specialist in rheumatism. Find out all you can about Bush. To-morrow +morning you must go to Grange Park again, and see young Crosland. He may +complain about the watch which is being kept over the house. If he does, +spin him the official jargon about information received, etc., intimate +your fear that the gang may attempt reprisals, and tell him you are bound +to take precautions. After that come on to Chelsea. We ought to be able +to arrive at some decision then. Oh, and one other thing, you might see +if you have any one resembling the dead man in your criminal portrait +gallery at the Yard." + +"A fairly full day's work," I said with a smile. + +"I am going to be busy, too, with a theory I have got. To-morrow we will +see if your facts fit in with it." + +To avoid repetition I shall come to the results of my inquiries as I +related them to Quarles next day. I got back from Grange Park soon after +two o'clock, had a couple of sandwiches and a glass of wine in the Euston +Road, and then took a taxi to Chelsea. Zena and the professor were +already in the private room, Zena doing nothing. Quarles engaged in some +proposition of Euclid, apparently. On the writing table were a revolver +and some cartridges. + +"I have told Zena the whole affair as far as we know it," said Quarles, +putting his papers on the table, "and she asks me a foolish question, +Wigan. 'Why didn't the butler run for the police instead of Miss +Crosland?' Have you got any information which will help to answer it?" + +"It doesn't seem to me very strange that she went," I returned. "I have +been busy, but there is not very much to tell. I have got the house +watched as you suggested. The Paris police telegraph that an Englishman +named George Radley is at the Hotel Vendome, a harmless tourist +apparently, going about Paris seeing the sights. Schuster was able to +give me Bush's address, and I called upon him, but did not see him. He +had gone to a case in Yorkshire, but may be back any time. He lives in +Hampstead, in quite a pleasant flat overlooking the Heath." + +"Is he married?" + +"No, he has a housekeeper, rather a deaf old lady who speaks of him as +the doctor." + +"You didn't chance to see a portrait of him?" + +"No, there were no photographs about of any kind. His hobby seems to be +old prints, of which he has some good specimens. I should say his +temperament is artistic." + +"That is an interesting conclusion," said the professor. "You didn't get +any idea of his age?" + +"No. This morning I went to Clarence Lodge and find you are by no means +liked there." + +"Indeed." + +"An old gentleman called there yesterday afternoon saying you had asked +him to go and see Mrs. Crosland about her rheumatism--a Mr. Morrison." + +"The silly old ass!" exclaimed the professor. "He is the man I told +Crosland of, the man who cured rheumatism so marvelously. I suppose +Morrison misread my letter and went at once instead of waiting to be +sent for." + +"Crosland appears to have given him a piece of his mind," I laughed, "and +called you a meddlesome fool." + +"Poor old Morrison, but it serves him right." + +"He managed to see Mrs. Crosland," I said. "When the old lady heard he +was there she would see him. As the son was anxious his mother +shouldn't know of the tragedy, it was arranged that she should be told +that Morrison's visit was the outcome of a casual remark Crosland had +dropped to a friend concerning Mrs. Crosland's suffering. The old lady +appears to have put the old man through his paces, but ended by being +convinced that Morrison knew what he was talking about. He has been +asked to call again." + +"Then I appear to have done the old lady a good turn after all," said +Quarles. "Did you see Mrs. Crosland, Wigan?" + +"No. The butler opened the door, and I only saw young Crosland besides. I +explained to him the necessity of having the house watched, and I think +he believes I am afraid he will attempt to run away. He is a little +nervous about his position in the affair. I reassured him." + +"It's a pity you didn't manage to see the old lady. Don't you think it +would be interesting to know what she is like?" + +"I can't say I am very interested on that point." + +"Well, we can ask old Morrison," said Quarles. "I daresay his quackery +has made him a close observer. You don't succeed as a quack unless you +have a keen appreciation of the foibles and weaknesses of human nature." + +"You have my facts, Professor; now, have you progressed with your theory; +has revolver practise had something to do with it?" + +And I pointed to the writing table. + +"Let's go back to the Grange Park burglaries for a moment," Quarles began +slowly. "We have investigated them under the impression that they were +the work of a gang, but it is possible they were worked by one man. The +gang may have attacked Clarence Lodge, Crosland's chance though excellent +marksmanship accounting for one of the members while the rest escaped; +but on the whole the evidence seems to suggest that this man was alone, +and we might conclude that the burglaries were the work of one man." + +"I shall never believe that," I said. + +"Still, you cannot disprove it by direct evidence. You may show it to be +unlikely, but you cannot prove it impossible. Indirectly we can go a +little further. There were several features about these burglaries to +make them remarkable. The right house was chosen, the thieves were never +heard or seen, there were always plenty of misleading clues left about, +there was no bungling, In the case of Clarence Lodge the wrong house was +chosen--Crosland himself told us that it contained no jewelry or +particular valuables. The thieves, or rather thief, was heard, the sound +must have been considerable to arouse both Crosland and his sister; the +thief makes no attempt to conceal himself and fires the moment he is +spoken to; in short, there was a considerable amount of bungling, quite +unlike the experts we have been thinking of. We are safe, therefore, I +fancy, in considering that the Clarence Lodge affair is not to be +reckoned as one of the Grange Park burglaries." + +I shook my head doubtfully. + +"Since experts may at times make mistakes, I grant that my negative +evidence is not as convincing as it might be," said Quarles, "but I want +the point conceded. I want, as it were, a base line upon which to build +my theoretical plan. I want to forget the burglaries, in fact, and come +to the Clarence Lodge case by itself. So we have a dead man and we first +ask who shot him. Crosland says he did, and tells us the circumstances, +his sister confirms his statement, and the butler, the woman servant and +the nurse, who are quickly upon the stage in this tragedy, see no reason +to disbelieve the statement. We burrow a little deeper into the evidence, +and we discover one or two interesting facts. The man was shot on the +left side of the head, a clean wound above the left ear. Crosland says he +fired after he had been fired at, so the man, directly he had fired, must +deliberately have turned his head to the right, which at least is +remarkable. Further, to hit the wall of the landing in the place he did +the man must have stood in the very center of the stairs to fire. His +body was found some feet away from this central position, and a bullet so +fired and striking where it did could not have missed two people +standing on that landing. I have made a rough plan here," and Quarles +took up the papers from the table, "giving the position of the dead man, +the position of the walls and stairs. The lines show where the bullet +would have hit if fired from a spot nearer where the dead man was found." + +I examined his diagram closely. + +"A man shot through the brain might fall several feet away from where he +was standing," I said. + +"Yes, behind where he was standing, or perhaps forward, but hardly to one +side. However, we burrow again, and we try and answer Zena's question why +it was Helen Crosland who ran for the police. Why not? we may ask. Her +close association with her brother in the affair, her anxiety on his +account, make it natural that she should dash out not only for help but +to make it certain that they had nothing to hide. Her words to Poulton, +'The burglars, and I am afraid my brother has shot one of them,' are +significant. They tell the whole story in a nutshell. Crosland's +statement merely elaborates it, over-elaborates it, in fact. The bolts on +the front door, Wigan, were very stiff; I tried them. Helen Crosland +would certainly have had difficulty in drawing them back, and it is an +absurdity for her brother to declare that she had gone before he knew +what she was doing." + +I had no comment to make, and Zena leaned forward in her chair, +evidently excited. + +"It is a point to remember that she ran out exactly at the moment Poulton +was passing, which may have been chance, of course, but from that room +over the hall one can see down the drive and, by the light of a street +lamp, some way down the road. Had any one watched there he could have +prompted the girl when to start." + +"You seem to be overloading the theory too much," I said, "and I do not +see many real facts yet." + +"I am coming to some facts presently," said Quarles. "I am showing you my +working. Now, having done away with the gang of burglars, we ask how did +the man get into the house. Your argument that no one could have escaped +through that window in the passage was sound, I think, Wigan, and +considering the immaculate condition of the latch and the lack of signs +on the sill and the flower bed, I doubt if any one got in that way, +either. On the whole, I am inclined to think he came through the front +door, which was opened for him by Hollis the butler or by one of the +servants." + +"Still no facts," I said. + +"Still theory," admitted Quarles. "By my theory it follows that the dead +man was known to the Croslands. We will assume that in some family +quarrel he was killed that night. The death--the murder--had to be +concealed, so they pitched on the idea of the burglars, put the body in +the hall, fired a shot into the landing wall, and threw open the passage +window. It was smartly conceived, but, of course, took some little time, +which had to be accounted for. Crosland could only say that he could not +tell how long a time elapsed between the firing and the arrival of +Poulton. Everything had to be thought of before Helen Crosland rushed out +for the police." + +"You assume that the whole household was in the conspiracy?" I asked. + +"Yes, and that they are exceedingly clever. What do you think of +the theory?" + +"As a theory rather interesting, but I am still waiting for a fact or +two." + +"Here's one," said Quarles, taking up the revolver. "This is Crosland's; +I purloined it. It is a very good weapon by a small maker. Curiously +enough the thief's weapon was exactly like it." + +"That may be a coincidence," said Zena. + +"It may be, but I prefer to think it a significant fact," the professor +returned; "but we'll go back to the theory again for the moment. I was +very interested in Crosland and his sister, they were not exceedingly +unlike each other. There was no portrait of Mrs. Crosland about, so I +could not tell which of them took after the mother. Had you told me that +Helen Crosland was the butler's daughter I should have believed you. Did +you notice the likeness, Wigan?" + +"No," I said with a smile. It seemed to me that the theory had got +altogether out of hand. + +"Well, it made me curious about the nephew," Quarles went on. "I wondered +whether the dead man was the nephew and so I asked Crosland about a +family skeleton, showed him that I had no belief in the burglar theory, +and he quickly responded by saying there was nothing in the house worth +stealing. I helped him out of a difficulty, and it was easy to talk about +his mother and her rheumatism. So we got to the specialist Bush. You see +the chief point was to find out the identity of the dead man. Now we get +to two facts. He isn't the nephew who is still in Paris, and Bush is +supposed to be in Yorkshire." + +"Do you mean--" + +"I am still theorizing," said Quarles. "There are no portraits at +Clarence Lodge; you noticed a lack of portraits in Bush's flat, and you +conclude by external evidence that his temperament is artistic. The dead +man's hands were curiously capable and artistic. It struck me the moment +I looked at them." + +"I am not convinced, Professor." + +"Nor was I," said Quarles, "so I mentioned the rheumatic specialist who +had cured me." + +"You, grandfather!" Zena exclaimed. + +"Ah, you have evidently forgotten how I used to suffer," was the smiling +answer. "I allowed Morrison to make a mistake on purpose and go to +Clarence Lodge, his one idea to get an interview with Mrs. Crosland." + +"And you have seen him since?" I asked. + +"Came home with him from Grange Park," answered Quarles. "He was roundly +abused to begin with, but, as you were told, he saw Mrs. Crosland. It was +an interesting interview. The first thing that struck him was that the +old lady was totally unlike her children, a different type altogether. +She is a hard, masculine kind of woman, not at all of the nervous +temperament he had been led to expect; and he was convinced that she had +only consented to see him to make sure that he was no more than he had +proclaimed himself--a specialist in rheumatism. My friend Morrison came +to the conclusion that the nurse, as a nurse, was incompetent, and that +the room he entered would not have been the one constantly occupied by +the invalid. He was exceedingly interested in Mrs. Crosland, seeing in +her a woman of extraordinary force of character and intellectual +capacity, and he came to the conclusion that there was nothing whatever +the matter with her." + +"No rheumatism?" said Zena. + +"About as much as I suffer from," said Quarles. "In short, Morrison was +rather glad to get safely out of the house. He was certain that the old +lady had a revolver under her pillow, and would certainly have shot him +had she suspected that he was any one else but a specialist in +rheumatism." + +I was looking at Quarles as he turned to me. + +"What do you make of my theory now, Wigan?" + +"Were you Morrison?" I asked. + +"Of course, and it was a trying ordeal. Do you think we have enough facts +to go on?" + +"Not facts, exactly, but evidence," I admitted. + +"I think we shall find that the dead man is Bush," said the professor. +"Inquiry will probably show that he has a record for quackery and has +probably sailed fairly close to the wind at times. His connection with +the Crosland family was not professional, but had other aims, and his +profession was used merely as a reason for not having a doctor for Mrs. +Crosland, who found it convenient to pose as an invalid. A quarrel +resulted in Bush's being shot that night. I hazard a guess that it was +the old lady who shot him, and that it was her brain which conceived the +way out of the difficulty." + +"That is guessing with a vengeance," I said. + +"Yes, but not without some reason," Quarles went on. "Let's go back to +the Grange Park burglaries for a moment, and suppose that a gang of +expert thieves under the name of Crosland took Clarence Lodge. An invalid +mother, son and daughter so called, butler, servants--a most respectable +family apparently, in the midst of people worth plundering, able by +friendly intercourse to collect the necessary information and plan their +raids. Bush is the outside representative of the firm, so to speak, and +the nephew who travels abroad occasionally sees to the selling of the +spoil. It was the plot of a master mind--the old lady's, which has +entirely beaten us until they quarrel between themselves. Now what do +you think of my theory?" + +"It takes me back to Grange Park without unnecessary delay," I said, +getting up quickly. + +"I thought it would. You have got the men waiting for you there, and I +should raid the house forthwith. But caution, Wigan. I don't think they +have any suspicion of Morrison, but the moment they tumble to your +intentions they'll show fight, and probably put up a hot one. And don't +forget the nephew in Paris. Take him, too." + +The raid upon Clarence Lodge took place that evening, and was so managed +that the servants and the chauffeur were taken before Crosland and his +sister, who proved to be no relation as Quarles had surmised, were aware +of the fact. Faced with the inevitable they made no fight at all, but the +old lady was made of entirely different metal. She barricaded herself in +her room, and swore to shoot the first man who forced the door. She had +the satisfaction of wounding me slightly in the shoulder, and then before +we could stop her she had turned the weapon upon herself and shot herself +through the head. + +The nephew was taken in Paris, and with the rest of the gang was sent to +penal servitude. The evidence at the trial proved Quarles's theory to be +very much as the tragedy had happened. The dead man was Bush, and it was +his threat to give the burglaries away unless he had a larger share of +the spoil than had been assigned to him which made the old lady shoot him +in an ungovernable fit of rage. + +"A master mind, Wigan," Quarles remarked, "and it is just as well +not to have her as a neighbor. Your wound is not likely to put off +your wedding?" + +"No." + +"A little better aim and she would have put it off altogether." + +"Don't be so horrible," said Zena. + +"A fact, my dear. Murray has been very keen about getting: hold of facts +in this case, so I mention one. The Grange Park burglaries beat me +because there was no clue to build on, but with a dead body--well, it +really wasn't very difficult, was it?" + +"Quite easy," I answered as if I really meant it, and then turned to +discuss carpets with Zena. + +It was not always wise to let the old man know you thought him clever. + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Master Detective, by Percy James Brebner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASTER DETECTIVE *** + +***** This file should be named 9796.txt or 9796.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/7/9/9796/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Master Detective + Being Some Further Investigations of Christopher Quarles + +Author: Percy James Brebner + +Release Date: January, 2006 [EBook #9796] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 17, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASTER DETECTIVE *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + THE MASTER DETECTIVE + + _Being Some Further Investigations of Christopher Quarles_ + + + + BY PERCY JAMES BREBNER + + AUTHOR OF "CHRISTOPHER QUARLES." + + 1916 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE STRANGE CASE OF SIR GRENVILLE RUSHOLM + II. THE KIDNAPING OF EVA WILKINSON + III. THE DELVERTON AFFAIR + IV. THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE IN MANLEIGH ROAD + V. THE DIFFICULTY OF BROTHER PYTHAGORAS + VI. THE TRAGEDY IN DUKE'S MANSIONS + VII. THE STOLEN AEROPLANE MODEL + VIII. THE AFFAIR OF THE CONTESSA'S PEARLS + IX. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MADAME VATROTSKI + X. THE MYSTERY OF THE MAN AT WARBURTON'S + XI. THE STRANGE CASE OF DANIEL HARDIMAN + XII. THE CRIME IN THE YELLOW TAXI + XIII. THE AFFAIR OF THE JEWELED CHALICE + XIV. THE ADVENTURE OF THE FORTY-TON YAWL + XV. THE SOLUTION OF THE GRANGE PARK MYSTERY + + + + +THE MASTER DETECTIVE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE STRANGE CASE OF SIR GRENVILLE RUSHOLM + + +Sir Grenville Rusholm, Baronet, was dead. The blinds were down at the +Lodge, Queen's Square. For the last few days lengthy obituary notices had +appeared in all the papers, innumerable wreaths and crosses had arrived +at the house, and letters of sympathy and condolence had poured in upon +Lady Rusholm. The dead man had filled a considerable space in the social +world, although politically he had counted for little. Politics were not +his metier, he had said. He had consistently refused to stand for +parliament, his wealth had supported neither party, and perhaps his +social success was due more to his wife's charm than to his own +importance. + +To-day the funeral was to take place. By his own desire his body was not +being taken to Moorlands, the family seat in Gloucestershire, but was to +be buried at Woking. The family chapel did not appeal to him. Indeed, he +had never spent much of his time at Moorlands, preferring his yacht or +the Continent when he was not at Queen's Square. + +Last night the coffin had been brought downstairs and placed in the large +drawing-room, the scene of many a brilliant function, although by day it +was a somewhat dreary apartment. The presence of the coffin there added +to the depression, and the scent of the flowers was almost overpowering. + +Many of the mourners were going direct to Woking, but there was a large +number of guests at the house who were received by the young baronet. +Naturally, Sir Arthur was of a sunny disposition, and his personality and +expectations had made him a favorite in society since he had left +Cambridge a year ago. To-day his face was more than grave. It was drawn +as if he were in physical pain, and it was evident how keenly he felt his +father's death. Lady Rusholm did not appear until the undertakers entered +the house. She came down the wide stairs, a pathetic figure in her deep +mourning, heavier than present-day fashion has made customary. She spoke +to no one, but went straight to the drawing-room and, standing just +inside the doorway, watched the men whose business is with death, as if +she feared some indignity might be offered to her dear one. In a few +moments her husband must pass out of that room for ever, and it was +hardly wonderful if she visualized for an instant the many occasions on +which he had been a central figure there. + +The bearers stooped to lift the coffin from the trestles on to their +shoulders, then they straightened themselves under their burden, but they +did not move, at least only to start slightly, while their faces changed +from gravity to horror. Lady Rusholm uttered a short cry, and there was +consternation in the faces of the guests in the hall. There could be no +mistake; the sound, though dull and muffled, was too loud for that. It +was a knock from inside the coffin. + +The man in charge whispered to the bearers. No, none of them had +inadvertently caused the sound. The coffin was replaced on the trestles, +and for a moment there was silence. No one moved; every one was waiting +for that knock again. It did not come. + +The chief man stood looking at the coffin, then at the carpet, and, after +some hesitation, he crossed the room to Sir Arthur, who stood in the +doorway beside his mother. + +"Was--was anything put into the coffin?" he whispered. "Something which +Sir Grenville wished buried with him, something which may have slipped?" + +"No." + +"I think--I think the coffin should be opened," whispered Dr. Coles, the +family physician. + +"But he is dead! You know he is dead, doctor!" + +"A trance--sometimes a mistake may happen, Sir Arthur. It was a distinct +knock. The coffin should certainly be opened." + +"And quickly--quickly!" + +It was Lady Rusholm who spoke, in a strained and unnatural voice. + +Sir Arthur tried to persuade his mother to leave the room while this +was done, but she would not go. With a great effort she calmed herself +and remained with her son, the doctor, and two or three guests while +the coffin was unscrewed. The lid was lifted off, and for a moment no +one spoke. + +"Empty!" the doctor cried. + +As he spoke Lady Rusholm swayed backwards, and would have fallen had not +her son caught her. + +There were two masses of lead in the coffin. There was no body. + +Sir Arthur Rusholm immediately communicated with Scotland Yard, and the +utter confusion which followed this gruesome discovery had only partially +subsided when I, Murray Wigan, entered the house to enquire into a +mystery which was certainly amongst the most remarkable I have ever had +to investigate. + +Some of those invited to the funeral had left the house before I +arrived, but the more personal friends were still there, and the story +as I have set it down was corroborated by different people with a wealth +of detail which seemed to leave nothing unsaid. Besides interviewing Sir +Arthur and the doctor, I saw Lady Rusholm for a few moments. She was +exceedingly agitated, as was natural, and I only asked her one or two +questions of a quite unimportant nature, but I was glad to see her. I +like to get into personal touch with the various people connected with +my cases as soon as possible. + +I was in the house two hours or more, questioning servants, examining +doors and windows, and, to be candid, my investigations told me little. +When I left Queen's Square I knew I had a complex affair to deal with, +and it was natural my thoughts should fly to the one man who might help +me. If I could only interest Christopher Quarles in the case! + +I remember speaking casually of a well-known person once and being met +with the question: Who is he? It may be that some of you have never heard +of Christopher Quarles, professor of philosophy, and one of the most +astute crime investigators of this or any other time. It has been my +privilege to chronicle some of our adventures together, and his help has +been of infinite benefit to me. Without it, not only should I have failed +to elucidate some of those mysteries the solving of which have made me a +power in the detective force, but I should never have seen his +granddaughter, Zena, who is shortly to become my wife. + +For some months past the professor had given me no assistance at all. +He would not be interested in my cases, and would not enter the empty +room in his house in Chelsea where we had had so many discussions. It +was a fad of his that he could think more clearly in this room, which +had only three chairs and an old writing table in it, yet perhaps I +ought not to call it a fad, remembering the results of some of our +consultations there. + +Months ago we had investigated a curious case in which jewels had been +concealed in a wooden leg. The solution had brought us a considerable +reward, and upon receiving the money Quarles had declared he would +investigate no more crimes. He had kept his word, had locked up the empty +room, and although I think I had sorely tempted him to break his vow on +more than one occasion, I had never quite succeeded. + +As I got into a taxi I considered how very seldom it is that the ruling +passion ever dies. The Queen's Square mystery ought to shake Quarles's +resolution if anything could. + +Zena was out when I got to Chelsea, but the professor seemed pleased +to see me. + +"Are you out of work, Wigan?" he asked, looking at the clock. + +I did not want him to think I had come with any deliberate intention, so +I answered casually: + +"No. As a fact I am rather busy. I came out to Chelsea to think. Chelsea +air is rather good for thinking, you know." + +"It used to be," he answered. "I'm glad I have given up criminal +hunting, Wigan." + +"I still find excitement in it," I answered carelessly, "and really I +think criminals have grown cleverer since your time." + +He looked at me sharply. I thought the remark would pique his curiosity. + +"That means you have had some failures lately." + +"On the contrary, I have been remarkably successful." + +"Glad to hear it," he returned. "What makes you say criminals are more +clever then?" + +"The Queen's Square Mystery." + +"I don't read the papers as carefully as I did," he remarked. + +"It only happened this morning," I answered. "I daresay you noticed that +Sir Grenville Rusholm died the other day. Some one has stolen his body, +that is all." + +"Stolen his--" + +"Yes, it is rather a curious case, but we won't talk about it. I know +that sort of thing doesn't interest you now." + +I talked of other things--anything and everything--but I noted that he +was restless and uninterested. + +"What did Sir Grenville die of?" he asked suddenly. + +"A sudden and most unexpected collapse after influenza." + +"And the body has been stolen?" + +"Yes." + +"I should like to hear about it, Wigan." + +I hesitated until he began to get angry, and then I told him the story as +I have told it here. I had just finished when Zena came in. + +"You, Murray! What has brought you here at this hour of the day?" she +asked in astonishment. + +"Two pieces of lead," murmured Quarles. + +"A case! Have you got interested in a case, dear? I am glad. What is the +mystery, Murray?" + +"Where is the key of my room, Zena?" Quarles asked. + +She took it from the drawer in a cabinet. + +"I am not going to begin again," said the professor, "but this--this +is an exception. Come with us, Zena. Come and ask some of your absurd +questions. I wonder whether my brain is atrophied. There are cleverer +criminals than there used to be in my time, are there, Wigan? We +shall see." + +He led the way to the empty room at the back of the house, muttering to +himself the while, and Zena and I smiled at each other behind his back as +we followed him. He was like an old dog on the trail again, and I did not +believe for a moment this case would be an exception. + +"Tell the story, Wigan," he said when we were seated. "All the details, +mind, great and small." + +So I went through the facts again. + +"I made a careful study of the house and garden," I went on. "The Lodge +is a corner house, the garden is small, and a garage with an opening into +the other road--Connaught Road--has been built there. A 'Napier' car was +in the garage." + +"Did you see the chauffeur?" asked Quarles. + +"Yes. The car had not been used for a week. I could find no trace of an +entry having been made from the garden, but the latch of one of the +French windows of the drawing-room was unfastened. When I saw it this +window could be pushed open from outside. No one seems to have undone it +that morning, so the fact is significant." + +Quarles nodded. + +"Besides the servants only five people slept in the house that +night--Lady Rusholm, her son, two elderly ladies--cousins of Sir +Grenville's who had come from Yorkshire for the funeral--and a Mr. +Thompson, a friend of the family who was staying in the house when Sir +Grenville died." + +"Who closed the windows after the body was taken to the drawing-room?" +asked Quarles. + +"One of the undertaker's men." + +"Is he positive he fastened them?" + +"He is, but under the circumstances he is not anxious to swear to it." + +"And the door of the room, had that been kept locked?" + +"Yes. The key was in Sir Arthur's possession." + +"Who first entered the room this morning?" + +"Sir Arthur when he took in two or three wreaths which arrived late last +night. The room was just as it had been left on the previous day. The +wreaths and crosses were not disarranged in any way." + +"And there were only two pieces of lead in the coffin when it was +opened?" queried Zena. + +"A large lump and a small one," I answered. + +"Couldn't they have been packed in such a way that they would not +have slipped?" + +"Of course they could. No doubt that was the intention, but the work was +badly done because the thieves did it hurriedly," I answered. + +"One of your foolish questions, Zena," said Quarles, looking keenly at +her. He always declared that her foolish inquiries put him on the +right road. + +"It is a good thing the lead did slip, or the gruesome theft might never +have been discovered," she said. + +"Was the coffin a very elaborate one?" Quarles asked, after nodding an +acquiescence to Zena's remark. + +"No, quite a plain one." + +"Has the drawing-room more than one door?" + +"Only one into the hall. There is a small room out of the +drawing-room--a small drawing-room in fact. Lady Rusholm does her +correspondence there. It can only be reached by going through the large +room, and the door between the rooms was locked. Sir Arthur got the key +from his mother and opened the door for me." + +"What could any one want with a dead body?" asked Zena. + +"If we could answer that question we should be nearing the end of the +affair," said Quarles. "Years ago there were two men--Burke and +Hare--who--" + +"Oh, the day of resurrectionists is past," I said. + +"Don't be so dogmatic," returned Quarles sharply. "A corpse has been +stolen; can you suggest any use a corpse can be put to if it is not to +serve some anatomical or medical purpose? Remember, Wigan, that mentally +and materially there is always a tendency to move in a circle. What has +been will be again--altered according to environment--but practically the +same. Always start with the assumption that a similar case has happened +before. Our difficulties would be much greater if Solomon had been wrong, +and there were constantly new things under the sun. Undoubtedly there are +some interesting points in this case. Have you arrived at a theory?" + +"No, at least only a very vague one. Sir Arthur seems certain that his +father had no enemies, and my theory would require an enemy; some one +who, having failed to injure him in life, had found an opportunity of +wreaking vengeance on the dead clay by preventing the body having +Christian burial." + +"That is a very interesting idea, Wigan; go on." + +"I daresay you remember that the Rusholm baronetcy caused some excitement +about twenty years ago. The papers have recalled it in connection with +Sir Grenville's death. Sir John Rusholm--the baronet at that time--was a +very old man, and during the two years before his death several relations +died. He had no son living, so the heir was a nephew, the son of a much +younger brother who had gone to Australia and died there. This nephew had +not been heard of for a long time, and as soon as he became the heir, Sir +John advertised for him in the Australian papers. There was no answer, +and the Yorkshire Rusholms, who are poor, expected to inherit. Then at +the very time when Sir John was on his death-bed news came of the nephew. +He had been in India for some years, had proposed there, had married and +had a son. There had been so many lives between him and the title that he +had thought nothing about it until a chance acquaintance had shown him +the advertisement in an old Australian paper. He wrote that he was +starting for England at once, but Sir John was dead when he arrived. That +is how Sir Grenville came into the property." + +"Was his claim disputed?" asked Zena. + +"Oh, no, there was no question about it. He had family papers which only +the nephew could possibly have, and you may depend the Yorkshire Rusholms +would have found a flaw in the title if they could. Their disappointment +must have been great, and if I could discover that Sir Grenville had an +enemy amongst them--some relation he had refused to help, for instance--I +should want to know all about him." + +"Yours is a very interesting idea," said Quarles. "Do you happen to know +who Lady Rusholm was?" + +"The daughter of a tea planter in Ceylon. Her social success here has +been very great, as you know." + +"A very charming woman I should say," said the professor. "I saw her +once--not many months ago. She was distributing the prizes at a technical +institute in North London. I remember how well she spoke, and what an +exceedingly poor second the chairman was in spite of his being a Member +of Parliament. You have got a constable at The Lodge, I suppose?" + +"Two. I have given instructions that no one is to be allowed in the room, +on any pretext whatever." + +"Good. You and I will go there to-morrow. I'll be your assistant, +Wigan--say an expert in finger prints. I'll meet you outside The Lodge at +ten o'clock. There are so many clues in this case, the difficulty is to +know which one to follow, I must have a few quiet hours to decide." + +I smiled. It was like Quarles to make such a statement, especially after +I had declared that criminals were becoming cleverer. Never were clues +more conspicuous by their absence, I imagine. I was, however, delighted +to have the professor's help. It was like old times. + +The next morning I met Quarles in Queen's Square, and his appearance was +proof of his enthusiasm. He posed as rather a feeble, inquisitive old man +who could talk of nothing but finger prints and their significance. Sir +Arthur was evidently not impressed with his ability to solve any mystery. +When we entered the drawing-room he seemed lost in admiration of the +apartment, and did not even glance at the open coffin which stood on the +trestles. He walked to the window, drew aside the blind, and looked into +the garden. Then he looked into the small room. + +"No other exit here but the window. An entrance might have been made by +that window." + +"The door between the two rooms was locked," said Sir Arthur. "I had to +get the key from my mother when Mr. Wigan wanted to go in. It is my +mother's special room, but she had been so occupied in nursing my father +that she had not used it for more than a week." + +Then Quarles looked at the wreaths, wanted to know which ones had been +left near the coffin when the room was locked for the night, and the +wreaths which Sir Arthur pointed out he examined carefully. Then he +pointed to a large cross lying on an armchair. + +"Has that one been there all the time?" + +Sir Arthur explained that two or three wreaths had come late in the +evening. He had himself brought them into the room on the morning of the +funeral. That cross was one of them. + +"Ah, it is a pity you didn't bring them in that night. You might have +surprised the villains at work." + +"We were in bed by eleven. Do you imagine they began before that?" + +"Possibly," said Quarles, as he turned his attention to the coffin. He +examined the lid with a lens, for the finger marks, he said, which one +might expect to find near the screw holes. Then he studied the sides of +the coffin. The two pieces of lead did not appear to interest him very +much, but he asked me to push the smaller piece from the foot of the +coffin. He examined the lining, felt the padding, tried its thickness +with the point of a penknife, and in doing so he slit the lining. + +"Sorry," he said. "My old hands are not as steady as they used to be. +Quite a thick padding, and quite a substantial coffin." + +He had brought out some of the padding with his knife, and this left part +of the floor of the coffin near the foot visible. This he tapped with the +handle of his penknife to test its thickness. + +"Quite an ordinary coffin--plain but good," he went on, looking at the +brass fittings. + +"It was my father's wish that it should be so," said Sir Arthur. + +"Strange what a lot of trouble some men take about their funerals, +while others never trouble at all," said the professor, looking round +the room again. "I suppose, Sir Arthur, like the rest of us your father +had enemies." + +"Not that I know of." + +"An old rival, for instance, in your mother's affections." + +"There was nothing of the kind. Mr. Thompson, who is still in the +house--you saw him yesterday, Mr. Wigan--will endorse this. He knew my +mother before her marriage." + +"Still, some people must have envied your father. But for him, another +branch of the family would have inherited the estates, I understand. Has +he always been on friendly terms with this branch of the family?" + +"Always, and has helped them considerably." + +"Experience teaches us that it is often the most difficult thing to +forgive those who do us favors," said Quarles sententiously. + +"Do you believe that some one out of wanton cruelty has stolen the body +with no purpose beyond mere revenge?" + +"It looks like it, Sir Arthur. The body will probably be discovered +presently. Possibly the thief will furnish you with a clue so that you +may know he or she has taken revenge. I am afraid there is nothing to be +done but to wait. I feel greatly for Lady Rusholm." + +"The waiting will be dreadful. I am trying to persuade my mother to go +away at once." + +"Why not? You will remain in London, of course. Your father's papers may +throw some light on the mystery." + +"I have interviewed lawyers, and I have already gone through some of his +private papers. I do not think any light will come that way. Do you want +to look at anything else in the house?" + +"I think not," I said. + +"My specialty is finger prints," said Quarles, "nothing else. In this +case my specialty has proved useless." When we left the house Quarles +turned toward Connaught Road. + +"Is it your real opinion that the only thing to do is to wait?" I asked. + +"Let's go and see if we can find any more finger prints," he chuckled. + +The garage was shut. Cut into the big gates was a small door. + +"Not a difficult lock," said Quarles. "I may have a key that will fit it. +We must get in somehow." + +"There is a door into the garage from the garden. We could have gone +that way." + +"And advertised ourselves to the servants. I wanted to avoid that." + +He found a key to open the door, and he made no pretense of looking for +finger prints now. He examined the car. It was a big one--open--with a +cape hood--capable of carrying five or six persons besides the driver. +He was interested in the seating accommodation, and the make of the car +generally. There was a window which had a shutter to it high up in the +garage looking into the side road, and a small window at the back +looking into the garden which had no shutter. Quarles got on a stool to +examine the frame of this window, and then inspected the cloths for +cleaning and the towels which were in the garage. + +"Come on. The interest of this place is soon exhausted," he said. + +In less than a quarter of an hour we were walking along Connaught +Road again. + +"By the way, what is Dr. Coles's address?" asked Quarles. + +I gave it to him. It was a turning off Connaught Road. + +"I shall go and see him, and then I have a call to make elsewhere. Come +to Chelsea to-night, Wigan. Take my word for it, criminals are no +cleverer than they used to be." + +When I went to Chelsea that evening I found the professor and Zena +waiting for me in the empty room. He was evidently impatient to talk. + +"My brain may possibly require oiling, Wigan, but Zena's questions are +just as absurd as they ever were," he began. "She wanted to know why the +lead had been packed so carelessly, and what use a dead body could be to +any one. No bad points of departure for an inquiry. Now, when the coffin +was opened after the knock had been heard, a little sawdust from the +screw holes fell on the carpet. It was there when we went into the room +this morning. We may reasonably argue that some sawdust must have fallen +when the coffin was opened during the night. But no one seems to have +noticed it." + +"It might easily have escaped casual notice even if the thieves neglected +to remove it, which is unlikely," I returned. + +"It would not be so easy to remove, for the carpet is a thick one, and +the thieves would be in a hurry, you know. Also there were wreaths about +and I could find no trace of sawdust in them. But further, the screw +holes show a clear, perfect thread which one would hardly expect if the +coffin had been opened and closed again. Small points, but they promote +speculation. Yesterday, before I met you in Queen's Square, I went to see +the undertakers, and the man who was in charge of the arrangements says +emphatically that there was no sign of the coffin having been opened. A +little sawdust was the first thing he looked for." + +"Are you trying to prove that the lead was already in the coffin when it +was taken to the drawing-room?" I asked. + +"No. I am only trying to show that it is doubtful whether the coffin was +opened in the drawing-room." + +"The change could not have been made in the bedroom, or the lead would +have slipped during the journey downstairs," I said. + +"I agree, and we are therefore forced to the assumption that the body was +actually carried to the drawing-room, yet we are doubtful whether the +coffin was opened there." + +"I have no doubt," I returned. + +"That is a mistake on your part, Wigan. Doubts are often the forerunners +of convictions. My doubt led me to a curious discovery. When I went to +the undertaker's I saw the men who actually made the coffin. It was a +very plain coffin, less expensive than might have been expected for a man +in Sir Grenville's position. Now one of the men, in answer to a careful +question or two, mentioned a curious fact. In the floor of the coffin, +close to the foot of it, there was a wart in the wood. This morning you +saw me slit the lining and remove some of the padding. There was no wart +in the floor of the coffin, Wigan." + +"You mean the coffins were changed?" said Zena. + +"I do. One with the body in it was removed, and another with lead in it +was placed on the trestles in its stead. The plainer the coffin the +easier it would be to duplicate it by description. The makers of the +second coffin would not have the original before them to copy, you must +remember." + +"But only Lady Rusholm and her son could possess the necessary knowledge +to give such a duplicate order," I said. + +"You forget Mr. Thompson. He was an intimate friend, and staying in the +house at the time." + +"I do not understand why the lead was not packed securely," said Zena. + +"It puzzles me," said Quarles. "I could only find one answer. It was such +an obvious blunder that it must have been intentional. The lumps of lead +endorsed this idea. Whilst the large piece was flat and difficult to +move, the small piece was like a ball and meant to roll and strike the +side the moment the coffin was moved. It was presumably necessary that +the theft should be discovered, and your ingenious idea of a revengeful +enemy appealed to me, Wigan. I elaborated the idea to Sir Arthur, you +will remember." + +I had nothing to say--no fault to find with his argument so far. Quarles +rather enjoyed my silence, I fancy. + +"Sir Arthur unconsciously gave me a great deal of information," he went +on. "First, it was curious that the wreaths which came that night should +be left in the hall. It would have been more natural to place them in +the drawing-room. Why were they not put there? It looked as if there were +a desire not to open the room again. Another wreath might have come later +when it would have been very inconvenient to open the door, and not to +have put the other wreath into the room might have caused comment in the +light of after events. Again, influenza is a fairly common complaint, and +Sir Grenville died of a sudden and unexpected collapse; yet Sir Arthur +said it was by his father's desire that the coffin was plain. A man +suffering from influenza does not expect to die, and it seemed strange to +me that he should arrange details of his funeral. By itself it is not a +very important point, since Sir Grenville's wishes may have been known +for a long time, but almost in the same breath, emphasis was laid on the +fact that Lady Rusholm had not used the small room out of the +drawing-room for more than a week. Why not? There was absolutely no +reason why she should not continue to do her correspondence there, since +her husband was not seriously ill and could not require constant nursing. +I think an excuse was wanted for locking up that room, and I believe you +will find that none of the servants have entered the room during this +period, and that the blind has been down all the time. I believe the +duplicate coffin was hidden there." + +"But how was the duplicate coffin got into the house?" asked Zena. + +"In much the same way as the real coffin was got out of it, I imagine. +You remember the arrangement of the motor, Wigan; its size and swivel +seats give ample room to put the coffin on the floor of the car. In the +dead of night the coffin was carried across the garden, placed in the car +and driven away. On some previous night the same car had driven away and +brought back the duplicate coffin." + +"The chauffeur said the car had not been out for a week," I said. + +"So far as he knew," Quarles returned. "It was cleaned afterwards. There +is a shutter to the window in Connaught Road, and over the window looking +into the garden one of the towels had been nailed, clumsily, and with +large nails which were still on a shelf. I found the towel with the nail +holes in it." + +"Where was the body taken?" asked Zena. + +"That I do not know." + +"And what was the use of it to any one?" + +"Ah, I think I can answer that," said Quarles. "I had an interesting talk +with Dr. Coles after I left you to-day, Wigan. He told me he was not +altogether surprised at Sir Grenville's sudden collapse. The attack of +influenza was comparatively slight, but when Mr. Thompson arrived +unexpectedly from India it was evident to the doctor that he had brought +bad news. Both Sir Grenville and his wife were worried. Coles says Sir +Grenville was a man of a nervous temperament, who would have been utterly +lost without his wife. The doctor believes the sudden worry occasioned +the collapse." + +"He had no suspicion of suicide, I suppose?" + +"As a matter of form I put the question to him. I even suggested the +possibility of foul play. He scouted both ideas, and enlarged upon the +affectionate relations which existed between husband and wife. He +imagined the trouble had something to do with financial affairs. To-day, +you will remember, Wigan, Sir Arthur spoke about his mother going away. +That is not quite in keeping with the rest of her actions. We have ample +testimony and proof that Lady Rusholm is courageous and resourceful. Dr. +Coles is greatly impressed with her character; her personality appealed +to me when I heard her speak at the technical institute. She would be +present when the undertakers were removing the body, which is not +customary. She remained while the coffin was opened, and although she +apparently fainted--it was her son who caught her, remember--she saw you +soon afterwards. It seems to me two questions naturally ask themselves. +What was the ill news Mr. Thompson brought from India? Was Lady Rusholm +prepared for that knock from the coffin?" + +"We are becoming speculative, indeed," I said. + +"Are we? Consider for a moment the amount of evidence we have that the +theft of the body could only be contrived with the knowledge and help of +Lady Rusholm, her son, or Mr. Thompson; or, which is more likely, by the +connivance of all three. Then try to imagine their purpose. What use +could they make of a dead body? Why take such trouble that the theft +should be discovered?" + +"We have not accumulated enough facts to tell us," I answered. + +"I think we may indulge in a guess," said Quarles. "Sir Grenville, on his +own showing, had not expected to come into the title. Has it occurred to +you, Wigan, how exceedingly complete his claim was? Every possible doubt +seems to have been considered and arranged for. It was almost too +complete. Now, supposing Sir Grenville was not really Sir Grenville +Rusholm, supposing he had acquired the family knowledge and papers from +the real man--when that man was dying, perhaps--and in due time used +them to claim the estates. For about twenty years he has enjoyed the +result of his fraud, his intimate friend, Mr. Thompson, being in his +confidence, and very likely receiving some of the spoil. Suddenly Mr. +Thompson learns that some one else knows the secret, and hurries to +England to warn Sir Grenville." + +"But why steal the body?" asked Zena. + +"On leaving Dr. Coles, Wigan, I went to see Professor Sayle, who, with +the exception of the German physician Hauptmann, probably knows more +about oriental diseases and medicine than any man living. He proved to me +that it is possible by means of a certain vegetable drug to produce +apparent death. Fakirs often use it. The ordinary medical man would +certainly be deceived. Ultimately actual death would ensue were not the +antidote to the drug administered, but the suspension of life will +continue for a considerable time." + +"It is pure speculation," I said. + +"We have got to explain the theft of a dead body. I explain it by saying +there was no dead body," said Quarles sharply, as if I were denying a +self-evident fact. "I go still further. Judging by Coles's description of +the man calling himself Sir Grenville, I doubt his courage for carrying +through either the original fraud or the plan of escape. I believe his +wife was the moving spirit throughout, and it is quite possible the drug +was administered without her husband's knowledge." + +"And where is the body now?" asked Zena. + +"I do not know, but you tempt me to guesswork. Sir Grenville was a keen +yachtsman, and probably he is on board his yacht still resting in his +coffin, waiting for his wife to bring the antidote to the drug. His son +and Mr. Thompson took the body that night in the car. There must have +been two of them to deal with the burden, for I imagine the yacht had no +crew on her at the time. They would hardly take others into their +confidence. As everything had to be accomplished between eleven o'clock +at night and before dawn the next day, I imagine the yacht was lying +somewhere in the Thames estuary. I grant this is guesswork, Wigan." + +"I do not see why it was necessary the theft should become known," I +said. + +"It would occasion delay in the settlement of the estate. It placed +difficulties in the way of the rightful heir, It would help to throw a +distinct doubt whether, in spite of all the evidence that might be +forthcoming, Sir Grenville had committed fraud. There was even a +possibility that the son might be left in possession after all. I daresay +we shall learn more when we tackle Lady Rusholm and her son to-morrow." + +When we went to Queen's Square next morning we found that Lady Rusholm +was gone. She had, in fact, already gone when her son told us he was +trying to persuade her to go. Mr. Thompson had left later in the day. + +We found that even Quarles's guesswork was very near the actual facts, +although he had hardly given Lady Rusholm sufficient credit for the +working out of the scheme. The real heir, Sir John's nephew, had died in +Ceylon before Baxter--that was Sir Grenville's real name--had married. On +his death-bed he had entrusted his papers to Baxter to send to England, +and Baxter had shown them to his future wife. The scheme came full grown +into her head. They left Ceylon to meet again in India, and there they +were married, Baxter giving his name as Grenville Rusholm. Thompson was +their only confidant. He could not be left out because he had known all +about Rusholm. There was one other who knew, but they believed him to be +dead. He was a wanderer, somewhat of a ne'er-do-well, and to Thompson's +consternation, after twenty years, he had turned up in Calcutta very much +alive. He was going to England to expose the fraud. He did not suspect +Thompson, who came to England first. + +All this we heard from the son who for a short hour or two had called +himself Sir Arthur Rusholm. He was able to prove quite conclusively that +he was in entire ignorance of the fraud until Thompson's arrival. His +mother confessed everything to him then. It was she who had planned how +to get out of the difficulty. The duplicate coffin had been made at +Harwich, for a yachtsman who was to be taken abroad to be buried, they +had explained, but it was brought to Queen's Square and hidden in the +small drawing-room as Quarles had surmised. It was only to spare his +mother and father that the son had entered into the scheme, and I fancy +Quarles was a little annoyed that he had not suspected this. + +Mrs. Baxter was not caught. Indeed, there were many people who +disbelieved the whole story of the fraud, even when the man who knew +arrived from India--a very strong proof of Mrs. Baxter's charm and +personality. I have heard from her son that she is in South America, and +that her husband is not dead. So far as I am aware the new baronet has +taken no steps to bring them to justice. + +As Quarles says, she is a genius, and it would be a thousand pities if +she were in prison. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE KIDNAPING OF EVA WILKINSON + + +The Queen's Square affair seemed to have exhausted Quarles's enthusiasm. +I tried to interest him in several cases without success, and I began to +think we really had done our last work together, when on his own +initiative he mentioned Ewart Wilkinson to me. He had a personal interest +in the man; I had only just heard his name. + +The multi-millionaire is not such a figure in this country as he is in +America, but Ewart Wilkinson was undoubtedly on the American scale. He +had made his money abroad, how or exactly where remained matters of +uncertainty, and if one were inclined to believe the stories told in +irresponsible journals, there must have been much in the past which he +found it wiser not to talk about. With such tales I have nothing to do. I +never met the millionaire, was, in fact, quite uninterested in him until +his wealth was concerned in a case which came into my hands. + +With Christopher Quarles it was different. For a few days on one occasion +he had stayed in the same house with the millionaire in Scotland, and had +been impressed with him. Wilkinson was rough, but a diamond under the +rough, according to Quarles. He may have had his own ideas of what +constituted legitimate business, but whatever his shortcomings, the +professor found in him a vein of sentiment which was attractive. He had +a passion for his only daughter which appealed to Quarles, partly, no +doubt, because it made him think of Zena, and there was a strain of +melancholy in him which made him apprehensive that his wealth would not +be altogether for his daughter's good. He had talked in this way to +Quarles. For all we knew to the contrary, conscience may have been +pricking him, but the fact remained that he was prophetic. + +Wherever and in whatever way Ewart Wilkinson made his money, he +undoubtedly had it. He rented a house in Mayfair, and purchased +Whiteladies in Berkshire. The Elizabethan house, built on to the partial +ruins of an old castle, has no doubt attracted many of you when motoring +through South Berkshire. Having bought a beautiful home, he looked for a +beautiful wife to put in it. Perhaps she was in the nature of a purchase, +too, for he married Miss Lavory, the only daughter of Sir Miles Lavory, +Bart., who put his pride in his pocket when he consented to an alliance +with mere millions. It was said that Miss Lavory was driven into the +match, but however this may be, Ewart Wilkinson proved a devoted husband, +and his wife had ten years of a happy married life in the midst of +luxury. She died when her daughter was eight. + +For ten years after her mother's death Eva Wilkinson and her father were +hardly ever separated, and then Ewart Wilkinson died suddenly. He left +practically the whole of his vast fortune to his daughter; and her uncle, +Mrs. Wilkinson's brother Michael, who had recently succeeded his father +in the baronetcy, was left her guardian. There was a curious clause in +the will. Wilkinson, possibly because one or two cases had happened in +America at the time the will was made--half a dozen years before his +death--seemed particularly afraid that the heiress might be kidnaped, +and her guardian was enjoined to watch over her in this respect +especially. Within six months of his death the very thing he feared +happened. Eva Wilkinson was at Whiteladies at the time with her +companion, Mrs. Reville. After dinner one evening she went alone on to +the terrace, and from that moment had entirely disappeared. A telegram +was sent that night to Sir Michael, who was in London, Scotland Yard was +informed, and the mystery was given me to solve. + +I had commenced my inquiries when on going to Chelsea in the evening +Quarles told me he had met Ewart Wilkinson about three years before, and +under the circumstances he was very interested in the mystery. + +"The fact that he was afraid of something happening to his daughter +suggests that he had some reason for his fear," I said. + +"It does, Wigan--it does! He mentioned this very thing to me three +years ago, and I thought then there was some one in his past of whom he +was afraid." + +"And his past seems to be a closed book," I returned. + +"Eva Wilkinson must be between eighteen and nineteen," Zena +remarked. "Kidnaping a girl of that age is a different thing from +kidnaping a child." + +"True!" said Quarles. + +"Isn't it more probable that she went away willingly?" said Zena. + +"You don't help me, my dear," said the professor with a frown, and the +suggestion seemed to irritate him. It stuck in his mind, however, for +when we went to see Sir Michael the idea was evidently behind his +first question. + +"Is there any love affair?" asked Quarles. "Any reason which might +possibly induce the girl to go away of her own accord?" + +The suggestion seemed to bring a ray of hope into Sir Michael's despair. + +"I think she is too sensible a girl to do anything of the kind, but there +was a little affair, not very serious on her side, I fancy, and there was +probably a desire for money on the man's part. Young Cayley has seen Eva +at intervals since they were children, but in her father's lifetime there +was no question of love. Directly after Wilkinson's death, however, +Edward Cayley came prominently on the scene. I talked to Eva about him, +and although she was inclined to be angry, I think it was rather with +herself than at my interference." + +"Cayley is quite a poor man, I presume?" said Quarles. + +"Yes; but that did not influence me. He is not the kind of man I should +like my niece to marry. Oh! I have nothing definite against him." + +"May I ask whether, as guardian, you have control over your niece's +choice?" I asked. + +"Until she is twenty-one, after that none at all," he answered. "If she +marries without my consent before she is of age, I am empowered to +distribute a million of money to certain specified hospitals and +charities. She has only to wait until she is twenty-one to do exactly as +she likes. It was my brother-in-law's way of ensuring that his daughter +should not act with undue haste. Perhaps, for my own sake, I ought to +explain that in no way, nor under any circumstances, can I benefit under +the will. When my sister married Mr. Wilkinson, he behaved very +generously to my father, paying off the mortgages on our estate; in +short, delivered us from a very difficult position. Naturally, we never +expected any place in the will, but I hear the omission has caused some +people to speculate, and now that this has happened there may be people +who will speculate about me personally." + +"You certainly have a very complete answer," I returned. "What is your +own opinion of your niece's disappearance?" + +"I think she has been kidnaped, possibly for the sake of ransom, possibly +because--" and then he paused for a moment. "You know Mr. Wilkinson was +afraid of this very thing?" + +"Three years ago he mentioned it to me," said Quarles. + +"You knew him, then?" + +"I was staying in the same house with him in Scotland; his daughter was +not there. Such a fear, Sir Michael, suggests something in the past, +something Mr. Wilkinson kept to himself." + +"I do not know of anything," was the answer. "Of course, I have seen +paragraphs in scandalous journals concerning his wealth, but I knew Ewart +Wilkinson extremely well. He was, and always has been, I am convinced, a +perfectly straightforward man." + +This conversation took place early on the morning following the night of +Eva Wilkinson's disappearance, and afterwards Sir Michael journeyed down +with us to Whiteladies. The local police were already scouring the +country, and under intelligent supervision had accomplished a great deal +of the spade work. I may just state the facts as far as they were known. + +Mrs. Reville, who was in the drawing-room when the girl went out on the +terrace, had heard nothing. A quarter of an hour or twenty minutes later +she went out herself with the intention of telling Eva that she ought to +put on a wrap. The girl was nowhere to be seen, and calling brought no +answer. Becoming alarmed, Mrs. Reville summoned the servants, and their +search proving fruitless, she had a telegram sent to Sir Michael. When I +questioned her with regard to Cayley, she was sure there was nothing +serious in the affair. He certainly could have had nothing to do with +Eva's disappearance, she declared, for he had gone to Paris two days +before. Since Sir Michael had spoken to Eva about him he had hardly +visited Whiteladies at all. + +The servants had searched everywhere--in the house, in the grounds, and +in the ruins, and later the police had gone over the same ground, and +had searched everywhere on the estate; not a sign of the missing girl +had been found. A footman, however, said he had heard a motor-car in the +road about the time of the disappearance. He had listened, wondering who +was coming to Whiteladies at that hour. The house stood in one corner of +the estate, and there was a public road quite close to it, but it was a +road little frequented. The marks of a car, which had stopped and turned +at a point near the house, were plainly visible, and so far this was the +only clue forthcoming. It proved an important one, because a tramp was +found by the police who had seen a closed car traveling at a great speed +toward the London road. The time, which he was able to fix very +definitely, was about a quarter of an hour after Eva Wilkinson had gone +on to the terrace. + +"Has the tramp been detained?" Quarles asked, and being answered in the +negative, said he ought to have been. + +The professor examined the marks of the car minutely. There were two cars +at Whiteladies, but neither of the tire markings were those of the car +which had turned in the road. + +It is only natural, I suppose, that when a number of persons are brought +in contact with a mystery their behavior should tend to become unnatural. +It is one of a detective's chief difficulties to determine between +innocent and suspicious actions, the latter being often the result of +temperament or of a desire to emphasize innocence. I never found a +decision more difficult than in the case of Eva Wilkinson's maid, a girl +named Joan Perry; and because I could not decide in her case I was also +suspicious of her young man Saunders, a gamekeeper on the estate. Joan +Perry, a little later in the day, claimed to have made a remarkable +discovery. A coat and skirt and a pair of walking shoes had been removed +from her mistress's wardrobe. + +"What made you inspect her wardrobe?" I asked. + +The question seemed to confuse her, but she finally said it was because +she wondered whether Miss Eva had gone away on purpose. According to +Perry the affair with Edward Cayley was a serious one. To some extent her +young mistress had confided in her, she declared. + +"Then she would hardly have gone away without letting you into the +secret," I said. + +"That is what I cannot understand," she answered. + +Quarles agreed with me that this lent color to the idea that Eva +Wilkinson had gone of her own accord. + +"It is possible--even probable," he said, "but if she did, I take it she +has been deceived and walked into a trap. If we can find that car we +shall be on the right road." + +When we set out on this quest in one of the motors at Whiteladies we had +considerable success. The car had taken the direct road to London. We +heard of it at an inn on the outskirts of Beading. It had stopped there, +and a man had had his flask filled with brandy. A lady who was with him +was not very well, he said. Chance helped us farther. The car had stopped +by a roadside cottage. A man had come to the door full of apologies, but +seeing a light in the window he ventured to ask if they could oblige him +with a box of matches. He was quite a gentleman--young, dark, and very +merry--the woman told us. He had led her to suppose that he and a lady +were making a runaway match of it, because he had declared that there +would certainly be a chase after them, but they had got a good start. The +car had been drawn up on the side of the road at a little distance from +the cottage, and it was undoubtedly the car we were after. The tire +markings were quite distinct in the damp ground. At Hounslow we found the +car itself. There had been an accident. Two men had walked into a garage, +saying they had left the car on the roadside. Would the garage people +have it brought in and repaired? The car should be sent for in a day or +two. One man made a payment on account, and gave his name as Julius +Hoffman, staying at the Langham Hotel. + +The car was of an old type, but the man at the garage said the engines +were in good condition. The tires were burst, otherwise there was nothing +much the matter with the car beyond its age. + +"Was anything found in the car?" I asked. + +"An old glove and a handkerchief," and the man took them out of a drawer. + +The glove told us nothing, but the handkerchief was a lady's, and had "E. +W." embroidered on it. + +"This is a police matter," I told the man. "A watch will be kept on the +premises in case the car is claimed, which is very unlikely, I fancy." + +Quarles was perplexed. + +"I don't understand it, Wigan. That car looks to me as if it had been +purposely abandoned. Had they another car waiting, or was Hounslow their +destination? Of course you must warn the police here, but--well, I do not +understand it. I am going straight back to Chelsea." + +"I will see the Hounslow police, and then go on to the Langham," I +returned. + +"Of course, that's just ordinary detective work, and out of my line," +Quarles said somewhat curtly, "but I don't suppose your inquiries will +lead anywhere." + +In this surmise he was perfectly correct. No one of the name of Julius +Hoffman was known at the Langham. The Hounslow police made no discovery, +and the car was not claimed. + +Later, the press circulated a description of Eva Wilkinson, with the +result that scores of letters were received, most of them obviously +written by amateur detectives, or by those peculiar kind of imbeciles +whose imagination is so vivid that any person seems to fit the +description of the person missing. The information in a few of these +letters seemed definite enough to follow up, but in every case I drew +blank. I gave my chief attention to learning the recent movements of +known gangs who might be concerned in an enterprise of this sort, and at +the end of two days this persistency brought a result. I received a +letter posted in the West-central district, written, or rather scrawled, +in printed letters. It was as follows: + +"You may be on the right scent or you may not, but take warning. If you +got to know anything, it would be the worse for E.W. We are in earnest, +and our advice is, leave the job alone. No harm will come to the old +devil's daughter, if you mind your own business. She'll turn up again all +right. If you don't mind your own business you'll probably find her +presently, and can bury her. You'll find her dead,--THE LEAGUE." + +With this letter I went to Chelsea, and the professor met me with a +letter in his hand. He had received a like communication--word for +word the same. + +"An exact copy shows a barrenness of ideas," said I. + +"But they have begun to move, Wigan. That is a great thing, and what I +have been waiting for. Come and talk it over. For once Zena is no help. +All she says is that this is not an ordinary case of kidnaping. Well, it +certainly is a little out of the ordinary. That car, Wigan, the tramp who +saw it, the stoppages it made, the handkerchief in it--does anything +strike you?" + +"Since we picked up the trail so easily to begin with, I do not quite +understand the subsequent difficulty," I said. "From Hounslow a much more +astute person must have taken charge of the enterprise." + +"A booby trap, Wigan. It was prepared for us, and we walked into it, I am +a trifle sick at having done so, but perhaps it will serve us a good turn +in the end. The tramp no doubt was in the business. His definite +information to the police started us. If that car had wanted to escape +notice, do you suppose it would have pulled up outside Reading, or at a +cottage, where it obligingly left its imprint on the roadside? Why should +the man explain the filling of a flask at a public house? Why should he +talk of a runaway match to the woman at that cottage? He was laying a +trail. Miss Wilkinson's handkerchief was found in that car, but I wager +she was never in the car herself." + +"I think you are right, but it doesn't help us to the truth, does it?" + +"Every possibility proved impossible helps us," Quarles answered. "This +is a case for negative argument, so we next ask whether Eva Wilkinson +left the terrace willingly. I think we must say 'no.'" + +"Do not forget the missing coat and skirt," I said. + +"That is one of the reasons why I say 'no,'" he returned. "If she had +intended to go away she would have arranged to take more than a coat and +skirt. Besides, Eva Wilkinson is evidently not a fool. The only person +one can imagine her going away with is Cayley, and why should she go away +with him? If she married him before she was twenty-one, she forfeited a +million of money; well, she knew the penalty. Even if she would not wait +until she was of age, there is still no conceivable reason why she should +run away. We are forced, therefore, to the assumption that she was +kidnaped." + +"I have never doubted it," I answered. + +"I confess to some uncertainty," said Quarles, "but these letters put a +new complexion on the affair, I admit. Some one is out for money, Wigan, +and that fact is--" + +He stopped short as a servant entered the room saying that I was wanted +on the telephone. I had left word that I was going to Chelsea. I was +informed that Sir Michael Lavory had telephoned for me to go and see him +at once. He said he had received a letter which was of the gravest +importance. + +"Similar to ours, no doubt," said the professor when I repeated the +message to him. "We will go at once, Wigan, but I do not think there is +anything to be done until the scoundrels have made a further move. It +won't be many hours before they do so." + +In the taxi he did not continue his negative arguments, and he was not +restless, as he usually was when upon a keen scent. No doubt he had a +theory, but I was convinced he was not satisfied with it himself. + +Sir Michael, who had a flat in Kensington, was not alone. A young man was +with him, and Sir Michael introduced Mr. Edward Cayley. + +"He has just arrived--came in ten minutes after I had received +this letter." + +Cayley's presence there was rather a surprise, but I noted that his +appearance did not correspond with the woman's description of the young +man who had asked for a box of matches. + +"I came as soon as I heard the news about Miss Wilkinson," Cayley said in +explanation. + +"How did you hear it?" Quarles asked. + +"There was a paragraph in _Le Gaulois_. I left Paris at once and came to +Sir Michael, thinking it a time when any little disagreement between us +would be easily forgotten." + +"You can quite understand that I agree with Mr. Cayley," Sir Michael +said, "especially in the face of this letter." + +"I can guess the contents of it," I said. "We have had letters too." + +But I was mistaken. This communication was scrawled in the same printed +letters, was signed in the same way, but its purport was entirely +different. + +"Sir,--Your niece is in our hands, and you may be sure that she is +securely hidden. Every move you take on her behalf increases her danger. +There is only one means of rescue--ransom. Within forty-eight hours you +shall pay to the credit of James Franklin with the Credit Lyonnais, +Paris, the sum of a quarter of a million sterling, a small sum when +Wilkinson's wealth is considered, and the means he used to amass it. The +moment the money is in our hands, and you may be sure we have left open +no possibility of your tricking us, your niece shall be set at liberty. +Delay or refuse, and your niece dies. In case you should deceive yourself +and think this is not genuine, that we are powerless to carry out our +threat, your niece herself has endorsed this letter." + +Quarles looked at the endorsement. + +"Is that Miss Wilkinson's signature?" he asked. + +"It is," Sir Michael answered. + +"I could swear to it anywhere," said Cayley. "The money is a small matter +when Eva has to be considered. We may succeed in tricking the scoundrels +later, but the money must be paid." + +"If it is, you may depend they will get clear off," said Quarles. "They +have made their arrangements cleverly enough for that." + +"But you forget--" + +"I forget nothing, Mr. Cayley." + +"I feel that it must be paid," said Sir Michael. "If you can devise any +way of tripping up the villains, do, but Eva's signature--" + +"Look at it, Sir Michael," said Quarles. "I do not doubt that it is her +signature, but I think it was scribbled on that piece of paper before the +letter was written, and certainly a different ink was used." + +Sir Michael took the letter and looked at it carefully. + +"Yes--yes, I think you are right," he said after a pause. "What do +you advise?" + +"Delay," said the professor promptly. "They are out for money, for a +quarter of a million. They will not hurt Miss Wilkinson while there is +any chance of their getting the money." + +"How long would you make the delay?" Cayley asked. + +"At least until after Mr. Wigan and I have visited Whiteladies again. We +propose to go there to-morrow." + +"I was going down to-morrow after seeing the solicitors about this +money," said Sir Michael. + +"That will be excellent," said Quarles. "You will be able to assist us in +a little investigation we want to make at Whiteladies. May I suggest that +you should arrange preliminaries with the solicitors so as not to waste +time, but tell them to await your instructions before taking final steps? +There may be nothing in our idea, but there may be a great deal in it." + +"You do not wish to tell me what it is?" + +"Not until to-morrow evening." + +I was watching Cayley. I saw the ghost of a smile on his lips for a +moment. He evidently saw through Quarles's reticence, and knew that the +professor would not speak before him. + +"It will be evening before we reach Whiteladies," Quarles went on, +"because there is an important inquiry we must make in London first." + +"Very well," said Sir Michael. "I will delay until to-morrow night." + +"There can be no harm in that," Cayley said. "We are given forty-eight +hours. I should like to do the scoundrels, but I cannot forget that +revenge may be as much a motive as money." + +"I am not losing sight of that fact," said Quarles, "but I have little +doubt it is the money." + +As we drove back to Chelsea the professor was silent, but when we were in +the empty room he began to talk quickly. + +"I am puzzled, Wigan. Before we went out I was saying some one was out +for money, and the letter Sir Michael has received proves it. We were +engaged upon a negative argument, and I should have gone on to show why +it was unlikely Cayley had had anything to do with the affair. I confess +that his sudden appearance to-night tends to knock holes in the argument +I should have used. He comes from Paris, the money is to be paid to the +Credit Lyonnais, Paris. He is keen that the money should be paid, had +evidently been persuading Sir Michael that it ought to be paid. This +tends to confuse me, and I cannot forget Zena's remark about the girl's +age and that this is not an ordinary kidnaping case. If Cayley had met +her on the terrace she would naturally stroll away with him if he asked +her to do so. At a safe distance from the house he, and a confederate, +perhaps, may have secured her." + +"But why?" I asked. + +"He may want a quarter of a million of money and yet have no desire to +marry. It is a theory, but unsatisfactory, I admit. One thing, however, +we may take as certain. Eva Wilkinson was not driven away in that car. We +have no news of any suspicious car being seen in any other direction, nor +of any suspicious people being seen about, and it seems obvious that a +false trail was laid for us. Wigan, it is quite possible that the girl +never left Whiteladies at all, that she is hidden there now, in fact. +Doesn't the disappearance of that coat and skirt tend to corroborate +this? She was in evening dress at the time. It would be natural to get +her another dress." + +"That would mean confederates in the house," I said. + +"Exactly. This girl Perry, perhaps, in league with her lover, the +gamekeeper; or it may be Mrs. Reville herself. We are going down to +Whiteladies to-morrow to try and find out, and we are going circumspectly +to work, Wigan. You shall go to the house in the ordinary way, while I +stroll across to the ruins. They are a likely hiding place. It will be +dark, and I may chance upon some one keeping watch. In a few words you +can explain our idea to Sir Michael, and then, without letting the +servants know, you can come and find me in the ruins." + +It was nearly dark when we arrived at Whiteladies on the following day, +and as arranged, I left Quarles before we reached the lodge gates--in +fact, helped him over a fence into the park before I went on to the house +alone. Near the front door I found Mrs. Reville giving a couple of pug +dogs a run. She told me Sir Michael was expecting me, and led the way +into the hall. + +"I think he is in the library," she said, and opened a door. "Oh, I am +sorry, I thought you were alone, Sir Michael. It is Mr. Wigan." + +He called out for me to enter. He was standing by a writing table, +talking to a young farmer, apparently a tenant on the estate because Sir +Michael was dismissing him with a promise to consider certain repairs to +some outbuildings. As the farmer passed me on his way to the door Sir +Michael held out his hand. + +"You are later than I expected, and I thought Mr. Quarles--" + +Then he laughed. I had been seized from behind, a rope was round me, +binding my arms to my side, a sudden jerk had me on my back. In that +instant Sir Michael was upon me, and I was gagged and trussed almost +before I realized what had happened. Never did the veriest tyro walk more +innocently into a trap. + +"That's well done," said Sir Michael to the farmer. "You had better go +and see that the other has been taken as successfully." + +Alone with me, he removed the revolver from my hip pocket and placed it +in a drawer, which he locked. + +"Rather a surprise for you, Mr. Wigan. I am afraid Scotland Yard is +likely to lose an officer, and your friend Quarles is an old man who has +had a very good inning. I do not know exactly where he is at the present +moment, but somewhere about the grounds he has been caught and is in a +similar condition to yourself. You have both been very carefully shadowed +to-day. The quarter of a million will be paid, Mr. Wigan, and my niece +will reappear. She will be none the worse for her adventure--will thank +me for all the trouble I have taken to rescue her from the kidnapers her +father dreaded so much--and she will never suspect that the bulk of the +ransom money has gone into my pocket. It is money sorely needed, I can +assure you. I shall probably give my consent to her marriage with Cayley; +her marriage will make my guardianship less irksome. He will be as +unsuspicious of me as Eva. I prevailed upon him not to come to +Whiteladies until to-morrow by suggesting that you were foolish enough to +suspect him. I think it has all been rather cleverly managed. The only +regrettable thing will be the death of two--two brilliant detectives. It +may interest you to know that you will be found dead--shot--which will +account for my having waited for you in vain at Whiteladies to-night. You +have helped me greatly by being secretive to-day and not arriving here +until after dark. Your death will be a nine days' wonder, but it will be +a mystery which will not be solved, I fancy." + +His cold-blooded manner left no doubt of his sinister intention, and I +felt convinced that Quarles had been trapped just as I had been. Sir +Michael laughed again as he bent over me to make sure that my bonds were +secure. Then he stood erect suddenly. + +"Don't move," said a voice, "or I shall fire." + +He did move, and a bullet ripped into a picture just behind him. With an +oath he stood perfectly still. A door had opened across the room and a +girl stood there. It was Joan Perry. + +"I missed you on purpose," she said. "I shall not miss a second time. Cut +those ropes." + +For a moment he stood still, then he moved again, but not with the +intention of setting me free; the next instant he stumbled, as if his leg +had suddenly given way, and he let out a savage oath. + +"To show you I do not miss," said the girl. "Cut those ropes, or the +third bullet finds your heart." + +Sir Michael took a knife from his pocket, and the girl came a little +closer, but not near enough to give him a chance of grabbing at her. Her +calm deliberation was wonderful. + +"Do more than cut the ropes and you are a dead man," she said. + +The instant my arms were free I had the gag from my mouth and could do +something in my own defense. I was quickly on my feet. + +"Keep him covered," I said to Perry. "I think we change places, +Sir Michael." + +Physically he was not a powerful man, and with Joan Perry near him he +seemed to have lost his nerve. Her courage had shaken him badly, and he +made no resistance. I was not long in having him bound and handcuffed. + +"I have to thank you," I said, turning to the girl. + +"Not yet. There is more to do. Mrs. Reville is in it, and Mr. Quarles has +no doubt been caught in the grounds, as he said. I will ring. The +servants are honest, and I expect Mr. Saunders is in the house by now. He +usually comes up in the evening." + +Fortunately Mrs. Reville had not heard the revolver shots, or she might +have given the alarm to the two men who had secured the professor in the +ruins, and they would very probably have killed him. I took the lady by +strategy. I sent a servant to tell her that Sir Michael wished to speak +to her, a summons which she had evidently been expecting, and I secured +her as she came down the stairs. Then, leaving her and Sir Michael in +charge of Perry and Saunders and a footman, I went with other servants to +rescue Quarles. We took the confederates in the ruins by surprise, but in +my anxiety that no harm should come to the professor, who was bound just +as I had been, they managed to get away. + +Now that he was captured, Sir Michael Lavory's pluck entirely deserted +him, and he told us where to find his niece. She was in a secret chamber +under a tower in the ruins. She had been caught that night at the end of +the terrace by Sir Michael's accomplices, had been rendered unconscious +by chloroform, and taken to the tower. + +Quarles's deductions so far as they went were right, but they had not +gone nearly far enough. Neither of us had thought of Sir Michael as the +criminal, and had it not been for the maid Perry I have little doubt that +this would have been our last case. Perry herself had not suspected Sir +Michael until that day, but she had always been suspicious of Mrs. +Reville. That morning, however, when Sir Michael arrived at Whiteladies, +she had chanced to overhear a conversation. She heard Sir Michael tell +Mrs. Reville there would be visitors that evening, and suggested that she +should be near the front door at the time to admit them, as it would be +well if they were not seen by the servants. Perry did not understand who +the visitors were to be, but she thought such secrecy might be connected +with her young mistress, and she had hidden herself earlier in the +evening in the small room adjoining the library. + +"It is fortunate Saunders taught me how to use a revolver," she said, +when Quarles thanked and complimented her. + +"A narrow escape, Wigan," the professor said to me. "One of our failures, +eh? The fear expressed in the will, the fact that Sir Michael could not +benefit by the death of his niece, confused me. He is a very clever +scoundrel, making no mistake, making no attempt to implicate any one. His +treatment of Cayley on his sudden return from Paris was a masterpiece of +diplomacy; so was his handling of us from the first. He concocted no +complicated story, so ran no risk of contradicting himself. He was simple +and straightforward, and when a villain is that a detective is +practically helpless. I was thoroughly deceived, Wigan, I admit it, and +it is certain that had it not been for Joan Perry I should not be alive +to say so, and you would not be here to listen. Do you know, I should not +be surprised if it was the fear expressed in the will which gave Sir +Michael the idea of kidnaping his niece and putting the ransom into his +own pocket." + +At his trial Sir Michael confessed that the will had given him the idea. +Personally I think he got far too light a sentence. + +As I hear that Cayley and Miss Wilkinson are to be married shortly, I +suppose her guardian's consent to her marriage has been obtained; at any +rate, it will be a good thing for her to have a husband to protect her +from such a guardian. I hear, too, that Saunders and Perry are to be +married on the same day as their mistress, and I am quite sure of one +thing, two of the handsomest wedding presents Joan Perry receives will +come from Christopher Quarles and myself. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE DELVERTON AFFAIR + + +After our experience at Whiteladies Christopher Quarles went into +Devonshire. He declared that excitement of that kind was a little too +much for a man of his years and he must take a long rest to recuperate +and get his nerves in order. Under no circumstances whatever was I to +bother him with any problems. Had I been able to do so I should have gone +away too. Sir Michael Lavory had succeeded in giving me the jumps. In her +letters Zena told me the professor was playing golf, and knowing +something of him as a golfer, I rather pitied the men he induced to play +with him. It was not so much that he was a very bad player, it was the +peculiar twist in his brain which convinced him that he was a good one. +To give him a hint was to raise his anger at once. + +One morning I received a letter from him, two pages of golf talk, in +which he opined he was playing at about five handicap--pure imagination, +of course, because he never kept a card and didn't count his foozled +shots--and then he came to the _raison d'etre_ of his letter. + +"I want you to look up a case," he wrote. "It happened about three years +ago. A man named Farrell, partner in the firm of Delverton Brothers of +Austin Friars, was found dead in his office. An open verdict was +returned. It may have been a case of suicide. Get all the facts you can. +If you can obtain any information from some who were interested in the +tragedy, do. I am not sure that the result of your inquiries will +interest me, but it may. Send me along a full report, it may bring me +back to Chelsea, but I am so keen to put another fifty yards on to my +drive that I may remain here for three months. Why live in Chelsea when +there is such a place as Devonshire?" + +I remembered that the Delverton case had caused a considerable amount of +excitement at the time, and had remained an unsolved mystery, but I knew +no more than this. Three years ago I had been away from London engaged on +an intricate investigation, with neither time nor inclination to think of +anything else. + +As it happened there was little difficulty in getting a very full account +of the affair. It had been in the hands of Detective Southey, since +retired, and it was a persistent grievance with him that this case had +beaten him. He was delighted to talk about it when I went to see him in +his little riverside cottage at Twickenham. + +Delverton Brothers were foreign bankers, and at the time of the tragedy +consisted of three partners, John and Martin Delverton, who were +brothers, and Thomas Farrell, their nephew. John Delverton was an +invalid, and for a year past had only come to the office for an hour once +or twice a week. He had died about six months after the tragedy. + +One day during a Stock Exchange settlement Thomas Farrell left the office +early, and Martin Delverton was there until seven o'clock. When he left +the only clerks remaining in the outer office were Kellner, the second in +seniority on the staff, and a junior named Small. + +These two left the office together ten minutes after Mr. Delverton had +gone. Next morning when the housekeeper went to the offices he found +Thomas Farrell sitting at the table in his private room, his head fallen +on his arms, which were stretched across the table. He had died from the +effects of poison, yet the tumbler beside him showed no traces of poison. + +Medical evidence proved that he had been dead some hours, but there was +nothing to show at what time he had returned to the office. + +"In view of the doctor's statement it must have been between ten minutes +past seven and midnight," Southey told me. "The poison would produce +intense drowsiness, then sleep from which there was no waking. The time +of its action would vary in different individuals. I am inclined to think +it was late when he returned. He was a well-known figure in Austin Friars +and Throgmorton Street, and had he been about earlier in the evening some +one would almost certainly have seen him. That part of the world is alive +to a late hour during a Stock Exchange settlement. The offices consist of +a large outer room, which accommodates seven or eight clerks, and two +private rooms opening into one another, but opening into the outer office +only from the first room. This first room, which is the larger of the +two, the brothers Delverton occupied, Farrell having the smaller inner +room. From this there is a side door which gives on to a short passage +leading into Austin Friars. The partners used this side door constantly, +each of them having a key to the Yale lock, and we know from Mr. +Delverton that Farrell went out by the side door that afternoon. +Presumably he returned by it. Everything seemed to point to suicide, and +possibly had there been a shadow of a motive for Farrell taking his own +life, a verdict of suicide would have been returned. Apparently there was +no motive. His affairs were in perfect order, he was shortly to be +married, and the only person who suggested that he had looked in any way +worried recently was the junior clerk, Small." + +"What of the woman he was to have married?" + +"She was a Miss Lester, and she introduces a complication. Her people +were comparatively poor, her father being a clerk in a City bank. Mr. +Farrell, according to Miss Lester, had helped her father out of some +difficulty, and it was undoubtedly parental persuasion which had arranged +the marriage. It was a case of gratitude rather than love. But that is +not all. At the Lesters' house there was another constant visitor, a +young doctor named Morrison, and he and Farrell became friends in spite +of the fact that they were two angles of a triangle, Ruth Lester being +the third angle. The position was this: Morrison was in love with the +girl, but remained silent because he was too poor to marry; the girl +loved him, but, thinking that he was indifferent, consented to marry +Farrell. Whether Farrell was aware of this it is impossible to say. Now +on the very day of Farrell's death, Dr. Morrison called and asked for him +at the offices in Austin Friars. The clerk took in his name, and was told +by Mr. Delverton that Mr. Farrell had left for the day. This was the +first intimation the clerks had that he had left, and seems an indirect +proof that no one in the office could have had anything to do with the +tragedy. Farrell had been gone about an hour then. Morrison left no +message, merely asked that Mr. Farrell should be told he had called." + +"What was Morrison's explanation?" I asked. + +"He said Farrell had requested him to call. He was going to give him a +tip for a little flutter in the mining market." + +"Is it known where Farrell went that afternoon?" + +"I see you think the doctor's explanation thin, just as I did. Farrell +told his partner that he had an appointment with Miss Lester; Miss +Lester says there was no appointment. Naturally I at once speculated +whether Farrell and Morrison had met later in the afternoon. I followed +that trail every inch of the way. The doctor was poor and somewhat in +debt, and--" + +"And Farrell, who died by poison, which is significant, was his +rival?" I said. + +"I thought of all that," Southey returned. "Fortunately for him the +doctor could account for every hour of his time. Of course, the man in +the street was suspicious of him--is still, perhaps, to some extent, but +it hasn't prevented his getting on. He married Ruth Lester, and I hear is +getting a good practise together." + +"What conclusion did you come to?" + +"I am inclined to think there was some international reason at the back +of the mystery, some difficulty with a foreign government, it may be. If +Farrell had become mixed up in such an affair suicide might be the way +out. I suggested this to Mr. Delverton, and he did not scout it as +altogether a ridiculous idea. These foreign bankers are sometimes very +much behind the scenes in European politics." + +"Do you know whether the invalid brother was at the office that +day?" I asked. + +"He was not. He was quite incapacitated at the time." + +I hunted up one or two points which occurred to me, and then went to +Austin Friars to call upon Mr. Delverton. + +He was out of town, yachting, but his partner came into the clerks' +office to see me. I told him that my business with Mr. Delverton +was private. + +This partner, I discovered, was Kellner, who had formerly been a clerk in +the firm. He was the man who, with the junior, had been the last to leave +the office on the night of the tragedy. He was worth a little attention, +and I spent two days making inquiries about him. He was as smart a man of +business as could be found within a mile radius of the Royal Exchange, I +was informed, a wonderful linguist, with a profound knowledge of +financial matters. Now he was a wealthy man, but three years ago he had +been in very low water. + +This discovery sent me to Twickenham again. I said nothing about Kellner +having become a partner in Delverton Brothers'; I merely asked Southey +whether he had satisfactorily accounted for his time on the fatal night. + +"Didn't I tell you?" said Southey. "Oh, yes, he had an absolute alibi; so +had the youth Small. I made them my first business." + +I did not call on Dr. Morrison, but I went to his neighborhood, and asked +a few questions. Everybody spoke well of the doctor, which, of course, +might mean much or little, and I was fortunate enough to see him with his +wife in a motor. He looked like a doctor, a forceful and self-reliant +man, not one to lose his head or give himself away. He would be likely to +carry through any enterprise he set his mind to. His wife, without being +beautiful, was attractive, the kind of woman you begin to call pretty +after you have known her a little while. + +That night I wrote a full report to Christopher Quarles with my own +comments in the margin, and three days later I had a wire from Zena, +saying they were returning to Chelsea at once. + +There was no need to ask the professor whether the case interested him or +not. He began by being complimentary about my report, praised my +astuteness in not calling upon the doctor, and he made me give him a +verbal description of Morrison and his wife. + +"Of course, Wigan, looks count for nothing, but they are often misleading +evidence, and we are told to beware of that man of whom every one speaks +well. The most saintly individual I ever knew had a strong likeness to a +notorious criminal I once saw, and on a slight acquaintance you and I +would probably have trusted Cleopatra or Helen of Troy, neither of them +very estimable women, I take it. Now apparently this doctor and his wife +are near the center of this mystery." + +"It seems so, but--" + +"Believe me, I am making no accusation," he interrupted; "indeed, I am +more inclined to argue that they occupy an eccentric point within the +circle rather than the true center. Still, we must not overlook one or +two facts which you have duly emphasized in your report. The rivalry +between Morrison and Farrell does supply, as you say, a motive for the +crime, if crime it was, and it is the only motive that is apparent. +Again, a doctor could obtain and make use of poison with less risk than +most men. And, again, it is curious the doctor should call on Farrell on +that particular day. The visit might be a subtle move to establish his +innocence. True, according to Southey, his time after the visit was +accounted for, but how about the time before the visit? Farrell had +already left the office an hour, and might have met Morrison." + +"Do you suggest he was poisoned then, and came back hours afterwards to +die in the office?" + +"You think that unlikely?" + +"I do." + +"Still, we must recollect the action of this particular poison," said +Quarles. "It produces drowsiness, the time necessary to get to this +condition varying in different persons, and the doctor, knowing Farrell, +might be able to gage how long it would take in his case. Of course, we +labor under difficulties. Three years having passed, we cannot rely on +direct investigation. Purposely I gave you no bias when I asked you to +gather up the known facts, and from your report I judge you have come to +the conclusion that Farrell committed suicide, possibly driven into a +corner by some international complication." + +"Yes, on the whole, I lean to that idea." + +"It is not the belief of Mr. Delverton himself." + +"How do you know?" I asked. + +"I met Martin Delverton in Devonshire. He was yachting round the coast +and came ashore for golf. We played together several times, and became +quite friendly. It was not until he began to talk about it that I +remembered there had ever been a Delverton mystery. Practically he gave +me the same history of the case as your report does, missing some points +certainly, but enlarging considerably on others. That the villain had +escaped justice seemed to rankle in his mind, and he was contemptuous of +the intelligence of Scotland Yard. The tragedy, he said, had hastened his +brother's end, and I judged he had no great love for the Morrisons." + +"He knew who you were, I suppose?" + +"Oh, yes; and included my intelligence in the sneer at Scotland Yard. He +argued the point with me until he forced me to admit that there was a +large element of luck in most of my successes." + +"You admitted that?" I exclaimed. + +"I did. I had just beaten him three up and two to play, so was in an +angelic frame of mind. Even then he would not let me alone. He wanted to +know how I should have gone to work had the case been in my hands. To +his evident delight I gave him arguments on the lines of our empty room +conferences, making one thing especially clear, that I should have +enquired far more closely about the Morrisons than had been done. This +interested him immensely, and he did not attempt to hide from me the fact +that his suspicions lay in the same direction. He became keen that I +should look into the mystery; indeed, he challenged my skill. I am taking +up that challenge, and I am going to tell the world the truth about +Farrell's death." + +"You know it?" + +"Not yet, but the key to it is in this report of yours. Do you know what +has become of the junior clerk, Small?" + +"No. He left the firm to go abroad, I understand." + +"I should like to have asked him whether John Delverton, the invalid +partner, had seemed worried when he was last at the office." + +"He was not at the office that day. I asked that question, and Southey is +certain upon the point." + +"Farrell might have left early to see him." + +"Of course, we might question Kellner," I suggested. + +"Kellner has the interests of the firm at heart, and is not personally +connected with the affair. I don't suppose he will be pleased to have the +old mystery raked up; naturally he will fear damage to the firm. I do not +think he would be inclined to help us in any way, and I can imagine his +being angry with Delverton for mentioning the affair to me." + +"Still, I think there is something that wants explaining about Mr. +Kellner," said Zena, "You evidently thought so too, Murray, since you +made such minute inquiries about him." + +"I do not think there is anything against him," I answered. + +"I am not very interested in Kellner's past," said the professor, "and as +we cannot get hold of Small we must do a little guessing." + +"Is there anything further for me to do?" I asked. + +"One thing. I want you to get hold of some stockbroker you know, and get +him to tell you whether there was any kind of panic here, or on the +Continent, with regard to any foreign securities between three and four +years ago. Find out, if you can, the names of any members of the House +who were hammered during that period, and the names of any firms +considered shaky at the time. I am not hoping for much useful +information, but we may learn something to assist our guesswork." + +The information I obtained on the following day amounted to little. As my +friend in Threadneedle Street said, three years on the Stock Exchange are +a lifetime. In the different markets there had been several crises during +the period I mentioned, and certain men, chiefly small ones, had gone +under. As for shaky firms, it was impossible to speak unless you were +closely interested. A good firm, under temporary stress, would probably +be bolstered up, and a week or two might find it in affluence again. + +I went to Chelsea with the information, such as it was, but only saw +Zena. Quarles was out, and I did not see him for nearly a week. Then he +'phoned to me to call for him one evening and to come in evening dress. + +"I am dining with Mr. Delverton to-night," he said, "and I asked him if I +might bring you. He returned to town at the beginning of the week, and I +have seen him two or three times, once at the office in Austin Friars. I +did not see Kellner, he happened to be away that day." + +Martin Delverton lived in Dorchester Square, rather a pompous house, and +he was rather a pompous individual. Of course he wasn't a bit like +Quarles in appearance, yet I was struck by a certain characteristic +resemblance between them. They both had that annoying way of appearing to +mean more than they said, and of watering down their arguments to meet +the requirements of your inferior intellect. + +I had become accustomed to it in Quarles, but in a stranger I should have +resented it had not the professor told me of the peculiarity beforehand, +and warned me not to be annoyed. + +He gave us an excellent dinner, and our conversation for a time had +nothing to do with the mystery. + +"Well, Mr. Quarles, have you brought this affair to a head?" Mr. +Delverton asked at last. + +"I think so." + +"Sufficiently to bring the criminal to book?" + +"If not, I could hardly claim success, could I?" + +"You might claim it," laughed Delverton, "but I should not be satisfied. +Possibly I have my own opinion, but I trust nothing I have said has +influenced you and led you to a wrong conclusion. I do not want you to +get me into trouble by saying that I suggested who the criminal was." + +"Not if I could prove that the solution was correct?" + +"That might be a different matter, of course." + +"It would prove your astuteness, Mr. Delverton," said Quarles. "Mine +would be only the spade work which any one can do when he has been told +how. Perhaps you will let me explain in my own way, and I will go over +the old ground as little as possible, since we three are aware of the +main facts and the investigations which originally took place. First, +then, the manner of Mr. Farrell's death. Now, since he was found in his +own private office, sitting at his own desk, with a tumbler beside him, +it is evident that if he did not commit suicide it was intended that it +should appear as if he had done so. To believe it a case of suicide is +the simplest solution. He could enter the office by the side door at his +will, he could poison himself there at his leisure, and it would never +occur to him to imagine that any one would afterwards suspect he had met +his death in any other way. The one thing missing is the motive. The only +person even to suggest that Farrell had looked worried was the junior +clerk, Small, and his uncorroborated opinion does not count for much. +Besides, his affairs were in order, and he was about to be married. You +must stop me, Mr. Delverton, if I make any incorrect statements." + +"Certainly. So far you have merely repeated what every one knows." + +"Except in one minor particular," said Quarles. "I lay special emphasis +on the desire of some one to show that it was a case of suicide. If we +deny suicide this becomes an important point, for we have to enquire when +and how the poison was administered. Did Farrell at some time before +midnight bring some one back to the office with him? For what purpose was +he brought there? How was the poison administered? We have evidence that +it was not drunk out of the glass on the table, no trace of poison being +found, and we can hardly suppose that Farrell would swallow a tablet at +any one's bidding. Since there was an evident desire to make it appear a +case of suicide, we should expect to find traces of poison in the glass; +it would have made it appear so much more like suicide. But we are +denying that it was suicide, so we are forced to the conclusion that some +one was present with Farrell in the office, and also that the somebody +ought to have allowed traces of the poison to remain in the glass. That +innocent tumbler is a fact we must not lose sight of. You see, Mr. +Delverton, I am not working along quite the same line as the original +investigation took." + +"No; and I am very interested. Still, I think a man might take a tablet +were it offered by one he looked upon as a friend. It might be for +headache." + +"Did Mr. Farrell suffer from headaches?" Quarles inquired. + +"Not that I am aware of. I am only putting a supposititious case." + +"Ah, but we are bound to stick to what we know, or we shall find +ourselves in difficulties," the professor returned. "Now, I understand +that when you left the office that evening only two of the clerks were +there, and they left the office together about ten minutes afterwards. +The junior clerk we may dismiss from our minds, but Kellner merits some +attention. It appears that his subsequent movements that evening are +accounted for; still, it is a fact that he directly profited by Mr. +Farrell's death. Shortly afterwards he became a partner in the firm." + +"He had no reason at the time to suppose he would be a partner," said +Delverton. + +"And would not have become one but for Farrell's death, I take it?" + +"He might. It is really impossible to say. Left alone, I took in Kellner +because he was the most competent man I knew. I may add that I have not +regretted it." + +"Had the detective who had the case in hand known that Kellner was to +become a partner, he would undoubtedly have given him more attention," +said Quarles. "He does not seem to have discovered that Kellner was in +financial straits at the time." + +"Was he?" said Delverton. + +"I have found that it was so," I answered. + +"I am surprised to hear it; but, after all, a clerk's financial +difficulties--" And he laughed as a man will who always thinks in +thousands. + +"We come to another person who profited by Farrell's death, Dr. +Morrison," said Quarles. "He married Miss Lester not long afterwards. +It is known that he was friendly, or apparently friendly, with his +rival, for such Farrell was, although he may not have been aware of the +fact; and, curiously enough, Morrison called at the office in Austin +Friars on the fatal day, and wanted to see Farrell an hour or so after +he had left." + +"Yes; I thought it was curious at the time." + +"He was able to account for his subsequent doings that day," Quarles went +on; "so it seems impossible that he could have been the person Farrell +brought back to the office that night. I think we must say positively he +was not. At the same time we must not overlook the fact that in his case +there was a motive for the crime. Forgetting for a moment our conclusion +that some one must have been in the office with Farrell in order to make +the death appear like suicide, we ask whether in any way it was possible +for Morrison to administer poison to Farrell. Supposing Farrell had met +Morrison immediately upon leaving the office, could the doctor possibly +have given him poison in such a manner that it would not take effect for +hours after?" + +"Stood him a glass of wine somewhere, you mean?" + +"Or induced him to swallow a tablet," said Quarles. + +"It is really a new idea," said our host. + +"It is a possibility, of course," Quarles answered; "but not a very +likely one, I fancy. It might account for the tumbler. Farrell might have +felt ill and drunk some plain water, but why was he in the office at all? +I find the whole crux of the affair in that question. Why should he come +back when he had left for the day?" + +"Then you are inclined to exonerate Morrison?" + +"On the evidence, yes." + +"You speak with some reservation, Mr. Quarles." + +"I want to bring the whole argument into focus, as it were," the +professor went on. "It was a settlement day on the Stock Exchange. I +believe a point was made three years ago that it was curious no one had +seen Farrell return, since many people who knew him would be about Austin +Friars late that night. This does not seem to me much of an argument. If +he returned between nine and ten he might easily escape notice. What does +seem to me curious is that he should choose such a day to leave the +office early, and tell a lie about it into the bargain. He said he had an +appointment with Miss Lester, and we know he had not." + +"Ought we not to say that we know she says he had not?" Delverton +corrected. "I do not wish to be captious, but--" + +"You are quite right," said Quarles; "we must be precise. You knew Miss +Lester, of course?" + +"I did not see her until after Farrell's death, then I saw her several +times. She seemed rather a charming person." + +"You have not seen her since her marriage?" + +"No." + +"I saw her the other day," said Quarles, "and I quite endorse your +opinion. She is charming, and I do not think she is the kind of woman to +tell a deliberate falsehood. If Farrell had had an appointment with her I +think she would have said so." + +"I am making no accusation against her," was the answer. "I was only +sticking to the actual evidence." + +"And that does not tell us where Farrell went that day," said Quarles. +"It seems strange that he did not meet any of the scores of people who +knew him as he left the office that afternoon." + +"Undoubtedly he did meet many." + +"They didn't come forward to say they had seen him." + +"I can see no reason why they should do so. There was no question of +fixing the time he left. I was able to give definite information on +that point." + +"Well, we seem to have used up our facts," said Quarles, "and are forced +to theorize." + +Delverton smiled. + +"You must not jump to the conclusion that I have failed," said the +professor quickly. "I did not promise to tell you the name of the +murderer to-night. Let me theorize for a few moments. You told me you +believed that Farrell's tragic end had hastened your brother's death. Did +your brother chance to come to the office that day?" + +"No." + +"Perhaps he came that night after you had left. I suppose you cannot +bring evidence that he did not?" + +"No; but--" + +"Or it might have been with him that Farrell had an appointment that day, +which was connected with some affair you were not intended to know +anything about. That would account for his telling you a lie." + +"I assure you--" + +"Let me follow out my idea to the end," said Quarles, leaning over the +table, and emphasizing his words by patting the cloth with his open hand. +"Three years ago things were rather bad on the Stock Exchange, one or two +men in the House were hammered, and several respected firms were shaky. +Now supposing Farrell had been playing with the firm's money unknown to +his partners, or perchance unknown only to one of them--yourself. Your +brother may have--" + +"Really, Mr. Quarles, you are getting absurd." + +"I was going to say--" + +"Oh, please, let me stop you before you say anything more foolish," said +Delverton. "At that time my brother was very ill and as weak as a rat. +How could he have administered poison to Farrell?" + +"It requires no strength to administer poison, only subtlety," said +Quarles. "A glass of wine, perhaps by your brother's bedside, and the +thing would be accomplished. Or there is another alternative. Your +brother may have been playing with the firm's credit, and Farrell may +have found him out." + +"Any other alternative, Mr. Quarles? Your fertile brain must hold +others." + +"Yes, one more, and two opinions which lead up to it," was the +quick reply. + +Delverton laughed. + +"It is not so absurd as the others, I trust." + +"The two opinions may lead you to change your ideas concerning this +mystery. First, I believe Kellner was made a partner because he knew +too much." + +"I am inclined to think the discussion of a glass of my best port will +be more profitable than these speculations," said our host with a smile, +and he took up the cradle which the servant had placed beside him. "I +offered you a glass in the office the other day, but it was not such +good wine as this." + +"And I was shocked at the idea of port in the middle of the morning," +said Quarles. + +"But not now, eh?" And Delverton filled our glasses and his own. + +"Of course not. My second belief is that Farrell did not leave the office +at all that day. We have only your word for it, you know." + +"Shall we drink to your clearer judgment?" said Delverton. + +I had raised my glass when Quarles cried out and tossed a spoon across +the table at me. + +"So you don't drink, Mr. Quarles," said Delverton, putting down his +emptied glass. + +"Not this vintage. It is too strong for me, and also for my friend +Wigan." + +"Your judgment of a vintage leaves something to be desired. That glass of +port has made me curious to hear the other alternative." + +"I think it was you who had been playing with the firm's money, and your +nephew found you out," said Quarles very deliberately. "That Stock +Exchange settlement was a crisis for you. I think you induced Farrell to +drink a glass of port with you, which was so doctored that he soon fell +into a sleep from which he never woke. Perchance you smiled at his +drowsiness, and suggested he should have half an hour's sleep in his +room. You would look after things in the meanwhile. You did so, and when +a clerk came in to say Dr. Morrison had called, you said Mr. Farrell had +left for the day. You took care to wash the wine glass, but it seemed a +good point to you to leave a tumbler with a little water in it on the +table. You did not leave the office until you knew that the last of the +clerks was ready to leave, and I imagine you waited somewhere in Austin +Friars to see them safely off the premises. You had no doubt that a +verdict of suicide would be returned. Later you were surprised to find +that your clerk, Kellner, knew of your money difficulties, and to silence +him he was taken into partnership. Whether the firm of Delverton +Brothers is running straight now I have no means of knowing, nor can I +say whether Mr. Kellner has any suspicion that the death of Mr. Farrell +was more opportune than natural. You are the kind of man who is much +impressed by his own cleverness, and when you met me in Devonshire it +occurred to you to throw down a challenge, to pit your wits against mine. +I suspected you then, for you overdid certain things, and a sinister +intention had entered into your head. You confessed yourself charmed with +Miss Lester, yet your whole attitude suggested that you believed Dr. +Morrison guilty of murder. You became something more than an ordinary +criminal who takes life to save himself from the consequence of his +actions, you crossed the line and became devilish. Mrs. Morrison believes +you would have asked her to marry you almost directly after Farrell's +death had she not very plainly shown you her loathing of such a union. So +you planned to be revenged when you threw down the challenge to me, and +having failed, you now attempt to be wholesale in your destruction." + +"I end by cheating you," said Delverton. + +"Not me, but the hangman. I will warn your butler that the port is +poisoned, and tell him to telephone for the doctor." + +"You can go to the devil," said Delverton. + +He died that night, and the following day the Delverton mystery filled +columns of the papers. It was a dull season, and the press made the most +of it. It is only right to say that Kellner was not generally believed to +have known that Farrell had been done to death by his uncle. Quarles +believes he was absolutely innocent in this respect. I am doubtful on the +point, I admit. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE IN MANLEIGH ROAD + + +The dramatic suicide of Martin Delverton, and the solution of a mystery +which had been relegated to the list of undiscovered crimes produced a +sensation. The public clamored for intimate particulars concerning +Christopher Quarles, the house in Chelsea was besieged by hopeful +interviewers, and the professor could only escape their attentions by +going out of town. It was an excellent excuse for golf, he declared, and +an opportunity to improve on his five handicap. I am bound to say that +while I was with him he never went round in less than twenty over bogey, +and when he only took twenty over he had luck. + +This sudden enthusiasm on the part of the public was the cause of some +difficulty and not a little annoyance so far as I was personally +concerned. + +As I have said elsewhere, I have constantly received the credit of +unmasking a scoundrel simply because Quarles chose to remain in the +background, but I have never claimed any credit to which I was not +entitled. It was distinctly hard, therefore, when all the praise for +bringing a series of crimes to light was given to him when justly it +should have been accorded to me. I had been engaged on the work at the +time the case of Eva Wilkinson had cropped up, my investigations had +prevented my accompanying Quarles and Zena to Devonshire. He would be the +first to deny that he had any part in solving these problems. I daresay I +mentioned certain points about them to him, he may possibly have made a +suggestion or two, but it is only because he had really nothing to do +with them that they have found no place in his chronicle. I admit I was +much annoyed, because I rather prided myself on the astuteness I had +displayed. + +Curiously enough, it was not only the public who persisted in giving him +the credit, but the victims of my ingenuity as well, and the mistake was +destined to bring peril to both of us in a most unexpected manner. + +I was at breakfast one morning about a week after our little golfing +holiday, when Quarles telephoned for me to go to him at once. He would +give me no information, except that it was an urgent matter, and it was +like him to ignore the possibility that I might have another +engagement. As it happened I was free that morning, and was soon on my +way to Chelsea. + +I found him studying some pamphlets and letters which had apparently come +altogether in the big envelope which was lying on the table. + +"Have you seen the paper this morning?" he asked. + +"I had just opened it when you 'phoned to me." + +"Did you read that?" + +He pointed to a paragraph headed, "Strange Affair in Savoy Street," and I +read as follows: + +"Last night, just after twelve o'clock, an elderly gentleman was walking +down Savoy Street, and was approaching the Embankment end, when a man +stepped from a doorway and deliberately fired at him. This was the old +gentleman's story told to half a dozen pedestrians who came running to +the spot. He seemed rather dazed, as well he might be, at the sudden +attack, and his assailant had disappeared. None of those who were first +upon the scene saw him, and although there is no doubt that a revolver +was fired, and that the gentleman's description of the assailant's +position was so exact that the bullet was found embedded in a door on the +opposite side of the street, the denouement casts some doubt on the +story. Quite a small crowd had collected by the time the police arrived, +and then the old gentleman was not to be found. In the excitement he had +slipped away without any one seeing him go. We understand that the police +theory is that there was no attempt at murder, but that the old +gentleman, having fired a revolver for a lark, or perhaps for a wager, +told a tale to save himself from the consequences of his folly, and then, +seizing his opportunity, quietly slipped away. Those who were first upon +the spot say his dazed condition may have been the result of too much to +drink. We cannot say the explanation is altogether satisfactory to us." + +"Well?" said Quarles when he saw I had finished. + +"I agree with the writer of the paragraph," I answered. "The explanation +is far from satisfactory. Such a story and such a smart disappearance do +not suggest drunkenness." + +"Perhaps not, although it is wonderful how Providence seems to watch over +the drunken man. However, the elderly gentleman was not drunk and his +story was strictly true. I was the elderly gentleman." + +"You! And your assailant?" + +Quarles got up and walked slowly to the window and back again. + +"It was a very near thing, Wigan, and it has got on my nerves a bit. You +know that I am held chiefly responsible for the solution of these robbery +cases with which you have been busy lately. That belief is at the bottom +of this attempt, I fancy. You remember the fellow who got off over the +first affair. There was little doubt of his guilt, but you had +insufficient evidence to bring it home to him. He was the man who fired +at me last night." + +"Had you no chance of capturing him?" + +"No, and the moment I saw his face clearly by the light of a street +lamp as he turned to run away, I made up my mind not to give +information. I should have got away at once, only people were on the +spot too quickly; so I told the simple truth, and slipped away at the +first opportunity to avoid being recognized by the police. It was +rather neatly done, I think." + +"But I do not see why you should withhold information," I said. + +"I didn't want my name mentioned in connection with the affair, and I +did not want the man to know I had recognized him. I think there is +bigger game to go for. All along I have believed that in these cases of +yours there was a connecting-link, a subtle personality in the +background. I believe you have only succeeded in bringing some of the +tools to justice." + +"And you want to get at the central scoundrel?" + +"I must, or he will get at me. Without knowing it I have probably escaped +other traps he has set. The fact that I am only your scapegoat does not +alter the position. He means to have me if he can. We, or rather you, +have come very near to unmasking him, I imagine, and his fear has made +him desperate." + +"What is to be done?" + +"I want you to go very carefully through those cases, treating them as +though they were all part of one problem. If necessary, you could get an +interview with one or two of the men who are doing time. When a man is +undergoing punishment, and believes that an equally guilty person has +got off scot-free, he is likely to become communicative." + +"All this will take time, and in the meanwhile--" + +"I am chiefly concerned with the meanwhile," said Quarles, "and it +happens rather fortunately that I have something to interest me and take +my mind off the matter. These letters and pamphlets were sent to me a few +days ago by Dr. Randall. You have heard of him, no doubt." + +"I don't think so." + +"He is a specialist in nervous diseases, so is naturally interested in +psychological matters. An article of mine in a psychological review +attracted his attention, and through a mutual friend--a barrister in the +Temple--we were introduced last night. To-night I am dining with Randall +at a little restaurant in Old Compton Street, and--well, I want you to +come too, Wigan." + +"But--" + +"Oh, I can make it all right. I shall send him a note, asking if I can +bring a friend who is much interested in these matters." + +"But I am not, and directly I open my mouth I shall show my ignorance." + +"Then obviously you must keep your mouth shut," said Quarles. "The fact +is, Wigan, last night has got on my nerves. I am--I may as well be quite +honest--I am a little afraid of going about alone. I want you to call for +me and go with me." + +"Of course I will. But surely, with your nerves on edge, it would be +wiser to keep away from psychological problems. What is the +particular problem?" + +"Randall will explain to-night, and you must at least pretend to be +interested. As regards my nerves, I can assure you this kind of thing is +a relief after the other. I do not think I am a coward as a rule, but I +am afraid of this unknown scoundrel. I have a presentiment that I am in +very real danger." + +"You probably exaggerate it," I said. + +"Maybe. But I never ignore a strong presentiment, and I--I slept with a +loaded revolver under my pillow last night, Wigan." + +There was no doubt as to his nervous condition; he showed it in his +restlessness, in his acute consciousness of sounds in the house and in +the street. He expected to be brought suddenly face to face with danger, +and was afraid he would not be ready to meet it. + +He certainly was not himself. Zena had gone to stay with friends in the +country for a few days, or I should have got her to persuade the old man +to give up this psychological business--at least until he was in a normal +condition again. + +The restaurant, where we found Dr. Randall waiting for us, was one of +those excellent little French places which cannot be beaten until they +have become too successful and popular, when they almost invariably +deteriorate. Randall said he was delighted the professor had brought me, +and dinner was served at once at a cozy table in a corner. + +"A patient of mine originally brought me here," said the doctor. "It is +rather a discovery, I think, and personally I prefer dining where I am +unlikely to come in contact with a lot of people I know. In recent years +we have improved, of course; but in England we still eat, while in France +they dine. Here we are practically in France." + +Certainly more French was spoken than English, and the doctor spoke in +French to the waiter. Quarles's nervousness, which had been apparent +during the drive from Chelsea, disappeared as dinner progressed, and I +did not suppose a stranger like Randall would notice it. He would +probably form rather a wrong impression of the professor, would look upon +him as a highly-strung man, and would not realize that he was not in a +normal condition this evening. Randall carried his profession in his +face, but for the time being his medical manner was laid aside; nor did +he speak of the business which had brought us together until we had got +to the coffee and liqueur stage. + +"I suppose you read the papers I sent you, Professor?" + +"Yes, but rather cursorily," Quarles answered. "I think if you told the +whole story I should understand it better; besides, my friend here knows +nothing of it, and will bring an unbiased mind to bear upon it." + +"And may give us a new idea," said the doctor. "I don't know whether you +are acquainted with Manleigh Road, Bayswater. There are about fifty +houses in it--a terrace, in fact, on either side. The houses are sixty or +seventy years old, I daresay, ugly but roomy, and some few years ago a +lot of money was spent in bringing them up to date, putting in +bath-rooms, modernizing them, and redecorating them thoroughly. In spite +of this, however, they have not attracted the kind of tenant they were +intended for. Many of them have apartments to let. The house we have to +do with is No. 7. The even numbers are on one side of the road, the odd +on the other. No. 5 is a boarding-house of a very respectable kind, +frequented by young fellows in business chiefly. No. 9 is occupied by a +man who, after retiring from business comparatively wealthy, had +financial losses. His four daughters have had to go out and work. I +mention these facts to show that the surroundings are entirely +commonplace. The owner of No. 7 went abroad some years ago, owing to the +death of his wife, I understand, and left the house in the hands of an +agent. It was to be let furnished, but, except for a caretaker, it +remained empty for several months. It was then taken by a newly-married +couple. They could not remain in it. The house was haunted, they said, +and I believe the agent threatened them with legal proceedings if they +spread such an absurd report. He seemed to think they said so only to +repudiate their bargain. It was then let to a man named Greaves, about +whom nothing was known. He paid the rent in advance, and lived there +alone with a housekeeper and a young servant. One morning he was found +dead in his bed, in the large room on the first floor at the back. A +piece of cord was fastened tightly round his neck. There seemed little +doubt that he had committed suicide, for when he did not come down to +breakfast the housekeeper went to his room and found the door locked on +the inside. It had to be broken open. Perhaps you heard of the case?" + +Quarles shook his head. + +"Well, the door was locked on the inside, the window was shut and +fastened, there was no sign that any one had entered the room, and +nothing was missing. Foul play was out of the question, but the doctor +who was called in was troubled about the affair. It was from him that I +had these particulars. Dr. Bates had become acquainted--not +professionally, I believe--with the young couple who had lived in the +house for a time, and they had told him the place was haunted. In +bringing his judgment to bear upon Greaves' death, it is only right to +remember that his mind had received a bias." + +"I take it he did not believe it was a case of suicide," said Quarles. + +"His reason told him it must be, yet something beyond reason told him +it wasn't." + +"He thought it was murder?" I asked. + +"No, not ordinary murder," Randall answered. "He thought it was a +supernatural death." + +"I have read the letter he wrote to you; there is nothing very definite +in it," said Quarles. + +"It was his indefinite state of mind which caused him to relate the whole +story to me. When the police failed to make any discovery, he thought +some one interested in psychological research might solve the mystery." + +"What, exactly, were the experiences of this young couple?" I asked. + +"Chiefly noises, footsteps echoing through a silent house. Once the +shadow of a man, or so it seemed, was thrown suddenly upon the wall by a +ray of moonlight, and once the curtains and sheets of a bed were found +torn, as if hands, finding nothing else to destroy, had taken vengeance +upon them. Of course, this all comes second-hand from Dr. Bates." + +"And is probably unconsciously exaggerated," said Quarles. "The ordinary +man is almost certain to overstate and to emphasize unduly one part of +the evidence." + +"That was my feeling exactly," returned Randall, "so I spent a night in +that haunted room myself. The result was disappointing." + +"Did nothing happen?" I asked. + +"There was no direct manifestation--at least I saw nothing, and I do not +think I heard anything, but I am sure that I felt something. It was very +vague. You know it is my theory," Randall went on, addressing me, "that +different individuals are sensitive to different influences. For example, +let us suppose a certain spot is haunted, a spot where something +particularly desperate has taken place in the past. Now I believe that A, +B, and C, all sensitive to supernatural influences, may watch there and +seeing nothing, but that D, being sensitive to that particular influence, +or moving on that particular plane, may be successful. In another case, +where D fails, A, B, or C may be successful. I think it is this fact +which accounts for the comparatively small number of experiences which we +are able to authenticate. It was an article of the professor's, setting +forth similar views, which made me anxious to make his acquaintance." + +"Are you suggesting that he should spend a night in this house?" I asked. + +"I do not think I suggested such a thing," said Randall with a smile, +"but I believe that is the professor's intention." + +"It is," said Quarles. + +"When?" I asked. + +"On Friday night." + +"Greaves died on a Friday night," said Randall. "It is a small point, +perhaps, but, like myself, the professor believes in small details." + +"I suppose the agent will let me have the key," said Quarles. + +"I do not know the agent. I got the key through Dr. Bates, and I can give +you a card of introduction to him." + +"It will be a very interesting experiment," I said, looking as learned as +I could. I thought I had kept my end up very well, and far from having to +pretend to be interested, as Quarles had suggested, I was profoundly +interested, not in the psychological discussion, but in the Bayswater +mystery. I had heard of it before, and remembered that Martin, one of the +oldest members of the force, had said that it was no more a case of +suicide than he was a raw recruit. I am far from saying that no mystery +is to be accounted for by the supernatural, but I always want to test it +in every other way first. + +Quarles was pleased to jeer at me for a skeptic as we drove back to +Chelsea. He did not consider me altogether a fool as a detective, but he +had no use for me as a psychological student. + +"Anyway, it is a pity you are undertaking this business in your present +nervous state," I said. "At least let me be with you on Friday night." + +"Nonsense, that would make the experiment useless. You clear up the +mystery of this subtle scoundrel who has tried to get me shot and my +nervous state will soon disappear." + +As a matter of fact, I couldn't settle to a careful study of my recent +cases, as the professor had suggested. I tried and failed. I could not +forget the experiment which was to be made on Friday night, and on +Wednesday morning I took action. First of all, I arranged that a special +constable should be on duty in Manleigh Road, and from his appearance no +one would have supposed that anything in the way of a genius had been +introduced into the neighborhood. He looked a fool; he was one of the +smartest men I knew. Strangely enough, on the Thursday night No. 7 was +burgled quite early in the evening as soon as it was dusk. Two men got in +at a basement window, and the constable was quite close at the time. He +had instructions, in fact, to give warning to the burglars if there was +any danger of their being seen. + +I had not burgled the house alone; I had taken a young detective named +Burroughs with me. Of course, I might say it was because I wanted to give +him a chance, or because I thought we might encounter desperate +characters in the house; but as a fact, it was the supernatural element +which decided me. I do not like the idea of the supernatural; my nerves, +excellent in their way and in their own sphere, are inclined to get jumpy +under certain conditions. + +We went up from the basement cautiously, and it would have needed keen +ears to have heard our movements. + +Without showing a light, we went into every room in the house. Those in +front had some light in them from a street lamp outside, but those at the +back were dark, although, after a while, we got accustomed to the dark, +and could see to some extent. None of the blinds was drawn, and although +there was no moon, it was a clear, starlit night. + +Our special attention was devoted to the room where Greaves had been +found dead. It was substantially furnished, mid-Victorian in character. +The lock on the door, which had been broken open, had been mended, and +the window was fastened. Systematically we examined every article of +furniture and the innocent-looking cupboard. The walls were substantial, +but we did not subject them to tapping. I did not want to arouse the +neighbors to the fact that No. 7 was not empty to-night. + +"We have a long vigil before us, Burroughs," I said. + +"What do you expect to discover, sir?" + +"I don't know, nothing most likely; but if anything does happen it is +going to happen in this room. I am going to take up my position in this +chair by the bed, and I want you to keep watch on the landing. If you +hear any one about the house come in to me at once, but if you only hear +me move don't come in unless I call. I shall not fasten the door, but I +shall put it to. If in some way it is possible to find out that this room +is occupied, I want to appear as if I were quite alone. Do you +understand?" + +"Perfectly." + +I saw Burroughs settled in a chair on the landing; then I entered the +room and closed the door without latching it, and there was a certain +feeling down my spine, in spite of the knowledge that I had a comrade +near at hand. + +It was quite beyond me how Quarles could undertake to stay there all +alone. I could have done it had I been convinced that danger could only +come from a material foe; it was the idea of the supernatural which beat +me. I was not skeptic enough to be unmoved. + +I had determined to sit beside the bed; but remembering that Greaves had +been found on the bed I first of all lay down for a minute or two. The +bed was not made up, but the mattresses were there with blankets over +them, and the hangings were in place. The key to the mystery might lie in +some hidden mechanism in the bed. Then I settled myself in the chair +beside the bed, my hand in my pocket on my revolver. + +This kind of waiting is always a trial. The silence, the bodily +inactivity while the mind is strained to be keenly alert, have a sort of +hypnotic influence. An untrained man will certainly fancy he hears and +sees things, and even a trained man has to light hard against the desire +to sleep. There comes a longing for something, anything, to happen. I +think I got into a condition at last in which I should have welcomed a +ghost. There was no church clock near to break the monotony with its +striking; time seemed non-existent. + +Once I thought I heard Burroughs shift his position on the landing +outside, and there presently came to me an uncontrollable desire to move. +I stood up. Just to walk to the window and back would make all the +difference. + +My journey across the room was noiseless, and, coming back, I +stopped suddenly. + +To my left there was movement, movement without sound. In an instant my +revolver was ready, and then I felt a fool. In a recess there was a glass +fixed to the wall, we had noticed it when we examined the room, and I had +caught the dim reflection of my head and shoulders in it. The glass was +just at that height from the floor. + +I went to it and called myself a fool to my reflection. I could only see +myself very dimly, so I cannot say whether the incident had driven any +color from my face. + +It had the effect of quieting my restlessness, at any rate. I returned to +my chair refreshed, feeling capable of keeping a vigil, however long it +might last. + +Almost unconsciously I began to consider how many deceptions +looking-glasses were responsible for, and remembered some of the +illusions I had seen at the Egyptian Hall. No doubt looking-glasses had +played a large part in some of them. + +And then I began to wonder why the mattresses had been left upon the bed. +Was the agent expecting to let the house again at once, or had they been +put there for Quarles's convenience to-morrow night? + +How long my mind slid from one thing to another I cannot say; but +gradually my ideas seemed to dwindle away into nothingness, and it is +easy to imagine that I slept. I do not think I did, however. + +Although my mind was a blank for a time, I am convinced I never lost +consciousness of that room or of the business I had in hand. There was +absolutely no sensation of waking, only another sudden desire to move. + +Again I walked to the window, and as I came back I glanced in the +direction of the glass. This time my own reflection did not startle me; +not because I was ready for it, but because I did not see it. + +I must have crossed the room at a different angle, or my eyes-- + +I went to the glass, and then I started. There was no reflection. I was +not in the glass. + +In a moment the knowledge that this room was haunted came to me in full +force. There was the glass, plainer than I had seen it before, my eyes +were not at fault. Indeed, as I stared into it, there was a dim outline +of images in the glass, the furniture of the room, but of me no +reflection at all. Was I bewitched? Surely I must be in my chair, +sleeping, dreaming, for suddenly in the glass, moving as in a mist, there +were shadows--a bed and a man lying on it, and bending over him was +another man whose hands were twisting about his companion. + +I tried to call out to stop him, then I drew back, and the next moment I +was at the door, speaking to Burroughs in a whisper. + +"What is it?" he asked, coming swiftly into the room. + +"Look!" and I seized him by the arm and drew him to the looking-glass. + +"Well, what is it?" he asked again. + +His reflection and mine were looking out at us, one scared face, mine; +one full of questioning, his. + +I told him what I had seen. + +"You dropped off to sleep, Mr. Wigan, that's what it was." + +Had I? It couldn't have been a dream, and yet faith in myself was shaken. +It was possible I had only walked across the room a second time in my +dreams. One thing is certain, I did not fall asleep again that night. + +I had arranged with the constable in Manleigh Road that he should keep a +careful watch at dawn. We should leave then by the same way as we had +entered, and he was to signal to us if the coast was clear. + +It was an essential part of my plan that no one should know the house had +been occupied that night. I had kept watch, thinking that if harm were +intended to Quarles the trap would be made ready previously. How and by +whom I had not fully considered. Now I determined not to leave the house +during the day. + +I would be there when Quarles came that night. + +I scribbled a note to him, explaining what I was doing, and I said that +if the agent should accompany him to the house I would remain hidden +until the agent had gone. This note I gave to Burroughs, and instructed +him to explain matters to the constable. + +I had provided myself with a flask and some dry biscuits in case of +contingencies, and prepared to pass the day as comfortably as I could. It +is needless to say that in daylight I examined that haunted room again, +especially the looking-glass. + +It was in an ornamental wooden frame fixed on the wall, formed, in fact, +a finish to a wooden dado. It was like the fixed overmantel one finds +sometimes in small modern villas, only it wasn't over the mantelpiece. + +I think there was nothing in the room which I did not examine carefully, +but I did not sit there; I preferred the front room. + +It was an immense relief when I saw Quarles and another man, the agent, +come through the gate. + +It was between eight and nine, and I retired to the basement to be out of +the way. The agent stayed about half an hour, and they were chiefly in +the haunted room together. + +"I sincerely hope your report will set at rest this silly idea that the +house is haunted," I heard the agent say as they came down to the hall. +"When my client returns he will be pretty mad about it." + +"When does he return?" asked Quarles. + +"I don't know. I haven't had a line from him since he went away, but +the sum I have received for him in rent doesn't amount to much, I can +tell you." + +I expected to find the professor rather ill-tempered at my interference, +but I found him inclined to raillery. + +"Are you hunting a murderer or a ghost, Wigan?" he asked. + +"I am not quite sure, but I think at the back of my mind there is an idea +to keep you out of the clutches of the subtle personality of whom you are +afraid. Come up to the haunted room; we will talk there, but it must be +in whispers. If I have had any success it is believed that you are in +this house alone to-night." + +"A foolish old man alone, eh?" + +"In this instance I am inclined to answer yes." + +"You are quite right to say exactly what you think," he returned. + +"Have you considered the possibility that some one is trading on your +known enthusiasm for psychological research?" I asked. + +"Surely you do not mean Randall?" + +"No, but he may have been used as a tool. Frankly now, would you have +undertaken this business just at the present time had it not been for +Dr. Randall?" + +"Probably not." + +"So if you are being deceived it is being managed very subtly." + +"You are full of supposition. Let us get to work. You speak in your +letter of an experience you had last night. What was it?" + +"You will say no doubt that my fear of the supernatural got the +better of me." + +I told him the story of the looking-glass as we stood in front of it, our +two faces looking out at us dimly. + +"Come away from it now, Wigan," he said when I had finished. "Burroughs +thought you had fallen asleep, did he? You are convinced you were not +dreaming, I presume?" + +"At the time I confess Burroughs rather shook my faith in myself, but +during the day I have become certain that I did not sleep." + +Sitting on the other side of the bed--Quarles was very particular where +he sat in the room--he questioned me closely about the actions of the +shadows, and I answered him as well as I could. Only a very vague picture +was in my mind. + +"It may astonish you to know, Wigan, that it was only your note this +morning which brought me to this house at all to-night, I 'phoned to you +at least a dozen times yesterday." + +"Why?" + +"I was afraid of to-night. Perhaps for the time being I have lost my grip +a little on account of my nervous condition. I have had a long talk with +Dr. Bates, and he tried to persuade me to give up the idea of spending a +night here alone. He was rather doubtful about a supernatural solution to +the mystery. Then I didn't like the agent when I went to him to arrange +about the key. I shouldn't have entered the house with him to-night had I +not known you were here." + +"Anything else?" I asked. + +"Always that strong presentiment of danger," he answered. "Were these +hangings on the bed last night?" + +"It was exactly as you see it now." + +"The agent said the mattress and blankets had been put here for my +convenience." + +"Did he say when they were put here?" + +"I thought he meant to-day," said Quarles. + +"No one has entered the house to-day," I answered. + +"Yet, if Greaves was murdered, some one must have gained access to this +room somehow, in spite of the locked door and fastened window." + +"You have dropped the idea of the supernatural, then?" + +"I am keeping an open mind." + +"Shall we give it up and go, Professor?" + +"Certainly not. I am supposed to be alone in the house, so we will +await events. On the other side of that wall where the glass hangs is +No. 5, I suppose?" + +"Yes." + +"That is the boarding-house. Keep still a minute while I get an idea of +the furniture against this opposite wall. Randall said a man and his four +daughters lived at No. 9, didn't he?" + +I whispered an affirmative, and could dimly see the professor going +slowly along the wall. He began tapping things, apparently with a +pocket knife. + +I warned him not to make a noise. + +"I am known to be here," he answered, coming back to me. "A man who +undertakes to investigate the supernatural would be expected to take +precautions that no tricks were likely to be played upon him. It would be +suspicious if I didn't make a little noise. Now we will settle ourselves. +I shall lie on the bed. You move a chair under that glass and sit there. +I have an electric torch with me. Don't fall asleep to-night, Wigan." + +"I didn't last night," I answered. + +After that we were silent, and the vigil began. In one way it was a +repetition of the previous night. I lost count of time, and had sudden +desires to move, but managed to control them. + +Certainly I did not sleep, and I fought successfully against the hypnotic +influence which silence and darkness exert. Not a sound of movement came +from Quarles, not a murmur from the world outside. + +More than once I wanted to ask the professor whether he was all right, +but did not do so. + +It seemed that this utter silence had lasted for hours, when it was +broken, not suddenly, but gradually. It was not a sound so much as a +movement which broke it. Some one or something was near us. At first it +did not seem to be in the room, but as if it were trying to get in. I +could not tell where it was, but for a time it was outside, and then just +as certainly I knew that it was in. + +I cannot say positively that I heard a footfall on the carpet, but I +think I did, and then came an unmistakable sound; the swish of the bed +hangings suddenly drawn back. + +"Quarles!" + +Whether I shouted his name or whispered it, I do not know, but the next +moment a ray from the electric torch cut the darkness like a long sword. + +There was a low, almost inarticulate cry, then a light thud upon the +floor--so light it might have been some clothes falling from the bed. + +"Don't move, Wigan!" Quarles said, and a second afterwards he +fired--downwards it must have been, although he had warned me to keep +still, in case he should hit me. + +There was an unearthly yell, and something rushed past my feet--a man on +all fours, a little man, a-- + +"The glass, Wigan! Quick!" + +I sprang up. For just an instant I saw my own reflection, then it was +gone; instead, I was looking into a luminous mist out of which there +suddenly flashed a face looking into mine. + +I saw it quite clearly, and then it went as quickly as it had come. It +appeared to have been jerked away. + +"Look!" + +Quarles was behind me, and in the glass, almost as I had seen them last +night, were the shadows, only now they struggled and twisted first; it +was afterwards that one lay still across the bed. + +"An ape, Wigan!" Quarles said excitedly. "An ape, trained to imitate, and +now--did some one look through the glass?" + +"Yes." + +"Was it Dr. Randall?" + +Directly he asked the question I knew that it was the doctor's face which +had been there. + +"The subtle personality, Wigan." + +"When did you guess?" + +"I didn't guess--I didn't think it possible. Bates' disbelief in the +supernatural made me a little suspicious, but I didn't think it possible. +To-night--that ape--the whole plot--I could only think of Randall. There +was no one else." + +We left the house at once, both of us in an excited state. + +The constable I had on special duty soon had several others with him, and +before dawn No. 5 Manleigh Road was raided. + +It was only a garbled statement which got into the papers, and +probably the whole truth will never be known; but I gradually gathered +the main facts, partly from the doctor's confederates, partly from +some of his victims. + +Dr. Randall, posing as a nerve specialist, and fully qualified to do so, +had lived a double life. As a doctor he was respected and was fairly +successful; as the head and organizer of a small army of miscreants he +had been eminent for years. + +Under the guise of a respectable boarding-house, No. 5 had been used +as the headquarters of the gang, and the operations had been so +widespread, so all-embracing in the field of crime, that after the +raid many mysteries which the police had failed to unravel were +credited to Randall. Many of these he could have had nothing to do +with, but he had quite enough to answer for. He seems to have +exercised a kind of terrorism over his subordinates, or he would +surely have been betrayed before. + +Exactly at what point my investigations had jeopardized his secret I +could not find out, but he evidently thought it was in danger, and +believing Quarles was responsible, he determined to get rid of him. + +I was told that he had made two attempts upon his life before the night +he was introduced to him in the Temple. That night Quarles was followed +when he left the Temple, and, as we know, was shot at in Savoy Street. + +This attempt failing, the doctor, who had already asked Quarles to dinner +on the following night as an extra precaution, determined to use a method +which had already proved successful. + +Quarles's enthusiasm for psychological research could hardly fail to +tempt him into the trap. + +No. 7 Manleigh Road belonged to a man in the doctor's employment. It had +been prepared for eventualities some time before--probably tragedies had +occurred in the house which had never been heard of. The house agent was +one of the gang, and when, either by mistake or because he could not help +himself without causing undesirable comment, he let the house to the +young married couple, they were frightened away. The house was then let +to Greaves, a man who had become a danger to the doctor, and in due +course he was found dead in his bed. + +Between the fireplace of the haunted room and that of the corresponding +room in No. 5 part of the chimney wall had been removed, so that there +was sufficient space for the ape to get from one room to the other. + +This ape, some four feet in height, was exceedingly powerful and more +than usually imitative, but was not naturally vicious. Any action done in +its presence the animal would be certain to repeat at the first +opportunity; but having done so, it did not repeat it again unless the +action was performed again. The action of strangling a man in his sleep +by means of a cord was performed before the ape, and afterwards the +animal was allowed to steal through the hole in the chimney. The result +was that Greaves was found dead. + +It was intended that Quarles should die in a like manner, and special +pains were taken with the ape to insure success. The action was performed +before the animal in every detail more than once, and it was kept in +strict confinement until the right moment came. + +The ape was out of my sight, but I chanced to see the imitation in +progress on the Thursday night through the glass, which had unaccountably +been left open for some minutes after it had been tried to see that it +was in working order. I saw only dimly because the imitation was being +done by the light of a single candle, and that shaded as much as +possible, to suggest to the ape the gloomy conditions of the room in +which it was to repeat its lesson. Let into the wall of the room in the +boarding-house there was a glass backing on to the one in the haunted +room. A small handle swung aside the back, which was common to both, and +the looking-glass became a window from one room to the other. + +When he fired Quarles evidently hit the ape. Mad with pain, the animal +dashed back through the hole in the chimney and attacked the doctor, who +was probably taken entirely unawares, as he was looking through the glass +to see what the revolver shot might mean. + +The ape went through its part of the performance, and the doctor fell a +victim to his own diabolical ingenuity. The wounded animal had to be +shot before any one could get near the body. + +Some people have declared that Dr. Randall was a madman, but I think +Quarles' answer hit the truth. + +"Of course, in a sense, all criminals are mad," he said, "but Randall was +the sanest criminal I ever came in contact with." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE DIFFICULTY OF BROTHER PYTHAGORAS + + +Whether it was my statement that criminals had grown cleverer than they +used to be which aroused Quarles's interest so effectually, or whether it +was that success made him thirst for further fields to conquer, I do not +know. I do know, however, that he grew restless if any considerable time +elapsed without my having a clue worthy of his powers. + +As it happened we had two or three cases close together which stretched +his powers to the utmost, and the extremely subtle manner in which he +solved them shows him at his best. + +When I sent him a telegram from Fairtown, merely requesting him to join +me there, I felt certain he would come by the first available train, and +was at the station to meet him. + +"Fine, invigorating air this, Wigan," he remarked. "Is there really a +case for us to deal with, or did you merely telegraph for the purpose of +giving me a holiday?" + +"The case is for you rather than for me. I am still--" + +"Still waiting for something to turn up in the Beverley affair?" he +asked. + +"Were I answering a layman, or even a rival detective, I should look very +wise and talk indefinitely of clues; to you I will admit a blank ten +days, not a forward step in any direction whatever." + +"So you send for me." + +"Upon a different matter altogether," I returned. + +I had come to Fairtown ten days ago on the lookout for a man named +Beverley. His friends were anxious about him, and said they believed he +was suffering from a loss of memory; the police had reason to suspect +that he was implicated in some company-promoting frauds, and thought the +family only wanted to find him to get him out of the country. His people +were certainly not aware that I was looking for him in Fairtown, and I +need not go into the reasons which made me expect to run my quarry to +earth in this particular spot; they were sound ones, or I should not have +spent ten days on the job. + +To describe Fairtown would be superfluous. Every one knows this popular +seaside resort. This year, I believe for the first time, a large tent had +been erected behind the sea-baths building, which was occupied each week +by a different company of entertainers. In my second week a troupe of +pierrots was there, the "Classical P's," they were called, and hearing +from some one in the hotel that they were quite out of the ordinary, I +went on the Thursday evening. At the opening of the performance the +leader of the troupe announced that Brother Pythagoras, after the +performance on the previous evening, had been obliged to go to town, and +unfortunately had not yet returned, so they would be without his services +that night. There was some disappointment; he had a charming tenor voice, +my neighbor told me. The full troupe numbered six, described on the +program as Brothers Pluto, Pompey, and Pythagoras, and Sisters Psyche, +Pomona, and Penelope; that night, of course, they were only five, but the +entertainment was excellent. + +Sister Pomona was altogether an exceptional pianist, her interpretation +of items by Schumann and Mendelssohn being little short of a revelation. +She was pretty, too, and her scarlet dress with its white pompons, and +her pierrot's hat to match, suited her to perfection. + +I was amongst the last left in the tent after the performance, partly +owing to the position of my seat, partly, at least so Zena would have it +later, and I did not contradict her, because I was lingering in the hope +of getting another glimpse of Pomona. As I moved toward the exit there +came a short scream, a terrified scream it seemed to me, from behind the +stage. I turned back and waited, and in a minute or two Brother Pluto +came from behind the curtains. + +"Are you a doctor?" he asked. + +"No, but--" + +"I am a doctor," said a voice behind me. + +I was not invited, but I followed the doctor. The space available for +the artistes was very small. There was little more than passageway +between the tent wall and the stage built up some three feet from the +ground, and we had to step over the various paraphernalia which was +necessary for the performance. What had happened was this. A projecting +piece of woodwork had caught Pomona's dress as she passed, tearing off +one of the white pompons, which had rolled underneath the platform. She +saw it, as she supposed, lying in a dark corner, and stooped to reach +it. What she had caught sight of, and what she caught hold of, was a +man's hand, a cold hand. Brothers Pluto and Pompey were beside her a +moment afterwards, and had dragged a body from under the stage. It was +Brother Pythagoras, the performer who was supposed to have gone to +London on the previous night. He was dressed in his pierrot costume, +but had been dead some hours, the doctor said, death being due to a blow +on the head, from a stick, probably. + +I told the story to Quarles as we walked to the hotel. + +"Does the doctor suggest an accident?" he asked. + +"No." + +"How long, in his opinion, had the man been dead?" + +"Some hours." + +"Twenty-four?" + +"I particularly asked that question," I answered. "He thought death had +taken place that day." + +"It may be an interesting case," said Quarles doubtfully. "I suppose I +can see the body." + +"I have arranged that." + +"Who are these brothers and sisters?" + +"Pluto and Psyche are husband and wife, a Mr. and Mrs. Watson. She is a +Colonial, and he has been in the Colonies for a year or two. It is their +second season of entertaining in this country. Pompey, whose name is +Smith, and Penelope, otherwise Miss Travers, have been with them from the +first. Pomona, otherwise Miss Day, only joined them this season, and is +evidently a lady. The dead man, Henley by name, joined them after the +season had commenced, taking the place of a man who fell ill. He has been +very reticent about himself." + +"According to Watson, I suppose?" said Quarles. + +"They were all agreed upon that point," I answered. + +"On what points were they not agreed?" Quarles asked quickly. + +"Well, although they all spoke in the warmest terms of their comrade, it +struck me they were not all so fond of him as they made out." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"The way they looked at the dead man. Naturally, I was watching them +rather keenly as the doctor made his examination." + +"That is rather an interesting idea, Wigan, and has possibilities in it; +still, a murdered man is not a pleasant sight, and the artistic +temperament must be taken into consideration." + +We went to the mortuary that afternoon. The dead man was still in the +pierrot's dress--I had arranged this should be so, wishing to afford the +professor every facility in his investigation. He was more interested in +the dress than in the man, examining it very carefully with his lens. The +stockings and shoes came in for close inspection, also the comical +pierrot's hat, which he fitted to the dead man's head for a moment. + +"Had he his hat on when he was pulled from under the platform?" he asked. + +"No. It was found after the doctor's examination, close to where the body +had been." + +"Who found it?" + +"Watson--Brother Pluto." + +"Who first thought of looking for it?" Quarles asked. + +"I think Watson just stooped down and saw it. He would naturally think of +it, since it was part of the dress." + +The professor nodded, as if the explanation satisfied him. Then he looked +at the head, neck, and hands. + +"He was a singer, you say?" + +"Yes--a tenor." + +"What instrument did he play?" + +"I don't know." + +"Ah, a sad end. Henley, you say his name was--I see there is 'H' marked +in pencil in his hat." + +"He called himself Henley," I answered; "it may not have been his real +name. As I said, his companions know very little about him." + +"So his friends, if he has any, cannot be advised of the tragedy. This +company of mummers is alone in its mourning for him. I should like to +examine this hat more closely, Wigan. Can I take it away with me?" + +I arranged for him to do so, and we went back to the hotel. + +"Do you find it an interesting case, Professor?" I asked. + +"It certainly presents some difficulties which are interesting. The clue +may lie in Henley's unknown past, and that might be a difficulty not to +be overcome; or we may find the clue in jealousy." + +"You surely are not thinking that--" + +"Oh, I have not got so far as suspecting Watson or any of his +companions," said Quarles, "but certain facts force us to keep an open +mind, Wigan. To begin with, there was apparently no struggle before +death. The blow was not so severe that a comparatively weak arm might not +have delivered it, a woman's, for the sake of argument. We may, +therefore, deduct two theories at once. He probably had no suspicion or +fear of the person in whose company he was, and I think the doctor will +endorse our statement if we affirm that he was not in a healthy +condition. Personally, I should credit Henley with a fairly rapid past, +which may account for his companions not looking upon the body with any +particular kindness, as you noticed." + +"You seem to have built more on that idea of mine than I +intended," I said. + +"I have built nothing at all on it," he answered. "I argue entirely from +the appearance of the dead man. Another point. I looked for some sign +that the dress had been put on after the man was dead. The signs all +point to an opposite conclusion." + +"The dress puzzles me," I said. + +"Of course, if the doctor were not so certain that death had occurred +during the day, we might place the murder at some time on the previous +night, after the performance, when Henley would naturally be in his +pierrot's dress, but why should he put it on during the day. There was no +rehearsal, I suppose?" + +"Nothing was said about it; besides, Henley was supposed to be in town." + +"Yes, I know. That is one of our difficulties. I take it that +neither Watson nor any of his company have offered any explanation +of the tragedy?" + +"I believe not. I saw the local inspector this morning, and he said +nothing further had transpired, nor had any clue been found amongst the +dead man's effects. Of course, if his companions had any guilty knowledge +they would have made some explanation." + +"Why?" + +"To mislead us." + +"My dear Wigan, there are times when you jump as far to a conclusion +as a woman." + +"I am arguing from a somewhat ripe experience," I retorted +somewhat hotly. + +"Strengthened by an interest in Sister Pomona, eh? Something of the +old-fashioned school lingers about you, which is picturesque but always a +handicap in these days. The methods of crime have changed just as the +methods of other enterprises have changed. Your bungling villain has no +chance nowadays; to succeed a criminal must be an artist, a scientist +even, and he does not fall into the error of accusing himself by +excusing himself. And since increased knowledge tends to simplify those +explanations with which we have sought to explain away difficulties in +the past, I think we shall be wise to apply modern methods to any +difficulty with which we are confronted." + +Naturally, I argued the point, endeavoring to justify myself, and in the +process we nearly quarreled. + +That night we went to the entertainment. It was an exceedingly full +house, showing the commercial wisdom of the proprietors of the sea-baths +in not canceling the engagement. The verve and go in the performance +astonished me. One would not have supposed that a tragedy had happened in +this little company of players. I felt that they ought to be horribly +conscious of the ghastly thing which had been found under that platform +only a few hours since. I said something of the kind to Quarles. + +"Don't forget the artistic temperament," he answered. + +"Surely it would be the very temperament to be influenced," I said. + +"Presently we shall find out, perhaps," he whispered as Sister Pomona +went to the piano. + +It was Chopin she played to-night, and Quarles, who had been more +interested in her than in the rest of the company, immediately lost +himself in the music. He applauded as vociferously as any one in the +audience, and after the performance would talk of nothing but music. It +pleased him to become learned on harmony and counterpoint; at least, I +suppose it was learned; I could not understand him. + +I had suggested that he should make the acquaintance of the pierrots as +soon as the curtain was down, but this he would not do. + +"To-morrow will be time enough; besides, I want to see them with the +paint off." + +We called on them on the following morning. They had rooms in a quiet +street in Fairtown. The landlady was accustomed to have strolling +companies as lodgers, and evidently had the knack of making them +comfortable. Quarles had a word or two with her before seeing her +visitors, and learnt that they were the nicest and quietest people +she had ever had. The poor gentleman who was dead was the quietest of +the company. + +"Perhaps he was in love," laughed Canaries. + +"I shouldn't be surprised," the landlady answered. + +"With whom?" + +"He seemed to spend most of his time looking at Miss Day when he +didn't think she would notice him. I don't wonder. She is well worth +looking at." + +"Admiration is not necessarily love," remarked the professor. "By the +way, have you been to the mortuary to see the body?" + +"Me!" exclaimed the landlady in horror. "No. I am not one of those +who take a morbid pleasure in that kind of thing. Nothing would +induce me to go." + +"Very sensible of you," Quarles said. + +We were then taken to the Watsons' sitting-room, and I explained the +reason of our call, speaking of Quarles as a brother detective. He did +not at once act up to his part. Mr. and Mrs. Watson were alone when we +first entered, but the others joined us almost at once, and I fancy they +were prepared for a visit from me; the local inspector may have said it +was likely. Quarles began to talk of music, and judging by Miss Day's +interest I concluded that he knew what he was talking about; in fact, all +of them were immensely interested in the old man, and for at least half +an hour the real reason of our being there was not mentioned. + +"Bach, no, I am not an admirer of Bach," said the professor, in answer to +a question from Miss Day. "Bad taste, no doubt, but I always think +musical opinion is particularly difficult to follow. By the way, I +suppose Mr. Henley played some instrument?" + +The sudden question seemed to change the whole atmosphere. Watson, I +fancy, had been ready to enter upon a defense of Shaw, and Miss Day to +convert Quarles to Bach worship; in fact, I firmly believe that every one +except myself had forgotten all about the dead man until that moment. + +"Why do you ask!" Watson inquired after a pause. + +"You are such a musical set, it would be strange if one of your company +could not play any instrument at all. I am told he sang tenor songs, and +was wondering whether that was all he could do." + +"As a fact he played the banjo and the guitar," said Watson, "but he has +not done so in Fairtown. The people here are high-class people, and we +have to vary our performance to suit our audiences. At Brighton, where we +go next week, Henley's banjo playing might have been the most popular +item on the program." + +"I can understand that. You know very little about Mr. Henley, I am +told," and he waved his hand in my direction to show where he had got his +information. + +"Very little," Watson replied. "He told us he had no relations, and he +received very few letters, which seemed to be from agents and business +people. I did not question him very closely when he applied to me. I +judged that he was down on his luck, but he fitted my requirements, and +my wife was favorably impressed with him." + +"And you have no reason to regret taking him into your company?" + +"On the contrary, he proved a great acquisition, a far better man than +the one whose place he took." + +"That is not quite what I meant," said Quarles. "Companies of +entertainers vary, not only in ability, but in individual tastes, in +personnel. By engaging Mr. Henley you were obliged to admit him into your +private circle, and I imagine--" + +"That is what I meant by saying my wife approved of him," said Watson. "I +wouldn't engage the finest tenor in the world unless he were a decent +fellow. It wouldn't be fair to the rest of us." + +Quarles nodded his appreciation of such an attitude. + +"Of course, as long as he behaves decently I am satisfied," Watson went +on. "I don't make my enquiries too particular. For instance, I shouldn't +bar a man because he had got into trouble." + +"Have you any reason to suppose that Henley had done so?" Quarles asked. +"That might account for his mysterious death." + +"I have no such suspicion," Watson answered; "indeed, he was not that +kind of man. It is my way--my clumsy way of explaining what I mean by +decent. Many a decent man has seen the inside of a prison. By being there +he pays his debt, and afterwards, in common justice, he should be free, +really free, free from his fellow-man's contempt." + +"You have started my husband on his pet hobby," laughed Mrs. Watson. "He +always declares that our prisons hold some of the best men in the world." + +"Some of the strongest and most potential," corrected her husband. + +"I am inclined to agree with him," said Quarles. + +"But I am taking up your time and not asking the one or two +questions I came especially to ask. You dress for the performance in +the tent, I suppose?" + +"The men do. The ladies dress here and go down with cloaks over their +costumes." + +Quarles undid a small brown paper parcel--I had wondered what he had +brought with him--and produced the pierrot's hat. + +"That is Henley's, I suppose?" + +Watson looked at it. + +"Undoubtedly. There is an 'H' in it, you see. We all put our initial in +like that so that we should know our own." + +"Now, can you suggest why Henley was wearing his dress?" asked Quarles. + +"That has puzzled us all," Watson answered. "I am inclined to think the +doctor is wrong as regards the time he had been dead. The last we saw of +Henley was when we left the tent that night. He was not coming back with +us, he was going straight to the station. He was a long time changing, +and I told him he would have to hurry to catch his train." + +"Is there such a late train up?" + +"Only during the summer." + +"And none of you went down to the tent until the evening of the +next day?" + +They all replied in the negative. + +"We are perhaps fortunate in being able to substantiate the denial," said +Watson. "We all drove to Craybourne and spent the day there, starting +soon after ten and not getting back until six." + +"And in the ordinary way Henley would have gone with you?" + +"Certainly. It was only just before the performance that evening that he +announced his journey to town. He said it was a matter of business." + +"One more question," said Quarles, "a delicate one, but you will forgive +it because you are as desirous of clearing up this mystery as any one. +Have you any reason to suppose poor Henley was in love?" + +"I have no reason to think so," said Watson. + +"Nor you, Miss Travers?" said Quarles, turning to Sister Penelope. + +"He certainly was not in love with me." + +"I ask the question just to clear the ground," said the professor after a +short pause, and rising as he spoke. "The man whose place Henley took +might have fallen in love with one of you young ladies, and if he thought +Henley had supplanted him he might have taken a mad revenge. Such things +do happen." + +"There was nothing of that sort," said Mrs. Watson. "Russell, that was +the other man, has gone on a voyage for his health. Only a week ago I had +a picture postcard from him from a port in South America." + +"That absolutely squashes the very germ of the theory," said the +professor with a smile. "Sometime I hope to enjoy your charming +entertainment again, and to hear you play, Miss Day. I hope it won't be +Bach. Good-by." + +As we walked back to the hotel I asked Quarles why he had not suggested +that Henley might be in love with Miss Day instead of Miss Travers. + +"My dear Wigan, you have yourself said she is undoubtedly a lady. Can +you imagine her allowing a man like the dead man to have anything to do +with her?" + +"Circumstances have thrown them into each other's company," I answered. +"In such a small circle she could hardly avoid him." + +"I am inclined to think the company will get on better without him," +he answered. + +To my astonishment the professor insisted on going back to town that +afternoon. No, he was not giving up the case, but he wanted to be in +Chelsea to think it out, and to see if Zena had got any foolish questions +to ask. This was Saturday, and on Monday I received a telegram from him, +requesting me to come to town. It was important. Of course I went, and +the three of us adjourned to the empty room. + +"I am sorry to bring you off the Beverley affair, Wigan, but I think we +ought to settle this pierrot business." + +"Then you have formed a theory?" + +"Oh, yes, and it is for you to prove whether I am right or wrong. If my +theory be correct, it is rather a simple case, although it appears +complicated. We will accept the doctor's statement that the man had been +murdered that day, and not on the previous night. He was done to death, +therefore, during the morning probably, when for some reason he had +visited the tent, and for some reason had put on his pierrot's dress. +Watson is inclined to think that the doctor is wrong as regards time, but +we may dismiss his opinion. The dead man's face had no make-up on it; had +the murder been committed on the previous night before he had got out of +his costume, the grease paint would have been still on him." + +"I think that conclusion is open to argument," I said. + +"I base the conclusion rather on the doctor's opinion than on the +paint," said Quarles. "Now, it seems to follow that Henley's tale about +being called to town was false, was apparently told for the purpose of +getting out of the excursion with his comrades; and we may fairly assume +that his visit to the tent was for some purpose which he did not want his +companions to know anything about." + +"Why did he put on the dress?" said Zena. + +"That is her persistent question, Wigan, and she also asks another almost +as persistently: Why, in spite of friendly words concerning Henley, +should they look upon the dead body with such repugnance?" + +"You make too much of that idea of mine, as I have said before," I +objected. + +"Let me put it another way," said Quarles. "How was it possible for +them to show so little concern about a comrade they liked! They might +screw themselves up to go through their performance and hide their +sorrow from the public, but in private one would have expected to find +them depressed. I hardly think they showed great sorrow while we were +with them." + +"They did not, certainly." + +"May I say that Watson and Miss Day seemed the least concerned, and even +venture a step further and guess that they were the two who seemed to you +to look upon the dead man with repugnance?" + +I admitted that this was the case, and it was then that Zena, having +heard the whole story from her grandfather, accused me of lingering in +the tent that night for the purpose of seeing Sister Pomona again. + +"Now, two points as we go," said Quarles, interrupting our little +side-spar. "Miss Day volunteered no statement when I talked of love. +Could she have made an unqualified denial I think she would have done so. +I did not ask her a direct question on purpose; I thought she would be +more likely to answer an indirect one. Her silence, I fancy, was the +answer. In view of what the landlady told us, I think we are safe in +assuming that Henley admired her, and that she was aware of the fact. The +second point is Watson's defense of the men who had been in prison, his +hobby, as his wife called it. We will come back to both these points in a +moment. Let us consider the dead man first. The face was evidently that +of a fast liver, not that of a decent man such as Watson spoke of; the +throat and neck were not of the kind one expects in a singer, but, of +course, we must not argue too much from this; the hands showed breed, +certainly, but they had never been used to twang the strings of a banjo +or guitar." + +"But Watson distinctly said--" + +"And the hat with 'H' in it had never fitted the dead man," said Quarles. +"Oh, I remember perfectly what Watson said, and, moreover, I believe I +heard a good many of his thoughts which were not put into words--you can +hear thoughts, you know, only it is with such delicacy that the very idea +of hearing seems too heavy and materialistic to describe the sensation. +Watson said the hat was Henley's, he also said that Henley played these +instruments; but the pierrots all wore hats that fitted, well-made hats, +and for this reason each of them marked his hat, and the skin at the +finger tips of a banjo player always hardens. The dead man was certainly +not Brother Pythagoras, and so far the deduction is simple." + +I made no comment. + +"Now it is obvious since these entertainers agreed that it was the body +of their comrade, they are in a conspiracy to deceive. Why? More than one +complicated reason might be found, but let us remain simple. They knew +who the dead man was, and because of what they knew of him concluded that +their comrade was responsible for his death. Have you any fault to find +with that deduction, Wigan?" + +"I don't think it follows," I said. + +"If they did not know the dead man, if they had nothing to conceal, why +did they allow it to be supposed that the dead man was Henley?" said +Queries. "There would be no object. They were running a risk for nothing. +As it was, their action protected Henley. No one was likely to question +their identification. The dead man would be buried as Henley, and there +would be an end of the matter." + +"But the dead man might be identified by his friends," I said. + +"Evidently they thought it worth while to run that risk, knowing perhaps +that it was not a very great one. Apparently it was not, for up to now no +one has made anxious inquiries for the dead man." + +"But some of the people about the sea-baths and the tent attendants would +know it was not Henley," said Zena. + +"We have evidence that he was a very quiet, reticent man," said Quarles. +"They probably hardly saw him in the daytime, and at night he would have +a painted face, and the fact that he was wearing the dress would go a +long way to convince any one who chanced to see him in the dim light at +the back of the stage that night." + +"And who do you suppose he was?" I asked. + +"We will go back to Watson and Miss Day," said Quarles. "Miss Day was +silent on the question of love, fearful, I take it, that her natural +repugnance to the man might serve to betray the conspiracy. I believe +the conspiracy was formed on the spur of the moment, just before Watson +came from behind the curtains that evening and asked whether you were a +doctor. I should say the dead man had pestered her, and that she was +relieved by his death. I find some confirmation of this in Watson's +attitude. He talks of some of the best men having been in prison, in such +a way, in fact, that his wife hastens to laugh at his hobby, afraid that +he will betray himself. Now he could hardly have been referring to the +dead man; he declared himself that he was not thinking of Henley; I +suggest that he was thinking of himself." + +"And you accused me of jumping to a conclusion!" I exclaimed. + +"I haven't finished yet," answered the professor. "Here is my complete +theory. The dead man knew something of Watson's past, and was holding +that knowledge over him, blackmailing him, in fact, and I think the +company knew it. At the same time he pesters Miss Day with his +attentions, which Henley, more than half in love with Miss Day himself, +resents and determines to rid the troupe of a blackguard. He begins by +pretending some friendship for his victim, and after giving out that he +is going to town, suggests to the dead man that his absence may be an +opportunity for the other to get into Miss Day's good graces. Why should +he not dress up and take his place on the following evening? I have +little doubt that Henley expected him to come to try on the dress that +night after the performance, which would account for his being such a +long time changing. The victim did not come; by the look of him in death +I should say he had not been sober, which would account for his not +coming. Next morning Henley goes to find him, takes him to the tent, not +through the door, which would be fastened probably in some way, but +surreptitiously, through some weak spot in the pegging down very likely." + +"But why should he wait until the man had got into the pierrot's dress +before murdering him?" said Zena. + +"Because, my dear, he hoped the body would not be discovered until +another troupe took possession of the tent. A dead pierrot would be +discovered, and the troupe at Brighton would be communicated with. In the +meanwhile Henley would have warned them, and the same tale would have +been told, and the body been identified as Henley's. There would be no +hue and cry after the murderer. Had it not been for Miss Day's pompon +being torn off, I have no doubt this would have been the course of +events. You will have to travel to Brighton, Wigan, and put one or two +questions to our friend Watson." + +"And who was the man?" I asked. + +"Since no one seems to have missed him I should say he was a man not too +anxious to have inquiries made about him, one careful to cover up his +tracks, perhaps one not altogether unknown in criminal circles, a man of +the type of your Beverley, for instance. By the way, have you ever seen +Beverley?" + +"No." + +"How were you to know him, then?" + +"By the man in whose company he would be." + +"And you have good reasons for expecting to run him to earth at +Fairtown?" + +"Excellent reasons," I answered. + +"Wigan, get some one who knows Beverley to go and look at the dead +pierrot. The result might be interesting." + +It was. Quarles admitted that the idea was a leap in the dark, but he +pointed out that the dead man was the type he imagined Beverley to be. +The fact remains he was right. The dead man was Beverley. And, moreover, +the professor's deduction was right throughout as far as we were able to +verify it. Watson had been in prison, quite deservedly he admitted, but +having paid the debt for his fall, he was facing the world bravely. Then +came Beverley, who knew of the past, and Watson admitted that his death +was a thing that he could not help rejoicing over. He had heard nothing +from Henley, who had no doubt read of the discovery in the paper, and +thought it wiser to obliterate himself altogether. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE TRAGEDY IN DUKE'S MANSIONS + + +I believe Beverley's exit from this life was a relief to his family. +Whether any very strenuous efforts were made to find Henley, I do not +know. Possibly the "Classical P's" are interrogated concerning him from +time to time, for they are still appearing at well-known watering places, +though whether Miss Day is still of the company, I cannot say. + +I quickly forgot all about Henley, being absorbed in a new case, which +created considerable attention. At the outset it brought me in contact +with rather a fascinating character, a man whose personality sticks in +your memory. + +He was an Italian by birth, cosmopolitan by circumstances, and by nature +something of an artist. Fate had ordained that he should be man-servant +to an English M.P.; he would have looked more at home in a Florentine +studio or in a Tuscany vineyard, but then Fate is responsible for many +incongruities. + +In well-chosen words, and in dramatic fashion, he drew the picture for +me. + +"The little dinner was over," he said, using his hands to illustrate his +speech. "I had removed everything but the wine. It had not been a merry +party, no; it was all business, I think, and serious. When I enter the +room to bring this or take that, they pause, say something of no +consequence--evidently I am not to hear anything of what they are +talking. They talk English, though only my master was English. One of his +guests was German, the other a countryman of my own, but not of Tuscany, +no, I think of the South. So there was only the wine on the table, and +cigars, and the silver box of cigarettes. My master had in his hand a +sheet of paper, and the German had taken a map from his pocket, and my +countryman was laughing at something which amused him. I can see it all +just as it was." + +He paused, closed his eyes, as if he would impress for ever on his memory +what he had seen. + +"And now--this," he said, throwing out his arms. "This, and not two hours +afterwards." + +This was certainly tragic enough. A shaded electric light hanging over +the table left the corners of the room in shadow. The wine, the cigars, +the silver cigarette box were still on the table, the smoke was heavy in +the atmosphere. A tray contained cigar and cigarette ends. On either side +of the table was a chair pushed back as it would be by a man rising from +it. At the end was a chair, with arms, also pushed back a little, but it +was not empty. In it was a man in evening dress, leaning back, his head +fallen a little to one side, his arms hanging loosely. But for the arms +of the chair he would have fallen to the floor. He was dead. How he had +died was uncertain. A casual examination told nothing, and I had not +moved him. I had arrived first and was expecting the doctor every moment. +I happened to be in my office when the telephone message came through +that Arthur Bridwell, M.P., had been found dead under suspicious +circumstances in his flat at Duke's Mansions, Knightsbridge. I went there +at once and found a constable in possession. It was barely half-past +nine now, and the Italian manservant said he had last seen his master +alive at seven o'clock. + +"He dined early to-night?" I said. + +"Yes, at six. He was going to the House afterwards. It was important, I +heard him say so to his guests." + +"And you went out at seven?" + +"About seven. It is my custom to go for a walk after serving my master," +was the answer. "I came back just before nine. I looked into this room, +not expecting to find any one here, but to put the wine away and take the +glasses, and I find this. I have moved nothing, I have touched nothing. I +called to the porter, and he fetched the police, and the policeman used +the telephone to call you." + +The Italian, whose name was Masini, was the only servant. Duke's +Mansions, as you probably know, is a set of flats, varying in +accommodation, with a central service. There is a general dining-room, +and there are smoking rooms and lounges which all the tenants may use; +or meals are served in the various flats from the central kitchen. +To-night Mr. Bridwell had had dinner served for three at an early hour +in his flat. + +The telephone was in the corner of the room, and I was going to it to +call up Christopher Quarles, convinced this was a case in which I should +need all the assistance I could get, when the telephone bell rang. + +"Hallo!" I said. "Who's that?" + +"I left my bag on the Chesterfield," came the answer. "Better not send +it. Keep it until I come again." + +"When?" I asked. + +There was a pause. + +"Is that you, Arthur?" came the question. + +"About the bag," I said, then paused. "Are you there?" + +No answer. My voice had evidently betrayed me. The woman at the other +end had discovered that she was speaking to the wrong man. I looked at +the Chesterfield. There was no bag of any kind upon it now. Then I +telephoned to Quarles, telling him there was a mysterious case for him to +investigate. + +"Had your master any other visitors to-day?" I asked casually, turning +to Masini. + +"Not to my knowledge. All the afternoon I was out." + +"Where were you?" + +"Out for my master. I took a parcel to a gentleman at Harrow." + +"To whom?" + +"It was to a Mr. Fisher. It was a small parcel, a big letter rather, for +it was in an envelope that--that size. There was no answer. I just told +my master that Mr. Fisher said it was all right." + +"So Mr. Bridwell might have had visitors while you were out?" + +"Certainly." + +"Did he have many visitors as a rule?" + +"Sometimes from what you call his constituency." + +"Any ladies?" + +"Ah, no, signore; my master was of the other kind. He did not like the +vote for women." + +"And you say you have moved nothing in this room?" + +"Nothing at all." + +Quarles arrived soon after the doctor had begun to examine the dead man, +so I could not then give him the particulars as far as I knew them. It +chanced that the doctor, a youngish man, was acquainted with the +professor, and was quite ready to listen to his suggestions. + +"What do you make of it, Professor?" he asked. + +"Is it poison!" said Quarles interrogatively. + +The doctor had already examined the glasses on the table. + +"I can find no signs of poison," he said. "And two hours ago the man +was alive." + +"That is according to the servant," I said. Masini was not in the room at +this time. + +"There is no reason to doubt the statement, is there?" the doctor asked. + +"No, but we have not yet corroborated it," I returned. + +Quarles was already busy with his lens examining the dead man's +shirt front. + +"You, have begun trying to find out who killed him before I have +pronounced upon the cause of death," said the doctor. "I am inclined to +think it is poison, but--" + +"He didn't inject a drug, I suppose!" said Quarles. + +"Not in his arm, you can look and satisfy yourself on that point. It is +just possible that he made an injection through his clothes. It requires +a more careful investigation than I can make to-night before I can give a +decided opinion." + +"Quite so, but you do not mind my looking at the body rather closely? A +little thing so often tells a big story, and the little things are +sometimes difficult to find once the body has been moved." + +The doctor watched Quarles's close investigation with some amusement. The +shirt front came in for a lot of attention, and the collar was examined +right round to the back of the neck. It was a long time before Quarles +stood erect and put the lens in his pocket. I got the impression that he +had prolonged the investigation for the purpose of impressing the doctor. + +"It would be virulent poison which would kill a man so quickly and while +he sat in his chair," Quarles said reflectively. + +"It would, indeed," the doctor returned. + +"You have formed no idea what the poison was?" + +"Not yet." + +"No hypodermic syringe has been found, I suppose?" said Quarles, +turning to me. + +"No." + +"You see, doctor," he went on, "if the glasses there show no evidence of +poison, and nothing has been moved, and you decide that poison was the +cause of death, one might jump to the conclusion that it had been +self-administered with a syringe; that is why I ask about a syringe." + +"There are such things as tablets," said the doctor, "or the poison may +have been in the food he has eaten to-night." + +"Exactly," Quarles snapped irritably. + +The doctor smiled; he had certainly scored a point and was +evidently pleased. + +"Besides, Professor, you are a little previous with your questions. This +isn't the inquest, you know; we haven't got through the post-mortem yet." + +"I generally form an opinion before the inquest," said Quarles as he +looked at each glass in turn and stirred the contents of the ash-tray +with a match. + +"You must often make mistakes," remarked the doctor. "I propose having +the body moved to the bedroom; there is nothing else you would like to +look at before I do so?" + +"Thanks, doctor, nothing," said Quarles with a smile which showed that he +had recovered his lost temper. + +After the removal of the body the doctor departed, fully convinced, I +believe, that the professor was a much overrated person. + +"Well, Wigan, shall I tell you what the result of the post-mortem is +likely to be?" said Quarles. + +"If you can. Remember you have not heard what I have to say yet." + +"No sign of poison will be found. No sign of violence will be discovered +anywhere upon the body. Sudden heart failure--that will be apparent. The +cause obscure. Organs seemingly healthy; no discernible disease. Muscular +failure. Death from natural causes. A case interesting to the medical +world, perhaps, but with no suggestion of foul play about it. Now let me +have your tale." + +"But surely you--" + +"I assure you I have formed no definite theory yet. How can I until I +have your story!" + +I repeated what Masini had told me, and I told him about the +telephone message. + +"It was a woman. You are quite sure it was a woman?" + +"Quite certain." + +He went to the telephone. + +"There is a directory here, I see; did you touch it?" + +"No." + +"It wasn't open?" + +"It was just as you see it now." + +He took a piece of paper and made one or two notes. + +"I imagine that particular call would be difficult to trace," he said. +"Duke's Mansions has a number, and from the office in the building the +particular flat required is switched on. There must have been scores of +calls during the evening. I don't remember anything particular about +Arthur Bridwell's parliamentary career, do you?" + +"No, beyond the fact that he is Member for one of the divisions +of Sussex." + +Quarles looked slowly round the room. + +"A bag," he mused; "one of those small chain or leather affairs which +women carry, I suppose; a purse in it, a handkerchief, perhaps a letter +or two. Bridwell would see it in all probability after the lady had +left, and he would--he would put it on a side table or slip it into a +drawer out of the way. Shall we just have Masini in and ask him a +question or two?" + +Instead of questioning the Italian the professor got him to repeat the +story as he had told it to me. It was exactly the same account. + +"You know nothing about these two visitors?" + +"Nothing, signore. I had never seen them before, but I should know +them again." + +"No names were mentioned in your presence?" + +"No." + +"Have you ever taken parcels to this Mr. Fisher before?" asked Quarles. + +"Never." + +"Was the parcel hard; something of metal or leather?" + +"Oh, no, signore; it was papers only." + +"And you saw Mr. Fisher?" + +"Yes." + +"What was he like? Was he English?" + +Masini said he was, and gave a description which might have fitted any +ten men out of the first dozen encountered in the street. He also +described the two visitors, but the portraits drawn were not startling. + +"What did Mr. Fisher say when you gave him the packet? What were his +exact words, I mean?" + +"He said: 'All right, tell Mr. Bridwell I shall start at once'." + +"How long have you been in Mr. Bridwell's service?" + +"Three years," was the answer. "He was traveling in Italy, and I +was a waiter in an hotel at Pisa. He liked me and made me an offer, +and I became his servant. I have traveled much with him in all +parts of Europe." + +"Are you sure you never saw either of the men who dined here to-night +while you were traveling with your master in Italy?" + +"I am sure, but on oath--it would be difficult to take an oath. His +friends were of a different kind. My master was writing a book on Italy; +he is still at work on it. Ah, signore, I should say he was at work on +it. Shall I show you his papers in the other room?" + +The voluminous manuscripts proved that Bridwell was engaged upon a +monumental work dealing with the Italian Renaissance. + +"Most interesting," said Quarles. "I should like to sit down at once and +spend hours with it. This is valuable. Mr. Bridwell's business man ought +to take charge of these papers. Do you know the name of his solicitors?" + +"Mr. Standish, in Hanover Square," Masini answered. + +The Italian declared he knew nothing about a lady's bag, and we searched +for it in vain. Then Quarles and I interviewed the hall porter. He knew +that Bridwell had had two gentlemen to dine with him that evening, but he +had not taken any particular notice of them. They left soon after eight, +he said. He corroborated the Italian's statement that he had gone out at +seven, and had returned just before nine. + +"You didn't see a lady go up to Mr. Bridwell's flat?" + +"No, sir, but I was not in the entrance hall at the time from eight to +nine. It is usually a slack time with me." + +"I did not mean then," said Quarles. "I meant at any time during the +day." + +"I do not remember a lady calling on Mr. Bridwell at anytime." + +It was early morning when the professor and I left Duke's Mansions. + +"There are two obvious things to do, Wigan," said Quarles. "First, we +must know something of this man Fisher. I think you should go to Harrow +as soon as possible. Then we want to know something of Bridwell's +parliamentary record. You might get an interview with one or two of his +colleagues, and ask their opinion of him as a public man and as a private +individual. Come to Chelsea to-night. You will probably have raked up a +good many facts by then, and we may find the right road to pursue. I will +also make an inquiry or two. At present I confess to being puzzled." + +"You told the doctor that you usually formed an opinion before the +inquest," I reminded him with a smile. + +"And he immediately talked of tablets and poisoned foods, and looked +horribly superior. He is a young man, and I knew his father, who once did +me a good turn. I shall have to repay the debt and prevent the son making +a fool of himself." + +"You have no doubt that it was murder?" I asked. + +"Why, you told me it was yourself when you rang me up on the 'phone," +he answered. + +As had often happened before, Quarles's manner of shutting me up annoyed +me, but when you have to deal with an eccentric it is no use expecting +him to travel in an ordinary orbit. + +To obviate unnecessary repetition I shall give the result of my +inquiries as I related it to Quarles and Zena when I went to Chelsea +that night. + +"You look satisfied and successful, Wigan," said the professor. + +"I am both," I answered. "Whether we shall catch the actual criminal is +another matter. We may at least lay our hands on one of his accomplices. +Will it surprise you to learn that I am having the Italian Masini +carefully watched?" + +"It is a wise precaution." + +"I am inclined to adopt the method you do sometimes, professor, and begin +at the end," I went on. "First, as regards Mr. Bridwell's parliamentary +friends and acquaintances, and his political career. Although he is a +Member whose voice is not often heard in the House, his intimate +knowledge of Europe, its general history and politics, gives him +importance. He is constantly consulted by the Government, and his opinion +is always considered valuable. His colleagues are unanimous on this +point, and generally he seems to be respected." + +"But the respect is not unanimous, you mean?" + +"It is not." + +"And in his private life?" + +"I have not found any one who was intimate with him in private." + +"I see; kept politics and his private life entirely separate," +said Quarles. + +"I am not prepared to say that," I answered. "I have not had time to hunt +up anybody on the private side yet, and I do not think it will be +necessary. One of the men I saw was Reynolds, of the War Office. I was +advised to go and see him, as he was supposed to know Bridwell well. He +did not have much good to say about him. It seems that for some time past +there has been a leakage of War Office secrets, that in some +unaccountable way foreign powers have obtained information, and suspicion +has pointed to Bridwell being concerned. So far as I can gather, nothing +has been actually proved against him, and I pointed out that his intimate +knowledge of European affairs made him rather a marked man. Reynolds, +however, was very definite in his opinion, spoke as if he possessed +knowledge which he could not impart to me. He was not surprised to hear +of Bridwell's death. When I spoke of murder he was rather skeptical, +remarked that in that case Bridwell must have been double-dealing with +his paymasters, and had paid the penalty; but it was far more likely to +be suicide, he thought, and said it was the best thing, the only thing, +in fact, which Bridwell could do. I have no doubt Reynolds knew that some +action had been taken which could not fail to show Bridwell that he was +suspected." + +Quarles nodded, evidently much interested. + +"This view receives confirmation from the movements of Fisher," I went +on. "He left Harrow last night--must have gone almost directly after he +received the packet. He only occupies furnished rooms in Harrow, and the +landlady tells me that during the year he has had them he has often been +away for days and even weeks at a time. Announcing his return, or giving +her some instructions, she has received letters from him from Berlin, +Madrid, Rome, and Vienna. That is significant, Professor." + +"It is. Did she happen to mention any places in England from which she +has heard from him?" + +"Yes, several--York, Oakham, Oxford, and also from Edinburgh." + +"She did not mention any place in Sussex?" + +"No, I think not." + +"It would appear then that Fisher could have had nothing to do with +Bridwell's legitimate political business or he would certainly have +spent some time in the constituency. Well, Wigan, what do you make of +the case?" + +"I think it is fairly clear in its main points," I answered. "Bridwell +has been selling information to foreign powers, and would naturally deal +with the highest bidders. Fisher is a foreign agent, and having received +valuable information yesterday, left England with it at once. The two men +who came to dinner represented some other power, came no doubt by +appointment to receive information, but probably knew that their host was +dealing doubly with them. Bridwell's commercial ingenuity in the matter +has been his undoing, hence his death. Whether Masini was attached to +Fisher, or to the schemes of the other two, it is impossible to say, but +I believe he was an accomplice on one side or the other." + +"I built up a similar theory, Wigan; not with the completeness you have, +of course, because I knew nothing of the suspicions concerning Bridwell, +but when I had made it as complete as I could, I began to pick it to +pieces. It fell into ruins rather easily, and you do not help me to build +it again." + +"It seems to me the main facts cannot be got away from," I said. + +"Zena assisted in the ruining process by saying, 'Cherchez la femme.'" + +"You see, Murray, you do not account for the woman and the bag," +said Zena. + +"They are extraneous incidents belonging to his private life. It is +remarkable how distinct he kept his private from his political life." + +"Very remarkable," Quarles said. "Yet the woman is also a fact, and she +seems to me of the utmost importance. We must account for her, and your +explanation brings me no sense of satisfaction. Let me tell you how I +began to demolish my theory, Wigan. I started with Masini. Now, he seemed +honest to me. He was very ready to repeat Fisher's exact words, and the +very fact of my asking for them would have made him suspicious and put +him on his guard had he possessed any guilty knowledge, whether it +concerned Fisher or the two visitors. Further, had he been in league with +the two visitors and knew they had murdered his master, he would hardly +have been so ready to block suspicion in other directions. He would not +have said his master's visitors came chiefly from his constituency, and +he certainly would not have scouted the idea of a woman caller. He would +have welcomed such a suggestion, fully appreciating how valuable a woman +would be in starting an inquiry on a false trail." + +"But you mustn't attribute to an Italian servant all the subtlety you +might use under similar circumstances," I said. + +"I am showing you how I picked my own theory to pieces," he answered. "I +next considered the visitors. I assumed they were there for an unlawful +purpose--your facts go to show that my assumption was right--and I asked +myself why and how they had murdered Bridwell. If he were a schemer with +them, there would be no need to murder him, no need to silence him; were +he to talk afterwards he would only injure himself, not them. If they +were there to force papers from their host, it seems unlikely that he +would be so unsuspicious of them that he would have asked them to dinner, +and, even if he were, a moment must have come during, or after dinner, +when they must have shown their hand. A man who deals in this kind of +commerce does not easily trust people. Bridwell's suspicions would +certainly have been aroused; he would in some measure, at any rate, have +been prepared, and we should have found some signs of a struggle." + +"I admit the soundness of the argument," I answered. "For my part I +incline to Reynolds' opinion that it was suicide after all." + +"Oh, no; it was murder," said Quarles. + +"A tablet--" I began. + +"I know it was murder," returned the professor sharply, "and the manner +of it has presented the chief difficulty I have found in demolishing my +theory altogether. Bridwell was poisoned by an injection. The hypodermic +needle was inserted under the hair at the back of the head, here in the +soft part of the base of the skull, the hair concealing the small mark it +made. I believe the secret of the poison used is forgotten, but you may +read of it in books relating to the Vatican of old days and concerning +the old families of Italy. I might mention the Borgias particularly. So +you see my difficulty, Wigan. The crime literally reeked of Italy, and we +had two Italians amongst our dramatis personae." + +"A significant fact," I said. + +"Of course I am letting the doctor know of my discovery; that is the good +turn I shall do him. He will be considered quite smart over this affair. +Now consider this point. It would surely have been very difficult, once +the host's suspicions had been aroused, to make the injection without a +struggle on the victim's part." + +"No suspicion may have been aroused," I said. "Masini has told us of a +map. The murderer might have been leaning over his victim examining it." + +"That is true. You pick out the weak point," said Quarles. + +"Even then there would have been some sort of struggle, surely," said +Zena. "The poison can hardly act instantaneously." + +"Practically it does," Quarles answered. "I have read of it, of the +different methods of its administration, and of its results, and no doubt +any one acquainted with old Italian manuscripts would be able to get more +detailed information than I have; but it produces almost instant +paralysis, acts on the nerve centers, and stops the heart's action, +leaving no trace behind it. What straggle there was could be overcome by +the pressure of a man's hand upon the victim's chest, to keep him from +rising from his seat, for instance. I found signs of such a detaining +hand on Bridwell's shirt front. Of course, Wigan, while pulling my theory +to pieces I knew nothing of your facts about Bridwell, but now that I do +know them, the theory is not saved from ruin. Have you ever watched +trains rushing through a great junction--say Clapham Junction?" + +"Yes; often." + +"And haven't you noticed how the lines, crossing and recrossing one +another, seem to be alive, seem to be trying to draw the train to run +upon them, to deviate it from its course, until you almost wonder whether +the train will be able to keep its right road? There seems to be great +confusion; yet we know this is not so. We know those many lines are +mathematically correct. If you want to keep your eye on the main line, +you mustn't be misled by the lines which touch and cross it, which seem +to belong to it, until they suddenly sweep off in another direction. In +this Bridwell affair we have to be careful not to be misled by cross +lines, and I grant there are many. You say the woman is an extraneous +episode; but is she? She left a bag, which is not to be found. Had Masini +known of her existence I do not think he would have denied all knowledge +of her, for the reasons I have already given, and I argue that her visit +to the flat was timed to occur when the servant was out, so that he +should know nothing about her. The hall porter knew nothing; about a lady +visiting the flat at any time, so we must assume the woman was not a +constant visitor. Moreover, we know that she had something to hide, some +secret, or she would not have ceased speaking directly she found she was +addressing a stranger. She probably belonged to Bridwell's private life. +Now Zena says, 'Cherchez la femme,' but there is no need to look for her; +she forces herself upon our notice. We know that Bridwell was alive at +seven o'clock: we know his visitors did not leave him until eight. It is +hardly conceivable that the woman came to the flat after that to commit a +crime, impossible to believe that she would leave her bag there to be +evidence against her, and then telephone about it to a man she knew to be +dead. We may dismiss from our minds any idea that she committed murder." + +"I can see a possibility of immense subtlety on her part," I said. + +"That is to be deceived by a crossing line, which ought not to deceive +you, which leads only into a siding," said Quarles. "We have to remember +that there was a bag, and that it has disappeared" + +"She may have made a mistake and left it somewhere else," said Zena. + +"I think we may be sure it was left there, because she states distinctly +where it was left--on the Chesterfield. There was something in her mind +to fix the place. Moreover, she says, 'Better not send it.' Very +significant, that. Bridwell is to keep it until she comes again. +Therefore there was some person she would not have know of her visit to +the flat, some person who might possibly find out if the bag were +returned. I suggest that person was her husband." + +"I think you have struck the side line," I remarked. + +"Let me continue to build on the private life of Mr. Bridwell," Quarles +went on. "I find a foundation in his literary work--no mean work, +absorbing a great part of his life. There would be constant need to refer +to libraries, to pictures and other works of art, some of them in private +collections. A great deal of this work could be done by an assistant. +Shall we say the name of this assistant was Fisher? I observe you do not +think it likely." + +"I certainly do not." + +"But a secret agent engaged in stealing Government information would +hardly advertise his movements to his landlady; he would surely have been +more secret than that. On the other hand, the places Fisher mentions have +famous libraries and picture galleries. What would a secret agent want at +Oxford? A man bent on research would be going to the Bodleian. Country +seats with famous works of art in their galleries would account for +Fisher's presence in other places mentioned by the landlady." + +"Is it not strange the Italian servant knew nothing about this wonderful +assistant?" I said. + +"No doubt Bridwell usually saw him in town, at his club, or elsewhere, or +communicated with him through the post; but on this occasion Masini was +purposely sent to be out of the way when the lady came. We know there +was some need for secrecy, and I suggest that Bridwell was in love with +another man's wife. In passing, I would point out that the answer Fisher +sent back bears out my idea of the assistantship." + +"It may," I answered. + +"Now Bridwell's work on the Italian Renaissance no doubt has much +information concerning the Vatican, and much to say about the prominent +Italian families. As a student, Bridwell would be likely to know all +about the romances of poisoned bouquets, gloves, prepared sweetmeats, and +the rest of the diabolical cunning which existed." + +"But we know that he didn't kill himself," I said. + +"Exactly. We have to find some one who shared the knowledge with him. Let +me go back to the missing bag for a moment. Since it was on the +Chesterfield, Bridwell must have seen it. What would he do with it? What +would you have done with it, Wigan? I think you would have just put it on +a side table or in a handy drawer; yet it had gone. The fact of its +disappearance stuck in my mind from the first, although I did not at once +see the full significance of it. On the cover of the telephone directory +there were two or three numbers scribbled in pencil; I made a note of +them with the idea that the woman might be traced that way. However, +arguing that a man would be likely to know the telephone number of a +woman he was in love with, and have no necessity to write it down, I took +no trouble in this direction. I went to see Bridwell's solicitor instead. +I led him to suppose that I was interested in the study of the +Renaissance, and asked him if Bridwell had had a companion during his +wanderings in Italy three years ago. For part of the time, at any rate, +he had--a partner rather than a companion, a man named Ormrod--Peter +Ormrod. I knew the name at once, because Ormrod has written many +articles for the reviews, and all of them have been about Italy in the +thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Ormrod's telephone number is 0054 +Croydon, and he is married, and I think it was his wife who spoke to you +over the telephone. My theory is that Ormrod had discovered that his wife +was in love with his friend, and used his knowledge of this poisoning +method, which could not be detected, remember, to be revenged. I think he +came to the flat that evening after Bridwell's guests had gone, perhaps +he expected to find his wife there. I do not think he quarreled with his +false friend. I think he showed great friendliness, talked a little of +the past perhaps; and then, in examining some book or paper, leant over +his friend as he sat at the table, and the deed was done. If the bag was +lying on a side table he saw it and took it away; if it was lying in a +drawer no doubt he found it while he was looking for letters from his +wife to Bridwell, or for her photograph--anything which would connect her +name with Bridwell. Somehow, he found it and took it away. There is no +one else who would be likely to take it." + +This was the solution. It was proved beyond all doubt that Bridwell had +been dealing in Government secrets, and changes had to be made to ensure +that the information he had sold should be useless to the purchasers; but +this crime had nothing to do with his murder. The denouement was rather +startling. When we went to Ormrod's house next day we found that he had +gone. His wife, after fencing with us a little, was perfectly open. She +had arranged to go away with Bridwell and had visited him that day to +talk over final arrangements. It was the first time she had ever been to +the flat. Yesterday, a telegram had come for her husband. He opened it +in her presence, and told her he was going away at once, and for good. +Then he gave her the bag, saying he had found it in Bridwell's rooms on +the previous evening. Bridwell was dead, that was why he was going away. + +The solicitor Standish was a friend of Ormrod's, and after Quarles had +gone had suddenly realized what the inquiry might mean, so had +telegraphed a warning. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE STOLEN AEROPLANE MODEL + + +It was probably on account of the acumen he had shown in solving the +mystery of Arthur Bridwell's death that the government employed Quarles +in the important inquiry concerning a stolen model. For political reasons +nothing got into the papers at the time, but now there is no further need +of secrecy. + +You would have been astonished, I fancy, had you chanced upon us in the +empty room at Chelsea on a certain Friday afternoon. No trio of sane +persons could have looked more futile. On a paper pad the professor was +making odd diagrams which might have represented a cubist's idea of an +aeroplane collision; Zena was looking at her hands as if she had +discovered something new and unfamiliar about them; and I was turning the +leaves of my pocket book, hoping to get an inspiration. + +"The man-servant," said Zena, breaking the silence, which had lasted a +long time. + +"You have said that a dozen times in the last twenty-four hours," Quarles +returned rather shortly, adding after a moment's pause, as if he were +giving us valuable information, "and to-day is Friday." + +"It is simply impossible that the servant should know so little," she +persisted. "His ignorance is too colossal to be genuine. He doesn't know +whether he was attacked by one person or by half-a-dozen; he is not sure +that it wasn't a woman who seized him; he has no idea what his master +kept in the safe or in the cupboard. Well, all I can say is, I do not +believe him." + +I was inclined to agree with her, but in silence I went on looking +through the notes I had made concerning the extraordinary case which +must be solved quickly if the solution were to be of any benefit to +the country. Quarles was also silent, continuing his work as an +amateur cubist. + +He had expressed no definite opinion since the case had come into his +hands, nor had he laughed at any speculation of mine, a sure sign that he +was barren of ideas. I had never known him so reticent. + +It was his case entirely, not mine, and the fact that the government had +considered he was the only man likely to get to the bottom of the mystery +was a recognition of his powers, which pleased him no doubt. Twenty-four +hours had elapsed since he had been put in possession of the facts, and +although they had been spent in tireless energy by both of us--for he had +immediately sent for me--we seemed as far from the truth as ever. + +On the previous Tuesday Lady Chilcot had given a dance in her house in +Mayfair. Her entertainments always had a political flavor, and on this +particular evening her rooms seemed to have been full of conflicting +influences. + +There was considerable political tension at the time, consequent upon one +of those periodical disturbances in the Balkans, and people remarked upon +the coolness between the Minister for War and certain ambassadors who +were all present at Lady Chilcot's. + +Imagination may have had something to do with this conclusion, but two +apparently trivial incidents assumed importance as regards the case in +hand. The Silesian ambassador was seen in very earnest conversation with +a young man attached to the Silesian Embassy; and the Minister of War +had buttonholed young Lanning. + +Of course, we did not know what the Silesians had talked about, but to +Lanning the minister had remarked that, in view of the political +situation, the experiments which had been witnessed that day might prove +to be of supreme importance. Lanning expressed gratification that the +experiments had been found convincing, and ventured to hope the +government would not delay getting to work. + +With the minister's assurance that the government was keen, Richard +Lanning went to find Barbara Chilcot, Lady Chilcot's daughter, but not to +talk about the Minister of War or about any experiments. He was in love +with her, and had every reason to believe that she liked him. + +She was, however, very cool to him that evening, and sarcastically +inquired why he was not in attendance upon Mademoiselle Duplaix as usual. +She only laughed at his denials, and when he suggested that she should +ask his friend, Perry Nixon, whether there was any ground for her +suspicions, said that when she danced with Mr. Nixon later in the evening +she hoped to find something more interesting to talk about than +Mademoiselle Duplaix. + +Lanning comforted himself with the reflection that if Barbara were +indifferent to him she would have said nothing about Yvonne Duplaix, and +as he had another dance with her at the end of the program hoped to make +his peace then. + +When this dance came, however, he could not find her, and afterwards +discovered that she had sat it out with the young Silesian. He was angry +and felt a little revengeful, but he did not mention Barbara to Perry +Nixon when they left the house together and walked to Piccadilly. + +He left Nixon at the corner of Bond Street and went to his flat in +Jermyn Street. + +He found his man, Winbush, lying on the dining-room floor, gagged and +half unconscious. The safe in his bedroom had been broken open, important +papers had been stolen from it, and a wooden case, which he had locked in +a cupboard there, had been taken away. + +Fully alive to the gravity of the loss, and oblivious of the fact that +neglect would be attributed to him, he immediately telephoned to the +Minister of War. + +Then he 'phoned to Nixon's rooms in Bond Street, and Nixon came round at +once. Up to that time Lanning had said nothing about the experiments to +his friend; now he told him the whole story. + +Richard Lanning belonged to the Army Flying Corps, and was not only a +good airman, but was an authority upon flying machines. For some time +past there had been secret trials of various types of stabilizers, and +one invention, somewhat altered at Lanning's suggestion, had proved so +successful that safety in flight seemed assured in the near future. + +Detailed plans had been prepared, a working model constructed, and only +that afternoon these had been secretly exhibited by Lanning in London to +a few members of the government and some War Office officials. + +Only four men at the works knew anything about the secret, and even their +knowledge was not complete, so it seemed impossible that information +could leak out, yet the plans and the working model had been stolen. + +Of course Lanning was blamed for having them at his flat; he ought to +have taken them back to the works. The fact that this would have meant +missing Lady Chilcot's dance was an added mark against him, and +suggested a neglect of duty. + +Under the circumstances publicity was not desirable, and Christopher +Quarles was asked to solve the mystery. Instructions were telegraphed to +the various ports with a view to preventing the model and the plans being +taken out of the country, and, as I have said, the professor and I +entered upon a strenuous time. + +All our preliminary information naturally came from Lanning, who appeared +quite indifferent to his own position so long as the stolen property was +recovered. + +The man Winbush could throw little light upon the affair. He was in his +own room when he had heard a noise in the passage and supposed his master +had returned earlier than he expected. To make sure, he had gone to the +dining-room, but before he could switch on the light he had been seized +from behind, a pungent smell was in his nostrils, and he was only just +beginning to recover consciousness when his master found him. + +He had not seen his assailants, he could not say how many there were, and +he was inclined to think one of them was a woman, he told Quarles, +because when he first entered the dining-room there was a faint perfume +which suggested a woman's presence. + +"It was like a woman when she is dressed for a party," he said in +explanation. + +He had seen his master bring in the wooden case that afternoon, but he +did not know what it contained. + +As Zena said, it sounded a lame story, but Lanning believed it. Winbush +had been connected with the family all his life, was devoted to him, and +it was not likely he would know what the case contained. Lanning could +only suppose that some man at the works had turned traitor, while Mr. +Nixon gave it as his opinion that either France or Germany had pulled +the strings of the robbery. + +Acting under Quarles's instructions, I had an interview with Miss +Chilcot. She corroborated Lanning's story in every detail so far as she +was concerned, and incidentally I understood there was no more than a +lover's quarrel between them. She had sat out with the young Silesian on +purpose to annoy Richard. Certainly they had talked of aeroplaning; it +was natural, since two days before she had seen some flying at Ranelagh, +but Lanning's name had not been mentioned. Miss Chilcot knew nothing +about the experiments which had taken place, nor was she aware that her +lover was responsible for some of the improvements which had been made in +stabilizers. Rather inconsequently she was annoyed that he had not +confided in her. Miss Chilcot carried with her a faint odor of Parma +violets. Quarles had told me to note particularly whether she used any +kind of perfume. + +I was convinced of two things; first, that she was telling the truth +without concealing anything, and, secondly, that Mr. Lanning was likely +to marry a very charming but rather exacting young woman. When I said so +to Quarles he annoyed me by remarking that some women were capable of +making lies sound much more convincing than the truth. + +I did not attempt to get an interview with Mademoiselle Duplaix, but I +made inquiries concerning her, and had a man watching her movements. + +Apparently she was the daughter of a good French family, and was making a +prolonged stay with the Payne-Kennedys, who moved in very good society. +You may see their name constantly in the _Morning Post_. It was whispered +that they were not above accepting a handsome fee for introducing a +protegee into society, a form of log-rolling which is far more prevalent +than people imagine. Whether the girl's entrance into London society had +been paid for or not I am unable to say, but she had quickly established +herself as a success. It was generally agreed that she was both witty and +charming, the kind of girl men easily run after, but not the sort they +usually marry. + +She had evidently managed to cause dissension in various directions, so +the suggestion that there was something of the adventuress about her +might be nothing more than a spiteful comment. It justified us in keeping +a watch upon her, but I had no definite opinion in the matter, not having +seen the lady, and, as Quarles said, a fascinating foreigner is easily +called an adventuress. + +I also made careful inquiries concerning the young Silesian, and had him +pointed out to me. He had recently come from his own capital, and was +remaining in London only for a short time. He was a relative of the +ambassador, and was not here in any official capacity, it was stated. +This might be true so far as it went, but at the same time he might be +connected with the secret service. + +The professor said very little about his investigations, and I concluded +he had met with no success. He had spent some hours with Lanning at the +works, I knew, but if he had tapped any other sources of information he +did not mention them. + +He was still engaged in his cubist's drawings when the telephone +bell rang. + +"I'll go," he said as Zena jumped up; "I am expecting a message." + +He went into the hall, and when he returned told us that Lanning and +Nixon were on their way to Chelsea. + +"I told them to 'phone me if anything happened," he said. + +"And you expected to hear from them?" I asked. + +"My name is Micawber when I am in a hole, and I wait for something to +turn up. Waiting is occasionally the best way of getting to the end of +the journey. We will hear what they have to say, Wigan, and then we shall +possibly have to get a move on." + +Evidently he had a theory, but he would say nothing about it. He amused +himself by explaining that mechanical action, such as drawing meaningless +lines and curves, as he had been doing, had the effect of giving the +brain freedom to think, and declared that it was during times of this +sort of freedom that inspiration most usually came. + +He was still engrossed with the subject when Lanning and Nixon arrived. + +Quarles introduced them to Zena, saying that she always helped him in his +investigations. + +"Oh, no, not as a clairvoyant," he said with a smile as both men looked +astonished. "She just uses common sense, a very valuable thing in +detective work, I can assure you." + +"Are you any nearer a solution?" Lanning asked. + +"I thought you had come to give me some information," Quarles returned. + +"I have, but--" + +"Sit down, then, and to business. I am still wanting facts, which are +more useful than all my theories." + +"Mademoiselle Duplaix telephoned to me this morning," said Lanning. "A +man called on her to-day, a mysterious foreigner. He gave no name, but +she thinks he was a Silesian, although he spoke perfect French. He talked +to her in French, his English being of a fragmentary kind. He asked her +to give him the plans of the new aeroplane. You can imagine her surprise. +When she said she had got no plans he expressed great astonishment and +plunged into the whole story of how I had been robbed. Until that moment +Mademoiselle knew nothing of what had happened in my flat, but this +foreigner had evidently got hold of the whole story." + +"Who had told him to call upon her?" Quarles asked. + +"In the course of an excited narrative he mentioned two or three names +entirely unknown to her, but the man seemed to think that I should have +sent her the plans." + +"Very curious," Quarles remarked. + +"He then became apologetic," Lanning went on, "but all the same left the +impression that he did not believe her; in fact, she describes his +attitude as rather threatening. It wasn't until after he had gone that +she thought she ought to have him followed, and then it was too late. He +was out of the street. Probably he had a motor waiting for him. Then she +telephoned to me, but I was out, and have only just received her message. +What do you make of it?" + +"It gives a new turn to the affair," said Quarles reflectively. "It +leaves an unpleasant doubt whether Mademoiselle Duplaix is as innocent as +she ought to be, doesn't it?" + +"I don't think so." + +"Would she have telephoned to Lanning if she were guilty?" said Nixon. + +"My experience is that where women are concerned it is very difficult to +tell what line of action will be followed. Women are distinctly more +subtle than men." + +Then after a pause the professor went on: "It is difficult to understand +how this foreigner could have made such a mistake. You have told us, Mr. +Lanning, that there is nothing between you and this lady, but Miss +Chilcot had her suspicions, remember, which suggests that, without +intending to do so, you have paid her attentions which other people have +misunderstood. Now, do you think you have given Mademoiselle Duplaix a +wrong impression, made her believe, in short, that you cared for her, and +so caused her to be jealous and perhaps inclined to be revengeful?" + +"I am sure I have not." + +"Think well, it is a very important point. For instance, has she ever +given you any keepsake, a glove, a handkerchief, something--some trifle +she was wearing at a dance when--when you flirted with her? Girls do that +kind of thing, so my niece there has told me." + +Zena smiled and made no denial. + +"Nothing of the kind has happened between Mademoiselle and myself," +said Lanning. + +"And yet there seems to be a distinct attempt on some one's part to +implicate you." + +"That is true, and I am quite at a loss to understand it." + +"I have wondered whether it is not a clever device to put us off the +trail," said Nixon. "Your investigations may have led you nearer the +truth than you imagined, Mr. Quarles, and this may be an attempt to set +you off on a wrong scent. It seems such an obvious clue, doesn't it? They +would guess that Lanning would communicate with you." + +"That hardly explains why they went to Mademoiselle Duplaix, does it?" + +"But the fact that she is French may," Nixon answered. "Perhaps I am +prejudiced, but I believe Silesia has pulled the strings of this affair, +and that would be a very good reason for trying to implicate France. It +has occurred to Lanning whether the plot might not be frustrated at the +other end of it, so to speak. Lanning thinks it would be a good idea if +we went to Silesia." + +"What do you think of the idea?" Lanning asked. "I should have our +Embassy there behind me, and I should probably manage to get in touch +with the men who are active in Silesia's secret service. I mentioned it +to my chief this morning, and he thought there was a great deal in it, +but advised a consultation with you first." + +"I think it is a good idea," said Quarles, "and it suggests another one. +I am still a little doubtful about Mademoiselle Duplaix, and I have a +strong impression that she could at least tell us more if she would, but +that she is afraid of hurting you." + +"It is most unlikely." + +"Well, let me put it to the test, Mr. Lanning. Just write--let me see, +how will it be best to word it? 'I am going to Silesia--' By the way, +when will you go?" + +"I thought to-night." + +"It is as well not to waste time," said Quarles. "Then write, 'I am going +to Silesia to-night. I want you to be perfectly open with the bearer of +this note and do whatever he advises. If you would be a true friend to +me, tell him everything.' Put your ordinary signature to it. With that in +my possession I will get to work at once, and if I discover anything of +importance, and it should be necessary to stop your journey, I will meet +your train to-night." + +"It seems like an impertinence," Lanning said as he wrote the note. + +"When there is so much at stake I shouldn't let that worry you," +said Nixon. + +No sooner had they gone than Quarles became alert. + +"Now we move, Wigan. First of all, we have an appointment in Kensington, +at the Blue Lion, near the church, quite a respectable hostelry." + +"Not to meet Mademoiselle Duplaix, surely?" + +"No, she can wait. Respectable as it is, I do not suppose Mademoiselle +frequents the Blue Lion, but we may find there the man who called upon +her this morning." + +We took a taxi to Kensington. Every moment seemed to be bursting with +importance for Quarles now. + +The first person I caught sight of at the Blue Lion was Winbush, +evidently waiting for some one. He recognized us, and Quarles went to +him. + +"You are waiting for Mr. Lanning." + +The man hesitated. + +"I know," Quarles went on, "because I have just left your master. He is +in trouble." + +"In trouble!" + +"Oh, we shall get him out of it all right. There is some mistake. _I_ +have a message for you. Come inside." + +We found a corner to ourselves, and the professor, having ordered drinks, +showed Winbush the note which Lanning had written to Mademoiselle +Duplaix. It was not addressed to her, and was so worded that it might be +meant for any one. Winbush read it and looked at Quarles. + +"While your master is in Silesia I have certain work to do here, and to +do it I must have your complete story," said the professor. "You +appreciate the fact that Mr. Laiming looks upon you as a friend and +wishes you to tell me all you know." + +"I do, sir, only I don't see how my story is going to help him." + +"It is going to help us to put our hand on the man who is really guilty." + +"It has all been very mysterious," said Winbush, "and I have not been +able to understand my master at all. What I have said about hearing a +noise in the passage and being seized before I could switch on the light +in the dining-room is all true, but the stuff which was put into my face +and made me unconscious wasn't there before I had time to call out." + +"You called out, then?" + +"No, I didn't, because the man spoke to me." + +"Oh, it was a man--not a woman?" + +"It was Mr. Lanning himself," said Winbush. + +This was so unexpected that I nearly exclaimed at it, but Quarles just +watched the speaker as if he would make certain that he was telling +nothing but the truth. + +"He spoke quickly and excitedly," Winbush went on. "Said it was necessary +that the flat should appear to have been robbed. I should presently be +discovered bound. I was to say that I had been attacked in the dark and +that I did not know by whom nor by how many. I was not to speak about the +matter to him again under any circumstances, and even if he questioned me +alone or before others I was to stick to my story of utter ignorance. I +had just said that I understood and heard him say that he would probably +question me to prove my faithfulness, when he put the stuff over my mouth +and nose, and I knew no more until he found me there later on." + +"Has he questioned you since?" + +"Not since he first found me lying on the floor. He did then, and I +obeyed his instructions just as I did when you talked to me afterwards." + +"Did he suggest you should say a woman was present?" + +"No, sir." + +"That was a little extra trimming of your own, eh?" + +"No, it was a bit of truth that crept in. I thought a woman was there." + +"By the perfume?" + +"Yes, sir." + +Quarles brought from the depth of a pocket a tissue-paper parcel, from +which he took a handkerchief. + +"Was that the perfume?" + +Winbush smelt it. + +"It may have been. It was the perfume that hangs about a woman in +evening dress." + +"That's Parma violets, Wigan," said the professor, waving the +handkerchief towards me. It was one of his own, so had evidently been +specially prepared for this test. "I wonder what percentage of women use +the scent? It is not much of a clue for us, I am afraid." + +He put the handkerchief away, and then from another pocket produced a +second handkerchief, also wrapped in tissue paper. + +This time it was a fragile affair of lawn and lace. + +"Smell that, Mr. Winbush." + +"That's it!" the man exclaimed; no hesitation this time. + +"You can swear to it?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Rather a pleasant scent but peculiar, Wigan. I do not know what it is." + +Nor did I, but the handkerchief interested me. Worked in the corner were +the letters "Y.D." + +"I can get to work now, Mr. Winbush," said Quarles. "Your master tells +you to do whatever I advise. Of course, I understand that in keeping +these facts to yourself you were acting in your master's interests, but +were it generally known that you had suppressed the truth you might get +into trouble. Have you any relatives in town?" + +"I have a married nephew out Hampstead way." + +"Most fortunate. You go straight off and see him, get him to put you up +for the night, but whatever you do keep away from Jermyn Street until +to-morrow morning. You will spoil my efforts on your master's behalf if +you turn up at the flat before then." + +Winbush promised to obey these instructions, and Quarles and I left the +Blue Lion. + +"After hearing that Lanning was coming to see me this afternoon, I +telephoned a telegram to Winbush," explained the professor when we were +outside. "He thought it came from his master telling him to meet him at +the Blue Lion. Lanning will have to do his own packing for once. +Winbush's story is rather a surprising one, eh, Wigan?" + +"And most unexpected," I said. + +"Well, no, not quite unexpected," he answered in that superior manner +which is so exasperating at times. "I got that note from Lanning for the +purpose of getting the man to tell me the truth." + +"At any rate, you were mistaken in supposing that Mademoiselle's +mysterious foreigner would be at the Blue Lion," I returned. + +"Not at all. He was there." + +"Winbush!" I exclaimed. + +"No, Christopher Quarles. I called on Mademoiselle Duplaix this morning. +I thought she would communicate directly or indirectly with Lanning; +that is why I was expecting a message from him. I was also fortunate +enough to appropriate her handkerchief. To-night I become the +distinguished foreigner again; you had better be an elderly gentleman +with a stoop. We are traveling to Harwich. Don't forget a revolver; it +may be useful. We must get to Liverpool Street early; we shall want +plenty of time at the station." + +He left me without waiting to be questioned. I was annoyed, and was +pretty certain that he had overlooked one important fact. Surely Lanning +must have realized how dangerous it was to give such a note to Quarles? +Knowing the story Winbush could tell, he would not have been deceived by +the statement that the letter was intended for Mademoiselle Duplaix. He +was far too clever for that. He and Winbush were no doubt working +together, and the man's story was no doubt part of an arranged scheme. It +seemed to me that the immediate recognition of the second scent was +suspicious. The man was probably prepared for the test. + +I thought it likely that Quarles had met his match this time, and I did +not expect to see Richard Lanning at the station. + +However, he was there with Mr. Nixon. + +"Are they both in it?" I asked Quarles as we watched them. + +"No, I don't think so," was his doubtful answer. + +We were still watching them as they spoke to the guard, when I started +and called the professor's attention to a tall, military-looking man who +was hurrying along the platform. + +"That is the young man at the Silesian Embassy," I said. "He is evidently +going back. Are we to see Mademoiselle Duplaix come along next?" + +"We are only concerned with Lanning for the present," Quarles answered, +"and we have got to travel in the same carriage with him and Nixon. I +expect they have tipped the guard to get a carriage to themselves. You +must use your authority with him, Wigan, and show him that we are +Scotland Yard men. Suggest that he put us into the carriage at the last +moment with many apologies because there is no room elsewhere. In these +disguises they will not recognize us." + +The two Englishmen and the Silesian did not approach each other, and +apparently were quite ignorant of the fact that they were traveling by +the same train. I made the necessary arrangements with the guard, and +just as the train was starting we were bundled into the carriage, Quarles +blowing and puffing in a most natural manner. + +"Sorry," he panted, speaking in broken English; "it is a train quite +full, and I say to the man I must go. He put us in here. I am grieved to +disturb you." + +Nixon said it didn't matter, but Lanning looked annoyed. + +Quarles talked to me chiefly about a wife he was returning to at Bohn. He +became almost maudlin in his sentiment, and at intervals he raised his +voice sufficiently to allow our traveling companions to overhear the +conversation. + +Presently Quarles leaned towards me in a confidential manner, and said in +a whisper which was intentionally loud enough for the others to hear: + +"From Bohn I go to Silesia to see the new flying machine." + +"What flying machine?" I asked. + +"Ah, it was a secret what Silesia have got hold of. It was wonderful. I +myself tell you so, and I know. I--" + +"What do you know about it?" + +Lanning was leaning from his corner looking at Quarles. + +"Steady," said the professor. "If your hand does not from your pocket +come in one blink of an eye you are a dead man. This is a big matter." + +Quarles had covered him with a revolver, and following his lead I +covered Nixon. + +For a moment it was a tableau, not a sound nor a movement in the +carriage. + +"As you say, it is a big matter," said Lanning, taking his hand from +his pocket. + +He was for diplomacy rather than force, or perhaps he was a coward at +heart. Nixon showed more courage and was quicker in his movements. His +revolver was halfway out before I had slid along the seat and had my +weapon at his head. + +"It is of no use," said Quarles. "It is not by accident we are here. We +know, no matter how, but we know for certain that the plans of a +wonderful aeroplane which cannot come to harm, and a model of it, are +traveling by this train to-night. We came here to take them. We are sorry +to disturb you, but it is necessary." + +Lanning laughed. + +"Would it astonish you to hear we are after the very same things?" + +"It would, because I tell you they are in this carriage." + +"Where?" asked Lanning, still laughing. + +"There, in that big portmanteau." And Quarles pointed to one on the rack +above Nixon's head. + +I was only just in time to bring my weapon down on Nixon's wrist as he +whipped out his revolver. + +"Hold him, Wigan; he is dangerous," said Quarles, speaking in his natural +voice. "We will have a look in that portmanteau, Mr. Lanning." + +The plans and the model in its wooden case were there. Lanning was too +dumbfounded to ask questions, and Nixon offered no explanation just then. +I had wrested the revolver from him, and he sat there in silence. + +"It was very cleverly thought out, Mr. Nixon," said Quarles. "You see, +Mr. Lanning, your friend, having stolen these things, intended to allow +time to elapse before attempting to get them out of the country, but his +hand was forced when Mademoiselle Duplaix telephoned to you. The +foreigner who called upon her for the plans puzzled him. There was +something in the plot he did not understand. Two things were clear to +him, however; first, that he must act without delay, and secondly, that +mademoiselle's visitor would implicate her and cause us to make minute +inquiries in her direction--that a false trail was laid, in fact. So, +aware that he would find difficulty at the ports, he carefully suggested +to your mind that a journey to Silesia would be a useful move. Your +mission would be known at the ports, and you and your friend would pass +through without special examination." + +"That is so," said Lanning. + +"And you would have been cleverly fooled," said Quarles, "As for +Mademoiselle Duplaix, I confess I should have watched her keenly had I +not been the mysterious foreigner." + +"But my note to her?" said Lanning. + +"Was exceedingly useful, but I used it to get the truth out of Winbush," +and Quarles told the man-servant's story in detail. "Winbush, you see, +was in a dazed condition, and was deceived. In the dark Nixon pretended +to be you. I suppose it was a sudden inspiration when he found himself +disturbed, and his instructions to Winbush stopped your servant from +questioning you. Had he done so a suspicion concerning your friend might +have been aroused in your mind. Winbush, however, went a little beyond +his instructions, and said he thought a woman was present, because of a +perfume he noticed when he first entered the room. That particular +perfume is used by Mademoiselle Duplaix, and I should hazard a guess that +Mr. Nixon had stolen her handkerchief that evening, not a criminal +offense, but a matter of flirtation." + +"But he was at Lady Chilcot's, and left there with me," said Lanning. + +"If he has kept his program. I expect you will find some consecutive +places in it blank. Until this afternoon, Mr. Lanning, I confess that I +was uncertain whether you had been your own burglar or not, for it was +evident to me that your man knew something. I was convinced you were +innocent when you wrote that note for me, I rather wonder Mr. Nixon did +not realize the danger, but I suppose he felt confident that +Mademoiselle's visitor had entirely put me on the wrong trail. I do not +think Mademoiselle Duplaix is in any way a party to the theft, but I +think it is up to Mr. Nixon to make this quite clear." + +It is only doing Perry Nixon justice to say that he did clear up this +point, but not by word of mouth. + +At Harwich he ingeniously gave us the slip, but in a letter to Lanning, +received from Paris a week later, he said that he alone was responsible +for the theft, and that neither Mademoiselle Duplaix nor any one else had +any hand in it, nor any knowledge of it. + +From some remarks Lanning had let fall he concluded that some important +development had occurred in the stabilizing of flying machines--a matter +his employers were interested in--and he had watched his friend's +movements. He guessed that secret experiments had been tried that day +when he saw Lanning take the wooden case to his flat, and during the +evening he had slipped away from Lady Chilcot's dance, returning when he +had deposited the model and the plans in a safe place. + +He did not say where this safe place was, and since he had persistently +suggested that either France or Germany had pulled the strings of the +robbery, he was probably working for neither of these countries. + +Shortly afterwards Richard Lanning's engagement to Miss Chilcot was +announced, and I imagine he is still working to perfect a stabilizer, +for, although the model appears to have done all that was required of it, +the actual machine proved defective, I understand. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE AFFAIR OF THE CONTESSA'S PEARLS + + +I think it was when talking about the stolen model that Quarles made the +paradoxical statement that facts are not always the best evidence. I +argued the point, and remained entirely of an opposite opinion until I +had to investigate the case of a pair of pearl earrings, and then I was +driven into thinking there was something in Quarles's statement. It was +altogether a curious a if air, and showed the professor in a new light +which caused Zena and myself some trouble. + +The Contessa di Castalani occupied rooms at one of the big West End +hotels, a self-contained suite, consisting of a sitting-room, two +bedrooms, and vestibule. She had her child with her, a little girl of +about three years old, and a French maid named Angelique. + +Returning to the hotel one afternoon unexpectedly, she met, but took no +particular notice of, two men in the corridor which led to her suite. +Hotel servants she supposed them to be, and, as she entered the little +vestibule Angelique came from the contessa's bedroom. There was no reason +why she should not go in there; in fact, she carried a reason in her +hand. She had been to get a clean frock for the child. The one she had +worn on the previous day was too soiled to put on. + +That evening the contessa wished to wear a special pair of pearl +earrings, but when she went to get the little leather case which +contained the pearls, it was missing. + +Although her boxes and drawers were not much disarranged, it was quite +evident to her that they had been searched, but nothing else had been +taken apparently. + +It did not occur to her to suspect the maid, partly, no doubt, because +she remembered the men in the corridor, and she immediately sent for +the manager. + +The police were called in. The men in the corridor could not be accounted +for, but a search resulted in the finding of the leather case under the +bed. The earrings had gone. + +Naturally police suspicion fell on the French maid, but the contessa +absolutely refused such an explanation. Angelique, who was passionately +fond of her and of the child, would not do such a thing. + +The case looked simple enough, but it proved to be one in which facts did +not constitute the best evidence. Indeed, they proved somewhat +misleading. + +Beautiful, romantic, eccentric, superstitious, and most unfortunate +according to her own account, the Contessa di Castalani was the sensation +of a whole London season. + +As a dancer of a bizarre kind, she had set Paris nodding to the rhythm of +her movements and raving about the beauty of her eyes and hair. Her +reputation had preceded her to London, and when she appeared at the +Regency it was universally admitted that she far surpassed everything +that had been said about her. + +The press had duly informed the public that Castalani was one of the +oldest and most honored names in Italy. There had been a Castalani in the +Medici time, a close friend of the magnificent Lorenzo, it was asserted. +One paper declared that a Castalani had worn the triple tiara, which a +learned don of Oxford took the trouble to write and deny. And it would +appear that no one who had ever borne the name had been altogether +unimportant. + +How the family, resident in Pisa, liked this publicity, I do not know. +They made no movement to repudiate this daughter of their house, and I +have no reason whatever to doubt that the lady had a perfect right to her +title. I never heard any scandalous tale about her which even seemed +true, and if she and her husband were happier going each their own way, +it was their affair. + +So much mystery was woven round her during her appearances in the +European capitals, that I do not guarantee the correctness of my +statements when I say she was of humble origin, a Russian gipsy, I have +heard, seen in a Hungarian village by young Castalani, who immediately +fell in love with her and married her. + +Although in the course of this investigation I saw her many times and she +talked a great deal about herself, she was always vague when she was +dealing with facts. + +I am only concerned with her appearance in London. She attracted +overflowing houses to the Regency. A real live countess performing +bizarre and daring dances was undoubtedly the attraction to some, the +woman's splendid beauty charmed others, while a third section could talk +of nothing but her wonderful jewelry. + +At least two foolish young peers were said to be in love with her, and +there were tales of a well-known Cabinet Minister constantly occupying a +stall at the Regency when he ought to have been in his seat in the House. + +Had I not taken Christopher Quarles and Zena to the Regency one evening I +should probably never have known anything further of the contessa, but it +so happened that the professor was very much attracted by her. + +He went to the Regency three times in one week to study the inward +significance of her dances, he declared. He treated me to a learned +discourse concerning them, and was furious when one journal, slightly +puritanical in tone, perhaps, said that they were generally unedifying, +and in one case, at any rate, immodest. + +Zena and I began by laughing at the professor, but he did not like it. He +was quite serious in his admiration, and declared that nothing would +afford him greater pleasure than an introduction to the dancer. + +To his delight he got what he wanted, and incidentally solved one of the +most curious cases we have ever been engaged in together. + +In the ordinary way the case would never have come into my hands. It was +at Quarles's instigation that I asked to be employed upon it, and since +small and insignificant affairs are sometimes ramifications of big +mysteries, no surprise was caused by my request. + +I have not the slightest hesitation in saying that it was the +introduction to the woman which interested Quarles rather than her +pearls. Indeed, he appeared to think of nothing else beyond making +himself agreeable. + +It seemed to me she was just as interested in him, talked about herself +in a naive kind of way, and was delighted when her little girl, Nella, +took a tremendous fancy to the professor, demanding to be taken on his +knee and to have his undivided attention. + +Christopher Quarles, in fact, presented quite an unfamiliar side of his +character to me, and I do not think he would have bothered about the +pearls at all but for the fact that the contessa was superstitious +about them. + +"They were given to me by a Hungarian count," she said in her pretty +broken English; "just two pearls. I had them made into earrings. It was +the best way I could wear them. They are perfect, and they have a +history. They were a thank-offering to some idol in Burmah, but were +afterwards sold or stolen--I do not know which. It does not matter; it +was a very long time ago; but what does matter is that they bring good +luck. I shall be nothing without them, do you see?" + +"That I will not believe! You will always be--" + +"Beautiful," she said before Quarles could complete the sentence. "Ah, +yes, I know that. I have been told that when I cease to be beautiful I +shall cease to live. A gipsy in Budapest told me so. But what is beauty +if you have no luck?" + +"When were they given to you?" Quarles asked. + +"A year after I married. Listen, I will tell you a secret. It was the +beginning of the little difference with my husband. He was jealous." + +"It was natural." + +"No, it was not," she answered. "My Hungarian friend, he loved me of +course. That is the natural part. I was born like that. Some women are. +It is not their fault. It just is so, and yet people think evil and say, +shocking! It is in their own mind--the evil--and nowhere else, and I say +'basta,' and go my way, caring not at all. Why, every night in my +dressing room at the Regency there is a pile of letters--like that, and +flowers. The room is full of them--all from people who love me--and I do +not know one of them. I like it, but it makes no difference to me. I told +my husband that it was nothing, but no, he went on being jealous. He was +very foolish, but I think some day he will grow sensible. Then I shall +very likely say it is too late. The world has said it loves me, and that +is better than one Castalani. You do not know the Castalanis?" + +"No." + +"Ah, they are what you call thoughtful for themselves, very high, and +very few people are quite as good, so we had little quarrels, and then a +big one, because he said he would throw my pearls into the Arno. I hid +them, and he could not find them. If he had found them and thrown them +away I would have killed him." + +Quarles nodded, as if such a tragedy would have been the most natural +thing possible. + +"His mother made it worse," the contessa went on, "so we have one fierce +quarrel and I speak my mind. I say a great deal when I speak my mind, and +I am not nice then. I went away with my little girl. It was very +unfortunate, but what could I do? I love dancing, so I go on the stage, +and--and I have lost my pearls. See, there is the case, but it is empty." + +Quarles looked at it, but I was sure he was not thinking of what he was +doing, and he did not even ask the most obvious questions. + +I did that, and received scant answers. She was not a bit +interested in me. + +"My pearls," she went on, "I want my pearls. There are some women +pearls love. I am one. When I wear them a little while they are alive. +The colors in them glow and palpitate. They are never dull then. I do +not wear them always, only on certain days--on feasts, and when I am +very happy." + +"We must find them," said Quarles. + +"Of course. That is why I come to know you, isn't it?" + +The professor was full of her as we left the hotel. + +"A most charming woman," he said. + +"I doubt if you will find her so when you fail to restore her pearls." + +"I shall restore them," he said, with that splendid confidence which +sometimes characterized him, but, having no faith in his judgment on this +occasion, I went my own way. I searched the maid's boxes and found that +she had purloined many of the contessa's things--garments which had +hardly been worn, silk scarves, laces--in fact, anything which took her +fancy, and which her mistress would not be likely to miss. Of the two men +in the corridor I could find no trace. The manager said there were no +workmen about the hotel at that time, and the only description I could +get from the contessa was so vague that it would have fitted anybody from +the Prime Minister to the old bootlace-seller at the end of the street. +One of the hotel servants was confident that he had seen the French maid +speak to a man in the street outside the hotel on more than one occasion, +but he was not inclined to swear to anything. However, the French maid +was finally arrested on suspicion. + +I knew that Quarles had been to see the contessa once or twice by +himself, and when I went to the Brunswick Hotel on the day after +Angelique's arrest, I found him there. + +"Ah, you have taken an innocent woman," the contessa exclaimed. + +"I think not." + +"What you think does not matter at all, it is what I know. I asked her, +and she said she had not taken the pearls. Voila! She would not tell me +anything that was not true." + +"But, contessa--" + +"I say there is no evidence against her. You just find two or three of +my stupid things in her room, but that is nothing. French maids always +take things like that--one expects it. But I am not angry. You think what +is quite--quite silly, but you do something which is quite right." And +then, turning to the professor, she went on, "But you--you do nothing at +all. You come to tea. You come and look at me, and think me very +beautiful, which is quite nice and very well, but it does not give me +back my pearls." + +"It will," said Quarles. + +"I have no opinion. I only know I have not the pearls. I gave you the +empty case. I want it back with the earrings in it. I have heard that +Monsieur Quarles is very clever--that he finds out everything, but--" + +"It takes time, contessa," he said, rising. "There is one thing I want to +see before I go." + +"What is that?" she asked. + +"The dress the maid was wearing that afternoon, and if she wore an apron +I want to see that too." + +The contessa fetched them, and for some minutes Quarles examined +them closely. + +I did not think he had started a theory. I thought the contessa's words +had merely stung him into doing something. He had probably come to the +conclusion that he had been making rather a fool of himself. + +However, he was theoretical enough that night in the empty room at +Chelsea. + +"I think the arrest was a mistake, Wigan," he began. + +"Surely you are not influenced by the contessa's opinion?" + +"Well, she probably knows more about French maids than you do. I am +inclined to trust a woman's intuition sometimes. The contessa is +delightfully vague. It is part of her great charm, and it is in +everything she does and says. She tells you something, but her real +meaning you can only guess at. She dances, but the steps she ought to do +and doesn't are the ones which really contain the meaning." + +"Can she possibly be more vague, dear, than you are at the present +moment?" laughed Zena. + +"I think this is a case in which one must try to get into the contessa's +atmosphere before any result is possible. You will agree, Wigan, that her +point of view is peculiar." + +"I should call it idiotic," I answered. + +"Your opinion is all cut and dried, I presume?" + +"Absolutely," I answered. "I believe the maid took the jewels and handed +them to her confederates who were waiting in the corridor." + +"It is possible," said Quarles, "but it seems curious that the contessa +should return just in time to see, not only the men in the corridor, but +also the maid leaving her room. Have you considered why only the earrings +were stolen?" + +"There was nothing else to steal," I answered. + +"Why, everybody has talked of her jewels!" Zena exclaimed. + +"All sham." + +"Who told you so?" asked Quarles. + +"The maid." + +"She didn't suggest the pearls were sham?" + +"No." + +"That was thoughtless of her, since suspicion rests upon her. I am not +much surprised to hear that the much-talked-of jewelry is sham. There is +a vein of wisdom in the contessa, and we shall probably find she has put +her jewelry into safe keeping, and wears paste because it has just as +good an effect across the footlights. I should judge her wise enough not +to take risks, and to have an eye for the future. It was only her +superstition, and the fact that she wore the earrings fairly constantly, +which prevented her depositing them in a safe place too. Zena asked me +yesterday whether I should consider her a careless person. What do you +think, Wigan?" + +"It occurred to me that she might have put the case away when it was +empty and carelessly put the pearls somewhere else," said Zena. + +"Such, a vague kind of person is capable of anything," I returned. "But +there is no doubt that a search in her room was made, and it is +significant that things were not tossed about anyhow, as one would expect +had a stranger made that search." + +"True," said Quarles, "but if the maid took them there would have been no +disarrangement at all. She would have known where to look. If she had +wanted to suggest ordinary thieves she would have thrown things into +disorder on purpose." + +"Naturally she did not know exactly where to look," I said. + +"Why not? The contessa evidently trusts her implicitly. In any case, I +fancy we are drawn back to the supposition that the contessa is careless. +When Zena asked the question, I was reminded of one or two +inconsistencies in her surroundings. I should not call her orderly. Her +carelessness must form part of my theory." + +"I am surprised to hear you have formed one," I said. + +"I have found the woman far more interesting than the pearls," he +admitted, "but I am pledged to return the earrings, Wigan. You will find +her smile of delight an excellent reward." + +I shrugged my shoulders a little irritably. + +"Now I will propose three propositions against yours. First, the jewels +belonged to an idol, and were either sold or stolen--the contessa does +not know which. Such things are not usually sold, so we may assume they +were stolen. Their disappearance from the hotel may mean that they have +merely been recovered. The idea is romantic, but such happenings do +occur. Your French maid may have been pressed into the plot either +through fear or by bribery." + +"My facts would fit that theory," I said. + +"Secondly, the husband may be concerned," Quarles went on. "There may be +real love underlying his jealousy, he may think that if he can obtain +possession of the pearls his wife will return to him. Again, your French +maid may have been employed to this end." + +"That theory would not refute my facts," I returned. + +"Thirdly, the contessa herself. It is conceivable that for some reason +she wished to have the pearls stolen, perhaps for the sake of +advertisement--such things are done--or for the sake of insurance money, +or for some other reason which is not apparent. This supposition would +account for the contessa refusing to believe anything against the maid. +It would also account for the men in the corridor, seen only by the +contessa, remember, and therefore, perhaps, without any real existence." + +"Of the three propositions, I most favor the last," I said. + +"So do I," Quarles answered. "The first one is possible, but I fail to +trace anything of the Oriental method in the robbery, the supreme +subtlety which one would naturally expect. The second, which would almost +of necessity require the help of the maid, would in all likelihood have +been carried out before this, since the contessa has always had the +pearls at hand. If she had only just got them out of the bank I should +favor this second proposition. You remember the contessa suggested that +her husband might at some time become more sensible. I should hazard a +guess that she is still in communication with him. The death of the +strife-stirring mother may bring them together again." + +"That is rather an ingenious idea," I admitted. + +"Now, the third proposition would appeal to me more were I not so +interested in the woman," Quarles said. "Is she the sort of woman, for +vain or selfish reasons, to enter into such a conspiracy with her maid? I +grant the difficulty of plumbing a woman's mind--even Zena's there; but +there are certain principles to be followed. A woman is usually thorough +if she undertakes to do a thing, and had the contessa been concerned in +such a conspiracy, we should have had far more detail given to us in +order to lead us in another direction. This third proposition does not +please me, therefore." + +"It seems to me we come back to the French maid," said Zena. + +"We do," said Quarles. "That is the leather case, Wigan. Does it tell you +anything?" + +I took it and examined it. + +"You seem to have got some grease on it, Professor." + +"It was like that. Greasy fingers had touched it--recently, I +judge--although, of course, the case may be an old one, and not made +especially for the earrings. It is only a smear, but it could not have +got there while the case was lying in a drawer amongst the contessa's +things. Now open it. You will find a grease mark on the plush inside, +which means that very unwashed fingers have handled it. That does not +look quite like a dainty French maid--for she is dainty, Wigan." + +"That is why you examined her dress, I suppose." + +"Exactly! There was no suspicion of grease upon it. Facts have prejudiced +you against Angelique. I do not see a thief in her, but I do see a +certain watchfulness in her eyes whenever we meet her. She knows +something, Wigan, and to-morrow I am going to find out what it is. I +think a few judicious questions will help us." + +Quarles had never been more the benevolent old gentleman than when he saw +the French maid next day. + +He began by telling her that he was certain she was innocent, that he +believed in her just as much as her mistress did. + +"Now, when did you last see the pearls?" Quarles asked. + +"The day before they were stolen." + +"Your mistress was wearing them?" + +"No, monsieur, but the case was on the dressing table. It was the case I +saw, not the pearls." + +"So for all you know to the contrary, the case may have been empty?" + +"I do not see why you should think that," she answered, and it was quite +evident to me that she was being careful not to fall into a trap. + +"Just in the same way, perhaps, as you speak of the day before they were +stolen. We do not know they are stolen. Were the pearls very valuable?" + +"I do not know. The contessa valued them." + +"She wears one or two good rings, I noticed," said Quarles, "but I +understand the jewels she wears on the stage are paste." + +"Yes, monsieur, all of it." + +"Her real jewelry being at the bank!" + +"That is so, monsieur." + +"It is possible that the contessa has deceived us," Quarles went on, "and +wants to make us believe the earrings are stolen." + +"Oh, no, monsieur!" + +"Why not?" + +"I am sure." + +"Come, now, why are you so sure? Tell me what you know, and we will soon +have you back at the Brunswick Hotel. Had you told the men in the +corridor that all the contessa's jewelry was sham?" + +"I know nothing of--" + +"Wait!" said Quarles. "Think before you speak. You do not realize how +much we know about the men in the corridor. The contessa saw them, +remember." + +The girl began to sob. + +Very gently Quarles drew the story from her. One of the men was her +brother. She had been glad to come to England to see him, but she found +he had got into bad hands. She had helped him a little with money. She +had talked about the contessa, and when he had spoken about her wonderful +jewels she had told him they were sham. + +"Did he believe you?" + +"No, monsieur, he laughed at me because I did not know the real thing +from paste. I said I did, and, to prove it, mentioned the pearls." + +"Was this before you knew he had fallen into bad hands?" + +"Yes, monsieur. On the afternoon the pearls were stolen he came to see +me at the hotel with a friend. How they got to our rooms I do not know. I +opened the door, thinking it was the contessa. My brother laughed at my +surprise, and said he and his friend wanted to see whether the +contessa's pearls were real--they had a bet about them. He thought I was +a fool, but I was quickly thinking what I must do. 'She is here,' I said. +'Come in five minutes, when she is gone.' This was unexpected for them, +and they stepped back, and I shut the door. To get the door shut was all +I could think of. I was afraid. I waited; then I went to the bell, but I +did not ring. After all, he was my brother. Then Nella called out from my +room; I was on my way to fetch a clean frock for her from the contessa's +room when my brother came. Now I fetched it, and as I came out of the +room the contessa came in. It was a great relief." + +"Did she say anything about the men in the corridor?" + +"Not then--not until afterwards, when she found the pearls had +been stolen." + +"And you said nothing?" + +"No, it was wrong, but he was my brother. How he got the pearls I do +not know." + +"Where is he now?" + +"I do not know." + +"But you are sure he stole the pearls?" + +"Who else?" and she began to sob again. + +"Perhaps when he hears you have been arrested, he will tell the truth." + +"No, no, he has become bad in this country. I do not love England." + +"Anyhow, we will soon have you out of this," said Quarles, patting her +shoulder in a fatherly manner. "I am afraid your brother is not much +good, but perhaps the affair is not so bad as you imagine." + +We left her sobbing. + +"A woman of resource," said Quarles. + +"Very much so," I answered. "You do not think the arrest was a mistake +now, I presume?" + +"Perhaps not; no, I am inclined to think it has helped us. It is not +every woman who would have got rid of two such blackguards so +dexterously." + +"It is the very thinnest story I have ever heard," I laughed. + +We walked on in silence for a few moments. + +"My dear Wigan, I am afraid you are still laboring under the impression +that she stole the pearls." + +"I am, and that she handed them to the men in the corridor, one of whom +may have been her brother or may not." + +"She didn't steal them," said Quarles. + +"Why, how else could the men have got in?" I said. "You are not likely to +see that rewarding smile on the contessa's face which you talked about." + +"I think I shall, but first I must face the music and explain my failure. +We will go this afternoon. Perhaps she will give us tea, Wigan." + +I am afraid I murmured, "There's no fool like an old fool," but not loud +enough for Quarles to hear. + +When we entered the contessa's sitting-room that afternoon the child was +playing on the floor with a small china vase, taken haphazard from the +mantelpiece, I imagine. + +Whether our entrance startled her, or whether she was in a destructive +mood, I cannot say, but she dashed down the vase and broke it in pieces. + +"Oh, Nella! Naughty, naughty Nella!" exclaimed her mother. + +The child immediately went to Quarles. + +"I want to sit on your knee," she said. + +"If mother will give you such things to play with, Nella, why, of course, +they get broken, don't they?" said Quarles. + +"I thought you had brought my pearls," said the contessa. + +"I have come to talk about them." + +"That will not help--talk." + +"It may." + +"Will it bring Angelique back? I am lost without Angelique." + +"She will soon be back." + +I smiled at his optimism. + +"We saw her to-day," Quarles went on; and he told the girl's story in +detail, and in a manner which suggested that my mistake in having her +arrested was almost criminal. + +The contessa seemed to expect me to apologize, but when I remained silent +she became practical. + +"Still, I do not see my pearls, Monsieur Quarles." + +"Contessa, your maid says you were looking at the earrings on the day +before the robbery. She saw the case on your dressing-table." + +"Yes, I remember." + +"Do you remember putting the case back in your drawer?" + +"Of course." + +"I mean, is there any circumstance which makes you particularly remember +doing so?" + +"No." + +"Was Nella crawling on the floor?" + +"Why, yes. How did you guess that?" + +"Didn't you meet the maid coming out of your room on the next afternoon? +She had gone to fetch a clean frock." + +"Ah! yes, Nella got her frock dirty," said the contessa. + +"Pretty frock," said the child. + +"Was she playing with anything--anything off the mantelpiece?" +asked Quarles. + +"No." + +"Are you sure? You give her queer things to play with," and he pointed to +the fragments on the floor. + +"It does not matter," said the contessa, a little angry at his criticism. +"I shall pay for it." + +"Pretty frock," said the child again. + +"Is it, Nella? I should like to see it." + +The child slipped from his knee. + +"Where are you going?" asked the contessa. + +"To fetch my dirty, pretty frock." + +"Don't be silly, Nella." + +"I should like to see it," said Quarles. + +"I wish you would take less interest in the child and more in my pearls." + +"Humor the child and let her show me the frock, then we will talk about +the pearls." + +With a bad grace the contessa went with Nella into the maid's room. + +Quarles looked at me and at the fragments of the vase on the floor. + +"Do you find them suggestive?" + +"I am waiting to see the contessa in a real temper," I answered. + +The child came running in with the frock, delighted to have got +her own way. + +"Aye, but it is dirty," said Quarles, and he became absorbed in the +garment, nodding to the prattling child as she showed him tucks and lace. + +"And now about my pearls," said the contessa. + +Quarles put down the frock and stood up. + +"There is the case," he said, taking it from his pocket; "we have got to +put the pearls into it, Contessa, may I look into your bedroom?" + +The request astonished her, and it puzzled me. + +"Why, yes, if you like." + +She went to the door, and we all followed her. + +"A dainty room," said the professor. "It is like you, contessa." + +She laughed at the absurdity of the remark, and yet there was some truth +in it. The room wasn't really untidy, but it was not the abode of an +orderly person. A hat was on the bed, thrown there apparently, a pair of +gloves on the floor. + +"I can always tell what a woman is like by seeing where she lives," said +Quarles. "There is no toy on the mantelpiece which Nella could break. A +pretty dressing-table, contessa." + +He crossed to it and began examining the things upon it--silver-mounted +bottles and boxes. + +He lifted lids and looked at the contents--powder in this pot, rouge in +that--and for a few moments the contessa was too astonished to speak. + +Then there came a flash into her eyes resenting the impertinence. + +"Really, monsieur--" + +"Ah!" exclaimed Quarles, turning from the table with a pot in his hand. + +"I want it," said the child, stretching herself up for it. + +"Evidently Nella has played with this before, contessa. A French +preparation for softening the skin, I see. I should guess she was playing +with it as she crawled about the floor that afternoon. You didn't notice +her. I can quite understand a child being quiet for a long time with this +to mess about with. There was grease on her frock, and look! the smoothed +surface of this cream bears the marks of little fingers, if I am not +mistaken. It is quite a moist cream, readily disarranged, easily smoothed +flat again. Let us hope there is no ingredient in it which will +hurt--pearls." + +He had dug his fingers into the stuff and produced the earrings. + +"You will find a grease mark on the case," he went on. "It is evident you +could not have put the case away. Nella possessed herself of it when your +back was turned, and, playing with this cream, amused herself by burying +the pearls in it--just the sort of game to fascinate a child." + +"I remember she was playing with that pot. I did not think she could get +the lid off." + +"She did, and somehow the case got kicked under the bed." + +"Naughty Nella!" said the contessa. + +"Oh, no," said Quarles. "Natural Nella. May I wash my hands?" + +Well, we had tea with the contessa, and I saw the smile which rewarded +Christopher Quarles. + +I suppose he had earned it. + +"When did you first think of the child?" I asked him afterwards. + +"From the first," he answered; "but I was too interested in the mother to +work out the theory." + +How exactly in accordance with the truth this answer was I will not +venture to say. That he was interested in the woman was obvious, and +continued to be obvious while she remained in London. + +Zena and I were rather relieved when her professional engagements took +her to Berlin. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MADAME VATROTSKI + + +I firmly believe the contessa had succeeded in fluttering the professor's +heart, and I think it was fortunate that he was soon engaged upon another +case. The fact that it was also connected with theatrical people may have +made him go into it with more zest. The contessa had given him a taste +for the theater. + +The three of us were in the empty room, and after a lot of talk which had +led nowhere, had been silent for some time. + +"I never believe in any one's death until I have seen the body, or until +some one I can thoroughly trust has seen it," said Quarles, suddenly +breaking the silence. + +"You have said something like that before," I answered. + +"It still remains true, Wigan." + +"Then you think she is alive?" Is it the advertisement theory you cling +to, or do you suppose she is a Nihilist?" + +"I suppose nothing, and I never cling; all I know is that I have no proof +of death," said the professor, and he launched into a discourse +concerning the difficulties of concealing a body, chiefly, I thought, to +hide the fact that he had no ideas at all about the strange case of +Madame Vatrotski. + +The rage for the tango, the sensational revue, for the Russian ballet, +was at its height when Madame Vatrotski's name first appeared on the +hoardings in foot-long letters. + +The management of the Olympic billed her extensively as a very paragon +of marvels, but most of the critics refused to endorse this opinion. +Perhaps they were anxious to do a good turn to the home artistes who had +been rather thrust aside by the foreign invasion of the boards of the +variety theaters; at any rate, they declared her dancing was a mere +pose, not always in the best of taste, and that her beauty was nothing +to rave about. + +I had not seen this much-advertised dancer, but the Olympic management +could have had no reason to regret the expense they had gone to. Whether +her dancing was good or bad, whether her beauty was real or imaginary, +the great theater was full to overflowing night after night; her picture, +in various postures, was in all the illustrated papers, and paragraphs +concerning her were plentiful. + +From beginning to end actual facts about her were difficult to get; but +allowing for all journalistic exaggeration, the following statement is +near the truth. + +She was an eccentric rather than a beautiful dancer, and if she was not +actually a beautiful woman there was something irresistibly attractive +about her. Her origin was obscure, possibly she was not a Russian, and if +she had any right to the title of madame, no husband was in evidence. She +was quite young; upon the surface she was a child bent on getting out of +life all life had to give, and underneath the surface she was perhaps a +cold, calculating woman, with no other aim but her own gratification, +utterly callous of the sorrow and ruin she might bring to others. + +All other statements concerning her must at least be considered doubtful. +Her friends may have been too generous, her enemies unnecessarily bitter. +Personally I do not believe she was in any way connected with one of the +royal houses of Europe, as rumor said, nor that she was the morganatic +wife of an Austrian archduke. + +I have said that I had never seen her. I may add that I was not in the +least interested in her. + +Even when I read the headline in the paper, "Mysterious disappearance of +Madame Vatrotski," I remained unmoved; indeed, I had to think for a +moment who Madame Vatrotski was, and when the paragraph concluded that +the disappearance was probably a smart advertisement I thought no more +about the matter. + +Before the end of the week, however, I was obliged to think a great deal +about this woman. It was a tribute to the dancer's popularity that her +disappearance caused widespread interest not only in London, but in the +provinces, and it speedily became evident that her friends were legion. + +She had dined, or had had supper, at various times, with a score of +well-known men; she had received presents and offers of marriage from +them; she had certainly had two chances of becoming a peeress, she might +have become the wife of a millionaire, and half a dozen younger sons had +kept their families on tenter-hooks. + +It was said the poet laureate had dedicated an ode to her--that Lovet +Forbes, the sculptor, was immortalizing her in stone, and Musgrave had +certainly painted her portrait. + +From all sides there was a loud demand that the mystery must be cleared +up, and the investigation was entrusted to me. + +From the outset it was apparent that Madame Vatrotski had played fast and +loose with her many admirers. She had not definitely refused either of +the coronets offered her, nor the millions. I say her behavior was +apparent, but I ought to say it was apparent to me, because many of +those who knew her personally would not believe a word against her. + +This was the case with Sir Charles Woodbridge, a very level-headed man as +a rule, and also with Paul Renaud, the proprietor of the great dress +emporium in Regent Street, an astute individual, not easily deceived by +either man or woman. + +Both these men were pleased to believe themselves the serious item in +Madame Vatrotski's life, and Sir Charles in hot-headed fashion, and +Renaud, in cold contempt, told me very plainly what they thought of me +when I suggested that the lady might not be so innocently transparent as +she seemed. + +Up to a certain point it was comparatively easy to follow Madame's +movements. After the performance on Monday evening she had gone to supper +with Sir Charles at a smart restaurant, and many people had seen her +there. His car had taken her back to her rooms, and he had arranged to +fetch her next morning at half-past eleven and drive her down to +Maidenhead for lunch. + +When Sir Charles arrived at her rooms next morning he was told she had +gone out and had left no message. He was annoyed, but he had to admit it +was not the first time she had broken an appointment with him. + +It transpired that she had gone out that morning soon after ten, and +half-an-hour afterwards was at Reno's. Paul Renaud did not see her +there and had no appointment with her. + +She made some trivial purchases--a veil, some lace and gloves, which were +sent to her rooms later in the day, and she left the shop about eleven. +The door-porter was able to fix the time, and was quite sure the lady was +Madame Vatrotski. She would not have a taxi, and walked away in the +direction of Piccadilly Circus. Since then she had disappeared +altogether. + +A taxi-driver came forward to say he believed he had taken her to a +restaurant in Soho, but after inquiry I came to the conclusion that the +driver was mistaken. + +She sent no message to the theater that night, she simply did not turn +up. To appease the audience it was announced that she was suffering from +sudden indisposition; but, as a fact, the management did not know what +had become of her, and the maid at her rooms confessed absolute ignorance +concerning her mistress's whereabouts. I have no doubt the maid would +have lied to protect Madame, but on this occasion I think she was telling +the truth. + +It was after I had told Quarles the result of my inquiries, and we had +argued ourselves into silence, that he burst out with his remark about +the body, and of course what he said was true enough. Still, I was +inclined to think that Madame Vatrotski was dead. I did not believe she +had disappeared as an advertisement: there was no earthly reason why she +should, since her popularity had shown no signs of being on the wane, and +to attribute the mystery to a Nihilist plot was not a solution which +appealed to me. + +"She may have returned to her rooms and met Sir Charles," Zena suggested, +after a pause. "Perhaps she found him waiting in his car at the door and +went off at once." + +"Why do you make such a suggestion?" asked Quarles. + +"She had plenty of time to keep the appointment; indeed, it almost looks +as if she had arranged her morning on purpose to keep it. If she had +gone with him at once her maid would not know she had returned." + +Quarles looked at me. + +"The same idea occurred to Paul Renaud," I said. "I can find no evidence +that Sir Charles went to Maidenhead that day, and at three o'clock in the +afternoon he was certainly at his club." + +"Did he telephone to madame or attempt to communicate with her in any +way?" Quarles asked. + +"He says not." + +"But you do not altogether believe him, eh?" + +"My opinion is in abeyance," I returned. "It is only fair to say that Sir +Charles suggested that Paul Renaud may have seen her at the shop in +Regent Street. They are suspicious of each other. Renaud was certainly on +the premises at the time she was there. Personally I do not attribute +much weight to these suspicions. I believe both men are genuine lovers, +and would be the last persons in the world to do the dancer any harm." + +"Or the first," said Zena quickly. "Jealousy is a most usual motive +for crime." + +"I think the child strikes a true note there, Wigan," said Quarles. "We +must keep the idea of jealousy before us--that is, if we are compelled to +believe there has been foul play. Now, one would have expected Sir +Charles to telephone to madame; that he did not do so is strange." + +"His disappointment had put him in a temper." + +"That hardly appeals to me as a satisfactory explanation," Quarles +returned; "but there is indirect evidence in Sir Charles's favor. Had +Madame Vatrotski intended to return to her rooms at once she would almost +certainly have taken such a small parcel as her purchases made with her. +That she did not do so suggests she had another appointment to keep. +Have you a list of madame's admirers, Wigan?" + +"I am only human, professor, and you ask for the impossible," I said, +smiling. "I have a few names here, and I think they may be dismissed from +our calculations. One of the strangest points in the case is the lack of +reticence amongst her dupes." + +"Dupes!" said Zena. + +"I think the term is justified," I went on. "They all seem quite proud of +having been allowed to pay for sumptuous dinners and expensive presents. +Usually one expects a shrinking from publicity in these affairs, but in +this case there is nothing of the kind. I have never seen Madame +Vatrotski, but she must have had a peculiar fascination." + +"I have not seen her either," said Quarles; "but I was at the Academy +yesterday, and saw Musgrave's portrait of her. Go and see it, Wigan. I +consider Musgrave the greatest portrait painter we have, or ever have +had, perhaps. His opinion of the dancer might be useful. Judging from his +canvases he must have a strange insight into character." + +My opinion of pictures is worth nothing, and, to speak truthfully, I saw +little remarkable in Musgrave's portrait of Madame Vatrotski. The mystery +had caused a large number of people to linger round the portrait, and so +far as I could gather the general impression was that it did not do her +justice. Some even called it a caricature. + +"You never can tell what a woman is really like across the footlights," I +overheard one man say to his companion. + +"Perhaps not," was the answer; "but I have seen her out of the theater. +I dropped in at Forbes's studio the other day. He was finishing a bust +of her, and she was giving him a sitting. It is a jolly good bust, but +the woman--" + +"Is she pretty?" asked the other. + +"Upon my word, I don't know; what I do know is that I wanted to look +at her all the time, and when she had gone life seemed to have left +the studio." + +I did not know the speaker, but I did not lose sight of him until I +had tracked him to a club in Piccadilly and discovered that his name +was Tenfield, and that he was a partner in a firm of art dealers in +Bond Street. + +When I repeated this conversation to Quarles he wondered why I had taken +so much trouble over the art dealer. + +"Looking for a clue," I answered. + +Quarles shrugged his shoulders. + +"What did you think of the portrait?" + +"Frankly, not much." + +"But you got an impression of Madame Vatrotski's character." + +"I cannot say I got any great enlightenment. It made me wonder why she +had made such a great reputation." + +"The fact that it made you wonder at all shows there is something in the +portrait," said Quarles. "Let us argue indirectly from the picture. You +will agree that the lady was fascinating, since she had so many admirers, +but in the portrait you discern nothing to account for that fascination. +We may conclude that the painter saw the real woman underneath the +superficial charm. She could not hide herself from him as she did from +others. Now in that portrait I see rather a commonplace woman, +essentially bourgeoise and vulgar, not naturally artistic. I can imagine +her the wife of a small shopkeeper, or a girl given to cheap finery on +holidays. I think she would be capable of any meanness to obtain that +finery. Her face shows a decided lack of talent, but it also shows +tremendous greed. The critics have said that her dancing was a pose and +not in good taste." + +I nodded. + +"They are practically unanimous on this point. It was beyond her to +appeal to the artistic sense, so she appealed to the lower nature, and +therein lay her fascination. Just consider who the men are to whom she +appealed. A millionaire with an unsavory reputation. To two or three +peers who, even by the wildest stretch of imagination, cannot be +considered ornaments of their order. To some younger sons of the Nut +description who are ready to pay anything to be seen with a popular +actress, and to the kind of fools who are always ready to offer marriage +to a divorcee, or to a husband murderer when she comes out of prison. She +appeals to a man like Paul Renaud, whose outlook upon life is disgusting, +and who would not be able to keep a decent girl on his premises were it +not for the fact that the whole management of the business is in the +hands of his two partners. Sir Charles Woodbridge I do not understand. He +is a decent man. I could easily imagine his killing her in a revulsion of +feeling after being momentarily fascinated. Honestly, I have wondered +whether this may not be the solution of the case." + +"You are suspicious of Sir Charles?" I asked. + +"I do not give that as my definite opinion. She may not be dead. +Perchance some particularly mean exploit has made her afraid and she has +gone into hiding; but if she is dead, I think we must look for her +murderer--I had almost said her executioner--amongst the decent men who +have been caught for a while in her toils." + +"The only decent man seems to be Sir Charles," said Zena. + +"And I am convinced he was genuinely in love with her," I said. + +"Well, we are at a dead end," said Quarles. "I think I should go and see +Musgrave and ask his opinion of her. It may help us." + +I went simply because there was nothing else to do, and I felt that I +must; be doing something. The authorities seemed to think that I was +making a great muddle over a very ordinary affair, possibly because +rather contemptuous comments in the press had annoyed them, while the +letters from amateur detectives had been more abundant than usual. Oh, +those amateur detectives! + +I found Musgrave quite willing to talk about Madame Vatrotski, and before +I had been with him ten minutes I discovered that his opinion of her very +nearly coincided with Quarles's. + +He put it differently, but it came to the same thing. + +"To tell you the truth, she rather appealed to me when I first saw her," +he said. "It was at an artists' affair in Chelsea. She came there with a +man named Renaud, who has a big shop in Regent Street, and had spent +money on her, I imagine. She was interesting because she was something +new in the way of vulgarity. It was for this man Renaud that I did the +portrait, but when it was finished he repudiated the bargain. He said it +wasn't a bit like her. You see, I was not looking at her with his eyes" + +"Had she no beauty, then?" + +"I cannot say that," Musgrave answered. "She had a beautiful figure, and +her face--well, I painted it as I saw it. Renaud said it wasn't in the +least like her, and I am bound to admit that most of the people who knew +her and have seen the portrait in the Academy agree with him." + +"You claim that you show her character, I suppose?" + +"No; I merely say I painted what I saw." + +"Can you account for the fascination she exerted?" I asked. + +"I answer that question by asking you another. Can you account for the +fascination which sin exerts over a vast number of people in the world? +See sin as it really is, and it repels you; but sin seldom lets you see +the reality, that is why it is so successful. A man requires grace to see +sin as it really is, and that is his salvation. I was in a detached +position when I painted Madame Vatrotski's portrait, and you have seen +the result; had I been under her spell the result would undoubtedly have +been different. I should have painted only the mask of the moment, and +that would have satisfied her admirers, I imagine. I suppose you know +that my ideas of the true functions of art have caused many people to +call me a crank?" + +"I know little of the artistic world," I answered; "but any man who takes +himself seriously always appeals to me." + +Musgrave smiled. I fancy he was about to favor me with his ideas, but +concluded I was not worth the trouble. I had not got much out of my visit +beyond the knowledge that Quarles was not alone in his estimate of Madame +Vatrotski. + +The professor's opinion combined with the artist's influenced me, and +gave me a kind of rough theory. A man might be fascinated, then +repelled, the repulsion being far stronger than the attraction. + +To make this possible the man must normally be decent, and because Sir +Charles Woodbridge seemed the only person who fitted all the conditions I +gave his movements a considerable amount of my attention during the next +few days. He had certainly been amongst the most assiduous of her +admirers, and I discovered that he had put a private detective on to the +business who was chiefly concerned in shadowing Paul Renaud. + +Sir Charles was evidently convinced that Renaud was at the bottom of +the mystery. + +Nearly a month went by, and, except to those chiefly concerned, interest +in the dancer's disappearance was fading out, when it was suddenly +revived by the notice of a picture exhibition in Bond Street, at the +gallery belonging to the firm in which Tenfield was a partner. + +The pictures were the work of French artists of the cubist school, but +also on view was a portrait bust of Madame Vatrotski by Lovet Forbes. It +was evidently the bust I had overheard Tenfield speak about that day in +the Academy, and I discovered that his firm had bought it as a +speculation. + +Lovet Forbes had been only a vague name until a few days ago, when a +symbolic group of his had been placed in the entrance hall of the +Agricultural Institution, and had at once attracted attention. The +critics spoke of him as a new force in art, and a bust of the famous +dancer by him was therefore, under the circumstances, an event. + +"People will go to see it who wouldn't cross the road to look at a +cubist's picture," said Quarles. "It is for sale, no doubt, and the +dealers may clear a very nice little profit over it. Not a bad +speculation, I should say; I wonder how much they paid the artist. We +will go and have a look at it, Wigan." + +The three of us went on the opening day. Zena in a dress I had not seen +before, which suited her to perfection. She was much more interesting to +me than Forbes's bust of Madame Vatrotski. + +Quarles was right in his prophecy; the gallery was full, and the cubists +were not the attraction. Sir Charles was there, so was Renaud, and many +others whose names had been mentioned more or less prominently in this +case, including the managing director of the Olympic; and before I got a +view of the bust I heard whispers of the prices which had been offered +for it; rather fabulous prices they were. + +"But she is perfectly beautiful!" Zena exclaimed, when at last we stood +before the bust. + +She was right, and there was evidently something wrong somewhere. The +difference between Musgrave's picture and Forbes's marble was tremendous, +and yet they were unmistakably the same woman. + +Where the essential likeness was I cannot say, nor can I explain where +the difference lay, but the marble was charming, while the painting +was horrible. + +"Rather a surprise, eh, Wigan?" said the professor. + +"Very much so." + +"I hear Forbes is about somewhere. I should like to see him. He is one of +the lucky ones; this mystery has helped him to fame." + +"But his work is good, isn't it?" + +"Yes; slightly meretricious, perhaps. I shall want to see more of his +work before I express a definite opinion. I think we must go and see what +he has done for the Agricultural Institute." + +We not only saw Forbes, but had a talk with him. He was a man well on in +the forties, carelessly dressed, a Bohemian, and not particularly elated +at his success apparently. He smiled at the prices which were being +offered for his work. + +"It is the dancer they are paying for, not my genius," he said. "She +seems to have fooled men in life; she is fooling them in death, if +she is dead." + +"Ah, that is the question," said Quarles. "I have my doubts." + +"She is safer dead, at any rate, if only half they say of her is true," +Forbes returned. + +"How came she to sit for you?" I asked. + +"Vanity. I was introduced to her one night at an Artists' Ball--the +Albert Hall affair, you know--and I told her she had the figure of a +Venus. I was consciously playing on her vanity for a purpose. In the +thing I have done for the Agricultural Institute there is a recumbent +figure, and I wanted the perfect model for it. The right woman is more +difficult to get than you would imagine. Of course she agreed with me as +to the perfectness of her figure, and then I began to doubt it. That +settled the business. She fell into my trap and agreed to be the model." + +"Posing in the nude?" I asked. + +"Oh, that did not trouble her at all," answered Forbes. "I shouldn't be +surprised if she had been a model in Paris studios before she blossomed +out as a dancer. She spoke Russian, but I am inclined to think France had +the honor of giving her birth. In return for her complaisance I promised +to do a portrait bust of her for herself. That is it. If she is alive and +comes to claim it I shall have to do her another one." + +"She was evidently a very beautiful woman," said Quarles, glancing in the +direction of the bust. + +"Beautiful and bad, I fancy. Curiously enough, I did not hear of her +disappearance until I telephoned to her flat two days after it had +happened. She had broken an appointment to give me a final sitting, and I +wanted to know why she hadn't come." + +"Was the final sitting for the Agricultural group?" Quarles asked. + +"No; for the bust there. I had to leave it as it was, but there is +something in the line of the mouth which does not please me. What has +become of her, do you suppose?" + +"Possibly some one or something she is afraid of has caused her to go +into hiding," said Quarles. + +"Afraid! I doubt if she had any fear of devil or man. Have you seen +Musgrave's portrait of her?" + +The professor nodded, and I thought it was curious that the Academy +picture should be referred to so persistently. + +"She was like that," said Forbes. "Musgrave's is a wonderful piece of +work." + +Involuntarily I glanced at the bust, and he noticed my surprise. + +"Oh, she was like that too at times," he said. + +"I should doubt if Musgrave ever saw her as you have represented her," +said Quarles. + +"Perhaps not. He claims to paint character; possibly I might succeed in +chiseling character, but give me a beautiful model, and as a rule I am +content to show the surface only. Besides, the bust was for her, and I +made the best of my subject." + +"And in the Agricultural piece?" asked Quarles. + +"Naturally I idealized her." + +"I suppose he is not the born artist that Musgrave is?" I said, when +Forbes had left us. + +"I don't know," returned Quarles. "We will go and have another look at +the bust, and I think on the way home we might drop in and have another +look at Musgrave's picture." + +"That portrait bothers me," I said. "One might suppose it was the key to +the mystery." + +"I am not sure that it isn't," Quarles answered. + +Further acquaintance with the Academy picture had rather a curious effect +upon me. I do not think I lost anything of my original sense of +repulsion, but I was strangely conscious that there was something +attractive in the face. I was astonished to find what a likeness there +was between the portrait and the bust. The impression created by one +became mingled with the impression made by the other. + +I said as much to Quarles. + +"That is tantamount to saying they are both fine pieces of work," +he answered. + +"And means, I suppose, that the real woman was somewhere between the +two," said Zena. + +"Possibly, but with Musgrave's idea the predominant truth," said Quarles. + +"Why?" asked Zena. + +Quarles shrugged his shoulders. He had no answer to give. + +"The day after to-morrow, Wigan, we will go to the Agricultural +Institute." + +"Why not to-morrow?" + +"To-morrow I am busy. Did you know I was writing an article for a +psychological review?" + +On the following evening I took Zena to a theater--to the Olympic. I +suppose I chose the Olympic with a sort of idea that I was keeping in +touch with the case I had in hand, that if any one chanced to see me +there they would conclude that I was following up some clue. It is +hateful to feel that there is nothing to be done, more hateful still that +people should imagine you are beaten or are neglecting your work. + +Zena told me the professor had been out all day, but she did not know +what business he was about. He was certainly not engaged in writing +his article. + +The Olympic was by no means full that night; the disappearance of the +dancer was evidently having a disastrous effect upon the receipts. + +The next day I went to the Agricultural Institute with Quarles. He had +got a card of introduction to the secretary. + +The building had recently been enlarged, and at the top of the first +flight of the staircase stood a group representing the triumph of +modern methods. + +Standing or crouching, and full of energy, were figures symbolic of +science and machinery, while in the foreground was a recumbent figure +from whose hands the sickle had fallen. + +The woman was sleeping, her work done; yet she suggested that there was +beauty in those old methods which, for all their utility, was lacking +in the new. + +"It is probably the best work that Lovet Forbes has done," said the +secretary, who came round with us. + +"He is the coming man, they say," Quarles remarked. + +"He has surely arrived," was the answer, "for the critics are unanimous +as to the beauty of this." + +"Yes, it is remarkable in idea and execution. I am told the famous +dancer, who has recently disappeared, was the model for the +recumbent figure." + +"So I understand. The figure is the gem of the whole composition." + +Quarles was not inclined to endorse this opinion, and the secretary was +nothing loath to argue the point. + +The discussion led to a close examination of the figure, Quarles arguing +that it was out of proportion in comparison with the standing figures, a +comment which the secretary met with some learned words on the laws +relating to perspective. + +They were both a little out of their depth, I thought, and after a few +moments I did not pay much attention to them. My thoughts had gone back +to Musgrave's picture and to Forbes's bust of Madame Vatrotski. Zena had +said that the real woman was probably somewhere between the two, and as I +looked at the figure for which the dancer had been the model I felt she +was right. + +I suppose the limbs were perfect, but it was the face which chiefly +interested mo. It was like Musgrave's picture, but it was more like +Forbes's bust, with something in it which differed entirely from the bust +and from the picture. + +It was a beautiful figure, and I think the face was beautiful, but I +am not sure. + +The secretary had just measured the figure, and the result seemed to have +established the fact that Quarles's contention was right. This evidently +pleased him, and he was inclined to give way on minor points of +difference. + +"No doubt the sculptor's perspective has something to do with it," he +said; "but we must not forget that the group is symbolic. I should not +be surprised if the figure in the foreground is larger to illustrate +the fact that modern methods are of yesterday, while the sickle has +reaped the harvests of the world from old time. The sickle is not +broken, you observe, and the artist may mean that it will be used +again in the time to come." + +"You may be right," said the secretary. "I shall take an early +opportunity of asking Forbes." + +Soon afterwards, we left, and had got a hundred yards from the +building when the professor suddenly found he had left his gloves +behind in the library. + +"I shall only be a minute or two, Wigan. Stop a taxi in the meantime." + +He was longer than that, but he came back triumphant, waving the gloves, +an old pair hardly worth returning for. He seemed able to talk of nothing +but the symbolism of the group, finding many points in it which had +escaped me entirely. + +"It has given me an idea, Wigan." + +"About Madame Yatrotski?" + +"Yes; but we will wait until we get home." + +We went straight to that empty room. Zena could not persuade the old man +to have some tea first. + +"Tea! I am not taking tea to-day. Bring me a little weak brandy and +water, my dear." + +"Don't you feel well?" + +"Yes, but I am a little exhausted by talking to a man who thinks he +understands art and doesn't." + +"Oh, Murray doesn't pretend to understand it." + +"Murray is not such a fool as he pretends to be, even in art; but I was +thinking of the secretary, not Murray." + +The brandy was brought, and then the professor turned to me. + +"You suggested that perhaps Forbes was not the born artist that Musgrave +is. What is your opinion now, Wigan?" + +"I am chiefly impressed with the fact that Zena was right when she +said the real woman was probably between Forbes's bust and +Musgrave's picture." + +"And I am chiefly impressed with the fact that they are both great +artists," said Quarles. "I said Musgrave was, but I reserved my opinion +of Forbes until I had seen this group. It has convinced me. Now, for my +idea concerning the dancer. The first germ was in the notion that in +Musgrave's picture lay the key to the mystery. Knowing something of the +painter's power and ideals, I felt that the portrait must be true from +one point of view. What was his standpoint? He explained it to you. He +was detached, unbiased, putting on to his canvas that which he saw behind +the mere outer mask. When I saw Forbes's bust, one of two things was +certain: either he was incapable of seeing below the surface, or in this +particular case he was incapable of doing so. I could not decide until I +had seen other work of his. To-day I know he is as capable with his +chisel as Musgrave is with his brush. You have only to study the standing +and crouching figures in the group to see how virile and full of insight +he can be." + +"But the recumbent figure--" I began. + +"You remember that he said it was idealized," Quarles said. "It is +undoubtedly full of--of strength, but for the moment I am more interested +in the bust. Why does it differ so widely from Musgrave's portrait? Well, +I think Forbes was only capable of seeing Madame Vatrotski like that, and +we have to discover the reason." + +"Temperament," I suggested. "He said himself he was content as a rule to +show the beautiful exterior." + +"He also said one or two other interesting things," said Quarles, "For +instance, he was certain she was dead, or he would hardly have sold the +bust he had executed specially for her. Why was he so certain? Again, he +suggested she was French and not Russian, scorned the idea of her being +afraid of any one, and altogether he showed rather an intimate knowledge +of her, which makes one fancy that she had been more open with him than +she had been with others." + +"The fact that she was sitting to him might account for that," said Zena. + +"One would also expect that it would have made him come forward and give +what help he could in clearing up the mystery." Quarles answered; "but he +does nothing of the kind. We do not hear that he has used her as a model +for his Agricultural group until we hear it casually on the day the bust +was exhibited, and he tells us that he did not know of her disappearance +until he telephoned to her rooms two days afterwards. Does that sound +quite a likely story, Wigan?" + +"I think you are building a theory on a frail foundation, Professor." + +"It has served its purpose; I have built my theory--the artistic mind +fascinated and becoming revengeful in a moment of repulsion. I think +Madame Vatrotski had an appointment with Forbes that day, and more, that +she kept it." + +"Where?" + +"At his studio. It may have been to give him a final sitting, or it may +have been a lovers' meeting. Forbes could only see her beauty and +fascination; he put what he saw into the bust. He loved her with all the +unreasoning power that was in him; it is possible that in her limited way +she loved him, that he was more to her than all the rest. Then came the +sudden revulsion, perhaps because stories concerning her had reached +Forbes, stories he was convinced were true. She was alone with him in the +studio, and--well, I do not think she left it alive." + +"But the body?" I said. + +"Always the great difficulty," Quarles returned. "Yesterday I spent an +interesting day in Essex, Wigan, watching the various processes used in +making artificial stone, from its liquid and plastic state to its setting +into a hard block. I was amazed at what can be done with it." + +"You mean that--" + +"It is impossible!" Zena exclaimed. + +"It is not a very difficult matter to treat a body so as to preserve it, +but to cover it with a preparation and with such precision that when it +is set you shall see nothing but a stone figure is, of course, only +possible to an artist." + +"But she had sat for him, the figure must have been far advanced +before--before she disappeared." + +"I have no doubt it was, Wigan; but, far advanced as it was, that +stone figure was removed and replaced by one that only superficially +was stone." + +"I do not believe it. It is absurd." + +"Measurement proved that the recumbent figure was out of proportion in +comparison with the other figures, accounted for by the stone casing. Of +course with the secretary there I could not look too closely." + +"No, or you would have found--" + +"You seem to forget that I went back for my gloves," said Quarles. "I +left them on purpose. I ran up to the library; no one was about. I had a +chisel and hammer with me. By this time some one may have discovered +that the group has been chipped. There are the pieces." + +He took from his pocket some fragments of stone, pieces of a stone +mold, in fact. + +"Whether they will realize what it is that is disclosed where that piece +is missing is another matter, but we know, Wigan. It is the body of +Madame Vatrotski. Can you wonder, my dear Zena, that I felt more like a +little brandy and water than tea?" + +How far Quarles was right in his idea of the relations between Forbes and +the dancer no one will ever know. When the police went to arrest him he +was found dead in his studio. He had shot himself. How had he heard of +Quarles's discovery? How did he know that his ingenious method of +concealing the body had been found out? + +It was so strange that I asked Quarles whether he had warned him. + +"Do you think I should be likely to do such a thing?" was his answer. + +He would give me no other answer, and all I can say positively is that he +has never actually denied it. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE MYSTERY OF THE MAN AT WARBURTON'S + + +Two days later Zena went to visit friends in the country, and for some +weeks I did not go near Chelsea. Quarles was busy with some Psychological +Society which was holding a series of meetings in London, and was quite +pleased, no doubt, to be without my society for a while. + +Except when I have a regular holiday, my leisure hours are limited, but I +was taking a night off. It was not because I had nothing to do, but +because I had so many things to think of that my brain had become +hopelessly muddled in the process, and a few blank hours seemed to be +advisable. When this kind of retreat becomes necessary, I invariably find +my way to Holborn, to a very plain-fronted establishment there over which +is the name Warburton. If you are a gastronomic connoisseur in any way +you may know it, for Warburton's is a restaurant where you can get an +old-fashioned dinner cooked as nowhere else in London, I believe, and +enjoy an old port afterwards which those delightful sinners, our +grandfathers, would have sat over half the night, and been pulled out +from under the table in the morning perchance. I am not abnormally +partial to the pleasures of the table, but I have found a good dinner in +combination with first-rate port, rationally dealt with, an excellent +tonic for the brain. + +I do not suppose any one knew my name at Warburton's, and I have always +prided myself on not carrying my profession in my face. The man who +dined opposite to me that night possibly began by taking me for a +prosperous city man, to whom success had come somewhat early, or perhaps +for a barrister, not of the brilliant kind, but of the steady plodders +who get there in the end by sheer force of sticking power. I was not in +the least interested in him until he spoke to me--asked me to pass the +Worcester sauce, in fact. His voice attracted me, and his hands. It was a +voice which sounded out of practise, as if it were seldom used, and his +hands were those of an artist. I made some casual remark, complimentary +to Warburton's, and we began to talk. He seemed glad to do so, but he +spoke with hesitation, not as one who has overcome an impediment in his +speech, but as one who had forgotten part of his vocabulary. The reason +leaked out presently. + +"I wonder whether there is something--how shall I put it?--_simpatica_ +between us?" he said suddenly. + +"Why the speculation?" I asked. + +"Otherwise I cannot think why I am talking so much," he said with a +nervous laugh. "I live alone, I hardly know a soul, and all I say in the +course of a week could be repeated in two minutes, I suppose." + +"Not a healthy existence," I returned. + +"It suits me. I dine here most nights; the journey to and fro forms my +daily constitutional. You are not a regular customer here?" + +"No, an occasional one only. I should guess that you are engaged in +artistic work of some kind." + +"Right!" he said with a show of excitement. "And when I tell you I live +in Gray's Inn do you think you could guess what kind of work it is?" + +"That is beyond me," I laughed. "Gray's Inn sounds a curious place for +an artist." + +"I am an illuminator, not for money, but for my own pleasure. Do you +know Italy?" + +"No." + +"At least you know that some of the old monks spent their hours in +wonderful work of this kind, carefully illuminating the texts of works +with marvelous design and color. Now and then some special genius arose +and became a great fresco painter. Fra Angelico painted pictures for the +world to marvel over, while some humbler brother pored over his +illuminating. You will find some of this work in the British Museum." + +Evidently my newly acquired friend was an eccentric, I thought. + +"Pictures have no particular interest for me," he went on; "these +illuminated texts have. I am an expert worker myself. First in Italy, now +in Gray's Inn." + +"And there is no market for such work?" I enquired. + +"I believe not. I have never troubled to find out. I have no need of +money, and if I had I could not bring myself to part with my work." + +"You interest me. I should like to see some of your work." + +"Why not? It is a short walk to Gray's Inn. To me you are rather +wonderful. I have not felt inclined to talk to a stranger for years, and +now I am anxious to show you what I have done. We will go when you like." + +I had not bargained for this. Had I foreseen that I should have a +conversation forced upon me to-night I should have avoided Warburton's; +even now I was inclined to excuse myself, but curiosity got the upper +hand. I finished my wine and we went to Gray's Inn. + +On the way, I told him my name, but, apparently, he had never heard it, +nor did he immediately tell me his. I purposely called him Mr. ---- and +paused for the information. + +"Parrish," he said. "Bather a curious name," and then he went on talking +about illuminating, evidently convinced that I was intensely interested. +It was the man who interested me, not his work, and the interest was +heightened when I entered his rooms. He occupied two rooms at the top of +a dreary building devoted to men of law. The rooms were well enough in +themselves, but the furniture was in the last stage of dilapidation, +there were holes in the carpet, and everything looked forlorn and +poverty-stricken. I glanced at my companion. Certainly, his clothes were +a little shabby, but quite good, and he was oblivious to the decayed +atmosphere of his surroundings. He drew me at once to a large table, +where lay the work he was engaged upon. Of its kind, it was marvelous +both in design and execution, reproducing the color effects of the old +illuminators so exactly that it was almost impossible to tell it from +that of the old monks. This is not my opinion, but that of the expert +from the British Museum when he pronounced upon the work later. + +"Wonderful," I said. "And there is no sale for it?" + +He shrugged his shoulders. Environment seemed to have an effect upon +him, for his conversation was mostly by signs after we entered his room. +Without a word he took finished work from various drawers and put it on +the table for my inspection. I praised it, asked questions to draw him +out, but failed to get more than a lift of the eyebrows, or an +occasional monosyllable. It was not exhilarating, and as soon as I could +I took my leave. + +"Come and see me again soon," he said, parting with me at the top of +the stairs. + +"Thanks," I answered, as I went down, but I made no promise as I looked +up at him silhouetted against the light from his open door. Little did I +guess how soon I was to climb those stairs again. + +Next morning I was conscious that the night off, although not spent +exactly as I had intended, had done me good. Some knotty points in a case +I was engaged upon had begun to unravel themselves in my mind, and I +reached the office early to find that the chief was already there and +wanted to see me. + +"Here is a case you must look after at once, Wigan," he said, passing me +the report of the murder of a man named Parrish, in Gray's Inn. + +Now, one of the essentials in my profession is the ability to put the +finger on the small mistakes a criminal makes when he endeavors to cover +up his tracks. I suppose nine cases out of ten are solved in this way, +and more often than not the thing left undone, unthought of, is the very +one, you would imagine, which the criminal would have thought of first. I +fancy the reason lies in the fact that the criminal does not believe he +will be suspected. I said nothing to my chief about my visit to Gray's +Inn last night. Experience has shown me the wisdom of a still tongue, and +knowledge I have picked up casually has often led to a solution which has +startled the Yard. The Yard was destined to be startled now, but not +quite in the way I hoped. + +When I arrived at Gray's Inn, a small crowd had collected before the +entrance door of the house, as if momentarily expecting some +information from the constable who stood on duty there--a man I did not +happen to know. + +"That's him! That's him!" + +A boy pointed me out excitedly to the constable, who looked at me +quickly. I smiled to find myself recognized, but I was laboring under +a mistake. + +"Yes, that's the man," said a woman standing on the edge of the crowd. + +The explanation came when the constable understood who I was. + +"Both of them declare they saw the dead man in company with another man +last night, described him, and now--" + +"I saw you with him," said the boy. "I never saw him with any one before, +that's why I took particular notice." + +The woman nodded her agreement. + +"Better take the names and addresses, constable." + +"I've already done that, sir." + +I entered the house inclined to smile, but the inclination vanished as I +went upstairs. No doubt these two had seen me last night, and it was +fortunate, perhaps, that I was a detective, and not an ordinary +individual. And yet a detective might commit murder. It was an unpleasant +thought, unpleasant enough to make me wish I had mentioned last night's +adventure to the chief. + +A constable I knew was on the top landing, and entered the rooms with me. +Parrish had not been moved. He was lying by the table; had probably +fallen forward out of his chair. + +A thin-bladed knife had been driven downwards, at the base of the neck, +apparently by some one who had stood behind him. I judged, and a doctor +presently confirmed my judgment, that he had been dead some hours; must +have met his death soon after I had left him. As far as I could tell, +the papers on the table were in exactly the same position as I had seen +them, and the finished work which he had taken out of his drawers to +show me had not been replaced. The fact seemed to add to the awkwardness +of my position. + +The first thing I did was to telegraph to Christopher Quarles. I do not +remember ever being more keen for his help. I occupied the time of +waiting in a careful examination of the rooms and the stairs, and in +making enquiries in the offices in the building. + +The first thing I told Quarles, on his arrival, was my adventure +last night, and the awkward fact that two people had recognized me +this morning. + +"Then we mustn't fail this time, Wigan," he said gravely. "It is a pity +you did not mention the adventure to your chief." + +"Yes, but--" + +"You'd suspect a man with less evidence against him," Quarles answered +quickly. "We'll look at the rooms, and the dead man, then you had better +go back to the Yard and tell your chief all about it." + +Our search revealed very little. It was evident that Parrish had lived a +lonely life, as he had told me. His evening dinner at Warburton's +appeared to have been his only real meal of the day. There was a +half-empty tin of biscuits in the cupboard, and some coffee and tea, but +no other food whatever, nor evidence that it was ever kept there. I have +said the clothes he was wearing were shabby, but there was a shabbier +suit still lying at the bottom of a drawer, and his stock of shirts and +underclothing reached the minimum. Practically, there were no papers, +only a few receipted bills for material for his work, a few +advertisements still in their wrappers, and two letters which had not +been opened. + +"We will examine these later, Wigan," said Quarles. "I want to get an +impression before anything definite puts me on the wrong road. What +about his work?" and the professor examined it with his lens. "Good, of +its kind, I should imagine, and what is more to the point, requiring +expensive materials. These bills show a good many pounds spent in less +than four months. He was not poverty-stricken, in spite of shabby +clothes, and holes in the carpet. Where did he get his money from? There +is no check book here, no money except a few shillings in his pocket. +That is a point to remember." + +"The murderers may have taken it," I said. + +"This doesn't look like a place ordinary thieves would come to." + +There was a shelf in one corner, with books on it, perhaps a score in +all. Quarles took down every one of them, and opened them. + +"John Parrish. Did you know his name was John?" + +"No. He didn't mention his Christian name." + +"Here it is, written in every book," said Quarles as he deliberately tore +a fly-leaf out of one and began to put down on it the titles of some of +the books. "Evidently he did not read much, the dust here is thick. Did +he open his door with a key when you came in with him last night?" + +"I couldn't swear to it." + +"You see it does not lock of itself. He might have left it merely closed. +Did he go into the bedroom while you were here?" + +"No." + +"Then the murderer may have been there while you were with him. You have +made enquiries about him in this building, of course?" + +"Yes." + +"About his personal appearance and habits, I mean. You see, Wigan, your +own idea of him is not sufficient. He may have deceived you entirely +regarding his character, assuming eccentricity for some purpose. Think +the affair out from that point of view, and when you have been to the +Yard, come to Chelsea. If you do not mind I will take these two unopened +letters. We will look at them together presently." + +As a matter of fact, Quarles had opened them before I saw him; indeed, +their contents took him out of town, and I did not see him for three +days. They were very trying days for me, for the chief took me off the +case when he had heard my story. He could not understand why I had not +mentioned at once that I had been with the dead man on the previous +night, and his manner suggested that my being the criminal was well +within the bounds of possibility. I suppose every one likes to have a cut +at a successful man occasionally, but I am bound to admit he had some +reason for his action. He showed me a halfpenny paper in which an +enterprising scribbler, under the headline "Murder in Gray's Inn," had +heightened the sensation by another headline, "Strange recognition of a +well-known detective by a woman and a boy." + +"We mustn't give the press any reason to suppose that we want to +thwart justice for the purpose of shielding an officer," the chief +said. "Cochran will take charge of the case, and I am letting the +press know this." + +There was nothing to be said, and I left him feeling very much like a +criminal, and very conscious of being in an awkward position. Unless the +case were satisfactorily cleared up there would be plenty of people to +suspect me. + +Quarles, when at last we foregathered in the empty room, was sympathetic +but not surprised; Zena, who had come back to town immediately on +receiving a letter from me, was furious that I should be suspected. + +"I have been busy," said the professor. "I opened those letters, Wigan. +Of course Zena's first question on her arrival was why Mr. Parrish had +not opened them. Her second question was: Why did he live the life of a +recluse in Gray's Inn? How would you answer those questions?" + +"I see no reason why a recluse should not live in Gray's Inn," I +answered, "and an eccentric person, obsessed with one idea in life, might +throw letters aside without opening them." + +"Quite a good answer," said Quarles. "Now, here are the letters. This one +is dated eighteen months ago, postmark Liverpool, written at Thorn's +Hotel, Liverpool. 'Dear Jack,--Back again like the proverbial bad penny. +Health first class; luck medium. Pocket full enough to have a rollick +with you. Shall be with you the day after to-morrow.--Yours, C.M.' Your +friend Parrish was not a man you would expect to rollick, I imagine?'' + +"No." + +"So either he entirely deceived you or had changed considerably since +'C.M.' had seen him. Here is the other letter. Postmark Rome, dated three +years ago, but no address. Just a message in indifferent English: 'Once +more you do me good and I repay in interest. B. knows and comes to you. +Beware.--Emanuele.'" + +"Parrish told me he was in Italy for some time," I said. + +"The first letter took me to Liverpool," Quarles went on. "Thorn's Hotel +is third-rate, but quite good enough for a man who does not want to burn +money. 'C.M.' stands for Claude Milne. That was the only name with those +initials in the hotel books on that date. He had come from New York, and +he left an address to which letters were to be forwarded, an hotel in +Craven Street. I traced him there. He stayed a week, and, I gather, spent +a rollicking time, mostly returning to bed in the early hours not too +sober. No friends seem to have looked him up. He appears to have gone +abroad again." + +"And it is eighteen months ago," I said. + +"Exactly. We will remember that," said Quarles. "The other letter is +older still. It is evidently a warning. The writer believed Parrish to be +in danger from this 'B.' who was coming to England. Now, was it B. who +found him the other night after three years' search?" + +"The name is on the door and in the directory," I answered. + +"That is another point to remember, Wigan. Now, I daresay you have learnt +from your inquiries in the building that very little was known about +Parrish. Some of the tenants did not remember there was such a name on +the door. I have interviewed the agents who receive the rent, and they +tell me that until about three years ago they received Parrish's rent by +check, always sent from Windsor, and on a bank at Windsor; but since then +they have received it in cash, promptly, and sent by messenger boy, the +receipt always being waited for. They inform me that at one time, at any +rate, Parrish did not use his chambers much, was a river man in the +summer, and in the winter was abroad a great deal. The letter sent with +the cash was merely a typed memorandum. There was no typewriter in +Parrish's chambers, I think?" + +"No." + +Quarles took from some papers the fly-leaf he had torn from one of +the books. + +"That is Parish's signature," said Quarles. "The agents recognize it, the +bank confirms it; the account is not closed, but has not been used for +three years. The rooms he occupied in Windsor are now in other hands, and +nothing is known of him there. Inspector Cockran made these inquiries at +Windsor. You see, as you are off the case I am helping him. Having no +official position in the matter I must attach myself to some one to +facilitate my investigation. Cockran thinks I am an old fool with lucid +moments, during which I may possibly say something which is worth +listening to." + +"He is generally looked upon as a smart man," I said. + +"Oh, perhaps he is right in his opinion of me, also in his +judgment of you." + +"What has he got to say about me?" + +"He says very little, but as far as I can gather his investigations are +based on the assumption that you killed Parrish. Don't get angry, Wigan. +It is really not such an outrageous point of view, and for the present I +am shaking my head with him and am inclined to his opinion." + +"It is a disgraceful suspicion," said Zena. + +"Those who plead not guilty always say that, but it really does not count +for much with the judge," Quarles answered. "We will get on with the +evidence. I jotted down on this fly-leaf the names of some of the books +on that shelf, Wigan. Nothing there, you see, bears any reference to his +illuminating work." + +"Are you suggesting it was a blind?" + +"No, I haven't got as far as that yet, but it is curious that none of his +books should relate to his hobby in any way. I have ascertained that he +always bought his materials personally, never wrote for them. From the +postman I discover that it was seldom they had to go to the top floor; +the advertisements and letters we have found may be taken to be all the +communications he has received through the post. At the same time we have +evidence that he had command of money, since he paid his rent promptly, +bought expensive materials, and dined every night at Warburton's. Since +he did not sell his work, where did the money come from?" + +"Some annuity," I suggested. + +"Exactly, which he must have collected himself, since he received no +letters, and taken away in cash, since he had given up using a banking +account. Cockran has made inquiries at the insurance offices, and in the +name of Parrish there exists no such annuity, apparently. It was, +therefore, either in another name or came from a private source." + +"So we draw blank," I said. + +"In one sense we do, in another we do not," returned Quarles. "We come +back to the letters and to Zena's questions. First, why did he live the +life of a recluse in Gray's Inn? The answer does not seem very difficult +to me. He had something to hide, something which made him cut himself +off from the world, and that something had its beginning about three +years ago, when he ceased paying his rent by check, when he gave up his +rooms at Windsor; in short, when he entirely became a changed character. +We may take 'C.M.'s' letter, with its talk of rollicking, as confirming +this view." + +"But he did not open either letter. He did not see Emanuele's +warning," I said. + +"True, but I believe, Wigan, the first two words in Emanuele's letter +should stand by themselves; that the letter should read thus: 'Once +more. You do me good, I repay, etc,' I think there was a previous letter +which Parrish did see." + +"A far-fetched theory," I returned. + +"The key to it is in Zena's question: Why didn't Parrish open his +letters?" + +"Why, indeed?" I said. "He might throw 'C.M.'s' letter aside, but if +there had been a previous letter warning him that danger threatened him +from Italy, do you imagine he would have failed to open one with the Rome +postmark on it?" + +"That does seem to knock the bottom out of my argument," said Quarles. + +"I am afraid the theory is too elaborate altogether," I went on. "Parrish +was an eccentric. I was not deceived. I am astonished there should ever +have been an episode in his life which should necessitate a warning from +Emanuele. Probably the Italian exaggerated the position. That B. is +stated to have come to England three years ago, and the murder has only +just occurred, would certainly confirm this view." + +"It does, but you throw no light on the mystery, and the fact remains +that Parrish was murdered. You have not knocked the bottom out of my +theory, and with Cockran's help I am going to put it to the test. For +the moment there is nothing more to be done. I must wait until I hear +from Cockran. I will wire you some time to-morrow. You must meet me +without fail wherever I appoint. I think Cockran is fully persuaded +that I am helping him to snap the handcuffs on to your wrists. The +capture of a brother detective would be a fine case to have to his +credit, wouldn't it?" + +"I hope you are not doing anything risky, dear," said Zena. + +"What! Is your faith in Murray growing weak, too?" laughed Quarles. + +I was not in the mood to enjoy a joke of this kind--my position was far +too serious--and I left Chelsea in a depressed condition. Perhaps it was +being so personally concerned in the matter which made me especially +critical of Quarles's methods, but it certainly did not seem to me that +his arguments had helped me in the least. They only served to emphasize +how poor our chance was of finding the criminal. + +Next afternoon I received a wire from the professor telling me to meet +him at the Yorkshire Grey. I found him waiting there and thought he +looked a little anxious. + +"We are going to have a tea-party at a quiet place round the corner in +Gray's Inn Road," he said; "at least Cockran and I are, while you are +going to look on. You are going to be conspicuous by your absence, and +under no circumstances must you attempt to join us. When it is all +over and we have gone, then you can leave your hiding-place and come +to Chelsea." + +He would answer no questions as we went to the third-rate tea-rooms, but +he was certainly excited. The woman greeted him as an old friend. He had +evidently been there before. + +"This is the gentleman I spoke of," said Quarles, and then the woman led +us into a back room. + +"Ah, you've put the screen in that corner, I see. An excellent +arrangement; couldn't be better. You quite understand that this room is +reserved for me and my guests for as long as I may require it. Good. Now, +Wigan, your place is behind this screen. There is a chair, so you can be +seated, and there is also a convenient hole in the screen which will +afford you a view of our table yonder. It is rather a theatrical +arrangement, but I have a score to settle with Cockran if I can. He +thinks I am an old fool, and when it does not suit my purpose I object to +any one having that idea." + +When Cockran arrived it so happened that I had some little difficulty in +finding the slit in the screen; when I did I saw that he had a woman +with him. By the time I had got a view of the room she had seated +herself at the tea-table and her back was toward me. It did not seem to +me the kind of back that would make a man hurry to overtake to see what +the face was like. + +Quarles talked commonplaces while the tea was being brought in, and then, +when the proprietress had gone out, he said, leaning toward the woman: + +"Do you constantly suffer from the result of your accident?" + +"Accident!" she repeated. + +"I notice that you limp slightly." + +"Oh, it was a long time ago. I don't feel anything of it now." + +Quarles handed her some cake. + +"It is very good of you to come," he went on, "and I hope you are going +to let us persuade you to be definite." + +She nodded at Cockran. + +"I have told him that I am not sure. I am going to stick to that." + +"The fact is, we are especially anxious to solve this mystery," Quarles +went on, "and I believe you are the only person who can help us. Now, +from certain inquiries which I have been making I have come to the +conclusion that Mr. Parrish is not dead." + +"Not dead!" the woman exclaimed. + +I saw Cockran look enquiringly at Quarles, but he did not say anything. +The professor had evidently persuaded the inspector to let him carry out +this investigation in his own way. + +"Of course, a man has been killed," he went on, "but it wasn't Parrish, I +fancy. He lived in Parrish's chambers; was a lonely man with a hobby, and +if the people who saw him about liked to think his name was Parrish, +well, it didn't trouble him. You didn't happen to know the real Parrish, +I suppose?" + +"Of course not." + +"No, I didn't expect you would," said Quarles, "but tell me how it was +you so promptly recognized the man we are after." + +"I am not sure it was the same man." + +"But you were when the boy recognized him." + +"I say now I am not sure." + +"Oh, but you are," returned Quarles. "You could not possibly be mistaken. +From the inner room of Parrish's chambers you must have watched both the +men for the best part of an hour." + +A teaspoon clattered in a saucer as the woman sprang to her feet, and I +saw she was the woman who had pointed me out to the constable when I +had entered Gray's Inn on the morning after the murder. Cockran's face +was a study. + +"You made a mistake," Quarles went on quietly. "I have worked it all out +in my own mind and I daresay there are some details missing. I will tell +you how I explain the mystery. Parrish, when in Italy, wronged some one +dear to you. You only heard of it afterwards. Personally you did not know +Parrish, but you found out what you could about him: that he was +connected with the law, that he lived in London, in one of the places +where lawyers do live. You determined to come to England for revenge. I +do not say you were not justified. I do not know the circumstances. That +was three years ago. An accident--was it the one at Basle, which occurred +about that time?--detained you, laid you aside for some months, perhaps. +You had not much money, you had to live, so your arrival in England was +delayed. When you got here, you took a post as waitress in Soho. Only in +your leisure time could you look for Mr. Parrish. At first, probably, you +knew nothing about the London Directory, and when you did, looked for the +name in the wrong part of it, and, of course, you would not ask questions +of any one. That might implicate you later on. At last you found him; saw +the name on the door. Possibly you have been waiting your opportunity for +some little time, but the other night it came. Of course, you could not +know there was a mistake. You heard Parrish speak of Italy, and when the +other man had departed you crept from your hiding place and struck your +blow; but you did not kill Parrish. Three years ago he was warned of his +danger, and got out of your way. He was warned that you had started for +England by Emanuele. Do you know him?" + +The woman had stood tense and rigid, listening to this story of the +crime; now she collapsed. + +"Emanuele!" she cried. + +"I see you do know him," Quarles said. "You have my sympathy. It is +possible that the man Parrish deserved his fate, only it happens that +another has suffered in his place." + +"It was my sister he wronged," said the woman. + +"Was it fear that some evidence might be found against you which made you +point out a man whom you knew was innocent?" said Quarles. + +She nodded, still sobbing. + +"The rest is for you to manage," said Quarles, turning to the +inspector. "I suppose you are not likely to make any further mistakes. +This would all have been cleared up days ago if Wigan had not been +taken off the job." + +I suppose Cockran felt a fool, as the professor intended he should. + +There was little to be explained when I went to Chelsea later. Quarles's +reconstruction of the crime had showed me the lines along which he had +worked. The unopened letter from Rome had set him speculating with a view +to proving that the dead man was not Parrish; and whilst I had only +considered the change in character, he had had before him the possibility +of a separate identity. + +"Still, I do not understand how you came to suspect the woman," I said. + +"Her recognition of you was too prompt to carry conviction under the +circumstances," he answered. "The boy, who is in an office in Gray's Inn, +might have met you together. I have no doubt he did; but since the woman +had no business there, and if my theory were right, was concealed in +Parrish's chambers at the time, she could not have seen you, except in +the way I explained to her. Poor soul! I feel rather a cur for trapping +her, but you were in a tight hole, Wigan, and I had to get you out." + +Evidence showing that Parrish was a heartless scoundrel, the jury found +extenuating circumstances for the woman, in spite of the fact that she +had murdered an innocent man, so she escaped the extreme penalty. I was +glad, although the strict justice of the verdict may be questioned. From +Italy, from Emanuele, who was the woman's cousin, we learnt that when +Parrish was in Italy he had a friend with him, an eccentric artist named +Langford. We found that an insurance company had an annuity in this name +which was not afterwards claimed. This fact, and the officials' +description of the man, left no doubt that the murdered man was Langford. +Emanuele had written two letters, as Quarles had surmised, and the first +had caused Parrish to get out of harm's way. Wishing to keep up his +chambers, he allowed Langford to occupy them; had perhaps left him the +money to pay the rent, the idea of danger to his friend probably never +occurring to him. + +Naturally, Langford had not opened his letters, and, being an eccentric +and a recluse, had allowed people to call him Parrish without denying the +name when it happened that any one had to call him anything. + +Since Parrish has never returned, even though the danger is past, it is +probable, I think, that he died abroad. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE STRANGE CASE OF DANIEL HARDIMAN + + +Not infrequently I am put in charge of cases which are of small +importance and might well be left to a less experienced man. I thought +the mystery of Daniel Hardiman was such a case. I even went further and +imagined that it was given to me because I was a bit under a cloud over +the Parrish affair. Quarles jeered at my imagination and was interested +from the outset, perhaps because he had had rather more of the +Psychological Society than was good for him. Anyway, he traveled north +with me to meet the liner _Slavonic_. + +On the passenger list was the name Daniel Hardiman. He had come on board +at Montevideo in company with his man, John Bennett, who appeared to be +half servant, half companion. They had only a small amount of personal +luggage, one trunk each, but several stout packing-cases of various sizes +had been stored away in the hold. Hardiman had a first-class cabin to +himself; his man traveled second-class, but spent much of his time in his +master's cabin; indeed, for the first few days of the voyage Hardiman was +not seen except at meal times. + +It was said amongst the crew--probably the servant had mentioned the +fact--that they were returning to England after an absence of many years, +during which time they had lived much alone; and amongst the passengers +it was agreed that there was something curious about the pair. There was +speculation upon the promenade deck and in the smoking-room; the gossip +was a pleasant interlude in the monotony of a long voyage. At the end of +a week, however, Mr. Hardiman no longer stayed in his cabin. At first he +paced the deck, thoughtfully, only in the early morning or late in the +evening, but later was to be found in a deck-chair, either gazing fixedly +at the horizon or interested in the games of the children on board. One +sturdy youngster, when recovering a ball which had rolled to Hardiman's +feet, spoke to him. All the answer he got was a nod of the head, but the +boy had broken the ice, and two men afterwards scraped acquaintance with +the curious traveler. One was a Mr. Majendie, who was going to England on +business; the other Sir Robert Gibbs, a Harley Street specialist, who had +broken down with hard work, and was making the round trip for the benefit +of his health. + +By wireless, when the ship was two days from Liverpool, came the news +that Hardiman had been murdered by his man-servant, and it was in +consequence of this message that Christopher Quarles and I had gone north +to meet the boat on its arrival. + +When we went on board the captain gave us the outline of Hardiman's +behavior during the voyage as I have here set it down. Quarles asked him +at once whether he thought that all the passengers, after landing, could +be traced if necessary. The captain seemed to consider this rather a tall +order, but thought all those who could possibly have had access to Mr. +Hardiman might be traced. + +"It is a pity we cannot forbid any one to land until we like," said the +professor. + +"There is not so much mystery about it as all that," said the captain, +"although it isn't quite plain sailing. One of our passengers, a swell +doctor, who examined the body with our ship's doctor directly after the +discovery, will give you the benefit of his opinion, and I am detaining +another passenger, a Mr. Majendie." + +"Then there is some doubt as to the servant's guilt?" I said. + +"I don't think so, but you shall hear the whole story." + +"First, we should like to see the body," said Quarles. "We might be +influenced unconsciously by your tale. It is well to come to the heart of +the matter with an open mind." + +The captain sent for the ship's doctor and a stewardess, and with them we +went to the cabin, which had been kept locked. + +The body, which lay in the berth where it had been found, an upper berth +with a porthole, had been washed and attended to by the stewardess. The +lower berth had been used by the traveler for some of his clothes--they +were still there, neatly folded. The dead man's trunk was on a sofa on +the opposite side of the cabin, a sofa which could be made into a third +berth if necessary. Except that the body had been attended to, the cabin +was just as it had been found. + +"I took the stained sheets away," said the stewardess, "but I thought it +would be wiser not to move him from the upper berth." + +"It is a pity he couldn't have been left just as he was," Quarles +answered; "you have no doubt washed away all the evidence." + +He was a long time examining the wound, a particularly jagged one in the +neck, a stab rather than a cut, but with something of both in it. + +"Has the--the knife been found?" Quarles asked. + +"No," answered the captain. "You hesitate in your question a little. You +are certain it was a knife, I suppose?" + +"Yes, why do you ask?" + +"His man says it was a bullet." + +"A bullet!" and Quarles looked back at the wound. + +"The servant Bennett does not deny that he killed his master," said the +doctor; "but he persists in saying that he had no knife." + +"Has a revolver been found?" I asked. + +"No, and no one heard any report," said the captain. "I cannot make this +fellow Bennett out. He seems to me rather mad. Besides, there are one or +two curious points. Would you like to hear them now?" + +"Please," said Quarles. + +With sailor-like directness the story was told in a straightforward +narrative, destitute of trimmings of any kind. A steward had gone to Mr. +Hardiman's cabin to take him a weak brandy-and-water; he had done the +same first thing every morning during the voyage. He saw Hardiman lying +with his face toward the cabin, one arm hanging over the side of the +berth. There was no sign of a struggle. The clothes were not thrown back, +but there was a considerable quantity of blood. Curiously enough, the +porthole had been unscrewed and was open. The steward fetched Dr. +Williams, the ship's doctor, who said death had probably occurred five or +six hours previously, a statement Sir Robert Gibbs corroborated. There +was no knife anywhere. + +"The time of death is important," the captain went on. "Bennett has +occupied a second-class cabin with a man named Dowler, and on the night +of the murder Dowler, having taken something which disagreed with him, +was awake all night, and he declares that Bennett never stirred out of +his bunk. If the doctors are right, then Dowler's evidence provides +Bennett with an alibi, of which, however, he shows no anxiety to take +advantage. This cabin trunk, Mr. Quarles"--and the captain lifted up the +lid as he spoke--"this trunk is all Mr. Hardiman's cabin luggage. There +are some papers, chiefly in a kind of shorthand, which you will no doubt +examine presently, and these stones, merely small chunks of rock, as far +as I can see, although Sir Robert Gibbs suggests they may have value. +There are similar stones in Bennett's trunk. There is a curious incident +in connection with these bits of stone. On the night after the murder one +of the middle watch saw a man come on deck and hastily fling something +overboard. At least, that was the intention, apparently, but as a fact, +either through agitation or a bad aim, the packet did not go overboard, +but landed on a coil of rope on the lower deck forward. It proved to be a +small canvas bag containing seven of these bits of rock, or, at any rate, +pieces like them. Now, the man on the watch is not inclined to swear to +it, but he believes the thrower was Majendie. Majendie denies it." + +"You are an excellent witness, Captain," said Quarles as he took up two +or three of the bits of rock and looked at them. "Is Mr. Majendie annoyed +at not being allowed to land at once?" + +"On the contrary, he is keen to give us all the help in his power. He is +a fairly well-known man on the other side, has means and position, and, +personally, I have little doubt that the watch was mistaken. You see, the +servant does not deny his guilt." + +"Would Bennett be likely to be in the place where the watch saw this +man?" I asked. + +"Not under ordinary circumstances, but if he had been trying to get into +the locked cabin he would be." + +"I think if we could have a few words with Sir Robert Gibbs it would be +useful," said Quarles. "Have you the canvas bag of stones?" + +"Yes, locked up in my cabin. I will send and ask Sir Robert to join +us there." + +"And could you get a knife?" asked the professor. "Any old knife will do, +a rusty one for preference." + +A few minutes later we were in the captain's cabin, and on the table was +the bag of stones and a rusty and much-worn table-knife. Dr. Williams +had just explained to us his reasons for fixing the time of death when +Sir Robert entered. He was a man with a pronounced manner, inclined to +take the lead in any company in which he found himself, and was very +certain of his own opinion. On the way to the cabin Quarles had +whispered to me to take the lead in asking questions, and to leave him +in the background as much as possible, so after the captain's short +introductions I began at once: + +"I may take it, Sir Robert, that you agree with Dr. Williams as to the +time Hardiman had been dead when you saw the body?" + +"Certainly." + +"And in your opinion the wound could not, under any circumstances, have +been caused by a bullet?" + +"Certainly not," and he smiled at the futility of the question. + +"The bullet might have been a peculiar one," I suggested, "different from +any with which we are familiar. The servant, who does not deny his guilt, +says it was a bullet." + +"And I say it was not," Sir Robert answered. "No kind of bullet could +make such a wound. A knife with a point to it was used. The action would +be a stab and a pull sideways. I am of the opinion that the blow was +struck while the victim was in a deep sleep. I think Dr. Williams +agrees with me." + +Williams nodded. + +"You would otherwise have expected to find some signs of a +struggle?" I said. + +"I should. It is quite possible, I think, that at times Mr. Hardiman had +recourse to a draught or a tablet to induce sleep." + +"I understand that you had some conversation with Mr. Hardiman during the +voyage, Sir Robert. Were you struck by any peculiarity in him?" + +"He was an eccentric man, but a man of parts undoubtedly. He told me very +little about himself, but I gathered that he had traveled extensively, +and out of the beaten track. I put down his difficulty in sustaining a +conversation to this fact. He seemed in good health--one of those wiry +men who can stand almost anything." + +"Sir Robert, could it possibly have been a case of suicide?" Quarles +asked, suddenly leaning forward. + +"Have you examined the wound carefully?" asked the doctor. + +"I have." + +"If you will try to stab yourself like that you will see how impossible +it is. Besides, you forget that no knife has been found, and in a case of +suicide it would have been. I may add that the knife used was not in the +least like the one I see on the table there." + +"It must have had a point, you think?" said Quarles. + +"I do not think--I am certain." + +"Did Mr. Hardiman ever say anything about these bits of rock to you?" + +"Never," answered the doctor. "I think I suggested to the captain +that they might be valuable. I have no knowledge on the point, but I +cannot conceive a man like Hardiman carrying them about unless they +were of value." + +"I take it he is a geologist," Quarles said carelessly. + +Sir Robert would like to have been present throughout our inquiry, but +the professor firmly but courteously objected. He said it would not be +fair to those chiefly concerned, and he appealed to me to endorse his +opinion. The doctor had raised a spirit of antagonism in him. They were +both too dogmatic to agree easily. + +The sailor of the watch was next interviewed, a good, honest seaman who +evidently had a wholesome dread of the law in any form. He thought it +was Mr. Majendie he had seen on the deck that night, but he would, not +swear to it. + +"Are you sure it wasn't Bennett?" I asked. + +"Ay, sir, I'm pretty sure of that." + +"What is it that particularly makes you think it was Mr. Majendie?" + +"I just think it, sir; I can't rightly say why." + +"What did he do, exactly?" said Quarles. "Just show me--show me his +action. Here are the bits of rock in the bag; take the bag up and pretend +to pitch it into the sea, as he did." + +The sailor took up the bag and did so. His pantomime was quite realistic. + +"I note that you turn your back to us," said Quarles. + +"Ay, sir, because his back was turned to me. It wasn't until he made the +action of throwing--just like that, it was--that I knew he had anything +in his hand." + +"Did you call out to him?" + +"No; he was there and gone directly." + +"It was a bad throw, too?" + +"Ay, sir, it was; he did it awkward, something like women throws when +they ain't used to throwing." + +"That good fellow would feel far more uncomfortable in the witness-box +than most criminals do in the dock," said Quarles when the sailor had +gone. "He is as certain that it was Mr. Majendie as he is certain of +anything, but he is not going to commit himself. Shall we have a talk +with Mr. Majendie next? Let me question him, Wigan." + +Majendie's appearance was in his favor. He might be a villain, but he +didn't look it. There was Southern warmth in his countenance and temper +in his dark eyes, but his smile was prepossessing. + +"A sailor's absurd mistake has put you to great inconvenience, I fear," +said Quarles. + +"The inconvenience is nothing," was the answer. "I court enquiry." + +"Of course you were not on the deck that night?" + +"No." + +"It is Mr. Hardiman's past I want to get at," said the professor. "You +had some talk with him during the voyage; what did you think was his +business in life?" + +"He was a traveler. I think he had been where no other civilized man has +been. He did not directly tell me so, but I fancy he had wandered in the +interior of Patagonia." + +"Should you say he was a geologist?" + +"No," said Majendie with a smile. "He showed me some pieces of rock he +had with him; indeed, I am suspected of flinging some of these bits of +rock away in that canvas bag I see there. Is it likely I should do +anything so foolish? It is part of my business to know something of bits +of rock and blue clay and the like, and unless I am much mistaken those +bits of rock are uncut diamonds." + +"Diamonds!" I exclaimed. + +"Yellow diamonds of a kind that are very rarely found," Majendie +answered. "I may be mistaken, but that is my opinion. If I am right, the +actual gem, when cut, would be comparatively small. It is enclosed, as it +were, in a thick casing of rock." + +"Did Hardiman know this?" Quarles asked. + +"I am not sure. In the course of conversation I told him that I knew +something about diamonds, and he asked me into his cabin to show me some +bits of rock he had in his trunk. He spoke of them as bits of rock, but +he may have known what they really were." + +"Did he give you this invitation quite openly?" asked Quarles. + +"Oh, yes. There were others sitting near us who must have overheard it. I +went with him, and gave him my opinion as I have given it to you. Of +course, there may not be a jewel at the heart of every bit of rock; no +doubt there are a great many quite useless bits in Hardiman's +collection." + +"This is very interesting," said Quarles. "Would you look at the pieces +in that bag and tell us if any of them are useless." + +Majendie spent some minutes in examining them, and then gave it as his +opinion that they all contained a jewel. + +"Now that knife--" + +"I thought no knife had been found," said Majendie. + +"That has just been found on the ship," said Quarles. "It is an absurd +question, but as a matter of form I must ask it. Have you ever seen that +knife before?" + +Majendie took it up and looked at it. + +"Hardiman was apparently stabbed with a rusty knife," Quarles remarked. + +"Stabbed! You could not stab any one with this, and certainly I have +never seen it before." + +I did not understand why Quarles was passing this off as the real +weapon. He took it up, grasped it firmly, and stabbed the air with it. + +"I don't know, it might--" + +He shook his head and put the knife on the table again. Majendie took it +up and in his turn stabbed the air with it. + +"Utterly impossible," he said. "This could not have been the knife used; +besides, there would surely be stains on it." + +"I am inclined to think you are right," said Quarles. "You must forgive +the captain for detaining you, Mr. Majendie, and of course you can land +this afternoon. The captain wishes us to lunch on board; perhaps you +will join us?" + +"With pleasure. So long as I am in London to-night no harm is done." + +When he had gone Quarles turned to the captain. + +"Pardon my impudence, but we must not lose sight of Majendie. You must +follow him this afternoon, Wigan, and locate him in London. You must +have him watched until we get to the bottom of this affair. Now let us +see Bennett." + +The man-servant proved to be a bundle of nerves, and it was hardly to be +wondered at if the story he told was true. A question or two set him +talking without any reticence apparently. + +Time seemed to have lost half its meaning for him. He could not fix how +long he and his master had been away from England; many years was all he +could say. They had traveled much in South America, latterly in the wilds +of Patagonia. There they had fallen into the hands of savages, and for a +long time were not sure of their lives from hour to hour. Always Mr. +Hardiman seemed able to impress their captors that he was a dangerous +man to kill; fooled them, in fact, until they came to consider him a god. +Master and man were presently lodged in a temple, and were witnesses of +some horrible rites which they dared not interfere with. Finally, at a +great feast, Hardiman succeeded in convincing them that he was their +national and all-powerful deity, and that he had come to give them +victory over all their enemies. By his command the wooden figure of one +of their gods was taken from the temple, and, together with two curious +drums used for religious purposes, and other sacred things, was carried +through the forest to a certain spot which Hardiman indicated. The whole +company was then to go back three days' march, spend seven days in +religious feasting, and return. In the meanwhile he and his servant must +be left quite alone with these sacred things. + +"I suppose they returned," Bennett went on, "but they did not find us. +They did not find anything. The spot my master had fixed upon was within +a day's march of help. We set out as soon as those devils had left us, +and, having got assistance, my master would go back and fetch the wooden +figure and the other things. They are in the cases in this ship." + +"What was the main object of your master's travels?" I asked. + +"He was writing a book about tribes and their customs." + +"And he took a great interest in stones and bits of rock?" + +"That was only recently, and I never understood it, sir. He put some in +my trunk and some in his own, but what they were for I do not know. I +don't suppose he did himself. He was always peculiar." + +"Always or recently, do you mean?" Quarles asked. + +"Always, but more so lately. Can you wonder after all we went through? +You can't imagine the horrors that were done in that heathen temple." + +He told us some of them, but I shall not set them down here. It is enough +to say that human sacrifices were offered. The mere remembrance of +Bennett's narrative makes me shudder. + +"It is a wonder it did not drive you both mad," said Quarles. + +"That is what the master was afraid of," was the answer, "and it is the +cause of all this trouble. He did not seem to think it would affect me, +but he was very much afraid for himself." + +"He told you so?" + +"He did more than that. He said that if I saw he was going mad I was to +shoot him, and so--" + +"Wait a minute," said Quarles, "when did he say this to you?" + +"The first time was when we got those things from the place in the forest +where they had been left. Then he said it two or three times during the +voyage. The last time was when I was cutting his nails." + +"Cutting his nails?" I said. + +"Yes, sir. Mr. Hardiman could never cut the nails on his right hand. He +was very helpless with his left hand in things like that, always was. On +this particular day he said his hand was growing stronger, and declared +it all was because of will-power. He was quite serious about it, and then +he was suddenly afraid he was growing mad. 'Shoot me if I am going mad, +Bennett.' That is what he said." + +"And how were you to know?" asked Quarles. + +"He said I should know for certain when it happened, and I did. The next +evening he began telling me that we were bringing a lot of diamonds back +to England. He promised me more money than I had ever heard of. I should +have shot him then, only I wasn't carrying a revolver." + +"So you did it later in the evening?" + +"I cannot tell you exactly when I did it," the man answered. "I knew the +time had come, but I do not remember the actual doing of it. Only one +thing I am certain of--I didn't use a knife. He was always particular to +tell me to shoot him." + +"You are sure you did kill him?" I said. + +"Shot him--yes. I did not stab him. That is a mistake." + +"Do you know that your cabin companion says you did not leave your bunk +at all that night?" said Quarles. + +"That must be another mistake," was the answer. + +When he had gone the professor remarked that John Bennett was far nearer +an asylum than a prison. + +"If Hardiman had been shot I should think the servant had shot him, but +he was not shot. You see, Captain, the case is not so easy. These bits of +rock complicate it, and we must keep an eye on Majendie." + +There was a man I knew well attached to the Liverpool police, and I was +fortunate enough to get hold of him to follow Majendie to London that +afternoon. Bennett, having virtually confessed to the crime, was kept in +custody, and I was free to remain with Quarles and examine the cases +which Hardiman had brought to England. After certain formalities had been +complied with, we carried out this examination in one of the shipping +company's sheds. There were many things of extreme interest of which I +could write a lengthy account, but they had no bearing on our business. +The things which concerned us were the Patagonian relics. + +The two drums did not interest the professor much, but the figure of the +god did. It was about three-quarters life size, roughly carved into a +man's shape. The wood was light in weight and in color, but had been +smeared to a darker hue over the breast and loins. One arm hung by the +figure's side, was, indeed, only roughly indicated; but the other, +slightly bent, was stretched out in front of the figure. There was +nothing actually horrible about the image, but, remembering Bennett's +description of some of the rites performed in that temple, it became +sinister enough. Quarles's inspection took a long time, and during it I +do not think he uttered a word. + +"I think we may go back to Chelsea, Wigan," he said at last. + +Late on the following night we were in the empty room. At the professor's +suggestion I repeated the whole story for Zena's benefit, although I +fancy Quarles wanted to have a definite picture before his mind, as it +were, and to find out whether any particular points had struck me. Zena's +comment when I had finished was rather surprising. + +"This Mr. Majendie must be a clumsy thrower," she said. + +Quarles sat up in his chair as if his interest in the conversation had +only become keen at that moment. + +"She hits the very heart of the mystery, Wigan." + +"There is no certainty that it was Majendie," I replied. + +"Whether it was or not is immaterial for the moment. The fact remains +that some one who was anxious to get rid of incriminating evidence was so +clumsy that he threw it where any one could pick it up. Not one man in a +thousand would have done that, no matter what state of agitation he was +in. The packet was deliberately thrown away, remember; it was not done in +a moment of sudden fear." + +"I am all attention to hear what theory you base upon it," I returned. + +"We will begin with the wound," said Quarles. "Sir Robert Gibbs and Dr. +Williams agree that it could not have been self-inflicted. Sir Robert +suggested that I should try to stab myself in the same way and see how +impossible it was. Remember it was a stab and a pull of the blade to one +side. It was impossible for a right-handed man, difficult even for a +left-handed one, but not impossible. That was the first point I made a +mental note of." + +"Why did you not speak of the possibility?" + +"Chiefly, I think, because I was convinced that Sir Robert expected me to +do so, was waiting for me to do so, in fact. He is far too cute a man not +to have considered the possibility, and was prepared to prove that +Hardiman was a right-handed man, as we know he was from his servant. In +all probability Sir Robert knew that Bennett had to cut his master's +nails. I was not disposed to give the doctor such an opening as that, +although no doubt he thought me a fool for not thinking of it." + +"Then we do away with the theory of suicide?" I said. + +"Well, the absence of any weapon appears to do that," said Quarles. "What +was the weapon? A knife of some kind, a rusty knife and rather jagged, I +fancy. The wound suggested that it was jagged, and in spite of the +washing my lens revealed traces of rust. Rather a curious knife to commit +murder with. That was my second mental note. We had to be prepared for a +curious personality somewhere in the business." + +"Mr. Majendie," I said. + +"He is hardly such an abnormal individual as the servant Bennett. We will +consider Bennett first. His story is a straightforward one, nervously +told, dramatically told. We might easily assume that imagination had much +to do with that story were it not for the contents of those +packing-cases. They are corroborative evidence. We may grant that the +man's recent experiences have had their effect upon him, have laid bare +his nerves, as it were, but since the most unlikely part of his story is +true we may assume that the rest of it is. We need not go over it again +in detail. The man was evidently attached to his master, and was prepared +to shoot him if he exhibited signs of madness. Considering the state of +his own nerves, I can believe that Bennett watched for these signs, and +felt convinced of his master's madness when he spoke of a wealth of +diamonds. Bennett knew they had no diamonds in their possession. He only +knew of those bits of rock. So he determined to shoot Hardiman. However, +I am convinced that he did not leave his cabin that night. Sleep +prevented his carrying out the intention, but when in the morning he +found that his master was dead--murdered--he immediately translated his +intention into action, and concluded that he had done it. There was no +one else who would be likely to murder him. That he should do it was +natural under the circumstances. He would not look upon it as a crime. He +had only carried out his instructions to the letter, as I have little +doubt he has been accustomed to do for years." + +"It is a theory, of course, but--" + +"Oh, it is more than a theory now," said Quarles, interrupting me. "He +admits his guilt, yet we know that Hardiman was stabbed, not shot. We +conclude, therefore, that Bennett, although he fully intended to kill +his master, did not do so." + +"So we come to Majendie," I said. + +"Yes, and to the yellow diamonds which Bennett knew nothing about. I +admit that Majendie was a distinct surprise to me. He had to prove that +the sailor of the watch was mistaken, that he was not the person who +threw the stones away. How does he do it? By asking whether he, an expert +in diamonds, would be likely to throw away what he knew to be valuable. +This was a very ingenious argument. He did not deny that he knew Hardiman +had these stones in his possession, because he believed that people must +have seen him go into Hardiman's cabin. We have his statement that +Hardiman invited him to do so, and that the invitation was given in the +hearing of others. So he asked a perfectly simple question to show that +the sailor was mistaken." + +"Evidently you do not believe that the sailor was mistaken." + +"We will go on considering Majendie," said Quarles. "Now, when he took up +the knife and imitated my action of stabbing the air with it I made a +discovery. He did so with his left hand. Since my first mental note +concerned a left-handed man the coincidence is surprising. The sailor in +his pantomime had used the right hand. Majendie's action was unexpected, +and for a time I did not see its significance. But let us suppose for a +moment that Majendie did throw the bag of stones away. He might argue +that some one might possibly see the action, and would note that it was +done by a left-handed man, so used his right hand to deceive any one who +might be there. Hence his bad aim." + +I shook my head. + +"Wait," said Quarles. "Some one had stolen those bits of rock, else how +came they in that canvas bag, and why were they thrown away? Majendie +told us that only certain of those stones had at the heart of them a +diamond, yet he also said that all those in the bag had. That looks as if +they had been picked out and stolen by an expert, and when we remember +that Hardiman had shown him the contents of the trunk suspicion points +very strongly to Majendie as the thief. Of course, when Hardiman was +found dead, he would get rid of evidence which must incriminate him. We +must see Majendie, Wigan, and ask him a few questions." + +"Then he did not kill Hardiman?" said Zena. + +"I do not think so." + +"Who did?" + +"Nobody. Hardiman was mad and committed suicide, and in a particular way. +Think of Bennett's description of that Patagonian temple, Wigan. Those +savages were persuaded that Hardiman was a god; possibly human sacrifices +were offered to him, and he dared not interfere. That was sufficient to +start a man on the road to madness. That wooden god he brought home tells +us something. It was the left arm which was stretched out, and in the +closed fist was a hole into which a knife had been fixed, a symbol of +vengeance and sacrifice, a symbol, mind you, not a weapon which was +actually used. I imagine that time had caused it to become rusty and +jagged. Now, I think Hardiman removed that knife before packing the +figure, kept it near him, because obsessed with it; went mad, in short. +We know from Bennett that he believed his left hand was becoming +stronger, and I believe his madness compelled him to practise his left +hand until it became strong enough to grasp the knife firmly and strike +the blow. Since the god was left-handed, his priests were probably so +too, and the victims would be slain with the left hand. There was some +religious significance attached to the fact, no doubt, and Hardiman's +madness would compel him to be exact." + +"But what became of the knife?" I asked. + +"The porthole was found open," said Quarles. "I think he deliberately put +it out of the porthole, his madness suggesting to him that no one should +know how he died. He would have strength enough to do this, for he died +quietly, bled to death, in fact, and gradually fell into a comatose +condition, hence no sign of a struggle. It is impossible to conceive what +devilish power may lurk about those things which have been used for +devilish purposes. I am very strong on this point, as you know, Wigan." + +Of course it was quite impossible to prove whether Quarles was right +about the knife, but he was correct as regards Majendie, who had hoped to +get possession of a few of these stones without Hardiman missing them, +and then, when the unexpected tragedy happened, had tried to get rid of +them, using his right hand to throw them away. Amongst the dead man's +papers there was a will providing amply for his servant Bennett--who, I +may add, recovered his normal health after a time--and leaving his relics +to different museums, and any other property he was possessed of to +charities. I believe the yellow diamonds proved less valuable than +Majendie imagined, but at any rate the various charities benefited +considerably. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE CRIME IN THE YELLOW TAXI + + +One's last adventure is apt to assume the place of first importance, the +absorption in the details is so recent and the gratification at solving +the problems still fresh. Used to his methods as I had become, Quarles's +handling of the Daniel Hardiman case was constantly in my mind until I +had become acquainted with the yellow taxi. I will not say his +deductions in the taxi affair were more clever--you must judge that--but +I am sure they were more of a mental strain to him, for he lost his +temper with Zena. + +We had been arguing various points, and seemed to have exhausted all +our ideas. + +"Give a dog a bad name and hang him," said Zena, breaking the silence +which had seemed to indicate that our discussion was at an end. + +"I repeat that had he been in a different position he would have been +arrested at once," said Quarles testily; "but because he happens to be a +prominent Member of Parliament, goes everywhere which is anywhere, and +knows everybody who is anybody, it suits people to forget he is a +blackguard and it suits Scotland Yard to neglect its duty." + +An inquest in connection with a very extraordinary case had taken place +that day, and had been adjourned. + +On the previous Monday, between seven and eight in the evening, the +traffic had become congested at Hyde Park Corner, chiefly owing to the +fog, and the attention of a gentleman standing on the pavement--a Mr. +Lester Williams--had been drawn suddenly to the occupant of a taxi. +Possibly a street lamp, or the light on an adjacent motor, picked out the +lady's face particularly, and he had opened the door before he called to +the driver. + +The lady was leaning back in the corner, but he saw at once that +something was wrong, and when he touched her the horrible truth +became apparent. + +She was dead. + +He called to the driver to draw up to the curb and then called a +policeman. Williams jumped at once to the conclusion that a crime had +been committed, and the police took the same view. + +There was no difficulty as regards identification. She was Lady Tavener, +wife of Sir John Tavener, M.P. The driver, Thomas Wood, had come from the +other side of Twickenham and had taken up Sir John and his wife at their +own front door. He had constantly driven them up to town and elsewhere, +sometimes separately, sometimes together. On this occasion he had driven +to a house on Richmond Green, where Sir John had got out. Lady Tavener +was going on to the Piccadilly Hotel. Wood had got as far as Hyde Park +Corner when a gentleman called to him. He had not seen the gentleman open +the door of the taxi, knew nothing in fact until he was told to drive up +to the curb and Lady Tavener was taken out dead. + +At the inquest the evidence took rather a curious turn. It was common +knowledge that Sir John had married Lady Tavener after her divorce from a +Mr. Curtis, since dead, and Sir John's reputation was none of the best. + +Veiled accusations were constantly made against him in those would-be +smart journals catering for that public interested in this kind of +scandal, and several questions founded on this knowledge were put to him +at the inquest. + +He came out of the ordeal very well, and gave his evidence in a +straightforward manner. He did not pretend that he and his wife did not +quarrel at times, sometimes rather severely he admitted, but he +maintained there was no reason why his wife should commit suicide. He +ignored altogether the idea that he was in any way responsible for her +death. She seemed in perfect health when he had left her that evening. +She was dining with some people called Folliott, and was going on to the +theater with them afterwards. He also believed that a crime had been +committed. + +The medical evidence threw some doubt on this opinion, however. True, +there were slight marks on Lady Tavener's throat, but it was possible she +had caused them herself by catching hold of her own throat in some spasm. +She was addicted to drugs, a fact which she had concealed from her +husband apparently, and her general condition was such that a shock or +some sudden excitement might very easily prove fatal. Two doctors were +agreed upon this point, and said that she was in a condition known as +status lymphaticus. + +After the inquest I had gone to see Quarles, and his one idea was that +Sir John should have been arrested. Zena's sarcastic suggestion that her +grandfather would hang him merely because of his reputation, had made the +old man lose his temper altogether. + + +As I was the representative of Scotland Yard in that empty room at +Chelsea, I felt compelled to say something in its defense. + +"Have you read the evidence given to-day carefully?" I asked. + +"I was there," he snapped. + +I had not seen him and was astonished. + +"Arrest Tavener," he went on, "and then you may be able to solve the +problem. There may be extenuating circumstances, but they can be dealt +with afterwards. Let us go into another room." + +He got up and brought the discussion to a close. He was in one of those +moods in which there was no doing anything with him. + +Although I was at the inquest, I had had little to do with the case up to +this point; now it came entirely into my hands, and it may be that +Quarles's advice was at the back of my mind during my inquiries. + +I made one or two rather interesting and significant discoveries. The +Folliotts, with whom it was said Lady Tavener was dining that night, did +not know Sir John, and moreover, they had no appointment with Lady +Tavener that evening, nor were they dining at the Piccadilly Hotel. The +people on Richmond Green, with whom Sir John had dined, admitted that he +was in an excited condition. He made an expected division in the House of +Commons an excuse for leaving early, directly after dinner in fact, but +he had not gone to the House and did not arrive home until after +midnight, when he found a constable waiting for him with the news of his +wife's death. + +These facts were given in evidence at the next hearing, but it was less +due to them than to public feeling, I fancy, that a verdict of murder +against Sir John Tavener was returned. + +That night I went again to Chelsea. + +"I see that you have arrested him, Wigan," was the professor's greeting. + +"I don't believe he is guilty," I answered. + +"Why not? Let us have the reasons. But tell me first, what was his +demeanor when he heard the verdict? Was he astonished?" + +"He seemed to be pitying a body of men who could make such a mistake." + +"Ah, he will play to the gallery even when death knocks at his door. Why +do you think he is not guilty, Wigan?" + +"Intuition for one reason." + +"Come, that is a woman's prerogative." + +"That sixth sense, which is usually denied to men," corrected Zena. + +"Then for tangible reasons," I said; "if he killed his wife he committed +the crime between Twickenham and Richmond Green, knowing perfectly well +that her death must be discovered at the end of her journey. He would +know that suspicion would inevitably fall upon him." + +"That seems a good argument, Wigan, but, as a fact, suspicion did not +immediately fall upon him. He has only been arrested to-day, and even now +you think he has been wrongly arrested. The very daring of the crime was +in his favor." + +"My second reason is this," I went on. "If he were guilty, would he +deliberately have closed the door of escape open for him by the doctors +and declare that he did not believe his wife committed suicide? Would he +not have jumped at the idea?" + +"That also sounds a good argument," said Quarles, "but is it? He could +not deny that he and his wife quarreled rather badly at times, but he +wanted to justify his position, and he felt confident the opinion of the +doctors would stand, no matter what he might say. If no other facts come +to light, suicide will be the line of defense, Wigan, and it will be +exceedingly hard to get any judge and jury to convict him. Nothing +carries greater weight than medical evidence, and you will find the +doctors sticking to their opinion no matter what happens. No, Wigan, your +reasons do not prove that he is not an exceedingly clever and calculating +rascal. On the present evidence I think he would escape the hangman, but +the public will continue to think him guilty unless some one else stands +in the dock in his place." + +"I wonder whether the Folliotts have told the truth," said Zena. + +"Intuition, Wigan," laughed Quarles, "jumps to the end of the journey and +wants to argue backwards." + +"Do you not often do the same, dear?" + +"Perhaps, but not this time. I think you said the taxi had been in charge +of the police?" + +"Yes," I answered. + +"I should like to see it." + +"We can go to-morrow." + +I had already spent a couple of hours with that taxi, and I was rather +anxious to see how Quarles would go to work with it. + +He began with the metal work and the lamps, nodded his admiration at the +way they were kept, and remarked that but for the vehicle number and the +registering machine it might be a private car. He examined the engine and +the tires, using his lens; seemed to be particularly interested in the +texture of the rubber, and picked out some grains of soil which had stuck +in the tire. All four tires came in for this close inspection. + +Inside the taxi his lens went slowly over every inch of the +upholstering, and with the blade of a penknife he scraped up some soil +from the carpet. This he put on a piece of white paper and spent a long +time investigating it. He opened and shut the door half a dozen times, +and shook his head. Then he seated himself in the driver's seat, and in +pantomime drove the car for a few moments. Afterwards, he stood back and +regarded the car as a whole. + +"Well, Wigan, it is a very good taxi; let us go and have a ride in +another one." + +He did not hail the first we encountered, and when he did call one it was +for the sake of the driver, I fancy. He explained that he wanted to drive +to Richmond Green by Hammersmith and Kew Bridge. + +"And we don't want to go too fast," said Quarles. + +"Don't you be afraid, guv'nor, I shan't run you into anything; you won't +come to no harm with me." + +"It isn't that," said Quarles, "but I'm out to enjoy myself. I'll add a +good bit to what that clock thing says at the end of the run." + +"Thank you, guv'nor." + +"Now just get down and open this thing to let me have a look at +the works." + +The driver looked at me, and I nodded. No doubt he thought I was the old +man's keeper. + +Quarles looked at the engine. + +"It isn't new," he remarked. + +"No, guv'nor." + +"How long has it been running?" + +"I couldn't say. I'm not buying this on the hire system." + +"You fellows do that sometimes, eh?" + +"Yes, guv'nor, there are several of us chaps own their own taxi." + +"That's good. Now for Richmond, and go slowly from Hyde Park Corner." + +I never remember a more tedious journey. Quarles hardly spoke a word the +whole way, but sat leaning forward, looking keenly from one side of the +road to the other, as if he were bent on obtaining a mental picture of +every yard of the way. Arriving at Richmond Green he did no more than +just glance at the house where Sir John had dined that night, and then +told the man to drive to Twickenham as fast as he liked to go. + +"Stop him when we reach Tavener's house, Wigan. You know it, I suppose?" + +I did, and stopped the driver when we got there. Quarles had the car +turned round, then he got out and examined the tires with his lenses. The +driver winked at me, and I nodded to assure him that I knew the eccentric +gentleman I had to deal with, and that he was quite harmless. + +We then drove back to Richmond rapidly, and from there went toward town, +but more slowly. By Kew Gardens along to Kew Bridge Quarles did not seem +particularly interested in the journey, but as we drew near Hammersmith +he became alert again. + +We were going slowly past St. Paul's school when he told the driver to +take the second turning to the left. It was a narrow street, a big +warehouse, which was being enlarged, on one side, and a coal yard on +the other. About fifty yards down this street, the driver was +instructed to stop. + +"We will get out for a minute and look at the view," said Quarles +facetiously. + +I confess I found nothing whatever to interest me, but Quarles seemed to +find the blank walls of the warehouse and coal yard attractive. + +"Now, driver, you can turn round and get us back to Hyde Park Corner as +quickly as you like," said the professor as we got into the taxi again. + +Arriving at our destination he told the driver to go into the park, and +there stopped him. Again he examined the tires and the texture of them, +picking some soil from the rubber, and he scraped up some dust from the +floor of the taxi with a penknife and put it in an envelope. + +"Thank you, my man," he said, paying a substantial fare. + +"You're welcome, guv'nor," said the driver with a grin. + +"He is fully persuaded that he has been driving a lunatic and his +keeper," Quarles said as he walked away. "I suppose you can find the +driver of the other taxi, Wigan." + +"We might have found him this morning. He lives at Twickenham." + +"I want you to see him and ask him two questions. First, was the fog in +Hammersmith, or elsewhere on the journey, thick enough to bring him to a +standstill before he reached Hyde Park Corner? Secondly, is he quite sure +that the man who opened the door and called to him had not just got out +of the taxi?" + +"But--" + +"You ask him these two questions and get him to answer definitely," said +Quarles in that aggravating and dictatorial manner he sometimes has. +"To-morrow night come to Chelsea. I am not prepared to talk any more +about the Tavener case until then." + +Without another word he went off in the direction of Victoria, leaving an +angry man behind him. I am afraid I swore. However, I hunted up the +driver of the taxi, and went to Chelsea the following night, still +somewhat out of temper. + +Quarles and Zena were already in the empty room waiting for me. + +"Well, what did the man say?" asked the professor. + +"The fog did not stop him anywhere until he got to Hyde Park Corner, and +he is sure Lady Tavener was alone after leaving Richmond." + +"He stuck to that?" + +"He did, but after some consideration he said that he had almost come to +a standstill in Hammersmith Broadway on account of the trams. I suggested +that some one might have got into the taxi then, but while admitting the +bare possibility, he did not think it likely." + +"Did he give you the impression that he believed Tavener guilty?" + +"Yes. He seemed to consider his arrest a proof of it." + +"Naturally," said the professor. + +"Your whole investigation seems to be for the purpose of proving Sir John +innocent," I said. "Why were you so anxious to have him arrested?" + +"Pardon me, my one idea is to get at the truth. Always be careful of your +premises, Wigan. That is the first essential for a logical conclusion. +Zena has said that because a dog has a bad name I want to hang him. Well, +she gave me an idea; started a theory, in fact. Let us go through the +case. First there is the question of suicide. It must come first, because +if we are logical--the law is not always logical, you know--if we are +logical, it is obvious no man could be hanged while the doctors stuck +tight to their opinion. However, I have reason for leaving the question +of suicide until last. Therefore we investigate the question of murder. +Had Sir John disappeared after visiting the house on Richmond Green, I +suppose not one person in ten thousand would have believed him innocent." + +"But he didn't," I said. + +"No," said Quarles. "But he behaved in a most peculiar manner. He left +immediately after dinner, did not reach home until after midnight, and +has not yet attempted to account for his time. He was in an abnormal +condition. We will make a mental note of that, Wigan." + +I nodded. + +"We will assume that when he left her Lady Tavener was alive," Quarles +went on. "At Hyde Park Corner she was dead, and the driver Wood was +entirely ignorant that anything had happened. Yet, if murder was done, +some one must have joined Lady Tavener during the journey. Wood says he +was not held up by the fog, but on being pressed a little, speaks of +coming nearly to a standstill in Hammersmith Broadway. There, or +somewhere else, because we must remember Wood may have forgotten nearly +coming to other stoppages, since driving in a fog must have required the +whole of his attention--somewhere, somebody must have joined her. The +driver, again under pressure, admits the bare possibility, but does not +think it likely. However, we must assume that some one at some place did +enter the taxi." + +Zena was leaning forward eagerly, and I waited quietly for Quarles +to continue. + +"It follows that whoever it was must have been known to Lady Tavener," he +said slowly. "Otherwise she would have called out to the driver or to +people passing." + +"You mean that he left it at Hyde Park Corner after the murder," said +Zena. "You think it was Lester Williams." + +"There is the possibility that he was getting out of the taxi instead +of rushing to it, because he noticed the occupant looked peculiar," +Quarles admitted. + +"In that case would he have called the driver's attention?" I asked. +"Your theory seems to demand actions which no man would be fool enough +to commit." + +"You can never tell upon what lines a criminal's brain will work, Wigan. +I maintain that the same arguments I have used with regard to Sir John +would apply in Lester Williams's case. Still, there are one or two points +to consider. If you go to Hyde Park Corner you will find it difficult to +pitch on any lamp which could throw sufficient light upon the face of the +occupant leaning back in the corner as to cause alarm to any one on the +pavement. I am taking into consideration the position of the taxi in the +roadway and the angle at which the light would have to be thrown. And, +since motor lights are in the front of cars, and Lady Tavener was facing +the way her taxi was going, it is very improbable that the lights of +another car would serve this purpose. Besides, it was a foggy night." + +"Then you believe Williams was getting out of the taxi?" I asked. + +"Let me talk about the contents of this first," said Quarles, separating +an envelope from some papers on the table. "You will admit that I +examined the taxi fairly thoroughly." + +"You certainly did." + +"And I came to one or two very definite conclusions, Wigan. The engine is +practically new, very different from that of the taxi we took to +Twickenham, which was of exactly the same make. I took some trouble in my +choice of a taxi, you remember. I grant, of course, this may not be a +very reliable proof, but the tires told the same story, I think." + +"The first taxi might just have had new tires," I suggested. + +"I do not fancy the whole four would have been renewed at the same time," +he returned. "It is not usual. My conclusion was that the taxi had not +been used very much." + +"I must confess I do not see where this is leading us," I said. + +"It led us to Twickenham, Wigan. In our down journey we covered the road +taken by the taxi that night if it came direct to Hyde Park Corner. At +Twickenham I examined the tires, and they satisfied me that so far there +was nothing to negative a theory I had formed. On the return journey we +turned into that side street--I had noted it on the way down--and at the +end of our journey I examined the tires again and the floor of the taxi. +I preserved what I found then in this envelope, and it is perfectly clear +that our taxi had been driven over a road strewn with brick dust and coal +dust, and that persons treading on such a road had entered the taxi." + +"Of course, we both got out," I remarked. + +"To admire the view," said Quarles. "And you may have noticed that there +were few windows from which an inquisitive person could have told what we +were doing. At night the place would be quite lonely unless the +bricklayers and coal porters were working overtime. Now, Wigan, on the +tires of the first taxi, and on its carpet, was dust exactly +corresponding to that which I found on the tires and floor of our taxi. +That is significant. Brick dust and coal dust together, remember. They +are not a usual combination on a main road out of London." + +I did not answer, I had no comment to make. + +"If we have no very definite facts," Quarles went on, "we have many +peculiar circumstances, and I will try and reconstruct the tragedy for +you. Sir John and his wife have quarreled at times we know, and to some +extent at any rate have gone each their own way recently. The fact that +Sir John was the cause of her divorce, and married her, may be taken as +proof that he was fond of his wife. A reformed rake constantly is, and +often develops a strong vein of jealousy besides. That Lady Tavener was +supposed by her husband to be dining with the Folliotts, who, as a fact, +had no appointment with her that night, shows that she did not always +explain her going and coming to her husband. I suggest that Sir John had +begun to suspect his wife, and that his reason for leaving Richmond early +was to ascertain whether she was going to the theater with the Folliotts +as she had told him." + +"It is an ingenious theory," I admitted. + +"We follow Lady Tavener," said Quarles. "It is not likely she was going +to spend the evening alone, or the Folliotts would never have been +mentioned. She was going to meet some one. I suggest it was Lester +Williams who had arranged to meet her at Hyde Park Corner. Whether the +idea was to join her in the taxi, or that she should leave the taxi there +with orders that the driver should meet her after the theater, I cannot +say. I am inclined to think it was the former, and I hazard a guess that +Lady Tavener had not known Williams very long. Of course, his explanation +goes by the board. He was on the lookout for the taxi. From the pavement +he only saw the taxi, but when he opened the door he found a tragedy." + +"But why should you think he was a new acquaintance of Lady Tavener's?" +asked Zena. + +"Since he hurried to the door instead of waiting for the taxi to draw to +the curb, I conclude he was taking advantage of the stoppage to join Lady +Tavener in the taxi. Had she intended to leave the taxi there, he would +have waited until it came to the pavement. But my theory demands that he +should have been on the watch for the taxi, therefore he must have known +it. Had Lady Tavener often used the taxi when she met Williams, Wood, the +driver, would have recognized Williams. This does not appear to have been +the case, therefore I conclude they were comparatively new friends." + +"Do we come back to the theory of suicide, then?" I asked. + +"Not yet," Quarles answered. "At present we merely find a reason why Sir +John and Lester Williams have said so little, the one concerning his +suspicions, the other about his knowledge of Lady Tavener. Since his wife +was dead, why should Sir John say anything to cast a reflection upon her. +For the same reason, why should Williams implicate himself in any way. +From their different viewpoints they are both anxious to shield Lady +Tavener's name. Therefore, Wigan, since we wanted to learn the truth, it +was a good move to put Sir John in such a position that, to save himself, +he must speak. Had we left him alone I have little doubt he would have +ended by accepting the doctor's opinion and, rather than explain +anything, would have remained silent." + +"And allowed suspicion to rest on his name?" said Zena. + +"It wouldn't. The doctor's evidence would have made people sympathize +with him and regret that he should ever have been under suspicion. I am +not saying he had made a deep calculation on these chances, but he was +content to wait and let things take their course. He is still doing so. +His arrest has not brought any explanation from him." + +"But he has said he believes his wife met with foul play," +persisted Zena. "Do you believe he would do nothing to bring the +murderer to justice?" + +"I think not. I think he would value his wife's name more than his +revenge. If Sir John knew that his wife was meeting Williams that night, +he might presently lose his temper and cause a scandal." + +"And he will know later, if your theory is right?" I said. + +"Perhaps not," said Quarles. "Let us get back to the contents of this +envelope. The driver would have us believe that the first taxi came +direct from Richmond to Hyde Park Corner. We have strong reasons for +believing it did not. Therefore, either he went out of his way, by Lady +Tavener's orders, to call for some one, or some one got into the taxi +without his knowledge. I sat on the driver's seat, Wigan, and I admit +that, if fully occupied with driving, as he would be on a foggy night, +entrance might have been made without his knowledge, but on one +condition. The door must have been easy to open. The door of that taxi +isn't easy. I tried it. It is exceedingly stiff, difficult to open, and +impossible to close without a very considerable noise. Therefore Wood +knows that some one entered, and we know that that some one must have +walked on a road covered with brick dust and coal dust." + +"Who is it?" I asked. + +"Wood himself. He turned into the road we turned into. If Lady Tavener +noticed that he had done so, she would not think anything of it. She +would imagine the road was up and a detour necessary. As a matter of +fact, she would not have time to think much, and I do not think she was +alarmed, not even when Wood opened the door. As he did so I imagine he +said something of this sort: 'I think it only right to warn your Ladyship +that Sir John is suspicious.' He had to give some excuse for stopping the +taxi and going to his fare. Whether he knew that Sir John was suspicious +or not is immaterial. He had constantly driven Lady Tavener, and was +probably aware that some of her friends were not her husband's. At any +rate, some remark of this kind would allay her suspicions, and then--" + +"He murdered her?" asked Zena sharply. + +"Well, I fancy this is where we come to the question of suicide," said +Quarles. "He intended to murder her, had his fingers on her throat, in +fact, but the sudden excitement saved him. I think she actually died of +shock, as the doctors declare. I think he was able to say something to +her which caused that shock." + +"I can hardly believe--" + +"Wait, Wigan," the professor said, interrupting me. "You will agree +that, from the first, Wood's evidence would naturally accuse Sir John. +When you saw him and pressed him with the two questions I suggested he +still sought to leave the impression upon you that Sir John was guilty; +but since your questions showed there was a doubt in your mind, he +admitted, to safeguard himself, the possibility of some one having +entered the taxi surreptitiously. One other point which counts, I think. +One of the lamps of the taxi, and only one of them, had recently been +removed from its socket. I imagine he took it to make quite sure that +Lady Tavener was dead." + +"But he had often driven Lady Tavener. Why had he waited so long?" +said Zena. + +"And what reason had he for the murder?" I asked. + +"It was probably the first time he had driven them together, when Sir +John had left his wife during the journey, and he wanted to implicate Sir +John. In short, this was his first opportunity for the double revenge he +was waiting for. I have shown, at least I think I have, that the taxi was +not often used. We shall find it is his own taxi, I think, bought +outright or being purchased on the hire system. I should say he rarely +hired himself out except to Sir John and Lady Tavener. He was not an +ordinary driver, but a very clever schemer, and, like a clever schemer, I +think one little point has given him away altogether. Curtis, from whom +Lady Tavener was divorced, died shortly afterwards, you may remember, of +a broken heart, his friends said, which means that he grieved abnormally +at the breaking up of his happiness. It is natural that his friends and +relations should hate the Taveners, and one of them conceived the idea of +revenge. It is curious that several of the Curtises are called Baldwood +Curtis. Baldwood is a family name. It was easy to assume the name of +Wood. It would be likely to jump into the mind if one of them wanted to +assume a name." + +"What a horrible plot," said Zena, with a shudder. + +"Horrible and clever," said Quarles. + +"I wonder if you are right, dear." + +"I have no doubt, but Wigan will be able to tell us presently." + +He was right, I think, practically in every particular. I am not sure +what would have happened to Wood. Technically he had not actually killed +Lady Tavener, but he solved the difficulty of his punishment himself. +Expecting the worst, I suppose, he managed to hang himself in his cell. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE AFFAIR OF THE JEWELED CHALICE + + +The yellow taxi must still have been a topic of conversation with the +public when Quarles and I became involved in two cases which tried us +both considerably, and in which we ran great risk. + +The reading of detective tales imagined by comfortable authors who show +colossal ignorance regarding my profession, has often amused, me. Pistols +usually begin the string of impossibilities and a convenient pair of +handcuffs is at the end. These are the tales of fiction, not of real life +as a rule, yet in the two cases I speak of the reality was certainly as +strange as fiction and very nearly as dangerous. + +There had been a series of hotel robberies in London, so cleverly +conceived and carried out that Scotland Yard was altogether at fault. I +had had nothing to do with this investigation, being engaged on other +cases, but one Friday morning my chief told me I must lend my colleagues +a hand. Within an hour of our interview I was making myself conversant +with what had been done, and on Friday afternoon and during the whole of +Saturday I was busy with the affair. + +On Monday morning, however, I was called to the chief's room and told to +devote myself to the recovery of a jeweled chalice which had been stolen +from St. Ethelburga's Church, Bloomsbury, on the previous day. Since the +vicar, the Rev. John Harding, was an intimate friend of the chief's, +there was a sort of compliment in my being taken from important work to +attend to this case, but I admit I did not start on this new job with any +great enthusiasm, and was rather annoyed at being switched off the +hotels, as it were, and put on to the church. + +I went with the vicar to Bloomsbury in a taxi, and gathered information +on the way. The chalice had been given to the church about eighteen +months ago by an old lady, a Miss Morrison, who had since died. She had +possessed some remarkable jewelry, diamonds and pearls, and these had +been set in the chalice which she had presented to St. Ethelburga's, +where she had attended regularly for six or seven years. The chalice was +insured for L5,000, but this was undoubtedly below its actual value. It +was not used constantly, only on the great festivals, and on certain +Saints' days specified by Miss Morrison when she made the gift. The +previous day happened to be one of these Saints' days, and the chalice +had been used at the early celebration. The vicar had put it back into +its case and locked it in the safe himself. The key of the safe had not +been out of his possession since, yet this morning the safe was found +open and the chalice gone. + +"You have no suspicion?" I asked. + +"None," he answered, but not until after a momentary pause. + +"You do not answer very decidedly, Mr. Harding." + +"I do, yes, I do really. In a catastrophe of this kind all kinds of ideas +come into the mind, very absurd ones some of them," and he laughed a +little uneasily. + +"It would be wise to tell me even the absurd ones," I said. + +"Very well, but perhaps you had better examine the vestry and the safe +first," he said as the taxi stopped. + +I found the vestry in charge of a constable, and as we entered a +clergyman joined us. The vicar introduced me to the Rev. Cyril Hayes, his +curate. The vestry and the safe were just as they had been found that +morning; nothing had been moved. Yesterday had been wet, and the flooring +of wooden blocks in the choir vestry bore witness to the fact that +neither men nor boys had wiped their feet too thoroughly. Even in the +clergy vestry, which was carpeted, there were boot marks, so it seemed +probable that the weather had rendered abortive any clue there might have +been in this direction. There were two safes in the clergy vestry, a +large one standing out in the room and a small one built into the wall. +It was in the latter that the chalice had been kept, and the door was +open. Apparently two or three blows had been struck at the wall with a +chisel, or some sharp instrument, and there were several scratches on the +edge of the door and around the keyhole; but it was quite evident to me +that the safe had been opened with a key. I asked the vicar for his key, +but it would not turn in the lock. + +"Was anything besides the chalice stolen?" I asked. + +"No," the vicar returned. "As you see, there is another chalice and two +patens in the safe, one paten of gold, but it was not taken, not even +touched, I fancy. It was the chalice and the chalice only that the +thieves came for." + +"It seems foolish to keep such a valuable chalice in the vestry," I said. + +"It is kept in the bank as a rule," the vicar answered. "I got it from +the bank on Saturday and it would have gone back this morning. Of course +it was not possible to keep such a gift a secret. The church papers had +paragraphs about it, which some of the daily papers copied." + +"Every gang in London knew of its existence then," I said. + +"True," said the curate, "and you might go further than that and remember +that much of our work here lies in some very poor and some very +disreputable neighborhoods." + +"It does," said the vicar. "Amongst our parishioners we must have many +thieves, I am afraid." + +"There are thieves and thieves," said Mr. Hayes, "and I fancy there are +many who would not meddle with the sacred vessels of a church. +Superstition perhaps, but a powerful deterrent." + +The vicar shook his head, evidently not agreeing with this opinion. + +"Probably I have had more to do with thieves than you have, vicar," he +said with a smile, and turning to me he went on: "I am very interested in +a hooligans' club we have. They are a rough lot I can assure you. Many of +them have seen the inside of a jail, some of them will again possibly; +but there's a leaven of good stuff in them. Saints have been reared from +such poor material before now." + +"When do you meet?" I asked. + +"Mondays and Thursdays." + +"To-night. I'll look in to-night." + +"But--" + +"I may find the solution to the theft at your club," I said. The +suggestion seemed to annoy him. + +That the safe had been opened with a key and not broken open indicated +that some one connected with the church was directly or indirectly +responsible for the theft, and this idea was strengthened by the fact +that it was impossible to tell how the robbers had entered the church. +The verger had come in as usual that morning by the north door which he +had found locked, and it was subsequently ascertained that all the other +doors were locked. Some of you may know the church and remember that it +is rather dark, its windows few and high up; indeed, only by one of the +baptistry windows could an entry possibly have been effected, and I could +find nothing to suggest that this method had been used. A few keen +questions did not cause the verger to contradict himself in the slightest +particular, and his fifteen years' service seemed to exonerate him. + +"Is it possible that you left the door unlocked last night by mistake?" +I queried. + +"I should have found it open this morning," he said, as if he were +surprised at my overlooking this point. + +I had not overlooked it. I was wondering whether he had found it open and +was concealing the fact, fearing dismissal for his carelessness. + +A little later I had a private talk with the vicar. + +"I think you had better tell me your suspicions," I said. + +"There is nothing which amounts to a suspicion," he answered reluctantly. +"It does not take a skilled detective, Mr. Wigan, to see that some one +connected with the church must have had a hand in the affair. It is not +the work of ordinary thieves. Therefore, as I said, absurd ideas will +come. It happens that my curate, Mr. Hayes, is much in debt, and has had +recourse to money lenders. He has said nothing to me about it; indeed, it +was only last week that I became aware of the fact, and I decided not to +speak to him until after Sunday. I was going to talk to him this morning. +It was a painful duty, and naturally--" + +"Naturally you cannot help thinking about it in connection with +the chalice." + +The vicar nodded as though words seemed to him too definite in such a +delicate matter. That the two things had become connected in his mind +evidently distressed him, and he was soon talking in the kindest manner +about his curate, anxious to impress me with the excellent work Mr. Hayes +was doing in the parish. + +"The hooligans' club, for instance?" I said. + +"That amongst other things," he answered. + +"Miss Morrison was one of your rich parishioners, I presume." + +"She was not a parishioner at all," said Mr. Harding. "She lived at +Walham Green. She came to St. Ethelburga's because she liked our +services, drove here in a hired fly every Sunday morning. I visited her, +at her request, when she was ill some three years ago, but I really knew +little of her. To be quite truthful I thought her somewhat eccentric, and +never supposed she was wealthy. The presentation of the chalice came as a +great surprise." + +"Have you a photograph of the chalice?" + +"No; but Miss Morrison's niece might have. I know Miss Morrison had one +taken, a copy of it appeared in the church papers. The niece, Miss +Belford, continues to live at Walham Green--No. 3 Cedars Road." + +"Does she attend the church?" I asked, as I made a note of the address. + +"Oh, yes. She used to come with her aunt, and since Miss Morrison's +death she has taken up some parish work. I know her much better than I +did her aunt." + +"Of course she has not yet heard of the theft?" + +"No, I have not talked about it to any one. I thought silence was the +best policy." + +I quite agreed with him and suggested he should keep the theft a secret +for the next few hours. + +With Mr. Hayes and his hooligans' club at the back of my mind, I made one +or two enquiries in the neighborhood, and then started for Walham Green. +On my way to the Underground I met Percival, one of the men engaged upon +the hotel robberies, and stood talking to him for a few minutes. He was +rather keen on a clue he had got hold of, but I was now sufficiently +interested in the stolen chalice not to be envious. + +No. 3 Cedars Road was quite a small house--forty pounds a year perhaps, +and Miss Belford was a more attractive person than I expected to find. I +don't know why, but I had expected to see a typical old maid; instead of +which I was met by a young woman who had considerable claims to beauty. +She opened the door herself, her maid being out, and was astonished when +I said the Vicar of St. Ethelburga's had sent me. + +She asked me in to a small but tastefully appointed dining-room, and when +I told her my news, seemed more concerned on her aunt's account than at +the loss of the chalice. + +"Poor auntie!" she exclaimed. "Whilst she had the jewels she was always +afraid some one would steal them, and now--now some one has." + +"Mr. Harding thought you would have a photograph of the chalice," I said. + +"I am sorry, I haven't. There were two or three, but I don't know +what auntie did with them. She was a dear, but had funny little +secretive ways." + +"Mr. Harding led me to suppose she was eccentric," I said. "It is often +the way with wealthy old ladies." + +"Wealthy!" she laughed. "She left me all she had, and I shall not be able +to afford to go on living here." + +"How came she to give the jewels to the church then?" + +"I hardly know, and I will confess that I was a little disappointed when +she did so. Does that sound very ungrateful in view of the fact that she +left me everything else!" + +"No. It is natural under the circumstances." + +"She was very fond of me, but as I have said, she was secretive and she +certainly did not give me her entire confidence. I fancy the jewels were +connected with some romance in her past life, and for that reason she did +not wish any one else to possess them." + +"You can't give me any idea of the nature of this romance, Miss Belford?" + +"No." + +"It might possibly help me." + +"There is one thing I could do," she said. "My aunt had a very old +friend living in Yorkshire. She would be likely to know, and under the +circumstances might tell. If you think it would be any use I will +write to her." + +"I wish you would." + +"If a romance in my aunt's life had something to do with the robbery, it +seems strange that the jewels have been safe so long. They were always +kept in the house. I should have thought it would have been easier to +steal them from here than from the church." + +"I do not think we can be sure of that," I said. + +"Besides, the jewels have been quite safe at St. Ethelburga's for +eighteen months," she added. + +"That is a point I admit. I understand that you work in Mr. Harding's +parish, so you know Mr. Hayes, of course." + +"I have not been brought much in contact with him. I have sung once or +twice at his hooligan club entertainments. He has made a great success +of the club." + +"Regenerating ruffians and drafting them into church work, eh?" + +"I believe he has had great influence with them." + +"I am going to visit that club to-night." + +"You will find he is doing a great work. You will--surely you are not +thinking--" + +"That reformation may be only skin deep? I am, Miss Belford. The daily +environment of these fellows makes it easy for them to slip back into +their old ways." + +From Walham Green I went to Chelsea. I wanted to see Zena Quarles, and +there was nothing more to be done in the chalice case until I had visited +the hooligan club. Not for a moment would I appear to sneer at the +regenerating work which may be accomplished by such institutions, but +experience has taught me that it is often the cakes and ale, so to speak, +which attract, while character remains unchanged, or at the best very +thinly veneered. There are always exceptions, of course. It is difficult +for the uninitiated to realize that men go in for crime as a means of +livelihood, and are trained to become expert even as others are trained +to succeed in respectable professions. Many grades go to make up a +successful gang, and I had great hope of recognizing some youngster's +face at the club which would give me a clue to the gang which had worked +this robbery. + +"You're the very man I was thinking about," said Quarles when I was shown +into the dining-room. "You have come to tell me that you are on these +hotel robberies. Sit down, Wigan. How goes the inquiry?" + +"You are wrong, professor. I was on the job for a day and a half, but +I'm off it again. I am investigating the theft of a jeweled chalice." + +"Left in a cheap safe in an insecure vestry, I suppose," he said +in a tone of disgust. "Serves them right. Such things should be +kept in a bank." + +I explained that it was only kept in the vestry safe until it could be +returned to the bank, but the fact did not seem to impress him. + +He made no suggestion that we should adjourn to that empty room, where we +had discussed so many cases. I told him the story, although I was not +seeking his help, and he was not interested enough to ask a single +question when I had finished. He only wanted to discuss the hotel +robberies. + +"I am going to that club this evening," I went on. + +"The fact doesn't interest me," he returned snappishly. + +"Fortunately I didn't come for your help; I wanted to see Zena." + +"She's out and won't be home until late." + +"And your temper's gone out, too, eh, Professor?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"That you are simply lusting to be on the warpath," I laughed. "It might +do you good to come and see the hooligans with me to-night. Besides, if +we could settle the chalice case promptly we might be investigating the +hotel robberies before the end of the week." + +This suggestion clinched the matter. He came, believing possibly that I +congratulated myself upon having drawn him into the affair, which was not +a fact. I was glad of his company, but I did not want his help. + +Knowing something of such places, this hooligans' club astonished me. The +raw material was rough enough, but Mr. Hayes had worked wonders with it. +His personality had made no particular impression on me that morning, but +his achievement proved him a man of force and character. Quarles was +evidently interested in him and his work. If what the vicar had told me +about his curate had left even a faint speculation regarding his +integrity in my mind, it was dissipated. + +Visitors to the club were not an infrequent occurrence, Mr. Hayes told +us. He was rather proud that the institution had served as a type on +which to form others. + +"There mustn't be too much religion," he said. "The flotsam and jetsam of +life have to learn to be men and women first. Some of them are learning +to be men here." + +While I listened to him I had been eagerly scanning the faces before me. +There was not one I recognized. I wandered about the room, feigning +interest in the game of bagatelle which was going forward with somewhat +noisy excitement, and stood by chess and draught players for a few +moments to study their faces closely. I looked keenly at each new +arrival, but my clue was yet to seek. + +Suddenly a young fellow entered, rather smarter than most of them, and I +recognized him at once. Possibly the hooligans' club had been his +salvation, but he had been bred amongst thieves, thieves I knew and had +handled at times. + +"I began to think you weren't coming to-night, Squires." + +"Just looked in to say I can't come, sir," was the answer. "Got a chance +of a place, sir, and going to look after it." + +"That's right. Good luck to you. You can refer to me, you know." + +"Thank you, sir." + +With a careless word to two or three of the youths as he passed down the +room, Squires sauntered out. + +"That's our man," I whispered to Quarles, and without waiting to take +leave of Mr. Hayes, I hastened to the door. Squires was going slowly down +the street, no evidence of alarm about him, no desire apparently to lose +himself in the crowd. He had not got very far when Quarles joined me, +keen now there was a trail to follow. + +"I know the gang he used to be friendly with," I said as we began to +follow, "although I've got nothing definite against this youngster. It +was this gang, I believe, that worked the series of frauds on jewelers +three years ago, although we never brought it home to them. Just the men +to deal with a jeweled chalice, eh, professor? I expect young Squires +recognized me and guesses I am after it." + +Our object was to track young Squires to his destination. Since he was +connected with St. Ethelburga's through the hooligan club, it was quite +likely he had had a direct hand in the robbery, but it was certain others +were the prime movers, and I guessed he was on the way to warn them that +I was on the trail. + +At the corner of a street he stopped to speak to a man and a woman, and +we were obliged to interest ourselves in a convenient shop door. He stood +at the corner talking for at least ten minutes. Quarles thought he was +having words with the woman, but it could not have been much of a quarrel +for none of the passersby took any particular notice of them. Presently +the man and woman crossed the street arm in arm, and Squires sauntered +round the corner. We were quickly at the corner, afraid of losing sight +of him. He was still in sight, still walking slowly. Once he turned to +light a cigarette, and after that he increased his pace a little. + +"It's evident he lied when he said he was going to look for a job," +I remarked. + +"But it's not so evident that one of us ought not to have followed the +man and woman," said Quarles. "They may have gone to do the warning." + +"I think not," I answered. "If you have noted our direction you will find +we have traveled a pretty circuitous route. He'll wait until he thinks he +is safe from pursuit, and then take a bee line for his destination." + +As if he would prove my words Squires mended his pace, swinging down one +street and up another as if he had suddenly become definite. At corners +he gained on us, I think he must have run the moment he was out of sight, +and in one short street we were only just in time to see him disappear +round a corner. + +"I'm going to give this up soon, Wigan," said Quarles as we hurried in +pursuit. "I don't care how many jewels the chalice had in it." + +We were round the corner. Squires had disappeared, but we could hear +running feet in the distance. + +"That settles it," said Quarles, coming to halt a dozen yards from the +corner. "Go on if you like, Wigan, but--" + +I heard no more. Something struck me, enveloped me, and there was an end. +I am not very sure when a new beginning happened. Perhaps it is only an +after consideration which makes me remember a whirring sound in my ears, +and a certain swinging motion, and a murmur which was soothing. I am +quite sure of the pain which subsequently came to me. My head was big +with it, my limbs twisted with it. I was conscious of nothing else for a +period to which I cannot place limits. Then there was fire in my throat. + +I was sitting in the angle of a wall, on the floor; at a little distance +from me was a light which presently resolved itself into a candle stuck +in the neck of a bottle. There were moving shadows--I saw them, I think, +before I was conscious of the man and woman who made them. The man had +just poured brandy down my throat, the girl, with her arms akimbo, +watched him. + +"He'll do now," said the man. + +"Can't see why we take such trouble to keep death away," was the +woman's answer. + +"Are you in love with the hangman?" + +The girl laughed, caught up the bottle, making the shadows dance like a +delirium, then I slipped back into darkness again. + +All kinds of things came into my mind after that, disordered dreams, and +then I heard my name. + +"Wigan! Wigan!" + +I was still sitting in an angle of a wall, trussed like a fowl, but I +was awake. + +"Is that you, Professor?" + +"No more hooligan clubs, Wigan." + +"What happened?" + +"I remember turning a corner," Quarles answered, "and I woke up here. We +were sandbagged, or something of the kind, and serves us right. If we +wanted to follow any one we ought to have followed the man and woman. Can +you drag yourself over to this corner? We can talk quietly then." + +It was rather a painful and lengthy operation, but I fancy the effort did +me good. My brain was clearer, I began to grip things again. + +"Where are we?" I said. + +"Locked in a cellar, but where I do not know. We're lucky to be no worse +off, and probably I'm especially lucky in not having been sandbagged by +the man who dealt with you. He would probably have closed my account, for +he must have hit you a tremendous blow. I had come to myself before the +man and woman brought you brandy. I just moved to show I wasn't dead and +watched them." + +"You'll know them again." + +"They both wore masks. About this chalice, Wigan." + +"No doubt we've hurried it into the melting pot," I returned. + +"I've been half asleep since our friend left us, but I've done some +thinking, too. Reminded of my empty room by this cellar, I expect. There +are one or two curious points about this chalice." + +"Are they worth considering--now?" + +"I think so. It will serve to pass the time. I didn't take any interest +in your story at the time, but I think I remember the facts. You must +correct me if I go wrong. First, then, we may take it as certain that the +church was not broken into in an ordinary way. We assume, therefore, that +some one connected with the church had a hand in the robbery. You +satisfied yourself that an entry was not effected by the only possible +window, we therefore ask who had keys of the church. The answer would +appear to be the vicar, the verger, and possibly, even probably, Mr. +Hayes. Had keys been in the possession of any other person for any +purpose, either temporarily or otherwise, the vicar--I am assuming his +integrity--would have mentioned it. Now the vicar does not suggest that +he has any suspicion against the verger, nor do you appear to have +entertained any, but Mr. Harding does suggest a suspicion of his curate +by mentioning his debts and his dealings with money lenders." + +"It was under pressure. I am convinced he has no real suspicion." + +"At any rate his story influenced you. You made some inquiries +concerning Mr. Hayes. That is an important point. Had you not heard at +the same time of this hooligan club, you would probably have made further +inquiries about the curate. I think you missed something." + +"Oh, nonsense. You've seen the man and must appreciate--" + +"His worth," said Quarles. "I do, but he leads to speculation. Let us +consider the safe for a moment. There were marks from a blow of the +chisel on the wall, scratches on the safe door, and by the keyhole, but +you are satisfied that the safe was opened with a key, yet the vicar's +key will not turn the lock. Why should an expert thief trouble to make +these marks or to suggest that the safe had been broken open, even to +the extent of jamming the lock in some way? The only possible +explanation would be that the expert wished to leave the impression than +an amateur had been at work. I can see no reason why he should wish to +do so, and at any rate he failed. You were not deceived; you looked for +the expert at once." + +"And the hunter has been trapped. We were hotter on the trail than I +imagined." + +"It is a warning to me to keep out of cases in which I feel no interest," +said Quarles. "Still, circumstances have aroused my interest now. There +is no doubt, Wigan, that there was every reason to look for an amateur in +this business, and in spite of the hooligan club, you seem to have been +half conscious of this fact. You would have been glad to know what the +romance connected with the jewels was. Not idle curiosity, I take it, but +a grasping for a clue in that direction. Miss Belford cannot help you +beyond writing to her aunt's old friend in Yorkshire, yet had it not been +for the hooligans' club, I fancy you would have followed this trail more +keenly. According to Miss Belford, apart from the jewels, her aunt had +not left sufficient to enable the niece to go on living in Cedars Road, +yet while Miss Morrison was alive it was sufficient, apparently. Of +course the niece may have more expensive tastes, but under the +circumstances it was rather a curious statement. She believes that a past +romance was the reason why the jewels were left to the church, and she +admits that she was disappointed they were not left to her. It seems +possible, doesn't it, that at one time she hoped to have them after her +aunt's death? That would mean there was no valid reason why she +shouldn't, and I think you might reasonably have speculated that she knew +more of the romance than she admitted." + +"You wouldn't have thought so if you had talked with her." + +"Possibly not," returned Quarles. "I started handicapped in this case, I +was not interested in it; Zena was not at hand to ask one of her absurd +questions, which have so often put me on the right road. The road we have +traveled has landed us here, and I have been thinking of another road we +might have traveled. We will forget the hooligans' club. We start with +the assumption that the robbery was the work of an amateur, we have ample +reasons for thinking so. We do not suspect the vicar, we are inclined to +exonerate the verger, and we finally decide that Mr. Hayes is innocent. +We are met with a difficulty at once. How was the church entered? We may +assume that some person in the Sunday evening congregation remained +hidden in the church, committed the burglary, opening the safe with a +duplicate key, marking the wall and the door, and giving a wrench to the +lock to suggest ordinary thieves. Had it not been for the hooligan club, +these efforts to mislead would not have been very successful, I fancy. +They show that the amateur had small knowledge of the ways of experts. +The thief, having secured the chalice, is still locked in the church. How +to escape? It is a case of an all night vigil. When the verger arrives on +Monday morning and passes through the church towards the vestry, the +thief slips out. Now it is obvious that to make this possible the thief +must have known a great deal about the church and its working, must have +come in contact with the vicar constantly, or it would have been +impossible to get an impression of the safe key. We therefore look +amongst the church workers for the thief." + +"Your deductions would be more interesting were we not lying trussed in +this cellar," I said. "I am trying to wriggle some of these knots loose." + +"That's right," said Quarles, "When you are free you can undo me. My dear +Wigan, it is the fact that we are in this cellar which makes these +deductions so interesting. The chalice was stolen for the sake of the +jewels, that is evident, or the thief would have taken the gold paten as +well; and the jewels have a romance attached to them. We don't know what +that romance is, but we have an eccentric old lady the possessor of the +jewels; we have reason to suppose that she was not otherwise rich, and we +have a niece apparently ignorant of her aunt's past. She admits +disappointment that the jewels were left to the church; she complains +that her own circumstances are straitened. In spite of the fact that she +lives in Walham Green, she becomes, after her aunt's death, a worker in +St. Ethelburga's parish in Bloomsbury. We have in Miss Belford one who +knows the general working of the church, one who has been brought in +contact with the vicar--Mr. Harding said he knew her very well, +remember; and moreover she is closely connected with the jewels. It is +possible, even, that she knows the romance behind the jewels and feels +that they are hers by right and ought never to have been given to the +church. This would account entirely for such a woman turning thief." + +"The fact remains we are in this cellar," I said. + +"It is a very interesting fact," said Quarles. "Of course I cannot be +sure that the man and woman who were in this cellar were the same young +Squires met, but I believe they were. The woman stood with her arms +akimbo in each case, the position was identical. They learnt from young +Squires that we were following and went off to warn some of their fellows +who waited for us, Squires leading us into the trap by arrangement. The +gang has beaten us, Wigan." + +"And the chalice is in the melting pot," I remarked. + +"I don't believe the gang knows anything about the chalice," said the +professor quietly. + +"Not know! Why--" + +"Wigan, you stopped to speak to a colleague engaged on the hotel +robberies this morning. You were seen, I believe. It was immediately +assumed that you were on that job, and when Squires saw you to-night at +the club he thought you were after the hotel robbers. Without being aware +of it we were probably hot on their track." + +"It is impossible," I said. + +"Why should it be?" Quarles asked. "Once get a fixed idea in the mind, +and it is exceedingly difficult to give opposing theories their due +weight. The hooligan club got into your mind. There were many reasons why +it should, especially with Mr. Hayes as the connecting link; you could +not believe him guilty so you fell back upon the club. One other point, a +very important one. The chalice was only used on great festivals and +certain Saints' days. There are several reasons why the robbery would be +difficult on a great festival. The church would not be in its normal +condition, owing to decorations or increased services, perhaps; besides, +the thief--a church worker we assume--might be missed from some function +connected with the church which would cause suspicion. On the other hand, +many Saints' days occur in the week when there is no late evening +service, perhaps, and if there is, only a small congregation. It would be +remembered who was present. The chalice was stolen on a Saints' day which +happened to fall on a Sunday, and must therefore remain in the church all +night. How many people do you suppose know which Saints' days were +specified by Miss Morrison? Very few. I warrant you were not far from the +chalice when you were talking to Miss Belford. How are you getting on +with your knots, Wigan?" + +"I am not tied so tightly as I might be." + +"Good. With luck you may yet be in time to prevent Miss Belford +getting away." + +"I don't believe she has anything to do with the chalice," I answered. + +"All the same, I should take another journey to Walham Green," said +Quarles. "When one is dealing with a woman it is well to remember that +she is more direct than a man, is inclined to use simpler methods, and is +often more thorough. Witness the man and woman in this cellar. The man +gave you brandy to revive you: the woman didn't see any reason why you +shouldn't die. She interested me. A woman like that is a source of +strength to a gang. I fancy there is a glimmer of daylight through a +grating yonder." + +I got free from my bonds after a time, and I undid Quarles. The cellar +door was a flimsy affair, my shoulder against the lock burst it open at +once. No one rushed to prevent our escape. The house was as silent as +the grave. + +"Our captors have decamped," said Quarles. "We must have been hot upon +the trail last night, Wigan." + +The house was empty apparently, but we did not search it thoroughly then. +Escape was our first thought. I could give instructions to the first +constable we met to keep a watch on the house. We left by an area and +found ourselves at the end of a blind road in Hampstead. The house was +detached, and fifty yards or more from its nearest neighbor. + +"Reserved for future investigation," Quarles remarked. "Our first +business is the jeweled chalice." + +Only a dim light had found its way through the cellar grating, but the +day had begun. There was the rumble of an early milk cart. In spite of +aching head and stiff limbs, only one idea possessed us; and the first +taxi we found took us to Walham Green. + +Miss Belford had gone. She must have left the house yesterday within half +an hour of my leaving it. Inquiry subsequently proved that her servant +had left on the Saturday, and that during the last week Miss Belford had +disposed of her furniture just as it stood. + +Quarles was right, although we had no actual proof until some months +later, when we had almost forgotten the jeweled chalice. + +Miss Belford wrote to Mr. Harding. The jewels were left to Miss Morrison, +she said, by an old lover. Why they had not married she could not say, +but from old letters it appeared there had been a quarrel, and the man +had married elsewhere. Miss Belford was the daughter of that marriage. +She was not really Miss Morrison's niece, although she had always called +her aunt. The jewels were left to Miss Morrison absolutely, to sell or do +as she liked with, but Miss Belford declared that, in a letter which was +with the jewels when Miss Morrison received them after Mr. Belford's +death, and which she afterwards found amongst her papers, her father +evidently expected that his daughter would ultimately benefit. The letter +went on to explain how the theft had been accomplished, and the letter +concluded: + +"Had I known my aunt contemplated giving the jewels to the church, I +should have taken them before, because I had always expected them to come +to me. They were presented before I knew anything about it. I could do +nothing, I was dependent upon her. When I found my father's letter I knew +I had been robbed--that is the word, Mr. Harding, robbed. In taking the +chalice I have only taken what belongs to me. On reflection you will +probably consider that I was quite justified." + +I can affirm that the vicar of St. Ethelburga's did not think so, and +since Miss Belford's letter, which came from America, did not give any +address I imagine she was not sure what attitude Mr. Harding would take +up. What became of the gems, or how they were disposed of, I do not know; +I only know that there is no jeweled chalice at St. Ethelburga's now, and +I fancy the vicar thinks that, as a detective, I was a ghastly failure. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ADVENTURE OF THE FORTY-TON YAWL + + +Brilliant sunshine and a sufficient breeze, a well-appointed forty-ton +yawl, nothing to do but lie basking on the warm deck, conscious of a very +pretty woman at the helm--well, you may go a long way before you find +anything to beat it for pure enjoyment. + +How I came to be spending my time under such enviable circumstances +requires some explanation, especially when I state that the exceedingly +pretty woman was not Zena Quarles. + +It will be remembered that to attend to the jeweled chalice case, which +proved to be an affair of a day and a night only, I had been taken off a +job concerning a series of hotel robberies, and I was particularly glad +to be put back upon this case, because Quarles was so intensely +interested in it. Although the chalice case was not actually cleared up +satisfactorily for some months, it was practically certain that the +attack made upon us had nothing to do with the theft of the chalice. + +The professor was convinced that, unconsciously, we had been hot upon the +trail of the hotel robberies, that the trails of the two cases had, in +fact, crossed each other. It seemed to me that he had jumped to this +conclusion upon insufficient evidence, but I determined to make a +thorough investigation of the house at Hampstead at once. + +The house was in charge of a caretaker named Mason, who lived there in +one sparsely furnished room, but on the night of our capture he had +absented himself without leave. This looked suspicious, but the man was +able to prove that he had told the truth as to his whereabouts, and +further inquiry elicited nothing against him. Quarles also declared +emphatically that Mason was not the masked man he had seen in the cellar. + +I next managed to get an interview with the owner of the house, a Mr. +Wibley. He had lived in it himself for a time, but it had now been empty +for about two years. It was a good house, but old-fashioned. People did +not like basements, and as the house was in a neighborhood which was +deteriorating he had not felt inclined to spend money upon it. He knew +nothing about the caretaker who had been put there by the house agent, +but he was very keen to give me any help in his power, for he had himself +been a victim of one of the hotel robberies. Business occasionally +brought him to town from his house in Hampshire, and while staying in an +hotel a big haul had been made, and a necklace which he had bought for +his daughter only that day was amongst the property stolen. + +All these robberies, which had occurred over a period of six months, had +been carried out with a success which entirely baffled the authorities. + +Apparently rooms were rifled during the table d'hote; at least, it was +always late in the evening that the robberies were discovered. In no case +had a guest or a servant left suddenly or suspiciously, and drastic +search had discovered nothing. There could be little doubt that a clever +gang was at work, but during this period not a single stolen article had +been traced. Scotland Yard had any number of men engaged upon the case; +known thieves were watched, and fences kept under observation; but as a +fact there had been no clue at all until Quarles and I had been kidnaped. + +Of course, there was no certainty that our capture had anything to do +with these robberies. Quarles based his conviction on the fact that I had +spoken to another detective, Percival, who was known to have the case in +hand. He believed that I had been seen, that it was concluded that the +case was in my hands, that in hunting for the chalice I had stumbled on +the other trail, was so hot upon it, in fact, that prompt action on the +thieves' part was absolutely necessary. + +It was obvious that our capture must be a clue to something; it was +natural, perhaps, to jump to the conclusion that it concerned these +robberies, but Quarles's arguments did not altogether convince me. I had +half a dozen men hunting for young Squires, who had almost certainly led +us into an ambush that night and who had disappeared completely. His old +haunts had not known him for a long time; his old companions had lost +sight of him. It was generally understood that he had cut his old ways +and had turned pious, an evident reference to the hooligan club. At one +time he had certainly been friendly with some of the members of a gang I +knew of, a gang quite likely to be responsible for these robberies, but +inquiries went to show that this gang had practically ceased to exist as +an organization. + +For nearly a week I was busy morning, noon, and night collecting evidence +and facts which were retailed to Quarles, and then I broke down. Nervous +energy had kept me going, I suppose, but the blow I had received was not +to be ignored. The doctor ordered rest, and I went to Folkestone. I +suppose I looked ill, and, perchance, a little interesting; at any rate, +I was the recipient of quite a lot of sympathy, and it was on the third +afternoon of my stay in the hotel that Mrs. Selborne spoke to me. She +had heard me telling some one that I was recovering from an accident. + +She had a yacht in the harbor. She had great faith in the recuperating +power of yachting. She would have her skipper up that evening, if I would +make use of the yacht next day. I hesitated to accept her kind offer. She +evidently meant me to go alone; said she had not intended to use the +yacht on the following day; but it was finally arranged that she should +take me for a sail. It was the first of several. On the first occasion +she also took a lady staying in the hotel, and on the second a lad who +was there with his parents, but as they were both bad sailors we went by +ourselves the third time. + +"It spoils the pleasure to see other people ill," said Mrs. Selborne. "I +think we might really go alone without unduly shocking people." + +So it happened that I was enjoying the breeze and the sunshine under +ideal circumstances and with as charming a companion as a man could +wish to have. + +I told Zena so in one of my letters; so convincingly, I regret to say, +that the dear girl did not like it. There was really no cause for +jealousy, but bring a man in close contact with a pretty and charming +woman, especially on a yacht, and he is almost certain to flirt with +her a little. + +It was very mild and harmless in my case, and indeed Mrs. Selborne, jolly +and somewhat unconventional as she was, would have resented any liberty. +We frankly enjoyed each other's society, and at the end of a few days +might have known each other for years. + +Certainly I owed her a debt of gratitude, for the yacht did me worlds of +good. I told her so that afternoon. + +"You certainly look better," she said. + +"You will send me back to work sooner than I expected." + +"When?" + +"At the end of the week." + +"And I expect my husband to-morrow." + +I don't suppose she meant it, but she said it as if she regretted +his coming. + +"Is he fond of yachting?" I asked. + +"It bores him to tears," she laughed. "Most of the things which I like +do. Still, he is very good to me. I am an old man's darling, you know." + +It was the first time she had mentioned her husband, and she had not +shown the slightest curiosity in my affairs. She was just a good pal for +the time being. That was how she had impressed me, but this afternoon she +was--how shall I put it?--she was rather more of a woman than usual. I +might easily imagine she had given me an opening for a serious +flirtation. Her manner might suggest that I had become more to her than +she had intended. I put the idea away from me, mentally kicking myself +for allowing it to get into my head at all. + +"We shall sail as usual to-morrow," she told her skipper when we landed. + +"Very good, ma'am." + +"Mr. Selborne arrives to-morrow night. Let some one go up for his +luggage. Half past ten." + +"Yes, ma'am." + +Mrs. Selborne and I walked back to the hotel and stood on the lawn +talking for a little while before going to dress for dinner. + +"To-morrow will be our last cruise, I am afraid," she said, looking +across the Leas. "I hope it will be fine." + +"I hope so." + +"It would really be a terrible disappointment to me if it were not. I +would go--Ah, now I am being tempted to talk foolishly." + +She turned from me a little defiantly. She was certainly very attractive, +and naturally fell into poses which showed her off to the best advantage. +A man, sitting on the lawn, paused in the act of taking a cigarette from +his case to look at her. His interest pleased me. I was human, and it +flattered my vanity to know that I counted with this woman. + +"What desperate thing were you going to say?" I asked. + +"You will laugh at me." + +"I am more likely to match you in desperation." + +"I was going to say I would go to-morrow, wet or fine, wind or sunshine, +rather than miss our last day." + +Could I do less than make a compact that it should be so? If I admit +there was no sign of a coming change in the weather it must not be +supposed that I am trying to make out that her beauty and personality did +not affect me. They did. + +"I could almost pray for bad weather just to see that you are a man of +your word," she laughed. "Is it a promise?" + +"It is." + +She went in to dress, and I smoked a cigarette before doing likewise. + +As I entered my room and closed the door, a man stepped from behind +the wardrobe. It was the man who had been interested in Mrs. Selborne +on the lawn. + +"Pardon. I wished to speak to you alone, and this seemed the only +method." + +"I'll hear what you have to say before I hand you over to the +management," I answered. + +"It is a delicate matter," he returned, with a simper, which made me +desire to kick him. "It concerns a lady. You are Mr. James Murray; at +least, that is the name you entered in the hotel books." + +"It is my name," I answered. + +"Part of it, I think, part of it. You are usually called Murray Wigan, I +believe, and you are engaged to Miss Quarles--Miss Zena Quarles, the +granddaughter of a rather stupid professor." + +"What has this to do with you?" + +"I said it was a delicate matter," he went on. "My client has reason to +believe that you are--shall I say enamored of a lady staying in this +hotel? You may have noticed me on the lawn just now when you were talking +to the lady--I judge it was the lady. Your taste, sir, appeals to me, but +I am bound to say--" + +"Are you a private detective?" + +"Just an inquiry agent; helpful in saving people trouble sometimes." + +"Do you mean to tell me that Miss Quarles--" + +"No, not exactly, but, my dear Wigan--" + +It was Quarles. He changed his voice, seemed to alter his figure, but of +course the make-up remained. He was a perfect genius in altering his +appearance. + +"Was that the lady?" he asked. "Zena mentioned you were yachting with a +Mrs. Selborne down here. I don't think she quite liked it. She was woman +enough to read between the lines of your letter." + +"Oh, nonsense!" I exclaimed. + +"Quite so; still the lady is decidedly attractive, and Murray Wigan is a +man. The man who holds himself barred from admiring one woman just +because he happens to be engaged to another is not a very conspicuous +biped. I am not reproaching you, I should probably do the same myself, +but Zena will take you to task no doubt, and you will explain and +promise not to do it any more, and--" + +"I haven't done anything which requires explanation," I said irritably. + +"Of course not, but that may not be Zena's view, and I daresay Mrs. +Selborne believes you are more than half in love with her. I happened to +overhear part of your conversation. She was putting your admiration to +the test, rather a severe test, by the way, since you are an invalid. +Probably she is smiling to herself in the glass as she dresses for +dinner, which reminds me you have none too much time to dress, and you +must not be late to-night." + +"Why not? I am feeling quite fit again. If there is anything to be done I +am quite capable of doing it." + +"Dress, Wigan, while I talk. Since you broke down at a crucial point I +have been helping Percival. I daresay he will get the kudos in this case, +but you mustn't grudge him that." + +"I don't." + +"We have progressed," Quarles went on. "I will give you my line of +argument and the result so far. We start with Squires. He led us into a +trap, but the gang with which he was formerly connected has practically +ceased to exist. His old companions have seen nothing of him; he is +supposed to have turned good, and I find he has been a member of that +hooligan club for over a year with an irreproachable record during that +time. Two conclusions seem to arise; either Squires is connected with +another gang, or some compulsion was put upon him to betray us. I incline +to the second idea, and if I am correct there must have been a strong +incentive to persuade Squires to do what he did. Perhaps he wished to +protect some one." + +"What did Percival say to that?" I asked as I put the links into my +shirt. + +"He jeered at it, of course, as you are inclined to do; indeed, it was +quite a long time before Percival awoke to the fact that I was not quite +a fool. Now the machinery of Scotland Yard seems to have proved that +these robberies are not the work of a known gang; we may therefore assume +that persons unknown to the police are at work. The methods adopted are +clever. The property is stolen, yet no one has disappeared from the +hotel, neither guest nor servant, and in no case has any of the property +been found in the possession of any one in the hotel. Shall we suppose +that it has been carefully lowered from a bedroom window to an accomplice +without? None of this property has been traced, which leads us to two +hypotheses; either it has been got out of the country and disposed of +abroad, or the thieves can afford to bide their time. When you consider +the worth of the jewels stolen, it seems remarkable that nothing should +have been traced in the known markets abroad, and I am inclined to think +the thieves can afford to wait. Having arrived at this point--" + +"Without a scrap of evidence," I put in. + +"Without any evidence," said Quarles imperturbably. "I began to suspect +that my arch villain, for of course there is a leading spirit, must be in +command of wealth; and, remembering the short period during which the +robberies have happened, I ventured a guess that, once a sufficient +fortune were acquired, he would disappear, that his great coup being +accomplished he would retire from business, and become a respectable +citizen of this or some other country--a gentleman who had acquired +wealth by speculation." + +"Once a man has known the excitement of crime he does not give it up," I +said. "That's the result of experience, Professor, not guesswork." + +"Quite so, but I had visualized an extraordinary personality. Where was I +to find such a man and the efficient confederates who were helping him in +his schemes? One or more of them must have been present at each robbery, +and would no doubt be amongst those who had lost property. Theory, of +course, but we now come to something practical--the house at Hampstead. +If my theory of crossed trails were correct, if you were thought to be +engaged on this investigation, then that house was in some way linked +with the robberies. I may mention incidentally the value of having such a +place of retreat; the spoil could be deposited there until it could +safely be removed to a better hiding place. + +"This, of course, would inculpate the caretaker Mason. He has been +carefully watched; he has done nothing to give himself away, the result +of careful training, I fancy. Through this house we get another link--the +owner, Mr. Wibley. He has been a sufferer in these robberies, losing a +necklace he had just purchased for his daughter. Certainly a man to know +under the circumstances. As you are aware, he lives in Hampshire, and I +had a sudden desire to see that part of the country. I didn't call upon +Mr. Wibley, although he was at home. + +"His daughter was away--it was quite true he has a daughter. I took +rather elaborate precautions not to encounter Mr. Wibley; he might be +curious about a stranger in the country, but he would have been +astonished to know how much I saw of him. No, there was nothing +suspicious about him, except that on two occasions a man met him on a +lonely road, evidently with important business to transact. On the day +after the second meeting Mr. Wibley departed and came to Hythe. No later +than this morning he was playing golf there with this same man he met in +Hampshire. The golf was poor, but they talked a lot." + +"Still, I do not see--" + +"One moment, Wigan. The other man is staying in your hotel." + +"You think--" + +"I think it was intended to rob this hotel, but I believe the idea +has been abandoned," said Quarles. "However, I have put the manager +on his guard." + +"And pointed out the man you suspect!" + +"Yes." + +"That was foolish. If the thief is as clever as you imagine, he will +probably notice the manager's interest in him. I should say you have +warned him most effectually." + +"I don't think so. You see, it was you I pointed out to the manager." + +I paused with one arm in my waistcoat to stare at him. + +"I have arranged that he shall not interfere with you," said Quarles. +"You will be able to go yachting to-morrow. I was obliged to fix matters +so that I could come and go as I chose, and it was safer to draw the +manager's attention to one man rather than allow him to suspect others, +amongst them the very man we want to hoodwink, perhaps. The fact is, +Wigan, I believe the gang know you are here, and think you are here on +business. Plans will have been made accordingly, and it is therefore +absolutely necessary that you should go on just as you have been doing. I +don't think the hotel will be robbed now, but I am not sure. Sunshine or +storm, go with Mrs. Selborne to-morrow. Exactly what is going to happen +I do not know, but at the end of your cruise to-morrow you may want all +your wits about you." + +"Are you staying in the hotel?" I asked. + +"No, at Hythe, and I spend some of my time on Romney Marsh. I am +interested in a lonely house there. You must go; there is the gong. I +must tell you about the house another time." + +"When shall I see you again?" + +"To-morrow night. Leave me here. I will sneak out after you have gone." + +It was natural my eyes should wander round the dining-room that night, +trying to discover by intuition which was the man who might engineer a +robbery at the hotel. + +Once the manager entered the room, and, knowing what I did, I could not +doubt he wanted to satisfy himself that I was there. It did not worry me +that Quarles had made use of me in this way; I was quite prepared to be +arrested if the robbery did take place, but I was annoyed that the +professor had told me so little. + +It was his way; I had had experience of it before, but it was treatment I +had never been able to get used to. + +After dinner Mrs. Selborne joined me in the lounge for a little while, +and talked about our sail next day, and then I was asked to make up a +bridge table. + +Remembering Zena's attitude, according to Quarles, I was rather glad to +get away from Mrs. Selborne. She played bridge, too, but not at my table. + +There was no burglary that night, and the following morning was as good +for yachting as one could desire. However, we could not start at our +usual time. The crew consisted of the skipper and two hands, and one of +the hands came up to say that it was necessary to replace some gear, +which would take until midday. Mrs. Selborne was very angry. + +"We shall have to kill time until twelve o 'clock," she said, turning to +me. "It is a pity, but we'll get our sail somehow if all the gear goes +wrong. It is very likely only an excuse to get a short day's work, but I +am not expert enough to challenge my skipper." + +When we got aboard soon after noon, however, she had a great deal to say +to the skipper; would have him point out exactly what had gone wrong, and +showed him quite plainly she did not believe there need have been so long +a delay; but she soon recovered her temper when she took the helm, and +her good spirits became infectious. + +I was on holiday, and was not inclined to bother my head with problems. +If for a moment I wondered what Quarles was doing, I quickly forgot all +about him. + +I repeat, when you have got a pretty woman on a yacht, and she is +inclined to be exceedingly gracious, nothing else matters much for the +time being. + +We had lunch, and Mrs. Selborne smoked a cigarette before we returned to +the deck. The skipper was at the tiller, but she did not relieve him. She +was in a lazy mood, and I arranged some cushions to make her comfortable. +We were standing well out from Dungeness. + +Mrs. Selborne seemed a little surprised at our position. + +"We must get back to dinner," she said to the skipper. + +"That'll be all right, ma'am," he answered. + +"We must pay some attention to the conventions," she laughed, speaking to +me in an undertone. "We couldn't plead foul weather as an excuse for +being late, could we?" + +"We started late, and it is our last sail," I said. + +The skipper did not alter his course, and Mrs. Selborne lapsed +into silence. + +The comfort and laziness made her drowsy, I expect. I know they did me. I +caught myself nodding more and more. + +Suddenly there was a jerk, effectually rousing me from my nodding +condition. I thought we had struck something. The next instant I rolled +on my back. A rope was round my arms and legs. The skipper was still at +the helm, and he smiled as one of the hands tied me up. The other hand +was doing the same to Mrs. Selborne. + +There was fear in her face; she tried to speak, but could not. + +"What the devil is--" + +"A shut mouth, mister, is your best plan," said the skipper. "Get her +down below, Jim. Chuck her on one of the bunks; she'll be out of the +way there." + +"Help me! Save me!" she said as they lifted her up and carried her down. + +"Now see here," said the skipper, slipping a hand into his pocket and +showing me a revolver, "if you feel inclined to do any shouting, you +suppress it, or this is going to drill a hole in your head. It's a detail +that you might shout yourself hoarse and no one would pay any attention." + +"What's the game?" I said. "For the sake of the lady I might come +to terms." + +"That's not the game, anyway, and I don't want any conversation." + +Quarles! I thought of him now. The hotel gang was at work, and this was +one of the moves. How it was going to serve their ends I did not see, +unless--unless I was presently dropped overboard. + +It was an unpleasant contemplation, and I am afraid I cursed Quarles. If +he had only told me a little more I might at least have been prepared and +made a fight for it. What about Mrs. Selborne? Would they drown her, too? +They might put her ashore somewhere. + +The coast about Dungeness is desolate enough. It would be easy to slip in +after dark and leave her. Not a sound came from the cabin, and the two +hands returned to the deck. By the skipper's orders they lashed me in a +sitting position to a skylight. + +We were still standing out to sea, and one of the hands took the tiller; +the other received instructions to kick the wind out of me if I shouted +or began asking questions. Then the skipper went below. + +I listened, but I could not hear him speak to Mrs. Selborne. + +It was fine sunset that evening. When we presently came round and stood +in towards shore I got a feast of color over Romney Marsh. Watching the +ever-changing colors as the night crept out of the sea, I remembered that +Quarles was interested in Romney Marsh, in a lonely house there about +which he had had no time to tell me last night; had this lonely house an +interest for me? I tried to work out the plot in a dozen ways, +endeavoring to understand how the thieves could secure themselves if I +were allowed to live. + +That gorgeous sunset was depressing. The coming night might be so full of +ominous meaning for me. + +It was dark by the time we drew in towards the shore. A light or two +marked Dymchurch to our left, to our right were the lights of Hythe. + +By what landmark the skipper chose his position I do not know, but +presently the anchor was let go and we swung round. The tide must have +been nearly at the full. A few minutes later the dinghy was got into the +water, and the steps let down. + +Everything was accomplished as neatly and deliberately as I had seen it +done each time I had gone sailing in the yacht. + +Then the skipper came over to me and tried my bonds to make sure I had +not worked them loose under cover of the darkness. + +"All right," he said. "You can get her up." + +Evidently they were going to take Mrs. Selborne ashore. + +She came up on deck, she was not brought up. She was not bound in any +way. + +"Half past ten," said the skipper. "Sure you will be all right alone?" + +I could not tell to which of the hands he spoke; at any rate, he got no +answer except by a nod, perhaps. Half past ten; that was the time Mrs. +Selborne's husband was to arrive. + +Then came a surprise. The three men got into the dinghy and pulled +towards the shore. + +I was left alone with Mrs. Selborne. + +"Caught, Mr. Murray--Wigan." + +She laughed as she paused between my two names, and seated herself on a +corner of the skylight with a revolver in her lap. + +"We can talk," she went on, "but a shout would be dangerous. I am used to +handling firearms. Our last sail together, a notable one, and not yet +over. You're a more pleasant companion than I expected to find you, but +you are not such a great detective as I had been led to suppose." + +I was too astonished to make any kind of answer. She was quite right. I +had never detected a criminal in her. All her kindness was an elaborate +scheme to get me in her power. Did Quarles know? Surely not, or he would +have put me on my guard. + +"Posing as an invalid was an excellent notion," she went on, "and you are +not altogether a failure. You have prevented a haul being made at the +Folkestone Hotel because we could not discover what men you had at work. +I wonder how you got on my track?" + +It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her I hadn't, to say that my being +there was chance, that I really was an invalid, but I kept the confession +back. I remembered Quarles saying I might want all my wits about me at +the end of this cruise. This seemed to be the end as far as I was +concerned. + +"I don't suppose you are going to tell me how these robberies have been +managed," I said, "so you cannot expect me to give away my secrets." + +"I will tell you one thing," she answered; "there will be no more +robberies by us. From to-night we begin to enjoy the proceeds." + +"That is interesting." + +"And you will quite appreciate that, although you are not so clever as +people imagine, you are a difficulty." + +"It is no use my petitioning you to let me go for the sake of--of our +friendship?" + +"I am afraid not." + +"What then?" + +"Dead men tell no tales," she said. + +It was an uncomfortable answer. It was the only way out of the +difficulty I had been able to conceive. + +"Pardon me, they do," I returned quietly. "In watching me so carefully, +and beating me at the game, you have advertised your interest in me to +scores of people. You have forged a link between us. My death will mean a +quick search for you and your confederates. I am likely to be more +dangerous to you dead than alive." + +"Do you suppose that has not been considered and arranged for?" + +"And do you suppose a detective values his life if by his death he can +bring notorious criminals to justice?" I asked. + +"What exactly do you mean?" + +We might have been discussing some commonplace question across a +tea table. + +"For the sake of argument, let us suppose one or two of your confederates +have not hoodwinked me so completely as you have done. You can understand +the possibility and appreciate the probable result." + +"Do I look like a woman to be frightened by such a thin story?" +she asked. + +"Certainly not. You are so reckless a person you have, no doubt, courage +to face any unpleasant consequence which may arise." + +"I have wit enough to know that prevention is better than cure," she +returned. "Within an hour, Mr. Wigan, my confederates and all who could +possibly witness against me will be on board this yacht. How long some of +them will remain on board I have not yet decided." + +She was evidently not afraid. Her plans must be very complete. + +"As I cannot be allowed to live, a sketch of your career would interest +me. It would serve to pass the time." + +"The past does not concern me, the future does," she answered. "You may +appreciate my general idea of making things safe. I fancy this yacht will +be cast away on a lonely spot on the French coast. I know the spot, and I +expect one or two persons will be drowned. That will be quite natural, +won't it? Should the accident chance to be heard of at Folkestone, it +will be surmised that I am drowned. Bodies do not always come ashore, you +know. One thing is quite certain; Mrs. Selborne and all trace of her will +have disappeared." + +"It is rather a diabolical scheme," I said. + +"I regret the necessity. I daresay you have sometimes done the same when +a victim of your cleverness has come to the gallows." + +She got up and walked away from me, but she did not cease to watch me. I +wondered if she would fire should I venture to shout. + +It was a long hour, but presently there came the distinct dip of oars. In +spite of my unenviable position I felt excited. I thought there were two +boats. Naturally there would be. The dinghy was small; crew and +confederates could not have got into it. + +There was the rattle of oars in the rowlocks, then a man climbed on deck, +others coming quickly after him, and in that moment Mrs. Selborne swung +round and fired. The bullet struck the woodwork of the skylight close to +my head. I doubt if I shall ever be so near death again until my hour +actually sounds. + +Her arm was struck up before she could fire again, and a familiar voice +was shouting: + +"It's all right, Wigan. The lady completes the business. We have +got the lot." + +Christopher Quarles had come aboard with the police, those in the dinghy +wearing the coats and caps the crew had worn, so that any one watching on +the yacht for their return might be deceived. + +The prisoners were left in the hands of the police, and a motor took +Quarles and myself back to Folkestone. He told me the whole story before +we slept that night. + +The lonely house on Romney Marsh had been bought by Wibley some months +ago in the name of Reynolds. He had let it be known that, after certain +alterations had been made, he was coming to live there, so it was natural +that a couple of men, looking like painters, should presently arrive and +be constantly about the place. If three or four men were seen there on +occasion no one was likely to be curious. + +Watching Wibley when he came down to Hythe, Quarles found he had a +liking for motoring on the Dymchurch Road. He saw him pull up one +morning to speak to a man on the roadside. He did the same thing on the +following morning, but it was a different man, and Quarles recognized +young Squires. + +Squires afterwards went to this empty house, and Quarles speedily had men +on the Marsh watching it night and day. It looked as if the house were +the gang's meeting-place. Either another coup was being prepared, or an +escape was being arranged. + +During a hurried visit to town the professor had seen my letter to Zena, +and this had given him a clue. + +"It was the name Selborne," Quarles explained. "I told you, Wigan, that +Wibley's daughter--or supposed daughter--was not with him in Hampshire. +Her whereabouts worried me. I could not forget that a woman had taken +part in our capture during the chalice case. While I was in Hampshire I +spent half a day in Gilbert White's village. His 'Natural History of +Selborne' has always delighted me. Selborne. If you were going to take a +false name, Wigan, and your godfathers had not called you Murray, only +James, what would you do? As likely as not you would take the name of +some place with which you were familiar. In itself the idea was not +convincing, but it brought me to your hotel at Folkestone, and then I was +certain. Do you remember the woman Squires spoke to on the night he led +us into that trap?" + +"It was too dark to see her face," I said. + +"I mean the way she stood," said Quarles, "with her arms akimbo; so did +the masked woman in the cellar, and when I saw Mrs. Selborne on the lawn +she did the same. The pose is peculiar. When a woman falls into this +attitude you will find she either rests her knuckles on her hips, or +grasps her waist with open hands, the thumbs behind the four finger in +front. This woman doesn't. She grasps her waist with the thumbs in front, +a man's way rather than a woman's. Her presence there suggested, another +hotel robbery; the yacht suggested a means of escape for the gang, +apparently gathering at the empty house. Since Mrs. Selborne had paid you +so much attention, I guessed she knew who you were, and thought you were +on duty, posing as an invalid. I thought it likely your presence would +prevent the robbery, but she took every precaution that you should go +with her to-day, storm or shine, eh, Wigan? We have had the glasses on +the yacht all day, and when the crew landed to-night we caught them. +Then we went to the house, Wigan. Got them all, and I believe the whole +of the six months' spoil." + +"Why didn't you put me on my guard?" I asked. + +"Well, Wigan, I think you would have scouted the idea. You were +fascinated, you know. In any case, you could not have helped watching her +for confirmation or to prove me wrong; she would have noted the change in +you, grown suspicious, and might have ruined everything at the eleventh +hour. Unless I am much mistaken we shall discover that the woman was the +brains of the gang." + +So it proved when the trial came on, and in another direction Quarles +was correct. + +Squires was Mason's son. The lad had cut himself loose from his old +companions, and had only meant to warn his father. He knew where he was +likely to find him, but meeting the man and woman unexpectedly, he was +frightened into trapping us. + +There can be little doubt that it was intended to cast away the yacht +as Mrs. Selborne had explained to me, and to drown those who were not +meant to share in the spoil, but who knew too much to be allowed to go +free. I should certainly have been amongst the missing, and young +Squires, too, probably. + +I shall always remember this case because--no, Zena and I did not quarrel +exactly, but she was very much annoyed about Mrs. Selborne. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SOLUTION OF THE GRANGE PARK MYSTERY + + +I really had some difficulty in convincing Zena that I had not fallen +in love with Mrs. Selborne, and Quarles seemed to think it humorous to +also express doubt on the subject. The professor is unconsciously +humorous on occasion, but when he tries to be funny he only succeeds in +being pathetic. + +I got so tired of his humor one evening that I left Chelsea much earlier +than usual, telling Zena that I should not come again until I heard from +her that she was ready to go and choose furniture, I heard next day. + +We were to be married in two months' time and had taken a house near +Grange Park, and I have always thought it curious that my first +introduction to the neighborhood, so to speak, should be as a detective, +and not in the role of a newly married man. + +It happened in this way. + +Just before two o'clock one morning Constable Poulton turned into Rose +Avenue, Grange Park. He was passing Clarence Lodge, the residence of Mrs. +Crosland, when the front door opened suddenly and a girl came running +down the drive, calling to him. + +"The burglars," she said, "and I am afraid my brother hay shot one of +them." + +He certainly had. Poulton found the man lying crumpled up at the bottom +of the stairs. He blew his whistle to summon another officer, and after +searching the house they communicated with headquarters. + +Grange Park, as many of you may know, is an estate which was developed +some years ago in the Northwest of London, on land belonging to the +Chisholm family. It got into the hands of a responsible firm of +builders, and artistic, well-built houses were erected which attracted +people of considerable means. It wasn't possible to live in Grange Park +on a small income. + +A few months ago the sedate tranquillity of the neighborhood had been +broken by an astonishing series of burglaries, which had occurred in +rapid succession. Half a dozen houses were entered; valuables, chiefly +jewelry, worth many thousands of pounds, had been taken, and not a single +arrest, even on suspicion, had been made. The known gangs had been +carefully shadowed without results, and not a trace of the stolen +property had been discovered. The thieves had evidently known where to go +for their spoil, not only the right houses but the exact spot where the +spoil was kept. There had been no bungling; indeed, in some cases, it was +doubtful how an entrance had been effected. Not in a single instance had +the inmates been aroused or alarmed, no thief had been seen or heard upon +the premises, nor had the police noticed any suspicious looking persons +about the estate. + +The investigation of these robberies was finally entrusted to me, and I +suppose the empty room in Chelsea had never been used more often and with +less result than over the Grange Park burglaries. It was not only one +chance we had had of getting at the truth, for half a dozen houses had +been broken into; and it was not the lack of clues which bothered us so +much as the number of them. The thieves seemed to have scattered clues +in every direction, yet not one of them led to any definite result. + +Like the rest of us, Christopher Quarles had his weaknesses. Whenever he +failed to elucidate a mystery he was always able to show that the fault +was not his, but somebody else's; either too long a time had elapsed +before he was consulted, or some meddlesome fool had touched things and +confused the evidence, or even that something supernatural had been at +work. Once, at least, according to the professor, I had played the part +of meddlesome fool, and one of my weaknesses being a short temper, it +had required all Zena's tact to keep us from quarreling on that +occasion. It came almost as a shock, therefore, when, after a long +discussion one evening, he suddenly jumped up and exclaimed: "I'm +beaten, Wigan, utterly beaten," and did not proceed to lay the +responsibility for his failure on any one. + +Upon the receipt of Constable Poulton's message, I was sent for at once, +and it was still early morning when I roused Quarles and we went to +Grange Park. I do not think I have ever seen the professor so excited. + +Mrs. Crosland had a son and daughter and a nephew living with her. It was +the daughter who had run down the drive and called Poulton. There were +four servants, a butler and two women in the house and a chauffeur who +lived over the garage. There was besides a nurse, for Mrs. Crosland was +an invalid, often confined to her bed and even at her best only able to +get about with difficulty. She suffered from some acute form of +rheumatism and was tied to her bed at this time. + +The son's version of the tragedy was simple and straightforward. Hearing +a noise, he had taken his revolver--always kept handy since the +burglaries--and had reached the top of the stairs when his sister Helen +came out of her room. She had also heard some one moving. They went down +together to the landing at the angle of the staircase. He did not see any +one in the hall, nor was there any sound just then. He called out "Who's +there?" The answer was a bullet, which struck the wall behind them. Then +Crosland fired down into the hall, but at random. He saw no one, but as a +fact he shot the man through the head. + +"Do you think the man was alone?" I asked. + +"In the hall, yes; but I feel convinced there was some one else in the +house who escaped," Crosland answered. "My sister and I had not moved +from the landing when Hollis, the butler, and one of the women servants +came hastily from their rooms. Then I went down and switched on the +light. The man was lying just as the constable found him. I never saw him +move. When my sister realized he was dead she became excited, and before +I knew what she was doing, she had opened the front door and run down the +drive. The constable happened to be passing the gate at the moment." + +"What time elapsed between the firing of the shots and the entrance of +the constable?" I asked. + +"A few minutes; I cannot be exact. It took me some little time to realize +that I had actually killed the man, and I don't think Helen fully +understood the extent of the tragedy until I said, 'Good God, I've killed +him,' or something of that kind. I was suddenly aware of my awkward +position in the matter." + +"He had fired at you," I said. + +"I think I forgot that for the moment," Crosland answered. "As a matter +of fact we had a marvelous escape. You will see where the bullet struck +the wall of the landing. It must have passed between us." + +"Did your mother hear the shots?" + +"They roused her out of a deep sleep, but she did not realize they were +shots. The nurse came onto the landing whilst we were in the hall. I told +her to say that something had fallen down. My mother is of an extremely +nervous temperament, and I am glad she cannot leave her bed just now." + +Helen Crosland had nothing to add to her brother's narrative. When +she rushed out of the house her idea was to call the police as +quickly as possible, not so much because of the burglars, but on her +brother's account. She had the horrible thought of her brother being +accused of murder. + +Quarles asked no questions. He was interested in the bullet mark on the +landing wall, and very interested in the dead man. A doctor had seen him +before our arrival, and the body had been removed to a small room off the +hall. Quarles examined the head very closely, also the hands; and +casually looked at the revolver, one chamber of which had been +discharged. + +"A swell mobsman, Wigan, not accustomed to work entirely on his own, I +should imagine. As Mr. Crosland says, there may have been others in the +house who escaped." + +"We may get some information from the servants presently," I answered. + +"I doubt it. In all these burglaries, Wigan, we have considered the +possibility of the servants being implicated, and in no case has it led +us anywhere. More than once there have been clues which pointed to such a +conclusion, merely clever ruses on the thieves' part. No, our clue is the +dead man." + +Quarles questioned Constable Poulton closely. The constable had not heard +the shots. About half an hour earlier in the evening he had passed +Clarence Lodge. There was no light in the house then. Just before one +o'clock he had met Mr. Smithers who lived in the next house to Clarence +Lodge; he was coming from the direction of the station and said good +night. Since then he had seen no one upon his beat. Poulton described the +position of the dead man graphically and minutely. He had no doubt he had +been shot a few minutes before he saw him. + +"I searched the house with Griffiths, the officer who came when I blew my +whistle; we saw no sign of the others." + +"How did they get in?" I asked. + +"A window in the passage there was open," said Poulton. "That's the only +way they could have come unless they fastened some window or door again +when they had entered." + +I examined this window carefully. There was no sign that any one had +entered this way, no mark upon the catch. Outside the window was a flower +bed, and I pointed out to Quarles that if any one had left the house in a +hurry, as they would do at the sound of firearms, they would inevitably +have left marks upon the flower bed. + +Quarles had nothing to say against my argument. + +"I don't believe either exit or entrance was made by this window," +I declared. + +"Have you still got servants in your mind, Wigan?" + +"I have, to tell the truth I always have had." + +"The body is our best clue, Wigan. If we can identify that we shall be +nearing the end." And then Quarles turned to Poulton. "Isn't there a +nephew in the house? We haven't seen him." + +"I'm told he is abroad, sir," the constable answered. + +"Do you happen to know him?" + +"Quite well by sight, sir." + +Quarles nodded, but the nephew was evidently not disposed of to his +Satisfaction. + +I interviewed the servants closely, including the chauffeur who had heard +nothing of the affair until aroused by the police. Hollis was certain +that all the doors and windows were securely fastened. Quarles rather +annoyed me by suggesting that the thieves might have entered by an +upstairs window or even by the front door. + +"If you look at the upstairs windows I think you will find that +impossible," said Hollis. + +"We will look, and also at the front door." + +The professor made a pretense of examining the front door rather +carefully. + +"You're sure this was locked and bolted last night?" + +"Quite, sir." + +"It looks substantial and innocent." + +The only window which interested Quarles upstairs was that of a small +room in the front of the house overlooking the drive, but, as the butler +pointed out, no one could have got in there without a ladder. + +"No, no, I suppose not," and Quarles did not say another word until we +saw Mr. Crosland again. Then he immediately inquired about the nephew. + +"George is in Paris, at least he was three days ago," and Crosland +produced a picture postcard sent to his mother. "We are expecting him +back at the end of the week." + +"I suppose, Mr. Crosland, you have no suspicions regarding this affair?" + +"I don't quite understand what you mean." + +"Let me put it in another way," said the professor, "and please do not +think that I am suggesting you fired too hastily. Immediately you heard +the noise, you remembered the burglars who have caused a sensation in +Grange Park recently. It was quite natural, but it seems to me rather +strange that so astute a gang should commence operations in the same +neighborhood again. For the sake of argument, let us suppose this gang +had nothing to do with the affair. Now can you think of any one who might +have something to gain by breaking into Clarence Lodge?" + +"No, I cannot; and yet--" + +"Well," said Quarles. + +"I can think of no one; I recall no family skeleton, but there is one +curious fact. This gang seemed to know exactly where to go for their +spoil--jewels mostly, and there is nothing of that kind worth taking at +Clarence Lodge." + +"That goes to support my argument, doesn't it?" + +"It does." + +"That is the reason I asked particularly about your cousin." + +"George Radley is like a brother," laughed Crosland, "our interests are +identical." + +"Oh, it was only a point that occurred to me as an outsider," Quarles +returned. "We can leave him out of the argument and yet not be convinced +there is no family skeleton. You might perhaps question your mother +without explaining the reason, although I suppose she will have to know +about this affair presently." + +"I hope not." + +"Acute rheumatism, isn't it? I wonder if she has ever heard of a quack +who made a new man of me. What was his name now?" + +"Was it Bush?" Crosland asked. + +"No, but it was a commonplace name." + +"As a matter of fact a man named Bush has been to see my mother. I dare +not tell Dr. Heathcote; at one time I fancy Bush did her good, or she got +better naturally, but she believes in him. He hasn't been for some time +now, but she was speaking of him the other day." + +"I'll look up my man's card and send it on to you," said Quarles. "You +get Mrs. Crosland to see him, never mind Dr. Heathcote." + +"I didn't know you had suffered from rheumatism," I said to Quarles as we +left the house. + +"Didn't you! Have it now sometimes. Well, Wigan, what do you make of this +affair? Do you think the burglars are responsible?" + +"I want time to think." + +"We'll just call in and see Dr. Heathcote," said Quarles. + +The doctor was a young man rather overburdened with his own importance. +He was inclined to think that Crosland had done Grange Park a service by +shooting one of the burglar gang. + +"I only hope the authorities won't get sentimental and make it needlessly +unpleasant for him." + +"I shouldn't think so," I returned. "I may take it, doctor, that the man +had been dead only a short time when you saw him?" + +"Quite. Death must have been practically instantaneous." + +"Oh, there is no doubt about Crosland's narrative, it is quite +straightforward," said Quarles, "but I shouldn't be surprised if he found +the inquiry awkward. I think his mother ought to know the truth." + +"Why not?" asked Heathcote. + +"He seems to think it would be bad for her in her state of health." + +"I'll talk to him," said the doctor. "The old lady is not so bad as he +supposes. To tell you the truth I think the nurse is rather a fool and +frightens her. I tried to get them to change her, but she seems to be a +sort of relation." + +"That's the worst of relations, they're so constantly in the way," +said Quarles. + +We left the doctor not much wiser than when we went, it seemed to me, but +Quarles appeared to find considerable food for reflection. He was silent +until we were in the train. + +"Wigan, you must see that a watch is kept upon Clarence Lodge day and +night. Have half a dozen men drafted into the neighborhood. You want to +know who goes to the house, and any one leaving it must be followed. +Poulton's a good man, I should keep him there, and let him be inquisitive +about callers. Then telegraph at once to the Paris police. Ask if George +Radley is still at the Vendome Hotel. If he is tell them to keep an eye +on him. Now, here's my card. Take it to Schuster, 12 Grant Street, +Pimlico, and ask him if he knows anything of a man named Bush, a quack +specialist in rheumatism. Find out all you can about Bush. To-morrow +morning you must go to Grange Park again, and see young Crosland. He may +complain about the watch which is being kept over the house. If he does, +spin him the official jargon about information received, etc., intimate +your fear that the gang may attempt reprisals, and tell him you are bound +to take precautions. After that come on to Chelsea. We ought to be able +to arrive at some decision then. Oh, and one other thing, you might see +if you have any one resembling the dead man in your criminal portrait +gallery at the Yard." + +"A fairly full day's work," I said with a smile. + +"I am going to be busy, too, with a theory I have got. To-morrow we will +see if your facts fit in with it." + +To avoid repetition I shall come to the results of my inquiries as I +related them to Quarles next day. I got back from Grange Park soon after +two o'clock, had a couple of sandwiches and a glass of wine in the Euston +Road, and then took a taxi to Chelsea. Zena and the professor were +already in the private room, Zena doing nothing. Quarles engaged in some +proposition of Euclid, apparently. On the writing table were a revolver +and some cartridges. + +"I have told Zena the whole affair as far as we know it," said Quarles, +putting his papers on the table, "and she asks me a foolish question, +Wigan. 'Why didn't the butler run for the police instead of Miss +Crosland?' Have you got any information which will help to answer it?" + +"It doesn't seem to me very strange that she went," I returned. "I have +been busy, but there is not very much to tell. I have got the house +watched as you suggested. The Paris police telegraph that an Englishman +named George Radley is at the Hotel Vendome, a harmless tourist +apparently, going about Paris seeing the sights. Schuster was able to +give me Bush's address, and I called upon him, but did not see him. He +had gone to a case in Yorkshire, but may be back any time. He lives in +Hampstead, in quite a pleasant flat overlooking the Heath." + +"Is he married?" + +"No, he has a housekeeper, rather a deaf old lady who speaks of him as +the doctor." + +"You didn't chance to see a portrait of him?" + +"No, there were no photographs about of any kind. His hobby seems to be +old prints, of which he has some good specimens. I should say his +temperament is artistic." + +"That is an interesting conclusion," said the professor. "You didn't get +any idea of his age?" + +"No. This morning I went to Clarence Lodge and find you are by no means +liked there." + +"Indeed." + +"An old gentleman called there yesterday afternoon saying you had asked +him to go and see Mrs. Crosland about her rheumatism--a Mr. Morrison." + +"The silly old ass!" exclaimed the professor. "He is the man I told +Crosland of, the man who cured rheumatism so marvelously. I suppose +Morrison misread my letter and went at once instead of waiting to be +sent for." + +"Crosland appears to have given him a piece of his mind," I laughed, "and +called you a meddlesome fool." + +"Poor old Morrison, but it serves him right." + +"He managed to see Mrs. Crosland," I said. "When the old lady heard he +was there she would see him. As the son was anxious his mother +shouldn't know of the tragedy, it was arranged that she should be told +that Morrison's visit was the outcome of a casual remark Crosland had +dropped to a friend concerning Mrs. Crosland's suffering. The old lady +appears to have put the old man through his paces, but ended by being +convinced that Morrison knew what he was talking about. He has been +asked to call again." + +"Then I appear to have done the old lady a good turn after all," said +Quarles. "Did you see Mrs. Crosland, Wigan?" + +"No. The butler opened the door, and I only saw young Crosland besides. I +explained to him the necessity of having the house watched, and I think +he believes I am afraid he will attempt to run away. He is a little +nervous about his position in the affair. I reassured him." + +"It's a pity you didn't manage to see the old lady. Don't you think it +would be interesting to know what she is like?" + +"I can't say I am very interested on that point." + +"Well, we can ask old Morrison," said Quarles. "I daresay his quackery +has made him a close observer. You don't succeed as a quack unless you +have a keen appreciation of the foibles and weaknesses of human nature." + +"You have my facts, Professor; now, have you progressed with your theory; +has revolver practise had something to do with it?" + +And I pointed to the writing table. + +"Let's go back to the Grange Park burglaries for a moment," Quarles began +slowly. "We have investigated them under the impression that they were +the work of a gang, but it is possible they were worked by one man. The +gang may have attacked Clarence Lodge, Crosland's chance though excellent +marksmanship accounting for one of the members while the rest escaped; +but on the whole the evidence seems to suggest that this man was alone, +and we might conclude that the burglaries were the work of one man." + +"I shall never believe that," I said. + +"Still, you cannot disprove it by direct evidence. You may show it to be +unlikely, but you cannot prove it impossible. Indirectly we can go a +little further. There were several features about these burglaries to +make them remarkable. The right house was chosen, the thieves were never +heard or seen, there were always plenty of misleading clues left about, +there was no bungling, In the case of Clarence Lodge the wrong house was +chosen--Crosland himself told us that it contained no jewelry or +particular valuables. The thieves, or rather thief, was heard, the sound +must have been considerable to arouse both Crosland and his sister; the +thief makes no attempt to conceal himself and fires the moment he is +spoken to; in short, there was a considerable amount of bungling, quite +unlike the experts we have been thinking of. We are safe, therefore, I +fancy, in considering that the Clarence Lodge affair is not to be +reckoned as one of the Grange Park burglaries." + +I shook my head doubtfully. + +"Since experts may at times make mistakes, I grant that my negative +evidence is not as convincing as it might be," said Quarles, "but I want +the point conceded. I want, as it were, a base line upon which to build +my theoretical plan. I want to forget the burglaries, in fact, and come +to the Clarence Lodge case by itself. So we have a dead man and we first +ask who shot him. Crosland says he did, and tells us the circumstances, +his sister confirms his statement, and the butler, the woman servant and +the nurse, who are quickly upon the stage in this tragedy, see no reason +to disbelieve the statement. We burrow a little deeper into the evidence, +and we discover one or two interesting facts. The man was shot on the +left side of the head, a clean wound above the left ear. Crosland says he +fired after he had been fired at, so the man, directly he had fired, must +deliberately have turned his head to the right, which at least is +remarkable. Further, to hit the wall of the landing in the place he did +the man must have stood in the very center of the stairs to fire. His +body was found some feet away from this central position, and a bullet so +fired and striking where it did could not have missed two people +standing on that landing. I have made a rough plan here," and Quarles +took up the papers from the table, "giving the position of the dead man, +the position of the walls and stairs. The lines show where the bullet +would have hit if fired from a spot nearer where the dead man was found." + +I examined his diagram closely. + +"A man shot through the brain might fall several feet away from where he +was standing," I said. + +"Yes, behind where he was standing, or perhaps forward, but hardly to one +side. However, we burrow again, and we try and answer Zena's question why +it was Helen Crosland who ran for the police. Why not? we may ask. Her +close association with her brother in the affair, her anxiety on his +account, make it natural that she should dash out not only for help but +to make it certain that they had nothing to hide. Her words to Poulton, +'The burglars, and I am afraid my brother has shot one of them,' are +significant. They tell the whole story in a nutshell. Crosland's +statement merely elaborates it, over-elaborates it, in fact. The bolts on +the front door, Wigan, were very stiff; I tried them. Helen Crosland +would certainly have had difficulty in drawing them back, and it is an +absurdity for her brother to declare that she had gone before he knew +what she was doing." + +I had no comment to make, and Zena leaned forward in her chair, +evidently excited. + +"It is a point to remember that she ran out exactly at the moment Poulton +was passing, which may have been chance, of course, but from that room +over the hall one can see down the drive and, by the light of a street +lamp, some way down the road. Had any one watched there he could have +prompted the girl when to start." + +"You seem to be overloading the theory too much," I said, "and I do not +see many real facts yet." + +"I am coming to some facts presently," said Quarles. "I am showing you my +working. Now, having done away with the gang of burglars, we ask how did +the man get into the house. Your argument that no one could have escaped +through that window in the passage was sound, I think, Wigan, and +considering the immaculate condition of the latch and the lack of signs +on the sill and the flower bed, I doubt if any one got in that way, +either. On the whole, I am inclined to think he came through the front +door, which was opened for him by Hollis the butler or by one of the +servants." + +"Still no facts," I said. + +"Still theory," admitted Quarles. "By my theory it follows that the dead +man was known to the Croslands. We will assume that in some family +quarrel he was killed that night. The death--the murder--had to be +concealed, so they pitched on the idea of the burglars, put the body in +the hall, fired a shot into the landing wall, and threw open the passage +window. It was smartly conceived, but, of course, took some little time, +which had to be accounted for. Crosland could only say that he could not +tell how long a time elapsed between the firing and the arrival of +Poulton. Everything had to be thought of before Helen Crosland rushed out +for the police." + +"You assume that the whole household was in the conspiracy?" I asked. + +"Yes, and that they are exceedingly clever. What do you think of +the theory?" + +"As a theory rather interesting, but I am still waiting for a fact or +two." + +"Here's one," said Quarles, taking up the revolver. "This is Crosland's; +I purloined it. It is a very good weapon by a small maker. Curiously +enough the thief's weapon was exactly like it." + +"That may be a coincidence," said Zena. + +"It may be, but I prefer to think it a significant fact," the professor +returned; "but we'll go back to the theory again for the moment. I was +very interested in Crosland and his sister, they were not exceedingly +unlike each other. There was no portrait of Mrs. Crosland about, so I +could not tell which of them took after the mother. Had you told me that +Helen Crosland was the butler's daughter I should have believed you. Did +you notice the likeness, Wigan?" + +"No," I said with a smile. It seemed to me that the theory had got +altogether out of hand. + +"Well, it made me curious about the nephew," Quarles went on. "I wondered +whether the dead man was the nephew and so I asked Crosland about a +family skeleton, showed him that I had no belief in the burglar theory, +and he quickly responded by saying there was nothing in the house worth +stealing. I helped him out of a difficulty, and it was easy to talk about +his mother and her rheumatism. So we got to the specialist Bush. You see +the chief point was to find out the identity of the dead man. Now we get +to two facts. He isn't the nephew who is still in Paris, and Bush is +supposed to be in Yorkshire." + +"Do you mean--" + +"I am still theorizing," said Quarles. "There are no portraits at +Clarence Lodge; you noticed a lack of portraits in Bush's flat, and you +conclude by external evidence that his temperament is artistic. The dead +man's hands were curiously capable and artistic. It struck me the moment +I looked at them." + +"I am not convinced, Professor." + +"Nor was I," said Quarles, "so I mentioned the rheumatic specialist who +had cured me." + +"You, grandfather!" Zena exclaimed. + +"Ah, you have evidently forgotten how I used to suffer," was the smiling +answer. "I allowed Morrison to make a mistake on purpose and go to +Clarence Lodge, his one idea to get an interview with Mrs. Crosland." + +"And you have seen him since?" I asked. + +"Came home with him from Grange Park," answered Quarles. "He was roundly +abused to begin with, but, as you were told, he saw Mrs. Crosland. It was +an interesting interview. The first thing that struck him was that the +old lady was totally unlike her children, a different type altogether. +She is a hard, masculine kind of woman, not at all of the nervous +temperament he had been led to expect; and he was convinced that she had +only consented to see him to make sure that he was no more than he had +proclaimed himself--a specialist in rheumatism. My friend Morrison came +to the conclusion that the nurse, as a nurse, was incompetent, and that +the room he entered would not have been the one constantly occupied by +the invalid. He was exceedingly interested in Mrs. Crosland, seeing in +her a woman of extraordinary force of character and intellectual +capacity, and he came to the conclusion that there was nothing whatever +the matter with her." + +"No rheumatism?" said Zena. + +"About as much as I suffer from," said Quarles. "In short, Morrison was +rather glad to get safely out of the house. He was certain that the old +lady had a revolver under her pillow, and would certainly have shot him +had she suspected that he was any one else but a specialist in +rheumatism." + +I was looking at Quarles as he turned to me. + +"What do you make of my theory now, Wigan?" + +"Were you Morrison?" I asked. + +"Of course, and it was a trying ordeal. Do you think we have enough facts +to go on?" + +"Not facts, exactly, but evidence," I admitted. + +"I think we shall find that the dead man is Bush," said the professor. +"Inquiry will probably show that he has a record for quackery and has +probably sailed fairly close to the wind at times. His connection with +the Crosland family was not professional, but had other aims, and his +profession was used merely as a reason for not having a doctor for Mrs. +Crosland, who found it convenient to pose as an invalid. A quarrel +resulted in Bush's being shot that night. I hazard a guess that it was +the old lady who shot him, and that it was her brain which conceived the +way out of the difficulty." + +"That is guessing with a vengeance," I said. + +"Yes, but not without some reason," Quarles went on. "Let's go back to +the Grange Park burglaries for a moment, and suppose that a gang of +expert thieves under the name of Crosland took Clarence Lodge. An invalid +mother, son and daughter so called, butler, servants--a most respectable +family apparently, in the midst of people worth plundering, able by +friendly intercourse to collect the necessary information and plan their +raids. Bush is the outside representative of the firm, so to speak, and +the nephew who travels abroad occasionally sees to the selling of the +spoil. It was the plot of a master mind--the old lady's, which has +entirely beaten us until they quarrel between themselves. Now what do +you think of my theory?" + +"It takes me back to Grange Park without unnecessary delay," I said, +getting up quickly. + +"I thought it would. You have got the men waiting for you there, and I +should raid the house forthwith. But caution, Wigan. I don't think they +have any suspicion of Morrison, but the moment they tumble to your +intentions they'll show fight, and probably put up a hot one. And don't +forget the nephew in Paris. Take him, too." + +The raid upon Clarence Lodge took place that evening, and was so managed +that the servants and the chauffeur were taken before Crosland and his +sister, who proved to be no relation as Quarles had surmised, were aware +of the fact. Faced with the inevitable they made no fight at all, but the +old lady was made of entirely different metal. She barricaded herself in +her room, and swore to shoot the first man who forced the door. She had +the satisfaction of wounding me slightly in the shoulder, and then before +we could stop her she had turned the weapon upon herself and shot herself +through the head. + +The nephew was taken in Paris, and with the rest of the gang was sent to +penal servitude. The evidence at the trial proved Quarles's theory to be +very much as the tragedy had happened. The dead man was Bush, and it was +his threat to give the burglaries away unless he had a larger share of +the spoil than had been assigned to him which made the old lady shoot him +in an ungovernable fit of rage. + +"A master mind, Wigan," Quarles remarked, "and it is just as well +not to have her as a neighbor. Your wound is not likely to put off +your wedding?" + +"No." + +"A little better aim and she would have put it off altogether." + +"Don't be so horrible," said Zena. + +"A fact, my dear. Murray has been very keen about getting: hold of facts +in this case, so I mention one. The Grange Park burglaries beat me +because there was no clue to build on, but with a dead body--well, it +really wasn't very difficult, was it?" + +"Quite easy," I answered as if I really meant it, and then turned to +discuss carpets with Zena. + +It was not always wise to let the old man know you thought him clever. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Master Detective, by Percy James Brebner + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASTER DETECTIVE *** + +This file should be named 7msdt10.txt or 7msdt10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7msdt11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7msdt10a.txt + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Master Detective + Being Some Further Investigations of Christopher Quarles + +Author: Percy James Brebner + +Release Date: January, 2006 [EBook #9796] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 17, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASTER DETECTIVE *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + THE MASTER DETECTIVE + + _Being Some Further Investigations of Christopher Quarles_ + + + + BY PERCY JAMES BREBNER + + AUTHOR OF "CHRISTOPHER QUARLES." + + 1916 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE STRANGE CASE OF SIR GRENVILLE RUSHOLM + II. THE KIDNAPING OF EVA WILKINSON + III. THE DELVERTON AFFAIR + IV. THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE IN MANLEIGH ROAD + V. THE DIFFICULTY OF BROTHER PYTHAGORAS + VI. THE TRAGEDY IN DUKE'S MANSIONS + VII. THE STOLEN AEROPLANE MODEL + VIII. THE AFFAIR OF THE CONTESSA'S PEARLS + IX. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MADAME VATROTSKI + X. THE MYSTERY OF THE MAN AT WARBURTON'S + XI. THE STRANGE CASE OF DANIEL HARDIMAN + XII. THE CRIME IN THE YELLOW TAXI + XIII. THE AFFAIR OF THE JEWELED CHALICE + XIV. THE ADVENTURE OF THE FORTY-TON YAWL + XV. THE SOLUTION OF THE GRANGE PARK MYSTERY + + + + +THE MASTER DETECTIVE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE STRANGE CASE OF SIR GRENVILLE RUSHOLM + + +Sir Grenville Rusholm, Baronet, was dead. The blinds were down at the +Lodge, Queen's Square. For the last few days lengthy obituary notices had +appeared in all the papers, innumerable wreaths and crosses had arrived +at the house, and letters of sympathy and condolence had poured in upon +Lady Rusholm. The dead man had filled a considerable space in the social +world, although politically he had counted for little. Politics were not +his metier, he had said. He had consistently refused to stand for +parliament, his wealth had supported neither party, and perhaps his +social success was due more to his wife's charm than to his own +importance. + +To-day the funeral was to take place. By his own desire his body was not +being taken to Moorlands, the family seat in Gloucestershire, but was to +be buried at Woking. The family chapel did not appeal to him. Indeed, he +had never spent much of his time at Moorlands, preferring his yacht or +the Continent when he was not at Queen's Square. + +Last night the coffin had been brought downstairs and placed in the large +drawing-room, the scene of many a brilliant function, although by day it +was a somewhat dreary apartment. The presence of the coffin there added +to the depression, and the scent of the flowers was almost overpowering. + +Many of the mourners were going direct to Woking, but there was a large +number of guests at the house who were received by the young baronet. +Naturally, Sir Arthur was of a sunny disposition, and his personality and +expectations had made him a favorite in society since he had left +Cambridge a year ago. To-day his face was more than grave. It was drawn +as if he were in physical pain, and it was evident how keenly he felt his +father's death. Lady Rusholm did not appear until the undertakers entered +the house. She came down the wide stairs, a pathetic figure in her deep +mourning, heavier than present-day fashion has made customary. She spoke +to no one, but went straight to the drawing-room and, standing just +inside the doorway, watched the men whose business is with death, as if +she feared some indignity might be offered to her dear one. In a few +moments her husband must pass out of that room for ever, and it was +hardly wonderful if she visualized for an instant the many occasions on +which he had been a central figure there. + +The bearers stooped to lift the coffin from the trestles on to their +shoulders, then they straightened themselves under their burden, but they +did not move, at least only to start slightly, while their faces changed +from gravity to horror. Lady Rusholm uttered a short cry, and there was +consternation in the faces of the guests in the hall. There could be no +mistake; the sound, though dull and muffled, was too loud for that. It +was a knock from inside the coffin. + +The man in charge whispered to the bearers. No, none of them had +inadvertently caused the sound. The coffin was replaced on the trestles, +and for a moment there was silence. No one moved; every one was waiting +for that knock again. It did not come. + +The chief man stood looking at the coffin, then at the carpet, and, after +some hesitation, he crossed the room to Sir Arthur, who stood in the +doorway beside his mother. + +"Was--was anything put into the coffin?" he whispered. "Something which +Sir Grenville wished buried with him, something which may have slipped?" + +"No." + +"I think--I think the coffin should be opened," whispered Dr. Coles, the +family physician. + +"But he is dead! You know he is dead, doctor!" + +"A trance--sometimes a mistake may happen, Sir Arthur. It was a distinct +knock. The coffin should certainly be opened." + +"And quickly--quickly!" + +It was Lady Rusholm who spoke, in a strained and unnatural voice. + +Sir Arthur tried to persuade his mother to leave the room while this +was done, but she would not go. With a great effort she calmed herself +and remained with her son, the doctor, and two or three guests while +the coffin was unscrewed. The lid was lifted off, and for a moment no +one spoke. + +"Empty!" the doctor cried. + +As he spoke Lady Rusholm swayed backwards, and would have fallen had not +her son caught her. + +There were two masses of lead in the coffin. There was no body. + +Sir Arthur Rusholm immediately communicated with Scotland Yard, and the +utter confusion which followed this gruesome discovery had only partially +subsided when I, Murray Wigan, entered the house to enquire into a +mystery which was certainly amongst the most remarkable I have ever had +to investigate. + +Some of those invited to the funeral had left the house before I +arrived, but the more personal friends were still there, and the story +as I have set it down was corroborated by different people with a wealth +of detail which seemed to leave nothing unsaid. Besides interviewing Sir +Arthur and the doctor, I saw Lady Rusholm for a few moments. She was +exceedingly agitated, as was natural, and I only asked her one or two +questions of a quite unimportant nature, but I was glad to see her. I +like to get into personal touch with the various people connected with +my cases as soon as possible. + +I was in the house two hours or more, questioning servants, examining +doors and windows, and, to be candid, my investigations told me little. +When I left Queen's Square I knew I had a complex affair to deal with, +and it was natural my thoughts should fly to the one man who might help +me. If I could only interest Christopher Quarles in the case! + +I remember speaking casually of a well-known person once and being met +with the question: Who is he? It may be that some of you have never heard +of Christopher Quarles, professor of philosophy, and one of the most +astute crime investigators of this or any other time. It has been my +privilege to chronicle some of our adventures together, and his help has +been of infinite benefit to me. Without it, not only should I have failed +to elucidate some of those mysteries the solving of which have made me a +power in the detective force, but I should never have seen his +granddaughter, Zena, who is shortly to become my wife. + +For some months past the professor had given me no assistance at all. +He would not be interested in my cases, and would not enter the empty +room in his house in Chelsea where we had had so many discussions. It +was a fad of his that he could think more clearly in this room, which +had only three chairs and an old writing table in it, yet perhaps I +ought not to call it a fad, remembering the results of some of our +consultations there. + +Months ago we had investigated a curious case in which jewels had been +concealed in a wooden leg. The solution had brought us a considerable +reward, and upon receiving the money Quarles had declared he would +investigate no more crimes. He had kept his word, had locked up the empty +room, and although I think I had sorely tempted him to break his vow on +more than one occasion, I had never quite succeeded. + +As I got into a taxi I considered how very seldom it is that the ruling +passion ever dies. The Queen's Square mystery ought to shake Quarles's +resolution if anything could. + +Zena was out when I got to Chelsea, but the professor seemed pleased +to see me. + +"Are you out of work, Wigan?" he asked, looking at the clock. + +I did not want him to think I had come with any deliberate intention, so +I answered casually: + +"No. As a fact I am rather busy. I came out to Chelsea to think. Chelsea +air is rather good for thinking, you know." + +"It used to be," he answered. "I'm glad I have given up criminal +hunting, Wigan." + +"I still find excitement in it," I answered carelessly, "and really I +think criminals have grown cleverer since your time." + +He looked at me sharply. I thought the remark would pique his curiosity. + +"That means you have had some failures lately." + +"On the contrary, I have been remarkably successful." + +"Glad to hear it," he returned. "What makes you say criminals are more +clever then?" + +"The Queen's Square Mystery." + +"I don't read the papers as carefully as I did," he remarked. + +"It only happened this morning," I answered. "I daresay you noticed that +Sir Grenville Rusholm died the other day. Some one has stolen his body, +that is all." + +"Stolen his--" + +"Yes, it is rather a curious case, but we won't talk about it. I know +that sort of thing doesn't interest you now." + +I talked of other things--anything and everything--but I noted that he +was restless and uninterested. + +"What did Sir Grenville die of?" he asked suddenly. + +"A sudden and most unexpected collapse after influenza." + +"And the body has been stolen?" + +"Yes." + +"I should like to hear about it, Wigan." + +I hesitated until he began to get angry, and then I told him the story as +I have told it here. I had just finished when Zena came in. + +"You, Murray! What has brought you here at this hour of the day?" she +asked in astonishment. + +"Two pieces of lead," murmured Quarles. + +"A case! Have you got interested in a case, dear? I am glad. What is the +mystery, Murray?" + +"Where is the key of my room, Zena?" Quarles asked. + +She took it from the drawer in a cabinet. + +"I am not going to begin again," said the professor, "but this--this +is an exception. Come with us, Zena. Come and ask some of your absurd +questions. I wonder whether my brain is atrophied. There are cleverer +criminals than there used to be in my time, are there, Wigan? We +shall see." + +He led the way to the empty room at the back of the house, muttering to +himself the while, and Zena and I smiled at each other behind his back as +we followed him. He was like an old dog on the trail again, and I did not +believe for a moment this case would be an exception. + +"Tell the story, Wigan," he said when we were seated. "All the details, +mind, great and small." + +So I went through the facts again. + +"I made a careful study of the house and garden," I went on. "The Lodge +is a corner house, the garden is small, and a garage with an opening into +the other road--Connaught Road--has been built there. A 'Napier' car was +in the garage." + +"Did you see the chauffeur?" asked Quarles. + +"Yes. The car had not been used for a week. I could find no trace of an +entry having been made from the garden, but the latch of one of the +French windows of the drawing-room was unfastened. When I saw it this +window could be pushed open from outside. No one seems to have undone it +that morning, so the fact is significant." + +Quarles nodded. + +"Besides the servants only five people slept in the house that +night--Lady Rusholm, her son, two elderly ladies--cousins of Sir +Grenville's who had come from Yorkshire for the funeral--and a Mr. +Thompson, a friend of the family who was staying in the house when Sir +Grenville died." + +"Who closed the windows after the body was taken to the drawing-room?" +asked Quarles. + +"One of the undertaker's men." + +"Is he positive he fastened them?" + +"He is, but under the circumstances he is not anxious to swear to it." + +"And the door of the room, had that been kept locked?" + +"Yes. The key was in Sir Arthur's possession." + +"Who first entered the room this morning?" + +"Sir Arthur when he took in two or three wreaths which arrived late last +night. The room was just as it had been left on the previous day. The +wreaths and crosses were not disarranged in any way." + +"And there were only two pieces of lead in the coffin when it was +opened?" queried Zena. + +"A large lump and a small one," I answered. + +"Couldn't they have been packed in such a way that they would not +have slipped?" + +"Of course they could. No doubt that was the intention, but the work was +badly done because the thieves did it hurriedly," I answered. + +"One of your foolish questions, Zena," said Quarles, looking keenly at +her. He always declared that her foolish inquiries put him on the +right road. + +"It is a good thing the lead did slip, or the gruesome theft might never +have been discovered," she said. + +"Was the coffin a very elaborate one?" Quarles asked, after nodding an +acquiescence to Zena's remark. + +"No, quite a plain one." + +"Has the drawing-room more than one door?" + +"Only one into the hall. There is a small room out of the +drawing-room--a small drawing-room in fact. Lady Rusholm does her +correspondence there. It can only be reached by going through the large +room, and the door between the rooms was locked. Sir Arthur got the key +from his mother and opened the door for me." + +"What could any one want with a dead body?" asked Zena. + +"If we could answer that question we should be nearing the end of the +affair," said Quarles. "Years ago there were two men--Burke and +Hare--who--" + +"Oh, the day of resurrectionists is past," I said. + +"Don't be so dogmatic," returned Quarles sharply. "A corpse has been +stolen; can you suggest any use a corpse can be put to if it is not to +serve some anatomical or medical purpose? Remember, Wigan, that mentally +and materially there is always a tendency to move in a circle. What has +been will be again--altered according to environment--but practically the +same. Always start with the assumption that a similar case has happened +before. Our difficulties would be much greater if Solomon had been wrong, +and there were constantly new things under the sun. Undoubtedly there are +some interesting points in this case. Have you arrived at a theory?" + +"No, at least only a very vague one. Sir Arthur seems certain that his +father had no enemies, and my theory would require an enemy; some one +who, having failed to injure him in life, had found an opportunity of +wreaking vengeance on the dead clay by preventing the body having +Christian burial." + +"That is a very interesting idea, Wigan; go on." + +"I daresay you remember that the Rusholm baronetcy caused some excitement +about twenty years ago. The papers have recalled it in connection with +Sir Grenville's death. Sir John Rusholm--the baronet at that time--was a +very old man, and during the two years before his death several relations +died. He had no son living, so the heir was a nephew, the son of a much +younger brother who had gone to Australia and died there. This nephew had +not been heard of for a long time, and as soon as he became the heir, Sir +John advertised for him in the Australian papers. There was no answer, +and the Yorkshire Rusholms, who are poor, expected to inherit. Then at +the very time when Sir John was on his death-bed news came of the nephew. +He had been in India for some years, had proposed there, had married and +had a son. There had been so many lives between him and the title that he +had thought nothing about it until a chance acquaintance had shown him +the advertisement in an old Australian paper. He wrote that he was +starting for England at once, but Sir John was dead when he arrived. That +is how Sir Grenville came into the property." + +"Was his claim disputed?" asked Zena. + +"Oh, no, there was no question about it. He had family papers which only +the nephew could possibly have, and you may depend the Yorkshire Rusholms +would have found a flaw in the title if they could. Their disappointment +must have been great, and if I could discover that Sir Grenville had an +enemy amongst them--some relation he had refused to help, for instance--I +should want to know all about him." + +"Yours is a very interesting idea," said Quarles. "Do you happen to know +who Lady Rusholm was?" + +"The daughter of a tea planter in Ceylon. Her social success here has +been very great, as you know." + +"A very charming woman I should say," said the professor. "I saw her +once--not many months ago. She was distributing the prizes at a technical +institute in North London. I remember how well she spoke, and what an +exceedingly poor second the chairman was in spite of his being a Member +of Parliament. You have got a constable at The Lodge, I suppose?" + +"Two. I have given instructions that no one is to be allowed in the room, +on any pretext whatever." + +"Good. You and I will go there to-morrow. I'll be your assistant, +Wigan--say an expert in finger prints. I'll meet you outside The Lodge at +ten o'clock. There are so many clues in this case, the difficulty is to +know which one to follow, I must have a few quiet hours to decide." + +I smiled. It was like Quarles to make such a statement, especially after +I had declared that criminals were becoming cleverer. Never were clues +more conspicuous by their absence, I imagine. I was, however, delighted +to have the professor's help. It was like old times. + +The next morning I met Quarles in Queen's Square, and his appearance was +proof of his enthusiasm. He posed as rather a feeble, inquisitive old man +who could talk of nothing but finger prints and their significance. Sir +Arthur was evidently not impressed with his ability to solve any mystery. +When we entered the drawing-room he seemed lost in admiration of the +apartment, and did not even glance at the open coffin which stood on the +trestles. He walked to the window, drew aside the blind, and looked into +the garden. Then he looked into the small room. + +"No other exit here but the window. An entrance might have been made by +that window." + +"The door between the two rooms was locked," said Sir Arthur. "I had to +get the key from my mother when Mr. Wigan wanted to go in. It is my +mother's special room, but she had been so occupied in nursing my father +that she had not used it for more than a week." + +Then Quarles looked at the wreaths, wanted to know which ones had been +left near the coffin when the room was locked for the night, and the +wreaths which Sir Arthur pointed out he examined carefully. Then he +pointed to a large cross lying on an armchair. + +"Has that one been there all the time?" + +Sir Arthur explained that two or three wreaths had come late in the +evening. He had himself brought them into the room on the morning of the +funeral. That cross was one of them. + +"Ah, it is a pity you didn't bring them in that night. You might have +surprised the villains at work." + +"We were in bed by eleven. Do you imagine they began before that?" + +"Possibly," said Quarles, as he turned his attention to the coffin. He +examined the lid with a lens, for the finger marks, he said, which one +might expect to find near the screw holes. Then he studied the sides of +the coffin. The two pieces of lead did not appear to interest him very +much, but he asked me to push the smaller piece from the foot of the +coffin. He examined the lining, felt the padding, tried its thickness +with the point of a penknife, and in doing so he slit the lining. + +"Sorry," he said. "My old hands are not as steady as they used to be. +Quite a thick padding, and quite a substantial coffin." + +He had brought out some of the padding with his knife, and this left part +of the floor of the coffin near the foot visible. This he tapped with the +handle of his penknife to test its thickness. + +"Quite an ordinary coffin--plain but good," he went on, looking at the +brass fittings. + +"It was my father's wish that it should be so," said Sir Arthur. + +"Strange what a lot of trouble some men take about their funerals, +while others never trouble at all," said the professor, looking round +the room again. "I suppose, Sir Arthur, like the rest of us your father +had enemies." + +"Not that I know of." + +"An old rival, for instance, in your mother's affections." + +"There was nothing of the kind. Mr. Thompson, who is still in the +house--you saw him yesterday, Mr. Wigan--will endorse this. He knew my +mother before her marriage." + +"Still, some people must have envied your father. But for him, another +branch of the family would have inherited the estates, I understand. Has +he always been on friendly terms with this branch of the family?" + +"Always, and has helped them considerably." + +"Experience teaches us that it is often the most difficult thing to +forgive those who do us favors," said Quarles sententiously. + +"Do you believe that some one out of wanton cruelty has stolen the body +with no purpose beyond mere revenge?" + +"It looks like it, Sir Arthur. The body will probably be discovered +presently. Possibly the thief will furnish you with a clue so that you +may know he or she has taken revenge. I am afraid there is nothing to be +done but to wait. I feel greatly for Lady Rusholm." + +"The waiting will be dreadful. I am trying to persuade my mother to go +away at once." + +"Why not? You will remain in London, of course. Your father's papers may +throw some light on the mystery." + +"I have interviewed lawyers, and I have already gone through some of his +private papers. I do not think any light will come that way. Do you want +to look at anything else in the house?" + +"I think not," I said. + +"My specialty is finger prints," said Quarles, "nothing else. In this +case my specialty has proved useless." When we left the house Quarles +turned toward Connaught Road. + +"Is it your real opinion that the only thing to do is to wait?" I asked. + +"Let's go and see if we can find any more finger prints," he chuckled. + +The garage was shut. Cut into the big gates was a small door. + +"Not a difficult lock," said Quarles. "I may have a key that will fit it. +We must get in somehow." + +"There is a door into the garage from the garden. We could have gone +that way." + +"And advertised ourselves to the servants. I wanted to avoid that." + +He found a key to open the door, and he made no pretense of looking for +finger prints now. He examined the car. It was a big one--open--with a +cape hood--capable of carrying five or six persons besides the driver. +He was interested in the seating accommodation, and the make of the car +generally. There was a window which had a shutter to it high up in the +garage looking into the side road, and a small window at the back +looking into the garden which had no shutter. Quarles got on a stool to +examine the frame of this window, and then inspected the cloths for +cleaning and the towels which were in the garage. + +"Come on. The interest of this place is soon exhausted," he said. + +In less than a quarter of an hour we were walking along Connaught +Road again. + +"By the way, what is Dr. Coles's address?" asked Quarles. + +I gave it to him. It was a turning off Connaught Road. + +"I shall go and see him, and then I have a call to make elsewhere. Come +to Chelsea to-night, Wigan. Take my word for it, criminals are no +cleverer than they used to be." + +When I went to Chelsea that evening I found the professor and Zena +waiting for me in the empty room. He was evidently impatient to talk. + +"My brain may possibly require oiling, Wigan, but Zena's questions are +just as absurd as they ever were," he began. "She wanted to know why the +lead had been packed so carelessly, and what use a dead body could be to +any one. No bad points of departure for an inquiry. Now, when the coffin +was opened after the knock had been heard, a little sawdust from the +screw holes fell on the carpet. It was there when we went into the room +this morning. We may reasonably argue that some sawdust must have fallen +when the coffin was opened during the night. But no one seems to have +noticed it." + +"It might easily have escaped casual notice even if the thieves neglected +to remove it, which is unlikely," I returned. + +"It would not be so easy to remove, for the carpet is a thick one, and +the thieves would be in a hurry, you know. Also there were wreaths about +and I could find no trace of sawdust in them. But further, the screw +holes show a clear, perfect thread which one would hardly expect if the +coffin had been opened and closed again. Small points, but they promote +speculation. Yesterday, before I met you in Queen's Square, I went to see +the undertakers, and the man who was in charge of the arrangements says +emphatically that there was no sign of the coffin having been opened. A +little sawdust was the first thing he looked for." + +"Are you trying to prove that the lead was already in the coffin when it +was taken to the drawing-room?" I asked. + +"No. I am only trying to show that it is doubtful whether the coffin was +opened in the drawing-room." + +"The change could not have been made in the bedroom, or the lead would +have slipped during the journey downstairs," I said. + +"I agree, and we are therefore forced to the assumption that the body was +actually carried to the drawing-room, yet we are doubtful whether the +coffin was opened there." + +"I have no doubt," I returned. + +"That is a mistake on your part, Wigan. Doubts are often the forerunners +of convictions. My doubt led me to a curious discovery. When I went to +the undertaker's I saw the men who actually made the coffin. It was a +very plain coffin, less expensive than might have been expected for a man +in Sir Grenville's position. Now one of the men, in answer to a careful +question or two, mentioned a curious fact. In the floor of the coffin, +close to the foot of it, there was a wart in the wood. This morning you +saw me slit the lining and remove some of the padding. There was no wart +in the floor of the coffin, Wigan." + +"You mean the coffins were changed?" said Zena. + +"I do. One with the body in it was removed, and another with lead in it +was placed on the trestles in its stead. The plainer the coffin the +easier it would be to duplicate it by description. The makers of the +second coffin would not have the original before them to copy, you must +remember." + +"But only Lady Rusholm and her son could possess the necessary knowledge +to give such a duplicate order," I said. + +"You forget Mr. Thompson. He was an intimate friend, and staying in the +house at the time." + +"I do not understand why the lead was not packed securely," said Zena. + +"It puzzles me," said Quarles. "I could only find one answer. It was such +an obvious blunder that it must have been intentional. The lumps of lead +endorsed this idea. Whilst the large piece was flat and difficult to +move, the small piece was like a ball and meant to roll and strike the +side the moment the coffin was moved. It was presumably necessary that +the theft should be discovered, and your ingenious idea of a revengeful +enemy appealed to me, Wigan. I elaborated the idea to Sir Arthur, you +will remember." + +I had nothing to say--no fault to find with his argument so far. Quarles +rather enjoyed my silence, I fancy. + +"Sir Arthur unconsciously gave me a great deal of information," he went +on. "First, it was curious that the wreaths which came that night should +be left in the hall. It would have been more natural to place them in +the drawing-room. Why were they not put there? It looked as if there were +a desire not to open the room again. Another wreath might have come later +when it would have been very inconvenient to open the door, and not to +have put the other wreath into the room might have caused comment in the +light of after events. Again, influenza is a fairly common complaint, and +Sir Grenville died of a sudden and unexpected collapse; yet Sir Arthur +said it was by his father's desire that the coffin was plain. A man +suffering from influenza does not expect to die, and it seemed strange to +me that he should arrange details of his funeral. By itself it is not a +very important point, since Sir Grenville's wishes may have been known +for a long time, but almost in the same breath, emphasis was laid on the +fact that Lady Rusholm had not used the small room out of the +drawing-room for more than a week. Why not? There was absolutely no +reason why she should not continue to do her correspondence there, since +her husband was not seriously ill and could not require constant nursing. +I think an excuse was wanted for locking up that room, and I believe you +will find that none of the servants have entered the room during this +period, and that the blind has been down all the time. I believe the +duplicate coffin was hidden there." + +"But how was the duplicate coffin got into the house?" asked Zena. + +"In much the same way as the real coffin was got out of it, I imagine. +You remember the arrangement of the motor, Wigan; its size and swivel +seats give ample room to put the coffin on the floor of the car. In the +dead of night the coffin was carried across the garden, placed in the car +and driven away. On some previous night the same car had driven away and +brought back the duplicate coffin." + +"The chauffeur said the car had not been out for a week," I said. + +"So far as he knew," Quarles returned. "It was cleaned afterwards. There +is a shutter to the window in Connaught Road, and over the window looking +into the garden one of the towels had been nailed, clumsily, and with +large nails which were still on a shelf. I found the towel with the nail +holes in it." + +"Where was the body taken?" asked Zena. + +"That I do not know." + +"And what was the use of it to any one?" + +"Ah, I think I can answer that," said Quarles. "I had an interesting talk +with Dr. Coles after I left you to-day, Wigan. He told me he was not +altogether surprised at Sir Grenville's sudden collapse. The attack of +influenza was comparatively slight, but when Mr. Thompson arrived +unexpectedly from India it was evident to the doctor that he had brought +bad news. Both Sir Grenville and his wife were worried. Coles says Sir +Grenville was a man of a nervous temperament, who would have been utterly +lost without his wife. The doctor believes the sudden worry occasioned +the collapse." + +"He had no suspicion of suicide, I suppose?" + +"As a matter of form I put the question to him. I even suggested the +possibility of foul play. He scouted both ideas, and enlarged upon the +affectionate relations which existed between husband and wife. He +imagined the trouble had something to do with financial affairs. To-day, +you will remember, Wigan, Sir Arthur spoke about his mother going away. +That is not quite in keeping with the rest of her actions. We have ample +testimony and proof that Lady Rusholm is courageous and resourceful. Dr. +Coles is greatly impressed with her character; her personality appealed +to me when I heard her speak at the technical institute. She would be +present when the undertakers were removing the body, which is not +customary. She remained while the coffin was opened, and although she +apparently fainted--it was her son who caught her, remember--she saw you +soon afterwards. It seems to me two questions naturally ask themselves. +What was the ill news Mr. Thompson brought from India? Was Lady Rusholm +prepared for that knock from the coffin?" + +"We are becoming speculative, indeed," I said. + +"Are we? Consider for a moment the amount of evidence we have that the +theft of the body could only be contrived with the knowledge and help of +Lady Rusholm, her son, or Mr. Thompson; or, which is more likely, by the +connivance of all three. Then try to imagine their purpose. What use +could they make of a dead body? Why take such trouble that the theft +should be discovered?" + +"We have not accumulated enough facts to tell us," I answered. + +"I think we may indulge in a guess," said Quarles. "Sir Grenville, on his +own showing, had not expected to come into the title. Has it occurred to +you, Wigan, how exceedingly complete his claim was? Every possible doubt +seems to have been considered and arranged for. It was almost too +complete. Now, supposing Sir Grenville was not really Sir Grenville +Rusholm, supposing he had acquired the family knowledge and papers from +the real man--when that man was dying, perhaps--and in due time used +them to claim the estates. For about twenty years he has enjoyed the +result of his fraud, his intimate friend, Mr. Thompson, being in his +confidence, and very likely receiving some of the spoil. Suddenly Mr. +Thompson learns that some one else knows the secret, and hurries to +England to warn Sir Grenville." + +"But why steal the body?" asked Zena. + +"On leaving Dr. Coles, Wigan, I went to see Professor Sayle, who, with +the exception of the German physician Hauptmann, probably knows more +about oriental diseases and medicine than any man living. He proved to me +that it is possible by means of a certain vegetable drug to produce +apparent death. Fakirs often use it. The ordinary medical man would +certainly be deceived. Ultimately actual death would ensue were not the +antidote to the drug administered, but the suspension of life will +continue for a considerable time." + +"It is pure speculation," I said. + +"We have got to explain the theft of a dead body. I explain it by saying +there was no dead body," said Quarles sharply, as if I were denying a +self-evident fact. "I go still further. Judging by Coles's description of +the man calling himself Sir Grenville, I doubt his courage for carrying +through either the original fraud or the plan of escape. I believe his +wife was the moving spirit throughout, and it is quite possible the drug +was administered without her husband's knowledge." + +"And where is the body now?" asked Zena. + +"I do not know, but you tempt me to guesswork. Sir Grenville was a keen +yachtsman, and probably he is on board his yacht still resting in his +coffin, waiting for his wife to bring the antidote to the drug. His son +and Mr. Thompson took the body that night in the car. There must have +been two of them to deal with the burden, for I imagine the yacht had no +crew on her at the time. They would hardly take others into their +confidence. As everything had to be accomplished between eleven o'clock +at night and before dawn the next day, I imagine the yacht was lying +somewhere in the Thames estuary. I grant this is guesswork, Wigan." + +"I do not see why it was necessary the theft should become known," I +said. + +"It would occasion delay in the settlement of the estate. It placed +difficulties in the way of the rightful heir, It would help to throw a +distinct doubt whether, in spite of all the evidence that might be +forthcoming, Sir Grenville had committed fraud. There was even a +possibility that the son might be left in possession after all. I daresay +we shall learn more when we tackle Lady Rusholm and her son to-morrow." + +When we went to Queen's Square next morning we found that Lady Rusholm +was gone. She had, in fact, already gone when her son told us he was +trying to persuade her to go. Mr. Thompson had left later in the day. + +We found that even Quarles's guesswork was very near the actual facts, +although he had hardly given Lady Rusholm sufficient credit for the +working out of the scheme. The real heir, Sir John's nephew, had died in +Ceylon before Baxter--that was Sir Grenville's real name--had married. On +his death-bed he had entrusted his papers to Baxter to send to England, +and Baxter had shown them to his future wife. The scheme came full grown +into her head. They left Ceylon to meet again in India, and there they +were married, Baxter giving his name as Grenville Rusholm. Thompson was +their only confidant. He could not be left out because he had known all +about Rusholm. There was one other who knew, but they believed him to be +dead. He was a wanderer, somewhat of a ne'er-do-well, and to Thompson's +consternation, after twenty years, he had turned up in Calcutta very much +alive. He was going to England to expose the fraud. He did not suspect +Thompson, who came to England first. + +All this we heard from the son who for a short hour or two had called +himself Sir Arthur Rusholm. He was able to prove quite conclusively that +he was in entire ignorance of the fraud until Thompson's arrival. His +mother confessed everything to him then. It was she who had planned how +to get out of the difficulty. The duplicate coffin had been made at +Harwich, for a yachtsman who was to be taken abroad to be buried, they +had explained, but it was brought to Queen's Square and hidden in the +small drawing-room as Quarles had surmised. It was only to spare his +mother and father that the son had entered into the scheme, and I fancy +Quarles was a little annoyed that he had not suspected this. + +Mrs. Baxter was not caught. Indeed, there were many people who +disbelieved the whole story of the fraud, even when the man who knew +arrived from India--a very strong proof of Mrs. Baxter's charm and +personality. I have heard from her son that she is in South America, and +that her husband is not dead. So far as I am aware the new baronet has +taken no steps to bring them to justice. + +As Quarles says, she is a genius, and it would be a thousand pities if +she were in prison. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE KIDNAPING OF EVA WILKINSON + + +The Queen's Square affair seemed to have exhausted Quarles's enthusiasm. +I tried to interest him in several cases without success, and I began to +think we really had done our last work together, when on his own +initiative he mentioned Ewart Wilkinson to me. He had a personal interest +in the man; I had only just heard his name. + +The multi-millionaire is not such a figure in this country as he is in +America, but Ewart Wilkinson was undoubtedly on the American scale. He +had made his money abroad, how or exactly where remained matters of +uncertainty, and if one were inclined to believe the stories told in +irresponsible journals, there must have been much in the past which he +found it wiser not to talk about. With such tales I have nothing to do. I +never met the millionaire, was, in fact, quite uninterested in him until +his wealth was concerned in a case which came into my hands. + +With Christopher Quarles it was different. For a few days on one occasion +he had stayed in the same house with the millionaire in Scotland, and had +been impressed with him. Wilkinson was rough, but a diamond under the +rough, according to Quarles. He may have had his own ideas of what +constituted legitimate business, but whatever his shortcomings, the +professor found in him a vein of sentiment which was attractive. He had +a passion for his only daughter which appealed to Quarles, partly, no +doubt, because it made him think of Zena, and there was a strain of +melancholy in him which made him apprehensive that his wealth would not +be altogether for his daughter's good. He had talked in this way to +Quarles. For all we knew to the contrary, conscience may have been +pricking him, but the fact remained that he was prophetic. + +Wherever and in whatever way Ewart Wilkinson made his money, he +undoubtedly had it. He rented a house in Mayfair, and purchased +Whiteladies in Berkshire. The Elizabethan house, built on to the partial +ruins of an old castle, has no doubt attracted many of you when motoring +through South Berkshire. Having bought a beautiful home, he looked for a +beautiful wife to put in it. Perhaps she was in the nature of a purchase, +too, for he married Miss Lavory, the only daughter of Sir Miles Lavory, +Bart., who put his pride in his pocket when he consented to an alliance +with mere millions. It was said that Miss Lavory was driven into the +match, but however this may be, Ewart Wilkinson proved a devoted husband, +and his wife had ten years of a happy married life in the midst of +luxury. She died when her daughter was eight. + +For ten years after her mother's death Eva Wilkinson and her father were +hardly ever separated, and then Ewart Wilkinson died suddenly. He left +practically the whole of his vast fortune to his daughter; and her uncle, +Mrs. Wilkinson's brother Michael, who had recently succeeded his father +in the baronetcy, was left her guardian. There was a curious clause in +the will. Wilkinson, possibly because one or two cases had happened in +America at the time the will was made--half a dozen years before his +death--seemed particularly afraid that the heiress might be kidnaped, +and her guardian was enjoined to watch over her in this respect +especially. Within six months of his death the very thing he feared +happened. Eva Wilkinson was at Whiteladies at the time with her +companion, Mrs. Reville. After dinner one evening she went alone on to +the terrace, and from that moment had entirely disappeared. A telegram +was sent that night to Sir Michael, who was in London, Scotland Yard was +informed, and the mystery was given me to solve. + +I had commenced my inquiries when on going to Chelsea in the evening +Quarles told me he had met Ewart Wilkinson about three years before, and +under the circumstances he was very interested in the mystery. + +"The fact that he was afraid of something happening to his daughter +suggests that he had some reason for his fear," I said. + +"It does, Wigan--it does! He mentioned this very thing to me three +years ago, and I thought then there was some one in his past of whom he +was afraid." + +"And his past seems to be a closed book," I returned. + +"Eva Wilkinson must be between eighteen and nineteen," Zena +remarked. "Kidnaping a girl of that age is a different thing from +kidnaping a child." + +"True!" said Quarles. + +"Isn't it more probable that she went away willingly?" said Zena. + +"You don't help me, my dear," said the professor with a frown, and the +suggestion seemed to irritate him. It stuck in his mind, however, for +when we went to see Sir Michael the idea was evidently behind his +first question. + +"Is there any love affair?" asked Quarles. "Any reason which might +possibly induce the girl to go away of her own accord?" + +The suggestion seemed to bring a ray of hope into Sir Michael's despair. + +"I think she is too sensible a girl to do anything of the kind, but there +was a little affair, not very serious on her side, I fancy, and there was +probably a desire for money on the man's part. Young Cayley has seen Eva +at intervals since they were children, but in her father's lifetime there +was no question of love. Directly after Wilkinson's death, however, +Edward Cayley came prominently on the scene. I talked to Eva about him, +and although she was inclined to be angry, I think it was rather with +herself than at my interference." + +"Cayley is quite a poor man, I presume?" said Quarles. + +"Yes; but that did not influence me. He is not the kind of man I should +like my niece to marry. Oh! I have nothing definite against him." + +"May I ask whether, as guardian, you have control over your niece's +choice?" I asked. + +"Until she is twenty-one, after that none at all," he answered. "If she +marries without my consent before she is of age, I am empowered to +distribute a million of money to certain specified hospitals and +charities. She has only to wait until she is twenty-one to do exactly as +she likes. It was my brother-in-law's way of ensuring that his daughter +should not act with undue haste. Perhaps, for my own sake, I ought to +explain that in no way, nor under any circumstances, can I benefit under +the will. When my sister married Mr. Wilkinson, he behaved very +generously to my father, paying off the mortgages on our estate; in +short, delivered us from a very difficult position. Naturally, we never +expected any place in the will, but I hear the omission has caused some +people to speculate, and now that this has happened there may be people +who will speculate about me personally." + +"You certainly have a very complete answer," I returned. "What is your +own opinion of your niece's disappearance?" + +"I think she has been kidnaped, possibly for the sake of ransom, possibly +because--" and then he paused for a moment. "You know Mr. Wilkinson was +afraid of this very thing?" + +"Three years ago he mentioned it to me," said Quarles. + +"You knew him, then?" + +"I was staying in the same house with him in Scotland; his daughter was +not there. Such a fear, Sir Michael, suggests something in the past, +something Mr. Wilkinson kept to himself." + +"I do not know of anything," was the answer. "Of course, I have seen +paragraphs in scandalous journals concerning his wealth, but I knew Ewart +Wilkinson extremely well. He was, and always has been, I am convinced, a +perfectly straightforward man." + +This conversation took place early on the morning following the night of +Eva Wilkinson's disappearance, and afterwards Sir Michael journeyed down +with us to Whiteladies. The local police were already scouring the +country, and under intelligent supervision had accomplished a great deal +of the spade work. I may just state the facts as far as they were known. + +Mrs. Reville, who was in the drawing-room when the girl went out on the +terrace, had heard nothing. A quarter of an hour or twenty minutes later +she went out herself with the intention of telling Eva that she ought to +put on a wrap. The girl was nowhere to be seen, and calling brought no +answer. Becoming alarmed, Mrs. Reville summoned the servants, and their +search proving fruitless, she had a telegram sent to Sir Michael. When I +questioned her with regard to Cayley, she was sure there was nothing +serious in the affair. He certainly could have had nothing to do with +Eva's disappearance, she declared, for he had gone to Paris two days +before. Since Sir Michael had spoken to Eva about him he had hardly +visited Whiteladies at all. + +The servants had searched everywhere--in the house, in the grounds, and +in the ruins, and later the police had gone over the same ground, and +had searched everywhere on the estate; not a sign of the missing girl +had been found. A footman, however, said he had heard a motor-car in the +road about the time of the disappearance. He had listened, wondering who +was coming to Whiteladies at that hour. The house stood in one corner of +the estate, and there was a public road quite close to it, but it was a +road little frequented. The marks of a car, which had stopped and turned +at a point near the house, were plainly visible, and so far this was the +only clue forthcoming. It proved an important one, because a tramp was +found by the police who had seen a closed car traveling at a great speed +toward the London road. The time, which he was able to fix very +definitely, was about a quarter of an hour after Eva Wilkinson had gone +on to the terrace. + +"Has the tramp been detained?" Quarles asked, and being answered in the +negative, said he ought to have been. + +The professor examined the marks of the car minutely. There were two cars +at Whiteladies, but neither of the tire markings were those of the car +which had turned in the road. + +It is only natural, I suppose, that when a number of persons are brought +in contact with a mystery their behavior should tend to become unnatural. +It is one of a detective's chief difficulties to determine between +innocent and suspicious actions, the latter being often the result of +temperament or of a desire to emphasize innocence. I never found a +decision more difficult than in the case of Eva Wilkinson's maid, a girl +named Joan Perry; and because I could not decide in her case I was also +suspicious of her young man Saunders, a gamekeeper on the estate. Joan +Perry, a little later in the day, claimed to have made a remarkable +discovery. A coat and skirt and a pair of walking shoes had been removed +from her mistress's wardrobe. + +"What made you inspect her wardrobe?" I asked. + +The question seemed to confuse her, but she finally said it was because +she wondered whether Miss Eva had gone away on purpose. According to +Perry the affair with Edward Cayley was a serious one. To some extent her +young mistress had confided in her, she declared. + +"Then she would hardly have gone away without letting you into the +secret," I said. + +"That is what I cannot understand," she answered. + +Quarles agreed with me that this lent color to the idea that Eva +Wilkinson had gone of her own accord. + +"It is possible--even probable," he said, "but if she did, I take it she +has been deceived and walked into a trap. If we can find that car we +shall be on the right road." + +When we set out on this quest in one of the motors at Whiteladies we had +considerable success. The car had taken the direct road to London. We +heard of it at an inn on the outskirts of Beading. It had stopped there, +and a man had had his flask filled with brandy. A lady who was with him +was not very well, he said. Chance helped us farther. The car had stopped +by a roadside cottage. A man had come to the door full of apologies, but +seeing a light in the window he ventured to ask if they could oblige him +with a box of matches. He was quite a gentleman--young, dark, and very +merry--the woman told us. He had led her to suppose that he and a lady +were making a runaway match of it, because he had declared that there +would certainly be a chase after them, but they had got a good start. The +car had been drawn up on the side of the road at a little distance from +the cottage, and it was undoubtedly the car we were after. The tire +markings were quite distinct in the damp ground. At Hounslow we found the +car itself. There had been an accident. Two men had walked into a garage, +saying they had left the car on the roadside. Would the garage people +have it brought in and repaired? The car should be sent for in a day or +two. One man made a payment on account, and gave his name as Julius +Hoffman, staying at the Langham Hotel. + +The car was of an old type, but the man at the garage said the engines +were in good condition. The tires were burst, otherwise there was nothing +much the matter with the car beyond its age. + +"Was anything found in the car?" I asked. + +"An old glove and a handkerchief," and the man took them out of a drawer. + +The glove told us nothing, but the handkerchief was a lady's, and had "E. +W." embroidered on it. + +"This is a police matter," I told the man. "A watch will be kept on the +premises in case the car is claimed, which is very unlikely, I fancy." + +Quarles was perplexed. + +"I don't understand it, Wigan. That car looks to me as if it had been +purposely abandoned. Had they another car waiting, or was Hounslow their +destination? Of course you must warn the police here, but--well, I do not +understand it. I am going straight back to Chelsea." + +"I will see the Hounslow police, and then go on to the Langham," I +returned. + +"Of course, that's just ordinary detective work, and out of my line," +Quarles said somewhat curtly, "but I don't suppose your inquiries will +lead anywhere." + +In this surmise he was perfectly correct. No one of the name of Julius +Hoffman was known at the Langham. The Hounslow police made no discovery, +and the car was not claimed. + +Later, the press circulated a description of Eva Wilkinson, with the +result that scores of letters were received, most of them obviously +written by amateur detectives, or by those peculiar kind of imbeciles +whose imagination is so vivid that any person seems to fit the +description of the person missing. The information in a few of these +letters seemed definite enough to follow up, but in every case I drew +blank. I gave my chief attention to learning the recent movements of +known gangs who might be concerned in an enterprise of this sort, and at +the end of two days this persistency brought a result. I received a +letter posted in the West-central district, written, or rather scrawled, +in printed letters. It was as follows: + +"You may be on the right scent or you may not, but take warning. If you +got to know anything, it would be the worse for E.W. We are in earnest, +and our advice is, leave the job alone. No harm will come to the old +devil's daughter, if you mind your own business. She'll turn up again all +right. If you don't mind your own business you'll probably find her +presently, and can bury her. You'll find her dead,--THE LEAGUE." + +With this letter I went to Chelsea, and the professor met me with a +letter in his hand. He had received a like communication--word for +word the same. + +"An exact copy shows a barrenness of ideas," said I. + +"But they have begun to move, Wigan. That is a great thing, and what I +have been waiting for. Come and talk it over. For once Zena is no help. +All she says is that this is not an ordinary case of kidnaping. Well, it +certainly is a little out of the ordinary. That car, Wigan, the tramp who +saw it, the stoppages it made, the handkerchief in it--does anything +strike you?" + +"Since we picked up the trail so easily to begin with, I do not quite +understand the subsequent difficulty," I said. "From Hounslow a much more +astute person must have taken charge of the enterprise." + +"A booby trap, Wigan. It was prepared for us, and we walked into it, I am +a trifle sick at having done so, but perhaps it will serve us a good turn +in the end. The tramp no doubt was in the business. His definite +information to the police started us. If that car had wanted to escape +notice, do you suppose it would have pulled up outside Reading, or at a +cottage, where it obligingly left its imprint on the roadside? Why should +the man explain the filling of a flask at a public house? Why should he +talk of a runaway match to the woman at that cottage? He was laying a +trail. Miss Wilkinson's handkerchief was found in that car, but I wager +she was never in the car herself." + +"I think you are right, but it doesn't help us to the truth, does it?" + +"Every possibility proved impossible helps us," Quarles answered. "This +is a case for negative argument, so we next ask whether Eva Wilkinson +left the terrace willingly. I think we must say 'no.'" + +"Do not forget the missing coat and skirt," I said. + +"That is one of the reasons why I say 'no,'" he returned. "If she had +intended to go away she would have arranged to take more than a coat and +skirt. Besides, Eva Wilkinson is evidently not a fool. The only person +one can imagine her going away with is Cayley, and why should she go away +with him? If she married him before she was twenty-one, she forfeited a +million of money; well, she knew the penalty. Even if she would not wait +until she was of age, there is still no conceivable reason why she should +run away. We are forced, therefore, to the assumption that she was +kidnaped." + +"I have never doubted it," I answered. + +"I confess to some uncertainty," said Quarles, "but these letters put a +new complexion on the affair, I admit. Some one is out for money, Wigan, +and that fact is--" + +He stopped short as a servant entered the room saying that I was wanted +on the telephone. I had left word that I was going to Chelsea. I was +informed that Sir Michael Lavory had telephoned for me to go and see him +at once. He said he had received a letter which was of the gravest +importance. + +"Similar to ours, no doubt," said the professor when I repeated the +message to him. "We will go at once, Wigan, but I do not think there is +anything to be done until the scoundrels have made a further move. It +won't be many hours before they do so." + +In the taxi he did not continue his negative arguments, and he was not +restless, as he usually was when upon a keen scent. No doubt he had a +theory, but I was convinced he was not satisfied with it himself. + +Sir Michael, who had a flat in Kensington, was not alone. A young man was +with him, and Sir Michael introduced Mr. Edward Cayley. + +"He has just arrived--came in ten minutes after I had received +this letter." + +Cayley's presence there was rather a surprise, but I noted that his +appearance did not correspond with the woman's description of the young +man who had asked for a box of matches. + +"I came as soon as I heard the news about Miss Wilkinson," Cayley said in +explanation. + +"How did you hear it?" Quarles asked. + +"There was a paragraph in _Le Gaulois_. I left Paris at once and came to +Sir Michael, thinking it a time when any little disagreement between us +would be easily forgotten." + +"You can quite understand that I agree with Mr. Cayley," Sir Michael +said, "especially in the face of this letter." + +"I can guess the contents of it," I said. "We have had letters too." + +But I was mistaken. This communication was scrawled in the same printed +letters, was signed in the same way, but its purport was entirely +different. + +"Sir,--Your niece is in our hands, and you may be sure that she is +securely hidden. Every move you take on her behalf increases her danger. +There is only one means of rescue--ransom. Within forty-eight hours you +shall pay to the credit of James Franklin with the Credit Lyonnais, +Paris, the sum of a quarter of a million sterling, a small sum when +Wilkinson's wealth is considered, and the means he used to amass it. The +moment the money is in our hands, and you may be sure we have left open +no possibility of your tricking us, your niece shall be set at liberty. +Delay or refuse, and your niece dies. In case you should deceive yourself +and think this is not genuine, that we are powerless to carry out our +threat, your niece herself has endorsed this letter." + +Quarles looked at the endorsement. + +"Is that Miss Wilkinson's signature?" he asked. + +"It is," Sir Michael answered. + +"I could swear to it anywhere," said Cayley. "The money is a small matter +when Eva has to be considered. We may succeed in tricking the scoundrels +later, but the money must be paid." + +"If it is, you may depend they will get clear off," said Quarles. "They +have made their arrangements cleverly enough for that." + +"But you forget--" + +"I forget nothing, Mr. Cayley." + +"I feel that it must be paid," said Sir Michael. "If you can devise any +way of tripping up the villains, do, but Eva's signature--" + +"Look at it, Sir Michael," said Quarles. "I do not doubt that it is her +signature, but I think it was scribbled on that piece of paper before the +letter was written, and certainly a different ink was used." + +Sir Michael took the letter and looked at it carefully. + +"Yes--yes, I think you are right," he said after a pause. "What do +you advise?" + +"Delay," said the professor promptly. "They are out for money, for a +quarter of a million. They will not hurt Miss Wilkinson while there is +any chance of their getting the money." + +"How long would you make the delay?" Cayley asked. + +"At least until after Mr. Wigan and I have visited Whiteladies again. We +propose to go there to-morrow." + +"I was going down to-morrow after seeing the solicitors about this +money," said Sir Michael. + +"That will be excellent," said Quarles. "You will be able to assist us in +a little investigation we want to make at Whiteladies. May I suggest that +you should arrange preliminaries with the solicitors so as not to waste +time, but tell them to await your instructions before taking final steps? +There may be nothing in our idea, but there may be a great deal in it." + +"You do not wish to tell me what it is?" + +"Not until to-morrow evening." + +I was watching Cayley. I saw the ghost of a smile on his lips for a +moment. He evidently saw through Quarles's reticence, and knew that the +professor would not speak before him. + +"It will be evening before we reach Whiteladies," Quarles went on, +"because there is an important inquiry we must make in London first." + +"Very well," said Sir Michael. "I will delay until to-morrow night." + +"There can be no harm in that," Cayley said. "We are given forty-eight +hours. I should like to do the scoundrels, but I cannot forget that +revenge may be as much a motive as money." + +"I am not losing sight of that fact," said Quarles, "but I have little +doubt it is the money." + +As we drove back to Chelsea the professor was silent, but when we were in +the empty room he began to talk quickly. + +"I am puzzled, Wigan. Before we went out I was saying some one was out +for money, and the letter Sir Michael has received proves it. We were +engaged upon a negative argument, and I should have gone on to show why +it was unlikely Cayley had had anything to do with the affair. I confess +that his sudden appearance to-night tends to knock holes in the argument +I should have used. He comes from Paris, the money is to be paid to the +Credit Lyonnais, Paris. He is keen that the money should be paid, had +evidently been persuading Sir Michael that it ought to be paid. This +tends to confuse me, and I cannot forget Zena's remark about the girl's +age and that this is not an ordinary kidnaping case. If Cayley had met +her on the terrace she would naturally stroll away with him if he asked +her to do so. At a safe distance from the house he, and a confederate, +perhaps, may have secured her." + +"But why?" I asked. + +"He may want a quarter of a million of money and yet have no desire to +marry. It is a theory, but unsatisfactory, I admit. One thing, however, +we may take as certain. Eva Wilkinson was not driven away in that car. We +have no news of any suspicious car being seen in any other direction, nor +of any suspicious people being seen about, and it seems obvious that a +false trail was laid for us. Wigan, it is quite possible that the girl +never left Whiteladies at all, that she is hidden there now, in fact. +Doesn't the disappearance of that coat and skirt tend to corroborate +this? She was in evening dress at the time. It would be natural to get +her another dress." + +"That would mean confederates in the house," I said. + +"Exactly. This girl Perry, perhaps, in league with her lover, the +gamekeeper; or it may be Mrs. Reville herself. We are going down to +Whiteladies to-morrow to try and find out, and we are going circumspectly +to work, Wigan. You shall go to the house in the ordinary way, while I +stroll across to the ruins. They are a likely hiding place. It will be +dark, and I may chance upon some one keeping watch. In a few words you +can explain our idea to Sir Michael, and then, without letting the +servants know, you can come and find me in the ruins." + +It was nearly dark when we arrived at Whiteladies on the following day, +and as arranged, I left Quarles before we reached the lodge gates--in +fact, helped him over a fence into the park before I went on to the house +alone. Near the front door I found Mrs. Reville giving a couple of pug +dogs a run. She told me Sir Michael was expecting me, and led the way +into the hall. + +"I think he is in the library," she said, and opened a door. "Oh, I am +sorry, I thought you were alone, Sir Michael. It is Mr. Wigan." + +He called out for me to enter. He was standing by a writing table, +talking to a young farmer, apparently a tenant on the estate because Sir +Michael was dismissing him with a promise to consider certain repairs to +some outbuildings. As the farmer passed me on his way to the door Sir +Michael held out his hand. + +"You are later than I expected, and I thought Mr. Quarles--" + +Then he laughed. I had been seized from behind, a rope was round me, +binding my arms to my side, a sudden jerk had me on my back. In that +instant Sir Michael was upon me, and I was gagged and trussed almost +before I realized what had happened. Never did the veriest tyro walk more +innocently into a trap. + +"That's well done," said Sir Michael to the farmer. "You had better go +and see that the other has been taken as successfully." + +Alone with me, he removed the revolver from my hip pocket and placed it +in a drawer, which he locked. + +"Rather a surprise for you, Mr. Wigan. I am afraid Scotland Yard is +likely to lose an officer, and your friend Quarles is an old man who has +had a very good inning. I do not know exactly where he is at the present +moment, but somewhere about the grounds he has been caught and is in a +similar condition to yourself. You have both been very carefully shadowed +to-day. The quarter of a million will be paid, Mr. Wigan, and my niece +will reappear. She will be none the worse for her adventure--will thank +me for all the trouble I have taken to rescue her from the kidnapers her +father dreaded so much--and she will never suspect that the bulk of the +ransom money has gone into my pocket. It is money sorely needed, I can +assure you. I shall probably give my consent to her marriage with Cayley; +her marriage will make my guardianship less irksome. He will be as +unsuspicious of me as Eva. I prevailed upon him not to come to +Whiteladies until to-morrow by suggesting that you were foolish enough to +suspect him. I think it has all been rather cleverly managed. The only +regrettable thing will be the death of two--two brilliant detectives. It +may interest you to know that you will be found dead--shot--which will +account for my having waited for you in vain at Whiteladies to-night. You +have helped me greatly by being secretive to-day and not arriving here +until after dark. Your death will be a nine days' wonder, but it will be +a mystery which will not be solved, I fancy." + +His cold-blooded manner left no doubt of his sinister intention, and I +felt convinced that Quarles had been trapped just as I had been. Sir +Michael laughed again as he bent over me to make sure that my bonds were +secure. Then he stood erect suddenly. + +"Don't move," said a voice, "or I shall fire." + +He did move, and a bullet ripped into a picture just behind him. With an +oath he stood perfectly still. A door had opened across the room and a +girl stood there. It was Joan Perry. + +"I missed you on purpose," she said. "I shall not miss a second time. Cut +those ropes." + +For a moment he stood still, then he moved again, but not with the +intention of setting me free; the next instant he stumbled, as if his leg +had suddenly given way, and he let out a savage oath. + +"To show you I do not miss," said the girl. "Cut those ropes, or the +third bullet finds your heart." + +Sir Michael took a knife from his pocket, and the girl came a little +closer, but not near enough to give him a chance of grabbing at her. Her +calm deliberation was wonderful. + +"Do more than cut the ropes and you are a dead man," she said. + +The instant my arms were free I had the gag from my mouth and could do +something in my own defense. I was quickly on my feet. + +"Keep him covered," I said to Perry. "I think we change places, +Sir Michael." + +Physically he was not a powerful man, and with Joan Perry near him he +seemed to have lost his nerve. Her courage had shaken him badly, and he +made no resistance. I was not long in having him bound and handcuffed. + +"I have to thank you," I said, turning to the girl. + +"Not yet. There is more to do. Mrs. Reville is in it, and Mr. Quarles has +no doubt been caught in the grounds, as he said. I will ring. The +servants are honest, and I expect Mr. Saunders is in the house by now. He +usually comes up in the evening." + +Fortunately Mrs. Reville had not heard the revolver shots, or she might +have given the alarm to the two men who had secured the professor in the +ruins, and they would very probably have killed him. I took the lady by +strategy. I sent a servant to tell her that Sir Michael wished to speak +to her, a summons which she had evidently been expecting, and I secured +her as she came down the stairs. Then, leaving her and Sir Michael in +charge of Perry and Saunders and a footman, I went with other servants to +rescue Quarles. We took the confederates in the ruins by surprise, but in +my anxiety that no harm should come to the professor, who was bound just +as I had been, they managed to get away. + +Now that he was captured, Sir Michael Lavory's pluck entirely deserted +him, and he told us where to find his niece. She was in a secret chamber +under a tower in the ruins. She had been caught that night at the end of +the terrace by Sir Michael's accomplices, had been rendered unconscious +by chloroform, and taken to the tower. + +Quarles's deductions so far as they went were right, but they had not +gone nearly far enough. Neither of us had thought of Sir Michael as the +criminal, and had it not been for the maid Perry I have little doubt that +this would have been our last case. Perry herself had not suspected Sir +Michael until that day, but she had always been suspicious of Mrs. +Reville. That morning, however, when Sir Michael arrived at Whiteladies, +she had chanced to overhear a conversation. She heard Sir Michael tell +Mrs. Reville there would be visitors that evening, and suggested that she +should be near the front door at the time to admit them, as it would be +well if they were not seen by the servants. Perry did not understand who +the visitors were to be, but she thought such secrecy might be connected +with her young mistress, and she had hidden herself earlier in the +evening in the small room adjoining the library. + +"It is fortunate Saunders taught me how to use a revolver," she said, +when Quarles thanked and complimented her. + +"A narrow escape, Wigan," the professor said to me. "One of our failures, +eh? The fear expressed in the will, the fact that Sir Michael could not +benefit by the death of his niece, confused me. He is a very clever +scoundrel, making no mistake, making no attempt to implicate any one. His +treatment of Cayley on his sudden return from Paris was a masterpiece of +diplomacy; so was his handling of us from the first. He concocted no +complicated story, so ran no risk of contradicting himself. He was simple +and straightforward, and when a villain is that a detective is +practically helpless. I was thoroughly deceived, Wigan, I admit it, and +it is certain that had it not been for Joan Perry I should not be alive +to say so, and you would not be here to listen. Do you know, I should not +be surprised if it was the fear expressed in the will which gave Sir +Michael the idea of kidnaping his niece and putting the ransom into his +own pocket." + +At his trial Sir Michael confessed that the will had given him the idea. +Personally I think he got far too light a sentence. + +As I hear that Cayley and Miss Wilkinson are to be married shortly, I +suppose her guardian's consent to her marriage has been obtained; at any +rate, it will be a good thing for her to have a husband to protect her +from such a guardian. I hear, too, that Saunders and Perry are to be +married on the same day as their mistress, and I am quite sure of one +thing, two of the handsomest wedding presents Joan Perry receives will +come from Christopher Quarles and myself. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE DELVERTON AFFAIR + + +After our experience at Whiteladies Christopher Quarles went into +Devonshire. He declared that excitement of that kind was a little too +much for a man of his years and he must take a long rest to recuperate +and get his nerves in order. Under no circumstances whatever was I to +bother him with any problems. Had I been able to do so I should have gone +away too. Sir Michael Lavory had succeeded in giving me the jumps. In her +letters Zena told me the professor was playing golf, and knowing +something of him as a golfer, I rather pitied the men he induced to play +with him. It was not so much that he was a very bad player, it was the +peculiar twist in his brain which convinced him that he was a good one. +To give him a hint was to raise his anger at once. + +One morning I received a letter from him, two pages of golf talk, in +which he opined he was playing at about five handicap--pure imagination, +of course, because he never kept a card and didn't count his foozled +shots--and then he came to the _raison d'être_ of his letter. + +"I want you to look up a case," he wrote. "It happened about three years +ago. A man named Farrell, partner in the firm of Delverton Brothers of +Austin Friars, was found dead in his office. An open verdict was +returned. It may have been a case of suicide. Get all the facts you can. +If you can obtain any information from some who were interested in the +tragedy, do. I am not sure that the result of your inquiries will +interest me, but it may. Send me along a full report, it may bring me +back to Chelsea, but I am so keen to put another fifty yards on to my +drive that I may remain here for three months. Why live in Chelsea when +there is such a place as Devonshire?" + +I remembered that the Delverton case had caused a considerable amount of +excitement at the time, and had remained an unsolved mystery, but I knew +no more than this. Three years ago I had been away from London engaged on +an intricate investigation, with neither time nor inclination to think of +anything else. + +As it happened there was little difficulty in getting a very full account +of the affair. It had been in the hands of Detective Southey, since +retired, and it was a persistent grievance with him that this case had +beaten him. He was delighted to talk about it when I went to see him in +his little riverside cottage at Twickenham. + +Delverton Brothers were foreign bankers, and at the time of the tragedy +consisted of three partners, John and Martin Delverton, who were +brothers, and Thomas Farrell, their nephew. John Delverton was an +invalid, and for a year past had only come to the office for an hour once +or twice a week. He had died about six months after the tragedy. + +One day during a Stock Exchange settlement Thomas Farrell left the office +early, and Martin Delverton was there until seven o'clock. When he left +the only clerks remaining in the outer office were Kellner, the second in +seniority on the staff, and a junior named Small. + +These two left the office together ten minutes after Mr. Delverton had +gone. Next morning when the housekeeper went to the offices he found +Thomas Farrell sitting at the table in his private room, his head fallen +on his arms, which were stretched across the table. He had died from the +effects of poison, yet the tumbler beside him showed no traces of poison. + +Medical evidence proved that he had been dead some hours, but there was +nothing to show at what time he had returned to the office. + +"In view of the doctor's statement it must have been between ten minutes +past seven and midnight," Southey told me. "The poison would produce +intense drowsiness, then sleep from which there was no waking. The time +of its action would vary in different individuals. I am inclined to think +it was late when he returned. He was a well-known figure in Austin Friars +and Throgmorton Street, and had he been about earlier in the evening some +one would almost certainly have seen him. That part of the world is alive +to a late hour during a Stock Exchange settlement. The offices consist of +a large outer room, which accommodates seven or eight clerks, and two +private rooms opening into one another, but opening into the outer office +only from the first room. This first room, which is the larger of the +two, the brothers Delverton occupied, Farrell having the smaller inner +room. From this there is a side door which gives on to a short passage +leading into Austin Friars. The partners used this side door constantly, +each of them having a key to the Yale lock, and we know from Mr. +Delverton that Farrell went out by the side door that afternoon. +Presumably he returned by it. Everything seemed to point to suicide, and +possibly had there been a shadow of a motive for Farrell taking his own +life, a verdict of suicide would have been returned. Apparently there was +no motive. His affairs were in perfect order, he was shortly to be +married, and the only person who suggested that he had looked in any way +worried recently was the junior clerk, Small." + +"What of the woman he was to have married?" + +"She was a Miss Lester, and she introduces a complication. Her people +were comparatively poor, her father being a clerk in a City bank. Mr. +Farrell, according to Miss Lester, had helped her father out of some +difficulty, and it was undoubtedly parental persuasion which had arranged +the marriage. It was a case of gratitude rather than love. But that is +not all. At the Lesters' house there was another constant visitor, a +young doctor named Morrison, and he and Farrell became friends in spite +of the fact that they were two angles of a triangle, Ruth Lester being +the third angle. The position was this: Morrison was in love with the +girl, but remained silent because he was too poor to marry; the girl +loved him, but, thinking that he was indifferent, consented to marry +Farrell. Whether Farrell was aware of this it is impossible to say. Now +on the very day of Farrell's death, Dr. Morrison called and asked for him +at the offices in Austin Friars. The clerk took in his name, and was told +by Mr. Delverton that Mr. Farrell had left for the day. This was the +first intimation the clerks had that he had left, and seems an indirect +proof that no one in the office could have had anything to do with the +tragedy. Farrell had been gone about an hour then. Morrison left no +message, merely asked that Mr. Farrell should be told he had called." + +"What was Morrison's explanation?" I asked. + +"He said Farrell had requested him to call. He was going to give him a +tip for a little flutter in the mining market." + +"Is it known where Farrell went that afternoon?" + +"I see you think the doctor's explanation thin, just as I did. Farrell +told his partner that he had an appointment with Miss Lester; Miss +Lester says there was no appointment. Naturally I at once speculated +whether Farrell and Morrison had met later in the afternoon. I followed +that trail every inch of the way. The doctor was poor and somewhat in +debt, and--" + +"And Farrell, who died by poison, which is significant, was his +rival?" I said. + +"I thought of all that," Southey returned. "Fortunately for him the +doctor could account for every hour of his time. Of course, the man in +the street was suspicious of him--is still, perhaps, to some extent, but +it hasn't prevented his getting on. He married Ruth Lester, and I hear is +getting a good practise together." + +"What conclusion did you come to?" + +"I am inclined to think there was some international reason at the back +of the mystery, some difficulty with a foreign government, it may be. If +Farrell had become mixed up in such an affair suicide might be the way +out. I suggested this to Mr. Delverton, and he did not scout it as +altogether a ridiculous idea. These foreign bankers are sometimes very +much behind the scenes in European politics." + +"Do you know whether the invalid brother was at the office that +day?" I asked. + +"He was not. He was quite incapacitated at the time." + +I hunted up one or two points which occurred to me, and then went to +Austin Friars to call upon Mr. Delverton. + +He was out of town, yachting, but his partner came into the clerks' +office to see me. I told him that my business with Mr. Delverton +was private. + +This partner, I discovered, was Kellner, who had formerly been a clerk in +the firm. He was the man who, with the junior, had been the last to leave +the office on the night of the tragedy. He was worth a little attention, +and I spent two days making inquiries about him. He was as smart a man of +business as could be found within a mile radius of the Royal Exchange, I +was informed, a wonderful linguist, with a profound knowledge of +financial matters. Now he was a wealthy man, but three years ago he had +been in very low water. + +This discovery sent me to Twickenham again. I said nothing about Kellner +having become a partner in Delverton Brothers'; I merely asked Southey +whether he had satisfactorily accounted for his time on the fatal night. + +"Didn't I tell you?" said Southey. "Oh, yes, he had an absolute alibi; so +had the youth Small. I made them my first business." + +I did not call on Dr. Morrison, but I went to his neighborhood, and asked +a few questions. Everybody spoke well of the doctor, which, of course, +might mean much or little, and I was fortunate enough to see him with his +wife in a motor. He looked like a doctor, a forceful and self-reliant +man, not one to lose his head or give himself away. He would be likely to +carry through any enterprise he set his mind to. His wife, without being +beautiful, was attractive, the kind of woman you begin to call pretty +after you have known her a little while. + +That night I wrote a full report to Christopher Quarles with my own +comments in the margin, and three days later I had a wire from Zena, +saying they were returning to Chelsea at once. + +There was no need to ask the professor whether the case interested him or +not. He began by being complimentary about my report, praised my +astuteness in not calling upon the doctor, and he made me give him a +verbal description of Morrison and his wife. + +"Of course, Wigan, looks count for nothing, but they are often misleading +evidence, and we are told to beware of that man of whom every one speaks +well. The most saintly individual I ever knew had a strong likeness to a +notorious criminal I once saw, and on a slight acquaintance you and I +would probably have trusted Cleopatra or Helen of Troy, neither of them +very estimable women, I take it. Now apparently this doctor and his wife +are near the center of this mystery." + +"It seems so, but--" + +"Believe me, I am making no accusation," he interrupted; "indeed, I am +more inclined to argue that they occupy an eccentric point within the +circle rather than the true center. Still, we must not overlook one or +two facts which you have duly emphasized in your report. The rivalry +between Morrison and Farrell does supply, as you say, a motive for the +crime, if crime it was, and it is the only motive that is apparent. +Again, a doctor could obtain and make use of poison with less risk than +most men. And, again, it is curious the doctor should call on Farrell on +that particular day. The visit might be a subtle move to establish his +innocence. True, according to Southey, his time after the visit was +accounted for, but how about the time before the visit? Farrell had +already left the office an hour, and might have met Morrison." + +"Do you suggest he was poisoned then, and came back hours afterwards to +die in the office?" + +"You think that unlikely?" + +"I do." + +"Still, we must recollect the action of this particular poison," said +Quarles. "It produces drowsiness, the time necessary to get to this +condition varying in different persons, and the doctor, knowing Farrell, +might be able to gage how long it would take in his case. Of course, we +labor under difficulties. Three years having passed, we cannot rely on +direct investigation. Purposely I gave you no bias when I asked you to +gather up the known facts, and from your report I judge you have come to +the conclusion that Farrell committed suicide, possibly driven into a +corner by some international complication." + +"Yes, on the whole, I lean to that idea." + +"It is not the belief of Mr. Delverton himself." + +"How do you know?" I asked. + +"I met Martin Delverton in Devonshire. He was yachting round the coast +and came ashore for golf. We played together several times, and became +quite friendly. It was not until he began to talk about it that I +remembered there had ever been a Delverton mystery. Practically he gave +me the same history of the case as your report does, missing some points +certainly, but enlarging considerably on others. That the villain had +escaped justice seemed to rankle in his mind, and he was contemptuous of +the intelligence of Scotland Yard. The tragedy, he said, had hastened his +brother's end, and I judged he had no great love for the Morrisons." + +"He knew who you were, I suppose?" + +"Oh, yes; and included my intelligence in the sneer at Scotland Yard. He +argued the point with me until he forced me to admit that there was a +large element of luck in most of my successes." + +"You admitted that?" I exclaimed. + +"I did. I had just beaten him three up and two to play, so was in an +angelic frame of mind. Even then he would not let me alone. He wanted to +know how I should have gone to work had the case been in my hands. To +his evident delight I gave him arguments on the lines of our empty room +conferences, making one thing especially clear, that I should have +enquired far more closely about the Morrisons than had been done. This +interested him immensely, and he did not attempt to hide from me the fact +that his suspicions lay in the same direction. He became keen that I +should look into the mystery; indeed, he challenged my skill. I am taking +up that challenge, and I am going to tell the world the truth about +Farrell's death." + +"You know it?" + +"Not yet, but the key to it is in this report of yours. Do you know what +has become of the junior clerk, Small?" + +"No. He left the firm to go abroad, I understand." + +"I should like to have asked him whether John Delverton, the invalid +partner, had seemed worried when he was last at the office." + +"He was not at the office that day. I asked that question, and Southey is +certain upon the point." + +"Farrell might have left early to see him." + +"Of course, we might question Kellner," I suggested. + +"Kellner has the interests of the firm at heart, and is not personally +connected with the affair. I don't suppose he will be pleased to have the +old mystery raked up; naturally he will fear damage to the firm. I do not +think he would be inclined to help us in any way, and I can imagine his +being angry with Delverton for mentioning the affair to me." + +"Still, I think there is something that wants explaining about Mr. +Kellner," said Zena, "You evidently thought so too, Murray, since you +made such minute inquiries about him." + +"I do not think there is anything against him," I answered. + +"I am not very interested in Kellner's past," said the professor, "and as +we cannot get hold of Small we must do a little guessing." + +"Is there anything further for me to do?" I asked. + +"One thing. I want you to get hold of some stockbroker you know, and get +him to tell you whether there was any kind of panic here, or on the +Continent, with regard to any foreign securities between three and four +years ago. Find out, if you can, the names of any members of the House +who were hammered during that period, and the names of any firms +considered shaky at the time. I am not hoping for much useful +information, but we may learn something to assist our guesswork." + +The information I obtained on the following day amounted to little. As my +friend in Threadneedle Street said, three years on the Stock Exchange are +a lifetime. In the different markets there had been several crises during +the period I mentioned, and certain men, chiefly small ones, had gone +under. As for shaky firms, it was impossible to speak unless you were +closely interested. A good firm, under temporary stress, would probably +be bolstered up, and a week or two might find it in affluence again. + +I went to Chelsea with the information, such as it was, but only saw +Zena. Quarles was out, and I did not see him for nearly a week. Then he +'phoned to me to call for him one evening and to come in evening dress. + +"I am dining with Mr. Delverton to-night," he said, "and I asked him if I +might bring you. He returned to town at the beginning of the week, and I +have seen him two or three times, once at the office in Austin Friars. I +did not see Kellner, he happened to be away that day." + +Martin Delverton lived in Dorchester Square, rather a pompous house, and +he was rather a pompous individual. Of course he wasn't a bit like +Quarles in appearance, yet I was struck by a certain characteristic +resemblance between them. They both had that annoying way of appearing to +mean more than they said, and of watering down their arguments to meet +the requirements of your inferior intellect. + +I had become accustomed to it in Quarles, but in a stranger I should have +resented it had not the professor told me of the peculiarity beforehand, +and warned me not to be annoyed. + +He gave us an excellent dinner, and our conversation for a time had +nothing to do with the mystery. + +"Well, Mr. Quarles, have you brought this affair to a head?" Mr. +Delverton asked at last. + +"I think so." + +"Sufficiently to bring the criminal to book?" + +"If not, I could hardly claim success, could I?" + +"You might claim it," laughed Delverton, "but I should not be satisfied. +Possibly I have my own opinion, but I trust nothing I have said has +influenced you and led you to a wrong conclusion. I do not want you to +get me into trouble by saying that I suggested who the criminal was." + +"Not if I could prove that the solution was correct?" + +"That might be a different matter, of course." + +"It would prove your astuteness, Mr. Delverton," said Quarles. "Mine +would be only the spade work which any one can do when he has been told +how. Perhaps you will let me explain in my own way, and I will go over +the old ground as little as possible, since we three are aware of the +main facts and the investigations which originally took place. First, +then, the manner of Mr. Farrell's death. Now, since he was found in his +own private office, sitting at his own desk, with a tumbler beside him, +it is evident that if he did not commit suicide it was intended that it +should appear as if he had done so. To believe it a case of suicide is +the simplest solution. He could enter the office by the side door at his +will, he could poison himself there at his leisure, and it would never +occur to him to imagine that any one would afterwards suspect he had met +his death in any other way. The one thing missing is the motive. The only +person even to suggest that Farrell had looked worried was the junior +clerk, Small, and his uncorroborated opinion does not count for much. +Besides, his affairs were in order, and he was about to be married. You +must stop me, Mr. Delverton, if I make any incorrect statements." + +"Certainly. So far you have merely repeated what every one knows." + +"Except in one minor particular," said Quarles. "I lay special emphasis +on the desire of some one to show that it was a case of suicide. If we +deny suicide this becomes an important point, for we have to enquire when +and how the poison was administered. Did Farrell at some time before +midnight bring some one back to the office with him? For what purpose was +he brought there? How was the poison administered? We have evidence that +it was not drunk out of the glass on the table, no trace of poison being +found, and we can hardly suppose that Farrell would swallow a tablet at +any one's bidding. Since there was an evident desire to make it appear a +case of suicide, we should expect to find traces of poison in the glass; +it would have made it appear so much more like suicide. But we are +denying that it was suicide, so we are forced to the conclusion that some +one was present with Farrell in the office, and also that the somebody +ought to have allowed traces of the poison to remain in the glass. That +innocent tumbler is a fact we must not lose sight of. You see, Mr. +Delverton, I am not working along quite the same line as the original +investigation took." + +"No; and I am very interested. Still, I think a man might take a tablet +were it offered by one he looked upon as a friend. It might be for +headache." + +"Did Mr. Farrell suffer from headaches?" Quarles inquired. + +"Not that I am aware of. I am only putting a supposititious case." + +"Ah, but we are bound to stick to what we know, or we shall find +ourselves in difficulties," the professor returned. "Now, I understand +that when you left the office that evening only two of the clerks were +there, and they left the office together about ten minutes afterwards. +The junior clerk we may dismiss from our minds, but Kellner merits some +attention. It appears that his subsequent movements that evening are +accounted for; still, it is a fact that he directly profited by Mr. +Farrell's death. Shortly afterwards he became a partner in the firm." + +"He had no reason at the time to suppose he would be a partner," said +Delverton. + +"And would not have become one but for Farrell's death, I take it?" + +"He might. It is really impossible to say. Left alone, I took in Kellner +because he was the most competent man I knew. I may add that I have not +regretted it." + +"Had the detective who had the case in hand known that Kellner was to +become a partner, he would undoubtedly have given him more attention," +said Quarles. "He does not seem to have discovered that Kellner was in +financial straits at the time." + +"Was he?" said Delverton. + +"I have found that it was so," I answered. + +"I am surprised to hear it; but, after all, a clerk's financial +difficulties--" And he laughed as a man will who always thinks in +thousands. + +"We come to another person who profited by Farrell's death, Dr. +Morrison," said Quarles. "He married Miss Lester not long afterwards. +It is known that he was friendly, or apparently friendly, with his +rival, for such Farrell was, although he may not have been aware of the +fact; and, curiously enough, Morrison called at the office in Austin +Friars on the fatal day, and wanted to see Farrell an hour or so after +he had left." + +"Yes; I thought it was curious at the time." + +"He was able to account for his subsequent doings that day," Quarles went +on; "so it seems impossible that he could have been the person Farrell +brought back to the office that night. I think we must say positively he +was not. At the same time we must not overlook the fact that in his case +there was a motive for the crime. Forgetting for a moment our conclusion +that some one must have been in the office with Farrell in order to make +the death appear like suicide, we ask whether in any way it was possible +for Morrison to administer poison to Farrell. Supposing Farrell had met +Morrison immediately upon leaving the office, could the doctor possibly +have given him poison in such a manner that it would not take effect for +hours after?" + +"Stood him a glass of wine somewhere, you mean?" + +"Or induced him to swallow a tablet," said Quarles. + +"It is really a new idea," said our host. + +"It is a possibility, of course," Quarles answered; "but not a very +likely one, I fancy. It might account for the tumbler. Farrell might have +felt ill and drunk some plain water, but why was he in the office at all? +I find the whole crux of the affair in that question. Why should he come +back when he had left for the day?" + +"Then you are inclined to exonerate Morrison?" + +"On the evidence, yes." + +"You speak with some reservation, Mr. Quarles." + +"I want to bring the whole argument into focus, as it were," the +professor went on. "It was a settlement day on the Stock Exchange. I +believe a point was made three years ago that it was curious no one had +seen Farrell return, since many people who knew him would be about Austin +Friars late that night. This does not seem to me much of an argument. If +he returned between nine and ten he might easily escape notice. What does +seem to me curious is that he should choose such a day to leave the +office early, and tell a lie about it into the bargain. He said he had an +appointment with Miss Lester, and we know he had not." + +"Ought we not to say that we know she says he had not?" Delverton +corrected. "I do not wish to be captious, but--" + +"You are quite right," said Quarles; "we must be precise. You knew Miss +Lester, of course?" + +"I did not see her until after Farrell's death, then I saw her several +times. She seemed rather a charming person." + +"You have not seen her since her marriage?" + +"No." + +"I saw her the other day," said Quarles, "and I quite endorse your +opinion. She is charming, and I do not think she is the kind of woman to +tell a deliberate falsehood. If Farrell had had an appointment with her I +think she would have said so." + +"I am making no accusation against her," was the answer. "I was only +sticking to the actual evidence." + +"And that does not tell us where Farrell went that day," said Quarles. +"It seems strange that he did not meet any of the scores of people who +knew him as he left the office that afternoon." + +"Undoubtedly he did meet many." + +"They didn't come forward to say they had seen him." + +"I can see no reason why they should do so. There was no question of +fixing the time he left. I was able to give definite information on +that point." + +"Well, we seem to have used up our facts," said Quarles, "and are forced +to theorize." + +Delverton smiled. + +"You must not jump to the conclusion that I have failed," said the +professor quickly. "I did not promise to tell you the name of the +murderer to-night. Let me theorize for a few moments. You told me you +believed that Farrell's tragic end had hastened your brother's death. Did +your brother chance to come to the office that day?" + +"No." + +"Perhaps he came that night after you had left. I suppose you cannot +bring evidence that he did not?" + +"No; but--" + +"Or it might have been with him that Farrell had an appointment that day, +which was connected with some affair you were not intended to know +anything about. That would account for his telling you a lie." + +"I assure you--" + +"Let me follow out my idea to the end," said Quarles, leaning over the +table, and emphasizing his words by patting the cloth with his open hand. +"Three years ago things were rather bad on the Stock Exchange, one or two +men in the House were hammered, and several respected firms were shaky. +Now supposing Farrell had been playing with the firm's money unknown to +his partners, or perchance unknown only to one of them--yourself. Your +brother may have--" + +"Really, Mr. Quarles, you are getting absurd." + +"I was going to say--" + +"Oh, please, let me stop you before you say anything more foolish," said +Delverton. "At that time my brother was very ill and as weak as a rat. +How could he have administered poison to Farrell?" + +"It requires no strength to administer poison, only subtlety," said +Quarles. "A glass of wine, perhaps by your brother's bedside, and the +thing would be accomplished. Or there is another alternative. Your +brother may have been playing with the firm's credit, and Farrell may +have found him out." + +"Any other alternative, Mr. Quarles? Your fertile brain must hold +others." + +"Yes, one more, and two opinions which lead up to it," was the +quick reply. + +Delverton laughed. + +"It is not so absurd as the others, I trust." + +"The two opinions may lead you to change your ideas concerning this +mystery. First, I believe Kellner was made a partner because he knew +too much." + +"I am inclined to think the discussion of a glass of my best port will +be more profitable than these speculations," said our host with a smile, +and he took up the cradle which the servant had placed beside him. "I +offered you a glass in the office the other day, but it was not such +good wine as this." + +"And I was shocked at the idea of port in the middle of the morning," +said Quarles. + +"But not now, eh?" And Delverton filled our glasses and his own. + +"Of course not. My second belief is that Farrell did not leave the office +at all that day. We have only your word for it, you know." + +"Shall we drink to your clearer judgment?" said Delverton. + +I had raised my glass when Quarles cried out and tossed a spoon across +the table at me. + +"So you don't drink, Mr. Quarles," said Delverton, putting down his +emptied glass. + +"Not this vintage. It is too strong for me, and also for my friend +Wigan." + +"Your judgment of a vintage leaves something to be desired. That glass of +port has made me curious to hear the other alternative." + +"I think it was you who had been playing with the firm's money, and your +nephew found you out," said Quarles very deliberately. "That Stock +Exchange settlement was a crisis for you. I think you induced Farrell to +drink a glass of port with you, which was so doctored that he soon fell +into a sleep from which he never woke. Perchance you smiled at his +drowsiness, and suggested he should have half an hour's sleep in his +room. You would look after things in the meanwhile. You did so, and when +a clerk came in to say Dr. Morrison had called, you said Mr. Farrell had +left for the day. You took care to wash the wine glass, but it seemed a +good point to you to leave a tumbler with a little water in it on the +table. You did not leave the office until you knew that the last of the +clerks was ready to leave, and I imagine you waited somewhere in Austin +Friars to see them safely off the premises. You had no doubt that a +verdict of suicide would be returned. Later you were surprised to find +that your clerk, Kellner, knew of your money difficulties, and to silence +him he was taken into partnership. Whether the firm of Delverton +Brothers is running straight now I have no means of knowing, nor can I +say whether Mr. Kellner has any suspicion that the death of Mr. Farrell +was more opportune than natural. You are the kind of man who is much +impressed by his own cleverness, and when you met me in Devonshire it +occurred to you to throw down a challenge, to pit your wits against mine. +I suspected you then, for you overdid certain things, and a sinister +intention had entered into your head. You confessed yourself charmed with +Miss Lester, yet your whole attitude suggested that you believed Dr. +Morrison guilty of murder. You became something more than an ordinary +criminal who takes life to save himself from the consequence of his +actions, you crossed the line and became devilish. Mrs. Morrison believes +you would have asked her to marry you almost directly after Farrell's +death had she not very plainly shown you her loathing of such a union. So +you planned to be revenged when you threw down the challenge to me, and +having failed, you now attempt to be wholesale in your destruction." + +"I end by cheating you," said Delverton. + +"Not me, but the hangman. I will warn your butler that the port is +poisoned, and tell him to telephone for the doctor." + +"You can go to the devil," said Delverton. + +He died that night, and the following day the Delverton mystery filled +columns of the papers. It was a dull season, and the press made the most +of it. It is only right to say that Kellner was not generally believed to +have known that Farrell had been done to death by his uncle. Quarles +believes he was absolutely innocent in this respect. I am doubtful on the +point, I admit. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE IN MANLEIGH ROAD + + +The dramatic suicide of Martin Delverton, and the solution of a mystery +which had been relegated to the list of undiscovered crimes produced a +sensation. The public clamored for intimate particulars concerning +Christopher Quarles, the house in Chelsea was besieged by hopeful +interviewers, and the professor could only escape their attentions by +going out of town. It was an excellent excuse for golf, he declared, and +an opportunity to improve on his five handicap. I am bound to say that +while I was with him he never went round in less than twenty over bogey, +and when he only took twenty over he had luck. + +This sudden enthusiasm on the part of the public was the cause of some +difficulty and not a little annoyance so far as I was personally +concerned. + +As I have said elsewhere, I have constantly received the credit of +unmasking a scoundrel simply because Quarles chose to remain in the +background, but I have never claimed any credit to which I was not +entitled. It was distinctly hard, therefore, when all the praise for +bringing a series of crimes to light was given to him when justly it +should have been accorded to me. I had been engaged on the work at the +time the case of Eva Wilkinson had cropped up, my investigations had +prevented my accompanying Quarles and Zena to Devonshire. He would be the +first to deny that he had any part in solving these problems. I daresay I +mentioned certain points about them to him, he may possibly have made a +suggestion or two, but it is only because he had really nothing to do +with them that they have found no place in his chronicle. I admit I was +much annoyed, because I rather prided myself on the astuteness I had +displayed. + +Curiously enough, it was not only the public who persisted in giving him +the credit, but the victims of my ingenuity as well, and the mistake was +destined to bring peril to both of us in a most unexpected manner. + +I was at breakfast one morning about a week after our little golfing +holiday, when Quarles telephoned for me to go to him at once. He would +give me no information, except that it was an urgent matter, and it was +like him to ignore the possibility that I might have another +engagement. As it happened I was free that morning, and was soon on my +way to Chelsea. + +I found him studying some pamphlets and letters which had apparently come +altogether in the big envelope which was lying on the table. + +"Have you seen the paper this morning?" he asked. + +"I had just opened it when you 'phoned to me." + +"Did you read that?" + +He pointed to a paragraph headed, "Strange Affair in Savoy Street," and I +read as follows: + +"Last night, just after twelve o'clock, an elderly gentleman was walking +down Savoy Street, and was approaching the Embankment end, when a man +stepped from a doorway and deliberately fired at him. This was the old +gentleman's story told to half a dozen pedestrians who came running to +the spot. He seemed rather dazed, as well he might be, at the sudden +attack, and his assailant had disappeared. None of those who were first +upon the scene saw him, and although there is no doubt that a revolver +was fired, and that the gentleman's description of the assailant's +position was so exact that the bullet was found embedded in a door on the +opposite side of the street, the denouement casts some doubt on the +story. Quite a small crowd had collected by the time the police arrived, +and then the old gentleman was not to be found. In the excitement he had +slipped away without any one seeing him go. We understand that the police +theory is that there was no attempt at murder, but that the old +gentleman, having fired a revolver for a lark, or perhaps for a wager, +told a tale to save himself from the consequences of his folly, and then, +seizing his opportunity, quietly slipped away. Those who were first upon +the spot say his dazed condition may have been the result of too much to +drink. We cannot say the explanation is altogether satisfactory to us." + +"Well?" said Quarles when he saw I had finished. + +"I agree with the writer of the paragraph," I answered. "The explanation +is far from satisfactory. Such a story and such a smart disappearance do +not suggest drunkenness." + +"Perhaps not, although it is wonderful how Providence seems to watch over +the drunken man. However, the elderly gentleman was not drunk and his +story was strictly true. I was the elderly gentleman." + +"You! And your assailant?" + +Quarles got up and walked slowly to the window and back again. + +"It was a very near thing, Wigan, and it has got on my nerves a bit. You +know that I am held chiefly responsible for the solution of these robbery +cases with which you have been busy lately. That belief is at the bottom +of this attempt, I fancy. You remember the fellow who got off over the +first affair. There was little doubt of his guilt, but you had +insufficient evidence to bring it home to him. He was the man who fired +at me last night." + +"Had you no chance of capturing him?" + +"No, and the moment I saw his face clearly by the light of a street +lamp as he turned to run away, I made up my mind not to give +information. I should have got away at once, only people were on the +spot too quickly; so I told the simple truth, and slipped away at the +first opportunity to avoid being recognized by the police. It was +rather neatly done, I think." + +"But I do not see why you should withhold information," I said. + +"I didn't want my name mentioned in connection with the affair, and I +did not want the man to know I had recognized him. I think there is +bigger game to go for. All along I have believed that in these cases of +yours there was a connecting-link, a subtle personality in the +background. I believe you have only succeeded in bringing some of the +tools to justice." + +"And you want to get at the central scoundrel?" + +"I must, or he will get at me. Without knowing it I have probably escaped +other traps he has set. The fact that I am only your scapegoat does not +alter the position. He means to have me if he can. We, or rather you, +have come very near to unmasking him, I imagine, and his fear has made +him desperate." + +"What is to be done?" + +"I want you to go very carefully through those cases, treating them as +though they were all part of one problem. If necessary, you could get an +interview with one or two of the men who are doing time. When a man is +undergoing punishment, and believes that an equally guilty person has +got off scot-free, he is likely to become communicative." + +"All this will take time, and in the meanwhile--" + +"I am chiefly concerned with the meanwhile," said Quarles, "and it +happens rather fortunately that I have something to interest me and take +my mind off the matter. These letters and pamphlets were sent to me a few +days ago by Dr. Randall. You have heard of him, no doubt." + +"I don't think so." + +"He is a specialist in nervous diseases, so is naturally interested in +psychological matters. An article of mine in a psychological review +attracted his attention, and through a mutual friend--a barrister in the +Temple--we were introduced last night. To-night I am dining with Randall +at a little restaurant in Old Compton Street, and--well, I want you to +come too, Wigan." + +"But--" + +"Oh, I can make it all right. I shall send him a note, asking if I can +bring a friend who is much interested in these matters." + +"But I am not, and directly I open my mouth I shall show my ignorance." + +"Then obviously you must keep your mouth shut," said Quarles. "The fact +is, Wigan, last night has got on my nerves. I am--I may as well be quite +honest--I am a little afraid of going about alone. I want you to call for +me and go with me." + +"Of course I will. But surely, with your nerves on edge, it would be +wiser to keep away from psychological problems. What is the +particular problem?" + +"Randall will explain to-night, and you must at least pretend to be +interested. As regards my nerves, I can assure you this kind of thing is +a relief after the other. I do not think I am a coward as a rule, but I +am afraid of this unknown scoundrel. I have a presentiment that I am in +very real danger." + +"You probably exaggerate it," I said. + +"Maybe. But I never ignore a strong presentiment, and I--I slept with a +loaded revolver under my pillow last night, Wigan." + +There was no doubt as to his nervous condition; he showed it in his +restlessness, in his acute consciousness of sounds in the house and in +the street. He expected to be brought suddenly face to face with danger, +and was afraid he would not be ready to meet it. + +He certainly was not himself. Zena had gone to stay with friends in the +country for a few days, or I should have got her to persuade the old man +to give up this psychological business--at least until he was in a normal +condition again. + +The restaurant, where we found Dr. Randall waiting for us, was one of +those excellent little French places which cannot be beaten until they +have become too successful and popular, when they almost invariably +deteriorate. Randall said he was delighted the professor had brought me, +and dinner was served at once at a cozy table in a corner. + +"A patient of mine originally brought me here," said the doctor. "It is +rather a discovery, I think, and personally I prefer dining where I am +unlikely to come in contact with a lot of people I know. In recent years +we have improved, of course; but in England we still eat, while in France +they dine. Here we are practically in France." + +Certainly more French was spoken than English, and the doctor spoke in +French to the waiter. Quarles's nervousness, which had been apparent +during the drive from Chelsea, disappeared as dinner progressed, and I +did not suppose a stranger like Randall would notice it. He would +probably form rather a wrong impression of the professor, would look upon +him as a highly-strung man, and would not realize that he was not in a +normal condition this evening. Randall carried his profession in his +face, but for the time being his medical manner was laid aside; nor did +he speak of the business which had brought us together until we had got +to the coffee and liqueur stage. + +"I suppose you read the papers I sent you, Professor?" + +"Yes, but rather cursorily," Quarles answered. "I think if you told the +whole story I should understand it better; besides, my friend here knows +nothing of it, and will bring an unbiased mind to bear upon it." + +"And may give us a new idea," said the doctor. "I don't know whether you +are acquainted with Manleigh Road, Bayswater. There are about fifty +houses in it--a terrace, in fact, on either side. The houses are sixty or +seventy years old, I daresay, ugly but roomy, and some few years ago a +lot of money was spent in bringing them up to date, putting in +bath-rooms, modernizing them, and redecorating them thoroughly. In spite +of this, however, they have not attracted the kind of tenant they were +intended for. Many of them have apartments to let. The house we have to +do with is No. 7. The even numbers are on one side of the road, the odd +on the other. No. 5 is a boarding-house of a very respectable kind, +frequented by young fellows in business chiefly. No. 9 is occupied by a +man who, after retiring from business comparatively wealthy, had +financial losses. His four daughters have had to go out and work. I +mention these facts to show that the surroundings are entirely +commonplace. The owner of No. 7 went abroad some years ago, owing to the +death of his wife, I understand, and left the house in the hands of an +agent. It was to be let furnished, but, except for a caretaker, it +remained empty for several months. It was then taken by a newly-married +couple. They could not remain in it. The house was haunted, they said, +and I believe the agent threatened them with legal proceedings if they +spread such an absurd report. He seemed to think they said so only to +repudiate their bargain. It was then let to a man named Greaves, about +whom nothing was known. He paid the rent in advance, and lived there +alone with a housekeeper and a young servant. One morning he was found +dead in his bed, in the large room on the first floor at the back. A +piece of cord was fastened tightly round his neck. There seemed little +doubt that he had committed suicide, for when he did not come down to +breakfast the housekeeper went to his room and found the door locked on +the inside. It had to be broken open. Perhaps you heard of the case?" + +Quarles shook his head. + +"Well, the door was locked on the inside, the window was shut and +fastened, there was no sign that any one had entered the room, and +nothing was missing. Foul play was out of the question, but the doctor +who was called in was troubled about the affair. It was from him that I +had these particulars. Dr. Bates had become acquainted--not +professionally, I believe--with the young couple who had lived in the +house for a time, and they had told him the place was haunted. In +bringing his judgment to bear upon Greaves' death, it is only right to +remember that his mind had received a bias." + +"I take it he did not believe it was a case of suicide," said Quarles. + +"His reason told him it must be, yet something beyond reason told him +it wasn't." + +"He thought it was murder?" I asked. + +"No, not ordinary murder," Randall answered. "He thought it was a +supernatural death." + +"I have read the letter he wrote to you; there is nothing very definite +in it," said Quarles. + +"It was his indefinite state of mind which caused him to relate the whole +story to me. When the police failed to make any discovery, he thought +some one interested in psychological research might solve the mystery." + +"What, exactly, were the experiences of this young couple?" I asked. + +"Chiefly noises, footsteps echoing through a silent house. Once the +shadow of a man, or so it seemed, was thrown suddenly upon the wall by a +ray of moonlight, and once the curtains and sheets of a bed were found +torn, as if hands, finding nothing else to destroy, had taken vengeance +upon them. Of course, this all comes second-hand from Dr. Bates." + +"And is probably unconsciously exaggerated," said Quarles. "The ordinary +man is almost certain to overstate and to emphasize unduly one part of +the evidence." + +"That was my feeling exactly," returned Randall, "so I spent a night in +that haunted room myself. The result was disappointing." + +"Did nothing happen?" I asked. + +"There was no direct manifestation--at least I saw nothing, and I do not +think I heard anything, but I am sure that I felt something. It was very +vague. You know it is my theory," Randall went on, addressing me, "that +different individuals are sensitive to different influences. For example, +let us suppose a certain spot is haunted, a spot where something +particularly desperate has taken place in the past. Now I believe that A, +B, and C, all sensitive to supernatural influences, may watch there and +seeing nothing, but that D, being sensitive to that particular influence, +or moving on that particular plane, may be successful. In another case, +where D fails, A, B, or C may be successful. I think it is this fact +which accounts for the comparatively small number of experiences which we +are able to authenticate. It was an article of the professor's, setting +forth similar views, which made me anxious to make his acquaintance." + +"Are you suggesting that he should spend a night in this house?" I asked. + +"I do not think I suggested such a thing," said Randall with a smile, +"but I believe that is the professor's intention." + +"It is," said Quarles. + +"When?" I asked. + +"On Friday night." + +"Greaves died on a Friday night," said Randall. "It is a small point, +perhaps, but, like myself, the professor believes in small details." + +"I suppose the agent will let me have the key," said Quarles. + +"I do not know the agent. I got the key through Dr. Bates, and I can give +you a card of introduction to him." + +"It will be a very interesting experiment," I said, looking as learned as +I could. I thought I had kept my end up very well, and far from having to +pretend to be interested, as Quarles had suggested, I was profoundly +interested, not in the psychological discussion, but in the Bayswater +mystery. I had heard of it before, and remembered that Martin, one of the +oldest members of the force, had said that it was no more a case of +suicide than he was a raw recruit. I am far from saying that no mystery +is to be accounted for by the supernatural, but I always want to test it +in every other way first. + +Quarles was pleased to jeer at me for a skeptic as we drove back to +Chelsea. He did not consider me altogether a fool as a detective, but he +had no use for me as a psychological student. + +"Anyway, it is a pity you are undertaking this business in your present +nervous state," I said. "At least let me be with you on Friday night." + +"Nonsense, that would make the experiment useless. You clear up the +mystery of this subtle scoundrel who has tried to get me shot and my +nervous state will soon disappear." + +As a matter of fact, I couldn't settle to a careful study of my recent +cases, as the professor had suggested. I tried and failed. I could not +forget the experiment which was to be made on Friday night, and on +Wednesday morning I took action. First of all, I arranged that a special +constable should be on duty in Manleigh Road, and from his appearance no +one would have supposed that anything in the way of a genius had been +introduced into the neighborhood. He looked a fool; he was one of the +smartest men I knew. Strangely enough, on the Thursday night No. 7 was +burgled quite early in the evening as soon as it was dusk. Two men got in +at a basement window, and the constable was quite close at the time. He +had instructions, in fact, to give warning to the burglars if there was +any danger of their being seen. + +I had not burgled the house alone; I had taken a young detective named +Burroughs with me. Of course, I might say it was because I wanted to give +him a chance, or because I thought we might encounter desperate +characters in the house; but as a fact, it was the supernatural element +which decided me. I do not like the idea of the supernatural; my nerves, +excellent in their way and in their own sphere, are inclined to get jumpy +under certain conditions. + +We went up from the basement cautiously, and it would have needed keen +ears to have heard our movements. + +Without showing a light, we went into every room in the house. Those in +front had some light in them from a street lamp outside, but those at the +back were dark, although, after a while, we got accustomed to the dark, +and could see to some extent. None of the blinds was drawn, and although +there was no moon, it was a clear, starlit night. + +Our special attention was devoted to the room where Greaves had been +found dead. It was substantially furnished, mid-Victorian in character. +The lock on the door, which had been broken open, had been mended, and +the window was fastened. Systematically we examined every article of +furniture and the innocent-looking cupboard. The walls were substantial, +but we did not subject them to tapping. I did not want to arouse the +neighbors to the fact that No. 7 was not empty to-night. + +"We have a long vigil before us, Burroughs," I said. + +"What do you expect to discover, sir?" + +"I don't know, nothing most likely; but if anything does happen it is +going to happen in this room. I am going to take up my position in this +chair by the bed, and I want you to keep watch on the landing. If you +hear any one about the house come in to me at once, but if you only hear +me move don't come in unless I call. I shall not fasten the door, but I +shall put it to. If in some way it is possible to find out that this room +is occupied, I want to appear as if I were quite alone. Do you +understand?" + +"Perfectly." + +I saw Burroughs settled in a chair on the landing; then I entered the +room and closed the door without latching it, and there was a certain +feeling down my spine, in spite of the knowledge that I had a comrade +near at hand. + +It was quite beyond me how Quarles could undertake to stay there all +alone. I could have done it had I been convinced that danger could only +come from a material foe; it was the idea of the supernatural which beat +me. I was not skeptic enough to be unmoved. + +I had determined to sit beside the bed; but remembering that Greaves had +been found on the bed I first of all lay down for a minute or two. The +bed was not made up, but the mattresses were there with blankets over +them, and the hangings were in place. The key to the mystery might lie in +some hidden mechanism in the bed. Then I settled myself in the chair +beside the bed, my hand in my pocket on my revolver. + +This kind of waiting is always a trial. The silence, the bodily +inactivity while the mind is strained to be keenly alert, have a sort of +hypnotic influence. An untrained man will certainly fancy he hears and +sees things, and even a trained man has to light hard against the desire +to sleep. There comes a longing for something, anything, to happen. I +think I got into a condition at last in which I should have welcomed a +ghost. There was no church clock near to break the monotony with its +striking; time seemed non-existent. + +Once I thought I heard Burroughs shift his position on the landing +outside, and there presently came to me an uncontrollable desire to move. +I stood up. Just to walk to the window and back would make all the +difference. + +My journey across the room was noiseless, and, coming back, I +stopped suddenly. + +To my left there was movement, movement without sound. In an instant my +revolver was ready, and then I felt a fool. In a recess there was a glass +fixed to the wall, we had noticed it when we examined the room, and I had +caught the dim reflection of my head and shoulders in it. The glass was +just at that height from the floor. + +I went to it and called myself a fool to my reflection. I could only see +myself very dimly, so I cannot say whether the incident had driven any +color from my face. + +It had the effect of quieting my restlessness, at any rate. I returned to +my chair refreshed, feeling capable of keeping a vigil, however long it +might last. + +Almost unconsciously I began to consider how many deceptions +looking-glasses were responsible for, and remembered some of the +illusions I had seen at the Egyptian Hall. No doubt looking-glasses had +played a large part in some of them. + +And then I began to wonder why the mattresses had been left upon the bed. +Was the agent expecting to let the house again at once, or had they been +put there for Quarles's convenience to-morrow night? + +How long my mind slid from one thing to another I cannot say; but +gradually my ideas seemed to dwindle away into nothingness, and it is +easy to imagine that I slept. I do not think I did, however. + +Although my mind was a blank for a time, I am convinced I never lost +consciousness of that room or of the business I had in hand. There was +absolutely no sensation of waking, only another sudden desire to move. + +Again I walked to the window, and as I came back I glanced in the +direction of the glass. This time my own reflection did not startle me; +not because I was ready for it, but because I did not see it. + +I must have crossed the room at a different angle, or my eyes-- + +I went to the glass, and then I started. There was no reflection. I was +not in the glass. + +In a moment the knowledge that this room was haunted came to me in full +force. There was the glass, plainer than I had seen it before, my eyes +were not at fault. Indeed, as I stared into it, there was a dim outline +of images in the glass, the furniture of the room, but of me no +reflection at all. Was I bewitched? Surely I must be in my chair, +sleeping, dreaming, for suddenly in the glass, moving as in a mist, there +were shadows--a bed and a man lying on it, and bending over him was +another man whose hands were twisting about his companion. + +I tried to call out to stop him, then I drew back, and the next moment I +was at the door, speaking to Burroughs in a whisper. + +"What is it?" he asked, coming swiftly into the room. + +"Look!" and I seized him by the arm and drew him to the looking-glass. + +"Well, what is it?" he asked again. + +His reflection and mine were looking out at us, one scared face, mine; +one full of questioning, his. + +I told him what I had seen. + +"You dropped off to sleep, Mr. Wigan, that's what it was." + +Had I? It couldn't have been a dream, and yet faith in myself was shaken. +It was possible I had only walked across the room a second time in my +dreams. One thing is certain, I did not fall asleep again that night. + +I had arranged with the constable in Manleigh Road that he should keep a +careful watch at dawn. We should leave then by the same way as we had +entered, and he was to signal to us if the coast was clear. + +It was an essential part of my plan that no one should know the house had +been occupied that night. I had kept watch, thinking that if harm were +intended to Quarles the trap would be made ready previously. How and by +whom I had not fully considered. Now I determined not to leave the house +during the day. + +I would be there when Quarles came that night. + +I scribbled a note to him, explaining what I was doing, and I said that +if the agent should accompany him to the house I would remain hidden +until the agent had gone. This note I gave to Burroughs, and instructed +him to explain matters to the constable. + +I had provided myself with a flask and some dry biscuits in case of +contingencies, and prepared to pass the day as comfortably as I could. It +is needless to say that in daylight I examined that haunted room again, +especially the looking-glass. + +It was in an ornamental wooden frame fixed on the wall, formed, in fact, +a finish to a wooden dado. It was like the fixed overmantel one finds +sometimes in small modern villas, only it wasn't over the mantelpiece. + +I think there was nothing in the room which I did not examine carefully, +but I did not sit there; I preferred the front room. + +It was an immense relief when I saw Quarles and another man, the agent, +come through the gate. + +It was between eight and nine, and I retired to the basement to be out of +the way. The agent stayed about half an hour, and they were chiefly in +the haunted room together. + +"I sincerely hope your report will set at rest this silly idea that the +house is haunted," I heard the agent say as they came down to the hall. +"When my client returns he will be pretty mad about it." + +"When does he return?" asked Quarles. + +"I don't know. I haven't had a line from him since he went away, but +the sum I have received for him in rent doesn't amount to much, I can +tell you." + +I expected to find the professor rather ill-tempered at my interference, +but I found him inclined to raillery. + +"Are you hunting a murderer or a ghost, Wigan?" he asked. + +"I am not quite sure, but I think at the back of my mind there is an idea +to keep you out of the clutches of the subtle personality of whom you are +afraid. Come up to the haunted room; we will talk there, but it must be +in whispers. If I have had any success it is believed that you are in +this house alone to-night." + +"A foolish old man alone, eh?" + +"In this instance I am inclined to answer yes." + +"You are quite right to say exactly what you think," he returned. + +"Have you considered the possibility that some one is trading on your +known enthusiasm for psychological research?" I asked. + +"Surely you do not mean Randall?" + +"No, but he may have been used as a tool. Frankly now, would you have +undertaken this business just at the present time had it not been for +Dr. Randall?" + +"Probably not." + +"So if you are being deceived it is being managed very subtly." + +"You are full of supposition. Let us get to work. You speak in your +letter of an experience you had last night. What was it?" + +"You will say no doubt that my fear of the supernatural got the +better of me." + +I told him the story of the looking-glass as we stood in front of it, our +two faces looking out at us dimly. + +"Come away from it now, Wigan," he said when I had finished. "Burroughs +thought you had fallen asleep, did he? You are convinced you were not +dreaming, I presume?" + +"At the time I confess Burroughs rather shook my faith in myself, but +during the day I have become certain that I did not sleep." + +Sitting on the other side of the bed--Quarles was very particular where +he sat in the room--he questioned me closely about the actions of the +shadows, and I answered him as well as I could. Only a very vague picture +was in my mind. + +"It may astonish you to know, Wigan, that it was only your note this +morning which brought me to this house at all to-night, I 'phoned to you +at least a dozen times yesterday." + +"Why?" + +"I was afraid of to-night. Perhaps for the time being I have lost my grip +a little on account of my nervous condition. I have had a long talk with +Dr. Bates, and he tried to persuade me to give up the idea of spending a +night here alone. He was rather doubtful about a supernatural solution to +the mystery. Then I didn't like the agent when I went to him to arrange +about the key. I shouldn't have entered the house with him to-night had I +not known you were here." + +"Anything else?" I asked. + +"Always that strong presentiment of danger," he answered. "Were these +hangings on the bed last night?" + +"It was exactly as you see it now." + +"The agent said the mattress and blankets had been put here for my +convenience." + +"Did he say when they were put here?" + +"I thought he meant to-day," said Quarles. + +"No one has entered the house to-day," I answered. + +"Yet, if Greaves was murdered, some one must have gained access to this +room somehow, in spite of the locked door and fastened window." + +"You have dropped the idea of the supernatural, then?" + +"I am keeping an open mind." + +"Shall we give it up and go, Professor?" + +"Certainly not. I am supposed to be alone in the house, so we will +await events. On the other side of that wall where the glass hangs is +No. 5, I suppose?" + +"Yes." + +"That is the boarding-house. Keep still a minute while I get an idea of +the furniture against this opposite wall. Randall said a man and his four +daughters lived at No. 9, didn't he?" + +I whispered an affirmative, and could dimly see the professor going +slowly along the wall. He began tapping things, apparently with a +pocket knife. + +I warned him not to make a noise. + +"I am known to be here," he answered, coming back to me. "A man who +undertakes to investigate the supernatural would be expected to take +precautions that no tricks were likely to be played upon him. It would be +suspicious if I didn't make a little noise. Now we will settle ourselves. +I shall lie on the bed. You move a chair under that glass and sit there. +I have an electric torch with me. Don't fall asleep to-night, Wigan." + +"I didn't last night," I answered. + +After that we were silent, and the vigil began. In one way it was a +repetition of the previous night. I lost count of time, and had sudden +desires to move, but managed to control them. + +Certainly I did not sleep, and I fought successfully against the hypnotic +influence which silence and darkness exert. Not a sound of movement came +from Quarles, not a murmur from the world outside. + +More than once I wanted to ask the professor whether he was all right, +but did not do so. + +It seemed that this utter silence had lasted for hours, when it was +broken, not suddenly, but gradually. It was not a sound so much as a +movement which broke it. Some one or something was near us. At first it +did not seem to be in the room, but as if it were trying to get in. I +could not tell where it was, but for a time it was outside, and then just +as certainly I knew that it was in. + +I cannot say positively that I heard a footfall on the carpet, but I +think I did, and then came an unmistakable sound; the swish of the bed +hangings suddenly drawn back. + +"Quarles!" + +Whether I shouted his name or whispered it, I do not know, but the next +moment a ray from the electric torch cut the darkness like a long sword. + +There was a low, almost inarticulate cry, then a light thud upon the +floor--so light it might have been some clothes falling from the bed. + +"Don't move, Wigan!" Quarles said, and a second afterwards he +fired--downwards it must have been, although he had warned me to keep +still, in case he should hit me. + +There was an unearthly yell, and something rushed past my feet--a man on +all fours, a little man, a-- + +"The glass, Wigan! Quick!" + +I sprang up. For just an instant I saw my own reflection, then it was +gone; instead, I was looking into a luminous mist out of which there +suddenly flashed a face looking into mine. + +I saw it quite clearly, and then it went as quickly as it had come. It +appeared to have been jerked away. + +"Look!" + +Quarles was behind me, and in the glass, almost as I had seen them last +night, were the shadows, only now they struggled and twisted first; it +was afterwards that one lay still across the bed. + +"An ape, Wigan!" Quarles said excitedly. "An ape, trained to imitate, and +now--did some one look through the glass?" + +"Yes." + +"Was it Dr. Randall?" + +Directly he asked the question I knew that it was the doctor's face which +had been there. + +"The subtle personality, Wigan." + +"When did you guess?" + +"I didn't guess--I didn't think it possible. Bates' disbelief in the +supernatural made me a little suspicious, but I didn't think it possible. +To-night--that ape--the whole plot--I could only think of Randall. There +was no one else." + +We left the house at once, both of us in an excited state. + +The constable I had on special duty soon had several others with him, and +before dawn No. 5 Manleigh Road was raided. + +It was only a garbled statement which got into the papers, and +probably the whole truth will never be known; but I gradually gathered +the main facts, partly from the doctor's confederates, partly from +some of his victims. + +Dr. Randall, posing as a nerve specialist, and fully qualified to do so, +had lived a double life. As a doctor he was respected and was fairly +successful; as the head and organizer of a small army of miscreants he +had been eminent for years. + +Under the guise of a respectable boarding-house, No. 5 had been used +as the headquarters of the gang, and the operations had been so +widespread, so all-embracing in the field of crime, that after the +raid many mysteries which the police had failed to unravel were +credited to Randall. Many of these he could have had nothing to do +with, but he had quite enough to answer for. He seems to have +exercised a kind of terrorism over his subordinates, or he would +surely have been betrayed before. + +Exactly at what point my investigations had jeopardized his secret I +could not find out, but he evidently thought it was in danger, and +believing Quarles was responsible, he determined to get rid of him. + +I was told that he had made two attempts upon his life before the night +he was introduced to him in the Temple. That night Quarles was followed +when he left the Temple, and, as we know, was shot at in Savoy Street. + +This attempt failing, the doctor, who had already asked Quarles to dinner +on the following night as an extra precaution, determined to use a method +which had already proved successful. + +Quarles's enthusiasm for psychological research could hardly fail to +tempt him into the trap. + +No. 7 Manleigh Road belonged to a man in the doctor's employment. It had +been prepared for eventualities some time before--probably tragedies had +occurred in the house which had never been heard of. The house agent was +one of the gang, and when, either by mistake or because he could not help +himself without causing undesirable comment, he let the house to the +young married couple, they were frightened away. The house was then let +to Greaves, a man who had become a danger to the doctor, and in due +course he was found dead in his bed. + +Between the fireplace of the haunted room and that of the corresponding +room in No. 5 part of the chimney wall had been removed, so that there +was sufficient space for the ape to get from one room to the other. + +This ape, some four feet in height, was exceedingly powerful and more +than usually imitative, but was not naturally vicious. Any action done in +its presence the animal would be certain to repeat at the first +opportunity; but having done so, it did not repeat it again unless the +action was performed again. The action of strangling a man in his sleep +by means of a cord was performed before the ape, and afterwards the +animal was allowed to steal through the hole in the chimney. The result +was that Greaves was found dead. + +It was intended that Quarles should die in a like manner, and special +pains were taken with the ape to insure success. The action was performed +before the animal in every detail more than once, and it was kept in +strict confinement until the right moment came. + +The ape was out of my sight, but I chanced to see the imitation in +progress on the Thursday night through the glass, which had unaccountably +been left open for some minutes after it had been tried to see that it +was in working order. I saw only dimly because the imitation was being +done by the light of a single candle, and that shaded as much as +possible, to suggest to the ape the gloomy conditions of the room in +which it was to repeat its lesson. Let into the wall of the room in the +boarding-house there was a glass backing on to the one in the haunted +room. A small handle swung aside the back, which was common to both, and +the looking-glass became a window from one room to the other. + +When he fired Quarles evidently hit the ape. Mad with pain, the animal +dashed back through the hole in the chimney and attacked the doctor, who +was probably taken entirely unawares, as he was looking through the glass +to see what the revolver shot might mean. + +The ape went through its part of the performance, and the doctor fell a +victim to his own diabolical ingenuity. The wounded animal had to be +shot before any one could get near the body. + +Some people have declared that Dr. Randall was a madman, but I think +Quarles' answer hit the truth. + +"Of course, in a sense, all criminals are mad," he said, "but Randall was +the sanest criminal I ever came in contact with." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE DIFFICULTY OF BROTHER PYTHAGORAS + + +Whether it was my statement that criminals had grown cleverer than they +used to be which aroused Quarles's interest so effectually, or whether it +was that success made him thirst for further fields to conquer, I do not +know. I do know, however, that he grew restless if any considerable time +elapsed without my having a clue worthy of his powers. + +As it happened we had two or three cases close together which stretched +his powers to the utmost, and the extremely subtle manner in which he +solved them shows him at his best. + +When I sent him a telegram from Fairtown, merely requesting him to join +me there, I felt certain he would come by the first available train, and +was at the station to meet him. + +"Fine, invigorating air this, Wigan," he remarked. "Is there really a +case for us to deal with, or did you merely telegraph for the purpose of +giving me a holiday?" + +"The case is for you rather than for me. I am still--" + +"Still waiting for something to turn up in the Beverley affair?" he +asked. + +"Were I answering a layman, or even a rival detective, I should look very +wise and talk indefinitely of clues; to you I will admit a blank ten +days, not a forward step in any direction whatever." + +"So you send for me." + +"Upon a different matter altogether," I returned. + +I had come to Fairtown ten days ago on the lookout for a man named +Beverley. His friends were anxious about him, and said they believed he +was suffering from a loss of memory; the police had reason to suspect +that he was implicated in some company-promoting frauds, and thought the +family only wanted to find him to get him out of the country. His people +were certainly not aware that I was looking for him in Fairtown, and I +need not go into the reasons which made me expect to run my quarry to +earth in this particular spot; they were sound ones, or I should not have +spent ten days on the job. + +To describe Fairtown would be superfluous. Every one knows this popular +seaside resort. This year, I believe for the first time, a large tent had +been erected behind the sea-baths building, which was occupied each week +by a different company of entertainers. In my second week a troupe of +pierrots was there, the "Classical P's," they were called, and hearing +from some one in the hotel that they were quite out of the ordinary, I +went on the Thursday evening. At the opening of the performance the +leader of the troupe announced that Brother Pythagoras, after the +performance on the previous evening, had been obliged to go to town, and +unfortunately had not yet returned, so they would be without his services +that night. There was some disappointment; he had a charming tenor voice, +my neighbor told me. The full troupe numbered six, described on the +program as Brothers Pluto, Pompey, and Pythagoras, and Sisters Psyche, +Pomona, and Penelope; that night, of course, they were only five, but the +entertainment was excellent. + +Sister Pomona was altogether an exceptional pianist, her interpretation +of items by Schumann and Mendelssohn being little short of a revelation. +She was pretty, too, and her scarlet dress with its white pompons, and +her pierrot's hat to match, suited her to perfection. + +I was amongst the last left in the tent after the performance, partly +owing to the position of my seat, partly, at least so Zena would have it +later, and I did not contradict her, because I was lingering in the hope +of getting another glimpse of Pomona. As I moved toward the exit there +came a short scream, a terrified scream it seemed to me, from behind the +stage. I turned back and waited, and in a minute or two Brother Pluto +came from behind the curtains. + +"Are you a doctor?" he asked. + +"No, but--" + +"I am a doctor," said a voice behind me. + +I was not invited, but I followed the doctor. The space available for +the artistes was very small. There was little more than passageway +between the tent wall and the stage built up some three feet from the +ground, and we had to step over the various paraphernalia which was +necessary for the performance. What had happened was this. A projecting +piece of woodwork had caught Pomona's dress as she passed, tearing off +one of the white pompons, which had rolled underneath the platform. She +saw it, as she supposed, lying in a dark corner, and stooped to reach +it. What she had caught sight of, and what she caught hold of, was a +man's hand, a cold hand. Brothers Pluto and Pompey were beside her a +moment afterwards, and had dragged a body from under the stage. It was +Brother Pythagoras, the performer who was supposed to have gone to +London on the previous night. He was dressed in his pierrot costume, +but had been dead some hours, the doctor said, death being due to a blow +on the head, from a stick, probably. + +I told the story to Quarles as we walked to the hotel. + +"Does the doctor suggest an accident?" he asked. + +"No." + +"How long, in his opinion, had the man been dead?" + +"Some hours." + +"Twenty-four?" + +"I particularly asked that question," I answered. "He thought death had +taken place that day." + +"It may be an interesting case," said Quarles doubtfully. "I suppose I +can see the body." + +"I have arranged that." + +"Who are these brothers and sisters?" + +"Pluto and Psyche are husband and wife, a Mr. and Mrs. Watson. She is a +Colonial, and he has been in the Colonies for a year or two. It is their +second season of entertaining in this country. Pompey, whose name is +Smith, and Penelope, otherwise Miss Travers, have been with them from the +first. Pomona, otherwise Miss Day, only joined them this season, and is +evidently a lady. The dead man, Henley by name, joined them after the +season had commenced, taking the place of a man who fell ill. He has been +very reticent about himself." + +"According to Watson, I suppose?" said Quarles. + +"They were all agreed upon that point," I answered. + +"On what points were they not agreed?" Quarles asked quickly. + +"Well, although they all spoke in the warmest terms of their comrade, it +struck me they were not all so fond of him as they made out." + +"What makes you think that?" + +"The way they looked at the dead man. Naturally, I was watching them +rather keenly as the doctor made his examination." + +"That is rather an interesting idea, Wigan, and has possibilities in it; +still, a murdered man is not a pleasant sight, and the artistic +temperament must be taken into consideration." + +We went to the mortuary that afternoon. The dead man was still in the +pierrot's dress--I had arranged this should be so, wishing to afford the +professor every facility in his investigation. He was more interested in +the dress than in the man, examining it very carefully with his lens. The +stockings and shoes came in for close inspection, also the comical +pierrot's hat, which he fitted to the dead man's head for a moment. + +"Had he his hat on when he was pulled from under the platform?" he asked. + +"No. It was found after the doctor's examination, close to where the body +had been." + +"Who found it?" + +"Watson--Brother Pluto." + +"Who first thought of looking for it?" Quarles asked. + +"I think Watson just stooped down and saw it. He would naturally think of +it, since it was part of the dress." + +The professor nodded, as if the explanation satisfied him. Then he looked +at the head, neck, and hands. + +"He was a singer, you say?" + +"Yes--a tenor." + +"What instrument did he play?" + +"I don't know." + +"Ah, a sad end. Henley, you say his name was--I see there is 'H' marked +in pencil in his hat." + +"He called himself Henley," I answered; "it may not have been his real +name. As I said, his companions know very little about him." + +"So his friends, if he has any, cannot be advised of the tragedy. This +company of mummers is alone in its mourning for him. I should like to +examine this hat more closely, Wigan. Can I take it away with me?" + +I arranged for him to do so, and we went back to the hotel. + +"Do you find it an interesting case, Professor?" I asked. + +"It certainly presents some difficulties which are interesting. The clue +may lie in Henley's unknown past, and that might be a difficulty not to +be overcome; or we may find the clue in jealousy." + +"You surely are not thinking that--" + +"Oh, I have not got so far as suspecting Watson or any of his +companions," said Quarles, "but certain facts force us to keep an open +mind, Wigan. To begin with, there was apparently no struggle before +death. The blow was not so severe that a comparatively weak arm might not +have delivered it, a woman's, for the sake of argument. We may, +therefore, deduct two theories at once. He probably had no suspicion or +fear of the person in whose company he was, and I think the doctor will +endorse our statement if we affirm that he was not in a healthy +condition. Personally, I should credit Henley with a fairly rapid past, +which may account for his companions not looking upon the body with any +particular kindness, as you noticed." + +"You seem to have built more on that idea of mine than I +intended," I said. + +"I have built nothing at all on it," he answered. "I argue entirely from +the appearance of the dead man. Another point. I looked for some sign +that the dress had been put on after the man was dead. The signs all +point to an opposite conclusion." + +"The dress puzzles me," I said. + +"Of course, if the doctor were not so certain that death had occurred +during the day, we might place the murder at some time on the previous +night, after the performance, when Henley would naturally be in his +pierrot's dress, but why should he put it on during the day. There was no +rehearsal, I suppose?" + +"Nothing was said about it; besides, Henley was supposed to be in town." + +"Yes, I know. That is one of our difficulties. I take it that +neither Watson nor any of his company have offered any explanation +of the tragedy?" + +"I believe not. I saw the local inspector this morning, and he said +nothing further had transpired, nor had any clue been found amongst the +dead man's effects. Of course, if his companions had any guilty knowledge +they would have made some explanation." + +"Why?" + +"To mislead us." + +"My dear Wigan, there are times when you jump as far to a conclusion +as a woman." + +"I am arguing from a somewhat ripe experience," I retorted +somewhat hotly. + +"Strengthened by an interest in Sister Pomona, eh? Something of the +old-fashioned school lingers about you, which is picturesque but always a +handicap in these days. The methods of crime have changed just as the +methods of other enterprises have changed. Your bungling villain has no +chance nowadays; to succeed a criminal must be an artist, a scientist +even, and he does not fall into the error of accusing himself by +excusing himself. And since increased knowledge tends to simplify those +explanations with which we have sought to explain away difficulties in +the past, I think we shall be wise to apply modern methods to any +difficulty with which we are confronted." + +Naturally, I argued the point, endeavoring to justify myself, and in the +process we nearly quarreled. + +That night we went to the entertainment. It was an exceedingly full +house, showing the commercial wisdom of the proprietors of the sea-baths +in not canceling the engagement. The verve and go in the performance +astonished me. One would not have supposed that a tragedy had happened in +this little company of players. I felt that they ought to be horribly +conscious of the ghastly thing which had been found under that platform +only a few hours since. I said something of the kind to Quarles. + +"Don't forget the artistic temperament," he answered. + +"Surely it would be the very temperament to be influenced," I said. + +"Presently we shall find out, perhaps," he whispered as Sister Pomona +went to the piano. + +It was Chopin she played to-night, and Quarles, who had been more +interested in her than in the rest of the company, immediately lost +himself in the music. He applauded as vociferously as any one in the +audience, and after the performance would talk of nothing but music. It +pleased him to become learned on harmony and counterpoint; at least, I +suppose it was learned; I could not understand him. + +I had suggested that he should make the acquaintance of the pierrots as +soon as the curtain was down, but this he would not do. + +"To-morrow will be time enough; besides, I want to see them with the +paint off." + +We called on them on the following morning. They had rooms in a quiet +street in Fairtown. The landlady was accustomed to have strolling +companies as lodgers, and evidently had the knack of making them +comfortable. Quarles had a word or two with her before seeing her +visitors, and learnt that they were the nicest and quietest people +she had ever had. The poor gentleman who was dead was the quietest of +the company. + +"Perhaps he was in love," laughed Canaries. + +"I shouldn't be surprised," the landlady answered. + +"With whom?" + +"He seemed to spend most of his time looking at Miss Day when he +didn't think she would notice him. I don't wonder. She is well worth +looking at." + +"Admiration is not necessarily love," remarked the professor. "By the +way, have you been to the mortuary to see the body?" + +"Me!" exclaimed the landlady in horror. "No. I am not one of those +who take a morbid pleasure in that kind of thing. Nothing would +induce me to go." + +"Very sensible of you," Quarles said. + +We were then taken to the Watsons' sitting-room, and I explained the +reason of our call, speaking of Quarles as a brother detective. He did +not at once act up to his part. Mr. and Mrs. Watson were alone when we +first entered, but the others joined us almost at once, and I fancy they +were prepared for a visit from me; the local inspector may have said it +was likely. Quarles began to talk of music, and judging by Miss Day's +interest I concluded that he knew what he was talking about; in fact, all +of them were immensely interested in the old man, and for at least half +an hour the real reason of our being there was not mentioned. + +"Bach, no, I am not an admirer of Bach," said the professor, in answer to +a question from Miss Day. "Bad taste, no doubt, but I always think +musical opinion is particularly difficult to follow. By the way, I +suppose Mr. Henley played some instrument?" + +The sudden question seemed to change the whole atmosphere. Watson, I +fancy, had been ready to enter upon a defense of Shaw, and Miss Day to +convert Quarles to Bach worship; in fact, I firmly believe that every one +except myself had forgotten all about the dead man until that moment. + +"Why do you ask!" Watson inquired after a pause. + +"You are such a musical set, it would be strange if one of your company +could not play any instrument at all. I am told he sang tenor songs, and +was wondering whether that was all he could do." + +"As a fact he played the banjo and the guitar," said Watson, "but he has +not done so in Fairtown. The people here are high-class people, and we +have to vary our performance to suit our audiences. At Brighton, where we +go next week, Henley's banjo playing might have been the most popular +item on the program." + +"I can understand that. You know very little about Mr. Henley, I am +told," and he waved his hand in my direction to show where he had got his +information. + +"Very little," Watson replied. "He told us he had no relations, and he +received very few letters, which seemed to be from agents and business +people. I did not question him very closely when he applied to me. I +judged that he was down on his luck, but he fitted my requirements, and +my wife was favorably impressed with him." + +"And you have no reason to regret taking him into your company?" + +"On the contrary, he proved a great acquisition, a far better man than +the one whose place he took." + +"That is not quite what I meant," said Quarles. "Companies of +entertainers vary, not only in ability, but in individual tastes, in +personnel. By engaging Mr. Henley you were obliged to admit him into your +private circle, and I imagine--" + +"That is what I meant by saying my wife approved of him," said Watson. "I +wouldn't engage the finest tenor in the world unless he were a decent +fellow. It wouldn't be fair to the rest of us." + +Quarles nodded his appreciation of such an attitude. + +"Of course, as long as he behaves decently I am satisfied," Watson went +on. "I don't make my enquiries too particular. For instance, I shouldn't +bar a man because he had got into trouble." + +"Have you any reason to suppose that Henley had done so?" Quarles asked. +"That might account for his mysterious death." + +"I have no such suspicion," Watson answered; "indeed, he was not that +kind of man. It is my way--my clumsy way of explaining what I mean by +decent. Many a decent man has seen the inside of a prison. By being there +he pays his debt, and afterwards, in common justice, he should be free, +really free, free from his fellow-man's contempt." + +"You have started my husband on his pet hobby," laughed Mrs. Watson. "He +always declares that our prisons hold some of the best men in the world." + +"Some of the strongest and most potential," corrected her husband. + +"I am inclined to agree with him," said Quarles. + +"But I am taking up your time and not asking the one or two +questions I came especially to ask. You dress for the performance in +the tent, I suppose?" + +"The men do. The ladies dress here and go down with cloaks over their +costumes." + +Quarles undid a small brown paper parcel--I had wondered what he had +brought with him--and produced the pierrot's hat. + +"That is Henley's, I suppose?" + +Watson looked at it. + +"Undoubtedly. There is an 'H' in it, you see. We all put our initial in +like that so that we should know our own." + +"Now, can you suggest why Henley was wearing his dress?" asked Quarles. + +"That has puzzled us all," Watson answered. "I am inclined to think the +doctor is wrong as regards the time he had been dead. The last we saw of +Henley was when we left the tent that night. He was not coming back with +us, he was going straight to the station. He was a long time changing, +and I told him he would have to hurry to catch his train." + +"Is there such a late train up?" + +"Only during the summer." + +"And none of you went down to the tent until the evening of the +next day?" + +They all replied in the negative. + +"We are perhaps fortunate in being able to substantiate the denial," said +Watson. "We all drove to Craybourne and spent the day there, starting +soon after ten and not getting back until six." + +"And in the ordinary way Henley would have gone with you?" + +"Certainly. It was only just before the performance that evening that he +announced his journey to town. He said it was a matter of business." + +"One more question," said Quarles, "a delicate one, but you will forgive +it because you are as desirous of clearing up this mystery as any one. +Have you any reason to suppose poor Henley was in love?" + +"I have no reason to think so," said Watson. + +"Nor you, Miss Travers?" said Quarles, turning to Sister Penelope. + +"He certainly was not in love with me." + +"I ask the question just to clear the ground," said the professor after a +short pause, and rising as he spoke. "The man whose place Henley took +might have fallen in love with one of you young ladies, and if he thought +Henley had supplanted him he might have taken a mad revenge. Such things +do happen." + +"There was nothing of that sort," said Mrs. Watson. "Russell, that was +the other man, has gone on a voyage for his health. Only a week ago I had +a picture postcard from him from a port in South America." + +"That absolutely squashes the very germ of the theory," said the +professor with a smile. "Sometime I hope to enjoy your charming +entertainment again, and to hear you play, Miss Day. I hope it won't be +Bach. Good-by." + +As we walked back to the hotel I asked Quarles why he had not suggested +that Henley might be in love with Miss Day instead of Miss Travers. + +"My dear Wigan, you have yourself said she is undoubtedly a lady. Can +you imagine her allowing a man like the dead man to have anything to do +with her?" + +"Circumstances have thrown them into each other's company," I answered. +"In such a small circle she could hardly avoid him." + +"I am inclined to think the company will get on better without him," +he answered. + +To my astonishment the professor insisted on going back to town that +afternoon. No, he was not giving up the case, but he wanted to be in +Chelsea to think it out, and to see if Zena had got any foolish questions +to ask. This was Saturday, and on Monday I received a telegram from him, +requesting me to come to town. It was important. Of course I went, and +the three of us adjourned to the empty room. + +"I am sorry to bring you off the Beverley affair, Wigan, but I think we +ought to settle this pierrot business." + +"Then you have formed a theory?" + +"Oh, yes, and it is for you to prove whether I am right or wrong. If my +theory be correct, it is rather a simple case, although it appears +complicated. We will accept the doctor's statement that the man had been +murdered that day, and not on the previous night. He was done to death, +therefore, during the morning probably, when for some reason he had +visited the tent, and for some reason had put on his pierrot's dress. +Watson is inclined to think that the doctor is wrong as regards time, but +we may dismiss his opinion. The dead man's face had no make-up on it; had +the murder been committed on the previous night before he had got out of +his costume, the grease paint would have been still on him." + +"I think that conclusion is open to argument," I said. + +"I base the conclusion rather on the doctor's opinion than on the +paint," said Quarles. "Now, it seems to follow that Henley's tale about +being called to town was false, was apparently told for the purpose of +getting out of the excursion with his comrades; and we may fairly assume +that his visit to the tent was for some purpose which he did not want his +companions to know anything about." + +"Why did he put on the dress?" said Zena. + +"That is her persistent question, Wigan, and she also asks another almost +as persistently: Why, in spite of friendly words concerning Henley, +should they look upon the dead body with such repugnance?" + +"You make too much of that idea of mine, as I have said before," I +objected. + +"Let me put it another way," said Quarles. "How was it possible for +them to show so little concern about a comrade they liked! They might +screw themselves up to go through their performance and hide their +sorrow from the public, but in private one would have expected to find +them depressed. I hardly think they showed great sorrow while we were +with them." + +"They did not, certainly." + +"May I say that Watson and Miss Day seemed the least concerned, and even +venture a step further and guess that they were the two who seemed to you +to look upon the dead man with repugnance?" + +I admitted that this was the case, and it was then that Zena, having +heard the whole story from her grandfather, accused me of lingering in +the tent that night for the purpose of seeing Sister Pomona again. + +"Now, two points as we go," said Quarles, interrupting our little +side-spar. "Miss Day volunteered no statement when I talked of love. +Could she have made an unqualified denial I think she would have done so. +I did not ask her a direct question on purpose; I thought she would be +more likely to answer an indirect one. Her silence, I fancy, was the +answer. In view of what the landlady told us, I think we are safe in +assuming that Henley admired her, and that she was aware of the fact. The +second point is Watson's defense of the men who had been in prison, his +hobby, as his wife called it. We will come back to both these points in a +moment. Let us consider the dead man first. The face was evidently that +of a fast liver, not that of a decent man such as Watson spoke of; the +throat and neck were not of the kind one expects in a singer, but, of +course, we must not argue too much from this; the hands showed breed, +certainly, but they had never been used to twang the strings of a banjo +or guitar." + +"But Watson distinctly said--" + +"And the hat with 'H' in it had never fitted the dead man," said Quarles. +"Oh, I remember perfectly what Watson said, and, moreover, I believe I +heard a good many of his thoughts which were not put into words--you can +hear thoughts, you know, only it is with such delicacy that the very idea +of hearing seems too heavy and materialistic to describe the sensation. +Watson said the hat was Henley's, he also said that Henley played these +instruments; but the pierrots all wore hats that fitted, well-made hats, +and for this reason each of them marked his hat, and the skin at the +finger tips of a banjo player always hardens. The dead man was certainly +not Brother Pythagoras, and so far the deduction is simple." + +I made no comment. + +"Now it is obvious since these entertainers agreed that it was the body +of their comrade, they are in a conspiracy to deceive. Why? More than one +complicated reason might be found, but let us remain simple. They knew +who the dead man was, and because of what they knew of him concluded that +their comrade was responsible for his death. Have you any fault to find +with that deduction, Wigan?" + +"I don't think it follows," I said. + +"If they did not know the dead man, if they had nothing to conceal, why +did they allow it to be supposed that the dead man was Henley?" said +Queries. "There would be no object. They were running a risk for nothing. +As it was, their action protected Henley. No one was likely to question +their identification. The dead man would be buried as Henley, and there +would be an end of the matter." + +"But the dead man might be identified by his friends," I said. + +"Evidently they thought it worth while to run that risk, knowing perhaps +that it was not a very great one. Apparently it was not, for up to now no +one has made anxious inquiries for the dead man." + +"But some of the people about the sea-baths and the tent attendants would +know it was not Henley," said Zena. + +"We have evidence that he was a very quiet, reticent man," said Quarles. +"They probably hardly saw him in the daytime, and at night he would have +a painted face, and the fact that he was wearing the dress would go a +long way to convince any one who chanced to see him in the dim light at +the back of the stage that night." + +"And who do you suppose he was?" I asked. + +"We will go back to Watson and Miss Day," said Quarles. "Miss Day was +silent on the question of love, fearful, I take it, that her natural +repugnance to the man might serve to betray the conspiracy. I believe +the conspiracy was formed on the spur of the moment, just before Watson +came from behind the curtains that evening and asked whether you were a +doctor. I should say the dead man had pestered her, and that she was +relieved by his death. I find some confirmation of this in Watson's +attitude. He talks of some of the best men having been in prison, in such +a way, in fact, that his wife hastens to laugh at his hobby, afraid that +he will betray himself. Now he could hardly have been referring to the +dead man; he declared himself that he was not thinking of Henley; I +suggest that he was thinking of himself." + +"And you accused me of jumping to a conclusion!" I exclaimed. + +"I haven't finished yet," answered the professor. "Here is my complete +theory. The dead man knew something of Watson's past, and was holding +that knowledge over him, blackmailing him, in fact, and I think the +company knew it. At the same time he pesters Miss Day with his +attentions, which Henley, more than half in love with Miss Day himself, +resents and determines to rid the troupe of a blackguard. He begins by +pretending some friendship for his victim, and after giving out that he +is going to town, suggests to the dead man that his absence may be an +opportunity for the other to get into Miss Day's good graces. Why should +he not dress up and take his place on the following evening? I have +little doubt that Henley expected him to come to try on the dress that +night after the performance, which would account for his being such a +long time changing. The victim did not come; by the look of him in death +I should say he had not been sober, which would account for his not +coming. Next morning Henley goes to find him, takes him to the tent, not +through the door, which would be fastened probably in some way, but +surreptitiously, through some weak spot in the pegging down very likely." + +"But why should he wait until the man had got into the pierrot's dress +before murdering him?" said Zena. + +"Because, my dear, he hoped the body would not be discovered until +another troupe took possession of the tent. A dead pierrot would be +discovered, and the troupe at Brighton would be communicated with. In the +meanwhile Henley would have warned them, and the same tale would have +been told, and the body been identified as Henley's. There would be no +hue and cry after the murderer. Had it not been for Miss Day's pompon +being torn off, I have no doubt this would have been the course of +events. You will have to travel to Brighton, Wigan, and put one or two +questions to our friend Watson." + +"And who was the man?" I asked. + +"Since no one seems to have missed him I should say he was a man not too +anxious to have inquiries made about him, one careful to cover up his +tracks, perhaps one not altogether unknown in criminal circles, a man of +the type of your Beverley, for instance. By the way, have you ever seen +Beverley?" + +"No." + +"How were you to know him, then?" + +"By the man in whose company he would be." + +"And you have good reasons for expecting to run him to earth at +Fairtown?" + +"Excellent reasons," I answered. + +"Wigan, get some one who knows Beverley to go and look at the dead +pierrot. The result might be interesting." + +It was. Quarles admitted that the idea was a leap in the dark, but he +pointed out that the dead man was the type he imagined Beverley to be. +The fact remains he was right. The dead man was Beverley. And, moreover, +the professor's deduction was right throughout as far as we were able to +verify it. Watson had been in prison, quite deservedly he admitted, but +having paid the debt for his fall, he was facing the world bravely. Then +came Beverley, who knew of the past, and Watson admitted that his death +was a thing that he could not help rejoicing over. He had heard nothing +from Henley, who had no doubt read of the discovery in the paper, and +thought it wiser to obliterate himself altogether. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE TRAGEDY IN DUKE'S MANSIONS + + +I believe Beverley's exit from this life was a relief to his family. +Whether any very strenuous efforts were made to find Henley, I do not +know. Possibly the "Classical P's" are interrogated concerning him from +time to time, for they are still appearing at well-known watering places, +though whether Miss Day is still of the company, I cannot say. + +I quickly forgot all about Henley, being absorbed in a new case, which +created considerable attention. At the outset it brought me in contact +with rather a fascinating character, a man whose personality sticks in +your memory. + +He was an Italian by birth, cosmopolitan by circumstances, and by nature +something of an artist. Fate had ordained that he should be man-servant +to an English M.P.; he would have looked more at home in a Florentine +studio or in a Tuscany vineyard, but then Fate is responsible for many +incongruities. + +In well-chosen words, and in dramatic fashion, he drew the picture for +me. + +"The little dinner was over," he said, using his hands to illustrate his +speech. "I had removed everything but the wine. It had not been a merry +party, no; it was all business, I think, and serious. When I enter the +room to bring this or take that, they pause, say something of no +consequence--evidently I am not to hear anything of what they are +talking. They talk English, though only my master was English. One of his +guests was German, the other a countryman of my own, but not of Tuscany, +no, I think of the South. So there was only the wine on the table, and +cigars, and the silver box of cigarettes. My master had in his hand a +sheet of paper, and the German had taken a map from his pocket, and my +countryman was laughing at something which amused him. I can see it all +just as it was." + +He paused, closed his eyes, as if he would impress for ever on his memory +what he had seen. + +"And now--this," he said, throwing out his arms. "This, and not two hours +afterwards." + +This was certainly tragic enough. A shaded electric light hanging over +the table left the corners of the room in shadow. The wine, the cigars, +the silver cigarette box were still on the table, the smoke was heavy in +the atmosphere. A tray contained cigar and cigarette ends. On either side +of the table was a chair pushed back as it would be by a man rising from +it. At the end was a chair, with arms, also pushed back a little, but it +was not empty. In it was a man in evening dress, leaning back, his head +fallen a little to one side, his arms hanging loosely. But for the arms +of the chair he would have fallen to the floor. He was dead. How he had +died was uncertain. A casual examination told nothing, and I had not +moved him. I had arrived first and was expecting the doctor every moment. +I happened to be in my office when the telephone message came through +that Arthur Bridwell, M.P., had been found dead under suspicious +circumstances in his flat at Duke's Mansions, Knightsbridge. I went there +at once and found a constable in possession. It was barely half-past +nine now, and the Italian manservant said he had last seen his master +alive at seven o'clock. + +"He dined early to-night?" I said. + +"Yes, at six. He was going to the House afterwards. It was important, I +heard him say so to his guests." + +"And you went out at seven?" + +"About seven. It is my custom to go for a walk after serving my master," +was the answer. "I came back just before nine. I looked into this room, +not expecting to find any one here, but to put the wine away and take the +glasses, and I find this. I have moved nothing, I have touched nothing. I +called to the porter, and he fetched the police, and the policeman used +the telephone to call you." + +The Italian, whose name was Masini, was the only servant. Duke's +Mansions, as you probably know, is a set of flats, varying in +accommodation, with a central service. There is a general dining-room, +and there are smoking rooms and lounges which all the tenants may use; +or meals are served in the various flats from the central kitchen. +To-night Mr. Bridwell had had dinner served for three at an early hour +in his flat. + +The telephone was in the corner of the room, and I was going to it to +call up Christopher Quarles, convinced this was a case in which I should +need all the assistance I could get, when the telephone bell rang. + +"Hallo!" I said. "Who's that?" + +"I left my bag on the Chesterfield," came the answer. "Better not send +it. Keep it until I come again." + +"When?" I asked. + +There was a pause. + +"Is that you, Arthur?" came the question. + +"About the bag," I said, then paused. "Are you there?" + +No answer. My voice had evidently betrayed me. The woman at the other +end had discovered that she was speaking to the wrong man. I looked at +the Chesterfield. There was no bag of any kind upon it now. Then I +telephoned to Quarles, telling him there was a mysterious case for him to +investigate. + +"Had your master any other visitors to-day?" I asked casually, turning +to Masini. + +"Not to my knowledge. All the afternoon I was out." + +"Where were you?" + +"Out for my master. I took a parcel to a gentleman at Harrow." + +"To whom?" + +"It was to a Mr. Fisher. It was a small parcel, a big letter rather, for +it was in an envelope that--that size. There was no answer. I just told +my master that Mr. Fisher said it was all right." + +"So Mr. Bridwell might have had visitors while you were out?" + +"Certainly." + +"Did he have many visitors as a rule?" + +"Sometimes from what you call his constituency." + +"Any ladies?" + +"Ah, no, signore; my master was of the other kind. He did not like the +vote for women." + +"And you say you have moved nothing in this room?" + +"Nothing at all." + +Quarles arrived soon after the doctor had begun to examine the dead man, +so I could not then give him the particulars as far as I knew them. It +chanced that the doctor, a youngish man, was acquainted with the +professor, and was quite ready to listen to his suggestions. + +"What do you make of it, Professor?" he asked. + +"Is it poison!" said Quarles interrogatively. + +The doctor had already examined the glasses on the table. + +"I can find no signs of poison," he said. "And two hours ago the man +was alive." + +"That is according to the servant," I said. Masini was not in the room at +this time. + +"There is no reason to doubt the statement, is there?" the doctor asked. + +"No, but we have not yet corroborated it," I returned. + +Quarles was already busy with his lens examining the dead man's +shirt front. + +"You, have begun trying to find out who killed him before I have +pronounced upon the cause of death," said the doctor. "I am inclined to +think it is poison, but--" + +"He didn't inject a drug, I suppose!" said Quarles. + +"Not in his arm, you can look and satisfy yourself on that point. It is +just possible that he made an injection through his clothes. It requires +a more careful investigation than I can make to-night before I can give a +decided opinion." + +"Quite so, but you do not mind my looking at the body rather closely? A +little thing so often tells a big story, and the little things are +sometimes difficult to find once the body has been moved." + +The doctor watched Quarles's close investigation with some amusement. The +shirt front came in for a lot of attention, and the collar was examined +right round to the back of the neck. It was a long time before Quarles +stood erect and put the lens in his pocket. I got the impression that he +had prolonged the investigation for the purpose of impressing the doctor. + +"It would be virulent poison which would kill a man so quickly and while +he sat in his chair," Quarles said reflectively. + +"It would, indeed," the doctor returned. + +"You have formed no idea what the poison was?" + +"Not yet." + +"No hypodermic syringe has been found, I suppose?" said Quarles, +turning to me. + +"No." + +"You see, doctor," he went on, "if the glasses there show no evidence of +poison, and nothing has been moved, and you decide that poison was the +cause of death, one might jump to the conclusion that it had been +self-administered with a syringe; that is why I ask about a syringe." + +"There are such things as tablets," said the doctor, "or the poison may +have been in the food he has eaten to-night." + +"Exactly," Quarles snapped irritably. + +The doctor smiled; he had certainly scored a point and was +evidently pleased. + +"Besides, Professor, you are a little previous with your questions. This +isn't the inquest, you know; we haven't got through the post-mortem yet." + +"I generally form an opinion before the inquest," said Quarles as he +looked at each glass in turn and stirred the contents of the ash-tray +with a match. + +"You must often make mistakes," remarked the doctor. "I propose having +the body moved to the bedroom; there is nothing else you would like to +look at before I do so?" + +"Thanks, doctor, nothing," said Quarles with a smile which showed that he +had recovered his lost temper. + +After the removal of the body the doctor departed, fully convinced, I +believe, that the professor was a much overrated person. + +"Well, Wigan, shall I tell you what the result of the post-mortem is +likely to be?" said Quarles. + +"If you can. Remember you have not heard what I have to say yet." + +"No sign of poison will be found. No sign of violence will be discovered +anywhere upon the body. Sudden heart failure--that will be apparent. The +cause obscure. Organs seemingly healthy; no discernible disease. Muscular +failure. Death from natural causes. A case interesting to the medical +world, perhaps, but with no suggestion of foul play about it. Now let me +have your tale." + +"But surely you--" + +"I assure you I have formed no definite theory yet. How can I until I +have your story!" + +I repeated what Masini had told me, and I told him about the +telephone message. + +"It was a woman. You are quite sure it was a woman?" + +"Quite certain." + +He went to the telephone. + +"There is a directory here, I see; did you touch it?" + +"No." + +"It wasn't open?" + +"It was just as you see it now." + +He took a piece of paper and made one or two notes. + +"I imagine that particular call would be difficult to trace," he said. +"Duke's Mansions has a number, and from the office in the building the +particular flat required is switched on. There must have been scores of +calls during the evening. I don't remember anything particular about +Arthur Bridwell's parliamentary career, do you?" + +"No, beyond the fact that he is Member for one of the divisions +of Sussex." + +Quarles looked slowly round the room. + +"A bag," he mused; "one of those small chain or leather affairs which +women carry, I suppose; a purse in it, a handkerchief, perhaps a letter +or two. Bridwell would see it in all probability after the lady had +left, and he would--he would put it on a side table or slip it into a +drawer out of the way. Shall we just have Masini in and ask him a +question or two?" + +Instead of questioning the Italian the professor got him to repeat the +story as he had told it to me. It was exactly the same account. + +"You know nothing about these two visitors?" + +"Nothing, signore. I had never seen them before, but I should know +them again." + +"No names were mentioned in your presence?" + +"No." + +"Have you ever taken parcels to this Mr. Fisher before?" asked Quarles. + +"Never." + +"Was the parcel hard; something of metal or leather?" + +"Oh, no, signore; it was papers only." + +"And you saw Mr. Fisher?" + +"Yes." + +"What was he like? Was he English?" + +Masini said he was, and gave a description which might have fitted any +ten men out of the first dozen encountered in the street. He also +described the two visitors, but the portraits drawn were not startling. + +"What did Mr. Fisher say when you gave him the packet? What were his +exact words, I mean?" + +"He said: 'All right, tell Mr. Bridwell I shall start at once'." + +"How long have you been in Mr. Bridwell's service?" + +"Three years," was the answer. "He was traveling in Italy, and I +was a waiter in an hotel at Pisa. He liked me and made me an offer, +and I became his servant. I have traveled much with him in all +parts of Europe." + +"Are you sure you never saw either of the men who dined here to-night +while you were traveling with your master in Italy?" + +"I am sure, but on oath--it would be difficult to take an oath. His +friends were of a different kind. My master was writing a book on Italy; +he is still at work on it. Ah, signore, I should say he was at work on +it. Shall I show you his papers in the other room?" + +The voluminous manuscripts proved that Bridwell was engaged upon a +monumental work dealing with the Italian Renaissance. + +"Most interesting," said Quarles. "I should like to sit down at once and +spend hours with it. This is valuable. Mr. Bridwell's business man ought +to take charge of these papers. Do you know the name of his solicitors?" + +"Mr. Standish, in Hanover Square," Masini answered. + +The Italian declared he knew nothing about a lady's bag, and we searched +for it in vain. Then Quarles and I interviewed the hall porter. He knew +that Bridwell had had two gentlemen to dine with him that evening, but he +had not taken any particular notice of them. They left soon after eight, +he said. He corroborated the Italian's statement that he had gone out at +seven, and had returned just before nine. + +"You didn't see a lady go up to Mr. Bridwell's flat?" + +"No, sir, but I was not in the entrance hall at the time from eight to +nine. It is usually a slack time with me." + +"I did not mean then," said Quarles. "I meant at any time during the +day." + +"I do not remember a lady calling on Mr. Bridwell at anytime." + +It was early morning when the professor and I left Duke's Mansions. + +"There are two obvious things to do, Wigan," said Quarles. "First, we +must know something of this man Fisher. I think you should go to Harrow +as soon as possible. Then we want to know something of Bridwell's +parliamentary record. You might get an interview with one or two of his +colleagues, and ask their opinion of him as a public man and as a private +individual. Come to Chelsea to-night. You will probably have raked up a +good many facts by then, and we may find the right road to pursue. I will +also make an inquiry or two. At present I confess to being puzzled." + +"You told the doctor that you usually formed an opinion before the +inquest," I reminded him with a smile. + +"And he immediately talked of tablets and poisoned foods, and looked +horribly superior. He is a young man, and I knew his father, who once did +me a good turn. I shall have to repay the debt and prevent the son making +a fool of himself." + +"You have no doubt that it was murder?" I asked. + +"Why, you told me it was yourself when you rang me up on the 'phone," +he answered. + +As had often happened before, Quarles's manner of shutting me up annoyed +me, but when you have to deal with an eccentric it is no use expecting +him to travel in an ordinary orbit. + +To obviate unnecessary repetition I shall give the result of my +inquiries as I related it to Quarles and Zena when I went to Chelsea +that night. + +"You look satisfied and successful, Wigan," said the professor. + +"I am both," I answered. "Whether we shall catch the actual criminal is +another matter. We may at least lay our hands on one of his accomplices. +Will it surprise you to learn that I am having the Italian Masini +carefully watched?" + +"It is a wise precaution." + +"I am inclined to adopt the method you do sometimes, professor, and begin +at the end," I went on. "First, as regards Mr. Bridwell's parliamentary +friends and acquaintances, and his political career. Although he is a +Member whose voice is not often heard in the House, his intimate +knowledge of Europe, its general history and politics, gives him +importance. He is constantly consulted by the Government, and his opinion +is always considered valuable. His colleagues are unanimous on this +point, and generally he seems to be respected." + +"But the respect is not unanimous, you mean?" + +"It is not." + +"And in his private life?" + +"I have not found any one who was intimate with him in private." + +"I see; kept politics and his private life entirely separate," +said Quarles. + +"I am not prepared to say that," I answered. "I have not had time to hunt +up anybody on the private side yet, and I do not think it will be +necessary. One of the men I saw was Reynolds, of the War Office. I was +advised to go and see him, as he was supposed to know Bridwell well. He +did not have much good to say about him. It seems that for some time past +there has been a leakage of War Office secrets, that in some +unaccountable way foreign powers have obtained information, and suspicion +has pointed to Bridwell being concerned. So far as I can gather, nothing +has been actually proved against him, and I pointed out that his intimate +knowledge of European affairs made him rather a marked man. Reynolds, +however, was very definite in his opinion, spoke as if he possessed +knowledge which he could not impart to me. He was not surprised to hear +of Bridwell's death. When I spoke of murder he was rather skeptical, +remarked that in that case Bridwell must have been double-dealing with +his paymasters, and had paid the penalty; but it was far more likely to +be suicide, he thought, and said it was the best thing, the only thing, +in fact, which Bridwell could do. I have no doubt Reynolds knew that some +action had been taken which could not fail to show Bridwell that he was +suspected." + +Quarles nodded, evidently much interested. + +"This view receives confirmation from the movements of Fisher," I went +on. "He left Harrow last night--must have gone almost directly after he +received the packet. He only occupies furnished rooms in Harrow, and the +landlady tells me that during the year he has had them he has often been +away for days and even weeks at a time. Announcing his return, or giving +her some instructions, she has received letters from him from Berlin, +Madrid, Rome, and Vienna. That is significant, Professor." + +"It is. Did she happen to mention any places in England from which she +has heard from him?" + +"Yes, several--York, Oakham, Oxford, and also from Edinburgh." + +"She did not mention any place in Sussex?" + +"No, I think not." + +"It would appear then that Fisher could have had nothing to do with +Bridwell's legitimate political business or he would certainly have +spent some time in the constituency. Well, Wigan, what do you make of +the case?" + +"I think it is fairly clear in its main points," I answered. "Bridwell +has been selling information to foreign powers, and would naturally deal +with the highest bidders. Fisher is a foreign agent, and having received +valuable information yesterday, left England with it at once. The two men +who came to dinner represented some other power, came no doubt by +appointment to receive information, but probably knew that their host was +dealing doubly with them. Bridwell's commercial ingenuity in the matter +has been his undoing, hence his death. Whether Masini was attached to +Fisher, or to the schemes of the other two, it is impossible to say, but +I believe he was an accomplice on one side or the other." + +"I built up a similar theory, Wigan; not with the completeness you have, +of course, because I knew nothing of the suspicions concerning Bridwell, +but when I had made it as complete as I could, I began to pick it to +pieces. It fell into ruins rather easily, and you do not help me to build +it again." + +"It seems to me the main facts cannot be got away from," I said. + +"Zena assisted in the ruining process by saying, 'Cherchez la femme.'" + +"You see, Murray, you do not account for the woman and the bag," +said Zena. + +"They are extraneous incidents belonging to his private life. It is +remarkable how distinct he kept his private from his political life." + +"Very remarkable," Quarles said. "Yet the woman is also a fact, and she +seems to me of the utmost importance. We must account for her, and your +explanation brings me no sense of satisfaction. Let me tell you how I +began to demolish my theory, Wigan. I started with Masini. Now, he seemed +honest to me. He was very ready to repeat Fisher's exact words, and the +very fact of my asking for them would have made him suspicious and put +him on his guard had he possessed any guilty knowledge, whether it +concerned Fisher or the two visitors. Further, had he been in league with +the two visitors and knew they had murdered his master, he would hardly +have been so ready to block suspicion in other directions. He would not +have said his master's visitors came chiefly from his constituency, and +he certainly would not have scouted the idea of a woman caller. He would +have welcomed such a suggestion, fully appreciating how valuable a woman +would be in starting an inquiry on a false trail." + +"But you mustn't attribute to an Italian servant all the subtlety you +might use under similar circumstances," I said. + +"I am showing you how I picked my own theory to pieces," he answered. "I +next considered the visitors. I assumed they were there for an unlawful +purpose--your facts go to show that my assumption was right--and I asked +myself why and how they had murdered Bridwell. If he were a schemer with +them, there would be no need to murder him, no need to silence him; were +he to talk afterwards he would only injure himself, not them. If they +were there to force papers from their host, it seems unlikely that he +would be so unsuspicious of them that he would have asked them to dinner, +and, even if he were, a moment must have come during, or after dinner, +when they must have shown their hand. A man who deals in this kind of +commerce does not easily trust people. Bridwell's suspicions would +certainly have been aroused; he would in some measure, at any rate, have +been prepared, and we should have found some signs of a struggle." + +"I admit the soundness of the argument," I answered. "For my part I +incline to Reynolds' opinion that it was suicide after all." + +"Oh, no; it was murder," said Quarles. + +"A tablet--" I began. + +"I know it was murder," returned the professor sharply, "and the manner +of it has presented the chief difficulty I have found in demolishing my +theory altogether. Bridwell was poisoned by an injection. The hypodermic +needle was inserted under the hair at the back of the head, here in the +soft part of the base of the skull, the hair concealing the small mark it +made. I believe the secret of the poison used is forgotten, but you may +read of it in books relating to the Vatican of old days and concerning +the old families of Italy. I might mention the Borgias particularly. So +you see my difficulty, Wigan. The crime literally reeked of Italy, and we +had two Italians amongst our dramatis personæ." + +"A significant fact," I said. + +"Of course I am letting the doctor know of my discovery; that is the good +turn I shall do him. He will be considered quite smart over this affair. +Now consider this point. It would surely have been very difficult, once +the host's suspicions had been aroused, to make the injection without a +struggle on the victim's part." + +"No suspicion may have been aroused," I said. "Masini has told us of a +map. The murderer might have been leaning over his victim examining it." + +"That is true. You pick out the weak point," said Quarles. + +"Even then there would have been some sort of struggle, surely," said +Zena. "The poison can hardly act instantaneously." + +"Practically it does," Quarles answered. "I have read of it, of the +different methods of its administration, and of its results, and no doubt +any one acquainted with old Italian manuscripts would be able to get more +detailed information than I have; but it produces almost instant +paralysis, acts on the nerve centers, and stops the heart's action, +leaving no trace behind it. What straggle there was could be overcome by +the pressure of a man's hand upon the victim's chest, to keep him from +rising from his seat, for instance. I found signs of such a detaining +hand on Bridwell's shirt front. Of course, Wigan, while pulling my theory +to pieces I knew nothing of your facts about Bridwell, but now that I do +know them, the theory is not saved from ruin. Have you ever watched +trains rushing through a great junction--say Clapham Junction?" + +"Yes; often." + +"And haven't you noticed how the lines, crossing and recrossing one +another, seem to be alive, seem to be trying to draw the train to run +upon them, to deviate it from its course, until you almost wonder whether +the train will be able to keep its right road? There seems to be great +confusion; yet we know this is not so. We know those many lines are +mathematically correct. If you want to keep your eye on the main line, +you mustn't be misled by the lines which touch and cross it, which seem +to belong to it, until they suddenly sweep off in another direction. In +this Bridwell affair we have to be careful not to be misled by cross +lines, and I grant there are many. You say the woman is an extraneous +episode; but is she? She left a bag, which is not to be found. Had Masini +known of her existence I do not think he would have denied all knowledge +of her, for the reasons I have already given, and I argue that her visit +to the flat was timed to occur when the servant was out, so that he +should know nothing about her. The hall porter knew nothing; about a lady +visiting the flat at any time, so we must assume the woman was not a +constant visitor. Moreover, we know that she had something to hide, some +secret, or she would not have ceased speaking directly she found she was +addressing a stranger. She probably belonged to Bridwell's private life. +Now Zena says, 'Cherchez la femme,' but there is no need to look for her; +she forces herself upon our notice. We know that Bridwell was alive at +seven o'clock: we know his visitors did not leave him until eight. It is +hardly conceivable that the woman came to the flat after that to commit a +crime, impossible to believe that she would leave her bag there to be +evidence against her, and then telephone about it to a man she knew to be +dead. We may dismiss from our minds any idea that she committed murder." + +"I can see a possibility of immense subtlety on her part," I said. + +"That is to be deceived by a crossing line, which ought not to deceive +you, which leads only into a siding," said Quarles. "We have to remember +that there was a bag, and that it has disappeared" + +"She may have made a mistake and left it somewhere else," said Zena. + +"I think we may be sure it was left there, because she states distinctly +where it was left--on the Chesterfield. There was something in her mind +to fix the place. Moreover, she says, 'Better not send it.' Very +significant, that. Bridwell is to keep it until she comes again. +Therefore there was some person she would not have know of her visit to +the flat, some person who might possibly find out if the bag were +returned. I suggest that person was her husband." + +"I think you have struck the side line," I remarked. + +"Let me continue to build on the private life of Mr. Bridwell," Quarles +went on. "I find a foundation in his literary work--no mean work, +absorbing a great part of his life. There would be constant need to refer +to libraries, to pictures and other works of art, some of them in private +collections. A great deal of this work could be done by an assistant. +Shall we say the name of this assistant was Fisher? I observe you do not +think it likely." + +"I certainly do not." + +"But a secret agent engaged in stealing Government information would +hardly advertise his movements to his landlady; he would surely have been +more secret than that. On the other hand, the places Fisher mentions have +famous libraries and picture galleries. What would a secret agent want at +Oxford? A man bent on research would be going to the Bodleian. Country +seats with famous works of art in their galleries would account for +Fisher's presence in other places mentioned by the landlady." + +"Is it not strange the Italian servant knew nothing about this wonderful +assistant?" I said. + +"No doubt Bridwell usually saw him in town, at his club, or elsewhere, or +communicated with him through the post; but on this occasion Masini was +purposely sent to be out of the way when the lady came. We know there +was some need for secrecy, and I suggest that Bridwell was in love with +another man's wife. In passing, I would point out that the answer Fisher +sent back bears out my idea of the assistantship." + +"It may," I answered. + +"Now Bridwell's work on the Italian Renaissance no doubt has much +information concerning the Vatican, and much to say about the prominent +Italian families. As a student, Bridwell would be likely to know all +about the romances of poisoned bouquets, gloves, prepared sweetmeats, and +the rest of the diabolical cunning which existed." + +"But we know that he didn't kill himself," I said. + +"Exactly. We have to find some one who shared the knowledge with him. Let +me go back to the missing bag for a moment. Since it was on the +Chesterfield, Bridwell must have seen it. What would he do with it? What +would you have done with it, Wigan? I think you would have just put it on +a side table or in a handy drawer; yet it had gone. The fact of its +disappearance stuck in my mind from the first, although I did not at once +see the full significance of it. On the cover of the telephone directory +there were two or three numbers scribbled in pencil; I made a note of +them with the idea that the woman might be traced that way. However, +arguing that a man would be likely to know the telephone number of a +woman he was in love with, and have no necessity to write it down, I took +no trouble in this direction. I went to see Bridwell's solicitor instead. +I led him to suppose that I was interested in the study of the +Renaissance, and asked him if Bridwell had had a companion during his +wanderings in Italy three years ago. For part of the time, at any rate, +he had--a partner rather than a companion, a man named Ormrod--Peter +Ormrod. I knew the name at once, because Ormrod has written many +articles for the reviews, and all of them have been about Italy in the +thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Ormrod's telephone number is 0054 +Croydon, and he is married, and I think it was his wife who spoke to you +over the telephone. My theory is that Ormrod had discovered that his wife +was in love with his friend, and used his knowledge of this poisoning +method, which could not be detected, remember, to be revenged. I think he +came to the flat that evening after Bridwell's guests had gone, perhaps +he expected to find his wife there. I do not think he quarreled with his +false friend. I think he showed great friendliness, talked a little of +the past perhaps; and then, in examining some book or paper, leant over +his friend as he sat at the table, and the deed was done. If the bag was +lying on a side table he saw it and took it away; if it was lying in a +drawer no doubt he found it while he was looking for letters from his +wife to Bridwell, or for her photograph--anything which would connect her +name with Bridwell. Somehow, he found it and took it away. There is no +one else who would be likely to take it." + +This was the solution. It was proved beyond all doubt that Bridwell had +been dealing in Government secrets, and changes had to be made to ensure +that the information he had sold should be useless to the purchasers; but +this crime had nothing to do with his murder. The dénouement was rather +startling. When we went to Ormrod's house next day we found that he had +gone. His wife, after fencing with us a little, was perfectly open. She +had arranged to go away with Bridwell and had visited him that day to +talk over final arrangements. It was the first time she had ever been to +the flat. Yesterday, a telegram had come for her husband. He opened it +in her presence, and told her he was going away at once, and for good. +Then he gave her the bag, saying he had found it in Bridwell's rooms on +the previous evening. Bridwell was dead, that was why he was going away. + +The solicitor Standish was a friend of Ormrod's, and after Quarles had +gone had suddenly realized what the inquiry might mean, so had +telegraphed a warning. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE STOLEN AEROPLANE MODEL + + +It was probably on account of the acumen he had shown in solving the +mystery of Arthur Bridwell's death that the government employed Quarles +in the important inquiry concerning a stolen model. For political reasons +nothing got into the papers at the time, but now there is no further need +of secrecy. + +You would have been astonished, I fancy, had you chanced upon us in the +empty room at Chelsea on a certain Friday afternoon. No trio of sane +persons could have looked more futile. On a paper pad the professor was +making odd diagrams which might have represented a cubist's idea of an +aeroplane collision; Zena was looking at her hands as if she had +discovered something new and unfamiliar about them; and I was turning the +leaves of my pocket book, hoping to get an inspiration. + +"The man-servant," said Zena, breaking the silence, which had lasted a +long time. + +"You have said that a dozen times in the last twenty-four hours," Quarles +returned rather shortly, adding after a moment's pause, as if he were +giving us valuable information, "and to-day is Friday." + +"It is simply impossible that the servant should know so little," she +persisted. "His ignorance is too colossal to be genuine. He doesn't know +whether he was attacked by one person or by half-a-dozen; he is not sure +that it wasn't a woman who seized him; he has no idea what his master +kept in the safe or in the cupboard. Well, all I can say is, I do not +believe him." + +I was inclined to agree with her, but in silence I went on looking +through the notes I had made concerning the extraordinary case which +must be solved quickly if the solution were to be of any benefit to +the country. Quarles was also silent, continuing his work as an +amateur cubist. + +He had expressed no definite opinion since the case had come into his +hands, nor had he laughed at any speculation of mine, a sure sign that he +was barren of ideas. I had never known him so reticent. + +It was his case entirely, not mine, and the fact that the government had +considered he was the only man likely to get to the bottom of the mystery +was a recognition of his powers, which pleased him no doubt. Twenty-four +hours had elapsed since he had been put in possession of the facts, and +although they had been spent in tireless energy by both of us--for he had +immediately sent for me--we seemed as far from the truth as ever. + +On the previous Tuesday Lady Chilcot had given a dance in her house in +Mayfair. Her entertainments always had a political flavor, and on this +particular evening her rooms seemed to have been full of conflicting +influences. + +There was considerable political tension at the time, consequent upon one +of those periodical disturbances in the Balkans, and people remarked upon +the coolness between the Minister for War and certain ambassadors who +were all present at Lady Chilcot's. + +Imagination may have had something to do with this conclusion, but two +apparently trivial incidents assumed importance as regards the case in +hand. The Silesian ambassador was seen in very earnest conversation with +a young man attached to the Silesian Embassy; and the Minister of War +had buttonholed young Lanning. + +Of course, we did not know what the Silesians had talked about, but to +Lanning the minister had remarked that, in view of the political +situation, the experiments which had been witnessed that day might prove +to be of supreme importance. Lanning expressed gratification that the +experiments had been found convincing, and ventured to hope the +government would not delay getting to work. + +With the minister's assurance that the government was keen, Richard +Lanning went to find Barbara Chilcot, Lady Chilcot's daughter, but not to +talk about the Minister of War or about any experiments. He was in love +with her, and had every reason to believe that she liked him. + +She was, however, very cool to him that evening, and sarcastically +inquired why he was not in attendance upon Mademoiselle Duplaix as usual. +She only laughed at his denials, and when he suggested that she should +ask his friend, Perry Nixon, whether there was any ground for her +suspicions, said that when she danced with Mr. Nixon later in the evening +she hoped to find something more interesting to talk about than +Mademoiselle Duplaix. + +Lanning comforted himself with the reflection that if Barbara were +indifferent to him she would have said nothing about Yvonne Duplaix, and +as he had another dance with her at the end of the program hoped to make +his peace then. + +When this dance came, however, he could not find her, and afterwards +discovered that she had sat it out with the young Silesian. He was angry +and felt a little revengeful, but he did not mention Barbara to Perry +Nixon when they left the house together and walked to Piccadilly. + +He left Nixon at the corner of Bond Street and went to his flat in +Jermyn Street. + +He found his man, Winbush, lying on the dining-room floor, gagged and +half unconscious. The safe in his bedroom had been broken open, important +papers had been stolen from it, and a wooden case, which he had locked in +a cupboard there, had been taken away. + +Fully alive to the gravity of the loss, and oblivious of the fact that +neglect would be attributed to him, he immediately telephoned to the +Minister of War. + +Then he 'phoned to Nixon's rooms in Bond Street, and Nixon came round at +once. Up to that time Lanning had said nothing about the experiments to +his friend; now he told him the whole story. + +Richard Lanning belonged to the Army Flying Corps, and was not only a +good airman, but was an authority upon flying machines. For some time +past there had been secret trials of various types of stabilizers, and +one invention, somewhat altered at Lanning's suggestion, had proved so +successful that safety in flight seemed assured in the near future. + +Detailed plans had been prepared, a working model constructed, and only +that afternoon these had been secretly exhibited by Lanning in London to +a few members of the government and some War Office officials. + +Only four men at the works knew anything about the secret, and even their +knowledge was not complete, so it seemed impossible that information +could leak out, yet the plans and the working model had been stolen. + +Of course Lanning was blamed for having them at his flat; he ought to +have taken them back to the works. The fact that this would have meant +missing Lady Chilcot's dance was an added mark against him, and +suggested a neglect of duty. + +Under the circumstances publicity was not desirable, and Christopher +Quarles was asked to solve the mystery. Instructions were telegraphed to +the various ports with a view to preventing the model and the plans being +taken out of the country, and, as I have said, the professor and I +entered upon a strenuous time. + +All our preliminary information naturally came from Lanning, who appeared +quite indifferent to his own position so long as the stolen property was +recovered. + +The man Winbush could throw little light upon the affair. He was in his +own room when he had heard a noise in the passage and supposed his master +had returned earlier than he expected. To make sure, he had gone to the +dining-room, but before he could switch on the light he had been seized +from behind, a pungent smell was in his nostrils, and he was only just +beginning to recover consciousness when his master found him. + +He had not seen his assailants, he could not say how many there were, and +he was inclined to think one of them was a woman, he told Quarles, +because when he first entered the dining-room there was a faint perfume +which suggested a woman's presence. + +"It was like a woman when she is dressed for a party," he said in +explanation. + +He had seen his master bring in the wooden case that afternoon, but he +did not know what it contained. + +As Zena said, it sounded a lame story, but Lanning believed it. Winbush +had been connected with the family all his life, was devoted to him, and +it was not likely he would know what the case contained. Lanning could +only suppose that some man at the works had turned traitor, while Mr. +Nixon gave it as his opinion that either France or Germany had pulled +the strings of the robbery. + +Acting under Quarles's instructions, I had an interview with Miss +Chilcot. She corroborated Lanning's story in every detail so far as she +was concerned, and incidentally I understood there was no more than a +lover's quarrel between them. She had sat out with the young Silesian on +purpose to annoy Richard. Certainly they had talked of aeroplaning; it +was natural, since two days before she had seen some flying at Ranelagh, +but Lanning's name had not been mentioned. Miss Chilcot knew nothing +about the experiments which had taken place, nor was she aware that her +lover was responsible for some of the improvements which had been made in +stabilizers. Rather inconsequently she was annoyed that he had not +confided in her. Miss Chilcot carried with her a faint odor of Parma +violets. Quarles had told me to note particularly whether she used any +kind of perfume. + +I was convinced of two things; first, that she was telling the truth +without concealing anything, and, secondly, that Mr. Lanning was likely +to marry a very charming but rather exacting young woman. When I said so +to Quarles he annoyed me by remarking that some women were capable of +making lies sound much more convincing than the truth. + +I did not attempt to get an interview with Mademoiselle Duplaix, but I +made inquiries concerning her, and had a man watching her movements. + +Apparently she was the daughter of a good French family, and was making a +prolonged stay with the Payne-Kennedys, who moved in very good society. +You may see their name constantly in the _Morning Post_. It was whispered +that they were not above accepting a handsome fee for introducing a +protégée into society, a form of log-rolling which is far more prevalent +than people imagine. Whether the girl's entrance into London society had +been paid for or not I am unable to say, but she had quickly established +herself as a success. It was generally agreed that she was both witty and +charming, the kind of girl men easily run after, but not the sort they +usually marry. + +She had evidently managed to cause dissension in various directions, so +the suggestion that there was something of the adventuress about her +might be nothing more than a spiteful comment. It justified us in keeping +a watch upon her, but I had no definite opinion in the matter, not having +seen the lady, and, as Quarles said, a fascinating foreigner is easily +called an adventuress. + +I also made careful inquiries concerning the young Silesian, and had him +pointed out to me. He had recently come from his own capital, and was +remaining in London only for a short time. He was a relative of the +ambassador, and was not here in any official capacity, it was stated. +This might be true so far as it went, but at the same time he might be +connected with the secret service. + +The professor said very little about his investigations, and I concluded +he had met with no success. He had spent some hours with Lanning at the +works, I knew, but if he had tapped any other sources of information he +did not mention them. + +He was still engaged in his cubist's drawings when the telephone +bell rang. + +"I'll go," he said as Zena jumped up; "I am expecting a message." + +He went into the hall, and when he returned told us that Lanning and +Nixon were on their way to Chelsea. + +"I told them to 'phone me if anything happened," he said. + +"And you expected to hear from them?" I asked. + +"My name is Micawber when I am in a hole, and I wait for something to +turn up. Waiting is occasionally the best way of getting to the end of +the journey. We will hear what they have to say, Wigan, and then we shall +possibly have to get a move on." + +Evidently he had a theory, but he would say nothing about it. He amused +himself by explaining that mechanical action, such as drawing meaningless +lines and curves, as he had been doing, had the effect of giving the +brain freedom to think, and declared that it was during times of this +sort of freedom that inspiration most usually came. + +He was still engrossed with the subject when Lanning and Nixon arrived. + +Quarles introduced them to Zena, saying that she always helped him in his +investigations. + +"Oh, no, not as a clairvoyant," he said with a smile as both men looked +astonished. "She just uses common sense, a very valuable thing in +detective work, I can assure you." + +"Are you any nearer a solution?" Lanning asked. + +"I thought you had come to give me some information," Quarles returned. + +"I have, but--" + +"Sit down, then, and to business. I am still wanting facts, which are +more useful than all my theories." + +"Mademoiselle Duplaix telephoned to me this morning," said Lanning. "A +man called on her to-day, a mysterious foreigner. He gave no name, but +she thinks he was a Silesian, although he spoke perfect French. He talked +to her in French, his English being of a fragmentary kind. He asked her +to give him the plans of the new aeroplane. You can imagine her surprise. +When she said she had got no plans he expressed great astonishment and +plunged into the whole story of how I had been robbed. Until that moment +Mademoiselle knew nothing of what had happened in my flat, but this +foreigner had evidently got hold of the whole story." + +"Who had told him to call upon her?" Quarles asked. + +"In the course of an excited narrative he mentioned two or three names +entirely unknown to her, but the man seemed to think that I should have +sent her the plans." + +"Very curious," Quarles remarked. + +"He then became apologetic," Lanning went on, "but all the same left the +impression that he did not believe her; in fact, she describes his +attitude as rather threatening. It wasn't until after he had gone that +she thought she ought to have him followed, and then it was too late. He +was out of the street. Probably he had a motor waiting for him. Then she +telephoned to me, but I was out, and have only just received her message. +What do you make of it?" + +"It gives a new turn to the affair," said Quarles reflectively. "It +leaves an unpleasant doubt whether Mademoiselle Duplaix is as innocent as +she ought to be, doesn't it?" + +"I don't think so." + +"Would she have telephoned to Lanning if she were guilty?" said Nixon. + +"My experience is that where women are concerned it is very difficult to +tell what line of action will be followed. Women are distinctly more +subtle than men." + +Then after a pause the professor went on: "It is difficult to understand +how this foreigner could have made such a mistake. You have told us, Mr. +Lanning, that there is nothing between you and this lady, but Miss +Chilcot had her suspicions, remember, which suggests that, without +intending to do so, you have paid her attentions which other people have +misunderstood. Now, do you think you have given Mademoiselle Duplaix a +wrong impression, made her believe, in short, that you cared for her, and +so caused her to be jealous and perhaps inclined to be revengeful?" + +"I am sure I have not." + +"Think well, it is a very important point. For instance, has she ever +given you any keepsake, a glove, a handkerchief, something--some trifle +she was wearing at a dance when--when you flirted with her? Girls do that +kind of thing, so my niece there has told me." + +Zena smiled and made no denial. + +"Nothing of the kind has happened between Mademoiselle and myself," +said Lanning. + +"And yet there seems to be a distinct attempt on some one's part to +implicate you." + +"That is true, and I am quite at a loss to understand it." + +"I have wondered whether it is not a clever device to put us off the +trail," said Nixon. "Your investigations may have led you nearer the +truth than you imagined, Mr. Quarles, and this may be an attempt to set +you off on a wrong scent. It seems such an obvious clue, doesn't it? They +would guess that Lanning would communicate with you." + +"That hardly explains why they went to Mademoiselle Duplaix, does it?" + +"But the fact that she is French may," Nixon answered. "Perhaps I am +prejudiced, but I believe Silesia has pulled the strings of this affair, +and that would be a very good reason for trying to implicate France. It +has occurred to Lanning whether the plot might not be frustrated at the +other end of it, so to speak. Lanning thinks it would be a good idea if +we went to Silesia." + +"What do you think of the idea?" Lanning asked. "I should have our +Embassy there behind me, and I should probably manage to get in touch +with the men who are active in Silesia's secret service. I mentioned it +to my chief this morning, and he thought there was a great deal in it, +but advised a consultation with you first." + +"I think it is a good idea," said Quarles, "and it suggests another one. +I am still a little doubtful about Mademoiselle Duplaix, and I have a +strong impression that she could at least tell us more if she would, but +that she is afraid of hurting you." + +"It is most unlikely." + +"Well, let me put it to the test, Mr. Lanning. Just write--let me see, +how will it be best to word it? 'I am going to Silesia--' By the way, +when will you go?" + +"I thought to-night." + +"It is as well not to waste time," said Quarles. "Then write, 'I am going +to Silesia to-night. I want you to be perfectly open with the bearer of +this note and do whatever he advises. If you would be a true friend to +me, tell him everything.' Put your ordinary signature to it. With that in +my possession I will get to work at once, and if I discover anything of +importance, and it should be necessary to stop your journey, I will meet +your train to-night." + +"It seems like an impertinence," Lanning said as he wrote the note. + +"When there is so much at stake I shouldn't let that worry you," +said Nixon. + +No sooner had they gone than Quarles became alert. + +"Now we move, Wigan. First of all, we have an appointment in Kensington, +at the Blue Lion, near the church, quite a respectable hostelry." + +"Not to meet Mademoiselle Duplaix, surely?" + +"No, she can wait. Respectable as it is, I do not suppose Mademoiselle +frequents the Blue Lion, but we may find there the man who called upon +her this morning." + +We took a taxi to Kensington. Every moment seemed to be bursting with +importance for Quarles now. + +The first person I caught sight of at the Blue Lion was Winbush, +evidently waiting for some one. He recognized us, and Quarles went to +him. + +"You are waiting for Mr. Lanning." + +The man hesitated. + +"I know," Quarles went on, "because I have just left your master. He is +in trouble." + +"In trouble!" + +"Oh, we shall get him out of it all right. There is some mistake. _I_ +have a message for you. Come inside." + +We found a corner to ourselves, and the professor, having ordered drinks, +showed Winbush the note which Lanning had written to Mademoiselle +Duplaix. It was not addressed to her, and was so worded that it might be +meant for any one. Winbush read it and looked at Quarles. + +"While your master is in Silesia I have certain work to do here, and to +do it I must have your complete story," said the professor. "You +appreciate the fact that Mr. Laiming looks upon you as a friend and +wishes you to tell me all you know." + +"I do, sir, only I don't see how my story is going to help him." + +"It is going to help us to put our hand on the man who is really guilty." + +"It has all been very mysterious," said Winbush, "and I have not been +able to understand my master at all. What I have said about hearing a +noise in the passage and being seized before I could switch on the light +in the dining-room is all true, but the stuff which was put into my face +and made me unconscious wasn't there before I had time to call out." + +"You called out, then?" + +"No, I didn't, because the man spoke to me." + +"Oh, it was a man--not a woman?" + +"It was Mr. Lanning himself," said Winbush. + +This was so unexpected that I nearly exclaimed at it, but Quarles just +watched the speaker as if he would make certain that he was telling +nothing but the truth. + +"He spoke quickly and excitedly," Winbush went on. "Said it was necessary +that the flat should appear to have been robbed. I should presently be +discovered bound. I was to say that I had been attacked in the dark and +that I did not know by whom nor by how many. I was not to speak about the +matter to him again under any circumstances, and even if he questioned me +alone or before others I was to stick to my story of utter ignorance. I +had just said that I understood and heard him say that he would probably +question me to prove my faithfulness, when he put the stuff over my mouth +and nose, and I knew no more until he found me there later on." + +"Has he questioned you since?" + +"Not since he first found me lying on the floor. He did then, and I +obeyed his instructions just as I did when you talked to me afterwards." + +"Did he suggest you should say a woman was present?" + +"No, sir." + +"That was a little extra trimming of your own, eh?" + +"No, it was a bit of truth that crept in. I thought a woman was there." + +"By the perfume?" + +"Yes, sir." + +Quarles brought from the depth of a pocket a tissue-paper parcel, from +which he took a handkerchief. + +"Was that the perfume?" + +Winbush smelt it. + +"It may have been. It was the perfume that hangs about a woman in +evening dress." + +"That's Parma violets, Wigan," said the professor, waving the +handkerchief towards me. It was one of his own, so had evidently been +specially prepared for this test. "I wonder what percentage of women use +the scent? It is not much of a clue for us, I am afraid." + +He put the handkerchief away, and then from another pocket produced a +second handkerchief, also wrapped in tissue paper. + +This time it was a fragile affair of lawn and lace. + +"Smell that, Mr. Winbush." + +"That's it!" the man exclaimed; no hesitation this time. + +"You can swear to it?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Rather a pleasant scent but peculiar, Wigan. I do not know what it is." + +Nor did I, but the handkerchief interested me. Worked in the corner were +the letters "Y.D." + +"I can get to work now, Mr. Winbush," said Quarles. "Your master tells +you to do whatever I advise. Of course, I understand that in keeping +these facts to yourself you were acting in your master's interests, but +were it generally known that you had suppressed the truth you might get +into trouble. Have you any relatives in town?" + +"I have a married nephew out Hampstead way." + +"Most fortunate. You go straight off and see him, get him to put you up +for the night, but whatever you do keep away from Jermyn Street until +to-morrow morning. You will spoil my efforts on your master's behalf if +you turn up at the flat before then." + +Winbush promised to obey these instructions, and Quarles and I left the +Blue Lion. + +"After hearing that Lanning was coming to see me this afternoon, I +telephoned a telegram to Winbush," explained the professor when we were +outside. "He thought it came from his master telling him to meet him at +the Blue Lion. Lanning will have to do his own packing for once. +Winbush's story is rather a surprising one, eh, Wigan?" + +"And most unexpected," I said. + +"Well, no, not quite unexpected," he answered in that superior manner +which is so exasperating at times. "I got that note from Lanning for the +purpose of getting the man to tell me the truth." + +"At any rate, you were mistaken in supposing that Mademoiselle's +mysterious foreigner would be at the Blue Lion," I returned. + +"Not at all. He was there." + +"Winbush!" I exclaimed. + +"No, Christopher Quarles. I called on Mademoiselle Duplaix this morning. +I thought she would communicate directly or indirectly with Lanning; +that is why I was expecting a message from him. I was also fortunate +enough to appropriate her handkerchief. To-night I become the +distinguished foreigner again; you had better be an elderly gentleman +with a stoop. We are traveling to Harwich. Don't forget a revolver; it +may be useful. We must get to Liverpool Street early; we shall want +plenty of time at the station." + +He left me without waiting to be questioned. I was annoyed, and was +pretty certain that he had overlooked one important fact. Surely Lanning +must have realized how dangerous it was to give such a note to Quarles? +Knowing the story Winbush could tell, he would not have been deceived by +the statement that the letter was intended for Mademoiselle Duplaix. He +was far too clever for that. He and Winbush were no doubt working +together, and the man's story was no doubt part of an arranged scheme. It +seemed to me that the immediate recognition of the second scent was +suspicious. The man was probably prepared for the test. + +I thought it likely that Quarles had met his match this time, and I did +not expect to see Richard Lanning at the station. + +However, he was there with Mr. Nixon. + +"Are they both in it?" I asked Quarles as we watched them. + +"No, I don't think so," was his doubtful answer. + +We were still watching them as they spoke to the guard, when I started +and called the professor's attention to a tall, military-looking man who +was hurrying along the platform. + +"That is the young man at the Silesian Embassy," I said. "He is evidently +going back. Are we to see Mademoiselle Duplaix come along next?" + +"We are only concerned with Lanning for the present," Quarles answered, +"and we have got to travel in the same carriage with him and Nixon. I +expect they have tipped the guard to get a carriage to themselves. You +must use your authority with him, Wigan, and show him that we are +Scotland Yard men. Suggest that he put us into the carriage at the last +moment with many apologies because there is no room elsewhere. In these +disguises they will not recognize us." + +The two Englishmen and the Silesian did not approach each other, and +apparently were quite ignorant of the fact that they were traveling by +the same train. I made the necessary arrangements with the guard, and +just as the train was starting we were bundled into the carriage, Quarles +blowing and puffing in a most natural manner. + +"Sorry," he panted, speaking in broken English; "it is a train quite +full, and I say to the man I must go. He put us in here. I am grieved to +disturb you." + +Nixon said it didn't matter, but Lanning looked annoyed. + +Quarles talked to me chiefly about a wife he was returning to at Bohn. He +became almost maudlin in his sentiment, and at intervals he raised his +voice sufficiently to allow our traveling companions to overhear the +conversation. + +Presently Quarles leaned towards me in a confidential manner, and said in +a whisper which was intentionally loud enough for the others to hear: + +"From Bohn I go to Silesia to see the new flying machine." + +"What flying machine?" I asked. + +"Ah, it was a secret what Silesia have got hold of. It was wonderful. I +myself tell you so, and I know. I--" + +"What do you know about it?" + +Lanning was leaning from his corner looking at Quarles. + +"Steady," said the professor. "If your hand does not from your pocket +come in one blink of an eye you are a dead man. This is a big matter." + +Quarles had covered him with a revolver, and following his lead I +covered Nixon. + +For a moment it was a tableau, not a sound nor a movement in the +carriage. + +"As you say, it is a big matter," said Lanning, taking his hand from +his pocket. + +He was for diplomacy rather than force, or perhaps he was a coward at +heart. Nixon showed more courage and was quicker in his movements. His +revolver was halfway out before I had slid along the seat and had my +weapon at his head. + +"It is of no use," said Quarles. "It is not by accident we are here. We +know, no matter how, but we know for certain that the plans of a +wonderful aeroplane which cannot come to harm, and a model of it, are +traveling by this train to-night. We came here to take them. We are sorry +to disturb you, but it is necessary." + +Lanning laughed. + +"Would it astonish you to hear we are after the very same things?" + +"It would, because I tell you they are in this carriage." + +"Where?" asked Lanning, still laughing. + +"There, in that big portmanteau." And Quarles pointed to one on the rack +above Nixon's head. + +I was only just in time to bring my weapon down on Nixon's wrist as he +whipped out his revolver. + +"Hold him, Wigan; he is dangerous," said Quarles, speaking in his natural +voice. "We will have a look in that portmanteau, Mr. Lanning." + +The plans and the model in its wooden case were there. Lanning was too +dumbfounded to ask questions, and Nixon offered no explanation just then. +I had wrested the revolver from him, and he sat there in silence. + +"It was very cleverly thought out, Mr. Nixon," said Quarles. "You see, +Mr. Lanning, your friend, having stolen these things, intended to allow +time to elapse before attempting to get them out of the country, but his +hand was forced when Mademoiselle Duplaix telephoned to you. The +foreigner who called upon her for the plans puzzled him. There was +something in the plot he did not understand. Two things were clear to +him, however; first, that he must act without delay, and secondly, that +mademoiselle's visitor would implicate her and cause us to make minute +inquiries in her direction--that a false trail was laid, in fact. So, +aware that he would find difficulty at the ports, he carefully suggested +to your mind that a journey to Silesia would be a useful move. Your +mission would be known at the ports, and you and your friend would pass +through without special examination." + +"That is so," said Lanning. + +"And you would have been cleverly fooled," said Quarles, "As for +Mademoiselle Duplaix, I confess I should have watched her keenly had I +not been the mysterious foreigner." + +"But my note to her?" said Lanning. + +"Was exceedingly useful, but I used it to get the truth out of Winbush," +and Quarles told the man-servant's story in detail. "Winbush, you see, +was in a dazed condition, and was deceived. In the dark Nixon pretended +to be you. I suppose it was a sudden inspiration when he found himself +disturbed, and his instructions to Winbush stopped your servant from +questioning you. Had he done so a suspicion concerning your friend might +have been aroused in your mind. Winbush, however, went a little beyond +his instructions, and said he thought a woman was present, because of a +perfume he noticed when he first entered the room. That particular +perfume is used by Mademoiselle Duplaix, and I should hazard a guess that +Mr. Nixon had stolen her handkerchief that evening, not a criminal +offense, but a matter of flirtation." + +"But he was at Lady Chilcot's, and left there with me," said Lanning. + +"If he has kept his program. I expect you will find some consecutive +places in it blank. Until this afternoon, Mr. Lanning, I confess that I +was uncertain whether you had been your own burglar or not, for it was +evident to me that your man knew something. I was convinced you were +innocent when you wrote that note for me, I rather wonder Mr. Nixon did +not realize the danger, but I suppose he felt confident that +Mademoiselle's visitor had entirely put me on the wrong trail. I do not +think Mademoiselle Duplaix is in any way a party to the theft, but I +think it is up to Mr. Nixon to make this quite clear." + +It is only doing Perry Nixon justice to say that he did clear up this +point, but not by word of mouth. + +At Harwich he ingeniously gave us the slip, but in a letter to Lanning, +received from Paris a week later, he said that he alone was responsible +for the theft, and that neither Mademoiselle Duplaix nor any one else had +any hand in it, nor any knowledge of it. + +From some remarks Lanning had let fall he concluded that some important +development had occurred in the stabilizing of flying machines--a matter +his employers were interested in--and he had watched his friend's +movements. He guessed that secret experiments had been tried that day +when he saw Lanning take the wooden case to his flat, and during the +evening he had slipped away from Lady Chilcot's dance, returning when he +had deposited the model and the plans in a safe place. + +He did not say where this safe place was, and since he had persistently +suggested that either France or Germany had pulled the strings of the +robbery, he was probably working for neither of these countries. + +Shortly afterwards Richard Lanning's engagement to Miss Chilcot was +announced, and I imagine he is still working to perfect a stabilizer, +for, although the model appears to have done all that was required of it, +the actual machine proved defective, I understand. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE AFFAIR OF THE CONTESSA'S PEARLS + + +I think it was when talking about the stolen model that Quarles made the +paradoxical statement that facts are not always the best evidence. I +argued the point, and remained entirely of an opposite opinion until I +had to investigate the case of a pair of pearl earrings, and then I was +driven into thinking there was something in Quarles's statement. It was +altogether a curious a if air, and showed the professor in a new light +which caused Zena and myself some trouble. + +The Contessa di Castalani occupied rooms at one of the big West End +hotels, a self-contained suite, consisting of a sitting-room, two +bedrooms, and vestibule. She had her child with her, a little girl of +about three years old, and a French maid named Angélique. + +Returning to the hotel one afternoon unexpectedly, she met, but took no +particular notice of, two men in the corridor which led to her suite. +Hotel servants she supposed them to be, and, as she entered the little +vestibule Angélique came from the contessa's bedroom. There was no reason +why she should not go in there; in fact, she carried a reason in her +hand. She had been to get a clean frock for the child. The one she had +worn on the previous day was too soiled to put on. + +That evening the contessa wished to wear a special pair of pearl +earrings, but when she went to get the little leather case which +contained the pearls, it was missing. + +Although her boxes and drawers were not much disarranged, it was quite +evident to her that they had been searched, but nothing else had been +taken apparently. + +It did not occur to her to suspect the maid, partly, no doubt, because +she remembered the men in the corridor, and she immediately sent for +the manager. + +The police were called in. The men in the corridor could not be accounted +for, but a search resulted in the finding of the leather case under the +bed. The earrings had gone. + +Naturally police suspicion fell on the French maid, but the contessa +absolutely refused such an explanation. Angélique, who was passionately +fond of her and of the child, would not do such a thing. + +The case looked simple enough, but it proved to be one in which facts did +not constitute the best evidence. Indeed, they proved somewhat +misleading. + +Beautiful, romantic, eccentric, superstitious, and most unfortunate +according to her own account, the Contessa di Castalani was the sensation +of a whole London season. + +As a dancer of a bizarre kind, she had set Paris nodding to the rhythm of +her movements and raving about the beauty of her eyes and hair. Her +reputation had preceded her to London, and when she appeared at the +Regency it was universally admitted that she far surpassed everything +that had been said about her. + +The press had duly informed the public that Castalani was one of the +oldest and most honored names in Italy. There had been a Castalani in the +Medici time, a close friend of the magnificent Lorenzo, it was asserted. +One paper declared that a Castalani had worn the triple tiara, which a +learned don of Oxford took the trouble to write and deny. And it would +appear that no one who had ever borne the name had been altogether +unimportant. + +How the family, resident in Pisa, liked this publicity, I do not know. +They made no movement to repudiate this daughter of their house, and I +have no reason whatever to doubt that the lady had a perfect right to her +title. I never heard any scandalous tale about her which even seemed +true, and if she and her husband were happier going each their own way, +it was their affair. + +So much mystery was woven round her during her appearances in the +European capitals, that I do not guarantee the correctness of my +statements when I say she was of humble origin, a Russian gipsy, I have +heard, seen in a Hungarian village by young Castalani, who immediately +fell in love with her and married her. + +Although in the course of this investigation I saw her many times and she +talked a great deal about herself, she was always vague when she was +dealing with facts. + +I am only concerned with her appearance in London. She attracted +overflowing houses to the Regency. A real live countess performing +bizarre and daring dances was undoubtedly the attraction to some, the +woman's splendid beauty charmed others, while a third section could talk +of nothing but her wonderful jewelry. + +At least two foolish young peers were said to be in love with her, and +there were tales of a well-known Cabinet Minister constantly occupying a +stall at the Regency when he ought to have been in his seat in the House. + +Had I not taken Christopher Quarles and Zena to the Regency one evening I +should probably never have known anything further of the contessa, but it +so happened that the professor was very much attracted by her. + +He went to the Regency three times in one week to study the inward +significance of her dances, he declared. He treated me to a learned +discourse concerning them, and was furious when one journal, slightly +puritanical in tone, perhaps, said that they were generally unedifying, +and in one case, at any rate, immodest. + +Zena and I began by laughing at the professor, but he did not like it. He +was quite serious in his admiration, and declared that nothing would +afford him greater pleasure than an introduction to the dancer. + +To his delight he got what he wanted, and incidentally solved one of the +most curious cases we have ever been engaged in together. + +In the ordinary way the case would never have come into my hands. It was +at Quarles's instigation that I asked to be employed upon it, and since +small and insignificant affairs are sometimes ramifications of big +mysteries, no surprise was caused by my request. + +I have not the slightest hesitation in saying that it was the +introduction to the woman which interested Quarles rather than her +pearls. Indeed, he appeared to think of nothing else beyond making +himself agreeable. + +It seemed to me she was just as interested in him, talked about herself +in a naive kind of way, and was delighted when her little girl, Nella, +took a tremendous fancy to the professor, demanding to be taken on his +knee and to have his undivided attention. + +Christopher Quarles, in fact, presented quite an unfamiliar side of his +character to me, and I do not think he would have bothered about the +pearls at all but for the fact that the contessa was superstitious +about them. + +"They were given to me by a Hungarian count," she said in her pretty +broken English; "just two pearls. I had them made into earrings. It was +the best way I could wear them. They are perfect, and they have a +history. They were a thank-offering to some idol in Burmah, but were +afterwards sold or stolen--I do not know which. It does not matter; it +was a very long time ago; but what does matter is that they bring good +luck. I shall be nothing without them, do you see?" + +"That I will not believe! You will always be--" + +"Beautiful," she said before Quarles could complete the sentence. "Ah, +yes, I know that. I have been told that when I cease to be beautiful I +shall cease to live. A gipsy in Budapest told me so. But what is beauty +if you have no luck?" + +"When were they given to you?" Quarles asked. + +"A year after I married. Listen, I will tell you a secret. It was the +beginning of the little difference with my husband. He was jealous." + +"It was natural." + +"No, it was not," she answered. "My Hungarian friend, he loved me of +course. That is the natural part. I was born like that. Some women are. +It is not their fault. It just is so, and yet people think evil and say, +shocking! It is in their own mind--the evil--and nowhere else, and I say +'basta,' and go my way, caring not at all. Why, every night in my +dressing room at the Regency there is a pile of letters--like that, and +flowers. The room is full of them--all from people who love me--and I do +not know one of them. I like it, but it makes no difference to me. I told +my husband that it was nothing, but no, he went on being jealous. He was +very foolish, but I think some day he will grow sensible. Then I shall +very likely say it is too late. The world has said it loves me, and that +is better than one Castalani. You do not know the Castalanis?" + +"No." + +"Ah, they are what you call thoughtful for themselves, very high, and +very few people are quite as good, so we had little quarrels, and then a +big one, because he said he would throw my pearls into the Arno. I hid +them, and he could not find them. If he had found them and thrown them +away I would have killed him." + +Quarles nodded, as if such a tragedy would have been the most natural +thing possible. + +"His mother made it worse," the contessa went on, "so we have one fierce +quarrel and I speak my mind. I say a great deal when I speak my mind, and +I am not nice then. I went away with my little girl. It was very +unfortunate, but what could I do? I love dancing, so I go on the stage, +and--and I have lost my pearls. See, there is the case, but it is empty." + +Quarles looked at it, but I was sure he was not thinking of what he was +doing, and he did not even ask the most obvious questions. + +I did that, and received scant answers. She was not a bit +interested in me. + +"My pearls," she went on, "I want my pearls. There are some women +pearls love. I am one. When I wear them a little while they are alive. +The colors in them glow and palpitate. They are never dull then. I do +not wear them always, only on certain days--on feasts, and when I am +very happy." + +"We must find them," said Quarles. + +"Of course. That is why I come to know you, isn't it?" + +The professor was full of her as we left the hotel. + +"A most charming woman," he said. + +"I doubt if you will find her so when you fail to restore her pearls." + +"I shall restore them," he said, with that splendid confidence which +sometimes characterized him, but, having no faith in his judgment on this +occasion, I went my own way. I searched the maid's boxes and found that +she had purloined many of the contessa's things--garments which had +hardly been worn, silk scarves, laces--in fact, anything which took her +fancy, and which her mistress would not be likely to miss. Of the two men +in the corridor I could find no trace. The manager said there were no +workmen about the hotel at that time, and the only description I could +get from the contessa was so vague that it would have fitted anybody from +the Prime Minister to the old bootlace-seller at the end of the street. +One of the hotel servants was confident that he had seen the French maid +speak to a man in the street outside the hotel on more than one occasion, +but he was not inclined to swear to anything. However, the French maid +was finally arrested on suspicion. + +I knew that Quarles had been to see the contessa once or twice by +himself, and when I went to the Brunswick Hotel on the day after +Angélique's arrest, I found him there. + +"Ah, you have taken an innocent woman," the contessa exclaimed. + +"I think not." + +"What you think does not matter at all, it is what I know. I asked her, +and she said she had not taken the pearls. Voila! She would not tell me +anything that was not true." + +"But, contessa--" + +"I say there is no evidence against her. You just find two or three of +my stupid things in her room, but that is nothing. French maids always +take things like that--one expects it. But I am not angry. You think what +is quite--quite silly, but you do something which is quite right." And +then, turning to the professor, she went on, "But you--you do nothing at +all. You come to tea. You come and look at me, and think me very +beautiful, which is quite nice and very well, but it does not give me +back my pearls." + +"It will," said Quarles. + +"I have no opinion. I only know I have not the pearls. I gave you the +empty case. I want it back with the earrings in it. I have heard that +Monsieur Quarles is very clever--that he finds out everything, but--" + +"It takes time, contessa," he said, rising. "There is one thing I want to +see before I go." + +"What is that?" she asked. + +"The dress the maid was wearing that afternoon, and if she wore an apron +I want to see that too." + +The contessa fetched them, and for some minutes Quarles examined +them closely. + +I did not think he had started a theory. I thought the contessa's words +had merely stung him into doing something. He had probably come to the +conclusion that he had been making rather a fool of himself. + +However, he was theoretical enough that night in the empty room at +Chelsea. + +"I think the arrest was a mistake, Wigan," he began. + +"Surely you are not influenced by the contessa's opinion?" + +"Well, she probably knows more about French maids than you do. I am +inclined to trust a woman's intuition sometimes. The contessa is +delightfully vague. It is part of her great charm, and it is in +everything she does and says. She tells you something, but her real +meaning you can only guess at. She dances, but the steps she ought to do +and doesn't are the ones which really contain the meaning." + +"Can she possibly be more vague, dear, than you are at the present +moment?" laughed Zena. + +"I think this is a case in which one must try to get into the contessa's +atmosphere before any result is possible. You will agree, Wigan, that her +point of view is peculiar." + +"I should call it idiotic," I answered. + +"Your opinion is all cut and dried, I presume?" + +"Absolutely," I answered. "I believe the maid took the jewels and handed +them to her confederates who were waiting in the corridor." + +"It is possible," said Quarles, "but it seems curious that the contessa +should return just in time to see, not only the men in the corridor, but +also the maid leaving her room. Have you considered why only the earrings +were stolen?" + +"There was nothing else to steal," I answered. + +"Why, everybody has talked of her jewels!" Zena exclaimed. + +"All sham." + +"Who told you so?" asked Quarles. + +"The maid." + +"She didn't suggest the pearls were sham?" + +"No." + +"That was thoughtless of her, since suspicion rests upon her. I am not +much surprised to hear that the much-talked-of jewelry is sham. There is +a vein of wisdom in the contessa, and we shall probably find she has put +her jewelry into safe keeping, and wears paste because it has just as +good an effect across the footlights. I should judge her wise enough not +to take risks, and to have an eye for the future. It was only her +superstition, and the fact that she wore the earrings fairly constantly, +which prevented her depositing them in a safe place too. Zena asked me +yesterday whether I should consider her a careless person. What do you +think, Wigan?" + +"It occurred to me that she might have put the case away when it was +empty and carelessly put the pearls somewhere else," said Zena. + +"Such, a vague kind of person is capable of anything," I returned. "But +there is no doubt that a search in her room was made, and it is +significant that things were not tossed about anyhow, as one would expect +had a stranger made that search." + +"True," said Quarles, "but if the maid took them there would have been no +disarrangement at all. She would have known where to look. If she had +wanted to suggest ordinary thieves she would have thrown things into +disorder on purpose." + +"Naturally she did not know exactly where to look," I said. + +"Why not? The contessa evidently trusts her implicitly. In any case, I +fancy we are drawn back to the supposition that the contessa is careless. +When Zena asked the question, I was reminded of one or two +inconsistencies in her surroundings. I should not call her orderly. Her +carelessness must form part of my theory." + +"I am surprised to hear you have formed one," I said. + +"I have found the woman far more interesting than the pearls," he +admitted, "but I am pledged to return the earrings, Wigan. You will find +her smile of delight an excellent reward." + +I shrugged my shoulders a little irritably. + +"Now I will propose three propositions against yours. First, the jewels +belonged to an idol, and were either sold or stolen--the contessa does +not know which. Such things are not usually sold, so we may assume they +were stolen. Their disappearance from the hotel may mean that they have +merely been recovered. The idea is romantic, but such happenings do +occur. Your French maid may have been pressed into the plot either +through fear or by bribery." + +"My facts would fit that theory," I said. + +"Secondly, the husband may be concerned," Quarles went on. "There may be +real love underlying his jealousy, he may think that if he can obtain +possession of the pearls his wife will return to him. Again, your French +maid may have been employed to this end." + +"That theory would not refute my facts," I returned. + +"Thirdly, the contessa herself. It is conceivable that for some reason +she wished to have the pearls stolen, perhaps for the sake of +advertisement--such things are done--or for the sake of insurance money, +or for some other reason which is not apparent. This supposition would +account for the contessa refusing to believe anything against the maid. +It would also account for the men in the corridor, seen only by the +contessa, remember, and therefore, perhaps, without any real existence." + +"Of the three propositions, I most favor the last," I said. + +"So do I," Quarles answered. "The first one is possible, but I fail to +trace anything of the Oriental method in the robbery, the supreme +subtlety which one would naturally expect. The second, which would almost +of necessity require the help of the maid, would in all likelihood have +been carried out before this, since the contessa has always had the +pearls at hand. If she had only just got them out of the bank I should +favor this second proposition. You remember the contessa suggested that +her husband might at some time become more sensible. I should hazard a +guess that she is still in communication with him. The death of the +strife-stirring mother may bring them together again." + +"That is rather an ingenious idea," I admitted. + +"Now, the third proposition would appeal to me more were I not so +interested in the woman," Quarles said. "Is she the sort of woman, for +vain or selfish reasons, to enter into such a conspiracy with her maid? I +grant the difficulty of plumbing a woman's mind--even Zena's there; but +there are certain principles to be followed. A woman is usually thorough +if she undertakes to do a thing, and had the contessa been concerned in +such a conspiracy, we should have had far more detail given to us in +order to lead us in another direction. This third proposition does not +please me, therefore." + +"It seems to me we come back to the French maid," said Zena. + +"We do," said Quarles. "That is the leather case, Wigan. Does it tell you +anything?" + +I took it and examined it. + +"You seem to have got some grease on it, Professor." + +"It was like that. Greasy fingers had touched it--recently, I +judge--although, of course, the case may be an old one, and not made +especially for the earrings. It is only a smear, but it could not have +got there while the case was lying in a drawer amongst the contessa's +things. Now open it. You will find a grease mark on the plush inside, +which means that very unwashed fingers have handled it. That does not +look quite like a dainty French maid--for she is dainty, Wigan." + +"That is why you examined her dress, I suppose." + +"Exactly! There was no suspicion of grease upon it. Facts have prejudiced +you against Angélique. I do not see a thief in her, but I do see a +certain watchfulness in her eyes whenever we meet her. She knows +something, Wigan, and to-morrow I am going to find out what it is. I +think a few judicious questions will help us." + +Quarles had never been more the benevolent old gentleman than when he saw +the French maid next day. + +He began by telling her that he was certain she was innocent, that he +believed in her just as much as her mistress did. + +"Now, when did you last see the pearls?" Quarles asked. + +"The day before they were stolen." + +"Your mistress was wearing them?" + +"No, monsieur, but the case was on the dressing table. It was the case I +saw, not the pearls." + +"So for all you know to the contrary, the case may have been empty?" + +"I do not see why you should think that," she answered, and it was quite +evident to me that she was being careful not to fall into a trap. + +"Just in the same way, perhaps, as you speak of the day before they were +stolen. We do not know they are stolen. Were the pearls very valuable?" + +"I do not know. The contessa valued them." + +"She wears one or two good rings, I noticed," said Quarles, "but I +understand the jewels she wears on the stage are paste." + +"Yes, monsieur, all of it." + +"Her real jewelry being at the bank!" + +"That is so, monsieur." + +"It is possible that the contessa has deceived us," Quarles went on, "and +wants to make us believe the earrings are stolen." + +"Oh, no, monsieur!" + +"Why not?" + +"I am sure." + +"Come, now, why are you so sure? Tell me what you know, and we will soon +have you back at the Brunswick Hotel. Had you told the men in the +corridor that all the contessa's jewelry was sham?" + +"I know nothing of--" + +"Wait!" said Quarles. "Think before you speak. You do not realize how +much we know about the men in the corridor. The contessa saw them, +remember." + +The girl began to sob. + +Very gently Quarles drew the story from her. One of the men was her +brother. She had been glad to come to England to see him, but she found +he had got into bad hands. She had helped him a little with money. She +had talked about the contessa, and when he had spoken about her wonderful +jewels she had told him they were sham. + +"Did he believe you?" + +"No, monsieur, he laughed at me because I did not know the real thing +from paste. I said I did, and, to prove it, mentioned the pearls." + +"Was this before you knew he had fallen into bad hands?" + +"Yes, monsieur. On the afternoon the pearls were stolen he came to see +me at the hotel with a friend. How they got to our rooms I do not know. I +opened the door, thinking it was the contessa. My brother laughed at my +surprise, and said he and his friend wanted to see whether the +contessa's pearls were real--they had a bet about them. He thought I was +a fool, but I was quickly thinking what I must do. 'She is here,' I said. +'Come in five minutes, when she is gone.' This was unexpected for them, +and they stepped back, and I shut the door. To get the door shut was all +I could think of. I was afraid. I waited; then I went to the bell, but I +did not ring. After all, he was my brother. Then Nella called out from my +room; I was on my way to fetch a clean frock for her from the contessa's +room when my brother came. Now I fetched it, and as I came out of the +room the contessa came in. It was a great relief." + +"Did she say anything about the men in the corridor?" + +"Not then--not until afterwards, when she found the pearls had +been stolen." + +"And you said nothing?" + +"No, it was wrong, but he was my brother. How he got the pearls I do +not know." + +"Where is he now?" + +"I do not know." + +"But you are sure he stole the pearls?" + +"Who else?" and she began to sob again. + +"Perhaps when he hears you have been arrested, he will tell the truth." + +"No, no, he has become bad in this country. I do not love England." + +"Anyhow, we will soon have you out of this," said Quarles, patting her +shoulder in a fatherly manner. "I am afraid your brother is not much +good, but perhaps the affair is not so bad as you imagine." + +We left her sobbing. + +"A woman of resource," said Quarles. + +"Very much so," I answered. "You do not think the arrest was a mistake +now, I presume?" + +"Perhaps not; no, I am inclined to think it has helped us. It is not +every woman who would have got rid of two such blackguards so +dexterously." + +"It is the very thinnest story I have ever heard," I laughed. + +We walked on in silence for a few moments. + +"My dear Wigan, I am afraid you are still laboring under the impression +that she stole the pearls." + +"I am, and that she handed them to the men in the corridor, one of whom +may have been her brother or may not." + +"She didn't steal them," said Quarles. + +"Why, how else could the men have got in?" I said. "You are not likely to +see that rewarding smile on the contessa's face which you talked about." + +"I think I shall, but first I must face the music and explain my failure. +We will go this afternoon. Perhaps she will give us tea, Wigan." + +I am afraid I murmured, "There's no fool like an old fool," but not loud +enough for Quarles to hear. + +When we entered the contessa's sitting-room that afternoon the child was +playing on the floor with a small china vase, taken haphazard from the +mantelpiece, I imagine. + +Whether our entrance startled her, or whether she was in a destructive +mood, I cannot say, but she dashed down the vase and broke it in pieces. + +"Oh, Nella! Naughty, naughty Nella!" exclaimed her mother. + +The child immediately went to Quarles. + +"I want to sit on your knee," she said. + +"If mother will give you such things to play with, Nella, why, of course, +they get broken, don't they?" said Quarles. + +"I thought you had brought my pearls," said the contessa. + +"I have come to talk about them." + +"That will not help--talk." + +"It may." + +"Will it bring Angélique back? I am lost without Angélique." + +"She will soon be back." + +I smiled at his optimism. + +"We saw her to-day," Quarles went on; and he told the girl's story in +detail, and in a manner which suggested that my mistake in having her +arrested was almost criminal. + +The contessa seemed to expect me to apologize, but when I remained silent +she became practical. + +"Still, I do not see my pearls, Monsieur Quarles." + +"Contessa, your maid says you were looking at the earrings on the day +before the robbery. She saw the case on your dressing-table." + +"Yes, I remember." + +"Do you remember putting the case back in your drawer?" + +"Of course." + +"I mean, is there any circumstance which makes you particularly remember +doing so?" + +"No." + +"Was Nella crawling on the floor?" + +"Why, yes. How did you guess that?" + +"Didn't you meet the maid coming out of your room on the next afternoon? +She had gone to fetch a clean frock." + +"Ah! yes, Nella got her frock dirty," said the contessa. + +"Pretty frock," said the child. + +"Was she playing with anything--anything off the mantelpiece?" +asked Quarles. + +"No." + +"Are you sure? You give her queer things to play with," and he pointed to +the fragments on the floor. + +"It does not matter," said the contessa, a little angry at his criticism. +"I shall pay for it." + +"Pretty frock," said the child again. + +"Is it, Nella? I should like to see it." + +The child slipped from his knee. + +"Where are you going?" asked the contessa. + +"To fetch my dirty, pretty frock." + +"Don't be silly, Nella." + +"I should like to see it," said Quarles. + +"I wish you would take less interest in the child and more in my pearls." + +"Humor the child and let her show me the frock, then we will talk about +the pearls." + +With a bad grace the contessa went with Nella into the maid's room. + +Quarles looked at me and at the fragments of the vase on the floor. + +"Do you find them suggestive?" + +"I am waiting to see the contessa in a real temper," I answered. + +The child came running in with the frock, delighted to have got +her own way. + +"Aye, but it is dirty," said Quarles, and he became absorbed in the +garment, nodding to the prattling child as she showed him tucks and lace. + +"And now about my pearls," said the contessa. + +Quarles put down the frock and stood up. + +"There is the case," he said, taking it from his pocket; "we have got to +put the pearls into it, Contessa, may I look into your bedroom?" + +The request astonished her, and it puzzled me. + +"Why, yes, if you like." + +She went to the door, and we all followed her. + +"A dainty room," said the professor. "It is like you, contessa." + +She laughed at the absurdity of the remark, and yet there was some truth +in it. The room wasn't really untidy, but it was not the abode of an +orderly person. A hat was on the bed, thrown there apparently, a pair of +gloves on the floor. + +"I can always tell what a woman is like by seeing where she lives," said +Quarles. "There is no toy on the mantelpiece which Nella could break. A +pretty dressing-table, contessa." + +He crossed to it and began examining the things upon it--silver-mounted +bottles and boxes. + +He lifted lids and looked at the contents--powder in this pot, rouge in +that--and for a few moments the contessa was too astonished to speak. + +Then there came a flash into her eyes resenting the impertinence. + +"Really, monsieur--" + +"Ah!" exclaimed Quarles, turning from the table with a pot in his hand. + +"I want it," said the child, stretching herself up for it. + +"Evidently Nella has played with this before, contessa. A French +preparation for softening the skin, I see. I should guess she was playing +with it as she crawled about the floor that afternoon. You didn't notice +her. I can quite understand a child being quiet for a long time with this +to mess about with. There was grease on her frock, and look! the smoothed +surface of this cream bears the marks of little fingers, if I am not +mistaken. It is quite a moist cream, readily disarranged, easily smoothed +flat again. Let us hope there is no ingredient in it which will +hurt--pearls." + +He had dug his fingers into the stuff and produced the earrings. + +"You will find a grease mark on the case," he went on. "It is evident you +could not have put the case away. Nella possessed herself of it when your +back was turned, and, playing with this cream, amused herself by burying +the pearls in it--just the sort of game to fascinate a child." + +"I remember she was playing with that pot. I did not think she could get +the lid off." + +"She did, and somehow the case got kicked under the bed." + +"Naughty Nella!" said the contessa. + +"Oh, no," said Quarles. "Natural Nella. May I wash my hands?" + +Well, we had tea with the contessa, and I saw the smile which rewarded +Christopher Quarles. + +I suppose he had earned it. + +"When did you first think of the child?" I asked him afterwards. + +"From the first," he answered; "but I was too interested in the mother to +work out the theory." + +How exactly in accordance with the truth this answer was I will not +venture to say. That he was interested in the woman was obvious, and +continued to be obvious while she remained in London. + +Zena and I were rather relieved when her professional engagements took +her to Berlin. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MADAME VATROTSKI + + +I firmly believe the contessa had succeeded in fluttering the professor's +heart, and I think it was fortunate that he was soon engaged upon another +case. The fact that it was also connected with theatrical people may have +made him go into it with more zest. The contessa had given him a taste +for the theater. + +The three of us were in the empty room, and after a lot of talk which had +led nowhere, had been silent for some time. + +"I never believe in any one's death until I have seen the body, or until +some one I can thoroughly trust has seen it," said Quarles, suddenly +breaking the silence. + +"You have said something like that before," I answered. + +"It still remains true, Wigan." + +"Then you think she is alive?" Is it the advertisement theory you cling +to, or do you suppose she is a Nihilist?" + +"I suppose nothing, and I never cling; all I know is that I have no proof +of death," said the professor, and he launched into a discourse +concerning the difficulties of concealing a body, chiefly, I thought, to +hide the fact that he had no ideas at all about the strange case of +Madame Vatrotski. + +The rage for the tango, the sensational revue, for the Russian ballet, +was at its height when Madame Vatrotski's name first appeared on the +hoardings in foot-long letters. + +The management of the Olympic billed her extensively as a very paragon +of marvels, but most of the critics refused to endorse this opinion. +Perhaps they were anxious to do a good turn to the home artistes who had +been rather thrust aside by the foreign invasion of the boards of the +variety theaters; at any rate, they declared her dancing was a mere +pose, not always in the best of taste, and that her beauty was nothing +to rave about. + +I had not seen this much-advertised dancer, but the Olympic management +could have had no reason to regret the expense they had gone to. Whether +her dancing was good or bad, whether her beauty was real or imaginary, +the great theater was full to overflowing night after night; her picture, +in various postures, was in all the illustrated papers, and paragraphs +concerning her were plentiful. + +From beginning to end actual facts about her were difficult to get; but +allowing for all journalistic exaggeration, the following statement is +near the truth. + +She was an eccentric rather than a beautiful dancer, and if she was not +actually a beautiful woman there was something irresistibly attractive +about her. Her origin was obscure, possibly she was not a Russian, and if +she had any right to the title of madame, no husband was in evidence. She +was quite young; upon the surface she was a child bent on getting out of +life all life had to give, and underneath the surface she was perhaps a +cold, calculating woman, with no other aim but her own gratification, +utterly callous of the sorrow and ruin she might bring to others. + +All other statements concerning her must at least be considered doubtful. +Her friends may have been too generous, her enemies unnecessarily bitter. +Personally I do not believe she was in any way connected with one of the +royal houses of Europe, as rumor said, nor that she was the morganatic +wife of an Austrian archduke. + +I have said that I had never seen her. I may add that I was not in the +least interested in her. + +Even when I read the headline in the paper, "Mysterious disappearance of +Madame Vatrotski," I remained unmoved; indeed, I had to think for a +moment who Madame Vatrotski was, and when the paragraph concluded that +the disappearance was probably a smart advertisement I thought no more +about the matter. + +Before the end of the week, however, I was obliged to think a great deal +about this woman. It was a tribute to the dancer's popularity that her +disappearance caused widespread interest not only in London, but in the +provinces, and it speedily became evident that her friends were legion. + +She had dined, or had had supper, at various times, with a score of +well-known men; she had received presents and offers of marriage from +them; she had certainly had two chances of becoming a peeress, she might +have become the wife of a millionaire, and half a dozen younger sons had +kept their families on tenter-hooks. + +It was said the poet laureate had dedicated an ode to her--that Lovet +Forbes, the sculptor, was immortalizing her in stone, and Musgrave had +certainly painted her portrait. + +From all sides there was a loud demand that the mystery must be cleared +up, and the investigation was entrusted to me. + +From the outset it was apparent that Madame Vatrotski had played fast and +loose with her many admirers. She had not definitely refused either of +the coronets offered her, nor the millions. I say her behavior was +apparent, but I ought to say it was apparent to me, because many of +those who knew her personally would not believe a word against her. + +This was the case with Sir Charles Woodbridge, a very level-headed man as +a rule, and also with Paul Renaud, the proprietor of the great dress +emporium in Regent Street, an astute individual, not easily deceived by +either man or woman. + +Both these men were pleased to believe themselves the serious item in +Madame Vatrotski's life, and Sir Charles in hot-headed fashion, and +Renaud, in cold contempt, told me very plainly what they thought of me +when I suggested that the lady might not be so innocently transparent as +she seemed. + +Up to a certain point it was comparatively easy to follow Madame's +movements. After the performance on Monday evening she had gone to supper +with Sir Charles at a smart restaurant, and many people had seen her +there. His car had taken her back to her rooms, and he had arranged to +fetch her next morning at half-past eleven and drive her down to +Maidenhead for lunch. + +When Sir Charles arrived at her rooms next morning he was told she had +gone out and had left no message. He was annoyed, but he had to admit it +was not the first time she had broken an appointment with him. + +It transpired that she had gone out that morning soon after ten, and +half-an-hour afterwards was at Reno's. Paul Renaud did not see her +there and had no appointment with her. + +She made some trivial purchases--a veil, some lace and gloves, which were +sent to her rooms later in the day, and she left the shop about eleven. +The door-porter was able to fix the time, and was quite sure the lady was +Madame Vatrotski. She would not have a taxi, and walked away in the +direction of Piccadilly Circus. Since then she had disappeared +altogether. + +A taxi-driver came forward to say he believed he had taken her to a +restaurant in Soho, but after inquiry I came to the conclusion that the +driver was mistaken. + +She sent no message to the theater that night, she simply did not turn +up. To appease the audience it was announced that she was suffering from +sudden indisposition; but, as a fact, the management did not know what +had become of her, and the maid at her rooms confessed absolute ignorance +concerning her mistress's whereabouts. I have no doubt the maid would +have lied to protect Madame, but on this occasion I think she was telling +the truth. + +It was after I had told Quarles the result of my inquiries, and we had +argued ourselves into silence, that he burst out with his remark about +the body, and of course what he said was true enough. Still, I was +inclined to think that Madame Vatrotski was dead. I did not believe she +had disappeared as an advertisement: there was no earthly reason why she +should, since her popularity had shown no signs of being on the wane, and +to attribute the mystery to a Nihilist plot was not a solution which +appealed to me. + +"She may have returned to her rooms and met Sir Charles," Zena suggested, +after a pause. "Perhaps she found him waiting in his car at the door and +went off at once." + +"Why do you make such a suggestion?" asked Quarles. + +"She had plenty of time to keep the appointment; indeed, it almost looks +as if she had arranged her morning on purpose to keep it. If she had +gone with him at once her maid would not know she had returned." + +Quarles looked at me. + +"The same idea occurred to Paul Renaud," I said. "I can find no evidence +that Sir Charles went to Maidenhead that day, and at three o'clock in the +afternoon he was certainly at his club." + +"Did he telephone to madame or attempt to communicate with her in any +way?" Quarles asked. + +"He says not." + +"But you do not altogether believe him, eh?" + +"My opinion is in abeyance," I returned. "It is only fair to say that Sir +Charles suggested that Paul Renaud may have seen her at the shop in +Regent Street. They are suspicious of each other. Renaud was certainly on +the premises at the time she was there. Personally I do not attribute +much weight to these suspicions. I believe both men are genuine lovers, +and would be the last persons in the world to do the dancer any harm." + +"Or the first," said Zena quickly. "Jealousy is a most usual motive +for crime." + +"I think the child strikes a true note there, Wigan," said Quarles. "We +must keep the idea of jealousy before us--that is, if we are compelled to +believe there has been foul play. Now, one would have expected Sir +Charles to telephone to madame; that he did not do so is strange." + +"His disappointment had put him in a temper." + +"That hardly appeals to me as a satisfactory explanation," Quarles +returned; "but there is indirect evidence in Sir Charles's favor. Had +Madame Vatrotski intended to return to her rooms at once she would almost +certainly have taken such a small parcel as her purchases made with her. +That she did not do so suggests she had another appointment to keep. +Have you a list of madame's admirers, Wigan?" + +"I am only human, professor, and you ask for the impossible," I said, +smiling. "I have a few names here, and I think they may be dismissed from +our calculations. One of the strangest points in the case is the lack of +reticence amongst her dupes." + +"Dupes!" said Zena. + +"I think the term is justified," I went on. "They all seem quite proud of +having been allowed to pay for sumptuous dinners and expensive presents. +Usually one expects a shrinking from publicity in these affairs, but in +this case there is nothing of the kind. I have never seen Madame +Vatrotski, but she must have had a peculiar fascination." + +"I have not seen her either," said Quarles; "but I was at the Academy +yesterday, and saw Musgrave's portrait of her. Go and see it, Wigan. I +consider Musgrave the greatest portrait painter we have, or ever have +had, perhaps. His opinion of the dancer might be useful. Judging from his +canvases he must have a strange insight into character." + +My opinion of pictures is worth nothing, and, to speak truthfully, I saw +little remarkable in Musgrave's portrait of Madame Vatrotski. The mystery +had caused a large number of people to linger round the portrait, and so +far as I could gather the general impression was that it did not do her +justice. Some even called it a caricature. + +"You never can tell what a woman is really like across the footlights," I +overheard one man say to his companion. + +"Perhaps not," was the answer; "but I have seen her out of the theater. +I dropped in at Forbes's studio the other day. He was finishing a bust +of her, and she was giving him a sitting. It is a jolly good bust, but +the woman--" + +"Is she pretty?" asked the other. + +"Upon my word, I don't know; what I do know is that I wanted to look +at her all the time, and when she had gone life seemed to have left +the studio." + +I did not know the speaker, but I did not lose sight of him until I +had tracked him to a club in Piccadilly and discovered that his name +was Tenfield, and that he was a partner in a firm of art dealers in +Bond Street. + +When I repeated this conversation to Quarles he wondered why I had taken +so much trouble over the art dealer. + +"Looking for a clue," I answered. + +Quarles shrugged his shoulders. + +"What did you think of the portrait?" + +"Frankly, not much." + +"But you got an impression of Madame Vatrotski's character." + +"I cannot say I got any great enlightenment. It made me wonder why she +had made such a great reputation." + +"The fact that it made you wonder at all shows there is something in the +portrait," said Quarles. "Let us argue indirectly from the picture. You +will agree that the lady was fascinating, since she had so many admirers, +but in the portrait you discern nothing to account for that fascination. +We may conclude that the painter saw the real woman underneath the +superficial charm. She could not hide herself from him as she did from +others. Now in that portrait I see rather a commonplace woman, +essentially bourgeoise and vulgar, not naturally artistic. I can imagine +her the wife of a small shopkeeper, or a girl given to cheap finery on +holidays. I think she would be capable of any meanness to obtain that +finery. Her face shows a decided lack of talent, but it also shows +tremendous greed. The critics have said that her dancing was a pose and +not in good taste." + +I nodded. + +"They are practically unanimous on this point. It was beyond her to +appeal to the artistic sense, so she appealed to the lower nature, and +therein lay her fascination. Just consider who the men are to whom she +appealed. A millionaire with an unsavory reputation. To two or three +peers who, even by the wildest stretch of imagination, cannot be +considered ornaments of their order. To some younger sons of the Nut +description who are ready to pay anything to be seen with a popular +actress, and to the kind of fools who are always ready to offer marriage +to a divorcee, or to a husband murderer when she comes out of prison. She +appeals to a man like Paul Renaud, whose outlook upon life is disgusting, +and who would not be able to keep a decent girl on his premises were it +not for the fact that the whole management of the business is in the +hands of his two partners. Sir Charles Woodbridge I do not understand. He +is a decent man. I could easily imagine his killing her in a revulsion of +feeling after being momentarily fascinated. Honestly, I have wondered +whether this may not be the solution of the case." + +"You are suspicious of Sir Charles?" I asked. + +"I do not give that as my definite opinion. She may not be dead. +Perchance some particularly mean exploit has made her afraid and she has +gone into hiding; but if she is dead, I think we must look for her +murderer--I had almost said her executioner--amongst the decent men who +have been caught for a while in her toils." + +"The only decent man seems to be Sir Charles," said Zena. + +"And I am convinced he was genuinely in love with her," I said. + +"Well, we are at a dead end," said Quarles. "I think I should go and see +Musgrave and ask his opinion of her. It may help us." + +I went simply because there was nothing else to do, and I felt that I +must; be doing something. The authorities seemed to think that I was +making a great muddle over a very ordinary affair, possibly because +rather contemptuous comments in the press had annoyed them, while the +letters from amateur detectives had been more abundant than usual. Oh, +those amateur detectives! + +I found Musgrave quite willing to talk about Madame Vatrotski, and before +I had been with him ten minutes I discovered that his opinion of her very +nearly coincided with Quarles's. + +He put it differently, but it came to the same thing. + +"To tell you the truth, she rather appealed to me when I first saw her," +he said. "It was at an artists' affair in Chelsea. She came there with a +man named Renaud, who has a big shop in Regent Street, and had spent +money on her, I imagine. She was interesting because she was something +new in the way of vulgarity. It was for this man Renaud that I did the +portrait, but when it was finished he repudiated the bargain. He said it +wasn't a bit like her. You see, I was not looking at her with his eyes" + +"Had she no beauty, then?" + +"I cannot say that," Musgrave answered. "She had a beautiful figure, and +her face--well, I painted it as I saw it. Renaud said it wasn't in the +least like her, and I am bound to admit that most of the people who knew +her and have seen the portrait in the Academy agree with him." + +"You claim that you show her character, I suppose?" + +"No; I merely say I painted what I saw." + +"Can you account for the fascination she exerted?" I asked. + +"I answer that question by asking you another. Can you account for the +fascination which sin exerts over a vast number of people in the world? +See sin as it really is, and it repels you; but sin seldom lets you see +the reality, that is why it is so successful. A man requires grace to see +sin as it really is, and that is his salvation. I was in a detached +position when I painted Madame Vatrotski's portrait, and you have seen +the result; had I been under her spell the result would undoubtedly have +been different. I should have painted only the mask of the moment, and +that would have satisfied her admirers, I imagine. I suppose you know +that my ideas of the true functions of art have caused many people to +call me a crank?" + +"I know little of the artistic world," I answered; "but any man who takes +himself seriously always appeals to me." + +Musgrave smiled. I fancy he was about to favor me with his ideas, but +concluded I was not worth the trouble. I had not got much out of my visit +beyond the knowledge that Quarles was not alone in his estimate of Madame +Vatrotski. + +The professor's opinion combined with the artist's influenced me, and +gave me a kind of rough theory. A man might be fascinated, then +repelled, the repulsion being far stronger than the attraction. + +To make this possible the man must normally be decent, and because Sir +Charles Woodbridge seemed the only person who fitted all the conditions I +gave his movements a considerable amount of my attention during the next +few days. He had certainly been amongst the most assiduous of her +admirers, and I discovered that he had put a private detective on to the +business who was chiefly concerned in shadowing Paul Renaud. + +Sir Charles was evidently convinced that Renaud was at the bottom of +the mystery. + +Nearly a month went by, and, except to those chiefly concerned, interest +in the dancer's disappearance was fading out, when it was suddenly +revived by the notice of a picture exhibition in Bond Street, at the +gallery belonging to the firm in which Tenfield was a partner. + +The pictures were the work of French artists of the cubist school, but +also on view was a portrait bust of Madame Vatrotski by Lovet Forbes. It +was evidently the bust I had overheard Tenfield speak about that day in +the Academy, and I discovered that his firm had bought it as a +speculation. + +Lovet Forbes had been only a vague name until a few days ago, when a +symbolic group of his had been placed in the entrance hall of the +Agricultural Institution, and had at once attracted attention. The +critics spoke of him as a new force in art, and a bust of the famous +dancer by him was therefore, under the circumstances, an event. + +"People will go to see it who wouldn't cross the road to look at a +cubist's picture," said Quarles. "It is for sale, no doubt, and the +dealers may clear a very nice little profit over it. Not a bad +speculation, I should say; I wonder how much they paid the artist. We +will go and have a look at it, Wigan." + +The three of us went on the opening day. Zena in a dress I had not seen +before, which suited her to perfection. She was much more interesting to +me than Forbes's bust of Madame Vatrotski. + +Quarles was right in his prophecy; the gallery was full, and the cubists +were not the attraction. Sir Charles was there, so was Renaud, and many +others whose names had been mentioned more or less prominently in this +case, including the managing director of the Olympic; and before I got a +view of the bust I heard whispers of the prices which had been offered +for it; rather fabulous prices they were. + +"But she is perfectly beautiful!" Zena exclaimed, when at last we stood +before the bust. + +She was right, and there was evidently something wrong somewhere. The +difference between Musgrave's picture and Forbes's marble was tremendous, +and yet they were unmistakably the same woman. + +Where the essential likeness was I cannot say, nor can I explain where +the difference lay, but the marble was charming, while the painting +was horrible. + +"Rather a surprise, eh, Wigan?" said the professor. + +"Very much so." + +"I hear Forbes is about somewhere. I should like to see him. He is one of +the lucky ones; this mystery has helped him to fame." + +"But his work is good, isn't it?" + +"Yes; slightly meretricious, perhaps. I shall want to see more of his +work before I express a definite opinion. I think we must go and see what +he has done for the Agricultural Institute." + +We not only saw Forbes, but had a talk with him. He was a man well on in +the forties, carelessly dressed, a Bohemian, and not particularly elated +at his success apparently. He smiled at the prices which were being +offered for his work. + +"It is the dancer they are paying for, not my genius," he said. "She +seems to have fooled men in life; she is fooling them in death, if +she is dead." + +"Ah, that is the question," said Quarles. "I have my doubts." + +"She is safer dead, at any rate, if only half they say of her is true," +Forbes returned. + +"How came she to sit for you?" I asked. + +"Vanity. I was introduced to her one night at an Artists' Ball--the +Albert Hall affair, you know--and I told her she had the figure of a +Venus. I was consciously playing on her vanity for a purpose. In the +thing I have done for the Agricultural Institute there is a recumbent +figure, and I wanted the perfect model for it. The right woman is more +difficult to get than you would imagine. Of course she agreed with me as +to the perfectness of her figure, and then I began to doubt it. That +settled the business. She fell into my trap and agreed to be the model." + +"Posing in the nude?" I asked. + +"Oh, that did not trouble her at all," answered Forbes. "I shouldn't be +surprised if she had been a model in Paris studios before she blossomed +out as a dancer. She spoke Russian, but I am inclined to think France had +the honor of giving her birth. In return for her complaisance I promised +to do a portrait bust of her for herself. That is it. If she is alive and +comes to claim it I shall have to do her another one." + +"She was evidently a very beautiful woman," said Quarles, glancing in the +direction of the bust. + +"Beautiful and bad, I fancy. Curiously enough, I did not hear of her +disappearance until I telephoned to her flat two days after it had +happened. She had broken an appointment to give me a final sitting, and I +wanted to know why she hadn't come." + +"Was the final sitting for the Agricultural group?" Quarles asked. + +"No; for the bust there. I had to leave it as it was, but there is +something in the line of the mouth which does not please me. What has +become of her, do you suppose?" + +"Possibly some one or something she is afraid of has caused her to go +into hiding," said Quarles. + +"Afraid! I doubt if she had any fear of devil or man. Have you seen +Musgrave's portrait of her?" + +The professor nodded, and I thought it was curious that the Academy +picture should be referred to so persistently. + +"She was like that," said Forbes. "Musgrave's is a wonderful piece of +work." + +Involuntarily I glanced at the bust, and he noticed my surprise. + +"Oh, she was like that too at times," he said. + +"I should doubt if Musgrave ever saw her as you have represented her," +said Quarles. + +"Perhaps not. He claims to paint character; possibly I might succeed in +chiseling character, but give me a beautiful model, and as a rule I am +content to show the surface only. Besides, the bust was for her, and I +made the best of my subject." + +"And in the Agricultural piece?" asked Quarles. + +"Naturally I idealized her." + +"I suppose he is not the born artist that Musgrave is?" I said, when +Forbes had left us. + +"I don't know," returned Quarles. "We will go and have another look at +the bust, and I think on the way home we might drop in and have another +look at Musgrave's picture." + +"That portrait bothers me," I said. "One might suppose it was the key to +the mystery." + +"I am not sure that it isn't," Quarles answered. + +Further acquaintance with the Academy picture had rather a curious effect +upon me. I do not think I lost anything of my original sense of +repulsion, but I was strangely conscious that there was something +attractive in the face. I was astonished to find what a likeness there +was between the portrait and the bust. The impression created by one +became mingled with the impression made by the other. + +I said as much to Quarles. + +"That is tantamount to saying they are both fine pieces of work," +he answered. + +"And means, I suppose, that the real woman was somewhere between the +two," said Zena. + +"Possibly, but with Musgrave's idea the predominant truth," said Quarles. + +"Why?" asked Zena. + +Quarles shrugged his shoulders. He had no answer to give. + +"The day after to-morrow, Wigan, we will go to the Agricultural +Institute." + +"Why not to-morrow?" + +"To-morrow I am busy. Did you know I was writing an article for a +psychological review?" + +On the following evening I took Zena to a theater--to the Olympic. I +suppose I chose the Olympic with a sort of idea that I was keeping in +touch with the case I had in hand, that if any one chanced to see me +there they would conclude that I was following up some clue. It is +hateful to feel that there is nothing to be done, more hateful still that +people should imagine you are beaten or are neglecting your work. + +Zena told me the professor had been out all day, but she did not know +what business he was about. He was certainly not engaged in writing +his article. + +The Olympic was by no means full that night; the disappearance of the +dancer was evidently having a disastrous effect upon the receipts. + +The next day I went to the Agricultural Institute with Quarles. He had +got a card of introduction to the secretary. + +The building had recently been enlarged, and at the top of the first +flight of the staircase stood a group representing the triumph of +modern methods. + +Standing or crouching, and full of energy, were figures symbolic of +science and machinery, while in the foreground was a recumbent figure +from whose hands the sickle had fallen. + +The woman was sleeping, her work done; yet she suggested that there was +beauty in those old methods which, for all their utility, was lacking +in the new. + +"It is probably the best work that Lovet Forbes has done," said the +secretary, who came round with us. + +"He is the coming man, they say," Quarles remarked. + +"He has surely arrived," was the answer, "for the critics are unanimous +as to the beauty of this." + +"Yes, it is remarkable in idea and execution. I am told the famous +dancer, who has recently disappeared, was the model for the +recumbent figure." + +"So I understand. The figure is the gem of the whole composition." + +Quarles was not inclined to endorse this opinion, and the secretary was +nothing loath to argue the point. + +The discussion led to a close examination of the figure, Quarles arguing +that it was out of proportion in comparison with the standing figures, a +comment which the secretary met with some learned words on the laws +relating to perspective. + +They were both a little out of their depth, I thought, and after a few +moments I did not pay much attention to them. My thoughts had gone back +to Musgrave's picture and to Forbes's bust of Madame Vatrotski. Zena had +said that the real woman was probably somewhere between the two, and as I +looked at the figure for which the dancer had been the model I felt she +was right. + +I suppose the limbs were perfect, but it was the face which chiefly +interested mo. It was like Musgrave's picture, but it was more like +Forbes's bust, with something in it which differed entirely from the bust +and from the picture. + +It was a beautiful figure, and I think the face was beautiful, but I +am not sure. + +The secretary had just measured the figure, and the result seemed to have +established the fact that Quarles's contention was right. This evidently +pleased him, and he was inclined to give way on minor points of +difference. + +"No doubt the sculptor's perspective has something to do with it," he +said; "but we must not forget that the group is symbolic. I should not +be surprised if the figure in the foreground is larger to illustrate +the fact that modern methods are of yesterday, while the sickle has +reaped the harvests of the world from old time. The sickle is not +broken, you observe, and the artist may mean that it will be used +again in the time to come." + +"You may be right," said the secretary. "I shall take an early +opportunity of asking Forbes." + +Soon afterwards, we left, and had got a hundred yards from the +building when the professor suddenly found he had left his gloves +behind in the library. + +"I shall only be a minute or two, Wigan. Stop a taxi in the meantime." + +He was longer than that, but he came back triumphant, waving the gloves, +an old pair hardly worth returning for. He seemed able to talk of nothing +but the symbolism of the group, finding many points in it which had +escaped me entirely. + +"It has given me an idea, Wigan." + +"About Madame Yatrotski?" + +"Yes; but we will wait until we get home." + +We went straight to that empty room. Zena could not persuade the old man +to have some tea first. + +"Tea! I am not taking tea to-day. Bring me a little weak brandy and +water, my dear." + +"Don't you feel well?" + +"Yes, but I am a little exhausted by talking to a man who thinks he +understands art and doesn't." + +"Oh, Murray doesn't pretend to understand it." + +"Murray is not such a fool as he pretends to be, even in art; but I was +thinking of the secretary, not Murray." + +The brandy was brought, and then the professor turned to me. + +"You suggested that perhaps Forbes was not the born artist that Musgrave +is. What is your opinion now, Wigan?" + +"I am chiefly impressed with the fact that Zena was right when she +said the real woman was probably between Forbes's bust and +Musgrave's picture." + +"And I am chiefly impressed with the fact that they are both great +artists," said Quarles. "I said Musgrave was, but I reserved my opinion +of Forbes until I had seen this group. It has convinced me. Now, for my +idea concerning the dancer. The first germ was in the notion that in +Musgrave's picture lay the key to the mystery. Knowing something of the +painter's power and ideals, I felt that the portrait must be true from +one point of view. What was his standpoint? He explained it to you. He +was detached, unbiased, putting on to his canvas that which he saw behind +the mere outer mask. When I saw Forbes's bust, one of two things was +certain: either he was incapable of seeing below the surface, or in this +particular case he was incapable of doing so. I could not decide until I +had seen other work of his. To-day I know he is as capable with his +chisel as Musgrave is with his brush. You have only to study the standing +and crouching figures in the group to see how virile and full of insight +he can be." + +"But the recumbent figure--" I began. + +"You remember that he said it was idealized," Quarles said. "It is +undoubtedly full of--of strength, but for the moment I am more interested +in the bust. Why does it differ so widely from Musgrave's portrait? Well, +I think Forbes was only capable of seeing Madame Vatrotski like that, and +we have to discover the reason." + +"Temperament," I suggested. "He said himself he was content as a rule to +show the beautiful exterior." + +"He also said one or two other interesting things," said Quarles, "For +instance, he was certain she was dead, or he would hardly have sold the +bust he had executed specially for her. Why was he so certain? Again, he +suggested she was French and not Russian, scorned the idea of her being +afraid of any one, and altogether he showed rather an intimate knowledge +of her, which makes one fancy that she had been more open with him than +she had been with others." + +"The fact that she was sitting to him might account for that," said Zena. + +"One would also expect that it would have made him come forward and give +what help he could in clearing up the mystery." Quarles answered; "but he +does nothing of the kind. We do not hear that he has used her as a model +for his Agricultural group until we hear it casually on the day the bust +was exhibited, and he tells us that he did not know of her disappearance +until he telephoned to her rooms two days afterwards. Does that sound +quite a likely story, Wigan?" + +"I think you are building a theory on a frail foundation, Professor." + +"It has served its purpose; I have built my theory--the artistic mind +fascinated and becoming revengeful in a moment of repulsion. I think +Madame Vatrotski had an appointment with Forbes that day, and more, that +she kept it." + +"Where?" + +"At his studio. It may have been to give him a final sitting, or it may +have been a lovers' meeting. Forbes could only see her beauty and +fascination; he put what he saw into the bust. He loved her with all the +unreasoning power that was in him; it is possible that in her limited way +she loved him, that he was more to her than all the rest. Then came the +sudden revulsion, perhaps because stories concerning her had reached +Forbes, stories he was convinced were true. She was alone with him in the +studio, and--well, I do not think she left it alive." + +"But the body?" I said. + +"Always the great difficulty," Quarles returned. "Yesterday I spent an +interesting day in Essex, Wigan, watching the various processes used in +making artificial stone, from its liquid and plastic state to its setting +into a hard block. I was amazed at what can be done with it." + +"You mean that--" + +"It is impossible!" Zena exclaimed. + +"It is not a very difficult matter to treat a body so as to preserve it, +but to cover it with a preparation and with such precision that when it +is set you shall see nothing but a stone figure is, of course, only +possible to an artist." + +"But she had sat for him, the figure must have been far advanced +before--before she disappeared." + +"I have no doubt it was, Wigan; but, far advanced as it was, that +stone figure was removed and replaced by one that only superficially +was stone." + +"I do not believe it. It is absurd." + +"Measurement proved that the recumbent figure was out of proportion in +comparison with the other figures, accounted for by the stone casing. Of +course with the secretary there I could not look too closely." + +"No, or you would have found--" + +"You seem to forget that I went back for my gloves," said Quarles. "I +left them on purpose. I ran up to the library; no one was about. I had a +chisel and hammer with me. By this time some one may have discovered +that the group has been chipped. There are the pieces." + +He took from his pocket some fragments of stone, pieces of a stone +mold, in fact. + +"Whether they will realize what it is that is disclosed where that piece +is missing is another matter, but we know, Wigan. It is the body of +Madame Vatrotski. Can you wonder, my dear Zena, that I felt more like a +little brandy and water than tea?" + +How far Quarles was right in his idea of the relations between Forbes and +the dancer no one will ever know. When the police went to arrest him he +was found dead in his studio. He had shot himself. How had he heard of +Quarles's discovery? How did he know that his ingenious method of +concealing the body had been found out? + +It was so strange that I asked Quarles whether he had warned him. + +"Do you think I should be likely to do such a thing?" was his answer. + +He would give me no other answer, and all I can say positively is that he +has never actually denied it. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE MYSTERY OF THE MAN AT WARBURTON'S + + +Two days later Zena went to visit friends in the country, and for some +weeks I did not go near Chelsea. Quarles was busy with some Psychological +Society which was holding a series of meetings in London, and was quite +pleased, no doubt, to be without my society for a while. + +Except when I have a regular holiday, my leisure hours are limited, but I +was taking a night off. It was not because I had nothing to do, but +because I had so many things to think of that my brain had become +hopelessly muddled in the process, and a few blank hours seemed to be +advisable. When this kind of retreat becomes necessary, I invariably find +my way to Holborn, to a very plain-fronted establishment there over which +is the name Warburton. If you are a gastronomic connoisseur in any way +you may know it, for Warburton's is a restaurant where you can get an +old-fashioned dinner cooked as nowhere else in London, I believe, and +enjoy an old port afterwards which those delightful sinners, our +grandfathers, would have sat over half the night, and been pulled out +from under the table in the morning perchance. I am not abnormally +partial to the pleasures of the table, but I have found a good dinner in +combination with first-rate port, rationally dealt with, an excellent +tonic for the brain. + +I do not suppose any one knew my name at Warburton's, and I have always +prided myself on not carrying my profession in my face. The man who +dined opposite to me that night possibly began by taking me for a +prosperous city man, to whom success had come somewhat early, or perhaps +for a barrister, not of the brilliant kind, but of the steady plodders +who get there in the end by sheer force of sticking power. I was not in +the least interested in him until he spoke to me--asked me to pass the +Worcester sauce, in fact. His voice attracted me, and his hands. It was a +voice which sounded out of practise, as if it were seldom used, and his +hands were those of an artist. I made some casual remark, complimentary +to Warburton's, and we began to talk. He seemed glad to do so, but he +spoke with hesitation, not as one who has overcome an impediment in his +speech, but as one who had forgotten part of his vocabulary. The reason +leaked out presently. + +"I wonder whether there is something--how shall I put it?--_simpatica_ +between us?" he said suddenly. + +"Why the speculation?" I asked. + +"Otherwise I cannot think why I am talking so much," he said with a +nervous laugh. "I live alone, I hardly know a soul, and all I say in the +course of a week could be repeated in two minutes, I suppose." + +"Not a healthy existence," I returned. + +"It suits me. I dine here most nights; the journey to and fro forms my +daily constitutional. You are not a regular customer here?" + +"No, an occasional one only. I should guess that you are engaged in +artistic work of some kind." + +"Right!" he said with a show of excitement. "And when I tell you I live +in Gray's Inn do you think you could guess what kind of work it is?" + +"That is beyond me," I laughed. "Gray's Inn sounds a curious place for +an artist." + +"I am an illuminator, not for money, but for my own pleasure. Do you +know Italy?" + +"No." + +"At least you know that some of the old monks spent their hours in +wonderful work of this kind, carefully illuminating the texts of works +with marvelous design and color. Now and then some special genius arose +and became a great fresco painter. Fra Angelico painted pictures for the +world to marvel over, while some humbler brother pored over his +illuminating. You will find some of this work in the British Museum." + +Evidently my newly acquired friend was an eccentric, I thought. + +"Pictures have no particular interest for me," he went on; "these +illuminated texts have. I am an expert worker myself. First in Italy, now +in Gray's Inn." + +"And there is no market for such work?" I enquired. + +"I believe not. I have never troubled to find out. I have no need of +money, and if I had I could not bring myself to part with my work." + +"You interest me. I should like to see some of your work." + +"Why not? It is a short walk to Gray's Inn. To me you are rather +wonderful. I have not felt inclined to talk to a stranger for years, and +now I am anxious to show you what I have done. We will go when you like." + +I had not bargained for this. Had I foreseen that I should have a +conversation forced upon me to-night I should have avoided Warburton's; +even now I was inclined to excuse myself, but curiosity got the upper +hand. I finished my wine and we went to Gray's Inn. + +On the way, I told him my name, but, apparently, he had never heard it, +nor did he immediately tell me his. I purposely called him Mr. ---- and +paused for the information. + +"Parrish," he said. "Bather a curious name," and then he went on talking +about illuminating, evidently convinced that I was intensely interested. +It was the man who interested me, not his work, and the interest was +heightened when I entered his rooms. He occupied two rooms at the top of +a dreary building devoted to men of law. The rooms were well enough in +themselves, but the furniture was in the last stage of dilapidation, +there were holes in the carpet, and everything looked forlorn and +poverty-stricken. I glanced at my companion. Certainly, his clothes were +a little shabby, but quite good, and he was oblivious to the decayed +atmosphere of his surroundings. He drew me at once to a large table, +where lay the work he was engaged upon. Of its kind, it was marvelous +both in design and execution, reproducing the color effects of the old +illuminators so exactly that it was almost impossible to tell it from +that of the old monks. This is not my opinion, but that of the expert +from the British Museum when he pronounced upon the work later. + +"Wonderful," I said. "And there is no sale for it?" + +He shrugged his shoulders. Environment seemed to have an effect upon +him, for his conversation was mostly by signs after we entered his room. +Without a word he took finished work from various drawers and put it on +the table for my inspection. I praised it, asked questions to draw him +out, but failed to get more than a lift of the eyebrows, or an +occasional monosyllable. It was not exhilarating, and as soon as I could +I took my leave. + +"Come and see me again soon," he said, parting with me at the top of +the stairs. + +"Thanks," I answered, as I went down, but I made no promise as I looked +up at him silhouetted against the light from his open door. Little did I +guess how soon I was to climb those stairs again. + +Next morning I was conscious that the night off, although not spent +exactly as I had intended, had done me good. Some knotty points in a case +I was engaged upon had begun to unravel themselves in my mind, and I +reached the office early to find that the chief was already there and +wanted to see me. + +"Here is a case you must look after at once, Wigan," he said, passing me +the report of the murder of a man named Parrish, in Gray's Inn. + +Now, one of the essentials in my profession is the ability to put the +finger on the small mistakes a criminal makes when he endeavors to cover +up his tracks. I suppose nine cases out of ten are solved in this way, +and more often than not the thing left undone, unthought of, is the very +one, you would imagine, which the criminal would have thought of first. I +fancy the reason lies in the fact that the criminal does not believe he +will be suspected. I said nothing to my chief about my visit to Gray's +Inn last night. Experience has shown me the wisdom of a still tongue, and +knowledge I have picked up casually has often led to a solution which has +startled the Yard. The Yard was destined to be startled now, but not +quite in the way I hoped. + +When I arrived at Gray's Inn, a small crowd had collected before the +entrance door of the house, as if momentarily expecting some +information from the constable who stood on duty there--a man I did not +happen to know. + +"That's him! That's him!" + +A boy pointed me out excitedly to the constable, who looked at me +quickly. I smiled to find myself recognized, but I was laboring under +a mistake. + +"Yes, that's the man," said a woman standing on the edge of the crowd. + +The explanation came when the constable understood who I was. + +"Both of them declare they saw the dead man in company with another man +last night, described him, and now--" + +"I saw you with him," said the boy. "I never saw him with any one before, +that's why I took particular notice." + +The woman nodded her agreement. + +"Better take the names and addresses, constable." + +"I've already done that, sir." + +I entered the house inclined to smile, but the inclination vanished as I +went upstairs. No doubt these two had seen me last night, and it was +fortunate, perhaps, that I was a detective, and not an ordinary +individual. And yet a detective might commit murder. It was an unpleasant +thought, unpleasant enough to make me wish I had mentioned last night's +adventure to the chief. + +A constable I knew was on the top landing, and entered the rooms with me. +Parrish had not been moved. He was lying by the table; had probably +fallen forward out of his chair. + +A thin-bladed knife had been driven downwards, at the base of the neck, +apparently by some one who had stood behind him. I judged, and a doctor +presently confirmed my judgment, that he had been dead some hours; must +have met his death soon after I had left him. As far as I could tell, +the papers on the table were in exactly the same position as I had seen +them, and the finished work which he had taken out of his drawers to +show me had not been replaced. The fact seemed to add to the awkwardness +of my position. + +The first thing I did was to telegraph to Christopher Quarles. I do not +remember ever being more keen for his help. I occupied the time of +waiting in a careful examination of the rooms and the stairs, and in +making enquiries in the offices in the building. + +The first thing I told Quarles, on his arrival, was my adventure +last night, and the awkward fact that two people had recognized me +this morning. + +"Then we mustn't fail this time, Wigan," he said gravely. "It is a pity +you did not mention the adventure to your chief." + +"Yes, but--" + +"You'd suspect a man with less evidence against him," Quarles answered +quickly. "We'll look at the rooms, and the dead man, then you had better +go back to the Yard and tell your chief all about it." + +Our search revealed very little. It was evident that Parrish had lived a +lonely life, as he had told me. His evening dinner at Warburton's +appeared to have been his only real meal of the day. There was a +half-empty tin of biscuits in the cupboard, and some coffee and tea, but +no other food whatever, nor evidence that it was ever kept there. I have +said the clothes he was wearing were shabby, but there was a shabbier +suit still lying at the bottom of a drawer, and his stock of shirts and +underclothing reached the minimum. Practically, there were no papers, +only a few receipted bills for material for his work, a few +advertisements still in their wrappers, and two letters which had not +been opened. + +"We will examine these later, Wigan," said Quarles. "I want to get an +impression before anything definite puts me on the wrong road. What +about his work?" and the professor examined it with his lens. "Good, of +its kind, I should imagine, and what is more to the point, requiring +expensive materials. These bills show a good many pounds spent in less +than four months. He was not poverty-stricken, in spite of shabby +clothes, and holes in the carpet. Where did he get his money from? There +is no check book here, no money except a few shillings in his pocket. +That is a point to remember." + +"The murderers may have taken it," I said. + +"This doesn't look like a place ordinary thieves would come to." + +There was a shelf in one corner, with books on it, perhaps a score in +all. Quarles took down every one of them, and opened them. + +"John Parrish. Did you know his name was John?" + +"No. He didn't mention his Christian name." + +"Here it is, written in every book," said Quarles as he deliberately tore +a fly-leaf out of one and began to put down on it the titles of some of +the books. "Evidently he did not read much, the dust here is thick. Did +he open his door with a key when you came in with him last night?" + +"I couldn't swear to it." + +"You see it does not lock of itself. He might have left it merely closed. +Did he go into the bedroom while you were here?" + +"No." + +"Then the murderer may have been there while you were with him. You have +made enquiries about him in this building, of course?" + +"Yes." + +"About his personal appearance and habits, I mean. You see, Wigan, your +own idea of him is not sufficient. He may have deceived you entirely +regarding his character, assuming eccentricity for some purpose. Think +the affair out from that point of view, and when you have been to the +Yard, come to Chelsea. If you do not mind I will take these two unopened +letters. We will look at them together presently." + +As a matter of fact, Quarles had opened them before I saw him; indeed, +their contents took him out of town, and I did not see him for three +days. They were very trying days for me, for the chief took me off the +case when he had heard my story. He could not understand why I had not +mentioned at once that I had been with the dead man on the previous +night, and his manner suggested that my being the criminal was well +within the bounds of possibility. I suppose every one likes to have a cut +at a successful man occasionally, but I am bound to admit he had some +reason for his action. He showed me a halfpenny paper in which an +enterprising scribbler, under the headline "Murder in Gray's Inn," had +heightened the sensation by another headline, "Strange recognition of a +well-known detective by a woman and a boy." + +"We mustn't give the press any reason to suppose that we want to +thwart justice for the purpose of shielding an officer," the chief +said. "Cochran will take charge of the case, and I am letting the +press know this." + +There was nothing to be said, and I left him feeling very much like a +criminal, and very conscious of being in an awkward position. Unless the +case were satisfactorily cleared up there would be plenty of people to +suspect me. + +Quarles, when at last we foregathered in the empty room, was sympathetic +but not surprised; Zena, who had come back to town immediately on +receiving a letter from me, was furious that I should be suspected. + +"I have been busy," said the professor. "I opened those letters, Wigan. +Of course Zena's first question on her arrival was why Mr. Parrish had +not opened them. Her second question was: Why did he live the life of a +recluse in Gray's Inn? How would you answer those questions?" + +"I see no reason why a recluse should not live in Gray's Inn," I +answered, "and an eccentric person, obsessed with one idea in life, might +throw letters aside without opening them." + +"Quite a good answer," said Quarles. "Now, here are the letters. This one +is dated eighteen months ago, postmark Liverpool, written at Thorn's +Hotel, Liverpool. 'Dear Jack,--Back again like the proverbial bad penny. +Health first class; luck medium. Pocket full enough to have a rollick +with you. Shall be with you the day after to-morrow.--Yours, C.M.' Your +friend Parrish was not a man you would expect to rollick, I imagine?'' + +"No." + +"So either he entirely deceived you or had changed considerably since +'C.M.' had seen him. Here is the other letter. Postmark Rome, dated three +years ago, but no address. Just a message in indifferent English: 'Once +more you do me good and I repay in interest. B. knows and comes to you. +Beware.--Emanuele.'" + +"Parrish told me he was in Italy for some time," I said. + +"The first letter took me to Liverpool," Quarles went on. "Thorn's Hotel +is third-rate, but quite good enough for a man who does not want to burn +money. 'C.M.' stands for Claude Milne. That was the only name with those +initials in the hotel books on that date. He had come from New York, and +he left an address to which letters were to be forwarded, an hotel in +Craven Street. I traced him there. He stayed a week, and, I gather, spent +a rollicking time, mostly returning to bed in the early hours not too +sober. No friends seem to have looked him up. He appears to have gone +abroad again." + +"And it is eighteen months ago," I said. + +"Exactly. We will remember that," said Quarles. "The other letter is +older still. It is evidently a warning. The writer believed Parrish to be +in danger from this 'B.' who was coming to England. Now, was it B. who +found him the other night after three years' search?" + +"The name is on the door and in the directory," I answered. + +"That is another point to remember, Wigan. Now, I daresay you have learnt +from your inquiries in the building that very little was known about +Parrish. Some of the tenants did not remember there was such a name on +the door. I have interviewed the agents who receive the rent, and they +tell me that until about three years ago they received Parrish's rent by +check, always sent from Windsor, and on a bank at Windsor; but since then +they have received it in cash, promptly, and sent by messenger boy, the +receipt always being waited for. They inform me that at one time, at any +rate, Parrish did not use his chambers much, was a river man in the +summer, and in the winter was abroad a great deal. The letter sent with +the cash was merely a typed memorandum. There was no typewriter in +Parrish's chambers, I think?" + +"No." + +Quarles took from some papers the fly-leaf he had torn from one of +the books. + +"That is Parish's signature," said Quarles. "The agents recognize it, the +bank confirms it; the account is not closed, but has not been used for +three years. The rooms he occupied in Windsor are now in other hands, and +nothing is known of him there. Inspector Cockran made these inquiries at +Windsor. You see, as you are off the case I am helping him. Having no +official position in the matter I must attach myself to some one to +facilitate my investigation. Cockran thinks I am an old fool with lucid +moments, during which I may possibly say something which is worth +listening to." + +"He is generally looked upon as a smart man," I said. + +"Oh, perhaps he is right in his opinion of me, also in his +judgment of you." + +"What has he got to say about me?" + +"He says very little, but as far as I can gather his investigations are +based on the assumption that you killed Parrish. Don't get angry, Wigan. +It is really not such an outrageous point of view, and for the present I +am shaking my head with him and am inclined to his opinion." + +"It is a disgraceful suspicion," said Zena. + +"Those who plead not guilty always say that, but it really does not count +for much with the judge," Quarles answered. "We will get on with the +evidence. I jotted down on this fly-leaf the names of some of the books +on that shelf, Wigan. Nothing there, you see, bears any reference to his +illuminating work." + +"Are you suggesting it was a blind?" + +"No, I haven't got as far as that yet, but it is curious that none of his +books should relate to his hobby in any way. I have ascertained that he +always bought his materials personally, never wrote for them. From the +postman I discover that it was seldom they had to go to the top floor; +the advertisements and letters we have found may be taken to be all the +communications he has received through the post. At the same time we have +evidence that he had command of money, since he paid his rent promptly, +bought expensive materials, and dined every night at Warburton's. Since +he did not sell his work, where did the money come from?" + +"Some annuity," I suggested. + +"Exactly, which he must have collected himself, since he received no +letters, and taken away in cash, since he had given up using a banking +account. Cockran has made inquiries at the insurance offices, and in the +name of Parrish there exists no such annuity, apparently. It was, +therefore, either in another name or came from a private source." + +"So we draw blank," I said. + +"In one sense we do, in another we do not," returned Quarles. "We come +back to the letters and to Zena's questions. First, why did he live the +life of a recluse in Gray's Inn? The answer does not seem very difficult +to me. He had something to hide, something which made him cut himself +off from the world, and that something had its beginning about three +years ago, when he ceased paying his rent by check, when he gave up his +rooms at Windsor; in short, when he entirely became a changed character. +We may take 'C.M.'s' letter, with its talk of rollicking, as confirming +this view." + +"But he did not open either letter. He did not see Emanuele's +warning," I said. + +"True, but I believe, Wigan, the first two words in Emanuele's letter +should stand by themselves; that the letter should read thus: 'Once +more. You do me good, I repay, etc,' I think there was a previous letter +which Parrish did see." + +"A far-fetched theory," I returned. + +"The key to it is in Zena's question: Why didn't Parrish open his +letters?" + +"Why, indeed?" I said. "He might throw 'C.M.'s' letter aside, but if +there had been a previous letter warning him that danger threatened him +from Italy, do you imagine he would have failed to open one with the Rome +postmark on it?" + +"That does seem to knock the bottom out of my argument," said Quarles. + +"I am afraid the theory is too elaborate altogether," I went on. "Parrish +was an eccentric. I was not deceived. I am astonished there should ever +have been an episode in his life which should necessitate a warning from +Emanuele. Probably the Italian exaggerated the position. That B. is +stated to have come to England three years ago, and the murder has only +just occurred, would certainly confirm this view." + +"It does, but you throw no light on the mystery, and the fact remains +that Parrish was murdered. You have not knocked the bottom out of my +theory, and with Cockran's help I am going to put it to the test. For +the moment there is nothing more to be done. I must wait until I hear +from Cockran. I will wire you some time to-morrow. You must meet me +without fail wherever I appoint. I think Cockran is fully persuaded +that I am helping him to snap the handcuffs on to your wrists. The +capture of a brother detective would be a fine case to have to his +credit, wouldn't it?" + +"I hope you are not doing anything risky, dear," said Zena. + +"What! Is your faith in Murray growing weak, too?" laughed Quarles. + +I was not in the mood to enjoy a joke of this kind--my position was far +too serious--and I left Chelsea in a depressed condition. Perhaps it was +being so personally concerned in the matter which made me especially +critical of Quarles's methods, but it certainly did not seem to me that +his arguments had helped me in the least. They only served to emphasize +how poor our chance was of finding the criminal. + +Next afternoon I received a wire from the professor telling me to meet +him at the Yorkshire Grey. I found him waiting there and thought he +looked a little anxious. + +"We are going to have a tea-party at a quiet place round the corner in +Gray's Inn Road," he said; "at least Cockran and I are, while you are +going to look on. You are going to be conspicuous by your absence, and +under no circumstances must you attempt to join us. When it is all +over and we have gone, then you can leave your hiding-place and come +to Chelsea." + +He would answer no questions as we went to the third-rate tea-rooms, but +he was certainly excited. The woman greeted him as an old friend. He had +evidently been there before. + +"This is the gentleman I spoke of," said Quarles, and then the woman led +us into a back room. + +"Ah, you've put the screen in that corner, I see. An excellent +arrangement; couldn't be better. You quite understand that this room is +reserved for me and my guests for as long as I may require it. Good. Now, +Wigan, your place is behind this screen. There is a chair, so you can be +seated, and there is also a convenient hole in the screen which will +afford you a view of our table yonder. It is rather a theatrical +arrangement, but I have a score to settle with Cockran if I can. He +thinks I am an old fool, and when it does not suit my purpose I object to +any one having that idea." + +When Cockran arrived it so happened that I had some little difficulty in +finding the slit in the screen; when I did I saw that he had a woman +with him. By the time I had got a view of the room she had seated +herself at the tea-table and her back was toward me. It did not seem to +me the kind of back that would make a man hurry to overtake to see what +the face was like. + +Quarles talked commonplaces while the tea was being brought in, and then, +when the proprietress had gone out, he said, leaning toward the woman: + +"Do you constantly suffer from the result of your accident?" + +"Accident!" she repeated. + +"I notice that you limp slightly." + +"Oh, it was a long time ago. I don't feel anything of it now." + +Quarles handed her some cake. + +"It is very good of you to come," he went on, "and I hope you are going +to let us persuade you to be definite." + +She nodded at Cockran. + +"I have told him that I am not sure. I am going to stick to that." + +"The fact is, we are especially anxious to solve this mystery," Quarles +went on, "and I believe you are the only person who can help us. Now, +from certain inquiries which I have been making I have come to the +conclusion that Mr. Parrish is not dead." + +"Not dead!" the woman exclaimed. + +I saw Cockran look enquiringly at Quarles, but he did not say anything. +The professor had evidently persuaded the inspector to let him carry out +this investigation in his own way. + +"Of course, a man has been killed," he went on, "but it wasn't Parrish, I +fancy. He lived in Parrish's chambers; was a lonely man with a hobby, and +if the people who saw him about liked to think his name was Parrish, +well, it didn't trouble him. You didn't happen to know the real Parrish, +I suppose?" + +"Of course not." + +"No, I didn't expect you would," said Quarles, "but tell me how it was +you so promptly recognized the man we are after." + +"I am not sure it was the same man." + +"But you were when the boy recognized him." + +"I say now I am not sure." + +"Oh, but you are," returned Quarles. "You could not possibly be mistaken. +From the inner room of Parrish's chambers you must have watched both the +men for the best part of an hour." + +A teaspoon clattered in a saucer as the woman sprang to her feet, and I +saw she was the woman who had pointed me out to the constable when I +had entered Gray's Inn on the morning after the murder. Cockran's face +was a study. + +"You made a mistake," Quarles went on quietly. "I have worked it all out +in my own mind and I daresay there are some details missing. I will tell +you how I explain the mystery. Parrish, when in Italy, wronged some one +dear to you. You only heard of it afterwards. Personally you did not know +Parrish, but you found out what you could about him: that he was +connected with the law, that he lived in London, in one of the places +where lawyers do live. You determined to come to England for revenge. I +do not say you were not justified. I do not know the circumstances. That +was three years ago. An accident--was it the one at Basle, which occurred +about that time?--detained you, laid you aside for some months, perhaps. +You had not much money, you had to live, so your arrival in England was +delayed. When you got here, you took a post as waitress in Soho. Only in +your leisure time could you look for Mr. Parrish. At first, probably, you +knew nothing about the London Directory, and when you did, looked for the +name in the wrong part of it, and, of course, you would not ask questions +of any one. That might implicate you later on. At last you found him; saw +the name on the door. Possibly you have been waiting your opportunity for +some little time, but the other night it came. Of course, you could not +know there was a mistake. You heard Parrish speak of Italy, and when the +other man had departed you crept from your hiding place and struck your +blow; but you did not kill Parrish. Three years ago he was warned of his +danger, and got out of your way. He was warned that you had started for +England by Emanuele. Do you know him?" + +The woman had stood tense and rigid, listening to this story of the +crime; now she collapsed. + +"Emanuele!" she cried. + +"I see you do know him," Quarles said. "You have my sympathy. It is +possible that the man Parrish deserved his fate, only it happens that +another has suffered in his place." + +"It was my sister he wronged," said the woman. + +"Was it fear that some evidence might be found against you which made you +point out a man whom you knew was innocent?" said Quarles. + +She nodded, still sobbing. + +"The rest is for you to manage," said Quarles, turning to the +inspector. "I suppose you are not likely to make any further mistakes. +This would all have been cleared up days ago if Wigan had not been +taken off the job." + +I suppose Cockran felt a fool, as the professor intended he should. + +There was little to be explained when I went to Chelsea later. Quarles's +reconstruction of the crime had showed me the lines along which he had +worked. The unopened letter from Rome had set him speculating with a view +to proving that the dead man was not Parrish; and whilst I had only +considered the change in character, he had had before him the possibility +of a separate identity. + +"Still, I do not understand how you came to suspect the woman," I said. + +"Her recognition of you was too prompt to carry conviction under the +circumstances," he answered. "The boy, who is in an office in Gray's Inn, +might have met you together. I have no doubt he did; but since the woman +had no business there, and if my theory were right, was concealed in +Parrish's chambers at the time, she could not have seen you, except in +the way I explained to her. Poor soul! I feel rather a cur for trapping +her, but you were in a tight hole, Wigan, and I had to get you out." + +Evidence showing that Parrish was a heartless scoundrel, the jury found +extenuating circumstances for the woman, in spite of the fact that she +had murdered an innocent man, so she escaped the extreme penalty. I was +glad, although the strict justice of the verdict may be questioned. From +Italy, from Emanuele, who was the woman's cousin, we learnt that when +Parrish was in Italy he had a friend with him, an eccentric artist named +Langford. We found that an insurance company had an annuity in this name +which was not afterwards claimed. This fact, and the officials' +description of the man, left no doubt that the murdered man was Langford. +Emanuele had written two letters, as Quarles had surmised, and the first +had caused Parrish to get out of harm's way. Wishing to keep up his +chambers, he allowed Langford to occupy them; had perhaps left him the +money to pay the rent, the idea of danger to his friend probably never +occurring to him. + +Naturally, Langford had not opened his letters, and, being an eccentric +and a recluse, had allowed people to call him Parrish without denying the +name when it happened that any one had to call him anything. + +Since Parrish has never returned, even though the danger is past, it is +probable, I think, that he died abroad. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE STRANGE CASE OF DANIEL HARDIMAN + + +Not infrequently I am put in charge of cases which are of small +importance and might well be left to a less experienced man. I thought +the mystery of Daniel Hardiman was such a case. I even went further and +imagined that it was given to me because I was a bit under a cloud over +the Parrish affair. Quarles jeered at my imagination and was interested +from the outset, perhaps because he had had rather more of the +Psychological Society than was good for him. Anyway, he traveled north +with me to meet the liner _Slavonic_. + +On the passenger list was the name Daniel Hardiman. He had come on board +at Montevideo in company with his man, John Bennett, who appeared to be +half servant, half companion. They had only a small amount of personal +luggage, one trunk each, but several stout packing-cases of various sizes +had been stored away in the hold. Hardiman had a first-class cabin to +himself; his man traveled second-class, but spent much of his time in his +master's cabin; indeed, for the first few days of the voyage Hardiman was +not seen except at meal times. + +It was said amongst the crew--probably the servant had mentioned the +fact--that they were returning to England after an absence of many years, +during which time they had lived much alone; and amongst the passengers +it was agreed that there was something curious about the pair. There was +speculation upon the promenade deck and in the smoking-room; the gossip +was a pleasant interlude in the monotony of a long voyage. At the end of +a week, however, Mr. Hardiman no longer stayed in his cabin. At first he +paced the deck, thoughtfully, only in the early morning or late in the +evening, but later was to be found in a deck-chair, either gazing fixedly +at the horizon or interested in the games of the children on board. One +sturdy youngster, when recovering a ball which had rolled to Hardiman's +feet, spoke to him. All the answer he got was a nod of the head, but the +boy had broken the ice, and two men afterwards scraped acquaintance with +the curious traveler. One was a Mr. Majendie, who was going to England on +business; the other Sir Robert Gibbs, a Harley Street specialist, who had +broken down with hard work, and was making the round trip for the benefit +of his health. + +By wireless, when the ship was two days from Liverpool, came the news +that Hardiman had been murdered by his man-servant, and it was in +consequence of this message that Christopher Quarles and I had gone north +to meet the boat on its arrival. + +When we went on board the captain gave us the outline of Hardiman's +behavior during the voyage as I have here set it down. Quarles asked him +at once whether he thought that all the passengers, after landing, could +be traced if necessary. The captain seemed to consider this rather a tall +order, but thought all those who could possibly have had access to Mr. +Hardiman might be traced. + +"It is a pity we cannot forbid any one to land until we like," said the +professor. + +"There is not so much mystery about it as all that," said the captain, +"although it isn't quite plain sailing. One of our passengers, a swell +doctor, who examined the body with our ship's doctor directly after the +discovery, will give you the benefit of his opinion, and I am detaining +another passenger, a Mr. Majendie." + +"Then there is some doubt as to the servant's guilt?" I said. + +"I don't think so, but you shall hear the whole story." + +"First, we should like to see the body," said Quarles. "We might be +influenced unconsciously by your tale. It is well to come to the heart of +the matter with an open mind." + +The captain sent for the ship's doctor and a stewardess, and with them we +went to the cabin, which had been kept locked. + +The body, which lay in the berth where it had been found, an upper berth +with a porthole, had been washed and attended to by the stewardess. The +lower berth had been used by the traveler for some of his clothes--they +were still there, neatly folded. The dead man's trunk was on a sofa on +the opposite side of the cabin, a sofa which could be made into a third +berth if necessary. Except that the body had been attended to, the cabin +was just as it had been found. + +"I took the stained sheets away," said the stewardess, "but I thought it +would be wiser not to move him from the upper berth." + +"It is a pity he couldn't have been left just as he was," Quarles +answered; "you have no doubt washed away all the evidence." + +He was a long time examining the wound, a particularly jagged one in the +neck, a stab rather than a cut, but with something of both in it. + +"Has the--the knife been found?" Quarles asked. + +"No," answered the captain. "You hesitate in your question a little. You +are certain it was a knife, I suppose?" + +"Yes, why do you ask?" + +"His man says it was a bullet." + +"A bullet!" and Quarles looked back at the wound. + +"The servant Bennett does not deny that he killed his master," said the +doctor; "but he persists in saying that he had no knife." + +"Has a revolver been found?" I asked. + +"No, and no one heard any report," said the captain. "I cannot make this +fellow Bennett out. He seems to me rather mad. Besides, there are one or +two curious points. Would you like to hear them now?" + +"Please," said Quarles. + +With sailor-like directness the story was told in a straightforward +narrative, destitute of trimmings of any kind. A steward had gone to Mr. +Hardiman's cabin to take him a weak brandy-and-water; he had done the +same first thing every morning during the voyage. He saw Hardiman lying +with his face toward the cabin, one arm hanging over the side of the +berth. There was no sign of a struggle. The clothes were not thrown back, +but there was a considerable quantity of blood. Curiously enough, the +porthole had been unscrewed and was open. The steward fetched Dr. +Williams, the ship's doctor, who said death had probably occurred five or +six hours previously, a statement Sir Robert Gibbs corroborated. There +was no knife anywhere. + +"The time of death is important," the captain went on. "Bennett has +occupied a second-class cabin with a man named Dowler, and on the night +of the murder Dowler, having taken something which disagreed with him, +was awake all night, and he declares that Bennett never stirred out of +his bunk. If the doctors are right, then Dowler's evidence provides +Bennett with an alibi, of which, however, he shows no anxiety to take +advantage. This cabin trunk, Mr. Quarles"--and the captain lifted up the +lid as he spoke--"this trunk is all Mr. Hardiman's cabin luggage. There +are some papers, chiefly in a kind of shorthand, which you will no doubt +examine presently, and these stones, merely small chunks of rock, as far +as I can see, although Sir Robert Gibbs suggests they may have value. +There are similar stones in Bennett's trunk. There is a curious incident +in connection with these bits of stone. On the night after the murder one +of the middle watch saw a man come on deck and hastily fling something +overboard. At least, that was the intention, apparently, but as a fact, +either through agitation or a bad aim, the packet did not go overboard, +but landed on a coil of rope on the lower deck forward. It proved to be a +small canvas bag containing seven of these bits of rock, or, at any rate, +pieces like them. Now, the man on the watch is not inclined to swear to +it, but he believes the thrower was Majendie. Majendie denies it." + +"You are an excellent witness, Captain," said Quarles as he took up two +or three of the bits of rock and looked at them. "Is Mr. Majendie annoyed +at not being allowed to land at once?" + +"On the contrary, he is keen to give us all the help in his power. He is +a fairly well-known man on the other side, has means and position, and, +personally, I have little doubt that the watch was mistaken. You see, the +servant does not deny his guilt." + +"Would Bennett be likely to be in the place where the watch saw this +man?" I asked. + +"Not under ordinary circumstances, but if he had been trying to get into +the locked cabin he would be." + +"I think if we could have a few words with Sir Robert Gibbs it would be +useful," said Quarles. "Have you the canvas bag of stones?" + +"Yes, locked up in my cabin. I will send and ask Sir Robert to join +us there." + +"And could you get a knife?" asked the professor. "Any old knife will do, +a rusty one for preference." + +A few minutes later we were in the captain's cabin, and on the table was +the bag of stones and a rusty and much-worn table-knife. Dr. Williams +had just explained to us his reasons for fixing the time of death when +Sir Robert entered. He was a man with a pronounced manner, inclined to +take the lead in any company in which he found himself, and was very +certain of his own opinion. On the way to the cabin Quarles had +whispered to me to take the lead in asking questions, and to leave him +in the background as much as possible, so after the captain's short +introductions I began at once: + +"I may take it, Sir Robert, that you agree with Dr. Williams as to the +time Hardiman had been dead when you saw the body?" + +"Certainly." + +"And in your opinion the wound could not, under any circumstances, have +been caused by a bullet?" + +"Certainly not," and he smiled at the futility of the question. + +"The bullet might have been a peculiar one," I suggested, "different from +any with which we are familiar. The servant, who does not deny his guilt, +says it was a bullet." + +"And I say it was not," Sir Robert answered. "No kind of bullet could +make such a wound. A knife with a point to it was used. The action would +be a stab and a pull sideways. I am of the opinion that the blow was +struck while the victim was in a deep sleep. I think Dr. Williams +agrees with me." + +Williams nodded. + +"You would otherwise have expected to find some signs of a +struggle?" I said. + +"I should. It is quite possible, I think, that at times Mr. Hardiman had +recourse to a draught or a tablet to induce sleep." + +"I understand that you had some conversation with Mr. Hardiman during the +voyage, Sir Robert. Were you struck by any peculiarity in him?" + +"He was an eccentric man, but a man of parts undoubtedly. He told me very +little about himself, but I gathered that he had traveled extensively, +and out of the beaten track. I put down his difficulty in sustaining a +conversation to this fact. He seemed in good health--one of those wiry +men who can stand almost anything." + +"Sir Robert, could it possibly have been a case of suicide?" Quarles +asked, suddenly leaning forward. + +"Have you examined the wound carefully?" asked the doctor. + +"I have." + +"If you will try to stab yourself like that you will see how impossible +it is. Besides, you forget that no knife has been found, and in a case of +suicide it would have been. I may add that the knife used was not in the +least like the one I see on the table there." + +"It must have had a point, you think?" said Quarles. + +"I do not think--I am certain." + +"Did Mr. Hardiman ever say anything about these bits of rock to you?" + +"Never," answered the doctor. "I think I suggested to the captain +that they might be valuable. I have no knowledge on the point, but I +cannot conceive a man like Hardiman carrying them about unless they +were of value." + +"I take it he is a geologist," Quarles said carelessly. + +Sir Robert would like to have been present throughout our inquiry, but +the professor firmly but courteously objected. He said it would not be +fair to those chiefly concerned, and he appealed to me to endorse his +opinion. The doctor had raised a spirit of antagonism in him. They were +both too dogmatic to agree easily. + +The sailor of the watch was next interviewed, a good, honest seaman who +evidently had a wholesome dread of the law in any form. He thought it +was Mr. Majendie he had seen on the deck that night, but he would, not +swear to it. + +"Are you sure it wasn't Bennett?" I asked. + +"Ay, sir, I'm pretty sure of that." + +"What is it that particularly makes you think it was Mr. Majendie?" + +"I just think it, sir; I can't rightly say why." + +"What did he do, exactly?" said Quarles. "Just show me--show me his +action. Here are the bits of rock in the bag; take the bag up and pretend +to pitch it into the sea, as he did." + +The sailor took up the bag and did so. His pantomime was quite realistic. + +"I note that you turn your back to us," said Quarles. + +"Ay, sir, because his back was turned to me. It wasn't until he made the +action of throwing--just like that, it was--that I knew he had anything +in his hand." + +"Did you call out to him?" + +"No; he was there and gone directly." + +"It was a bad throw, too?" + +"Ay, sir, it was; he did it awkward, something like women throws when +they ain't used to throwing." + +"That good fellow would feel far more uncomfortable in the witness-box +than most criminals do in the dock," said Quarles when the sailor had +gone. "He is as certain that it was Mr. Majendie as he is certain of +anything, but he is not going to commit himself. Shall we have a talk +with Mr. Majendie next? Let me question him, Wigan." + +Majendie's appearance was in his favor. He might be a villain, but he +didn't look it. There was Southern warmth in his countenance and temper +in his dark eyes, but his smile was prepossessing. + +"A sailor's absurd mistake has put you to great inconvenience, I fear," +said Quarles. + +"The inconvenience is nothing," was the answer. "I court enquiry." + +"Of course you were not on the deck that night?" + +"No." + +"It is Mr. Hardiman's past I want to get at," said the professor. "You +had some talk with him during the voyage; what did you think was his +business in life?" + +"He was a traveler. I think he had been where no other civilized man has +been. He did not directly tell me so, but I fancy he had wandered in the +interior of Patagonia." + +"Should you say he was a geologist?" + +"No," said Majendie with a smile. "He showed me some pieces of rock he +had with him; indeed, I am suspected of flinging some of these bits of +rock away in that canvas bag I see there. Is it likely I should do +anything so foolish? It is part of my business to know something of bits +of rock and blue clay and the like, and unless I am much mistaken those +bits of rock are uncut diamonds." + +"Diamonds!" I exclaimed. + +"Yellow diamonds of a kind that are very rarely found," Majendie +answered. "I may be mistaken, but that is my opinion. If I am right, the +actual gem, when cut, would be comparatively small. It is enclosed, as it +were, in a thick casing of rock." + +"Did Hardiman know this?" Quarles asked. + +"I am not sure. In the course of conversation I told him that I knew +something about diamonds, and he asked me into his cabin to show me some +bits of rock he had in his trunk. He spoke of them as bits of rock, but +he may have known what they really were." + +"Did he give you this invitation quite openly?" asked Quarles. + +"Oh, yes. There were others sitting near us who must have overheard it. I +went with him, and gave him my opinion as I have given it to you. Of +course, there may not be a jewel at the heart of every bit of rock; no +doubt there are a great many quite useless bits in Hardiman's +collection." + +"This is very interesting," said Quarles. "Would you look at the pieces +in that bag and tell us if any of them are useless." + +Majendie spent some minutes in examining them, and then gave it as his +opinion that they all contained a jewel. + +"Now that knife--" + +"I thought no knife had been found," said Majendie. + +"That has just been found on the ship," said Quarles. "It is an absurd +question, but as a matter of form I must ask it. Have you ever seen that +knife before?" + +Majendie took it up and looked at it. + +"Hardiman was apparently stabbed with a rusty knife," Quarles remarked. + +"Stabbed! You could not stab any one with this, and certainly I have +never seen it before." + +I did not understand why Quarles was passing this off as the real +weapon. He took it up, grasped it firmly, and stabbed the air with it. + +"I don't know, it might--" + +He shook his head and put the knife on the table again. Majendie took it +up and in his turn stabbed the air with it. + +"Utterly impossible," he said. "This could not have been the knife used; +besides, there would surely be stains on it." + +"I am inclined to think you are right," said Quarles. "You must forgive +the captain for detaining you, Mr. Majendie, and of course you can land +this afternoon. The captain wishes us to lunch on board; perhaps you +will join us?" + +"With pleasure. So long as I am in London to-night no harm is done." + +When he had gone Quarles turned to the captain. + +"Pardon my impudence, but we must not lose sight of Majendie. You must +follow him this afternoon, Wigan, and locate him in London. You must +have him watched until we get to the bottom of this affair. Now let us +see Bennett." + +The man-servant proved to be a bundle of nerves, and it was hardly to be +wondered at if the story he told was true. A question or two set him +talking without any reticence apparently. + +Time seemed to have lost half its meaning for him. He could not fix how +long he and his master had been away from England; many years was all he +could say. They had traveled much in South America, latterly in the wilds +of Patagonia. There they had fallen into the hands of savages, and for a +long time were not sure of their lives from hour to hour. Always Mr. +Hardiman seemed able to impress their captors that he was a dangerous +man to kill; fooled them, in fact, until they came to consider him a god. +Master and man were presently lodged in a temple, and were witnesses of +some horrible rites which they dared not interfere with. Finally, at a +great feast, Hardiman succeeded in convincing them that he was their +national and all-powerful deity, and that he had come to give them +victory over all their enemies. By his command the wooden figure of one +of their gods was taken from the temple, and, together with two curious +drums used for religious purposes, and other sacred things, was carried +through the forest to a certain spot which Hardiman indicated. The whole +company was then to go back three days' march, spend seven days in +religious feasting, and return. In the meanwhile he and his servant must +be left quite alone with these sacred things. + +"I suppose they returned," Bennett went on, "but they did not find us. +They did not find anything. The spot my master had fixed upon was within +a day's march of help. We set out as soon as those devils had left us, +and, having got assistance, my master would go back and fetch the wooden +figure and the other things. They are in the cases in this ship." + +"What was the main object of your master's travels?" I asked. + +"He was writing a book about tribes and their customs." + +"And he took a great interest in stones and bits of rock?" + +"That was only recently, and I never understood it, sir. He put some in +my trunk and some in his own, but what they were for I do not know. I +don't suppose he did himself. He was always peculiar." + +"Always or recently, do you mean?" Quarles asked. + +"Always, but more so lately. Can you wonder after all we went through? +You can't imagine the horrors that were done in that heathen temple." + +He told us some of them, but I shall not set them down here. It is enough +to say that human sacrifices were offered. The mere remembrance of +Bennett's narrative makes me shudder. + +"It is a wonder it did not drive you both mad," said Quarles. + +"That is what the master was afraid of," was the answer, "and it is the +cause of all this trouble. He did not seem to think it would affect me, +but he was very much afraid for himself." + +"He told you so?" + +"He did more than that. He said that if I saw he was going mad I was to +shoot him, and so--" + +"Wait a minute," said Quarles, "when did he say this to you?" + +"The first time was when we got those things from the place in the forest +where they had been left. Then he said it two or three times during the +voyage. The last time was when I was cutting his nails." + +"Cutting his nails?" I said. + +"Yes, sir. Mr. Hardiman could never cut the nails on his right hand. He +was very helpless with his left hand in things like that, always was. On +this particular day he said his hand was growing stronger, and declared +it all was because of will-power. He was quite serious about it, and then +he was suddenly afraid he was growing mad. 'Shoot me if I am going mad, +Bennett.' That is what he said." + +"And how were you to know?" asked Quarles. + +"He said I should know for certain when it happened, and I did. The next +evening he began telling me that we were bringing a lot of diamonds back +to England. He promised me more money than I had ever heard of. I should +have shot him then, only I wasn't carrying a revolver." + +"So you did it later in the evening?" + +"I cannot tell you exactly when I did it," the man answered. "I knew the +time had come, but I do not remember the actual doing of it. Only one +thing I am certain of--I didn't use a knife. He was always particular to +tell me to shoot him." + +"You are sure you did kill him?" I said. + +"Shot him--yes. I did not stab him. That is a mistake." + +"Do you know that your cabin companion says you did not leave your bunk +at all that night?" said Quarles. + +"That must be another mistake," was the answer. + +When he had gone the professor remarked that John Bennett was far nearer +an asylum than a prison. + +"If Hardiman had been shot I should think the servant had shot him, but +he was not shot. You see, Captain, the case is not so easy. These bits of +rock complicate it, and we must keep an eye on Majendie." + +There was a man I knew well attached to the Liverpool police, and I was +fortunate enough to get hold of him to follow Majendie to London that +afternoon. Bennett, having virtually confessed to the crime, was kept in +custody, and I was free to remain with Quarles and examine the cases +which Hardiman had brought to England. After certain formalities had been +complied with, we carried out this examination in one of the shipping +company's sheds. There were many things of extreme interest of which I +could write a lengthy account, but they had no bearing on our business. +The things which concerned us were the Patagonian relics. + +The two drums did not interest the professor much, but the figure of the +god did. It was about three-quarters life size, roughly carved into a +man's shape. The wood was light in weight and in color, but had been +smeared to a darker hue over the breast and loins. One arm hung by the +figure's side, was, indeed, only roughly indicated; but the other, +slightly bent, was stretched out in front of the figure. There was +nothing actually horrible about the image, but, remembering Bennett's +description of some of the rites performed in that temple, it became +sinister enough. Quarles's inspection took a long time, and during it I +do not think he uttered a word. + +"I think we may go back to Chelsea, Wigan," he said at last. + +Late on the following night we were in the empty room. At the professor's +suggestion I repeated the whole story for Zena's benefit, although I +fancy Quarles wanted to have a definite picture before his mind, as it +were, and to find out whether any particular points had struck me. Zena's +comment when I had finished was rather surprising. + +"This Mr. Majendie must be a clumsy thrower," she said. + +Quarles sat up in his chair as if his interest in the conversation had +only become keen at that moment. + +"She hits the very heart of the mystery, Wigan." + +"There is no certainty that it was Majendie," I replied. + +"Whether it was or not is immaterial for the moment. The fact remains +that some one who was anxious to get rid of incriminating evidence was so +clumsy that he threw it where any one could pick it up. Not one man in a +thousand would have done that, no matter what state of agitation he was +in. The packet was deliberately thrown away, remember; it was not done in +a moment of sudden fear." + +"I am all attention to hear what theory you base upon it," I returned. + +"We will begin with the wound," said Quarles. "Sir Robert Gibbs and Dr. +Williams agree that it could not have been self-inflicted. Sir Robert +suggested that I should try to stab myself in the same way and see how +impossible it was. Remember it was a stab and a pull of the blade to one +side. It was impossible for a right-handed man, difficult even for a +left-handed one, but not impossible. That was the first point I made a +mental note of." + +"Why did you not speak of the possibility?" + +"Chiefly, I think, because I was convinced that Sir Robert expected me to +do so, was waiting for me to do so, in fact. He is far too cute a man not +to have considered the possibility, and was prepared to prove that +Hardiman was a right-handed man, as we know he was from his servant. In +all probability Sir Robert knew that Bennett had to cut his master's +nails. I was not disposed to give the doctor such an opening as that, +although no doubt he thought me a fool for not thinking of it." + +"Then we do away with the theory of suicide?" I said. + +"Well, the absence of any weapon appears to do that," said Quarles. "What +was the weapon? A knife of some kind, a rusty knife and rather jagged, I +fancy. The wound suggested that it was jagged, and in spite of the +washing my lens revealed traces of rust. Rather a curious knife to commit +murder with. That was my second mental note. We had to be prepared for a +curious personality somewhere in the business." + +"Mr. Majendie," I said. + +"He is hardly such an abnormal individual as the servant Bennett. We will +consider Bennett first. His story is a straightforward one, nervously +told, dramatically told. We might easily assume that imagination had much +to do with that story were it not for the contents of those +packing-cases. They are corroborative evidence. We may grant that the +man's recent experiences have had their effect upon him, have laid bare +his nerves, as it were, but since the most unlikely part of his story is +true we may assume that the rest of it is. We need not go over it again +in detail. The man was evidently attached to his master, and was prepared +to shoot him if he exhibited signs of madness. Considering the state of +his own nerves, I can believe that Bennett watched for these signs, and +felt convinced of his master's madness when he spoke of a wealth of +diamonds. Bennett knew they had no diamonds in their possession. He only +knew of those bits of rock. So he determined to shoot Hardiman. However, +I am convinced that he did not leave his cabin that night. Sleep +prevented his carrying out the intention, but when in the morning he +found that his master was dead--murdered--he immediately translated his +intention into action, and concluded that he had done it. There was no +one else who would be likely to murder him. That he should do it was +natural under the circumstances. He would not look upon it as a crime. He +had only carried out his instructions to the letter, as I have little +doubt he has been accustomed to do for years." + +"It is a theory, of course, but--" + +"Oh, it is more than a theory now," said Quarles, interrupting me. "He +admits his guilt, yet we know that Hardiman was stabbed, not shot. We +conclude, therefore, that Bennett, although he fully intended to kill +his master, did not do so." + +"So we come to Majendie," I said. + +"Yes, and to the yellow diamonds which Bennett knew nothing about. I +admit that Majendie was a distinct surprise to me. He had to prove that +the sailor of the watch was mistaken, that he was not the person who +threw the stones away. How does he do it? By asking whether he, an expert +in diamonds, would be likely to throw away what he knew to be valuable. +This was a very ingenious argument. He did not deny that he knew Hardiman +had these stones in his possession, because he believed that people must +have seen him go into Hardiman's cabin. We have his statement that +Hardiman invited him to do so, and that the invitation was given in the +hearing of others. So he asked a perfectly simple question to show that +the sailor was mistaken." + +"Evidently you do not believe that the sailor was mistaken." + +"We will go on considering Majendie," said Quarles. "Now, when he took up +the knife and imitated my action of stabbing the air with it I made a +discovery. He did so with his left hand. Since my first mental note +concerned a left-handed man the coincidence is surprising. The sailor in +his pantomime had used the right hand. Majendie's action was unexpected, +and for a time I did not see its significance. But let us suppose for a +moment that Majendie did throw the bag of stones away. He might argue +that some one might possibly see the action, and would note that it was +done by a left-handed man, so used his right hand to deceive any one who +might be there. Hence his bad aim." + +I shook my head. + +"Wait," said Quarles. "Some one had stolen those bits of rock, else how +came they in that canvas bag, and why were they thrown away? Majendie +told us that only certain of those stones had at the heart of them a +diamond, yet he also said that all those in the bag had. That looks as if +they had been picked out and stolen by an expert, and when we remember +that Hardiman had shown him the contents of the trunk suspicion points +very strongly to Majendie as the thief. Of course, when Hardiman was +found dead, he would get rid of evidence which must incriminate him. We +must see Majendie, Wigan, and ask him a few questions." + +"Then he did not kill Hardiman?" said Zena. + +"I do not think so." + +"Who did?" + +"Nobody. Hardiman was mad and committed suicide, and in a particular way. +Think of Bennett's description of that Patagonian temple, Wigan. Those +savages were persuaded that Hardiman was a god; possibly human sacrifices +were offered to him, and he dared not interfere. That was sufficient to +start a man on the road to madness. That wooden god he brought home tells +us something. It was the left arm which was stretched out, and in the +closed fist was a hole into which a knife had been fixed, a symbol of +vengeance and sacrifice, a symbol, mind you, not a weapon which was +actually used. I imagine that time had caused it to become rusty and +jagged. Now, I think Hardiman removed that knife before packing the +figure, kept it near him, because obsessed with it; went mad, in short. +We know from Bennett that he believed his left hand was becoming +stronger, and I believe his madness compelled him to practise his left +hand until it became strong enough to grasp the knife firmly and strike +the blow. Since the god was left-handed, his priests were probably so +too, and the victims would be slain with the left hand. There was some +religious significance attached to the fact, no doubt, and Hardiman's +madness would compel him to be exact." + +"But what became of the knife?" I asked. + +"The porthole was found open," said Quarles. "I think he deliberately put +it out of the porthole, his madness suggesting to him that no one should +know how he died. He would have strength enough to do this, for he died +quietly, bled to death, in fact, and gradually fell into a comatose +condition, hence no sign of a struggle. It is impossible to conceive what +devilish power may lurk about those things which have been used for +devilish purposes. I am very strong on this point, as you know, Wigan." + +Of course it was quite impossible to prove whether Quarles was right +about the knife, but he was correct as regards Majendie, who had hoped to +get possession of a few of these stones without Hardiman missing them, +and then, when the unexpected tragedy happened, had tried to get rid of +them, using his right hand to throw them away. Amongst the dead man's +papers there was a will providing amply for his servant Bennett--who, I +may add, recovered his normal health after a time--and leaving his relics +to different museums, and any other property he was possessed of to +charities. I believe the yellow diamonds proved less valuable than +Majendie imagined, but at any rate the various charities benefited +considerably. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE CRIME IN THE YELLOW TAXI + + +One's last adventure is apt to assume the place of first importance, the +absorption in the details is so recent and the gratification at solving +the problems still fresh. Used to his methods as I had become, Quarles's +handling of the Daniel Hardiman case was constantly in my mind until I +had become acquainted with the yellow taxi. I will not say his +deductions in the taxi affair were more clever--you must judge that--but +I am sure they were more of a mental strain to him, for he lost his +temper with Zena. + +We had been arguing various points, and seemed to have exhausted all +our ideas. + +"Give a dog a bad name and hang him," said Zena, breaking the silence +which had seemed to indicate that our discussion was at an end. + +"I repeat that had he been in a different position he would have been +arrested at once," said Quarles testily; "but because he happens to be a +prominent Member of Parliament, goes everywhere which is anywhere, and +knows everybody who is anybody, it suits people to forget he is a +blackguard and it suits Scotland Yard to neglect its duty." + +An inquest in connection with a very extraordinary case had taken place +that day, and had been adjourned. + +On the previous Monday, between seven and eight in the evening, the +traffic had become congested at Hyde Park Corner, chiefly owing to the +fog, and the attention of a gentleman standing on the pavement--a Mr. +Lester Williams--had been drawn suddenly to the occupant of a taxi. +Possibly a street lamp, or the light on an adjacent motor, picked out the +lady's face particularly, and he had opened the door before he called to +the driver. + +The lady was leaning back in the corner, but he saw at once that +something was wrong, and when he touched her the horrible truth +became apparent. + +She was dead. + +He called to the driver to draw up to the curb and then called a +policeman. Williams jumped at once to the conclusion that a crime had +been committed, and the police took the same view. + +There was no difficulty as regards identification. She was Lady Tavener, +wife of Sir John Tavener, M.P. The driver, Thomas Wood, had come from the +other side of Twickenham and had taken up Sir John and his wife at their +own front door. He had constantly driven them up to town and elsewhere, +sometimes separately, sometimes together. On this occasion he had driven +to a house on Richmond Green, where Sir John had got out. Lady Tavener +was going on to the Piccadilly Hotel. Wood had got as far as Hyde Park +Corner when a gentleman called to him. He had not seen the gentleman open +the door of the taxi, knew nothing in fact until he was told to drive up +to the curb and Lady Tavener was taken out dead. + +At the inquest the evidence took rather a curious turn. It was common +knowledge that Sir John had married Lady Tavener after her divorce from a +Mr. Curtis, since dead, and Sir John's reputation was none of the best. + +Veiled accusations were constantly made against him in those would-be +smart journals catering for that public interested in this kind of +scandal, and several questions founded on this knowledge were put to him +at the inquest. + +He came out of the ordeal very well, and gave his evidence in a +straightforward manner. He did not pretend that he and his wife did not +quarrel at times, sometimes rather severely he admitted, but he +maintained there was no reason why his wife should commit suicide. He +ignored altogether the idea that he was in any way responsible for her +death. She seemed in perfect health when he had left her that evening. +She was dining with some people called Folliott, and was going on to the +theater with them afterwards. He also believed that a crime had been +committed. + +The medical evidence threw some doubt on this opinion, however. True, +there were slight marks on Lady Tavener's throat, but it was possible she +had caused them herself by catching hold of her own throat in some spasm. +She was addicted to drugs, a fact which she had concealed from her +husband apparently, and her general condition was such that a shock or +some sudden excitement might very easily prove fatal. Two doctors were +agreed upon this point, and said that she was in a condition known as +status lymphaticus. + +After the inquest I had gone to see Quarles, and his one idea was that +Sir John should have been arrested. Zena's sarcastic suggestion that her +grandfather would hang him merely because of his reputation, had made the +old man lose his temper altogether. + + +As I was the representative of Scotland Yard in that empty room at +Chelsea, I felt compelled to say something in its defense. + +"Have you read the evidence given to-day carefully?" I asked. + +"I was there," he snapped. + +I had not seen him and was astonished. + +"Arrest Tavener," he went on, "and then you may be able to solve the +problem. There may be extenuating circumstances, but they can be dealt +with afterwards. Let us go into another room." + +He got up and brought the discussion to a close. He was in one of those +moods in which there was no doing anything with him. + +Although I was at the inquest, I had had little to do with the case up to +this point; now it came entirely into my hands, and it may be that +Quarles's advice was at the back of my mind during my inquiries. + +I made one or two rather interesting and significant discoveries. The +Folliotts, with whom it was said Lady Tavener was dining that night, did +not know Sir John, and moreover, they had no appointment with Lady +Tavener that evening, nor were they dining at the Piccadilly Hotel. The +people on Richmond Green, with whom Sir John had dined, admitted that he +was in an excited condition. He made an expected division in the House of +Commons an excuse for leaving early, directly after dinner in fact, but +he had not gone to the House and did not arrive home until after +midnight, when he found a constable waiting for him with the news of his +wife's death. + +These facts were given in evidence at the next hearing, but it was less +due to them than to public feeling, I fancy, that a verdict of murder +against Sir John Tavener was returned. + +That night I went again to Chelsea. + +"I see that you have arrested him, Wigan," was the professor's greeting. + +"I don't believe he is guilty," I answered. + +"Why not? Let us have the reasons. But tell me first, what was his +demeanor when he heard the verdict? Was he astonished?" + +"He seemed to be pitying a body of men who could make such a mistake." + +"Ah, he will play to the gallery even when death knocks at his door. Why +do you think he is not guilty, Wigan?" + +"Intuition for one reason." + +"Come, that is a woman's prerogative." + +"That sixth sense, which is usually denied to men," corrected Zena. + +"Then for tangible reasons," I said; "if he killed his wife he committed +the crime between Twickenham and Richmond Green, knowing perfectly well +that her death must be discovered at the end of her journey. He would +know that suspicion would inevitably fall upon him." + +"That seems a good argument, Wigan, but, as a fact, suspicion did not +immediately fall upon him. He has only been arrested to-day, and even now +you think he has been wrongly arrested. The very daring of the crime was +in his favor." + +"My second reason is this," I went on. "If he were guilty, would he +deliberately have closed the door of escape open for him by the doctors +and declare that he did not believe his wife committed suicide? Would he +not have jumped at the idea?" + +"That also sounds a good argument," said Quarles, "but is it? He could +not deny that he and his wife quarreled rather badly at times, but he +wanted to justify his position, and he felt confident the opinion of the +doctors would stand, no matter what he might say. If no other facts come +to light, suicide will be the line of defense, Wigan, and it will be +exceedingly hard to get any judge and jury to convict him. Nothing +carries greater weight than medical evidence, and you will find the +doctors sticking to their opinion no matter what happens. No, Wigan, your +reasons do not prove that he is not an exceedingly clever and calculating +rascal. On the present evidence I think he would escape the hangman, but +the public will continue to think him guilty unless some one else stands +in the dock in his place." + +"I wonder whether the Folliotts have told the truth," said Zena. + +"Intuition, Wigan," laughed Quarles, "jumps to the end of the journey and +wants to argue backwards." + +"Do you not often do the same, dear?" + +"Perhaps, but not this time. I think you said the taxi had been in charge +of the police?" + +"Yes," I answered. + +"I should like to see it." + +"We can go to-morrow." + +I had already spent a couple of hours with that taxi, and I was rather +anxious to see how Quarles would go to work with it. + +He began with the metal work and the lamps, nodded his admiration at the +way they were kept, and remarked that but for the vehicle number and the +registering machine it might be a private car. He examined the engine and +the tires, using his lens; seemed to be particularly interested in the +texture of the rubber, and picked out some grains of soil which had stuck +in the tire. All four tires came in for this close inspection. + +Inside the taxi his lens went slowly over every inch of the +upholstering, and with the blade of a penknife he scraped up some soil +from the carpet. This he put on a piece of white paper and spent a long +time investigating it. He opened and shut the door half a dozen times, +and shook his head. Then he seated himself in the driver's seat, and in +pantomime drove the car for a few moments. Afterwards, he stood back and +regarded the car as a whole. + +"Well, Wigan, it is a very good taxi; let us go and have a ride in +another one." + +He did not hail the first we encountered, and when he did call one it was +for the sake of the driver, I fancy. He explained that he wanted to drive +to Richmond Green by Hammersmith and Kew Bridge. + +"And we don't want to go too fast," said Quarles. + +"Don't you be afraid, guv'nor, I shan't run you into anything; you won't +come to no harm with me." + +"It isn't that," said Quarles, "but I'm out to enjoy myself. I'll add a +good bit to what that clock thing says at the end of the run." + +"Thank you, guv'nor." + +"Now just get down and open this thing to let me have a look at +the works." + +The driver looked at me, and I nodded. No doubt he thought I was the old +man's keeper. + +Quarles looked at the engine. + +"It isn't new," he remarked. + +"No, guv'nor." + +"How long has it been running?" + +"I couldn't say. I'm not buying this on the hire system." + +"You fellows do that sometimes, eh?" + +"Yes, guv'nor, there are several of us chaps own their own taxi." + +"That's good. Now for Richmond, and go slowly from Hyde Park Corner." + +I never remember a more tedious journey. Quarles hardly spoke a word the +whole way, but sat leaning forward, looking keenly from one side of the +road to the other, as if he were bent on obtaining a mental picture of +every yard of the way. Arriving at Richmond Green he did no more than +just glance at the house where Sir John had dined that night, and then +told the man to drive to Twickenham as fast as he liked to go. + +"Stop him when we reach Tavener's house, Wigan. You know it, I suppose?" + +I did, and stopped the driver when we got there. Quarles had the car +turned round, then he got out and examined the tires with his lenses. The +driver winked at me, and I nodded to assure him that I knew the eccentric +gentleman I had to deal with, and that he was quite harmless. + +We then drove back to Richmond rapidly, and from there went toward town, +but more slowly. By Kew Gardens along to Kew Bridge Quarles did not seem +particularly interested in the journey, but as we drew near Hammersmith +he became alert again. + +We were going slowly past St. Paul's school when he told the driver to +take the second turning to the left. It was a narrow street, a big +warehouse, which was being enlarged, on one side, and a coal yard on +the other. About fifty yards down this street, the driver was +instructed to stop. + +"We will get out for a minute and look at the view," said Quarles +facetiously. + +I confess I found nothing whatever to interest me, but Quarles seemed to +find the blank walls of the warehouse and coal yard attractive. + +"Now, driver, you can turn round and get us back to Hyde Park Corner as +quickly as you like," said the professor as we got into the taxi again. + +Arriving at our destination he told the driver to go into the park, and +there stopped him. Again he examined the tires and the texture of them, +picking some soil from the rubber, and he scraped up some dust from the +floor of the taxi with a penknife and put it in an envelope. + +"Thank you, my man," he said, paying a substantial fare. + +"You're welcome, guv'nor," said the driver with a grin. + +"He is fully persuaded that he has been driving a lunatic and his +keeper," Quarles said as he walked away. "I suppose you can find the +driver of the other taxi, Wigan." + +"We might have found him this morning. He lives at Twickenham." + +"I want you to see him and ask him two questions. First, was the fog in +Hammersmith, or elsewhere on the journey, thick enough to bring him to a +standstill before he reached Hyde Park Corner? Secondly, is he quite sure +that the man who opened the door and called to him had not just got out +of the taxi?" + +"But--" + +"You ask him these two questions and get him to answer definitely," said +Quarles in that aggravating and dictatorial manner he sometimes has. +"To-morrow night come to Chelsea. I am not prepared to talk any more +about the Tavener case until then." + +Without another word he went off in the direction of Victoria, leaving an +angry man behind him. I am afraid I swore. However, I hunted up the +driver of the taxi, and went to Chelsea the following night, still +somewhat out of temper. + +Quarles and Zena were already in the empty room waiting for me. + +"Well, what did the man say?" asked the professor. + +"The fog did not stop him anywhere until he got to Hyde Park Corner, and +he is sure Lady Tavener was alone after leaving Richmond." + +"He stuck to that?" + +"He did, but after some consideration he said that he had almost come to +a standstill in Hammersmith Broadway on account of the trams. I suggested +that some one might have got into the taxi then, but while admitting the +bare possibility, he did not think it likely." + +"Did he give you the impression that he believed Tavener guilty?" + +"Yes. He seemed to consider his arrest a proof of it." + +"Naturally," said the professor. + +"Your whole investigation seems to be for the purpose of proving Sir John +innocent," I said. "Why were you so anxious to have him arrested?" + +"Pardon me, my one idea is to get at the truth. Always be careful of your +premises, Wigan. That is the first essential for a logical conclusion. +Zena has said that because a dog has a bad name I want to hang him. Well, +she gave me an idea; started a theory, in fact. Let us go through the +case. First there is the question of suicide. It must come first, because +if we are logical--the law is not always logical, you know--if we are +logical, it is obvious no man could be hanged while the doctors stuck +tight to their opinion. However, I have reason for leaving the question +of suicide until last. Therefore we investigate the question of murder. +Had Sir John disappeared after visiting the house on Richmond Green, I +suppose not one person in ten thousand would have believed him innocent." + +"But he didn't," I said. + +"No," said Quarles. "But he behaved in a most peculiar manner. He left +immediately after dinner, did not reach home until after midnight, and +has not yet attempted to account for his time. He was in an abnormal +condition. We will make a mental note of that, Wigan." + +I nodded. + +"We will assume that when he left her Lady Tavener was alive," Quarles +went on. "At Hyde Park Corner she was dead, and the driver Wood was +entirely ignorant that anything had happened. Yet, if murder was done, +some one must have joined Lady Tavener during the journey. Wood says he +was not held up by the fog, but on being pressed a little, speaks of +coming nearly to a standstill in Hammersmith Broadway. There, or +somewhere else, because we must remember Wood may have forgotten nearly +coming to other stoppages, since driving in a fog must have required the +whole of his attention--somewhere, somebody must have joined her. The +driver, again under pressure, admits the bare possibility, but does not +think it likely. However, we must assume that some one at some place did +enter the taxi." + +Zena was leaning forward eagerly, and I waited quietly for Quarles +to continue. + +"It follows that whoever it was must have been known to Lady Tavener," he +said slowly. "Otherwise she would have called out to the driver or to +people passing." + +"You mean that he left it at Hyde Park Corner after the murder," said +Zena. "You think it was Lester Williams." + +"There is the possibility that he was getting out of the taxi instead +of rushing to it, because he noticed the occupant looked peculiar," +Quarles admitted. + +"In that case would he have called the driver's attention?" I asked. +"Your theory seems to demand actions which no man would be fool enough +to commit." + +"You can never tell upon what lines a criminal's brain will work, Wigan. +I maintain that the same arguments I have used with regard to Sir John +would apply in Lester Williams's case. Still, there are one or two points +to consider. If you go to Hyde Park Corner you will find it difficult to +pitch on any lamp which could throw sufficient light upon the face of the +occupant leaning back in the corner as to cause alarm to any one on the +pavement. I am taking into consideration the position of the taxi in the +roadway and the angle at which the light would have to be thrown. And, +since motor lights are in the front of cars, and Lady Tavener was facing +the way her taxi was going, it is very improbable that the lights of +another car would serve this purpose. Besides, it was a foggy night." + +"Then you believe Williams was getting out of the taxi?" I asked. + +"Let me talk about the contents of this first," said Quarles, separating +an envelope from some papers on the table. "You will admit that I +examined the taxi fairly thoroughly." + +"You certainly did." + +"And I came to one or two very definite conclusions, Wigan. The engine is +practically new, very different from that of the taxi we took to +Twickenham, which was of exactly the same make. I took some trouble in my +choice of a taxi, you remember. I grant, of course, this may not be a +very reliable proof, but the tires told the same story, I think." + +"The first taxi might just have had new tires," I suggested. + +"I do not fancy the whole four would have been renewed at the same time," +he returned. "It is not usual. My conclusion was that the taxi had not +been used very much." + +"I must confess I do not see where this is leading us," I said. + +"It led us to Twickenham, Wigan. In our down journey we covered the road +taken by the taxi that night if it came direct to Hyde Park Corner. At +Twickenham I examined the tires, and they satisfied me that so far there +was nothing to negative a theory I had formed. On the return journey we +turned into that side street--I had noted it on the way down--and at the +end of our journey I examined the tires again and the floor of the taxi. +I preserved what I found then in this envelope, and it is perfectly clear +that our taxi had been driven over a road strewn with brick dust and coal +dust, and that persons treading on such a road had entered the taxi." + +"Of course, we both got out," I remarked. + +"To admire the view," said Quarles. "And you may have noticed that there +were few windows from which an inquisitive person could have told what we +were doing. At night the place would be quite lonely unless the +bricklayers and coal porters were working overtime. Now, Wigan, on the +tires of the first taxi, and on its carpet, was dust exactly +corresponding to that which I found on the tires and floor of our taxi. +That is significant. Brick dust and coal dust together, remember. They +are not a usual combination on a main road out of London." + +I did not answer, I had no comment to make. + +"If we have no very definite facts," Quarles went on, "we have many +peculiar circumstances, and I will try and reconstruct the tragedy for +you. Sir John and his wife have quarreled at times we know, and to some +extent at any rate have gone each their own way recently. The fact that +Sir John was the cause of her divorce, and married her, may be taken as +proof that he was fond of his wife. A reformed rake constantly is, and +often develops a strong vein of jealousy besides. That Lady Tavener was +supposed by her husband to be dining with the Folliotts, who, as a fact, +had no appointment with her that night, shows that she did not always +explain her going and coming to her husband. I suggest that Sir John had +begun to suspect his wife, and that his reason for leaving Richmond early +was to ascertain whether she was going to the theater with the Folliotts +as she had told him." + +"It is an ingenious theory," I admitted. + +"We follow Lady Tavener," said Quarles. "It is not likely she was going +to spend the evening alone, or the Folliotts would never have been +mentioned. She was going to meet some one. I suggest it was Lester +Williams who had arranged to meet her at Hyde Park Corner. Whether the +idea was to join her in the taxi, or that she should leave the taxi there +with orders that the driver should meet her after the theater, I cannot +say. I am inclined to think it was the former, and I hazard a guess that +Lady Tavener had not known Williams very long. Of course, his explanation +goes by the board. He was on the lookout for the taxi. From the pavement +he only saw the taxi, but when he opened the door he found a tragedy." + +"But why should you think he was a new acquaintance of Lady Tavener's?" +asked Zena. + +"Since he hurried to the door instead of waiting for the taxi to draw to +the curb, I conclude he was taking advantage of the stoppage to join Lady +Tavener in the taxi. Had she intended to leave the taxi there, he would +have waited until it came to the pavement. But my theory demands that he +should have been on the watch for the taxi, therefore he must have known +it. Had Lady Tavener often used the taxi when she met Williams, Wood, the +driver, would have recognized Williams. This does not appear to have been +the case, therefore I conclude they were comparatively new friends." + +"Do we come back to the theory of suicide, then?" I asked. + +"Not yet," Quarles answered. "At present we merely find a reason why Sir +John and Lester Williams have said so little, the one concerning his +suspicions, the other about his knowledge of Lady Tavener. Since his wife +was dead, why should Sir John say anything to cast a reflection upon her. +For the same reason, why should Williams implicate himself in any way. +From their different viewpoints they are both anxious to shield Lady +Tavener's name. Therefore, Wigan, since we wanted to learn the truth, it +was a good move to put Sir John in such a position that, to save himself, +he must speak. Had we left him alone I have little doubt he would have +ended by accepting the doctor's opinion and, rather than explain +anything, would have remained silent." + +"And allowed suspicion to rest on his name?" said Zena. + +"It wouldn't. The doctor's evidence would have made people sympathize +with him and regret that he should ever have been under suspicion. I am +not saying he had made a deep calculation on these chances, but he was +content to wait and let things take their course. He is still doing so. +His arrest has not brought any explanation from him." + +"But he has said he believes his wife met with foul play," +persisted Zena. "Do you believe he would do nothing to bring the +murderer to justice?" + +"I think not. I think he would value his wife's name more than his +revenge. If Sir John knew that his wife was meeting Williams that night, +he might presently lose his temper and cause a scandal." + +"And he will know later, if your theory is right?" I said. + +"Perhaps not," said Quarles. "Let us get back to the contents of this +envelope. The driver would have us believe that the first taxi came +direct from Richmond to Hyde Park Corner. We have strong reasons for +believing it did not. Therefore, either he went out of his way, by Lady +Tavener's orders, to call for some one, or some one got into the taxi +without his knowledge. I sat on the driver's seat, Wigan, and I admit +that, if fully occupied with driving, as he would be on a foggy night, +entrance might have been made without his knowledge, but on one +condition. The door must have been easy to open. The door of that taxi +isn't easy. I tried it. It is exceedingly stiff, difficult to open, and +impossible to close without a very considerable noise. Therefore Wood +knows that some one entered, and we know that that some one must have +walked on a road covered with brick dust and coal dust." + +"Who is it?" I asked. + +"Wood himself. He turned into the road we turned into. If Lady Tavener +noticed that he had done so, she would not think anything of it. She +would imagine the road was up and a detour necessary. As a matter of +fact, she would not have time to think much, and I do not think she was +alarmed, not even when Wood opened the door. As he did so I imagine he +said something of this sort: 'I think it only right to warn your Ladyship +that Sir John is suspicious.' He had to give some excuse for stopping the +taxi and going to his fare. Whether he knew that Sir John was suspicious +or not is immaterial. He had constantly driven Lady Tavener, and was +probably aware that some of her friends were not her husband's. At any +rate, some remark of this kind would allay her suspicions, and then--" + +"He murdered her?" asked Zena sharply. + +"Well, I fancy this is where we come to the question of suicide," said +Quarles. "He intended to murder her, had his fingers on her throat, in +fact, but the sudden excitement saved him. I think she actually died of +shock, as the doctors declare. I think he was able to say something to +her which caused that shock." + +"I can hardly believe--" + +"Wait, Wigan," the professor said, interrupting me. "You will agree +that, from the first, Wood's evidence would naturally accuse Sir John. +When you saw him and pressed him with the two questions I suggested he +still sought to leave the impression upon you that Sir John was guilty; +but since your questions showed there was a doubt in your mind, he +admitted, to safeguard himself, the possibility of some one having +entered the taxi surreptitiously. One other point which counts, I think. +One of the lamps of the taxi, and only one of them, had recently been +removed from its socket. I imagine he took it to make quite sure that +Lady Tavener was dead." + +"But he had often driven Lady Tavener. Why had he waited so long?" +said Zena. + +"And what reason had he for the murder?" I asked. + +"It was probably the first time he had driven them together, when Sir +John had left his wife during the journey, and he wanted to implicate Sir +John. In short, this was his first opportunity for the double revenge he +was waiting for. I have shown, at least I think I have, that the taxi was +not often used. We shall find it is his own taxi, I think, bought +outright or being purchased on the hire system. I should say he rarely +hired himself out except to Sir John and Lady Tavener. He was not an +ordinary driver, but a very clever schemer, and, like a clever schemer, I +think one little point has given him away altogether. Curtis, from whom +Lady Tavener was divorced, died shortly afterwards, you may remember, of +a broken heart, his friends said, which means that he grieved abnormally +at the breaking up of his happiness. It is natural that his friends and +relations should hate the Taveners, and one of them conceived the idea of +revenge. It is curious that several of the Curtises are called Baldwood +Curtis. Baldwood is a family name. It was easy to assume the name of +Wood. It would be likely to jump into the mind if one of them wanted to +assume a name." + +"What a horrible plot," said Zena, with a shudder. + +"Horrible and clever," said Quarles. + +"I wonder if you are right, dear." + +"I have no doubt, but Wigan will be able to tell us presently." + +He was right, I think, practically in every particular. I am not sure +what would have happened to Wood. Technically he had not actually killed +Lady Tavener, but he solved the difficulty of his punishment himself. +Expecting the worst, I suppose, he managed to hang himself in his cell. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE AFFAIR OF THE JEWELED CHALICE + + +The yellow taxi must still have been a topic of conversation with the +public when Quarles and I became involved in two cases which tried us +both considerably, and in which we ran great risk. + +The reading of detective tales imagined by comfortable authors who show +colossal ignorance regarding my profession, has often amused, me. Pistols +usually begin the string of impossibilities and a convenient pair of +handcuffs is at the end. These are the tales of fiction, not of real life +as a rule, yet in the two cases I speak of the reality was certainly as +strange as fiction and very nearly as dangerous. + +There had been a series of hotel robberies in London, so cleverly +conceived and carried out that Scotland Yard was altogether at fault. I +had had nothing to do with this investigation, being engaged on other +cases, but one Friday morning my chief told me I must lend my colleagues +a hand. Within an hour of our interview I was making myself conversant +with what had been done, and on Friday afternoon and during the whole of +Saturday I was busy with the affair. + +On Monday morning, however, I was called to the chief's room and told to +devote myself to the recovery of a jeweled chalice which had been stolen +from St. Ethelburga's Church, Bloomsbury, on the previous day. Since the +vicar, the Rev. John Harding, was an intimate friend of the chief's, +there was a sort of compliment in my being taken from important work to +attend to this case, but I admit I did not start on this new job with any +great enthusiasm, and was rather annoyed at being switched off the +hotels, as it were, and put on to the church. + +I went with the vicar to Bloomsbury in a taxi, and gathered information +on the way. The chalice had been given to the church about eighteen +months ago by an old lady, a Miss Morrison, who had since died. She had +possessed some remarkable jewelry, diamonds and pearls, and these had +been set in the chalice which she had presented to St. Ethelburga's, +where she had attended regularly for six or seven years. The chalice was +insured for £5,000, but this was undoubtedly below its actual value. It +was not used constantly, only on the great festivals, and on certain +Saints' days specified by Miss Morrison when she made the gift. The +previous day happened to be one of these Saints' days, and the chalice +had been used at the early celebration. The vicar had put it back into +its case and locked it in the safe himself. The key of the safe had not +been out of his possession since, yet this morning the safe was found +open and the chalice gone. + +"You have no suspicion?" I asked. + +"None," he answered, but not until after a momentary pause. + +"You do not answer very decidedly, Mr. Harding." + +"I do, yes, I do really. In a catastrophe of this kind all kinds of ideas +come into the mind, very absurd ones some of them," and he laughed a +little uneasily. + +"It would be wise to tell me even the absurd ones," I said. + +"Very well, but perhaps you had better examine the vestry and the safe +first," he said as the taxi stopped. + +I found the vestry in charge of a constable, and as we entered a +clergyman joined us. The vicar introduced me to the Rev. Cyril Hayes, his +curate. The vestry and the safe were just as they had been found that +morning; nothing had been moved. Yesterday had been wet, and the flooring +of wooden blocks in the choir vestry bore witness to the fact that +neither men nor boys had wiped their feet too thoroughly. Even in the +clergy vestry, which was carpeted, there were boot marks, so it seemed +probable that the weather had rendered abortive any clue there might have +been in this direction. There were two safes in the clergy vestry, a +large one standing out in the room and a small one built into the wall. +It was in the latter that the chalice had been kept, and the door was +open. Apparently two or three blows had been struck at the wall with a +chisel, or some sharp instrument, and there were several scratches on the +edge of the door and around the keyhole; but it was quite evident to me +that the safe had been opened with a key. I asked the vicar for his key, +but it would not turn in the lock. + +"Was anything besides the chalice stolen?" I asked. + +"No," the vicar returned. "As you see, there is another chalice and two +patens in the safe, one paten of gold, but it was not taken, not even +touched, I fancy. It was the chalice and the chalice only that the +thieves came for." + +"It seems foolish to keep such a valuable chalice in the vestry," I said. + +"It is kept in the bank as a rule," the vicar answered. "I got it from +the bank on Saturday and it would have gone back this morning. Of course +it was not possible to keep such a gift a secret. The church papers had +paragraphs about it, which some of the daily papers copied." + +"Every gang in London knew of its existence then," I said. + +"True," said the curate, "and you might go further than that and remember +that much of our work here lies in some very poor and some very +disreputable neighborhoods." + +"It does," said the vicar. "Amongst our parishioners we must have many +thieves, I am afraid." + +"There are thieves and thieves," said Mr. Hayes, "and I fancy there are +many who would not meddle with the sacred vessels of a church. +Superstition perhaps, but a powerful deterrent." + +The vicar shook his head, evidently not agreeing with this opinion. + +"Probably I have had more to do with thieves than you have, vicar," he +said with a smile, and turning to me he went on: "I am very interested in +a hooligans' club we have. They are a rough lot I can assure you. Many of +them have seen the inside of a jail, some of them will again possibly; +but there's a leaven of good stuff in them. Saints have been reared from +such poor material before now." + +"When do you meet?" I asked. + +"Mondays and Thursdays." + +"To-night. I'll look in to-night." + +"But--" + +"I may find the solution to the theft at your club," I said. The +suggestion seemed to annoy him. + +That the safe had been opened with a key and not broken open indicated +that some one connected with the church was directly or indirectly +responsible for the theft, and this idea was strengthened by the fact +that it was impossible to tell how the robbers had entered the church. +The verger had come in as usual that morning by the north door which he +had found locked, and it was subsequently ascertained that all the other +doors were locked. Some of you may know the church and remember that it +is rather dark, its windows few and high up; indeed, only by one of the +baptistry windows could an entry possibly have been effected, and I could +find nothing to suggest that this method had been used. A few keen +questions did not cause the verger to contradict himself in the slightest +particular, and his fifteen years' service seemed to exonerate him. + +"Is it possible that you left the door unlocked last night by mistake?" +I queried. + +"I should have found it open this morning," he said, as if he were +surprised at my overlooking this point. + +I had not overlooked it. I was wondering whether he had found it open and +was concealing the fact, fearing dismissal for his carelessness. + +A little later I had a private talk with the vicar. + +"I think you had better tell me your suspicions," I said. + +"There is nothing which amounts to a suspicion," he answered reluctantly. +"It does not take a skilled detective, Mr. Wigan, to see that some one +connected with the church must have had a hand in the affair. It is not +the work of ordinary thieves. Therefore, as I said, absurd ideas will +come. It happens that my curate, Mr. Hayes, is much in debt, and has had +recourse to money lenders. He has said nothing to me about it; indeed, it +was only last week that I became aware of the fact, and I decided not to +speak to him until after Sunday. I was going to talk to him this morning. +It was a painful duty, and naturally--" + +"Naturally you cannot help thinking about it in connection with +the chalice." + +The vicar nodded as though words seemed to him too definite in such a +delicate matter. That the two things had become connected in his mind +evidently distressed him, and he was soon talking in the kindest manner +about his curate, anxious to impress me with the excellent work Mr. Hayes +was doing in the parish. + +"The hooligans' club, for instance?" I said. + +"That amongst other things," he answered. + +"Miss Morrison was one of your rich parishioners, I presume." + +"She was not a parishioner at all," said Mr. Harding. "She lived at +Walham Green. She came to St. Ethelburga's because she liked our +services, drove here in a hired fly every Sunday morning. I visited her, +at her request, when she was ill some three years ago, but I really knew +little of her. To be quite truthful I thought her somewhat eccentric, and +never supposed she was wealthy. The presentation of the chalice came as a +great surprise." + +"Have you a photograph of the chalice?" + +"No; but Miss Morrison's niece might have. I know Miss Morrison had one +taken, a copy of it appeared in the church papers. The niece, Miss +Belford, continues to live at Walham Green--No. 3 Cedars Road." + +"Does she attend the church?" I asked, as I made a note of the address. + +"Oh, yes. She used to come with her aunt, and since Miss Morrison's +death she has taken up some parish work. I know her much better than I +did her aunt." + +"Of course she has not yet heard of the theft?" + +"No, I have not talked about it to any one. I thought silence was the +best policy." + +I quite agreed with him and suggested he should keep the theft a secret +for the next few hours. + +With Mr. Hayes and his hooligans' club at the back of my mind, I made one +or two enquiries in the neighborhood, and then started for Walham Green. +On my way to the Underground I met Percival, one of the men engaged upon +the hotel robberies, and stood talking to him for a few minutes. He was +rather keen on a clue he had got hold of, but I was now sufficiently +interested in the stolen chalice not to be envious. + +No. 3 Cedars Road was quite a small house--forty pounds a year perhaps, +and Miss Belford was a more attractive person than I expected to find. I +don't know why, but I had expected to see a typical old maid; instead of +which I was met by a young woman who had considerable claims to beauty. +She opened the door herself, her maid being out, and was astonished when +I said the Vicar of St. Ethelburga's had sent me. + +She asked me in to a small but tastefully appointed dining-room, and when +I told her my news, seemed more concerned on her aunt's account than at +the loss of the chalice. + +"Poor auntie!" she exclaimed. "Whilst she had the jewels she was always +afraid some one would steal them, and now--now some one has." + +"Mr. Harding thought you would have a photograph of the chalice," I said. + +"I am sorry, I haven't. There were two or three, but I don't know +what auntie did with them. She was a dear, but had funny little +secretive ways." + +"Mr. Harding led me to suppose she was eccentric," I said. "It is often +the way with wealthy old ladies." + +"Wealthy!" she laughed. "She left me all she had, and I shall not be able +to afford to go on living here." + +"How came she to give the jewels to the church then?" + +"I hardly know, and I will confess that I was a little disappointed when +she did so. Does that sound very ungrateful in view of the fact that she +left me everything else!" + +"No. It is natural under the circumstances." + +"She was very fond of me, but as I have said, she was secretive and she +certainly did not give me her entire confidence. I fancy the jewels were +connected with some romance in her past life, and for that reason she did +not wish any one else to possess them." + +"You can't give me any idea of the nature of this romance, Miss Belford?" + +"No." + +"It might possibly help me." + +"There is one thing I could do," she said. "My aunt had a very old +friend living in Yorkshire. She would be likely to know, and under the +circumstances might tell. If you think it would be any use I will +write to her." + +"I wish you would." + +"If a romance in my aunt's life had something to do with the robbery, it +seems strange that the jewels have been safe so long. They were always +kept in the house. I should have thought it would have been easier to +steal them from here than from the church." + +"I do not think we can be sure of that," I said. + +"Besides, the jewels have been quite safe at St. Ethelburga's for +eighteen months," she added. + +"That is a point I admit. I understand that you work in Mr. Harding's +parish, so you know Mr. Hayes, of course." + +"I have not been brought much in contact with him. I have sung once or +twice at his hooligan club entertainments. He has made a great success +of the club." + +"Regenerating ruffians and drafting them into church work, eh?" + +"I believe he has had great influence with them." + +"I am going to visit that club to-night." + +"You will find he is doing a great work. You will--surely you are not +thinking--" + +"That reformation may be only skin deep? I am, Miss Belford. The daily +environment of these fellows makes it easy for them to slip back into +their old ways." + +From Walham Green I went to Chelsea. I wanted to see Zena Quarles, and +there was nothing more to be done in the chalice case until I had visited +the hooligan club. Not for a moment would I appear to sneer at the +regenerating work which may be accomplished by such institutions, but +experience has taught me that it is often the cakes and ale, so to speak, +which attract, while character remains unchanged, or at the best very +thinly veneered. There are always exceptions, of course. It is difficult +for the uninitiated to realize that men go in for crime as a means of +livelihood, and are trained to become expert even as others are trained +to succeed in respectable professions. Many grades go to make up a +successful gang, and I had great hope of recognizing some youngster's +face at the club which would give me a clue to the gang which had worked +this robbery. + +"You're the very man I was thinking about," said Quarles when I was shown +into the dining-room. "You have come to tell me that you are on these +hotel robberies. Sit down, Wigan. How goes the inquiry?" + +"You are wrong, professor. I was on the job for a day and a half, but +I'm off it again. I am investigating the theft of a jeweled chalice." + +"Left in a cheap safe in an insecure vestry, I suppose," he said +in a tone of disgust. "Serves them right. Such things should be +kept in a bank." + +I explained that it was only kept in the vestry safe until it could be +returned to the bank, but the fact did not seem to impress him. + +He made no suggestion that we should adjourn to that empty room, where we +had discussed so many cases. I told him the story, although I was not +seeking his help, and he was not interested enough to ask a single +question when I had finished. He only wanted to discuss the hotel +robberies. + +"I am going to that club this evening," I went on. + +"The fact doesn't interest me," he returned snappishly. + +"Fortunately I didn't come for your help; I wanted to see Zena." + +"She's out and won't be home until late." + +"And your temper's gone out, too, eh, Professor?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"That you are simply lusting to be on the warpath," I laughed. "It might +do you good to come and see the hooligans with me to-night. Besides, if +we could settle the chalice case promptly we might be investigating the +hotel robberies before the end of the week." + +This suggestion clinched the matter. He came, believing possibly that I +congratulated myself upon having drawn him into the affair, which was not +a fact. I was glad of his company, but I did not want his help. + +Knowing something of such places, this hooligans' club astonished me. The +raw material was rough enough, but Mr. Hayes had worked wonders with it. +His personality had made no particular impression on me that morning, but +his achievement proved him a man of force and character. Quarles was +evidently interested in him and his work. If what the vicar had told me +about his curate had left even a faint speculation regarding his +integrity in my mind, it was dissipated. + +Visitors to the club were not an infrequent occurrence, Mr. Hayes told +us. He was rather proud that the institution had served as a type on +which to form others. + +"There mustn't be too much religion," he said. "The flotsam and jetsam of +life have to learn to be men and women first. Some of them are learning +to be men here." + +While I listened to him I had been eagerly scanning the faces before me. +There was not one I recognized. I wandered about the room, feigning +interest in the game of bagatelle which was going forward with somewhat +noisy excitement, and stood by chess and draught players for a few +moments to study their faces closely. I looked keenly at each new +arrival, but my clue was yet to seek. + +Suddenly a young fellow entered, rather smarter than most of them, and I +recognized him at once. Possibly the hooligans' club had been his +salvation, but he had been bred amongst thieves, thieves I knew and had +handled at times. + +"I began to think you weren't coming to-night, Squires." + +"Just looked in to say I can't come, sir," was the answer. "Got a chance +of a place, sir, and going to look after it." + +"That's right. Good luck to you. You can refer to me, you know." + +"Thank you, sir." + +With a careless word to two or three of the youths as he passed down the +room, Squires sauntered out. + +"That's our man," I whispered to Quarles, and without waiting to take +leave of Mr. Hayes, I hastened to the door. Squires was going slowly down +the street, no evidence of alarm about him, no desire apparently to lose +himself in the crowd. He had not got very far when Quarles joined me, +keen now there was a trail to follow. + +"I know the gang he used to be friendly with," I said as we began to +follow, "although I've got nothing definite against this youngster. It +was this gang, I believe, that worked the series of frauds on jewelers +three years ago, although we never brought it home to them. Just the men +to deal with a jeweled chalice, eh, professor? I expect young Squires +recognized me and guesses I am after it." + +Our object was to track young Squires to his destination. Since he was +connected with St. Ethelburga's through the hooligan club, it was quite +likely he had had a direct hand in the robbery, but it was certain others +were the prime movers, and I guessed he was on the way to warn them that +I was on the trail. + +At the corner of a street he stopped to speak to a man and a woman, and +we were obliged to interest ourselves in a convenient shop door. He stood +at the corner talking for at least ten minutes. Quarles thought he was +having words with the woman, but it could not have been much of a quarrel +for none of the passersby took any particular notice of them. Presently +the man and woman crossed the street arm in arm, and Squires sauntered +round the corner. We were quickly at the corner, afraid of losing sight +of him. He was still in sight, still walking slowly. Once he turned to +light a cigarette, and after that he increased his pace a little. + +"It's evident he lied when he said he was going to look for a job," +I remarked. + +"But it's not so evident that one of us ought not to have followed the +man and woman," said Quarles. "They may have gone to do the warning." + +"I think not," I answered. "If you have noted our direction you will find +we have traveled a pretty circuitous route. He'll wait until he thinks he +is safe from pursuit, and then take a bee line for his destination." + +As if he would prove my words Squires mended his pace, swinging down one +street and up another as if he had suddenly become definite. At corners +he gained on us, I think he must have run the moment he was out of sight, +and in one short street we were only just in time to see him disappear +round a corner. + +"I'm going to give this up soon, Wigan," said Quarles as we hurried in +pursuit. "I don't care how many jewels the chalice had in it." + +We were round the corner. Squires had disappeared, but we could hear +running feet in the distance. + +"That settles it," said Quarles, coming to halt a dozen yards from the +corner. "Go on if you like, Wigan, but--" + +I heard no more. Something struck me, enveloped me, and there was an end. +I am not very sure when a new beginning happened. Perhaps it is only an +after consideration which makes me remember a whirring sound in my ears, +and a certain swinging motion, and a murmur which was soothing. I am +quite sure of the pain which subsequently came to me. My head was big +with it, my limbs twisted with it. I was conscious of nothing else for a +period to which I cannot place limits. Then there was fire in my throat. + +I was sitting in the angle of a wall, on the floor; at a little distance +from me was a light which presently resolved itself into a candle stuck +in the neck of a bottle. There were moving shadows--I saw them, I think, +before I was conscious of the man and woman who made them. The man had +just poured brandy down my throat, the girl, with her arms akimbo, +watched him. + +"He'll do now," said the man. + +"Can't see why we take such trouble to keep death away," was the +woman's answer. + +"Are you in love with the hangman?" + +The girl laughed, caught up the bottle, making the shadows dance like a +delirium, then I slipped back into darkness again. + +All kinds of things came into my mind after that, disordered dreams, and +then I heard my name. + +"Wigan! Wigan!" + +I was still sitting in an angle of a wall, trussed like a fowl, but I +was awake. + +"Is that you, Professor?" + +"No more hooligan clubs, Wigan." + +"What happened?" + +"I remember turning a corner," Quarles answered, "and I woke up here. We +were sandbagged, or something of the kind, and serves us right. If we +wanted to follow any one we ought to have followed the man and woman. Can +you drag yourself over to this corner? We can talk quietly then." + +It was rather a painful and lengthy operation, but I fancy the effort did +me good. My brain was clearer, I began to grip things again. + +"Where are we?" I said. + +"Locked in a cellar, but where I do not know. We're lucky to be no worse +off, and probably I'm especially lucky in not having been sandbagged by +the man who dealt with you. He would probably have closed my account, for +he must have hit you a tremendous blow. I had come to myself before the +man and woman brought you brandy. I just moved to show I wasn't dead and +watched them." + +"You'll know them again." + +"They both wore masks. About this chalice, Wigan." + +"No doubt we've hurried it into the melting pot," I returned. + +"I've been half asleep since our friend left us, but I've done some +thinking, too. Reminded of my empty room by this cellar, I expect. There +are one or two curious points about this chalice." + +"Are they worth considering--now?" + +"I think so. It will serve to pass the time. I didn't take any interest +in your story at the time, but I think I remember the facts. You must +correct me if I go wrong. First, then, we may take it as certain that the +church was not broken into in an ordinary way. We assume, therefore, that +some one connected with the church had a hand in the robbery. You +satisfied yourself that an entry was not effected by the only possible +window, we therefore ask who had keys of the church. The answer would +appear to be the vicar, the verger, and possibly, even probably, Mr. +Hayes. Had keys been in the possession of any other person for any +purpose, either temporarily or otherwise, the vicar--I am assuming his +integrity--would have mentioned it. Now the vicar does not suggest that +he has any suspicion against the verger, nor do you appear to have +entertained any, but Mr. Harding does suggest a suspicion of his curate +by mentioning his debts and his dealings with money lenders." + +"It was under pressure. I am convinced he has no real suspicion." + +"At any rate his story influenced you. You made some inquiries +concerning Mr. Hayes. That is an important point. Had you not heard at +the same time of this hooligan club, you would probably have made further +inquiries about the curate. I think you missed something." + +"Oh, nonsense. You've seen the man and must appreciate--" + +"His worth," said Quarles. "I do, but he leads to speculation. Let us +consider the safe for a moment. There were marks from a blow of the +chisel on the wall, scratches on the safe door, and by the keyhole, but +you are satisfied that the safe was opened with a key, yet the vicar's +key will not turn the lock. Why should an expert thief trouble to make +these marks or to suggest that the safe had been broken open, even to +the extent of jamming the lock in some way? The only possible +explanation would be that the expert wished to leave the impression than +an amateur had been at work. I can see no reason why he should wish to +do so, and at any rate he failed. You were not deceived; you looked for +the expert at once." + +"And the hunter has been trapped. We were hotter on the trail than I +imagined." + +"It is a warning to me to keep out of cases in which I feel no interest," +said Quarles. "Still, circumstances have aroused my interest now. There +is no doubt, Wigan, that there was every reason to look for an amateur in +this business, and in spite of the hooligan club, you seem to have been +half conscious of this fact. You would have been glad to know what the +romance connected with the jewels was. Not idle curiosity, I take it, but +a grasping for a clue in that direction. Miss Belford cannot help you +beyond writing to her aunt's old friend in Yorkshire, yet had it not been +for the hooligans' club, I fancy you would have followed this trail more +keenly. According to Miss Belford, apart from the jewels, her aunt had +not left sufficient to enable the niece to go on living in Cedars Road, +yet while Miss Morrison was alive it was sufficient, apparently. Of +course the niece may have more expensive tastes, but under the +circumstances it was rather a curious statement. She believes that a past +romance was the reason why the jewels were left to the church, and she +admits that she was disappointed they were not left to her. It seems +possible, doesn't it, that at one time she hoped to have them after her +aunt's death? That would mean there was no valid reason why she +shouldn't, and I think you might reasonably have speculated that she knew +more of the romance than she admitted." + +"You wouldn't have thought so if you had talked with her." + +"Possibly not," returned Quarles. "I started handicapped in this case, I +was not interested in it; Zena was not at hand to ask one of her absurd +questions, which have so often put me on the right road. The road we have +traveled has landed us here, and I have been thinking of another road we +might have traveled. We will forget the hooligans' club. We start with +the assumption that the robbery was the work of an amateur, we have ample +reasons for thinking so. We do not suspect the vicar, we are inclined to +exonerate the verger, and we finally decide that Mr. Hayes is innocent. +We are met with a difficulty at once. How was the church entered? We may +assume that some person in the Sunday evening congregation remained +hidden in the church, committed the burglary, opening the safe with a +duplicate key, marking the wall and the door, and giving a wrench to the +lock to suggest ordinary thieves. Had it not been for the hooligan club, +these efforts to mislead would not have been very successful, I fancy. +They show that the amateur had small knowledge of the ways of experts. +The thief, having secured the chalice, is still locked in the church. How +to escape? It is a case of an all night vigil. When the verger arrives on +Monday morning and passes through the church towards the vestry, the +thief slips out. Now it is obvious that to make this possible the thief +must have known a great deal about the church and its working, must have +come in contact with the vicar constantly, or it would have been +impossible to get an impression of the safe key. We therefore look +amongst the church workers for the thief." + +"Your deductions would be more interesting were we not lying trussed in +this cellar," I said. "I am trying to wriggle some of these knots loose." + +"That's right," said Quarles, "When you are free you can undo me. My dear +Wigan, it is the fact that we are in this cellar which makes these +deductions so interesting. The chalice was stolen for the sake of the +jewels, that is evident, or the thief would have taken the gold paten as +well; and the jewels have a romance attached to them. We don't know what +that romance is, but we have an eccentric old lady the possessor of the +jewels; we have reason to suppose that she was not otherwise rich, and we +have a niece apparently ignorant of her aunt's past. She admits +disappointment that the jewels were left to the church; she complains +that her own circumstances are straitened. In spite of the fact that she +lives in Walham Green, she becomes, after her aunt's death, a worker in +St. Ethelburga's parish in Bloomsbury. We have in Miss Belford one who +knows the general working of the church, one who has been brought in +contact with the vicar--Mr. Harding said he knew her very well, +remember; and moreover she is closely connected with the jewels. It is +possible, even, that she knows the romance behind the jewels and feels +that they are hers by right and ought never to have been given to the +church. This would account entirely for such a woman turning thief." + +"The fact remains we are in this cellar," I said. + +"It is a very interesting fact," said Quarles. "Of course I cannot be +sure that the man and woman who were in this cellar were the same young +Squires met, but I believe they were. The woman stood with her arms +akimbo in each case, the position was identical. They learnt from young +Squires that we were following and went off to warn some of their fellows +who waited for us, Squires leading us into the trap by arrangement. The +gang has beaten us, Wigan." + +"And the chalice is in the melting pot," I remarked. + +"I don't believe the gang knows anything about the chalice," said the +professor quietly. + +"Not know! Why--" + +"Wigan, you stopped to speak to a colleague engaged on the hotel +robberies this morning. You were seen, I believe. It was immediately +assumed that you were on that job, and when Squires saw you to-night at +the club he thought you were after the hotel robbers. Without being aware +of it we were probably hot on their track." + +"It is impossible," I said. + +"Why should it be?" Quarles asked. "Once get a fixed idea in the mind, +and it is exceedingly difficult to give opposing theories their due +weight. The hooligan club got into your mind. There were many reasons why +it should, especially with Mr. Hayes as the connecting link; you could +not believe him guilty so you fell back upon the club. One other point, a +very important one. The chalice was only used on great festivals and +certain Saints' days. There are several reasons why the robbery would be +difficult on a great festival. The church would not be in its normal +condition, owing to decorations or increased services, perhaps; besides, +the thief--a church worker we assume--might be missed from some function +connected with the church which would cause suspicion. On the other hand, +many Saints' days occur in the week when there is no late evening +service, perhaps, and if there is, only a small congregation. It would be +remembered who was present. The chalice was stolen on a Saints' day which +happened to fall on a Sunday, and must therefore remain in the church all +night. How many people do you suppose know which Saints' days were +specified by Miss Morrison? Very few. I warrant you were not far from the +chalice when you were talking to Miss Belford. How are you getting on +with your knots, Wigan?" + +"I am not tied so tightly as I might be." + +"Good. With luck you may yet be in time to prevent Miss Belford +getting away." + +"I don't believe she has anything to do with the chalice," I answered. + +"All the same, I should take another journey to Walham Green," said +Quarles. "When one is dealing with a woman it is well to remember that +she is more direct than a man, is inclined to use simpler methods, and is +often more thorough. Witness the man and woman in this cellar. The man +gave you brandy to revive you: the woman didn't see any reason why you +shouldn't die. She interested me. A woman like that is a source of +strength to a gang. I fancy there is a glimmer of daylight through a +grating yonder." + +I got free from my bonds after a time, and I undid Quarles. The cellar +door was a flimsy affair, my shoulder against the lock burst it open at +once. No one rushed to prevent our escape. The house was as silent as +the grave. + +"Our captors have decamped," said Quarles. "We must have been hot upon +the trail last night, Wigan." + +The house was empty apparently, but we did not search it thoroughly then. +Escape was our first thought. I could give instructions to the first +constable we met to keep a watch on the house. We left by an area and +found ourselves at the end of a blind road in Hampstead. The house was +detached, and fifty yards or more from its nearest neighbor. + +"Reserved for future investigation," Quarles remarked. "Our first +business is the jeweled chalice." + +Only a dim light had found its way through the cellar grating, but the +day had begun. There was the rumble of an early milk cart. In spite of +aching head and stiff limbs, only one idea possessed us; and the first +taxi we found took us to Walham Green. + +Miss Belford had gone. She must have left the house yesterday within half +an hour of my leaving it. Inquiry subsequently proved that her servant +had left on the Saturday, and that during the last week Miss Belford had +disposed of her furniture just as it stood. + +Quarles was right, although we had no actual proof until some months +later, when we had almost forgotten the jeweled chalice. + +Miss Belford wrote to Mr. Harding. The jewels were left to Miss Morrison, +she said, by an old lover. Why they had not married she could not say, +but from old letters it appeared there had been a quarrel, and the man +had married elsewhere. Miss Belford was the daughter of that marriage. +She was not really Miss Morrison's niece, although she had always called +her aunt. The jewels were left to Miss Morrison absolutely, to sell or do +as she liked with, but Miss Belford declared that, in a letter which was +with the jewels when Miss Morrison received them after Mr. Belford's +death, and which she afterwards found amongst her papers, her father +evidently expected that his daughter would ultimately benefit. The letter +went on to explain how the theft had been accomplished, and the letter +concluded: + +"Had I known my aunt contemplated giving the jewels to the church, I +should have taken them before, because I had always expected them to come +to me. They were presented before I knew anything about it. I could do +nothing, I was dependent upon her. When I found my father's letter I knew +I had been robbed--that is the word, Mr. Harding, robbed. In taking the +chalice I have only taken what belongs to me. On reflection you will +probably consider that I was quite justified." + +I can affirm that the vicar of St. Ethelburga's did not think so, and +since Miss Belford's letter, which came from America, did not give any +address I imagine she was not sure what attitude Mr. Harding would take +up. What became of the gems, or how they were disposed of, I do not know; +I only know that there is no jeweled chalice at St. Ethelburga's now, and +I fancy the vicar thinks that, as a detective, I was a ghastly failure. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ADVENTURE OF THE FORTY-TON YAWL + + +Brilliant sunshine and a sufficient breeze, a well-appointed forty-ton +yawl, nothing to do but lie basking on the warm deck, conscious of a very +pretty woman at the helm--well, you may go a long way before you find +anything to beat it for pure enjoyment. + +How I came to be spending my time under such enviable circumstances +requires some explanation, especially when I state that the exceedingly +pretty woman was not Zena Quarles. + +It will be remembered that to attend to the jeweled chalice case, which +proved to be an affair of a day and a night only, I had been taken off a +job concerning a series of hotel robberies, and I was particularly glad +to be put back upon this case, because Quarles was so intensely +interested in it. Although the chalice case was not actually cleared up +satisfactorily for some months, it was practically certain that the +attack made upon us had nothing to do with the theft of the chalice. + +The professor was convinced that, unconsciously, we had been hot upon the +trail of the hotel robberies, that the trails of the two cases had, in +fact, crossed each other. It seemed to me that he had jumped to this +conclusion upon insufficient evidence, but I determined to make a +thorough investigation of the house at Hampstead at once. + +The house was in charge of a caretaker named Mason, who lived there in +one sparsely furnished room, but on the night of our capture he had +absented himself without leave. This looked suspicious, but the man was +able to prove that he had told the truth as to his whereabouts, and +further inquiry elicited nothing against him. Quarles also declared +emphatically that Mason was not the masked man he had seen in the cellar. + +I next managed to get an interview with the owner of the house, a Mr. +Wibley. He had lived in it himself for a time, but it had now been empty +for about two years. It was a good house, but old-fashioned. People did +not like basements, and as the house was in a neighborhood which was +deteriorating he had not felt inclined to spend money upon it. He knew +nothing about the caretaker who had been put there by the house agent, +but he was very keen to give me any help in his power, for he had himself +been a victim of one of the hotel robberies. Business occasionally +brought him to town from his house in Hampshire, and while staying in an +hotel a big haul had been made, and a necklace which he had bought for +his daughter only that day was amongst the property stolen. + +All these robberies, which had occurred over a period of six months, had +been carried out with a success which entirely baffled the authorities. + +Apparently rooms were rifled during the table d'hôte; at least, it was +always late in the evening that the robberies were discovered. In no case +had a guest or a servant left suddenly or suspiciously, and drastic +search had discovered nothing. There could be little doubt that a clever +gang was at work, but during this period not a single stolen article had +been traced. Scotland Yard had any number of men engaged upon the case; +known thieves were watched, and fences kept under observation; but as a +fact there had been no clue at all until Quarles and I had been kidnaped. + +Of course, there was no certainty that our capture had anything to do +with these robberies. Quarles based his conviction on the fact that I had +spoken to another detective, Percival, who was known to have the case in +hand. He believed that I had been seen, that it was concluded that the +case was in my hands, that in hunting for the chalice I had stumbled on +the other trail, was so hot upon it, in fact, that prompt action on the +thieves' part was absolutely necessary. + +It was obvious that our capture must be a clue to something; it was +natural, perhaps, to jump to the conclusion that it concerned these +robberies, but Quarles's arguments did not altogether convince me. I had +half a dozen men hunting for young Squires, who had almost certainly led +us into an ambush that night and who had disappeared completely. His old +haunts had not known him for a long time; his old companions had lost +sight of him. It was generally understood that he had cut his old ways +and had turned pious, an evident reference to the hooligan club. At one +time he had certainly been friendly with some of the members of a gang I +knew of, a gang quite likely to be responsible for these robberies, but +inquiries went to show that this gang had practically ceased to exist as +an organization. + +For nearly a week I was busy morning, noon, and night collecting evidence +and facts which were retailed to Quarles, and then I broke down. Nervous +energy had kept me going, I suppose, but the blow I had received was not +to be ignored. The doctor ordered rest, and I went to Folkestone. I +suppose I looked ill, and, perchance, a little interesting; at any rate, +I was the recipient of quite a lot of sympathy, and it was on the third +afternoon of my stay in the hotel that Mrs. Selborne spoke to me. She +had heard me telling some one that I was recovering from an accident. + +She had a yacht in the harbor. She had great faith in the recuperating +power of yachting. She would have her skipper up that evening, if I would +make use of the yacht next day. I hesitated to accept her kind offer. She +evidently meant me to go alone; said she had not intended to use the +yacht on the following day; but it was finally arranged that she should +take me for a sail. It was the first of several. On the first occasion +she also took a lady staying in the hotel, and on the second a lad who +was there with his parents, but as they were both bad sailors we went by +ourselves the third time. + +"It spoils the pleasure to see other people ill," said Mrs. Selborne. "I +think we might really go alone without unduly shocking people." + +So it happened that I was enjoying the breeze and the sunshine under +ideal circumstances and with as charming a companion as a man could +wish to have. + +I told Zena so in one of my letters; so convincingly, I regret to say, +that the dear girl did not like it. There was really no cause for +jealousy, but bring a man in close contact with a pretty and charming +woman, especially on a yacht, and he is almost certain to flirt with +her a little. + +It was very mild and harmless in my case, and indeed Mrs. Selborne, jolly +and somewhat unconventional as she was, would have resented any liberty. +We frankly enjoyed each other's society, and at the end of a few days +might have known each other for years. + +Certainly I owed her a debt of gratitude, for the yacht did me worlds of +good. I told her so that afternoon. + +"You certainly look better," she said. + +"You will send me back to work sooner than I expected." + +"When?" + +"At the end of the week." + +"And I expect my husband to-morrow." + +I don't suppose she meant it, but she said it as if she regretted +his coming. + +"Is he fond of yachting?" I asked. + +"It bores him to tears," she laughed. "Most of the things which I like +do. Still, he is very good to me. I am an old man's darling, you know." + +It was the first time she had mentioned her husband, and she had not +shown the slightest curiosity in my affairs. She was just a good pal for +the time being. That was how she had impressed me, but this afternoon she +was--how shall I put it?--she was rather more of a woman than usual. I +might easily imagine she had given me an opening for a serious +flirtation. Her manner might suggest that I had become more to her than +she had intended. I put the idea away from me, mentally kicking myself +for allowing it to get into my head at all. + +"We shall sail as usual to-morrow," she told her skipper when we landed. + +"Very good, ma'am." + +"Mr. Selborne arrives to-morrow night. Let some one go up for his +luggage. Half past ten." + +"Yes, ma'am." + +Mrs. Selborne and I walked back to the hotel and stood on the lawn +talking for a little while before going to dress for dinner. + +"To-morrow will be our last cruise, I am afraid," she said, looking +across the Leas. "I hope it will be fine." + +"I hope so." + +"It would really be a terrible disappointment to me if it were not. I +would go--Ah, now I am being tempted to talk foolishly." + +She turned from me a little defiantly. She was certainly very attractive, +and naturally fell into poses which showed her off to the best advantage. +A man, sitting on the lawn, paused in the act of taking a cigarette from +his case to look at her. His interest pleased me. I was human, and it +flattered my vanity to know that I counted with this woman. + +"What desperate thing were you going to say?" I asked. + +"You will laugh at me." + +"I am more likely to match you in desperation." + +"I was going to say I would go to-morrow, wet or fine, wind or sunshine, +rather than miss our last day." + +Could I do less than make a compact that it should be so? If I admit +there was no sign of a coming change in the weather it must not be +supposed that I am trying to make out that her beauty and personality did +not affect me. They did. + +"I could almost pray for bad weather just to see that you are a man of +your word," she laughed. "Is it a promise?" + +"It is." + +She went in to dress, and I smoked a cigarette before doing likewise. + +As I entered my room and closed the door, a man stepped from behind +the wardrobe. It was the man who had been interested in Mrs. Selborne +on the lawn. + +"Pardon. I wished to speak to you alone, and this seemed the only +method." + +"I'll hear what you have to say before I hand you over to the +management," I answered. + +"It is a delicate matter," he returned, with a simper, which made me +desire to kick him. "It concerns a lady. You are Mr. James Murray; at +least, that is the name you entered in the hotel books." + +"It is my name," I answered. + +"Part of it, I think, part of it. You are usually called Murray Wigan, I +believe, and you are engaged to Miss Quarles--Miss Zena Quarles, the +granddaughter of a rather stupid professor." + +"What has this to do with you?" + +"I said it was a delicate matter," he went on. "My client has reason to +believe that you are--shall I say enamored of a lady staying in this +hotel? You may have noticed me on the lawn just now when you were talking +to the lady--I judge it was the lady. Your taste, sir, appeals to me, but +I am bound to say--" + +"Are you a private detective?" + +"Just an inquiry agent; helpful in saving people trouble sometimes." + +"Do you mean to tell me that Miss Quarles--" + +"No, not exactly, but, my dear Wigan--" + +It was Quarles. He changed his voice, seemed to alter his figure, but of +course the make-up remained. He was a perfect genius in altering his +appearance. + +"Was that the lady?" he asked. "Zena mentioned you were yachting with a +Mrs. Selborne down here. I don't think she quite liked it. She was woman +enough to read between the lines of your letter." + +"Oh, nonsense!" I exclaimed. + +"Quite so; still the lady is decidedly attractive, and Murray Wigan is a +man. The man who holds himself barred from admiring one woman just +because he happens to be engaged to another is not a very conspicuous +biped. I am not reproaching you, I should probably do the same myself, +but Zena will take you to task no doubt, and you will explain and +promise not to do it any more, and--" + +"I haven't done anything which requires explanation," I said irritably. + +"Of course not, but that may not be Zena's view, and I daresay Mrs. +Selborne believes you are more than half in love with her. I happened to +overhear part of your conversation. She was putting your admiration to +the test, rather a severe test, by the way, since you are an invalid. +Probably she is smiling to herself in the glass as she dresses for +dinner, which reminds me you have none too much time to dress, and you +must not be late to-night." + +"Why not? I am feeling quite fit again. If there is anything to be done I +am quite capable of doing it." + +"Dress, Wigan, while I talk. Since you broke down at a crucial point I +have been helping Percival. I daresay he will get the kudos in this case, +but you mustn't grudge him that." + +"I don't." + +"We have progressed," Quarles went on. "I will give you my line of +argument and the result so far. We start with Squires. He led us into a +trap, but the gang with which he was formerly connected has practically +ceased to exist. His old companions have seen nothing of him; he is +supposed to have turned good, and I find he has been a member of that +hooligan club for over a year with an irreproachable record during that +time. Two conclusions seem to arise; either Squires is connected with +another gang, or some compulsion was put upon him to betray us. I incline +to the second idea, and if I am correct there must have been a strong +incentive to persuade Squires to do what he did. Perhaps he wished to +protect some one." + +"What did Percival say to that?" I asked as I put the links into my +shirt. + +"He jeered at it, of course, as you are inclined to do; indeed, it was +quite a long time before Percival awoke to the fact that I was not quite +a fool. Now the machinery of Scotland Yard seems to have proved that +these robberies are not the work of a known gang; we may therefore assume +that persons unknown to the police are at work. The methods adopted are +clever. The property is stolen, yet no one has disappeared from the +hotel, neither guest nor servant, and in no case has any of the property +been found in the possession of any one in the hotel. Shall we suppose +that it has been carefully lowered from a bedroom window to an accomplice +without? None of this property has been traced, which leads us to two +hypotheses; either it has been got out of the country and disposed of +abroad, or the thieves can afford to bide their time. When you consider +the worth of the jewels stolen, it seems remarkable that nothing should +have been traced in the known markets abroad, and I am inclined to think +the thieves can afford to wait. Having arrived at this point--" + +"Without a scrap of evidence," I put in. + +"Without any evidence," said Quarles imperturbably. "I began to suspect +that my arch villain, for of course there is a leading spirit, must be in +command of wealth; and, remembering the short period during which the +robberies have happened, I ventured a guess that, once a sufficient +fortune were acquired, he would disappear, that his great coup being +accomplished he would retire from business, and become a respectable +citizen of this or some other country--a gentleman who had acquired +wealth by speculation." + +"Once a man has known the excitement of crime he does not give it up," I +said. "That's the result of experience, Professor, not guesswork." + +"Quite so, but I had visualized an extraordinary personality. Where was I +to find such a man and the efficient confederates who were helping him in +his schemes? One or more of them must have been present at each robbery, +and would no doubt be amongst those who had lost property. Theory, of +course, but we now come to something practical--the house at Hampstead. +If my theory of crossed trails were correct, if you were thought to be +engaged on this investigation, then that house was in some way linked +with the robberies. I may mention incidentally the value of having such a +place of retreat; the spoil could be deposited there until it could +safely be removed to a better hiding place. + +"This, of course, would inculpate the caretaker Mason. He has been +carefully watched; he has done nothing to give himself away, the result +of careful training, I fancy. Through this house we get another link--the +owner, Mr. Wibley. He has been a sufferer in these robberies, losing a +necklace he had just purchased for his daughter. Certainly a man to know +under the circumstances. As you are aware, he lives in Hampshire, and I +had a sudden desire to see that part of the country. I didn't call upon +Mr. Wibley, although he was at home. + +"His daughter was away--it was quite true he has a daughter. I took +rather elaborate precautions not to encounter Mr. Wibley; he might be +curious about a stranger in the country, but he would have been +astonished to know how much I saw of him. No, there was nothing +suspicious about him, except that on two occasions a man met him on a +lonely road, evidently with important business to transact. On the day +after the second meeting Mr. Wibley departed and came to Hythe. No later +than this morning he was playing golf there with this same man he met in +Hampshire. The golf was poor, but they talked a lot." + +"Still, I do not see--" + +"One moment, Wigan. The other man is staying in your hotel." + +"You think--" + +"I think it was intended to rob this hotel, but I believe the idea +has been abandoned," said Quarles. "However, I have put the manager +on his guard." + +"And pointed out the man you suspect!" + +"Yes." + +"That was foolish. If the thief is as clever as you imagine, he will +probably notice the manager's interest in him. I should say you have +warned him most effectually." + +"I don't think so. You see, it was you I pointed out to the manager." + +I paused with one arm in my waistcoat to stare at him. + +"I have arranged that he shall not interfere with you," said Quarles. +"You will be able to go yachting to-morrow. I was obliged to fix matters +so that I could come and go as I chose, and it was safer to draw the +manager's attention to one man rather than allow him to suspect others, +amongst them the very man we want to hoodwink, perhaps. The fact is, +Wigan, I believe the gang know you are here, and think you are here on +business. Plans will have been made accordingly, and it is therefore +absolutely necessary that you should go on just as you have been doing. I +don't think the hotel will be robbed now, but I am not sure. Sunshine or +storm, go with Mrs. Selborne to-morrow. Exactly what is going to happen +I do not know, but at the end of your cruise to-morrow you may want all +your wits about you." + +"Are you staying in the hotel?" I asked. + +"No, at Hythe, and I spend some of my time on Romney Marsh. I am +interested in a lonely house there. You must go; there is the gong. I +must tell you about the house another time." + +"When shall I see you again?" + +"To-morrow night. Leave me here. I will sneak out after you have gone." + +It was natural my eyes should wander round the dining-room that night, +trying to discover by intuition which was the man who might engineer a +robbery at the hotel. + +Once the manager entered the room, and, knowing what I did, I could not +doubt he wanted to satisfy himself that I was there. It did not worry me +that Quarles had made use of me in this way; I was quite prepared to be +arrested if the robbery did take place, but I was annoyed that the +professor had told me so little. + +It was his way; I had had experience of it before, but it was treatment I +had never been able to get used to. + +After dinner Mrs. Selborne joined me in the lounge for a little while, +and talked about our sail next day, and then I was asked to make up a +bridge table. + +Remembering Zena's attitude, according to Quarles, I was rather glad to +get away from Mrs. Selborne. She played bridge, too, but not at my table. + +There was no burglary that night, and the following morning was as good +for yachting as one could desire. However, we could not start at our +usual time. The crew consisted of the skipper and two hands, and one of +the hands came up to say that it was necessary to replace some gear, +which would take until midday. Mrs. Selborne was very angry. + +"We shall have to kill time until twelve o 'clock," she said, turning to +me. "It is a pity, but we'll get our sail somehow if all the gear goes +wrong. It is very likely only an excuse to get a short day's work, but I +am not expert enough to challenge my skipper." + +When we got aboard soon after noon, however, she had a great deal to say +to the skipper; would have him point out exactly what had gone wrong, and +showed him quite plainly she did not believe there need have been so long +a delay; but she soon recovered her temper when she took the helm, and +her good spirits became infectious. + +I was on holiday, and was not inclined to bother my head with problems. +If for a moment I wondered what Quarles was doing, I quickly forgot all +about him. + +I repeat, when you have got a pretty woman on a yacht, and she is +inclined to be exceedingly gracious, nothing else matters much for the +time being. + +We had lunch, and Mrs. Selborne smoked a cigarette before we returned to +the deck. The skipper was at the tiller, but she did not relieve him. She +was in a lazy mood, and I arranged some cushions to make her comfortable. +We were standing well out from Dungeness. + +Mrs. Selborne seemed a little surprised at our position. + +"We must get back to dinner," she said to the skipper. + +"That'll be all right, ma'am," he answered. + +"We must pay some attention to the conventions," she laughed, speaking to +me in an undertone. "We couldn't plead foul weather as an excuse for +being late, could we?" + +"We started late, and it is our last sail," I said. + +The skipper did not alter his course, and Mrs. Selborne lapsed +into silence. + +The comfort and laziness made her drowsy, I expect. I know they did me. I +caught myself nodding more and more. + +Suddenly there was a jerk, effectually rousing me from my nodding +condition. I thought we had struck something. The next instant I rolled +on my back. A rope was round my arms and legs. The skipper was still at +the helm, and he smiled as one of the hands tied me up. The other hand +was doing the same to Mrs. Selborne. + +There was fear in her face; she tried to speak, but could not. + +"What the devil is--" + +"A shut mouth, mister, is your best plan," said the skipper. "Get her +down below, Jim. Chuck her on one of the bunks; she'll be out of the +way there." + +"Help me! Save me!" she said as they lifted her up and carried her down. + +"Now see here," said the skipper, slipping a hand into his pocket and +showing me a revolver, "if you feel inclined to do any shouting, you +suppress it, or this is going to drill a hole in your head. It's a detail +that you might shout yourself hoarse and no one would pay any attention." + +"What's the game?" I said. "For the sake of the lady I might come +to terms." + +"That's not the game, anyway, and I don't want any conversation." + +Quarles! I thought of him now. The hotel gang was at work, and this was +one of the moves. How it was going to serve their ends I did not see, +unless--unless I was presently dropped overboard. + +It was an unpleasant contemplation, and I am afraid I cursed Quarles. If +he had only told me a little more I might at least have been prepared and +made a fight for it. What about Mrs. Selborne? Would they drown her, too? +They might put her ashore somewhere. + +The coast about Dungeness is desolate enough. It would be easy to slip in +after dark and leave her. Not a sound came from the cabin, and the two +hands returned to the deck. By the skipper's orders they lashed me in a +sitting position to a skylight. + +We were still standing out to sea, and one of the hands took the tiller; +the other received instructions to kick the wind out of me if I shouted +or began asking questions. Then the skipper went below. + +I listened, but I could not hear him speak to Mrs. Selborne. + +It was fine sunset that evening. When we presently came round and stood +in towards shore I got a feast of color over Romney Marsh. Watching the +ever-changing colors as the night crept out of the sea, I remembered that +Quarles was interested in Romney Marsh, in a lonely house there about +which he had had no time to tell me last night; had this lonely house an +interest for me? I tried to work out the plot in a dozen ways, +endeavoring to understand how the thieves could secure themselves if I +were allowed to live. + +That gorgeous sunset was depressing. The coming night might be so full of +ominous meaning for me. + +It was dark by the time we drew in towards the shore. A light or two +marked Dymchurch to our left, to our right were the lights of Hythe. + +By what landmark the skipper chose his position I do not know, but +presently the anchor was let go and we swung round. The tide must have +been nearly at the full. A few minutes later the dinghy was got into the +water, and the steps let down. + +Everything was accomplished as neatly and deliberately as I had seen it +done each time I had gone sailing in the yacht. + +Then the skipper came over to me and tried my bonds to make sure I had +not worked them loose under cover of the darkness. + +"All right," he said. "You can get her up." + +Evidently they were going to take Mrs. Selborne ashore. + +She came up on deck, she was not brought up. She was not bound in any +way. + +"Half past ten," said the skipper. "Sure you will be all right alone?" + +I could not tell to which of the hands he spoke; at any rate, he got no +answer except by a nod, perhaps. Half past ten; that was the time Mrs. +Selborne's husband was to arrive. + +Then came a surprise. The three men got into the dinghy and pulled +towards the shore. + +I was left alone with Mrs. Selborne. + +"Caught, Mr. Murray--Wigan." + +She laughed as she paused between my two names, and seated herself on a +corner of the skylight with a revolver in her lap. + +"We can talk," she went on, "but a shout would be dangerous. I am used to +handling firearms. Our last sail together, a notable one, and not yet +over. You're a more pleasant companion than I expected to find you, but +you are not such a great detective as I had been led to suppose." + +I was too astonished to make any kind of answer. She was quite right. I +had never detected a criminal in her. All her kindness was an elaborate +scheme to get me in her power. Did Quarles know? Surely not, or he would +have put me on my guard. + +"Posing as an invalid was an excellent notion," she went on, "and you are +not altogether a failure. You have prevented a haul being made at the +Folkestone Hotel because we could not discover what men you had at work. +I wonder how you got on my track?" + +It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her I hadn't, to say that my being +there was chance, that I really was an invalid, but I kept the confession +back. I remembered Quarles saying I might want all my wits about me at +the end of this cruise. This seemed to be the end as far as I was +concerned. + +"I don't suppose you are going to tell me how these robberies have been +managed," I said, "so you cannot expect me to give away my secrets." + +"I will tell you one thing," she answered; "there will be no more +robberies by us. From to-night we begin to enjoy the proceeds." + +"That is interesting." + +"And you will quite appreciate that, although you are not so clever as +people imagine, you are a difficulty." + +"It is no use my petitioning you to let me go for the sake of--of our +friendship?" + +"I am afraid not." + +"What then?" + +"Dead men tell no tales," she said. + +It was an uncomfortable answer. It was the only way out of the +difficulty I had been able to conceive. + +"Pardon me, they do," I returned quietly. "In watching me so carefully, +and beating me at the game, you have advertised your interest in me to +scores of people. You have forged a link between us. My death will mean a +quick search for you and your confederates. I am likely to be more +dangerous to you dead than alive." + +"Do you suppose that has not been considered and arranged for?" + +"And do you suppose a detective values his life if by his death he can +bring notorious criminals to justice?" I asked. + +"What exactly do you mean?" + +We might have been discussing some commonplace question across a +tea table. + +"For the sake of argument, let us suppose one or two of your confederates +have not hoodwinked me so completely as you have done. You can understand +the possibility and appreciate the probable result." + +"Do I look like a woman to be frightened by such a thin story?" +she asked. + +"Certainly not. You are so reckless a person you have, no doubt, courage +to face any unpleasant consequence which may arise." + +"I have wit enough to know that prevention is better than cure," she +returned. "Within an hour, Mr. Wigan, my confederates and all who could +possibly witness against me will be on board this yacht. How long some of +them will remain on board I have not yet decided." + +She was evidently not afraid. Her plans must be very complete. + +"As I cannot be allowed to live, a sketch of your career would interest +me. It would serve to pass the time." + +"The past does not concern me, the future does," she answered. "You may +appreciate my general idea of making things safe. I fancy this yacht will +be cast away on a lonely spot on the French coast. I know the spot, and I +expect one or two persons will be drowned. That will be quite natural, +won't it? Should the accident chance to be heard of at Folkestone, it +will be surmised that I am drowned. Bodies do not always come ashore, you +know. One thing is quite certain; Mrs. Selborne and all trace of her will +have disappeared." + +"It is rather a diabolical scheme," I said. + +"I regret the necessity. I daresay you have sometimes done the same when +a victim of your cleverness has come to the gallows." + +She got up and walked away from me, but she did not cease to watch me. I +wondered if she would fire should I venture to shout. + +It was a long hour, but presently there came the distinct dip of oars. In +spite of my unenviable position I felt excited. I thought there were two +boats. Naturally there would be. The dinghy was small; crew and +confederates could not have got into it. + +There was the rattle of oars in the rowlocks, then a man climbed on deck, +others coming quickly after him, and in that moment Mrs. Selborne swung +round and fired. The bullet struck the woodwork of the skylight close to +my head. I doubt if I shall ever be so near death again until my hour +actually sounds. + +Her arm was struck up before she could fire again, and a familiar voice +was shouting: + +"It's all right, Wigan. The lady completes the business. We have +got the lot." + +Christopher Quarles had come aboard with the police, those in the dinghy +wearing the coats and caps the crew had worn, so that any one watching on +the yacht for their return might be deceived. + +The prisoners were left in the hands of the police, and a motor took +Quarles and myself back to Folkestone. He told me the whole story before +we slept that night. + +The lonely house on Romney Marsh had been bought by Wibley some months +ago in the name of Reynolds. He had let it be known that, after certain +alterations had been made, he was coming to live there, so it was natural +that a couple of men, looking like painters, should presently arrive and +be constantly about the place. If three or four men were seen there on +occasion no one was likely to be curious. + +Watching Wibley when he came down to Hythe, Quarles found he had a +liking for motoring on the Dymchurch Road. He saw him pull up one +morning to speak to a man on the roadside. He did the same thing on the +following morning, but it was a different man, and Quarles recognized +young Squires. + +Squires afterwards went to this empty house, and Quarles speedily had men +on the Marsh watching it night and day. It looked as if the house were +the gang's meeting-place. Either another coup was being prepared, or an +escape was being arranged. + +During a hurried visit to town the professor had seen my letter to Zena, +and this had given him a clue. + +"It was the name Selborne," Quarles explained. "I told you, Wigan, that +Wibley's daughter--or supposed daughter--was not with him in Hampshire. +Her whereabouts worried me. I could not forget that a woman had taken +part in our capture during the chalice case. While I was in Hampshire I +spent half a day in Gilbert White's village. His 'Natural History of +Selborne' has always delighted me. Selborne. If you were going to take a +false name, Wigan, and your godfathers had not called you Murray, only +James, what would you do? As likely as not you would take the name of +some place with which you were familiar. In itself the idea was not +convincing, but it brought me to your hotel at Folkestone, and then I was +certain. Do you remember the woman Squires spoke to on the night he led +us into that trap?" + +"It was too dark to see her face," I said. + +"I mean the way she stood," said Quarles, "with her arms akimbo; so did +the masked woman in the cellar, and when I saw Mrs. Selborne on the lawn +she did the same. The pose is peculiar. When a woman falls into this +attitude you will find she either rests her knuckles on her hips, or +grasps her waist with open hands, the thumbs behind the four finger in +front. This woman doesn't. She grasps her waist with the thumbs in front, +a man's way rather than a woman's. Her presence there suggested, another +hotel robbery; the yacht suggested a means of escape for the gang, +apparently gathering at the empty house. Since Mrs. Selborne had paid you +so much attention, I guessed she knew who you were, and thought you were +on duty, posing as an invalid. I thought it likely your presence would +prevent the robbery, but she took every precaution that you should go +with her to-day, storm or shine, eh, Wigan? We have had the glasses on +the yacht all day, and when the crew landed to-night we caught them. +Then we went to the house, Wigan. Got them all, and I believe the whole +of the six months' spoil." + +"Why didn't you put me on my guard?" I asked. + +"Well, Wigan, I think you would have scouted the idea. You were +fascinated, you know. In any case, you could not have helped watching her +for confirmation or to prove me wrong; she would have noted the change in +you, grown suspicious, and might have ruined everything at the eleventh +hour. Unless I am much mistaken we shall discover that the woman was the +brains of the gang." + +So it proved when the trial came on, and in another direction Quarles +was correct. + +Squires was Mason's son. The lad had cut himself loose from his old +companions, and had only meant to warn his father. He knew where he was +likely to find him, but meeting the man and woman unexpectedly, he was +frightened into trapping us. + +There can be little doubt that it was intended to cast away the yacht +as Mrs. Selborne had explained to me, and to drown those who were not +meant to share in the spoil, but who knew too much to be allowed to go +free. I should certainly have been amongst the missing, and young +Squires, too, probably. + +I shall always remember this case because--no, Zena and I did not quarrel +exactly, but she was very much annoyed about Mrs. Selborne. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SOLUTION OF THE GRANGE PARK MYSTERY + + +I really had some difficulty in convincing Zena that I had not fallen +in love with Mrs. Selborne, and Quarles seemed to think it humorous to +also express doubt on the subject. The professor is unconsciously +humorous on occasion, but when he tries to be funny he only succeeds in +being pathetic. + +I got so tired of his humor one evening that I left Chelsea much earlier +than usual, telling Zena that I should not come again until I heard from +her that she was ready to go and choose furniture, I heard next day. + +We were to be married in two months' time and had taken a house near +Grange Park, and I have always thought it curious that my first +introduction to the neighborhood, so to speak, should be as a detective, +and not in the role of a newly married man. + +It happened in this way. + +Just before two o'clock one morning Constable Poulton turned into Rose +Avenue, Grange Park. He was passing Clarence Lodge, the residence of Mrs. +Crosland, when the front door opened suddenly and a girl came running +down the drive, calling to him. + +"The burglars," she said, "and I am afraid my brother hay shot one of +them." + +He certainly had. Poulton found the man lying crumpled up at the bottom +of the stairs. He blew his whistle to summon another officer, and after +searching the house they communicated with headquarters. + +Grange Park, as many of you may know, is an estate which was developed +some years ago in the Northwest of London, on land belonging to the +Chisholm family. It got into the hands of a responsible firm of +builders, and artistic, well-built houses were erected which attracted +people of considerable means. It wasn't possible to live in Grange Park +on a small income. + +A few months ago the sedate tranquillity of the neighborhood had been +broken by an astonishing series of burglaries, which had occurred in +rapid succession. Half a dozen houses were entered; valuables, chiefly +jewelry, worth many thousands of pounds, had been taken, and not a single +arrest, even on suspicion, had been made. The known gangs had been +carefully shadowed without results, and not a trace of the stolen +property had been discovered. The thieves had evidently known where to go +for their spoil, not only the right houses but the exact spot where the +spoil was kept. There had been no bungling; indeed, in some cases, it was +doubtful how an entrance had been effected. Not in a single instance had +the inmates been aroused or alarmed, no thief had been seen or heard upon +the premises, nor had the police noticed any suspicious looking persons +about the estate. + +The investigation of these robberies was finally entrusted to me, and I +suppose the empty room in Chelsea had never been used more often and with +less result than over the Grange Park burglaries. It was not only one +chance we had had of getting at the truth, for half a dozen houses had +been broken into; and it was not the lack of clues which bothered us so +much as the number of them. The thieves seemed to have scattered clues +in every direction, yet not one of them led to any definite result. + +Like the rest of us, Christopher Quarles had his weaknesses. Whenever he +failed to elucidate a mystery he was always able to show that the fault +was not his, but somebody else's; either too long a time had elapsed +before he was consulted, or some meddlesome fool had touched things and +confused the evidence, or even that something supernatural had been at +work. Once, at least, according to the professor, I had played the part +of meddlesome fool, and one of my weaknesses being a short temper, it +had required all Zena's tact to keep us from quarreling on that +occasion. It came almost as a shock, therefore, when, after a long +discussion one evening, he suddenly jumped up and exclaimed: "I'm +beaten, Wigan, utterly beaten," and did not proceed to lay the +responsibility for his failure on any one. + +Upon the receipt of Constable Poulton's message, I was sent for at once, +and it was still early morning when I roused Quarles and we went to +Grange Park. I do not think I have ever seen the professor so excited. + +Mrs. Crosland had a son and daughter and a nephew living with her. It was +the daughter who had run down the drive and called Poulton. There were +four servants, a butler and two women in the house and a chauffeur who +lived over the garage. There was besides a nurse, for Mrs. Crosland was +an invalid, often confined to her bed and even at her best only able to +get about with difficulty. She suffered from some acute form of +rheumatism and was tied to her bed at this time. + +The son's version of the tragedy was simple and straightforward. Hearing +a noise, he had taken his revolver--always kept handy since the +burglaries--and had reached the top of the stairs when his sister Helen +came out of her room. She had also heard some one moving. They went down +together to the landing at the angle of the staircase. He did not see any +one in the hall, nor was there any sound just then. He called out "Who's +there?" The answer was a bullet, which struck the wall behind them. Then +Crosland fired down into the hall, but at random. He saw no one, but as a +fact he shot the man through the head. + +"Do you think the man was alone?" I asked. + +"In the hall, yes; but I feel convinced there was some one else in the +house who escaped," Crosland answered. "My sister and I had not moved +from the landing when Hollis, the butler, and one of the women servants +came hastily from their rooms. Then I went down and switched on the +light. The man was lying just as the constable found him. I never saw him +move. When my sister realized he was dead she became excited, and before +I knew what she was doing, she had opened the front door and run down the +drive. The constable happened to be passing the gate at the moment." + +"What time elapsed between the firing of the shots and the entrance of +the constable?" I asked. + +"A few minutes; I cannot be exact. It took me some little time to realize +that I had actually killed the man, and I don't think Helen fully +understood the extent of the tragedy until I said, 'Good God, I've killed +him,' or something of that kind. I was suddenly aware of my awkward +position in the matter." + +"He had fired at you," I said. + +"I think I forgot that for the moment," Crosland answered. "As a matter +of fact we had a marvelous escape. You will see where the bullet struck +the wall of the landing. It must have passed between us." + +"Did your mother hear the shots?" + +"They roused her out of a deep sleep, but she did not realize they were +shots. The nurse came onto the landing whilst we were in the hall. I told +her to say that something had fallen down. My mother is of an extremely +nervous temperament, and I am glad she cannot leave her bed just now." + +Helen Crosland had nothing to add to her brother's narrative. When +she rushed out of the house her idea was to call the police as +quickly as possible, not so much because of the burglars, but on her +brother's account. She had the horrible thought of her brother being +accused of murder. + +Quarles asked no questions. He was interested in the bullet mark on the +landing wall, and very interested in the dead man. A doctor had seen him +before our arrival, and the body had been removed to a small room off the +hall. Quarles examined the head very closely, also the hands; and +casually looked at the revolver, one chamber of which had been +discharged. + +"A swell mobsman, Wigan, not accustomed to work entirely on his own, I +should imagine. As Mr. Crosland says, there may have been others in the +house who escaped." + +"We may get some information from the servants presently," I answered. + +"I doubt it. In all these burglaries, Wigan, we have considered the +possibility of the servants being implicated, and in no case has it led +us anywhere. More than once there have been clues which pointed to such a +conclusion, merely clever ruses on the thieves' part. No, our clue is the +dead man." + +Quarles questioned Constable Poulton closely. The constable had not heard +the shots. About half an hour earlier in the evening he had passed +Clarence Lodge. There was no light in the house then. Just before one +o'clock he had met Mr. Smithers who lived in the next house to Clarence +Lodge; he was coming from the direction of the station and said good +night. Since then he had seen no one upon his beat. Poulton described the +position of the dead man graphically and minutely. He had no doubt he had +been shot a few minutes before he saw him. + +"I searched the house with Griffiths, the officer who came when I blew my +whistle; we saw no sign of the others." + +"How did they get in?" I asked. + +"A window in the passage there was open," said Poulton. "That's the only +way they could have come unless they fastened some window or door again +when they had entered." + +I examined this window carefully. There was no sign that any one had +entered this way, no mark upon the catch. Outside the window was a flower +bed, and I pointed out to Quarles that if any one had left the house in a +hurry, as they would do at the sound of firearms, they would inevitably +have left marks upon the flower bed. + +Quarles had nothing to say against my argument. + +"I don't believe either exit or entrance was made by this window," +I declared. + +"Have you still got servants in your mind, Wigan?" + +"I have, to tell the truth I always have had." + +"The body is our best clue, Wigan. If we can identify that we shall be +nearing the end." And then Quarles turned to Poulton. "Isn't there a +nephew in the house? We haven't seen him." + +"I'm told he is abroad, sir," the constable answered. + +"Do you happen to know him?" + +"Quite well by sight, sir." + +Quarles nodded, but the nephew was evidently not disposed of to his +Satisfaction. + +I interviewed the servants closely, including the chauffeur who had heard +nothing of the affair until aroused by the police. Hollis was certain +that all the doors and windows were securely fastened. Quarles rather +annoyed me by suggesting that the thieves might have entered by an +upstairs window or even by the front door. + +"If you look at the upstairs windows I think you will find that +impossible," said Hollis. + +"We will look, and also at the front door." + +The professor made a pretense of examining the front door rather +carefully. + +"You're sure this was locked and bolted last night?" + +"Quite, sir." + +"It looks substantial and innocent." + +The only window which interested Quarles upstairs was that of a small +room in the front of the house overlooking the drive, but, as the butler +pointed out, no one could have got in there without a ladder. + +"No, no, I suppose not," and Quarles did not say another word until we +saw Mr. Crosland again. Then he immediately inquired about the nephew. + +"George is in Paris, at least he was three days ago," and Crosland +produced a picture postcard sent to his mother. "We are expecting him +back at the end of the week." + +"I suppose, Mr. Crosland, you have no suspicions regarding this affair?" + +"I don't quite understand what you mean." + +"Let me put it in another way," said the professor, "and please do not +think that I am suggesting you fired too hastily. Immediately you heard +the noise, you remembered the burglars who have caused a sensation in +Grange Park recently. It was quite natural, but it seems to me rather +strange that so astute a gang should commence operations in the same +neighborhood again. For the sake of argument, let us suppose this gang +had nothing to do with the affair. Now can you think of any one who might +have something to gain by breaking into Clarence Lodge?" + +"No, I cannot; and yet--" + +"Well," said Quarles. + +"I can think of no one; I recall no family skeleton, but there is one +curious fact. This gang seemed to know exactly where to go for their +spoil--jewels mostly, and there is nothing of that kind worth taking at +Clarence Lodge." + +"That goes to support my argument, doesn't it?" + +"It does." + +"That is the reason I asked particularly about your cousin." + +"George Radley is like a brother," laughed Crosland, "our interests are +identical." + +"Oh, it was only a point that occurred to me as an outsider," Quarles +returned. "We can leave him out of the argument and yet not be convinced +there is no family skeleton. You might perhaps question your mother +without explaining the reason, although I suppose she will have to know +about this affair presently." + +"I hope not." + +"Acute rheumatism, isn't it? I wonder if she has ever heard of a quack +who made a new man of me. What was his name now?" + +"Was it Bush?" Crosland asked. + +"No, but it was a commonplace name." + +"As a matter of fact a man named Bush has been to see my mother. I dare +not tell Dr. Heathcote; at one time I fancy Bush did her good, or she got +better naturally, but she believes in him. He hasn't been for some time +now, but she was speaking of him the other day." + +"I'll look up my man's card and send it on to you," said Quarles. "You +get Mrs. Crosland to see him, never mind Dr. Heathcote." + +"I didn't know you had suffered from rheumatism," I said to Quarles as we +left the house. + +"Didn't you! Have it now sometimes. Well, Wigan, what do you make of this +affair? Do you think the burglars are responsible?" + +"I want time to think." + +"We'll just call in and see Dr. Heathcote," said Quarles. + +The doctor was a young man rather overburdened with his own importance. +He was inclined to think that Crosland had done Grange Park a service by +shooting one of the burglar gang. + +"I only hope the authorities won't get sentimental and make it needlessly +unpleasant for him." + +"I shouldn't think so," I returned. "I may take it, doctor, that the man +had been dead only a short time when you saw him?" + +"Quite. Death must have been practically instantaneous." + +"Oh, there is no doubt about Crosland's narrative, it is quite +straightforward," said Quarles, "but I shouldn't be surprised if he found +the inquiry awkward. I think his mother ought to know the truth." + +"Why not?" asked Heathcote. + +"He seems to think it would be bad for her in her state of health." + +"I'll talk to him," said the doctor. "The old lady is not so bad as he +supposes. To tell you the truth I think the nurse is rather a fool and +frightens her. I tried to get them to change her, but she seems to be a +sort of relation." + +"That's the worst of relations, they're so constantly in the way," +said Quarles. + +We left the doctor not much wiser than when we went, it seemed to me, but +Quarles appeared to find considerable food for reflection. He was silent +until we were in the train. + +"Wigan, you must see that a watch is kept upon Clarence Lodge day and +night. Have half a dozen men drafted into the neighborhood. You want to +know who goes to the house, and any one leaving it must be followed. +Poulton's a good man, I should keep him there, and let him be inquisitive +about callers. Then telegraph at once to the Paris police. Ask if George +Radley is still at the Vendôme Hotel. If he is tell them to keep an eye +on him. Now, here's my card. Take it to Schuster, 12 Grant Street, +Pimlico, and ask him if he knows anything of a man named Bush, a quack +specialist in rheumatism. Find out all you can about Bush. To-morrow +morning you must go to Grange Park again, and see young Crosland. He may +complain about the watch which is being kept over the house. If he does, +spin him the official jargon about information received, etc., intimate +your fear that the gang may attempt reprisals, and tell him you are bound +to take precautions. After that come on to Chelsea. We ought to be able +to arrive at some decision then. Oh, and one other thing, you might see +if you have any one resembling the dead man in your criminal portrait +gallery at the Yard." + +"A fairly full day's work," I said with a smile. + +"I am going to be busy, too, with a theory I have got. To-morrow we will +see if your facts fit in with it." + +To avoid repetition I shall come to the results of my inquiries as I +related them to Quarles next day. I got back from Grange Park soon after +two o'clock, had a couple of sandwiches and a glass of wine in the Euston +Road, and then took a taxi to Chelsea. Zena and the professor were +already in the private room, Zena doing nothing. Quarles engaged in some +proposition of Euclid, apparently. On the writing table were a revolver +and some cartridges. + +"I have told Zena the whole affair as far as we know it," said Quarles, +putting his papers on the table, "and she asks me a foolish question, +Wigan. 'Why didn't the butler run for the police instead of Miss +Crosland?' Have you got any information which will help to answer it?" + +"It doesn't seem to me very strange that she went," I returned. "I have +been busy, but there is not very much to tell. I have got the house +watched as you suggested. The Paris police telegraph that an Englishman +named George Radley is at the Hotel Vendôme, a harmless tourist +apparently, going about Paris seeing the sights. Schuster was able to +give me Bush's address, and I called upon him, but did not see him. He +had gone to a case in Yorkshire, but may be back any time. He lives in +Hampstead, in quite a pleasant flat overlooking the Heath." + +"Is he married?" + +"No, he has a housekeeper, rather a deaf old lady who speaks of him as +the doctor." + +"You didn't chance to see a portrait of him?" + +"No, there were no photographs about of any kind. His hobby seems to be +old prints, of which he has some good specimens. I should say his +temperament is artistic." + +"That is an interesting conclusion," said the professor. "You didn't get +any idea of his age?" + +"No. This morning I went to Clarence Lodge and find you are by no means +liked there." + +"Indeed." + +"An old gentleman called there yesterday afternoon saying you had asked +him to go and see Mrs. Crosland about her rheumatism--a Mr. Morrison." + +"The silly old ass!" exclaimed the professor. "He is the man I told +Crosland of, the man who cured rheumatism so marvelously. I suppose +Morrison misread my letter and went at once instead of waiting to be +sent for." + +"Crosland appears to have given him a piece of his mind," I laughed, "and +called you a meddlesome fool." + +"Poor old Morrison, but it serves him right." + +"He managed to see Mrs. Crosland," I said. "When the old lady heard he +was there she would see him. As the son was anxious his mother +shouldn't know of the tragedy, it was arranged that she should be told +that Morrison's visit was the outcome of a casual remark Crosland had +dropped to a friend concerning Mrs. Crosland's suffering. The old lady +appears to have put the old man through his paces, but ended by being +convinced that Morrison knew what he was talking about. He has been +asked to call again." + +"Then I appear to have done the old lady a good turn after all," said +Quarles. "Did you see Mrs. Crosland, Wigan?" + +"No. The butler opened the door, and I only saw young Crosland besides. I +explained to him the necessity of having the house watched, and I think +he believes I am afraid he will attempt to run away. He is a little +nervous about his position in the affair. I reassured him." + +"It's a pity you didn't manage to see the old lady. Don't you think it +would be interesting to know what she is like?" + +"I can't say I am very interested on that point." + +"Well, we can ask old Morrison," said Quarles. "I daresay his quackery +has made him a close observer. You don't succeed as a quack unless you +have a keen appreciation of the foibles and weaknesses of human nature." + +"You have my facts, Professor; now, have you progressed with your theory; +has revolver practise had something to do with it?" + +And I pointed to the writing table. + +"Let's go back to the Grange Park burglaries for a moment," Quarles began +slowly. "We have investigated them under the impression that they were +the work of a gang, but it is possible they were worked by one man. The +gang may have attacked Clarence Lodge, Crosland's chance though excellent +marksmanship accounting for one of the members while the rest escaped; +but on the whole the evidence seems to suggest that this man was alone, +and we might conclude that the burglaries were the work of one man." + +"I shall never believe that," I said. + +"Still, you cannot disprove it by direct evidence. You may show it to be +unlikely, but you cannot prove it impossible. Indirectly we can go a +little further. There were several features about these burglaries to +make them remarkable. The right house was chosen, the thieves were never +heard or seen, there were always plenty of misleading clues left about, +there was no bungling, In the case of Clarence Lodge the wrong house was +chosen--Crosland himself told us that it contained no jewelry or +particular valuables. The thieves, or rather thief, was heard, the sound +must have been considerable to arouse both Crosland and his sister; the +thief makes no attempt to conceal himself and fires the moment he is +spoken to; in short, there was a considerable amount of bungling, quite +unlike the experts we have been thinking of. We are safe, therefore, I +fancy, in considering that the Clarence Lodge affair is not to be +reckoned as one of the Grange Park burglaries." + +I shook my head doubtfully. + +"Since experts may at times make mistakes, I grant that my negative +evidence is not as convincing as it might be," said Quarles, "but I want +the point conceded. I want, as it were, a base line upon which to build +my theoretical plan. I want to forget the burglaries, in fact, and come +to the Clarence Lodge case by itself. So we have a dead man and we first +ask who shot him. Crosland says he did, and tells us the circumstances, +his sister confirms his statement, and the butler, the woman servant and +the nurse, who are quickly upon the stage in this tragedy, see no reason +to disbelieve the statement. We burrow a little deeper into the evidence, +and we discover one or two interesting facts. The man was shot on the +left side of the head, a clean wound above the left ear. Crosland says he +fired after he had been fired at, so the man, directly he had fired, must +deliberately have turned his head to the right, which at least is +remarkable. Further, to hit the wall of the landing in the place he did +the man must have stood in the very center of the stairs to fire. His +body was found some feet away from this central position, and a bullet so +fired and striking where it did could not have missed two people +standing on that landing. I have made a rough plan here," and Quarles +took up the papers from the table, "giving the position of the dead man, +the position of the walls and stairs. The lines show where the bullet +would have hit if fired from a spot nearer where the dead man was found." + +I examined his diagram closely. + +"A man shot through the brain might fall several feet away from where he +was standing," I said. + +"Yes, behind where he was standing, or perhaps forward, but hardly to one +side. However, we burrow again, and we try and answer Zena's question why +it was Helen Crosland who ran for the police. Why not? we may ask. Her +close association with her brother in the affair, her anxiety on his +account, make it natural that she should dash out not only for help but +to make it certain that they had nothing to hide. Her words to Poulton, +'The burglars, and I am afraid my brother has shot one of them,' are +significant. They tell the whole story in a nutshell. Crosland's +statement merely elaborates it, over-elaborates it, in fact. The bolts on +the front door, Wigan, were very stiff; I tried them. Helen Crosland +would certainly have had difficulty in drawing them back, and it is an +absurdity for her brother to declare that she had gone before he knew +what she was doing." + +I had no comment to make, and Zena leaned forward in her chair, +evidently excited. + +"It is a point to remember that she ran out exactly at the moment Poulton +was passing, which may have been chance, of course, but from that room +over the hall one can see down the drive and, by the light of a street +lamp, some way down the road. Had any one watched there he could have +prompted the girl when to start." + +"You seem to be overloading the theory too much," I said, "and I do not +see many real facts yet." + +"I am coming to some facts presently," said Quarles. "I am showing you my +working. Now, having done away with the gang of burglars, we ask how did +the man get into the house. Your argument that no one could have escaped +through that window in the passage was sound, I think, Wigan, and +considering the immaculate condition of the latch and the lack of signs +on the sill and the flower bed, I doubt if any one got in that way, +either. On the whole, I am inclined to think he came through the front +door, which was opened for him by Hollis the butler or by one of the +servants." + +"Still no facts," I said. + +"Still theory," admitted Quarles. "By my theory it follows that the dead +man was known to the Croslands. We will assume that in some family +quarrel he was killed that night. The death--the murder--had to be +concealed, so they pitched on the idea of the burglars, put the body in +the hall, fired a shot into the landing wall, and threw open the passage +window. It was smartly conceived, but, of course, took some little time, +which had to be accounted for. Crosland could only say that he could not +tell how long a time elapsed between the firing and the arrival of +Poulton. Everything had to be thought of before Helen Crosland rushed out +for the police." + +"You assume that the whole household was in the conspiracy?" I asked. + +"Yes, and that they are exceedingly clever. What do you think of +the theory?" + +"As a theory rather interesting, but I am still waiting for a fact or +two." + +"Here's one," said Quarles, taking up the revolver. "This is Crosland's; +I purloined it. It is a very good weapon by a small maker. Curiously +enough the thief's weapon was exactly like it." + +"That may be a coincidence," said Zena. + +"It may be, but I prefer to think it a significant fact," the professor +returned; "but we'll go back to the theory again for the moment. I was +very interested in Crosland and his sister, they were not exceedingly +unlike each other. There was no portrait of Mrs. Crosland about, so I +could not tell which of them took after the mother. Had you told me that +Helen Crosland was the butler's daughter I should have believed you. Did +you notice the likeness, Wigan?" + +"No," I said with a smile. It seemed to me that the theory had got +altogether out of hand. + +"Well, it made me curious about the nephew," Quarles went on. "I wondered +whether the dead man was the nephew and so I asked Crosland about a +family skeleton, showed him that I had no belief in the burglar theory, +and he quickly responded by saying there was nothing in the house worth +stealing. I helped him out of a difficulty, and it was easy to talk about +his mother and her rheumatism. So we got to the specialist Bush. You see +the chief point was to find out the identity of the dead man. Now we get +to two facts. He isn't the nephew who is still in Paris, and Bush is +supposed to be in Yorkshire." + +"Do you mean--" + +"I am still theorizing," said Quarles. "There are no portraits at +Clarence Lodge; you noticed a lack of portraits in Bush's flat, and you +conclude by external evidence that his temperament is artistic. The dead +man's hands were curiously capable and artistic. It struck me the moment +I looked at them." + +"I am not convinced, Professor." + +"Nor was I," said Quarles, "so I mentioned the rheumatic specialist who +had cured me." + +"You, grandfather!" Zena exclaimed. + +"Ah, you have evidently forgotten how I used to suffer," was the smiling +answer. "I allowed Morrison to make a mistake on purpose and go to +Clarence Lodge, his one idea to get an interview with Mrs. Crosland." + +"And you have seen him since?" I asked. + +"Came home with him from Grange Park," answered Quarles. "He was roundly +abused to begin with, but, as you were told, he saw Mrs. Crosland. It was +an interesting interview. The first thing that struck him was that the +old lady was totally unlike her children, a different type altogether. +She is a hard, masculine kind of woman, not at all of the nervous +temperament he had been led to expect; and he was convinced that she had +only consented to see him to make sure that he was no more than he had +proclaimed himself--a specialist in rheumatism. My friend Morrison came +to the conclusion that the nurse, as a nurse, was incompetent, and that +the room he entered would not have been the one constantly occupied by +the invalid. He was exceedingly interested in Mrs. Crosland, seeing in +her a woman of extraordinary force of character and intellectual +capacity, and he came to the conclusion that there was nothing whatever +the matter with her." + +"No rheumatism?" said Zena. + +"About as much as I suffer from," said Quarles. "In short, Morrison was +rather glad to get safely out of the house. He was certain that the old +lady had a revolver under her pillow, and would certainly have shot him +had she suspected that he was any one else but a specialist in +rheumatism." + +I was looking at Quarles as he turned to me. + +"What do you make of my theory now, Wigan?" + +"Were you Morrison?" I asked. + +"Of course, and it was a trying ordeal. Do you think we have enough facts +to go on?" + +"Not facts, exactly, but evidence," I admitted. + +"I think we shall find that the dead man is Bush," said the professor. +"Inquiry will probably show that he has a record for quackery and has +probably sailed fairly close to the wind at times. His connection with +the Crosland family was not professional, but had other aims, and his +profession was used merely as a reason for not having a doctor for Mrs. +Crosland, who found it convenient to pose as an invalid. A quarrel +resulted in Bush's being shot that night. I hazard a guess that it was +the old lady who shot him, and that it was her brain which conceived the +way out of the difficulty." + +"That is guessing with a vengeance," I said. + +"Yes, but not without some reason," Quarles went on. "Let's go back to +the Grange Park burglaries for a moment, and suppose that a gang of +expert thieves under the name of Crosland took Clarence Lodge. An invalid +mother, son and daughter so called, butler, servants--a most respectable +family apparently, in the midst of people worth plundering, able by +friendly intercourse to collect the necessary information and plan their +raids. Bush is the outside representative of the firm, so to speak, and +the nephew who travels abroad occasionally sees to the selling of the +spoil. It was the plot of a master mind--the old lady's, which has +entirely beaten us until they quarrel between themselves. Now what do +you think of my theory?" + +"It takes me back to Grange Park without unnecessary delay," I said, +getting up quickly. + +"I thought it would. You have got the men waiting for you there, and I +should raid the house forthwith. But caution, Wigan. I don't think they +have any suspicion of Morrison, but the moment they tumble to your +intentions they'll show fight, and probably put up a hot one. And don't +forget the nephew in Paris. Take him, too." + +The raid upon Clarence Lodge took place that evening, and was so managed +that the servants and the chauffeur were taken before Crosland and his +sister, who proved to be no relation as Quarles had surmised, were aware +of the fact. Faced with the inevitable they made no fight at all, but the +old lady was made of entirely different metal. She barricaded herself in +her room, and swore to shoot the first man who forced the door. She had +the satisfaction of wounding me slightly in the shoulder, and then before +we could stop her she had turned the weapon upon herself and shot herself +through the head. + +The nephew was taken in Paris, and with the rest of the gang was sent to +penal servitude. The evidence at the trial proved Quarles's theory to be +very much as the tragedy had happened. The dead man was Bush, and it was +his threat to give the burglaries away unless he had a larger share of +the spoil than had been assigned to him which made the old lady shoot him +in an ungovernable fit of rage. + +"A master mind, Wigan," Quarles remarked, "and it is just as well +not to have her as a neighbor. Your wound is not likely to put off +your wedding?" + +"No." + +"A little better aim and she would have put it off altogether." + +"Don't be so horrible," said Zena. + +"A fact, my dear. Murray has been very keen about getting: hold of facts +in this case, so I mention one. The Grange Park burglaries beat me +because there was no clue to build on, but with a dead body--well, it +really wasn't very difficult, was it?" + +"Quite easy," I answered as if I really meant it, and then turned to +discuss carpets with Zena. + +It was not always wise to let the old man know you thought him clever. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Master Detective, by Percy James Brebner + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASTER DETECTIVE *** + +This file should be named 8msdt10.txt or 8msdt10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8msdt11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8msdt10a.txt + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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